Chapter 46

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Fallen Veil (1)
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Miss Pendleton nodded. Her uncle hummed, looking down at Miss Pendleton.

“Why is that?”

“Because I do not wish to be his wife.”

“Why?”

“I feel nothing for him but the respect due to an elder.”

Gerald Pendleton studied his niece’s face. Her eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, ears, her hair—all of it. As if appraising an object. Though she felt something akin to humiliation under his gaze, Miss Pendleton bore it silently.

At last, her uncle spoke.

“I can understand why you might feel a bit of vanity whenever you look in the mirror, but it’s not good to be too calculating. You are an illegitimate child with no dowry. As I told you before, if you expect anything from me, you had best abandon that notion.”

Miss Pendleton maintained her composure as best she could.

“Do not worry. I have never expected such a thing.”

“Then why not accept Tom’s proposal?”

Miss Pendleton shook her head.

“That is my private affair. I am under no obligation to explain.”

“How insolent.”

“I apologize, Uncle,”

Miss Pendleton said drily, then continued.

“But as you are a man of dignity, you must know well. A lady has the freedom to refuse a proposal and the right to have that decision respected. Forgive my impertinence, but I am still a lady. Please respect my rights, Uncle.”

Her uncle glared at her for a moment, his expression clearly showing that his niece’s words had displeased him.

But there was not a single thing wrong with what she had said. It was the most powerful right a lady could wield in society. The freedom to refuse a suitor. A true gentleman was not to press the matter.

Just as Miss Pendleton had predicted, her uncle backed down.

“There is no need to remind me of a gentleman’s duty, Laura Pendleton. I know as much about a lady’s rights as you do. However, I will offer this advice as your uncle. Playing coy with suitors to raise your worth is not a game for someone in your position. It is true that Tom Price is much older than you, but in your circumstances, you should be grateful for his interest. Stop keeping him in suspense and accept Tom’s proposal.”

Her uncle went into his room. Miss Pendleton stood still for some time, insult churning in her stomach. Why did Mr. Price and her uncle both see her intentions as nothing more than a shallow ploy to raise her value? Because she was past the prime age for marriage, and because she had no money?

She bit her lip. No matter what they said, she could not compromise the convictions she had established regarding marriage. Just as she had no intention of marrying above her station, she had no intention of selling herself to just any man for money.

To build a nest with a man with whom she was emotionally and temperamentally incompatible… she had seen far too many cases where such marriages led to misery.

She let out a sigh and returned to her room.

***

“Now, what about this one, Miss Pendleton?”

Miss Jensen approached Miss Pendleton with light steps and spun around. Seated on the sofa, Miss Pendleton looked at her dress. It was of red satin, adorned here and there with black feathers. A matching red hat with a black veil completed the set.

“It looks like an opera costume.”

At Miss Pendleton’s words, Miss Jensen tossed the hat onto the bed and flopped down on her back, limbs spread wide. With a rustle, the voluminous skirt was crushed beneath Miss Jensen's body.

“You’ll ruin the dress.”

“What does it matter if it’s ruined? I can’t wear it out anyway.”

Miss Jensen grumbled.

“I was so sure it would be perfectly acceptable in London when I brought it. The yellow satin dress, too. And the black evening dress, and the green bustle dress! To think that the most respectable dresses in New York society have become stage costumes in London!”

“Respectable dresses… For what it’s worth, New York society must be quite a remarkable place.”

Miss Pendleton murmured, her voice lacking energy.

When Miss Jensen had first asked her to look at dresses for the ball, now only a day away, she had thought her job would be to simply sit, admire the clothes, and offer a few comments. She hadn’t known then what state the dresses in the one trunk Miss Jensen had managed to bring with her were in.

Miss Pendleton mentally reviewed the dresses Miss Jensen had tried on. A yellow satin dress hung all over with white netting, a black evening dress densely embroidered with crimson thread, a green bustle dress flaunting three-dimensional rose ornaments.

Every single one was so gaudy that it made her head spin just to look at them.

When Miss Pendleton first saw the dresses Miss Jensen brought out, she thought it was a joke and chuckled. But when she realized Miss Jensen was serious, she grew concerned, and as she saw the state of the subsequent dresses, she was left speechless.

They looked like stage costumes. Every last one of them.

It was a predicament. A gown was essential for attending a ball, but every single one of her dresses was the sort that would make her a laughingstock.

As for having a new one made, every dressmaker in London was currently swamped with orders. There was nowhere to procure a proper dress.

“Oh, Miss Pendleton. You’ve arrived!”

Just as Miss Pendleton was holding her head in her hands, deep in thought, a middle-aged woman entered Miss Jensen’s room. Still lying down, Miss Jensen made the introduction.

“This is Mrs. Nisley, my godfather’s younger sister.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Nisley.”

“Oh, my! It’s a, a pleasure, Miss Pendleton! For you to come to such a humble place…”

The middle-aged Mrs. Nisley fidgeted, unsure of what to do. To her, a member of the new gentry living on the outskirts of London, Miss Pendleton of the Earl’s family, who lived on Grosvenor Street, was no different from royalty.

