Chapter 167
Laura smiled languidly and stretched out on the plush carpet.
“You know what? I’ve read Mansfield Park over a hundred times. When I’m sad, when I’m lonely, when I’m sick. Reading it comforted me and made me happy. But you know, when I sat by the fire earlier and read it again, it wasn’t fun at all.”
“Why?”
“Maybe it’s because my life used to be so unhappy. So I was comforted by Fanny Price, who was poor, mistreated, and had no presence. I thought, ‘Here’s a child as lonely and struggling as I am, and she endures and becomes happy.’ But now, I don’t feel anything for Fanny except pity.”
Laura boldly pulled Ian’s neck and kissed him on the cheek, then on the lips.
“Fanny and I are not alike at all. I have Ian Dalton, who Fanny doesn’t have. The most perfect, wonderful husband in the world.”
“I should do something for Fanny Price. Should I sell the eastern land and donate to her husband’s Parish?”
“Miss Price is already living a rich life with her beloved Edmund, so she doesn’t need a gift.”
He stroked Laura’s hair and asked, “Then, what about you? Is there anything you want?”
“Me?”
“Yes. You made the happiest man in the world the happiest man in the universe.”
“……”
“Now, Mrs. Dalton. Prove your transformation.”
Laura fiddled with her husband’s ear and thought hard. Ian smelled her sweet breath and waited for his wife’s answer.
“Honey. Our anniversary is coming up soon. Make me happy that day.”
“What can I do to make you happy?”
“You have to figure it out.”
“……That’s a tough one. Give me a hint.”
“I don’t know either. You figure it out.”
Ian groaned and buried his face in Laura’s chest.
“Damn it, you want me to read the mind of a difficult woman like you?”
“Am I difficult?”
“In the early days of our marriage, I showered you with jewels and carriages, and all I got was a lecture about being wasteful. Any other woman would have showered me with kisses.”
“Fool, do you think all women are snobs?”
“Well, have I ever had any other woman besides you?”
He rested his cheek on Laura’s chest and pondered for a moment. Soon, he raised his head. His face was quite determined.
“Okay. I’ll bet my love for you and make you the best anniversary ever.”
“Can I look forward to it?”
He kissed Laura on the lips.
“Of course.”
His lips moved to her neck. Laura glanced at the clock on the wall.
“The maids will be up soon.”
“Yeah.”
“They’ll be going back and forth on this floor to carry bathwater.”
“I know.”
His lips moved further down. Laura couldn’t say anything more.
An hour later, Laura’s concave soul finally overflowed. Gurgle, gurgle.
* * *
“Dalton, Jack Morse, the mine manager in Barnsley, has sent a letter. He says there are signs that the construction workers at the smelting facility are embezzling materials?”
“……”
“Dalton?”
Noel turned his head and looked at Ian, who was sitting at the opposite desk.
He was staring into space with his arms crossed. His handsome brow was furrowed deeply.
“Dalton?”
“……”
“Dalton?”
After calling him several times, Ian finally turned his gaze. Noel sighed and explained the contents of the letter again.
Ian silently held out his hand. Noel went to Ian and handed him the letter. After carefully reading the letter, Ian clicked his tongue, seemingly displeased, and took out a piece of paper from the paper box and began to scribble something.
“Go and deliver this letter to Jack Morse yourself and report on the situation.”
“Shall I go today?”
“There’s no train time. Leave tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
Noel returned to his seat, put the letter in his leather bag, and asked, “Is Jack Morse trustworthy?”
“……”
Ian was staring into space again with a serious face.
“Dalton!”
Ian looked at Noel, startled as if he had woken up from a nap.
“What?”
“Is Jack Morse trustworthy?”
Ian nodded.
“The Barnsley mine was the only one that didn’t have any suspicious holes in the ledgers my father left behind after he passed away. There hasn’t been any embezzlement during the twenty years that Jack Morse has been in charge. He’s the most honest miner in England, so be polite when you visit.”
“Understood, Dalton.”
The business was over. Noel expected his master to stare into space again and make all sorts of faces. However, Ian seemed determined not to act as Noel expected, and leaned back in his chair. Then, he let out a long sigh that seemed to shake the earth and the sky.
It was even more disturbing than before.
‘What’s wrong with him?’
Noel didn’t have a habit of interfering in his employer’s personal affairs, but he couldn’t stand it any longer. Continuing to ignore such obvious distress was not only disrespectful to his superior, but also, with the person right across from him silently screaming, ‘I have a problem! It’s killing me!’ he couldn’t concentrate on his work.
