Chapter 76

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: A New Life (7)
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When they reached the lake, they each chose a suitable stone for skipping. The boys began to skip stones, and Mr. Dalton, who had been watching quietly, approached them to teach them about posture and angle. In a rather serious atmosphere, the boys obediently followed their uncle's instructions.

Laura watched Daniel and George closely. They meekly followed their uncle's words. At first, she thought they were afraid of their strict uncle, but as she observed, she realized that wasn't the case.

They would sometimes stare at their uncle. Glancing at him furtively, as if trying to read his expression. They followed their uncle's teachings with a mix of fear and eagerness. But with the occasional small acknowledgment and encouragement from their uncle, their eyes would sparkle for a moment. Laura watched their eyes carefully. In the boys' gazes toward their uncle, there was admiration. The admiration for an adult man who was much bigger, smarter, and stronger than they were.

They began to throw stones across the water's surface as their uncle had taught them. The stones skipped, *thump, thump*, across the water. Excited, they became engrossed in skipping stones.

Mr. Dalton stepped back and came to Laura's side. The two of them stood quietly, watching the boys. The backs of the boys as they diligently threw stones toward the lake. The gentle ripples spreading as the stones hit the surface.

Mr. Dalton was the first to break the silence.

“This is where I first skipped stones.”

“At this lake?”

“Yes. With William. I believe I was eight.”

“Even younger than Daniel and George are now. Was there someone to teach you then? Like you are for those boys?”

“My brother-in-law took on that role. He was as mad about hunting then as he is now, but he paid me some mind whenever I visited. His own way of treating a brother-in-law, I suppose.”

“Coming to Dunville Park must feel like returning to your childhood.”

“That's right. I have more memories of my boyhood at Dunville Park than at Whitefield, actually.”

The two stood in silence, watching the two little ones skip stones.

She tried to imagine a young Ian Dalton. It was difficult to picture, conscious as she was of the adult man standing beside her, a head taller and with broad shoulders. She tried to paint an outline over the image of the two boys before her.

A build like George's, with jet-black hair and eyes, ivory skin clearer than it was now, and a lovely, delicate face. A serious boy who didn't laugh easily at trivial things. But when he was skipping stones in the river with his friend and relation, little William, he must have been just like any other eight-year-old boy.

*'He must have been cute.'*

The thought came to her unbidden, and she pressed her lips together tightly, afraid it might slip out. But even if the words didn't escape, she couldn't suppress the smile that blossomed on its own.

He must have been cute. Truly adorable. Even now, he possessed such delicate features; as a child, he must have been a truly beautiful boy. And his cheeks would have been plump with baby fat.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

Mr. Dalton looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Ah… I was just imagining two little gentlemen skipping stones like those boys. I only met you and Mr. Fairfax after you were grown, so I only see you as respected gentlemen. The thought that you might have had a time like that… it's just…”

“Just what?”

“It gives me a ticklish feeling, Mr. Dalton.”

“A ticklish feeling. That's a curious expression.”

“It's just a feeling, don't think too much of it.”

“No, I think I understand. I sometimes find myself imagining your childhood when I look at you, Miss Pendleton.”

“My childhood?”

“Yes.”

“What is my childhood like in your imagination, Mr. Dalton?”

“A neat and proper young lady with her hair in two braids, who never spilled a single crumb on her clothes. A quiet bookworm who preferred reading in her room even when friends asked her to play in the woods, an introverted girl who liked small animals but was afraid of large ones, like horses. Is my imagination correct?”

“Only one part.”

Mr. Dalton let out a disappointed “hmm.”

“Only one… What did I get right?”

“Being afraid of horses. I'm still afraid of them. That's why I never learned to ride.”

“Then the rest? Was it all wrong?”

“Whenever I ate sweets, my skirt would always get messy, so after snack time, I'd always have to lift the hem and shake it out by the window. The birds would gather near my window whenever it was time for a snack. And, while I did love books, it wasn't to the point of refusing a chance to play outside. I loved running around outdoors. On picnics during my school days, I would volunteer to row the boat, and I even played cricket.”

“You even played cricket?”

“Hard to believe, isn't it?”

“To be honest, I can't imagine it at all.”

“But it's true. I just didn't have many opportunities.”

“Then, what about small animals? Did you not like them?”

“I didn't dislike them. I would sometimes feed stray cats and watch the chicks in the henhouse. But I preferred livestock on the dinner table to live animals.”

Mr. Dalton chuckled softly, and Laura laughed with him.

“It seems I had several preconceptions about you, Miss Pendleton. You are such a perfect lady now, I assumed you must have been much the same as a child.”

