Chapter 47
<48> The Veil Slips (3)
As the carriage set off, Miss Jenson spoke.
“First, please know that I have no intention of interfering or persuading you regarding my godfather and Miss Pendleton. I have no intention of burdening Miss Pendleton at all. I am not so ungrateful as to repay Miss Pendleton’s kindness in such a way.”
Miss Pendleton was slightly surprised. She had clearly prepared herself, expecting Miss Jenson to try to change her mind, before getting into the carriage.
“Thank you for respecting my wishes.”
“Miss Pendleton, you know how much I care for my godfather. He is like a father to me. In fact, he is closer and more precious to me than my own father. That’s why I feel responsible for saving my uncle from becoming a foolish old man.”
Miss Pendleton felt a sense of bewilderment at Miss Jenson’s words, which were not only serious but even resolute.
“Miss Pendleton, I will ask you one last time, absolutely the last time. Really, Miss Pendleton, do you truly have no feelings for my godfather?”
“Yes, Miss Jenson.”
At those words, Miss Jenson sighed deeply and touched her forehead with her hand. She muttered quietly to herself.
“What on earth have those two been up to…?”
Miss Jenson was silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Miss Pendleton waited patiently for her to speak. Miss Jenson finally broke the silence.
“Miss Pendleton, my uncle, no, my godfather, was planning to propose to you publicly at the Ball tomorrow.”
Miss Pendleton covered her gaping mouth with her hand.
“My godfather has been very busy lately. He’s been preparing a grand and plausible way to woo you, one that would be fitting for Miss Pendleton. He thought that a bouquet of flowers or a simple proposal wouldn’t be enough to protect your pride.”
“Good heavens, Miss Jenson. I…”
“Yes, I know. I heard what you said in the drawing room earlier and I completely understand. Not only do you have no feelings for my godfather, but you are also very distressed by him. I know my godfather. Once he’s fixated on something, he doesn’t look left or right. He’s like a bull in a bullfight. You must have been very troubled by my godfather.”
“It’s true that I was troubled… but I don’t harbor any ill will towards Mr. Price. If it weren’t for everything that’s happened, I might have even come to respect him. He’s a good man, Mr. Price.”
“Yes, he is a good man. It’s just that he brought the issue of men and women into a relationship that should have ended with him being a respected elder, and now he’s embarrassing himself… Oh, what am I going to do? How am I going to tell my godfather about this?”
Miss Jenson touched her forehead again. She looked very perplexed and distressed.
Meanwhile, Miss Pendleton felt grateful to Miss Jenson. In this awkward situation, she could have easily taken her godfather’s side and cornered her if she had been even slightly careless. But she had objectively assessed the situation and was trying to resolve it by taking her side.
“First, I’ll try to stop him from carrying out his plan for tomorrow as much as possible. Um, how much longer until we reach Pendleton Estate?”
“We’re about a quarter of the way there.”
“Then we have about 20 minutes. Please listen to me for the rest of the time. As a goddaughter who cares for my godfather, I want to represent my uncle’s position as well. Because this is not entirely my godfather’s fault.”
Miss Pendleton nodded, feeling puzzled.
“Please, speak, Miss Jenson.”
Miss Jenson sighed.
“Miss Pendleton, I’ve actually known about you long before I came to America.”
“About me?”
“Yes. I started hearing about you about six months ago. That’s around the time my godfather met Gerald Pendleton.”
Gerald Pendleton had come to America to find investors for the Joseon business that his eldest son had started, and he brought not his eldest son but his second son, Charles. Miss Jenson later learned that it was to match his second son, who had no property to return to, with a bride who was likely to have a large fortune.
“My godfather often talked about his nephew from the moment he met Mr. Pendleton. The beautiful and refined Miss Pendleton. The Miss Pendleton who has no husband to protect her. The Miss Pendleton who has not found a suitable marriage partner due to her shyness. It was something like that.”
From that point on, Mr. Price gradually began to confide in Miss Jenson about his concerns about remarriage. Miss Jenson knew how lonely her godfather had been since his wife passed away, so she agreed with his opinion.
Some time later, Mr. Price began to renovate his house and even bought a beautiful carriage that a lady might ride in. Miss Jenson wondered why he was preparing so much when there was no lady to marry yet. But soon the question was answered.
Mr. Price introduced the Pendleton family to his goddaughter, and Miss Jenson often had meals with them. Miss Jenson often heard stories about Miss Pendleton at the table. Mr. Pendleton constantly mentioned Miss Pendleton, stirring up Mr. Price’s heart.
“At first, I was skeptical. I didn’t think that a marriage could be arranged by someone across the sea who had never seen each other, based on what others said. But I gradually became convinced. Mr. Pendleton clearly said that he had received a favorable reply from his niece regarding his uncle’s matchmaking. Miss Pendleton, did you ever send such a letter?”
