Chapter 76
<76> A New Life (7)
Reaching the lake, they each chose a suitable stone for Stone skipping. The boys began to skip stones, and Mr. Dalton, who had been watching quietly, approached them and taught them about posture and angle. In a rather serious atmosphere, the boys obediently followed their uncle's instructions.
Laura watched Daniel and George intently. They obediently followed their uncle's words. At first, she thought they were afraid of their strict uncle, but as she watched, she realized that wasn't the case.
They often stared at their uncle. Glancing furtively, as if testing the waters. They followed their uncle's teachings with fear and impatience. But occasionally, at the small acknowledgments and encouragements their uncle gave, their eyes sparkled for a moment. Laura watched their eyes closely. In the eyes of the boys looking at their uncle, there was admiration. An admiration for an adult man who was much bigger, smarter, and stronger than themselves.
They began to throw stones on the surface of the water as they had learned from their uncle. The stones bounced, bounced, and skipped across the surface. They were excited and immersed in throwing stones.
Mr. Dalton stepped back and came to Laura's side. The two stood quietly, watching the boys. The boys' backs as they diligently threw stones toward the river. The gentle ripples spreading as the stones collided with the surface of the water.
Mr. Dalton broke the silence first.
"This is where I first skipped stones."
"In this lake?"
"Yes. With William. I think I was eight years old."
"Younger than Daniel and George are now. Was there someone to teach you then? Like you're doing for those kids?"
"My brother-in-law took on that role. He was just as obsessed with hunting back then as he is now, but he took care of me when I came to visit. It was his way of treating his brother-in-law."
"Coming to Dunville Park must feel like returning to your childhood."
"That's right. I have more childhood memories in Dunville Park than in Whitefield."
The two stood silently, watching the two little ones skipping stones.
She imagined the young Ian Dalton. It was hard to imagine, being aware of the adult man standing next to her, a head taller and with broad shoulders. She tried to paint in the details on the image of the two boys in front of her.
About George's size, with jet-black hair and eyes, fairer ivory skin than now, and a delicate, lovely face. A well-mannered boy who didn't laugh easily at most things. But when he was throwing stones into the river with his friend and in-law, little William, he would have been just an eight-year-old boy.
'He must have been cute.'
She thought to herself without realizing it, and pressed her lips tightly together, afraid that the thought would escape her mouth. But even if the words didn't come out, she couldn't control the smile that bloomed on its own.
He must have been cute. He must have been really cute. Even now, he possessed such delicate features, so he must have been a truly beautiful boy in his childhood. And his cheeks would have been chubby, with the baby fat not yet gone.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
Mr. Dalton looked at her with a puzzled expression.
"Ah... I was imagining the two little gentlemen skipping stones like those kids. I only met Mr. Fairfax and Mr. Dalton as adults, so I only see them as respected gentlemen. Thinking that they might have had such times, it's... what should I say..."
"What should you say?"
"It feels ticklish, Mr. Dalton."
"A ticklish feeling. That's a strange expression."
"It's just a feeling, so don't think too deeply about it."
"No. I think I know what you mean. I sometimes look at Miss Pendleton and imagine your childhood, too."
"You imagine my childhood?"
"Yes."
"What do you imagine my childhood to be like, Mr. Dalton?"
"Pigtails on either side, a neat young lady who never dropped a single crumb on her clothes. A quiet bookworm who preferred to read in her room even when her friends asked her to go play in the forest, an introverted girl who liked small animals but was afraid of big animals like horses. Am I right?"
"Only one thing."
Mr. Dalton sighed, seemingly disappointed.
"Only one thing... What did I get right?"
"Being afraid of horses. I'm still afraid of horses. That's why I couldn't learn to ride."
"Then what about the others? Were they all wrong?"
"When I ate snacks, my skirt was always a mess, so after snack time, I would always pick up the hem of my skirt and go to the window to shake it out. Whenever it was snack time, birds would gather near my room window. And, I liked books very much, but not to the point of refusing opportunities to play outside. I loved running around outside. When I went on picnics during my school days, I would volunteer to row and play cricket."
"You even played cricket?"
"You don't believe me?"
"To be honest, I can't imagine it at all."
"But it's true. There just weren't many opportunities."
"Then, what about small animals? Didn't you like animals?"
"I didn't dislike them. I sometimes fed stray cats and observed the chicks in the chicken coop. But, I preferred livestock on the table to living animals."
Mr. Dalton chuckled softly, and Laura laughed along with him.
"I had several preconceptions about Miss Pendleton. I thought that since you are such a perfect Lady now, you must have been similar in your childhood."
