Chapter 88
<88> Whitefield (5)
Laura smiled, seeing the veins popping out on Mr. Dalton's forehead. She found it quite amusing whenever Mr. Dalton got angry.
"In that respect, Austen is a true realist. Most people in reality are full of flaws. But you left out Miss Elinor Dashwood and Miss Fanny Price. What about those two ladies?"
"Miss Fanny Price is Miss Pendleton's favorite lady in the story, so I'll exclude her from criticism."
Laura chuckled.
"I wish Miss Price would come to Dunville Park for a cup of tea in gratitude. Now, tell me about Miss Elinor Dashwood."
"She is a dignified lady who handles everything with discretion. However, her discretion didn't extend to love. She suffered heartache because of a wishy-washy fool like Edward Ferrars."
Laura immediately objected to this opinion.
"Edward Ferrars is a wishy-washy fool? In my opinion, he is a very fine gentleman."
"Where on earth?"
"He gave up true love to keep a promise he made to a lady in his reckless youth. It was the right thing to do, not swayed by emotions. If he had broken his engagement with Lucy Steele and chosen Miss Dashwood, Elinor would have been disappointed in him, and readers wouldn't have sided with him either."
"I think so too. Abandoning a lady you promised to marry is a shameless act. But if he hadn't been a moron in the first place, he wouldn't have gotten engaged to a vulgar woman like Lucy Steele."
Laura covered her mouth with her hand to suppress her laughter. Although Laura was tolerant of everything, she had nothing to deny in Mr. Dalton's criticism of Lucy Steele. Lucy Steele was the embodiment of irredeemable vulgarity.
"So, it's settled then. Emma and Lizzy are arrogant, Cathy is clueless, Marianne and Elinor are both fools, though with different temperaments? And our Fanny has some kind of unmentionable flaw? Oh, how ashamed I am to have only friends who fall short of Mr. Dalton's standards!"
Laura feigned distress exaggeratedly. Mr. Dalton, knowing that Laura was joking, chuckled.
However, Olivia, who had been listening to their conversation all along, became anxious. She thought Laura was hurt. It was inevitable, as her uncle's vocabulary was scathing and his tone was perfectly accusatory.
In fact, Olivia had been wondering if her uncle was in his right mind throughout their conversation. Where else would you find a man who would tear down his beloved woman's tastes to her face, even if he was provoked? If she were the teacher, she would have poured tea on her uncle's face.
"B-But Uncle, you said you liked Anne Elliot from Persuasion. That she was a mature character."
Mr. Dalton nodded at his niece's apt remark.
"Anne Elliot is the epitome of inner strength. She is intelligent, patient, and wise. It's no wonder Captain Wentworth falls in love with her again."
Laura tilted her head.
"Do you really think so?"
"Yes."
"Interesting. Anne Elliot abandoned Captain Wentworth, whom she loved, in the past, listening to Mrs. Russell's advice. Isn't that a rather indecisive action?"
"I think Mrs. Russell gave the right advice, and Anne Elliot was wise to accept it."
"Why?"
"Wentworth was just a naval officer with nothing to his name back then. In those days, the navy wasn't considered a promising career. I don't understand why Wentworth proposed to Anne Elliot without any financial foundation. He couldn't give the woman he loved any certainty. Believing that a woman would choose him solely out of love when he could barely take care of himself is nothing more than foolishness. In conclusion, he became rich by distinguishing himself in the war, but if a cannonball had gone astray and destroyed his fleet, all Anne Elliot would have gained from marrying him would have been the cold corpse of her once-husband."
"Mr. Dalton, you surprise me. I thought you were someone who considered only love as the ultimate criterion. That kind of thinking is for a calculating woman like me."
"I believe in the power of love, and I want to live as that noble emotion leads me, but that's because I'm a man of property. Women are at a disadvantage economically and vulnerable to the influence of reputation. If they follow only love and fall into economic ruin, they have no way to redeem themselves. Women must be prudent and rational in marriage. Men like me, who have vested interests, cannot criticize women for making realistic choices."
At that moment, a servant approached him and told him that one of the farmers who leased land from him had urgently requested an audience. He apologized to the two ladies and left.
Laura waited for him, drinking tea with Olivia. For some reason, Olivia was eager to boast about her uncle's wealth and appearance. Half of Yorkshire belonged to her uncle, and Olivia said that there was no gentleman she had ever seen who was as handsome as her uncle.
