Chapter 33
<33> Mr. Price (2)
"Being immersed in New York high society for decades made me yearn for my homeland. The nostalgia for the Ladies of England, the gentlewomen of England, the women of England who are more dignified, beautiful, and virtuous than the Ladies of any other country. That's why I rushed here at once, using my brother's silver wedding anniversary as an excuse."
"How was it, Mr. Price? Did the actual Ladies of England meet your expectations?"
"No. I am truly sorry to say, but the difference between the Ladies of America and the Ladies of England was only in dress trends and opera preferences."
"Oh dear. That's a pity, Mr. Price."
Miss Pendleton replied kindly and was about to take her hands off the piano keys to turn the sheet music. However, Mr. Price, who had been sitting on the sofa, suddenly jumped up and strode to the piano. And he turned the sheet music for her.
Miss Pendleton expressed her gratitude lightly and continued to tap the keys, following the notes. However, instead of returning to the sofa, Mr. Price put his hand on the piano's top board and leaned in at an angle.
Even though it was a reception room for guests and an open space where servants could come and go at any time, it was clearly a space with only the two of them. Miss Pendleton felt very uncomfortable with a gentleman, who was still just an awkward guest, standing so close.
When Miss Pendleton finished the piece, he clapped his hands and uttered a quiet compliment.
If he had been an ordinary gentleman, she would never have invited him to a Formal dinner again after that incident.
But he was her uncle's close friend, her cousin's matchmaker, and the godfather of the bride. There was no justification for cutting off contact with him.
So, on evenings when there was a Formal dinner, he would linger around Miss Pendleton.
And one evening. Mr. Price was standing next to Miss Pendleton as usual, listening to the piano music. Unfortunately, the guests who had been spending time in the drawing-room had left early, leaving her with no choice but to deal with Mr. Price alone.
Miss Pendleton recited the Lord's Prayer a thousand times in her mind as she tapped the keys. But suddenly, Mr. Price grabbed Miss Pendleton's hand as she was playing the keys.
Miss Pendleton was startled for a moment and screamed, "Eek!" and stood up. Had what was coming finally come?
But, surprisingly, at the same time as grabbing her hand, Mr. Price knelt next to the piano chair where Miss Pendleton was sitting. And he looked up at the flustered Miss Pendleton with a pleading gaze and shouted.
"Miss Pendleton! Don't be alarmed. Please, please, erase that look of horror and listen to me for a moment!"
Miss Pendleton covered her open mouth with her hand and looked down at Mr. Price. She didn't know why Mr. Price was suddenly acting like this, but it was clear that he didn't intend to humiliate her.
At that moment, Ann, the maid's voice, was heard from the entrance of the drawing-room.
"Miss, what on earth...!"
Ann, who had rushed over after hearing the Miss's scream, was horrified by the sight unfolding in front of the piano. An old gentleman with snow-white hair kneeling in front of a Lady more than twenty years younger than him and proposing. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it an unsightly scene.
Miss Pendleton hurriedly said to Ann.
"It's nothing. Go away."
Ann covered her mouth and slowly retreated.
As the troublemaker retreated, Mr. Price looked up at Miss Pendleton and spewed out the words he had been holding back.
"I said before, didn't I? That the Ladies of America and the Ladies of England are no different except for their opera preferences and dress trends. I definitely thought so. Whether I went to a Ball in London, a Tea party, or a Formal dinner party, all I saw were women who were exactly the same as the trivial gentlewomen I saw in America. I was greatly disappointed. Deep down, I thought that I would be able to find my wife, Eleanor Price, a Southern belle who had left me and our children to go to God, here. But, my disappointment was too premature. Here, at the Pendleton family's Formal dinner party, I discovered a woman who was the shadow of my wife, no, the spitting image of my wife. Miss Laura Pendleton, a gentlewoman who lacks nothing in beauty, dignity, talent, or character!"
As his words poured out, Miss Pendleton's face turned white. It was in stark contrast to Mr. Price's face, which was turning red with excitement as he spoke.
"Miss Pendleton, please be my wife! Let's go to America and start a new life together. The fact that you are past your prime is not a flaw to me at all. I've also had my fill of life, and I'm not presumptuous enough to covet a twenty-two-year-old girl. I just want a virtuous woman to warm my bed. Miss Pendleton, please accept my proposal!"
He finished speaking and gasped for breath. His passion was that of youth, but his lungs seemed unable to keep up with that passion.
Miss Pendleton looked down at him with a troubled expression. It was true that he was a valued guest of the Pendleton family and she was worried about the various conflicts that would arise if she rejected him, but something else was bothering her.
