Chapter 75
<75> A New Life (6)
Laura clearly informed Olivia that most of the information she knew was exaggerated. In particular, the etiquette guides sold in bookstores were completely different from the actual social scene.
Most of those books were irresponsibly written by socialites who had fallen on hard times and were adding exaggeration and fabrication to earn pocket money. The contents of the books were mostly things that were out of fashion in society or had never been in fashion at all.
Laura pointed out each of the errors that Olivia believed to be true and gave her correct advice.
"It's a place where people live, Miss Fairfax. Cultured women are in the spotlight, but what you really need is lineage and wealth. Miss Fairfax, you are already a lady from a distinguished Yorkshire gentry family, so you will be welcomed into society."
"Really?"
"Of course."
Olivia felt somehow relieved by Laura's words.
"See? I told you there was no need for Mother to be impatient," Mrs. Fairfax interjected with a laughing voice. "Now, until your debut, just do dancing or painting as a hobby. And relax a little. Going to London is like jumping into the marriage market in earnest, and it would be a shame to spend your last days of girlhood just studying."
"But, what should I do for fun?"
"Go to the forest with your brothers and the teacher, or learn to fish from Uncle Ian."
Olivia shook her head. No matter how much she escaped the fear of society, she was now too old to be interested in children's games.
"I don't want to. It's not something a lady should do."
"Oh, that lady talk."
Laura quietly asked, "Then, how would Miss Fairfax like to spend her time?"
Olivia thought for a moment and replied, "I still want to study more. Even if the threshold to society isn't high, it's better to have many talents than none."
"What kind of study?"
"I want to read more books, and I want to be able to converse perfectly in French. I wish Mother would find me a French teacher sooner..."
Olivia said that and looked at her mother. It was a clear look of demand.
"Okay, Olivia. You don't have to look at me like that..."
"Mrs. Fairfax."
Mrs. Fairfax looked at Laura at the call.
"How about I teach Olivia French whenever I have some free time?"
"A teacher? But you're already overwhelmed with just Daniel and George."
"An hour or two in the morning is fine. Olivia has already learned a lot through her tutor, so I don't think I'll have much to do."
"I would be very grateful, but..."
Mrs. Fairfax looked at Olivia.
"What about you?"
Olivia hesitated for a moment. It was unsettling to have the old maid who stole her first love, her uncle, as her teacher. Frankly, it was humiliating.
"No, thank you. You're not even French. Mother said she'll find me one soon, so I'll wait."
Olivia refused primly, but she didn't believe what she had just said. There was no way her indifferent mother would solve a problem that had been dragging on for a year in an instant.
"Miss Fairfax, even if my skills are not up to par, try studying with me once. It will definitely be helpful to Olivia."
"I don't want to bother you."
"It's no bother at all. I also need to study with Miss Fairfax. Language, especially conversation, deteriorates easily if you don't use it. If Miss Fairfax helps me, it will be a great help for me to maintain my skills. Even if my skills are lacking, think of it as helping each other, and take classes with me. Okay?"
Laura asked very politely. Olivia was shaken by Laura's polite request. She felt good that a Lady who had interacted with so many celebrities in London was asking her this way.
"Olivia, the teacher is asking you this much, so accept it quickly. It's good for you too."
Her mother urged from the side. Olivia rolled her eyes and then stammered, "Th-then, should I?"
* * *
On the tenth afternoon since Laura came to the mansion, Laura met an unexpected guest.
Laura, Daniel, and George were sitting on a rock deep in the forest, sharing wild strawberries. George had crawled under the bushes to pick them. Thanks to that, George's clothes were covered in dirt, but George didn't care.
He felt good enough just by the expression on the teacher's face when he picked the wild strawberries and poured them all over Laura's skirt. But when the teacher stroked his head and praised him, he felt like he was flying. On the other hand, Daniel ate the wild strawberries, feeling jealous of George for receiving the teacher's praise.
They had forgotten the fear and wariness they had felt when they first met the teacher and had come to like Laura deeply. The teacher was interested in everything they did, was amazed, and fearlessly joined in on any prank. No adult had ever given them so much attention. Their father was only interested in hunting, their mother was only interested in them when she was teasing them, and their sister was a prude.
They were living freely and carelessly, but in fact, they were starved for attention. But suddenly, the beautiful teacher appeared and gave them recognition and praise, and the young and simple pranksters fell in love with Laura.
