Chapter 110
<110> The Worst Night (5)
"We can't go back to what we were before."
"I don't expect that. Are you going to leave Dunville Park?"
Laura nodded.
"Where to? Are you going to the girls' school you graduated from?"
"...This morning, I received a letter from the school saying they no longer need a teacher. I'll look for another governess position."
"You won't find a more generous position than here."
"Now that I know the excellent conditions at Dunville Park were bait to lure me in, this position feels like a bed of thorns."
"I won't come anywhere near Dunville Park. If I can be sure you're safe and not mistreated, I don't care if I never see even the hem of your dress for the rest of my life."
"Mr. Dalton, if I could believe you at this moment, I wouldn't want anything more. But the trust between us is already broken. And the fact that you, of all people, did that tears my heart apart."
"......"
"The day we first met, I made only one condition when you asked me to be your friend. Always be honest. But you deceived me and dragged my friend's reputation through the mud."
"I know. I know I disappointed you. But it was because I wanted you so much. It was the only way I could see a future with you. If there had been a better alternative, I would have chosen it without hesitation."
"If you hadn't deceived me, I would have felt sorry for you. And I would have been apologetic for not being able to accept your feelings, and I would have done my best to maintain our friendship. But your actions are just too..."
Laura's calm breathing faltered for a moment.
"I can't understand or forgive it. You know how easily a woman's fate can be ruined. And yet you played with a lady's heart. Because of love. Because of that stupid love."
At that moment, Mr. Dalton saw a wounded expression on Laura's face that he had never seen before.
"Miss Pendleton, I... I didn't intend to. If I had made undue advances towards Miss Lance, I would deserve to be struck by lightning. But I never showed her anything more than the friendship you and William shared."
But even as he continued to make excuses, Laura's face only grew sadder.
"But this is the result. You ruined Miss Lance's fate. A friend I introduced to you, a lady with a bright future..."
With that, a tear fell from Laura's eye.
He froze. It was more shocking than when she had slapped his cheek. And it hurt much more.
"Did my actions hurt you that much?"
"......"
"Have I... have I ruined our relationship beyond repair?"
Laura didn't answer. The lack of response itself was an affirmation.
Laura tidied her wet face with her fingers. With a graceful and neat gesture, as was her way. He stared at Laura for a moment, then stood up.
And he knelt before her.
It was Laura's turn to freeze. She covered her mouth with both hands and gasped.
"Mr. Dalton!"
He hung his head low.
"M-Mr. Dalton... please get up. This is not right. This behavior is..."
"If you are sad and crying because of me, it must all be my fault. I must have done something to deserve your reproach. I must have made a mistake because I am an ignorant country gentleman who doesn't know the rules of society. Otherwise, there's no way the gentle you would be so angry and sad."
"......"
"I thought that if you just came to love me, you would forgive all my faults. Hiding my feelings, using Miss Lance as a bridge to get closer to you, everything. I was relying on your gentleness."
Mr. Dalton took her hand.
"I'm losing you in the end because of my foolishness."
He gathered Laura's hands together and buried his face in them.
"One last time, I want to confess to you."
And he rubbed his face against Laura's small, lovely hands.
"Laura, I love you."
Laura gasped.
"You are the master of my one and only destiny. Like a lost glove."
"......"
"I know you're not one to believe in fate. But I've been waiting for that one person my whole life. A wife to spend my life with and watch over me even in heaven. I only met that person when I was thirty years old..."
Tears began to flow from his eyes. The tears warmly soaked Laura's velvet gloves.
"If I lose you, the essence within me will disappear without leaving a single crumb. The love I've been saving to pour out on my partner will all drain away through the huge hole in my heart. I... I... will never be happy."
He began to sob. He knew this confession was useless. She was not easily swayed by emotions. She would probably find it absurd and ridiculous.
But he couldn't help it.
He lost his reason and hugged Laura's waist. And he buried his face in her slender waist and began to cry. His tears soaked the skirt that fell from the waistline and hips of her dress.
A long time passed. As he sobbed uncontrollably, he suddenly realized that Laura was not stopping him. She must be waiting resignedly for his pathetic behavior to end.
Thinking that, he didn't want to let go of Laura even more. It was as if she would run away the moment he let go. He grabbed the hem of Laura's skirt and continued to sob with his face buried in her lap.
