Chapter 14
<14> Deepening Friendship (3)
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As soon as Miss Pendleton came down, the two set out for a walk.
For the first time in a long while, the generally gloomy London weather was offering a generous amount of bright sunshine. Perhaps because of this, the streets were filled with gentlemen in black silk hats and well-dressed ladies.
Mothers pushing strollers, young girls walking hand in hand, and couples strolling arm in arm.
Among them, Mr. Dalton and Miss Pendleton walked side by side, about a foot apart, like friends. There were no particular words between them, but a familiar air lingered.
“Mr. Dalton, are you enjoying your life in London?”
“More than I expected.”
“That’s a relief. As your London friend, I would have been concerned if you were bored.”
“Miss Pendleton is already concerned enough, so please don’t worry about my enjoyment as well. I’m already enjoying almost all the pleasures London has to offer, thanks to Miss Pendleton. Like the formal dinner with the Morton couple, for example.”
A few days ago, Miss Pendleton had taken Mr. Dalton to a formal dinner to which she had been invited by the Morton couple, and they had visited the couple's new mansion.
“They are a lovely couple, the Mortons.”
“And very well-suited to each other. I got the feeling they were filling in each other’s gaps.”
“Oh, do you think so too, Mr. Dalton?”
“Yes. Mr. Morton originally gave the impression of being a taciturn man. Almost cold. But Mrs. Morton drew her husband into conversation and naturally encouraged him to talk. Thanks to that, I had the valuable experience of hearing about a naval battle I had never participated in directly from someone who had experienced it. And on the other hand, Mr. Morton subtly stopped his wife whenever she tried to drink too much.”
Miss Pendleton laughed.
“By switching the position of the wine glass with the water glass?”
There was laughter in Mr. Dalton’s voice as well.
“Mrs. Morton wondered at least four times why the water glass was there.”
“She must have been deeply engrossed in the conversation. She was a very focused child from a young age.”
Miss Pendleton defended her longtime friend Elizabeth, lest she appear foolish, but she couldn’t help but laugh. The two laughed aloud without malice.
“They are a cute couple. Sincerely.”
“Indeed.”
“You must be proud, Miss Pendleton, having brought such a well-matched couple together.”
Miss Pendleton looked at him in surprise.
“What?”
“Mr. Morton said so in the smoking room. He said he wouldn’t have been able to marry Mrs. Morton if it hadn’t been for Miss Pendleton.”
Miss Pendleton’s face turned red.
“No. Mr. Morton is exaggerating. The two of them met frequently at tea parties at my house.”
“Well, Mr. Morton dislikes blurring objective facts with exaggeration. Above all, when Mr. Morton looks at Miss Pendleton, his eyes are full of trust and friendship. It was the kind of look one could only give to a benefactor who had helped him gain a wife.”
Miss Pendleton lost her words and only blushed.
Mr. Dalton quietly gazed at her.
Miss Pendleton was always like this. She would become flustered and not know what to do with herself at the slightest compliment. Perhaps it was because of her shy nature.
A normal gentleman would change the subject when a lady was so embarrassed, to save her from her predicament. But Mr. Dalton didn’t consider himself a very good gentleman, nor did he have any intention of becoming one.
He spoke his mind, whether Miss Pendleton was distressed or not.
“Through Mr. Morton, I heard that my dear Miss Pendleton strives to help her friends form harmonious families. It’s a wonderful thing. In terms of benefiting the world, you are doing something far better than politicians or soldiers.”
“I don’t know why you’re showering me with such excessive praise. All I did was leave the room when the two of them were deep in conversation. To compare such passive matchmaking to the work of soldiers and politicians…”
“Soldiers and politicians are sent into the world with the mandate to benefit it, but sometimes they become obsessed with their goals and destroy it. But Miss Pendleton looks at the world with the prudence that such people often forget. And she creates perfect matches for her friends with a healthy view of marriage.”
His dark eyes looked at Miss Pendleton with a direct gaze that was ungentlemanly.
“I remain convinced that wise matchmaking is truly a way to benefit the world. There are dozens of couples every day who are terribly mismatched, who pledge their vows before God. And they are bound to each other, living unhappy lives forever.”
“……”
“Such ridiculous things are so rampant that people don’t even feel a sense of problem. They are simply selling themselves into unhappy marriages for the sake of property and dowry. Considering the state of affairs, Miss Pendleton’s goodwill is all the more valuable.”
