Chapter 45
45> Jealousy (2)
Miss Pendleton looked at him, surprised.
"You know that I have a peculiar and brusque personality. However, I now want to appear as a good husband to the Ladies. So, Miss Pendleton, please help me get married. Help me appear attractive to the Ladies, so that I can marry one of them within this year."
Miss Pendleton was at a loss for words. Mr. Dalton was asking her to help him find a wife. Was Mr. Dalton deceiving her? Or...
'Did I really misread his heart in the forest last time?'
Miss Pendleton felt extremely embarrassed. She had firmly believed that he liked her, and all her efforts to push him away were based on a misunderstanding. Moreover, he must have noticed her misunderstanding. She couldn't be more humiliated.
However, her emotions quickly regained balance. She knew from experience that the best way to maintain her dignity was to quickly come to her senses and act composed.
"I'm glad to hear that you've changed your mind about marriage, Mr. Dalton. I will do my best to help you as much as I can."
Mr. Dalton finally smiled.
"Thank you, Miss Pendleton."
"Mr. Fairfax already made the request you just made. I accepted it then and received thanks from Mr. Fairfax, so you don't owe me any gratitude. I'm also happy that I can now keep my promise to Mr. Fairfax."
Miss Pendleton masked her confused heart with a dignified demeanor. Mr. Dalton spoke with a selfless expression.
"Do you think, Miss Pendleton, that I will be able to return to Whitefield with Mrs. Dalton within this year?"
"Of course. You can capture the heart of any Lady you desire. Well, how about looking for a wife at Miss Lance's Ball? Or do you already have a Lady in mind?"
"Well, I do have a Lady in mind, but I'm still approaching her and not confident."
Miss Pendleton suspected that the Lady in mind was Miss Lance, but she didn't show it.
"This Ball will be a good opportunity. Ask that Lady to dance. Ah, do you remember the waltz steps I taught you last time?"
"I remember, but my waltz skills haven't improved at all since Miss Pendleton's tutoring."
Miss Pendleton laughed.
"You have to know how to dance to fall in love in society, Mr. Dalton."
"I've never seriously thought about dancing before."
"Now that you've decided to be serious about love, it's time to be serious about dancing. There's nothing better than dancing to mark the beginning of love."
"Why?"
"Dancing with someone means sharing the most intimate moment with that person. Focusing on each other and matching each beat. Perhaps it's similar to marriage."
Mr. Dalton was silent for a moment. A moment flashed through his mind when he danced while looking into a certain Lady's gray eyes.
"Please teach me the waltz and other dances sometime. I don't think I'll get tired of learning if Miss Pendleton teaches me."
Miss Pendleton looked at Mr. Dalton intently. His expression was devoid of passion, only gentle favor.
Ah, it's an expression of friendship. Her heart, which was about to sink, stabilized.
"Of course. Ask me anytime. The first gentleman on my dance list is Mr. Dalton. Because you are my best friend."
Mr. Dalton looked at Miss Pendleton quietly, hesitated to say something, and then closed his mouth. After thinking for a moment, he reached out his hand to her.
Miss Pendleton looked at the hand extended to her and gently placed her hand on it.
"You are also my dearest friend, Miss Pendleton."
He said that and kissed the back of Miss Pendleton's hand covered in gloves.
The two of them linked arms again and returned to their seats. Already at the finish line, the exhausted university representatives were slowly rowing towards the land.
"Mr. Dalton! Why are you here now? Cambridge wins!"
Miss Lance shouted as soon as he arrived. Mr. Dalton naturally sat next to Miss Lance again. Miss Pendleton looked at the two of them sitting side by side. Miss Lance's cheeks were flushed as she clapped her hands. Mr. Dalton looked at Miss Lance with a smile.
Yes, Mr. Dalton and Miss Lance. They are a well-matched couple. Now he can start a new life with a partner who suits him. The best happy ending created by the two people I introduced.
Miss Pendleton thought so and tried to cheer herself up. She tried to manage and manage the pain that was somehow rising in her heart.
* * *
When Miss Pendleton returned home, she immediately changed her clothes and headed to her grandmother's room.
When she entered the room, there was no one beside her grandmother except for one maid who mainly guarded her grandmother's room. Her uncle seemed to be out for a while. Miss Pendleton was relieved and replaced the maid. For the past few days, she had often been kicked out in front of the door because of her uncle, who was always by her grandmother's side.