They even started a struggle for recognition over Laura. If George picked acorns and gave them to Laura as a gift, Daniel would pick burdock fruits with both hands and pour them on Laura's skirt, and if Daniel picked flowers blooming in the forest and brought them to Laura, George would climb up a tree and take out the eggs in the nest and offer them to Laura.
Laura maintained her balance between the two boys so that neither of them felt unfairly treated or hurt, and encouraged them. She gave generous praise for their gifts, shared the fruits, and decorated the dress she was wearing with flowers. However, she told them that the mother bird would be sad about the eggs, so she told them to put them back in their place and safely returned them to the nest.
Just as the two little boys had come to like their new teacher, Laura also began to give her heart to the two little boys. Boys who began to give her pure affection. Laura liked their purity. Playing with them made her feel like she was a child again.
She had lived in artificial and pretentious things for so long that she thought it would be impossible to regain her purity. But running between the trees with the boys and rolling on the dirt made her feel like the purity she thought had disappeared was coming back to life. It was as if she, who was twenty-nine, had become nineteen, or even nine, not knowing anything. In the clear, quiet, and clean forest, Laura felt surprisingly cheerful, and sometimes even overwhelmingly happy.
After eating all the wild strawberries, the three headed to the lake to skip stones. As they got closer to Dunville Park, the road widened and the ground became flat. A large dirt road with trees arching on both sides like a tunnel appeared. But, a man was seen walking towards the forest in the distance. Laura stood up at the familiar figure.
"It's Uncle Ian!"
The two boys, who knew the identity of the gentleman, frantically dusted off their clothes and took out the hats they had crumpled into their pockets. But the person who really needed to tidy up was Laura. Laura was also conscious of her appearance. The hair that had been neatly rolled up and fixed had flowed out from between the hairnets, and her clothes were stained with dirt and wild strawberry juice.
It was a mess for someone who was supposed to be a tutor. But she couldn't fix it like her students. He had already come close. In contrast to Laura, he was neatly dressed in a gray suit, a black tie, and a gentleman's hat.
"Hello, Uncle."
The boys greeted politely without their usual playful attitude. Mr. Dalton nodded and looked at Laura. Laura's face flushed slightly. He seemed surprised to see the curly auburn hair flowing out of the hairnet and the complexion that was flushed from exercise, but soon smiled mischievously.
"Is today's subject ecological learning?"
Laura blushed slightly and nodded.
"That must have been fun? What did you do?"
"I climbed up a tree and observed the nest. And I also looked for wild strawberries. George is very good at finding fruits."
"So he sometimes faints the people in the mansion. While looking for fruits, he also finds caterpillars the size of his thumb or centipedes with twenty-four legs. He secretly puts them in the hat that the coachman took off for a while or in the maid's apron pocket and pretends not to know."
Laura burst into laughter. Mr. Dalton gave George a stern look.
"You wouldn't have done that to your teacher, would you?"
George quickly shook his head.
When he heard that Laura and the boys were going to skip stones, he decided to join them. Ian had the boys walk ahead and walked alone with Miss Pendleton.
"I'm sorry I couldn't visit you sooner, Miss Pendleton."
"It's okay. Mr. Dalton, you have a lot of work on the Estate."
"Are you having any difficulties in life? There must have been some shortcomings?"
Laura shook her head.
"Not at all, Mr. Dalton. It's too much."
Mr. Dalton looked at Laura with a disbelieving look. It seemed that she was not mentioning it out of courtesy. Laura quickly added.
"I don't know if it shows, but I've gained two inches around my waist since I came here. Mr. Fairfax keeps offering me food every morning and evening, and I'm always hungry from running around like this, so I can't control myself and eat everything. I'll have to have my clothes made again next year."
Mr. Dalton chuckled. Laura's face flushed slightly.
"That's a relief. I was sure you were having a hard time. It must not be easy to adapt to a new place."
"Maybe that would have been the case if I had worked somewhere else. If I were an ordinary tutor. But honestly, I'm doing better than before I started working. The people at Dunville Park treat me like family, not an employee. It's as comfortable as being at home, Mr. Dalton."
Laura's voice was filled with cheerfulness. Mr. Dalton stared at Laura's face with his dark eyes.
She was very different from the her he had seen in London. Her face was flushed and her gait was full of energy. She was still thin, but her jawline was much softer, so he could tell that she had gained a little weight. Indeed, her words were not false.
