Chapter 112

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: The Aftermath of Sincerity (2)
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The next morning, Laura's luggage was loaded onto the carriage.

The entire household of Dunville Park came out to the front of the mansion to see Laura off. Laura kissed the brothers, whose faces were puffy from crying so much, one by one, and gave Olivia, who was smiling brightly and telling her to have fun, a tight hug. Then, after giving a polite bow to the master and mistress of the house, she boarded the carriage.

As the carriage departed, Laura leaned her head out the window. The Fairfax family was waving at the departing carriage. Laura, too, waved until they were out of sight.

A heavy sadness swirled in Laura's heart. She realized that the household of Dunville Park had, before she knew it, become as comfortable and dear to her as family.

But as the mansion disappeared from view and she grew distant from the forest surrounding Dunville Park, Laura could feel her heart gradually growing calmer. She had to part with precious people, but she was also distancing herself from her greatest fear.

‘I won't have to see Mr. Dalton for a while.’

Laura trembled with a sense of relief.

After the kiss in the carriage, the thought of facing Mr. Dalton again had become a terror second only to death for Laura. The moment he had clung to her, soaking her dress with his tears, the broken lid that had sealed her emotions had been torn off, hinges and all.

With the lid gone, a torrent of emotions poured out from her heart. Love—and the desperate yearning, desire, affection, and sweetness that only love could bring. Like a princess in a fairytale, cursed to an eternal sleep and awakened by a knight's kiss, a vivid ecstasy that had slumbered within Laura awoke and became her master.

That he had deceived her, that he had acted recklessly to secure her acceptance of his proposal—none of it mattered anymore. She wanted to give her entire being to him. She wanted to be his forever. She wanted to give him her love, bear his children, and even give him her life.

This was the first time in Laura's life she had felt this way.

If she were to meet him again, she would be unable to resist. She wouldn't dare say no to his proposal, and if he forced the ring on her finger again, she wouldn't even be able to take it off. Even without him threatening to kill himself, a single request would be enough to have her don a wedding dress and vow to become his wife before a minister, just as he wished.

‘But I can't make him happy.’

If she became his wife, she would be happy. To receive his love, to tend to his beautiful home together, to share a life with him. It would be a miracle.

But for him, having her would only be a loss. He would be scorned. His children, too, would be scorned because of me.

If she had something to offset the humiliation and inconvenience he would have to endure, she might have been able to muster a little courage. Something that held weight in the real world, like a vast fortune or the status of a duke's daughter. But all she had was her own humble self.

In the end, he would come to regret his marriage to her.

‘He's only human. No matter how much he loves me, if his passion cools and the inconveniences persist with little to gain, he will eventually regret it. He'll wish he could turn back time to before the wedding.’

Love is a dream, but marriage is reality. This was the conclusion Laura had reached after seeing hundreds of couples in London.

Never before had she hated her own situation, having nothing to her name, as much as she did now.

Feeling gloomy, Laura shook her head and straightened her posture. And she looked out the window. They were just passing a gentle hill where sheep grazed among rocks and dry grass.

In two hours, they would arrive at the train station. Once in Bath, she would keep herself busy. She would always eat hearty meals, read many books, and take frequent walks.

Out of sight, out of mind, Mrs. Fairfax had said. Laura hoped those words would prove true for her as well.

Laura sighed and was about to turn her gaze to the pocket watch she carried to check the time. But just as she was about to look away from the window, a four-wheeled carriage pulled by a slender black horse came into view over the hill.

“Ah…”

Laura covered her mouth with her hand. It was far away, but Laura saw the crest of the Whitefield family painted on the carriage.

With her heart pounding in anxiety, Laura watched the carriage as it moved away. Through the window, she caught a glimpse of him, his elbow resting on the windowsill, his chin in his hand.

The carriage seemed to be heading for Dunville Park. The reason for the visit was obvious. To propose again, of course. It was a tremendous relief that he hadn't seen the carriage Laura was in.

When he was gone, Laura let out a sigh of relief. Her heart felt at ease. No, she believed it was at ease.

Even though her heart was pounding and the sensation of his kiss was rekindled on her lips, Laura wanted to believe it.

It continued as she arrived at the station and boarded the train to Bath. Even as she ate two plates of lamb in the dining car and forced herself to chat with other passengers to forget her stray thoughts, a strange flush colored her cheeks.

It was as if Mr. Dalton were right there in front of her. As if he were pulling her waist close, drawing her face toward his, and kissing her.

She tried desperately to forget him, but it was no use. Laura's heart already belonged to him, completely and utterly.

***

The carriage stopped in front of the Dunville Park mansion. Mr. Dalton, who had been sitting on the seat, adjusted his tie. Dressed in a dark green suit and cleanly shaven, his face was radiant, showing no trace of the fatigue from the past few days.

