Chapter 125
#<Episode 125>
However, today, a week after settling into the warehouse, Laura appeared outside the hotel.
His body moved before he could think. He quickly donned his Frock coat and dashed out of the hat shop. Then, he began to follow her.
He could only see her from behind, but he loved Laura's back view just as much as her front. Her head, as lovely as an apple. Her auburn hair, resembling the twilight sky. Her graceful posture. Her aristocratic gait.
Longing mixed with affection, and his heart pounded as if it would burst. He followed her meekly, like a sheep following its shepherd. Whenever she turned around, he quickly hid, happy to steal glances at her face.
How long had he been walking? As Laura rounded the corner leading to the Mineral Water Hall, she suddenly began to run.
Lost in happiness, Ian ran after Laura.
He didn't want to lose her. He didn't want her to disappear from his sight.
'Just stay in my sight a little longer. Even just a minute more…!'
Was Ian's wish too greedy? Was that why God was punishing him?
As Laura emerged from the alleyway, she ran into John Ashton. The worst-case scenario that Ian had wanted to prevent had unfolded.
Ian sensed immediately that he was John Ashton. Soon after arriving in Bath, he had sent a letter to an acquaintance who had received legal advice from John Ashton, asking for a description of him.
His acquaintance, greatly impressed by his appearance, had described him in detail in the letter. Tall height. Broad build. Red hair. Violet eyes. Tan skin. And a handsome smile that could melt a man's heart.
He matched perfectly the man standing face-to-face with Laura, holding her shoulders.
He began to escort Laura. Ian followed them as if possessed. His eyes were fixed only on their arms, linked together. Jealousy blazed within him, and he felt as if he were suffocating from the acrid smoke it emitted.
He was the man who had stolen her heart when Laura was at her most sensitive. If they walked together like that, the feelings of their old love might be rekindled…
'Absolutely not!'
He wanted to rush between them immediately and tear their linked arms apart. But a shred of reason restrained him.
Endure for now. It would be much wiser to warn John Ashton to stop pursuing her when he was alone.
Laura and Ashton walked for a long time before entering a house. He hid nearby and waited. Soon, he saw Laura leaving the house in strange clothes. He realized that Laura had disguised herself to throw him off.
'Good heavens. To go this far. What have I done?'
He watched Laura leave, regretting his actions.
'Even if it was because I wanted to see her so badly, I shouldn't have chased Laura.'
Two hours later, John Ashton left the house. Ian immediately followed him.
"Excuse me for a moment."
On a deserted riverside where a stone bridge covered the sky like a roof, Ian called out to him. He turned around, and the two men faced each other.
He was even more handsome up close. Ian found his rival's attractive appearance extremely displeasing.
"Are you John Ashton?"
"I am. And who might you be?"
"I am Ian Dalton from Yorkshire."
"…Of the Dalton family of Yorkshire, you say?"
Ian nodded. John Ashton quickly removed his hat and bowed his head.
"It is an honor to meet you. You offered me a position as a legal representative a few years ago. I was sorry at the time. I needed a coach for young lawyers and didn't have the capacity for other work."
Ashton quickly pulled out a card case from his breast pocket.
"I expanded my office to Cambridgeshire two years ago. Please call me anytime you need advice."
Ashton offered his card with a friendly smile. When he smiled, a long dimple appeared on his cheek, making his expression dazzlingly handsome.
Ian forcibly suppressed the bubbling turmoil within him and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I won't be needing your legal advice."
Ashton looked at Ian with a puzzled expression.
"Do you know a lady named Laura Pendleton?"
As Laura's name was mentioned, the smile disappeared from Ashton's face.
"We have been in a precious relationship for several months. I have proposed to her, and our marriage is as good as decided."
Ashton put his card back into his card case. His face was cold, devoid of any smile.
"Are you the man who has been following Laura?"
Calling her by her first name. Ian gritted his teeth inwardly.
"I am."
"If your marriage is decided, why are you following her like a thief? Did you even propose in the first place?"
Ian's brow furrowed at the rude choice of words.
"Perhaps you proposed and were rejected, and you can't let go of your lingering feelings, so you're lurking around her? Which is it, the former or the latter? Either way, it's a pathetic thing to do."
His voice was laced with sarcasm. Ian clenched his fists tightly.
"It's none of your business. What's important is that her heart belongs to me. There's no room in her heart for a man who briefly passed through twelve years ago."
Ashton chuckled. It was a rather unpleasant smile, with one corner of his mouth raised.
"You seem insecure about my presence? Are you afraid that her heart will lean towards me, so you're directly checking me like this? Unlike the size of your land, your confidence is very small and cute."