Miss Pendleton shook her head. Gradually, the clues to the case were unraveling. Mr. Price’s story of how his uncle praised his niece to the skies. Mr. Price’s brazen courtship, as if he had already received her consent. It became clear that her uncle was behind all of this nonsense.
“But why would my uncle do this? What does he gain from this?”
“Well, as a third party, I can’t say that I know the situation perfectly. But I have some ideas based on the circumstances. You said that Mr. Pendleton came to America because of the Joseon business, right? At first, he asked my godfather to find a wealthy man to invest in, but gradually he asked my uncle directly to invest. My uncle refused indirectly. He judged that the business itself was a mess from the start and would not generate any profit. But now he has decided to invest. Why is that?”
The carriage stopped. They had already arrived in front of Pendleton Estate while engrossed in the story.
Miss Pendleton organized the information she had heard from Miss Jenson and came to a conclusion.
Mr. Price’s absurd courtship of her was due to the instigation of her uncle Pendleton. In order to get Mr. Price’s investment in his eldest son’s Joseon business by making her Mr. Price’s new wife.
“Miss Pendleton, please check with Mr. Pendleton yourself. But it won’t be much different from what I said. I can only interpret it as him trying to sell you to my godfather.”
Miss Pendleton nodded quietly. And she took Miss Jenson’s hand.
“Thank you for being so honest. If it weren’t for Miss Jenson, Mr. Price and I would have been greatly humiliated at the Ball tomorrow. And I would never have been able to see Mr. Price in a good light. You have done your duty for the sake of Mr. Price’s honor.”
Miss Jenson shook her head.
“There’s still work to be done. I’m going back right now to let him know how you feel and persuade him to stop making a fool of himself. I might have to stay up all night. My godfather is terribly stubborn and only knows one thing and not two.”
Miss Jenson sighed.
“You really care about Mr. Price, Miss Jenson.”
“Of course, he’s like a father to me. I grew up with his children like siblings. And I saw the end of his wife, Eleanor, with them. Eleanor made a special request to me. To keep a close eye on her reckless and impulsive husband. At least until he gets a new wife. I guess I’ll have to keep an eye on him until he dies. Goodness. To be caught up in such a foolish scam.”
Soon the coachman opened the carriage door and lowered the footstool. Miss Pendleton got out of the carriage.
“Please come to the Ball tomorrow, Miss Pendleton. I hope you will give my uncle a chance to apologize to you. He will probably only accept reality after he has finished talking to you.”
Miss Pendleton nodded, and the two shook hands through the window.
Soon, the carriage drove down Grosvenor Street and disappeared.
Miss Pendleton stood there for a moment. Her eyes were filled with a house that was more magnificent and beautiful than any Townhouse on Grosvenor Street. A house that someone would be willing to cross the sea and marry against their will to have. But to her eyes, it was nothing more than a terrible shackle.
Miss Pendleton learned everything through her conversation with Miss Jenson. Now she felt like the pieces of the puzzle were fitting together. Her uncle’s letter inviting Mr. Price from America. Mr. Price’s gaze, as if he were examining her as an object. His persistent courtship. His attitude, as if he had come to claim the affection that had been entrusted to him.
It was all because her uncle had promised her to Mr. Price.
Miss Pendleton shuddered. The act of handing her over like a commodity and taking advantage of her was happening without her knowledge. With the authority of the head of the family, he was trying to hand his niece over to his friend.
The stories her uncle had told her after returning to the Townhouse came back to her one by one. That she had no dowry to return to. That she shouldn’t act high and mighty. They were all words with intention.
Miss Pendleton felt a terrible sense of humiliation. Combined with the awkwardness she had experienced so far because of Mr. Price, it all coalesced into one thought.
‘How much further do you want me to go?’
The name Pendleton had demanded so much of her. For 12 years as a Lady, countless situations had hurt and angered her. But trapped in the name of Pendleton, she could not say that she was hurt, nor could she say that she was angry.
But now she was being asked to entrust her body to a man old enough to be her father for the sake of Pendleton Estate.
Resentment stirred in her heart, which had endured everything for so long. Her uncle, Gerald Pendleton, had abused her so much in her childhood and was now trying to make her future a stepping stone for the Pendleton family.
The future. The future as ‘Laura’ that she had dreamed of so much.
She could never let that happen.
Miss Pendleton went straight through the front door and up the stairs. And she burst into the study, which she had been barred from entering since her uncle arrived.
As she entered the study, the pungent smell of cigars stung her nose. Miss Pendleton swallowed a cough. The study was enveloped in a faint haze of cigar smoke, as if it were shrouded in a misty fog.
Gerald Pendleton could be seen beyond the cigar smoke.