Miss Pendleton sat next to her sleeping grandmother. And she listened to her grandmother's breathing. Every time she exhaled, there was a groan mixed in. Even the act of lying down and sleeping seemed difficult.
Miss Pendleton lowered her eyelids with a deep sense of sadness. And she brushed away her grandmother's hair that was draped over her forehead.
Soon, her grandmother's eyelids opened.
"You're here."
"Yes, Grandmother."
Miss Pendleton smiled. Her grandmother asked her granddaughter, who had gone out to a social event, as she always did.
"How was the rowing competition today?"
Miss Pendleton familiarly painted a picture of the people in society before her eyes. What clothes people wore, who new people were, and how the people her grandmother knew were doing.
Miss Pendleton vividly described which university people's bets were concentrated on and which people tasted the bitterness of defeat. That was the kind of story that would make her grandmother laugh.
However, Lady Abigail did not laugh even while listening to Miss Pendleton's story. She just kept looking at her granddaughter's face. Miss Pendleton saw only thoughts and worries in her grandmother's expression. Miss Pendleton vaguely finished the story.
"Is it very hard?"
Miss Pendleton unknowingly stroked her cheek with her hand. Lately, her reflection in the mirror had become noticeably gaunt and pale. But Miss Pendleton was used to lying. She shook her head.
"You're always like that. You don't show that it's hard even when it's hard, and you always keep it inside even when you're in pain. If you only act like that, no one will know how you feel."
"That's why I don't show it."
Miss Pendleton said jokingly with a smile. But the smile that came out was not fresh, but a tired person's listless smile.
She was honestly exhausted. Her interactions with Miss Jenson weren't bad. But everything else was difficult. Her grandmother's worsening illness, her uncle who ignored her like a bug every time she encountered him in the house, and Charles, who followed his father's actions exactly.
She knew that it was something that would end someday, but she couldn't bear to think that the end was ultimately the death of a loved one, so she couldn't even look forward to the end.
"Wait a little longer, Laura."
"Grandmother."
"The end is not far off. I can feel it."
Miss Pendleton looked at her grandmother quietly. No words leaked from her lips. Instead, a drop of tear fell from her eyes.
"Grandmother, I'm holding on for you. To give you happiness. I love you that much... Don't talk about the end to comfort me. You know what that means. It's like losing my parents again."
Miss Pendleton covered her face with both hands and cried as tears suddenly poured out. Her grandmother just watched her granddaughter quietly. Lady Abigail didn't have the energy to comfort and pat her granddaughter.
Miss Pendleton quickly managed her tears. She had become the calm Laura Pendleton again. Lady Abigail looked at her granddaughter with a lonely look.
"When you were first separated from your father, you cried for days, and I could barely soothe you by putting you to sleep in my bed. Now you've become a child who can't even cry when you should cry... Yes, you've become a perfect Lady."
Lady. That's right. Miss Pendleton had become a perfect artificial flower in society. But what could she do? She lived by killing her emotions to survive in society. She always tried to be someone who controlled herself well. That also meant trying to become insensitive.
"Just bear with it a little longer, Laura. It'll be just a little longer. I'll reward you. I will definitely reward you for the past 12 years."
Miss Pendleton's heart sank at those words. She became anxious, wondering if her grandmother's illness had even consumed her mind. Her grandmother had never said anything nonsensical, even though she had been sick until now. She worriedly put her hand on her grandmother's forehead.
At that time, the door clicked open.
"Mother, I'm back... Oh, Laura was here."
Her uncle greeted her with an awkward expression. Miss Pendleton immediately stood up and bent her knees slightly.
"I'm here, so go out now."
Miss Pendleton looked at her grandmother. Her grandmother nodded. It meant to do as her uncle ordered. Miss Pendleton reluctantly went outside.
Miss Pendleton, who was about to return to her room, turned around at the sound of the door opening behind her. Her uncle had followed her out.
"I heard you went to the rowing competition with Miss Jenson today?"
"Yes."
"I hope you didn't commit any rudeness to Miss Jenson?"
Miss Pendleton nodded. Her uncle asked her about Miss Jenson, asking about her mood, tone, and actions today. And even if there was a gentleman who approached Miss Jenson. Miss Pendleton readily answered.
"I heard you received a proposal from Tom Price?"
Miss Pendleton blushed. It was not because of shyness but because of shame.
"Yes."
"And you refused?"
