Chapter 83
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 83
“I’m going to Linden.”
Her voice was the very picture of elegance. At her sudden declaration, the greedy scraping of cutlery against a plate, mopping up the last of the sauce, came to an abrupt halt. Wyatt stared at his niece, looking her up and down as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.
“…What did you say?”
“I said that I need to make a trip to Linden.”
Unfazed by his sharp reaction, Vanessa lifted her water glass and took a slow sip. Before her uncle could mistake her composure for defiance, she continued.
“I plan to visit the Duke.”
The Duke. The word trembled on her breath. Fortunately, Wyatt didn’t seem to notice. A flicker of anger ignited within him at his niece’s audacity to voice her own opinion, but it was quickly extinguished by the sheer weight of the title she had invoked. The tension in his hand, which had been gripping his fork, eased.
“…”
Wyatt fell silent for a long moment, his eyes narrowed. He didn’t even bother asking the obvious questions of how or why she was meeting the Duke.
Vanessa cut a bite-sized piece of trout from her plate and ate it before speaking again.
“Before it’s too late.”
“…Too late?”
“The Navy’s summer leave is ending soon. If I take the morning train from Bath Station, I should arrive in Linden by evening. I’ll take Mary with me, so you’ll have nothing to worry about. With your permission, of course, Uncle.”
Though her explanation was lengthy, his harsh demeanor visibly softened at the word “permission.” He seemed pleased, taking it as the result of the years he’d spent conditioning her to never dream of defiance.
Wyatt tapped his fingers on the table, tok, tok, as if weighing his options. A moment later, his calculations seemingly complete, he nodded, his expression considerably more relaxed.
“A train? Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll have a car sent for you. Mary is needed to assist the butler, so you’d best take another maid. And if your plans change for any reason, you are to call and inform me immediately.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“In exchange, I’ll write a letter for you to deliver to the Duke. This works out perfectly—I haven’t been able to get in touch with him. When did you say you would leave?”
“I plan to leave as soon as we finish this meal.”
“Harold!”
He rang a silver bell, and the butler, who had been waiting by the door, entered at once.
“Get the car ready immediately. The driver, too.”
Vanessa smiled at Wyatt and offered a polite thank you. Then, excusing herself to prepare for her departure, she quickly left the room.
The moment she opened the dining room door and saw the empty hallway, the nausea she had been holding back surged. Her cold lips trembled. Vanessa gripped the banister to steady herself, fighting to even out her ragged breaths. A wave of revulsion washed over her, but she forced it down.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Young Lady. My name is Emily.”
The maid sent to replace Mary was a scrawny girl who looked no older than fourteen. Vanessa noticed the grime still under her fingernails. New hires were always more loyal to her uncle.
It seemed her uncle had finally decided that Mary’s surveillance alone was not enough.
“I hear a horn. It seems the car is ready.”
At the maid’s urging, Vanessa picked up the handbag she had packed in advance and headed downstairs. The car wasn’t the usual old model but a new one he had purchased recently. There was only one reason he had so readily offered it.
‘It’s for the Duke’s benefit, of course. He’s wrapping me in a pretty package to drive up my price however he can.’
It was a scathing thought, but an undeniable one. Vanessa received her uncle’s letter from Harold and settled into the car. It soon pulled away smoothly.
The maid began to doze off around the time they left Bath, and the driver, Alman, was a man of few words. Thanks to them, she had ample time to sort through the thoughts she had been trying to suppress. The color slowly drained from the lips that had been fixed in a polite smile, pretending everything was fine.
‘Did Uncle know from the beginning?’
Perhaps he had. It made no sense for a man as powerful as the Duke to stay in Gloucester unless there had been some prior agreement. If so, then that agreement must have been the price for her…
Vanessa let out a dry, brittle laugh. The thought was insane. She herself had been the one to propose such a relationship to “River Ross.” Even her uncle couldn’t have been calculating enough to orchestrate all of that and ensnare the Duke. Besides, a man who groveled before the Winchesters would never have let the Duke continue to stay in that shabby warehouse if he’d known his true identity.
‘Could it be…?’
Her breath hitched at a sudden, terrible possibility. Had her uncle discovered their relationship and used it to blackmail the Duke? Was the Duke merely caught in the crossfire? It was a highly plausible theory. Her reflection in the window was no longer just pale, but utterly ghastly.
‘In the end, there’s no way to know for now.’
Where it had all gone wrong, whether this was all just a terrible misunderstanding—until she heard the full story from the man himself, nothing was certain. Gardener Ross was surely an innocent bystander, and as for his subordinate…
‘Perhaps that man was the real River Ross.’
She sighed, trying to recall the faint impression the other man had left. With nothing certain, her best option was to postpone judgment. Letting her emotions take over would only cloud her thinking.
She had to separate her feelings from this whole situation…
“So, Theo. When did you decide on a name like that?”
“A very long time ago.”
Separate them? She let out a bone-dry laugh. Looking back, there had been moments when he had hinted at his true identity. He must have thought she wouldn’t notice. How ridiculous she must have looked, falling for him so helplessly, all while knowing nothing.
Perhaps it was a pathetic hope—to wish that the man who had deceived her all summer would finally confess the truth.
But even if that hope was dashed, she at least needed the chance to end their relationship with dignity. A proper ending was necessary, especially if they were to continue living as members of society in their respective stations.
“We’ve arrived, Young Lady.”
After a day and a half of travel, the car stopped in front of a grand hotel in Linden. She gazed with calm eyes at the building, which seemed to be the very pinnacle of capitalism. The Latz. It was the name “River Ross” had mentioned in passing.
Though so exhausted she felt she couldn’t lift a finger, Vanessa stepped out of the car without a hint of weariness. Steeling herself, she pushed down the urge to turn back that had assailed her countless times during the journey.
“Both of you wait here. I’ll be out soon.”
She politely declined the bellman’s offer to carry her small handbag and went straight to the concierge. A man in a formal suit greeted her with a broad smile.
“Good evening. How may I help you?”
“I’m looking for someone. I was told he was staying here.”
A flicker of concern crossed the man’s polished features. He quickly composed himself and picked up a pen and paper.
“If you could provide a name and description, I’ll see what I can do to assist you.”
“The man I’m looking for goes by the name ‘River Ross.’ Black hair, blue eyes, tall, and in the Navy. My name is Vanessa.”
“……”
“Please deliver that message to the Duke of Battenberg. Tell him a woman has come, urgently looking for River Ross.”
*
The hand signing the documents moved without hesitation. The scarlet light of the fireplace danced across the man’s elegant cheekbones, ebbing and flowing with the shifting embers.
Anxious worry clouded the old butler’s eyes as he watched his master, who had been immersed in his work for days, barely sleeping. As if sensing his gaze, the young Duke leisurely lifted his head.
“I take it you have something to say to me, Norman.”