Ian's fists kept tightening. He clenched and unclenched them, trying to release the tension. He thought of Laura's face.
"You'll understand. A man in love is bound to do foolish things. You and I love the same woman, and we're just waiting for her choice. But you and I are different. As different as heaven and earth. Because the man who has her heart now is me."
Ian smiled wryly.
"Even if you once had her heart, now her heart is mine. So, give up your vain hope and continue to mourn your wife who has returned to heaven. It's unsightly to be chasing after an old flame when the grass hasn't even grown on your wife's grave."
Ian turned to leave, as if he had nothing more to say.
"Ian Dalton. Do you know that she tried to run away with me?"
His steps halted.
"She once tried to entrust everything to me. Her body, her heart, her future, everything. If I had chosen her, she would have borne me at least seven children by now. How many kisses and caresses were there between us before she made her decision? Can you imagine?"
Ian slowly turned around. His face was as cold as ice.
Ian was enraged by Ashton's intention to insult Laura in order to provoke his rival. He wished he could smash that arrogant face right then and there.
However, violence should be a last resort. He clenched and unclenched his fists again, suppressing his anger.
"The problems between you two are none of my business. It's not respectful to her. So, why don't you just shut up?"
John Ashton didn't care.
"We were so close back then that it was widely rumored throughout London. And not just in public settings. On dark terraces, in carriages with just the two of us, in secluded parks and gardens, we were together. What do you think a seventeen-year-old lady and a twenty-two-year-old young man would have done alone? Even if you don't want to imagine it, you can't help but imagine it, can you?"
A faint vein popped out on Ian's forehead.
"I'm warning you. Shut your mouth."
"Country squire, just because you're the head of a venerable family doesn't mean you can silence everyone. Admit it. The woman you love once tried to throw herself at the son of a blacksmith. Perhaps even her first virginity was already mine…"
Before he could finish speaking, Ian's fist landed on John Ashton's face.
What followed was a complete dogfight. They rolled on the ground in a tangled mess, throwing punches indiscriminately.
John Ashton was strong due to his large build. But he wasn't as skilled at fighting as Ian. During his teenage years as the captain of the rowing team, he had sometimes had to use his fists to discipline members who bullied others or neglected practice by name-dropping their fathers.
After knocking Ashton out with his experienced punches, Ian repeatedly kicked his left side, leaving him in a near-death state.
'Damn it, I didn't intend to fight in the first place.'
Ian sighed as he changed out of his dusty clothes, recalling the fight earlier.
'But I don't regret it. That bastard tried to tarnish Laura's reputation.'
He tidied up his trunk and stood by the window as usual.
The Gothic-style scenery of the Laurellia Hotel across the way was close enough to touch.
He traced each of the windows with light seeping out with his fingertips.
'Did you get back safely, Laura?'
He murmured inwardly.
'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I won't let you run away again. Please forgive me.'
He sighed softly. Which room was she in? What kind of treatment was she receiving among those people?
'Please, I hope you're happy. And I hope you come back to Dunville Park in the spring. I want to get another chance with you. I want to prove that I'm the man who can make you happy. So, Laura, please don't give your heart to John Ashton. Please. No matter how many times you kissed that bastard, don't forget the kisses we shared.'
He pleaded silently, hoping his plea would reach her.
Suddenly, he heard whimpering sounds and the dull thud of hat boxes being pushed around behind him. Soon, Mr. Willow reappeared in Ian's cramped quarters.
"A letter came for you earlier today, sir. I was going to give it to you when you returned, but I was too busy earlier…"
Mr. Willow handed over a bundle of letters he had taken out of his jacket pocket and disappeared back into the cramped stock.
Holding the letters, Ian leaned against the window and scanned them.
The letter on top was from Ramswick. He immediately took it out and unfolded it. It was a document with the settlement amounts for the land rent and bond interest from the previous month neatly organized in concise handwriting.
The sender was Ramswick, but the contents of the letter were written by the land agent.
He had sent a letter to Ramswick asking him to send the trunk and instructing him to rehire the land agent he had employed before. The ledger keeper with the shifty eyes and drooping eyelids.
He was surprisingly good at his job. Ramswick disliked him because he ate a lot and smoked cigars everywhere, but he never embezzled or accepted bribes.
He examined the numbers closely, nodded, and folded the letter.
The next letter was from his sister and Olivia at Dunville Park. They must have found out through Ramswick that he had gone to Bath.
He postponed opening the letter for now. He could anticipate his sister's nagging ("Why did you chase after her again? I told you to leave Miss Pendleton alone!") and Olivia's teasing ("Oh, Uncle, you're so romantic!"). Just imagining it made him tired.
Only one letter remained. It was from an unexpected person.
'William?'
He unfolded the letter.
