Chapter 56
The music was nearing its end as they moved away from the crowd. Miss Lance and Mr. Fairfax, who had been dancing in the center of the hall, took each other's hands and walked off, spotting Miss Pendleton's group. They naturally joined them.
While Mr. Fairfax asked Miss Wilkes about his sister's whereabouts, Miss Pendleton grabbed Miss Lance and led her to the side. Miss Lance was quite puzzled by Miss Pendleton's sudden action of pulling her to a corner.
Miss Pendleton led her to a deserted corner of the banquet hall. After looking around, she sat down with Miss Lance on an empty chair.
"Miss Lance, please listen to me without misunderstanding. Promise?"
Miss Lance was quite surprised to see Miss Pendleton so serious for the first time.
"Yes, of course. What's the matter?"
"Are you perhaps engaged to Mr. Dalton?"
Miss Lance was taken aback by Miss Pendleton's sudden question.
"Ah, no."
Miss Pendleton put a hand to her forehead.
"Miss Lance. Just now, your friend said in the lounge that the two of you were about to get engaged. In a voice that wasn't quiet. At least eighty people must have heard."
Miss Lance, her face reddening, asked back.
"Really? Who? Who said that? Ah, no. It's obvious. It must be Victoria. That scatterbrain! Ugh, it's not even confirmed yet. Why is she jumping ahead on her own?"
Miss Lance fumed.
"She was talking about bridesmaid dresses, right? She's been going on about what color the bridesmaid dresses should be for days now. She hasn't even received a proposal yet. What is she doing?"
Miss Pendleton looked at Miss Lance without a word. Her own reputation was on the line, but Miss Lance didn't seem as anxious as she had expected.
"Miss Lance, it may be embarrassing, but can you be honest with me? Has Mr. Dalton definitely hinted at marriage to you? Has he given you a letter saying he would propose, or has he said he has you in mind as a marriage partner?"
Miss Lance stammered at the sudden question.
"W-Well, not exactly... but I still believe it. I could feel it from his visit to London last time. I could tell he thought well of me. And he's been coming to our Tea party for the past month, and..."
Miss Pendleton listened intently with a serious expression.
Miss Lance was flustered. Miss Pendleton wasn't showing the confident expression that her friend and mother always wore whenever Mr. Dalton was mentioned.
Everyone around her had always chirped that Ian Dalton was in love with Dora Lance, and it was her job to restrain them. But now, she had to explain to a skeptical Miss Pendleton that Mr. Dalton loved her.
"He even drew a picture of me, and we promised to go on a picnic together, and, um, I told him I was learning to play the harp, and he said he wanted to see it someday. He really wanted to see it. And..."
Miss Lance gradually realized that the evidence she was giving was becoming weaker. Eventually, she fell silent.
A moment of silence hung between the two ladies. Miss Lance watched Miss Pendleton's reaction. Miss Pendleton, who had been listening silently, seemed to be lost in thought, her gaze averted.
"Miss Lance, please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say. I'm the one who introduced you two, and I want your union as much as your friends do... In fact, in this situation, the only people who wouldn't want your union are your enemies. Because Miss Lance's reputation is hanging by a thread right now."
"What do you mean..."
"Miss Lance, let me tell you a story about a lady I know. She's already left society, so don't try to find the protagonist of this story among the people around you."
Miss Lance nodded.
"She was a lady who had just entered society. She was shy and innocent. She didn't have a proper guardian by her side, and her family was humble, so there were often men who approached her with ill intentions. She couldn't find a group to hang out with, and she was lonely, so she fell for one of the men who approached her."
Miss Pendleton paused for a moment, looked around again, and continued.
"The two quickly fell in love. They danced only with each other at every Ball, and they talked only with each other at every Formal dinner. The woman didn't care about rumors because she thought she would marry him. The man seemed to have marriage in mind as well."
"..."
"But the man's patron wanted him to be paired with a woman with a large dowry. The woman had a small dowry. The two eventually couldn't be together. The man left. Leaving the woman alone in society. And in less than two months, news of the man's marriage came. He married a woman with a great dowry. What happened after that?"
"Did the woman... commit suicide?"
