Chapter 19
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 19
“Isn’t that Miss Stanley?”
At Rosalyn’s hushed whisper, Vanessa reluctantly turned. Sure enough, the woman who had just entered the coffeehouse was the third daughter of the House of Stanley. To her surprise, she was arm-in-arm with a young man in an officer’s uniform. Wary of prying eyes, they chose a table in the farthest corner.
Rosalyn carefully reached out and slid the partition between their tables a little closer.
“That man with her… do you know who he is?”
“He has the look of a Beaufort or a Seymour.”
“But Miss Stanley is engaged to Ethan Harley. I heard he enlisted as well.”
“That is definitely not Ethan. He’s in Dicen right now,” Rosalyn replied coolly, raising an eyebrow.
Vanessa glanced at Rosalyn, surprised. She had assumed Rosalyn had cut all ties with Ethan Harley after his engagement. Noticing her stare, Rosalyn’s cheeks flushed as she added, “He… writes to me occasionally.”
Blair let out a loud snort, and Miss Stanley, who had been studying the menu, snapped her head up. Their eyes almost met, but Vanessa quickly lifted her bag, pretending to rummage through it to hide her face.
Apparently sensing their scrutiny, Miss Stanley and her companion canceled their order and rose to leave. They hailed a carriage on the street and were gone in moments. Only then did the three of them straighten their hunched postures. Blair rolled his stiff shoulders and remarked nonchalantly, “I wouldn’t have expected that from Miss Stanley. I always thought she was such a quiet and proper lady.”
Seeing Rosalyn lost in thought, Vanessa gently nudged her arm.
“Rosalyn, don’t get involved in their business.”
“I don’t intend to,” Rosalyn replied gloomily. “Knowing Ethan, he wouldn’t believe it unless he saw it with his own eyes. He’d just think I was slandering her.”
Blair shrugged. “Well, there’s no law against a brief fling before marriage. I doubt it’s serious for either of them. Judging by his attire, that man wasn’t even a noble.”
“Even so, to associate with a commoner…” Rosalyn began haughtily, biting her trembling lip. She couldn’t hold it in. “How disgusting.”
“If she ends up pregnant, poor Miss Stanley will be the only one ruined,” Blair added casually.
Rosalyn let out a cold laugh at his nonchalance. “Blair. As much as I dislike the woman, let’s not wish such a terrible thing upon her.”
“Why not? Remember that huge scandal a few years ago? At least that was with her fiancé, and he had the decency to rush the wedding. The bride nearly walked down the aisle with a swollen belly.”
Vanessa bit her lip hard. She knew they weren’t talking about her, but every word landed like a personal warning.
Just then, a server arrived with their order, placing glass bowls of lemon sherbet before them. Grateful for the interruption, Vanessa quickly picked up her spoon.
“By the way, Vanessa,” Blair began.
Vanessa flinched and looked up.
“This applies to you, too. If you’re really considering such a plan, you should discard it immediately.”
“…What?”
Rosalyn cut Blair off, shooting him an annoyed look. “If you’re going to do something like that, it’s better to just run away,” she said quickly. “If you disappear, at least you might get some sympathy as the victim of a crime.”
“To live like that, I’d have to leave Ingram. And I don’t want to do that.”
“Because of your parents’ graves?”
“You know how much they mean to me.”
Rosalyn quietly suppressed a sigh. Vanessa’s devotion to her family was an old habit, one that had become almost instinctual. With no one left to receive her affection, she clung to the memories of the dead, unable to let go.
She’s living as if she were dead, her heart no different from a nun who has vowed to guard an altar for life. Rosalyn had long known her parents’ deaths had left a deep wound in Vanessa, but she hadn’t realized how blindly it still bound her.
She narrowed her eyes, studying Vanessa, who looked as flustered as if she’d been caught in a mortal sin. It was a feeling Rosalyn might never truly understand, but imagining the loss of Blair gave her a faint, chilling glimpse of it.
“Anyway, think about other options,” Rosalyn said. “Like I told you before, you could always keep a lover.”
“I agree, Vanessa. Marriage might not be all bad,” Blair chimed in, speaking as if he’d been following the entire conversation. He took an elegant sip of his coffee and lifted his chin with a worldly air. “You only need to fulfill your duties to the bare minimum. Isn’t that right?”
After a moment of stunned silence, Vanessa let out a chuckle. “Rosalyn, just listen to your brother. The great heir of Winchester, talking like that.”
“This isn’t about family matters,” Blair insisted. “This is about us, Vanessa.”
Vanessa offered a faint smile, tracing a line through the condensation on her glass bowl. Warmed by the sultry air, the sherbet had already grown lukewarm. Blair reached across the table and took her damp finger in his hand.
“Thanks to our mothers’ friendship, the three of us have been together since the cradle,” he said softly. “All your firsts were mine, and all my firsts were yours.”