Then, as he was crying, something touched the back of his head. A touch as light as a feather.
He slowly raised his head.
Laura was stroking his hair.
"......Ah."
Her face, which he had believed to be cold, looked as if she was about to burst into tears.
Laura's hand, which had been stroking his hair, slowly came down and wiped away his tears.
"Please stop crying. My heart aches so much."
His heart sank coldly. It was a voice he had never heard from her before. A sweet voice, as if whispering love.
Hope rose in his heart. The hope turned into courage, and then into an affection that he couldn't control.
He slowly raised his arms and stroked Laura's wet face, as she had done. She didn't push him away. She didn't turn her head away either.
He gently pulled Laura's face closer. Her breath tickled the tip of his nose. He closed his eyes and kissed Laura's lips.
Ian gently traced and licked her lips. Lips as soft as flower petals and as sweet as sherbet. His heart pounded madly. A dizzying feeling as if falling from the sky.
He caressed Laura's cheeks and kissed her gently. Laura's breath was conveyed from close by. He could feel Laura's hands holding his neck and shoulders.
'Ah......'
He felt a momentary intuition, and soon tasted a happiness that felt as if his mind would melt away.
Squeak. Thump.
The lightly rattling carriage stopped. At the same time, the two people's lips parted. Laura's eyes, which had been dazed as if hypnotized, finally stared straight at Mr. Dalton.
She woke up quickly. The focus in her eyes became clear, and her face turned as red as a tomato. She pushed Mr. Dalton away.
He was pushed away obediently.
"Ah......!"
She covered her reddened face and didn't know what to do. It was a flustered appearance that he had never seen in her, who was always neat.
She quickly opened the carriage door and jumped out. And she ran quickly into the Dunville Park mansion like a nimble deer.
Mr. Dalton, who remained in the carriage, was left alone in a slightly unseemly state, kneeling on the floor of the carriage.
He touched his lips with his fingertips. The touch of the woman he loved still remained in the place where the first kiss had passed.
He smiled.
A face that looked like it was about to burst into tears. The hand that stroked his face. The kiss that was accepted without resistance. And the cute face overwhelmed with shyness.
Everything was saying.
'She loves me too.'
He jumped out of the carriage and looked up at the sky.
'My angel Sheldon Teacher. Thank you! She loves me! She loves me!'
He laughed and cried. His laughter echoed high as if it would reach the stars in the sky.
* * *
The mistress of Dunville Park, Mrs. Robert Fairfax, heard unexpected news from the butler early in the morning.
Laura Sheldon Teacher had returned to the mansion around midnight last night. It was a day earlier than promised. Mrs. Fairfax wondered if there had been any problems at the gathering, and decided to ask the teacher directly at breakfast.
However, instead of the teacher, her maid came down to the meal.
"Madam, the teacher says she has a severe headache and is having difficulty getting out of bed. She apologizes, but asks that you allow her to rest in her room for the day. What should I tell her?"
"Oh dear, if she's sick, she should definitely rest. Does it seem serious? Did she say she didn't need an apothecary?"
"She said not to call anyone. She also said she was fine with not eating."
Mrs. Fairfax sensed something strange. To be so sick that she didn't want to eat anything at all, and to refuse an apothecary as well.
'Did Ian cause some kind of accident?'
Mrs. Fairfax spent the morning in her private room, shuffling cards and trying to guess Laura's feelings. But the card reading, which always showed its power, was this time completely silent about Laura's private life.
Mrs. Fairfax called her daughter, who had just finished her art lesson, and told her to go and spy on the teacher. Olivia, half worried about the teacher and half excited to play the role of a spy, left for the teacher's room and returned to the private room half an hour later.
"Mom. I think the teacher is really sick."
"Why? Does she look very unwell?"
"Her skin is as pale as a corpse and the dark circles under her eyes are like someone who stayed up all night. When I asked if she had a bad headache, she barely nodded, and when I asked how the gathering was, she asked me not to ask that question."
"So something did happen."
"Maybe, did Uncle propose?"
"So rashly already?"
"He might have done it without being able to hold back. The teacher is unbearably pretty and lovely. I would have done the same."
"......Sometimes it seems like you want to marry the teacher instead of your uncle?"
"That's ridiculous! Women can't marry each other!"
"Then what if you were a man? A young man in his twenties?"
Olivia seemed to think for a moment, then smiled slightly.