"Everyone does that. I also imagined Mr. Dalton's childhood based on your current appearance."
"How did you imagine it?"
"Do you want to hear?"
Mr. Dalton nodded. Laura thought for a moment, then told him exactly what she had imagined. Mr. Dalton listened to her story and then smiled gently.
"Miss Pendleton has good reasoning skills, except for one thing, you're all correct."
"Really? Then what's my wrong answer?"
"I wasn't that cute."
Laura chuckled.
"You're lying, aren't you? You're embarrassed to admit that you were cute in your childhood?"
"No. Really. I really wasn't cute."
But Laura glared at Mr. Dalton as if she couldn't believe him.
"If you really don't believe me, come to Whitefield. There are pictures of me from my childhood, so if you see them, you'll know whether I'm lying or not."
"You invite people in a very strange way, Mr. Dalton."
"Because you're someone who's hard to invite otherwise."
"Mr. Dalton sees right through me."
The two were enveloped in silence again. It would have been awkward if it were with someone else, but Laura didn't feel uncomfortable at all with the silence she shared with him. In fact, she felt a very comfortable sensation from Mr. Dalton, who was so close to her. It was strangely comforting to stand with him.
Perhaps she was exhausted from being mixed in with strangers, no matter how comfortable her life was. Just having Mr. Dalton, whom she had known for a long time, by her side made her feel so stable. Or, maybe it wasn't that.
Laura glanced up at Ian next to her. Ian's beautiful profile as he looked at the lake. When Laura saw that figure, her body softened as if warm water had been poured over the top of her head, and she slowly felt a heat rising. A comfortable yet sweet feeling. It was a sensation she hadn't felt throughout her time at Dunville Park.
In the distance, the sunset was gradually beginning. The two told the children to go inside now, and the boys obediently put down their stones and followed them.
They passed through the garden and returned to the mansion. Laura and the two boys returned to their respective rooms to wash off the dirt and change clothes before the Formal dinner. Meanwhile, Ian, who was left alone, walked familiarly through the hall to the glass window of the Dunville Park hall.
Beyond the window, evening was creeping into Dunville Park along with the sun, which was sinking far away with a sweet orange glow.
Ian was swept up in a strange feeling as he looked at the setting sun. To feel this way in Dunville Park, which he had been visiting like his own home for over 20 years. Every pattern on the window frame, every landscape outside the window was familiar to him as if it were his own. Nothing had changed. It was a strange thing.
No, one thing had changed. One new person who had come to this place.
He thought of her who had just gone up the stairs. By now, she would have found her way into one of the many rooms in Dunville Park. And she would be tidying herself up for the evening Formal dinner in a room where the things she had unpacked from her luggage were welcoming their owner in every corner. Letting her hair down, having the servant prepare her bathwater.
Ian clenched his fist tightly. His heart was pounding fiercely and all his nerves were jumping with joy. She was living in the town where he was born and raised, and even in this place so close to his land, he still couldn't believe this reality. Even though he had seen her walking through the forest with his nephews with his own two eyes today. She was living in this place where he had spent his childhood. She... Laura Pendleton.
"Hello, little brother?"
Ian snapped out of his blissful mood at the familiar voice and turned around. And he replied dryly.
"Hello, sister."
Mrs. Fairfax, who was wearing a thick shawl even in the middle of summer, was smiling at her younger brother.
"Why are you standing there posing like that? Could you be thinking something like, 'The woman I love is living in the mansion where I spent my childhood, I'm so ecstatic'?"
"Do you think I'm such a childish person?"
Ian nonchalantly denied it. But he couldn't fool Mrs. Fairfax, who had been taking care of Ian since he was wearing diapers. She giggled and took her younger brother to the living room. Mrs. Fairfax, sitting by the fireplace where the fire was blazing, asked her brother across from her.
"Why did you come so late, Ian? I thought you would be clocking in at Dunville Park almost every day."
"If I start going in and out of Dunville Park as soon as she arrives, it'll raise suspicion."
"Well, she's a smart person, so she might notice."
Ian brought up a question that he had been dying to ask for days.
"How has Miss Pendleton been?"
Mrs. Fairfax told him about the events of the past few days. Laura going to the forest every day to run around with George and Daniel, meeting little Ian. Even taking on Olivia's French lessons.
"I was very worried at first. A frail young lady like a willow branch running and tumbling with those rowdy boys every day, I thought she would collapse. But surprisingly, she did quite well. I heard from Daniel last time that the teacher climbed up an Elm tree and knocked on the top. That, you and William used to climb every day when you were little, the 100-year-old Elm tree. Can you imagine?"