Miss Lance showed her melodramatic imagination. Miss Pendleton smiled bitterly.
"It would have been cleaner if she had. But she continued to go to society at her parents' insistence. For years, she was followed by the label of being the man's lover or mistress, and there were even stories that the two had set up a household. After seven or eight years, the rumors subsided and no one remembered, but she was already an old maid and had suffered irreparable damage. She... couldn't bear it and had to marry a foreign millionaire thirty years older than her and leave England."
Miss Lance listened to the story quietly. Miss Pendleton's story was a common one in society.
"Do you know why I'm telling you this story, Miss Lance?"
"No. Honestly..."
"Her misfortune may have been largely due to her background. She didn't have a group to hang out with, no proper advisor, and no friends to stop her. But the root cause of her misfortune was foolishness. She knew clearly how scary rumors were in society and how easily a woman's reputation could be damaged. Everyone around her warned her. Advice on how to behave is usually generously given to women who are just entering society. But she forgot the moment she fell in love. No, she thought it was nothing. Only love mattered. It was her foolishness that ruined her life."
Miss Pendleton looked straight at Miss Lance.
"I think there's a lesson for Miss Lance to take from my story. Think carefully about it and deal with what's to come. Come to me anytime if you need advice."
Miss Pendleton left Miss Lance and left the spot.
Miss Lance sat still and pondered Miss Pendleton's words. And soon her face turned red. She understood what she meant. She was warning her that she was acting rashly.
Miss Lance trembled with shame. To be compared to a woman who was blinded by love and played around with a man without thinking about her reputation, a man she hadn't even properly promised anything to. It was a serious insult.
She couldn't understand why Miss Pendleton compared her to such a woman. Her relationship with Mr. Dalton was completely different from the story she told. Mr. Dalton wasn't such a scoundrel, and she wasn't such a stupid woman. And his relationship with her was completely different from what she said.
'Wait... is it different?'
Miss Lance shook her head roughly. What was she doubting? He was completely smitten with her. Hadn't she always confirmed it in his eyes, his expression, and his tone? Hadn't everyone around her given objective testimony about his feelings? So what was the problem?
Miss Lance struggled to get rid of the assumption that he might not love her. It was such a scary assumption.
Her feelings had come too far to turn back. If she doubted his love, she might die of discouragement at that moment.
She began to turn her head toward denying Miss Pendleton's advice itself. And she could easily find plausible grounds for doing so. It was because she had made a guess about the relationship between Mr. Dalton and Miss Pendleton earlier.
Miss Lance hesitated for a moment before doubting. She had a reasonable suspicion that Miss Pendleton, who was so kind, and who had even introduced her to Mr. Dalton, would not do such a cowardly thing.
But the insult that Miss Pendleton had just inflicted on her pride was more than enough to paralyze her reason.
She eventually began to think in a way that made her feel comfortable and in a way that made the lady who had given her the right advice look like a scoundrel.
'Miss Pendleton is resentful after being dumped by Mr. Dalton. So she's trying to drive a wedge between him and me, who are doing well.'
Miss Lance's mind was at peace as if nothing had happened. The thought was also quite sweet, because it was possible to feel superior by pitying someone who had done something bad to her.
But Miss Lance felt more resentment than moral superiority. It had come to the conclusion that Miss Pendleton, whom she had always pitied and tried to treat without prejudice, was jealous of her and hurt her.
She liked Miss Pendleton. Kind and pretty Miss Pendleton. Miss Pendleton with a sad story. Miss Pendleton who suffered so many unfair things because of her parents.
Miss Lance had always pitied her situation and tried to defend her whenever someone slandered her. She had tried so hard to do good, but this was the result.
'Yes, she loves Mr. Dalton too much. So much so that she lost her mind in a situation where he and I might get engaged. She's a good person, but she can't help it when it comes to love. With only strange men like Mr. Price courting her, her only hope must be Mr. Dalton. Let's pity her. Let's cover up her flaws as a woman.'
Miss Lance organized her thoughts and returned to her friends.
She exercised her generous compassion for Miss Pendleton and remained silent to her friends about her outrageous behavior. If her friends knew the truth, they would surely slander Miss Pendleton in ways she couldn't bear to hear.