His touch felt damp and uncomfortable, stinging slightly. It reminded her of the promise that had long since vanished—the shallow friendship between their mothers that had scattered with death. The vow to marry their children when they came of age had been discarded like a worn-out shoe the moment the Somerset name was dragged through the mud.
Now, the Marchioness Winchester often shot disapproving looks their way whenever they were together, as if wondering what a girl raised by a debauched uncle could have possibly learned. As if she were looking at a tainted woman who would corrupt her precious son.
“I want us to keep living like this,” he continued. “Going on vacations together, just like always.”
As Vanessa sat there, dazed, her hand still in his, Blair playfully nipped her fingertip. A warm breath ghosted over the exact spot where River Ross’s lips had been.
She flinched, pulling her hand away at the unsettling sensation. He just chuckled softly, as if her innocent reaction was precisely what he’d wanted.
Rosalyn frowned, a flash of disgust crossing her face at her brother’s behavior before she quickly smoothed her expression.
“Whatever you decide, you don’t have to do it right now,” Rosalyn said, changing the subject. “Just get married and go to university as planned. That will buy you time. You can delay… married life… for as long as you’re studying.”
Whether Count Roden would even tolerate his wife attending university was the first problem, Vanessa thought. But there was an even more immediate one.
“I’ve always wanted to go to university, but I don’t think it’s possible right now. I have to raise the admission fee.”
“Admission fee? You’re joking.”
“Surprisingly, I’m serious, Blair Winchester.”
“You’re really going to give up on university because of money?”
“I didn’t say I was giving up. I’ll go… later.”
“That’s the same thing.”
After a tense silence, Blair looked up abruptly. “If you need money, why not get a proper job? A governess, a clerk, a secretary… something like that. It would be much more stable than serializing novels.”
“Blair,” Rosalyn chided. “Those jobs are for the working poor. Vanessa’s situation is different.”
At her prim remark, Vanessa said nothing. Rosalyn’s views on labor were perfectly aligned with those of the Ingram nobility: even for a member of a ruined family, working to earn money, rather than as a hobby, was a disgrace. Nobles, regardless of rank, were meant to employ others, not be employed themselves—not to receive a salary and take orders.
“She just wants to gain some social experience,” Rosalyn continued, glancing contemptuously at the servers bustling between tables. “How can you lump her in with people who work just to survive?” She turned her head elegantly toward Vanessa. “Isn’t that right?”
She was wrong. In truth, Vanessa would have been desperate for any of those opportunities.
Nevertheless, she managed a smile and nodded. “Of course.”
Satisfied, Rosalyn took a large spoonful of her sherbet. Vanessa did the same, swallowing the now-melted ice. It was strange. The sherbet had been so sweet just a moment ago, but now, she couldn’t taste a thing.
* * *
As spring bled into summer, brief showers became more frequent. It was the time of year just before the oppressive heat set in, when tiny flower buds and wild berries began to sprout with new life. Change was also coming to the gardens of Gloucester Castle.
In Linus Forest, which bordered the castle grounds, wild raspberries, apricots, and tiny peaches grew in abundance. Plum trees, persimmon blossoms, and the pale green buds of crabapples heralded the new season. Throughout Gloucester Castle, the servants threw open the windows that had been sealed all spring, letting the warm air rush in.
It was an unusually sunny day, with a heat that felt more like midsummer. The exterior construction, which had been underway since morning, was eventually halted as the midday humidity became unbearable. Laborers and servants alike decided to head to the river to fish and swim. A group of excited maids ran to Vanessa, asking to postpone their afternoon chores for a few hours.
“Would that be all right, my lady?”
This little rebellion was happening less than a day after Count Somerset had left for the capital with his butler. Vanessa noted Rosalyn’s appalled expression—no doubt thinking they only sought “my lady’s” permission when they wanted someone to take responsibility—but she readily gave her consent.
“All right. Just don’t stay out too late.”
“What would you like for lunch, my lady? We were just going to have simple sandwiches.”
“Just pack some of what you’re having into a basket and send it up. Enough for two or three people should be fine.”
“You should come out with me for a proper lunch instead. Don’t you dare try to make that last until dinner.” Rosalyn, who had been modeling a new hat in the mirror, turned around with a frown.
Vanessa shrugged. “Sissy came all this way to see you and Blair. She’ll feel uncomfortable if I’m there.”
“She is truly devoted, isn’t she? Traveling all the way down here just to see us before we set sail.”
“She likes you both very much.”
“She’s far too good for Blair… So, you’re really not coming?”
“Have fun. Tell me all about it when you get back.”
Once she’d chosen a hat to match her dress, Rosalyn was ready in an instant. Vanessa saw her off, enduring a final string of warnings before the car pulled away. After it was gone, silence descended. The entire castle was quiet. It seemed everyone, from the youngest footman to the kitchen maids, had eagerly escaped to the river.
Vanessa’s gaze drifted from the empty corridor to the guards patrolling the castle perimeter. With an expression that held no name for its own desires, she watched their sun-beaten faces for a long time.