Chapter 84

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Whitefield (1)
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After breakfast, Laura asked Mrs. Fairfax for her permission. The lady, who had always maintained a ‘do as you please’ attitude regarding her children, flatly refused for some reason.

“Once that child goes to Whitefield, we hear nothing from her. Claiming she needs to copy a painting, she stays for two days. Then, invited to the vicarage, she stays for three. A chess game with her uncle in the evening extends it to four. Her stay becomes indefinite. The art and music tutors I’ve gone to the trouble of hiring always end up wasting their time.”

“Oh, dear.”

Laura sighed and looked at Olivia.

“Do you truly wish to go to Whitefield?”

“Yes! Yes! Miss Pendleton!”

Olivia exclaimed with the force of a thunderclap, her fists clenched tightly. Laura flinched in surprise.

Mrs. Fairfax raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat. Olivia quickly unclenched her fists and glanced nervously at Laura.

Sensing that some kind of signal had passed between them, Laura looked from one to the other with a puzzled expression.

“In any case, Olivia, you cannot go to Whitefield by yourself. You will wait until our next family visit.”

At that, Olivia’s head drooped, her face so forlorn she looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment. Her small shoulders slumped along with her spirits.

Forgetting the strange current she had just felt, Laura took pity on Olivia. She thought for a moment before turning to Mrs. Fairfax.

“Then, I shall accompany Miss Fairfax.”

“Oh, my, I couldn’t possibly trouble you so, Miss Pendleton….”

“Not at all, Mrs. Fairfax. When we were in London, Mr. Dalton often attended our tea parties even on dreary days to fill an empty seat. I am delighted to have the chance to return the visit.”

Mrs. Fairfax smiled gracefully.

“If that’s the case, I am relieved.”

With those words, she immediately rang a small bell on the side table next to the sofa. A moment later, a servant in uniform opened the door and entered.

“Prepare the carriage. Olivia and Miss Pendleton will be going to Whitefield.”

The servant bowed respectfully and withdrew.

Laura looked at Mrs. Fairfax in astonishment.

“M-Mrs. Fairfax.”

“Yes, Miss Pendleton?”

“I didn’t realize you meant immediately… I thought it would be next week at the earliest. We would need to ask for Mr. Dalton’s permission….”

“Permission? It’s not as if we’re strangers.”

“That’s right! Uncle would welcome you—ah, no, any member of our family—any time!”

Olivia said, taking Laura by the hand. She wanted to help her tutor choose an outfit to wear to Whitefield. Still bewildered, Laura was dragged upstairs before she could even suggest postponing the visit.

At Olivia’s suggestion, Laura put on a maroon dress she rarely wore. It was a luxurious silk dress fit for an aristocrat, one she hadn’t worn since coming to Dunville Park.

Olivia retrieved a pair of ruby earrings from her own jewelry box and put them on Laura.

Once the carriage was ready, the two adorned ladies descended the stairs.

As she walked down the staircase, Laura belatedly realized how hectically everything had transpired. Just that morning when she had opened her eyes, she’d had no inkling she would be going to Whitefield. How had things turned out this way?

‘I feel as though I’ve been swept up in a whirlwind kicked up by Mrs. Fairfax and Miss Fairfax.’

Downstairs, Mrs. Fairfax was waiting for them, wrapped snugly in a shawl. She was there to see the two ladies off. The three of them went out to the front of the mansion.

“Take your time and enjoy yourselves, Miss Pendleton. Do stay for dinner.”

“I couldn’t possibly impose for so long. We shall return before sunset.”

“Hmm, I wonder if it will rain…”

Mrs. Fairfax murmured, her voice filled more with hope than concern.

As the two ladies settled into their seats in the carriage, the coachman cracked the whip, shouting, “Hiyah!” As the carriage set off, Olivia and Laura leaned out the window. Mrs. Fairfax waved to them, and the ladies waved back until they could no longer see each other.

The carriage sped along the forest path of Dunville Park. Even with the windows closed, the sound of branches and leaves brushing against the panes echoed inside. Listening to the sound, Laura recalled that this was the first time she had left the grounds of Dunville Park since her arrival. It had already been two months.

Olivia, sitting opposite her, was in high spirits, humming a cheerful tune.

*How sweet. She must be so excited to visit her uncle.*

Laura smiled faintly to herself, admitting that her own heart was beginning to flutter with a bit of excitement. While the thought of going had filled her with hesitation back at the mansion, now that she was in the carriage, she felt a sense of anticipation. An unexpected outing. Whitefield, awaiting her. And the master of Whitefield she would meet there, Mr. Dalton.

‘What is he like in his own home?’

As the carriage left Dunville Park, a wide-open landscape unfolded on both sides. Green mountain peaks and verdant fields. Flocks of sheep grazing and a shepherd tending to them. A lake shimmering under the brilliant late-summer sun. It was a beautiful drive.

The carriage traveled for some time, crossing a gentle hill and an arched bridge over a stream. Laura exchanged occasional pleasantries with Olivia, but for the most part, she sat quietly, taking in the scenery outside the window. The natural landscape, as yet untouched by the hand of modernization, had captivated her.

