Chapter 56
A pale tension settled on the corners of her lips. Facing the old gentleman’s piercing gaze, she found it difficult to speak. Vanessa realized this was exactly what he intended. He was waiting for that split second when she would let her guard down, naively exposing a weakness, so he could bite down and observe her reaction.
In the anxious silence, the thoughts and positions she had diligently organized became tangled. She needed time to regain her footing.
“May I order a glass of soda water before we speak?”
“By all means.”
She raised her hand to call a steward, and soon a glass of soda water with a slice of lemon was placed on the table. When she offered a small smile to the steward in thanks, the surrounding gazes gathered toward them before scattering once more.
There was clearly a great deal of curiosity, however feigned, regarding this meeting between two people who seemingly had no connection. She wondered how many of those eyes belonged to her uncle… but it was too late to worry about that now. Besides, the tables were spaced far enough apart that their conversation wouldn’t be overheard.
“First, I would like you to look at this.”
Vanessa placed the locket, which she had carefully wrapped in a handkerchief, onto the table.
“What is this?”
“I believe it is something my father carried with him at that time. At the moment of the accident.”
“…….”
“I found it recently, and I have been looking for someone who could identify if it truly belonged to my parents.”
Benjamin caught a glimpse of the worn locket as she lifted the handkerchief and let out a short sigh.
“…I see.”
With that, the stubborn wariness typical of the elderly slowly softened. To him, Vanessa was a young lady the age of his grandchildren. Indeed, she was a child closer to a young girl.
It was common for a child who lost her parents at a young age to become obsessed with their keepsakes. Though he had been somewhat bewildered by her sudden arrival using his grandnephew as a pretext, how could he reject such a poignant heart? How could he treat her coldly or call her eccentric? Moreover, Lady Vanessa had conducted herself with nothing but politeness and dignity since they met.
“I was wondering if you might remember seeing it in the past.”
“Well… it looks familiar, yet it doesn’t.”
Examining the locket with uncertain eyes, Benjamin noticed the half-broken hinge and looked across at Vanessa. It was a silent question, asking if it was alright for him to open it. When she nodded, the old gentleman carefully unfastened the latch with steady hands.
With tense eyes, Vanessa tightly clenched her fists in her lap. Click. Had the sound of metal interlocking ever sounded so loud in her life? At the old man’s soft exclamation, Vanessa watched him, holding her breath.
“Yes. Looking at this photograph, I remember now. Goodness. I saw it quite many times, in fact.”
The wrinkles on Benjamin’s brow smoothed out as he let out a hearty laugh.
“The young Earl would take this out every chance he got. That stoic man became a completely different person when boasting about his daughter… I remember how he would talk about how cute and lovely his little girl was whenever he opened his mouth. As a man with two sons, I was quite envious.”
It was a fragment of the past she hadn’t even dared to hope for. For a moment, Vanessa saw her father’s shadow in the old man’s words—the way his eyes would shine with laughter, the way he would show the locket, and the fuss he would make.
Those things remained faintly in her own imprecise memories. Vanessa struggled to suppress the emotions swelling within her, eventually offering a smile through misty eyes.
“Is that so?”
To hear that he was a stoic man. Her few remaining memories of her father were entirely of gentleness and warmth. She remembered laughing at his scruffy beard when he was busy, only for him to not shave for a whole year; the way he would pick her up and laugh, heedless of his dignity, when she tugged at his trousers; and the hollow promises that he would give her the whole world.
Even in an era where being so devoted to one’s daughter invited ridicule for surely being a henpecked husband.
“Seeing your face in this photo, I remember his face back then. You’ve grown up to look just like them.”
Vanessa’s eyes widened, but unable to hold on any longer, she dropped her gaze. To hear that she had grown up well—it was the first time in her life she had heard such words.
In truth, her entire life had been nothing more than an imitation of the best moments in her memory. Her mother’s voice, her father’s upright posture, their composure, kindness, patience… From a certain point, it had also been a battle against endless doubt. Human memory was bound to be imperfect, and the only ‘good adult’ she had to look up to and learn from was a listless schoolteacher who earned eighty pounds a month.
Rosalyn’s harsh assessment—that she was burying her life in her parents’ graves—was right in a way. Even now, when she looked in the mirror, she saw her dead parents, and from them, she had learned everything about the world.
“Thank you for saying that.”
Vanessa smiled, as if to stop her thoughts from becoming too sentimental.
“And thank you for confirming the locket. I found it by pure chance, so I wasn’t certain if it belonged to my parents.”
“It certainly isn’t in the best condition. May I ask where you found it?”
“On the street… near the house.”
“Then it’s only natural you’d be suspicious.”
Having seemingly finished his assessment of her, Benjamin offered a fairly kind and generous smile. The old gentleman appeared to think their business was concluded. However, her main point started now.
“There is one more thing I need you to check.”
Vanessa took off her hat and took out a piece of paper she had kept folded inside. Her manner was so smooth that to others, it merely looked as if she were fixing a loose ribbon.
Since she hadn’t known when she would meet Mr. Benjamin Dawson, she had to carry two items on her person at all times. However, there were only two things a woman could bring into a place like this without drawing attention: a parasol or a fan. Since she couldn’t lift her skirts or carry loose papers in front of others, there weren’t many options if she wanted to hide something.
Benjamin faced Vanessa calmly, as if he had seen many such women.
“This is.”
“It’s a copy of the will my father supposedly wrote. It was executed as a notarized deed without a formal authentication of its validity, and I transcribed it exactly as it was from the records kept at the provincial court for seven years.”
Benjamin looked at the will as if it were something new, then took out his glasses and put them on. After flipping through a few pages, he looked at her with surprised eyes.
“You did all this yourself?”
“The volume was so vast that I couldn’t copy it all… but I found an awkward part while looking through it. I focused on that section.”
“What seems to be the problem?”
“If you look between the third and fourth pages here, you’ll see a break.”
“Is that so? The sentence itself seems to make sense.”
“The sentence does. But please look at the position of the period. If the sentence were truly continuing, there’s no reason for there to be a period at the start of the fourth page.”
“Could it be that you simply made a mistake while transcribing it, my lady?”
“I only began transcribing after I discovered this. I did it to the extent that I could understand the flow based on that page.”
In truth, she had transcribed much more than this, but the amount of paper she could fit inside her hat was limited. Benjamin read the will carefully in silence for a long time. The crease on the bridge of his nose grew a little deeper.
“Hmm.”
After what felt like an eternity, Benjamin placed his glasses down on the table.
“The first part of the will seems to match what was written when I was acting as his advisor. But after this….”
“Is it different?”
“Well. It was a long time ago, so I don’t remember everything, but I don’t think I saw this sentence back then. Knowing the Earl at the time, it is certainly strange. Either there was a great change in his heart after I left, or at the very least, the priorities of his final wishes definitely changed.”
“Can you tell me exactly which parts are different?”
Benjamin stared at Vanessa intently without answering. After a long silence, he spoke again.
“Lady Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“I’m afraid I cannot speak carelessly from this point on.”
At the old gentleman’s blunt words, Vanessa bit her lip anxiously.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I cannot carelessly disclose matters concerning a former client’s honor or trust, can I? I understand you are desperate for any clue since it involves your father, but there are principles that must be upheld at all times.”
Vanessa briefly watched the old man’s hand as he folded the will and set it down, then looked up. The old gentleman’s face was calm as he leaned back against his chair. A cold light returned to his light blue eyes, the previous favor withdrawn.
“I would like to help, but I’m afraid this matter will be difficult.”