She couldn't help but feel sympathy for his grizzled eyebrows, half-gray hair, and bloodshot eyes that seemed to be welling up with tears.
He wasn't doing this to make fun of her. He sincerely wanted her as his wife.
But if Miss Pendleton was the kind of person who could accept his proposal out of sympathy alone, she would have been someone's wife already. She struggled to pull her hand out of Mr. Price's hand.
"Mr. Price, I appreciate the proposal. But I can't accept it. Not even a shadow of love for Mr. Price has settled in my heart. And it never will. Please, forgive my refusal with generosity."
She bowed politely and hurried upstairs.
Now that things had come to this, it was no longer appropriate to invite Mr. Price to Formal dinner. No matter how much he was a friend of the head of the family, high society respected a Lady's freedom to reject a proposal, and guaranteed her the right to be spared being in the same space as a gentleman she had rejected. She immediately stopped the invitations.
But Mr. Price was a man of persistence. From the day after his proposal was rejected, he began sending bouquets of flowers to Miss Pendleton. Miss Pendleton was stunned to see the huge bouquet of roses that had arrived for her. The thought of Mr. Price picking them out while thinking of her made her head spin.
She wrote a letter, being careful not to hurt his pride as much as possible, and sent it back with the bouquet. And returning the flowers with a letter of rejection became Miss Pendleton's daily routine for several days.
Nevertheless, Mr. Price was a seasoned and persistent man. Although he was not invited to Formal dinner, he somehow managed to create situations where he could see Miss Pendleton's face.
Thanks to his extensive network in high society, he was able to freely enter and exit all the Balls, and by piecing together rumors, he would find out which Ball Miss Pendleton would appear at that evening, or which Concert she would be at, and show up like a ghost.
Miss Pendleton ended up stopping all social activities except for Tea parties for Ladies only.
The rumor that Mr. Price was courting Miss Pendleton spread quickly in high society.
Every day he would stop by the flower shop to send roses to the Pendleton family, and he would find out Miss Pendleton's schedule and follow her around. Mr. Price was acting without any shame in his courtship, almost publicly.
And surprisingly, no one was embarrassed by this brazen courtship. Although there was a twenty-four-year age difference between Miss Pendleton and Mr. Price, it was not an uncommon marriage in high society.
Becoming the second wife of an old gentleman like Mr. Price was a common path chosen by Ladies from humble families who had missed their chance to marry. Some even thought that Mr. Price's interest was a very good thing for Miss Pendleton.
"This may be Miss Pendleton's last chance."
Mrs. Lance said in a definitive tone at a Tea party for Ladies that she hosted.
"Miss Pendleton will be thirty next year, so we should consider her chances of getting married gone forever. In this situation, Mr. Price's interest is a stroke of luck."
Another Lady agreed with her.
"That's right, Ms. Abigail Pendleton is taking care of her, but how long will that old woman live? I heard that she even made a will that all the property will be inherited by Mr. Pendleton's second son when she passes away. Miss Pendleton's share in that will is probably just a few pieces of jewelry and a used knife set. When Mrs. Pendleton passes away, Miss Pendleton will be completely penniless. If Miss Pendleton knows that, she shouldn't show so much dislike for Mr. Price's interest."
"Still, can't we help it if Miss Pendleton doesn't like him? Mr. Price is a bit... like that, isn't he? Besides, it's too obvious that he's courting Miss Pendleton. Isn't he just trying to take her to America and make her the mother of his young children?"
Mrs. Lance quickly retorted.
"Oh my, is this a time to be picky? In fact, if Miss Pendleton had any sense of reality, she should have looked for this path earlier. Instead of arranging marriages for others, she should have found a gentleman like Mr. Price to save herself."
The Ladies gossiped like this and agreed that Miss Pendleton should accept Mr. Price as soon as possible. At the same time, a determination arose in their hearts that their daughters should avoid such a fate.
After the Tea party, they scattered to their respective homes and eased their anxiety by scolding their daughters once, citing Miss Pendleton's situation and telling them to find a husband quickly.
And most Ladies tended to inherit their mother's views on marriage. In the hearts of young maidens, becoming an old maid like Miss Pendleton was clearly imprinted as a situation to be avoided at all costs. Without even knowing it, Miss Pendleton was engraved in the hearts of maidens as a concrete fear to be avoided at all costs.
But Mrs. Lance, who hosted the Tea party, failed to instill fear in her daughter's heart. Miss Lance felt more sympathy than fear when she saw Miss Pendleton's situation.
"It's impossible for Miss Pendleton to be with Mr. Price. There's a twenty-four-year age difference between them. How can she marry a man who's old enough to be her father?"