“Please don’t say that. I should be the one apologizing for visiting so suddenly when the lady of the house is not present.”

“Not at all, not at all. If only Joan had given me proper notice, I would have prepared a grand welcome. I do hope our servants have not been rude in any way…?”

“I have received nothing but the finest hospitality. Please, calm yourself.”

“Yes, please calm down, Aunt. If you keep on like this, you’ll only make Miss Pendleton uncomfortable. Stop it, and please help me with my dress problem. It’s a disaster.”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“She says none of my dresses are wearable, can you believe it?”

“Why? I thought they were all pretty.”

“She says they’re not suitable for London society.”

“Is that so? Hmm, when I made my debut, everyone dressed much like this.”

“When did you make your debut, Aunt?”

“About thirty years ago?”

“Good heavens, was it that long ago?”

“It was. Right after I was married.”

Mrs. Nisley reminisced. Her first foray into high society with her husband, who had made a fortune in publishing. Memories stained with cold shoulders, ridicule, and humiliation. She thought money could buy her way in, but no matter how hard she tried, she gained nothing but whispers of being a parvenu.

Wisely, she had soon given up on society and chosen to grow old comfortably, mingling with wives of the new gentry like herself.

Still, a part of her harbored a deep admiration for the aristocracy. Especially when she saw a lady from a distinguished family like Miss Pendleton, the yearning for nobility within her would burst forth uncontrollably.

Hardly daring to look at her directly, she observed Miss Pendleton’s elegant form out of the corner of her eye, her heart fluttering.

Meanwhile, while Mrs. Nisley and Miss Jensen were talking, Miss Pendleton, who had been deep in thought, finally came up with a solution to the dress problem.

“Do you have a skilled seamstress in this house, madam?”

Startled by the noble lady’s sudden question, Mrs. Nisley stammered.

“Ah, well, there’s a girl in the laundry with nimble fingers… but she’s not exceptionally talented…”

“If it’s not an imposition, could you please call for her?”

At Miss Pendleton’s request, Mrs. Nisley immediately instructed a servant outside the door to fetch the seamstress.

In the meantime, Miss Pendleton went into Miss Jensen’s dressing room. She saw the yellow satin dress, carelessly discarded in a corner of the room. She brought it back with her.

“Let’s remove all the netting from this yellow satin dress. And then we can add different decorations.”

Lying on the bed, Miss Jensen pushed herself halfway up.

“Add decorations? You mean, alter it?”

“Yes. With so little time, it’s our only option.”

A soft knock came at the door, and a middle-aged maid entered. It was the seamstress Miss Pendleton had asked for. Miss Pendleton requested that she remove all the decorations from the dress. While she worked, Miss Pendleton opened a small trunk she had brought just in case and placed beside the sofa.

Inside were all sorts of laces, frills, mesh, and a sewing kit.

“Miss Pendleton, what is all this?”

“These are materials we use at home to alter dresses.”

“You alter them? You don’t have new ones made?”

“I don’t throw clothes away unless they are quite worn out.”

The seamstress removed all the decorations from the dress. Once they were gone, it was a simple yellow satin dress. Miss Pendleton studied it thoughtfully for a moment, then began to examine the laces she had brought. She picked out the most brilliant ones and held them up against the dress one by one.

The women in the room held their breath, watching Miss Pendleton. After trying both a rose pattern and a camellia pattern, Miss Pendleton made her decision.

“The camellia pattern will be best. It complements the dress material and is of the highest quality. Here, please attach this along the hem of the dress.”

The seamstress immediately set to work. While she did, Miss Pendleton went back into Miss Jensen’s dressing room and began to rummage through her accessory box. Ten minutes later, she emerged with a selection of gloves, shoes, and hair ornaments that would match the dress.

Soon, the nimble-fingered seamstress had attached the elegant lace where the bizarre netting had been. Miss Pendleton handed Miss Jensen the dress and the accessories she had chosen and told her to put everything on.

A short while later, Miss Jensen walked out of the dressing room. She was completely transformed. A radiant yellow satin dress with a tasteful camellia lace trim. Pearlescent ballroom gloves dotted with tiny jewels, cute black shoes with yellow ribbon accents. A silver rose ornament held her hair in an updo.

Mrs. Nisley exclaimed.

“My, Joan looks so refined, like a different person!”

Miss Jensen covered her mouth with her hand and giggled.

“Oh, really? At this rate, I might just be courted by some other London gentleman!”

Mrs. Nisley let out a hearty laugh at her words.

Instead of joining in, Miss Pendleton observed Miss Jensen intently. She went back into the dressing room and returned after a rustle of activity. In her hands were a rustling, translucent shawl and a diamond brooch.

Miss Pendleton pinned the brooch to Miss Jensen’s dress and draped the shawl around her shoulders. Then she stepped back to look at her once more. Splendor was added to elegance.

*Yes, this is a look befitting a ball.*