“Everyone does that. I also imagined your childhood based on how you are now.”

“How did you imagine it?”

“Do you want to hear?”

Mr. Dalton nodded. Laura thought for a moment, then told him exactly what she had imagined. After listening to her whole story, Mr. Dalton gave a gentle smile.

“You have good powers of deduction, Miss Pendleton. You were right about everything but one.”

“Really? Then what was my wrong answer?”

“I wasn't quite that cute.”

Laura let out a small laugh.

“You're lying, aren't you? You're just embarrassed to admit you were cute as a child.”

“No. It's true. I really wasn't cute.”

But Laura gave him a skeptical look, as if she didn't believe him.

“If you really can't believe me, come to Whitefield. I have photographs from my childhood, so you can see for yourself whether I'm lying or not.”

“That's a very peculiar way to extend an invitation, Mr. Dalton.”

“It's because you're a difficult person to invite otherwise.”

“You see right through me, Mr. Dalton.”

Silence enveloped them once more. With anyone else, it might have been awkward, but Laura didn't find the silence she shared with him uncomfortable at all. In fact, she felt a sense of great comfort from Mr. Dalton's presence so close by. It was strangely soothing to be standing there with him.

*Perhaps I was more tired than I thought, living amongst strangers, no matter how comfortable it was. Just having Mr. Dalton, whom I've known for so long, by my side brings such a sense of stability. No, it's not that. Could it be...*

Laura glanced up at Ian beside her. Ian's handsome profile as he gazed at the lake. The sight of him made her body relax as if warm water had been poured over her head, and a slow heat began to rise within her. A feeling that was both comfortable and sweet. It was a sensation she hadn't felt the entire time she'd been at Dunville Park.

In the distance, the sunset began to paint the sky. The two told the children it was time to go inside, and the boys obediently put down their stones and followed them.

They crossed the garden and returned to the manor. Laura and the two boys went to their respective rooms to wash up and change out of their dirty clothes before dinner. Left alone, Ian walked familiarly through the hall to the large glass window of Dunville Park's main hall.

Beyond the window, evening was descending upon Dunville Park, along with a sinking sun that painted the sky a sweet orange.

Ian watched the setting sun, overcome by an unfamiliar feeling. To feel this way at Dunville Park, a place he had frequented like his own home for over twenty years. Every pattern on the window frame, every view outside the window was as familiar to him as his own. Nothing had changed. It was strange.

No, one thing had changed. One new person had come here.

He thought of her, who had just gone up the stairs. By now, she would have found her way into one of Dunville Park's many rooms. And in that room, where her belongings, unpacked from her suitcase, welcomed their owner from every corner, she would be preparing for dinner. Letting down her hair, asking a servant to prepare her bath.

Ian clenched his fists. His heart was pounding, and every nerve in his body was alight with joy. That she was living here, in the region where he was born and raised, so close to his own lands—he still couldn't believe it was real. Even after seeing her with his own two eyes today, walking in the woods with his nephews. She was living here, where he had spent his childhood. She… Laura Pendleton.

“Hello, little brother?”

Pulled from his euphoric state by the familiar voice, Ian turned. And replied dryly.

“Hello, sister.”

Mrs. Fairfax, wrapped in a thick shawl despite the midsummer heat, was grinning at her younger brother.

“Why are you standing there looking so dramatic? You're not thinking something like, 'The woman I love is living in the manor where I spent my childhood, how euphoric,' are you?”

“Do you take me for someone so childish?”

Ian denied it nonchalantly. But he couldn't fool the eyes of Mrs. Fairfax, who had looked after him since he was in swaddling clothes. She chuckled and led her younger brother toward the drawing-room. Sitting by the hearth where a fire blazed, Mrs. Fairfax asked her brother, who sat opposite her.

“What took you so long, Ian? I was sure you'd be punching the clock at Dunville Park every other day.”

“If I started visiting Dunville Park the moment she arrived, it would arouse suspicion.”

“True, she's a smart woman. She might notice.”

Ian finally asked the question that had been driving him mad with curiosity for days.

“How has Miss Pendleton been?”

Mrs. Fairfax recounted the events of the past few days. How Laura went to the woods every day to run and play with George and Daniel, how she met little Ian. And how she had taken over Olivia's French lessons.

“I was quite worried at first. Such a delicate lady, slender as a willow branch, running and tumbling with those boisterous boys every day. I thought she might collapse. But she's handling it surprisingly well. I heard from Daniel the other day that their teacher climbed the elm tree and tapped the top. You know, the one that's over a hundred years old, the one you and Master William used to climb every day when you were little. Can you imagine?”