Miss Pendleton’s face, as well as her ears, turned bright red. Mr. Dalton stared shamelessly at her reddened face. And he even smiled.
He impurely felt a sense of loveliness at Miss Pendleton’s appearance. Her flustered and shy appearance was cute. And the reason she was so embarrassed only doubled that loveliness.
If it were just a routine compliment, she wouldn’t be so embarrassed. As someone with a long history in society, she would react smoothly to words like ‘beautiful’ or ‘with a lovely voice’.
But when she heard sincere praise based on objective observation, she would become flustered as if she had been struck at her core.
Every time this happened, he felt the shy heart hidden within Miss Pendleton, a Lady who was perfect in every way. And the more he did, the more he wanted to embarrass Miss Pendleton and feel that loveliness even more.
Miss Pendleton also knew that he found her embarrassed appearance amusing. She spoke in order to escape from the situation where Mr. Dalton would once again hit her sore spot and make her not know what to do.
“Mr. Dalton, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m as thorough a realist as a banker. I would never advise a friend to marry ignoring reality. It’s also true that a marriage that is tilting will lead to unhappiness. Even in a family full of happiness, if poverty comes as a guest, love will run away through the back door. Like a defaulter running away from a debt collector. So please, please, stop praising me!”
As she desperately chattered, an idea flashed through her mind, and she quickly put that thought into words.
“I was actually secretly plotting behind the scenes to marry Mr. Dalton to one of my friends. It was because of the misunderstanding that Mr. Dalton was trying to find a wife in London. The reason I acted as Mr. Dalton’s waltz teacher on the first day of the ball was to get him to dance with one of my friends. How about it? Do you still see me as a wise matchmaker?”
But Mr. Dalton only smiled more deeply at her words, rather than being surprised. Miss Pendleton soon realized his intention and shouted without realizing it.
“You already knew!”
Instead of answering, he laughed loudly. Miss Pendleton’s face turned even redder.
After laughing for a long time, he finally stopped.
“Forgive me. I was just adoring Miss Pendleton’s cu……”
He stopped speaking. And he shook his head slightly.
“I was just admiring Miss Pendleton’s purity. Will you forgive me?”
Miss Pendleton turned her head without a word. She didn’t want to show him her reddened face any longer. Miss Pendleton took a deep breath and continued walking.
While they were talking, they had already passed Grosvenor Square and entered Hyde Park. The vast, green Hyde Park was filled with even more gentlemen and ladies enjoying a stroll than the street they had just passed, and luxurious carriages pulled by two horses frequently drove along Rotten Row.
Miss Pendleton calmed her mind in the clean air. She quickly returned to being the kind Miss Pendleton.
“Were you displeased with my matchmaking?”
“Far from being displeased, I was grateful. You stepped in to solve something I couldn’t do myself due to a lack of ability.”
“But Mr. Dalton, you still don’t have any thoughts of marriage, do you?”
“No. I also tried to fall in love countless times while at Whitefield Estate. But I only realized that it’s not possible with effort alone.”
“I see your heart wasn’t opened.”
“That’s the perfect expression. That my heart wasn’t opened. To be exact, I couldn’t find a lady I wanted to open my heart to.”
“But if you try to find the good in anyone, there won’t be anyone without merits. Moreover, I’ve never heard rumors that the ladies of Yorkshire are below average.”
“Of course, they were ladies from good families in their own way. It’s just that my heart wasn’t opened. That’s all. It’s not that I have high standards, or that I’m looking for unparalleled beauty, it just turned out that way.”
Miss Pendleton remembered Mr. Fairfax once describing him as someone waiting for fate.
“Are you perhaps looking for your destined woman?”
“That’s funny. You’re saying the same thing as William. Surely William wouldn’t have said something like that in a frivolous way. Well, I don’t believe in grand words like fate. I just think there’s someone out there who’s my match. Someone who will be my pair, like a pair of gloves. And I believe that I’ll meet that person without artificial effort. Ah, is that believing in fate?”
Miss Pendleton just laughed.
“Then, why don’t you try harder to find that person in London? With my matchmaking skills that you praised earlier, I’ll be sure to find that destined lady for you.”
Mr. Dalton looked at Miss Pendleton for a moment. And he shook his head without a word.
“Why? Is it because you dislike artificial encounters that ruin fate?”
“No. It’s because there’s no need for artificial encounters anymore.”
‘There’s no need anymore.’ Those words lingered in her mind. It was a statement open to interpretation. It meant he would give up trying to find a woman. Or, it meant he had already found his destined woman.