It was a complexion well-suited to a man who had received his first kiss from the woman he loved and confirmed her feelings.

Tidying his neatly combed hair, he once again murmured the words he had been repeating to himself incessantly of late.

‘Laura loves me.’

A thrill swept through his entire body. His heart grew warm, and his stomach felt as satisfied as if he had eaten a warm meal after being starved.

The coachman opened the door and lowered the steps.

Humming a tune, he picked up the packages he had placed beside him. It was an enormous bouquet of flowers and a rosewood box with an embossed morning glory pattern.

Yesterday, after all the guests had left, he had picked flowers from the conservatory to make this large bouquet. Perhaps thanks to the power of love, despite never having learned the art of flower arranging, the bouquet boasted a rather harmonious beauty.

The wooden box contained a set of keys that could open every room in Whitefield. It was a set that only he and Ramswick, the butler, possessed, and Mr. Dalton had brought his own to give to Laura.

Of course, he hadn't forgotten the rejected diamond ring either. It was tucked safely in his breast pocket.

Ian stepped out of the carriage, holding the gifts for his beloved in both hands. And with a smile on his face, he walked briskly into the mansion.

He first went into the drawing room to find his sister. But there, slumped on the sofa with swollen faces, were Daniel and George, who should have been outside playing.

“What are you two doing?”

At their uncle's sudden appearance, the nephews shot up and sat straight. Ian noticed the boys were on the verge of tears.

“Did your mother say you couldn't have any snacks?”

They shook their heads.

“Then?”

George suddenly burst into tears with a sob. Daniel bit his lip, barely holding back his own tears, but they dripped from his eyes.

These weren't the sort of boys who would cry like this over just anything. He grew anxious, wondering if his nephews had caught some terrible illness.

“Daniel, what is it?”

When his fearsome uncle asked with a frown, Daniel opened his mouth, which he had kept shut to swallow his sobs.

“...*Hic*, sob... *hic*, M-Miss Sheldon...”

“The governess?”

His face contorted at once.

“Speak clearly. What about the governess?”

Daniel was too choked up with sobs to continue. He rushed over to Daniel and shook him by the shoulders.

“Tell me! What happened? Is she sick? Is she hurt?”

“*Sob*, she left! She... she left us!”

Daniel could no longer hold it in and burst out crying, wailing even louder than George.

He threw down the bouquet and the wooden box he was holding and ran out of the drawing room. Bounding up the stairs four steps at a time, he reached the second floor and ran straight into his sister's private sitting room.

His sister was sitting in a rocking chair, warming herself by the fireplace. She seemed unfazed, even upon seeing her younger brother burst in.

“I was wondering when you'd show up.”

“Laura's gone? Is it true?”

“Yes.”

He stared at his sister in disbelief.

“Why didn't you stop her? No, you should have told me when she was planning to leave in the first place!”

“Tell you so what? So you could bring a real pistol, press it to your temple, and put on a full-blown suicide show? After pulling a stunt like that, you expect a woman not to leave, you pathetic fool?”

“...No. She couldn't have left... She... loves me...”

“And what's that supposed to mean?”

“She loves me! We confirmed our feelings in the carriage on the way from Whitefield to Dunville Park. She accepted my kiss!”

Mrs. Fairfax gave him a suspicious look.

“Wasn't it because you threatened her and she had no choice?”

“She stroked my hair. She said it hurt her to see me cry!”

“Oh, that does sound a bit more convincing.”

Ian was on the verge of going mad. To leave after they had confirmed their feelings for each other. All that was left was to live happily together, so why?

He strode over to the rocking chair and gripped his sister's shoulders, which were wrapped in a fox fur shawl.

“Where did Laura go?”

“And if I knew?”

“I have to bring her back.”

Mrs. Fairfax frowned.

“You're going to drag her back by force?”

“I have to persuade her. By begging and pleading if I must...”

“And if that doesn't work, you'll threaten to kill yourself again?”

“I won't do that again.”

“Even if you say you won't, I can't tell you.”

“Why!”

Mrs. Fairfax grabbed Ian by the collar.

“Because you keep hurting the best woman in the world, you stupid fool!”

She shook him by the collar. His neatly adjusted tie was thrown into disarray, and a button popped off his shirt.

“Miss Sheldon ran away because of your reckless courtship! After shedding buckets of tears and worrying herself sick! I told you to marry her, not to torment the poor woman, did I?”

Ian pushed his sister's hands away.

“She blamed herself? Her? Why?”

“Because as the governess, she won your heart. If she likes you, she must feel a great deal of guilt about her own feelings.”