Laura thought that Olivia just wanted to brag about her uncle, so she humored her appropriately. But because she kept thinking about other things, she didn't notice at all that Olivia couldn't hide her anxiety, and that anxiety was tinged with the fear that her uncle had lost a lot of points with the teacher.
Contrary to Olivia's thoughts, Laura wasn't offended at all. As she had said, she was a woman with a clear boundary between her taste and her ego. Rather, Laura had a hunch from the conversation just now that the day she would come to dislike Mr. Dalton would never come.
As far as she knew, Mr. Dalton was a person who didn't care at all about what he disliked. He was deeply immersed only in what he loved and maintained a cold indifference to everything else.
The fact that Mr. Dalton had read all six of Jane Austen's major novels meant that he liked Jane Austen quite a bit. A gentleman who likes Jane Austen. She couldn't help but like Mr. Dalton.
'I'm so lucky to have become friends with Mr. Dalton.'
Laura thought quietly beside Olivia, who was hastily boasting that her uncle was the best marksman in the area.
He returned in less than 30 minutes. It was just after 3 p.m. He suggested moving to another room.
"The tea is cold, and flies are starting to swarm the desserts. Let's move to the music room now. There's a well-tuned piano there, so I can naturally ask Miss Pendleton to play."
"Then I can pretend to be unable to resist and show off my skills."
Laura cheerfully agreed.
"I'll be able to grumble a few words to Uncle while you're playing."
Olivia grumbled in a disgruntled voice.
Laura thought that Olivia was sulking because Mr. Dalton had been away for a long time, and she patted her shoulder to soothe her.
The three moved to the drawing room. He brought half a dozen or so pieces of sheet music prepared in the drawing room. The two stood side by side in front of the piano, looking through the sheet music and choosing a piece to play.
Olivia sat on the sofa, watching the two from behind. They looked really good together standing like that. Like a happy newlywed couple. How wonderful would it be if the teacher stayed here and became her uncle's wife? If she could stay as part of our family forever, without worrying about her leaving someday.
But her uncle, who should be capturing the teacher's heart, didn't seem to have any intention of doing so. All her uncle had done in front of the teacher she had brought was to boast about the embarrassing nickname Miss Havisham and openly slander her favorite author. He should be sitting right next to the teacher and seducing her with all sorts of sweet words, but what was he doing? Olivia was angry.
Soon, Laura began to play the piano. It was Mozart's Sonata No. 12. Mr. Dalton sat next to his niece Olivia, watching Laura play the piano. Olivia glanced at her uncle's face.
Her uncle's eyes were fixed on Miss Laura Pendleton, who was sitting in front of the grand piano. With a smile on his lips.
Olivia was shocked to see her uncle's face now.
He seemed completely dazed. His eyes were glazed over, and his skin was faintly flushed. It was an expression she had never seen on her uncle's face before.
'Ah, Uncle is really smitten with the teacher.'
Olivia felt a slight jealousy towards the teacher who had elicited such an expression from her uncle. She glanced at the piano. The teacher was wearing the ruby earrings she had lent her, and her long eyelashes were lowered as she played the keys. Her snow-white skin and delicate features under her braided strawberry blonde hair.
Olivia's jealousy slowly subsided.
'Even if I were Uncle, I couldn't help but love her.'
Olivia readily admitted. Laura was a woman who far surpassed her, and Olivia felt nothing but awe for such Laura. The jealousy she had felt just now was just an emotion like a dry cough that remained as a habit at the end of a cold, and her antipathy towards the woman who had stolen her uncle's heart was completely replaced by her love for Laura.
Olivia was an honorable loser who knew how to accept defeat.
"Uncle."
Olivia called her uncle in a low voice. Her uncle, who was lost in the sight of Laura playing the piano, was completely unaware of his niece's call. Olivia called her uncle three more times before finally pinching the back of his hand.
Only then did her uncle look down at his niece beside him.
"Um, what is it, Olivia?"
Olivia brought her face close to her uncle's ear and whispered.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Oh, I'll give you a chance to play too. Just wait until Miss Pendleton's piece is over."
Her uncle turned his gaze back to the teacher. Olivia frowned.
"Not that. I mean, a plan to capture the teacher's heart."
He looked at Olivia again.
"You didn't write anything in the letter except to bring the teacher here today. What's the plan?"
"To have a good time together at Whitefield."
"That's it?"
"Yes. Showing her Whitefield and the mansion is enough."
Olivia was dumbfounded. But Mr. Dalton was relaxed.
"That's a lot of confidence. You think that just with land and a mansion, a sensible teacher will fall in love with you?"