Yorkshire was a beautiful place. It might not have been as sophisticated as the cutting-edge city of London, but it possessed a primordial nature, pure and endowed with an enduring power. Laura felt she could understand why Mr. Dalton, even while in London, had been so eager to return to his home. Compared to the magic of nature, the amusements of the city were but worthless pleasures.

After about an hour’s ride, the carriage entered a village. It was a charming place, with small shops, houses, a few steeples, and a mill, all clustered together in a quaint collection of buildings large and small.

Olivia, sitting opposite her, spoke.

“We’ll be at Whitefield soon, Miss Pendleton.”

Laura nodded. The carriage soon passed the church in the center of the village and the large cemetery adjacent to it. But then Olivia, who had been looking out the window, suddenly shouted for the coachman to stop. She leaned her head far out of the window.

“Mrs. Starr!”

A woman walking toward the church with her arms full of flowers turned toward the carriage. She was a slender woman in a chiffon dress adorned with a colorful floral pattern. Recognizing who had called her from inside the carriage, she broke into a wide smile and trotted over.

“Miss Fairfax!”

Mrs. Starr stood beside Olivia and curtsied lightly.

Miss Fairfax asked after the affairs of the vicarage, from which Laura easily deduced that Mrs. Starr was the wife of the Whitefield parish vicar.

She was a woman with sky-blue eyes and a wealth of smooth, red hair. Though her features were simple, her clear skin and expressive face made her appear quite charming. She seemed overly cheerful for a vicar’s wife, but her speech was refined and her bright smile was more than enough to win the favor of others.

“Mrs. Starr, this is my governess, Miss Laura Pendleton. Miss Pendleton, this is Mrs. Olivia Starr, the wife of our new vicar.”

“Ah, you share the same name.”

Olivia nodded.

“That’s how we became friends.”

Laura gave a slight bow to Mrs. Starr, who smiled back at her. Olivia added.

“Oh, and Mrs. Starr, she is also a friend of my uncle.”

“Your uncle, you mean Mr. William Fairfax?”

“Both Uncle William and Uncle Ian. She came to our house through Uncle Ian’s introduction. Today, we have both been formally invited to Whitefield Hall.”

Mrs. Starr’s eyes widened as she looked at Laura. Her gaze was different from the merely friendly one of a moment ago. It now held a measure of respect.

“A friend of Mr. Ian Dalton! I am so very pleased to meet you. A friend of his is a friend of ours. You must come for tea with Miss Fairfax sometime. Our housekeeper makes the most divine berry cake. You won’t be disappointed, I assure you.”

“If you invite me, I shall certainly come, Mrs. Starr.”

“Then I shall send an invitation to you both within the month. You must come, you simply must!”

Laura nodded. Mrs. Starr chatted cheerfully for a few more moments before curtsying and taking her leave.

Laura smiled at Olivia.

“She is a very sociable person.”

“Isn’t she? If you visit, she probably won’t let you leave for half a day. She is very fond of my uncle. Oh, but not in a romantic way. The vicar and his wife are passionately in love with each other. So much so that their love has become a source of amusement for people.”

Excited to be on an outing with her governess, Olivia chirped on about the local gossip without being asked.

“Miss Cofield from the choir told me that she was picking strawberries with her friends at the lakeside patch this spring. She happened to see Reverend and Mrs. Starr taking a stroll nearby. Miss Cofield and her friends were about to approach them to say hello. But just as they were about to call out, do you know what the two of them did? They suddenly embraced and shared a French kiss! You know, with their tongues…”

“Miss Fairfax.”

Laura gently admonished Olivia. Realizing her slip, Olivia cleared her throat, embarrassed.

“Anyway, Mrs. Starr holds my uncle in very high regard. In fact, there’s hardly anyone in this town who doesn’t.”

“Mr. Dalton seems to have an excellent reputation.”

“Of course. My uncle is a very diligent landlord. He frequently interacts with the villagers and offers them his help. People are unanimous in calling him a gentleman among gentlemen.”

The carriage moved on. As the village receded, fields, farms, and their adjoining cottages came into view. Olivia pointed out each farm, explaining what crops were grown and what livestock were raised there. When Laura asked in surprise how she knew all that, Olivia replied.

“My uncle told me.”

“Ah, I recall you mentioning that Mr. Dalton is close with the farmers.”

“‘Close’ is an understatement. They are practically his own family. He knows the ins and outs of every household. He is often invited to their homes, never misses a baptism, and frequently provides advice on investments and business matters.”

While Olivia chattered on, the carriage passed the farms and entered an avenue lined with dense trees on both sides. The thick foliage cast the inside of the carriage into a sudden gloom, as if a curtain had been drawn. Laura smiled, watching the small stream and bushes that peeked through the trees.

*What a truly pleasant place this is.*

However, as the road ended and they crossed a small field to enter a wooded area, the smile vanished from her lips. At the same time, her gray eyes widened, and her full, pink lips parted slightly.

Birch trees, standing in dense rows, blanketed the world around them.