Noel, who was a playboy who loved pleasure but was thorough when it came to making a living, decided to solve the Dalton’s problem in order to finish sorting out the mountain of receipts by the end of the day.
“Perhaps, is there something troubling you?”
“……”
“How about confiding in me?”
After a moment of silence, Ian opened his mouth.
“Noel.”
“Yes?”
Ian looked at Noel with a very pitiful expression.
“What do women like?”
“……Have you been worrying about that all this time?”
Ian nodded.
“I promised my wife I’d give her a great event on our anniversary. I boasted that I’d make her the happiest woman in the world.”
Noel sighed. Was that the only reason he had been racking his brains and groaning during work hours?
“……I’m sorry to say, but I believe you declared yesterday that you would become an indifferent husband to the Mrs. Dalton.”
“Forget it.”
Ian shook his head.
“It’s easier to move a pyramid than to become indifferent to a lovely wife like Laura.”
Noel stifled a laugh.
‘My master is a truly amazing man. Most men would be afraid of being ridiculed by other men and would complain about their wives, but this man has no intention of hiding his feelings at all.’
At one time, Noel had also looked down on Ian like that. He would go out in the early morning dew to find four-leaf clovers to give to his wife, rush out of his office every tea time to have tea with his wife, and stare at the pocket watch she gave him as a birthday present all day long, grinning. Noel had secretly clicked his tongue, thinking that there was no bigger fool for his wife than him.
But after getting used to it, he sometimes felt that his master’s appearance was quite beautiful. Even Noel, a tarnished playboy, wasn’t so rotten that he couldn’t be moved by the sight of a man consistently loving the woman he had taken as his wife.
Ian continued to grumble.
“I’d like to put her in a golden carriage and take her around the shopping district, buying her lots of fur and jewelry. Eat a course meal at a French restaurant, give her a foot massage in a suite, and make love all night long.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Why don’t you do that?”
“Because that’s not Laura’s taste.”
“There are women who don’t like that kind of thing. Then, when has the Mrs. Dalton been happiest so far?”
“When I decided to quit smoking?”
“……Isn’t there anything else?”
Ian thought hard.
“When I put her on a thick tree branch in the forest and sang to her. When I brought her the first apple as soon as I picked it last fall. When I made a flower crown out of her birth flower and put it on her head on her birthday.”
‘Are they teenagers?’
“The, the Mrs. Dalton responds to sincerity.”
“That’s why it’s more of a problem. It’s easy to solve with money. I have plenty of it. But Laura is frugal and insensitive to material things. She likes pretty hats and accessories, but she hates excessive extravagance.”
“She’s a wonderful person.”
“Of course.”
Ian replied as if he had heard that the sky was blue, as if it were nothing special.
Noel pondered for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“Dalton. You once said that in order to sense what the Mrs. Dalton truly wants, you have to use all five senses and even your sixth sense. It’s time to use your sixth sense. Don’t look for a universal answer, but try to find the answer in your heart.”
“In my heart?”
“Yes. An anniversary is a celebration of a couple’s marriage. It’s also a precious time to retrace the most beautiful history in a couple’s time. Look into your history. There must be a hint hidden within it.”
Ian suddenly became silent.
‘Did it work?’
Noel watched Ian’s expression. A face lost in thought. But he didn’t look as distressed as he had been a moment ago.
‘He must have caught a clue. Now, let’s get to work.’
Noel, having solved the annoying problem, began to organize the Barnsley smelter construction material receipts into the ledger again.
Meanwhile, Ian crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling, repeating to himself.
‘Our history.’
The conversation with Noel sent a ray of light into Ian’s dark heart. Ian, who had been searching for an answer in the universal displays of affection that captivate women, began to retrace the history of the two of them, pondering Noel’s advice.
Not the painful and difficult moments, but the beautiful and precious moments.
Dozens of images flashed through Ian’s mind. The night Laura and he waltzed under the moonlight. The day they talked in the forest of Dunville Park. The afternoon they walked together through the Whitefield forest, following in her father’s footsteps. The time they huddled together in a cabin to avoid the rain.
It was as clear to Ian as if it had happened yesterday. In those moments, Laura was always smiling.
‘In nature, in front of the warm fire in the cabin, in my arms, Laura was happy.’
Ian found the answer.
He stood up from his seat. Ian, having regained his dignity, buttoned his jacket with a straight face.
“For a while, don’t look for me unless it’s urgent.”
