Chapter 91
<91> The Curtain Rises (1)
Even the ever-consistent Mr. Dalton soon noticed that Laura had become close to the Star couple. He was very pleased, to the point where it seemed a bit excessive. Every time he met Laura, he would ask her in detail how close she had become to them and how much she liked them.
One day, during tea time, Laura couldn't contain her curiosity and spoke up, asking if her becoming friends with the Star couple was such an important matter to Mr. Dalton.
He rubbed his flushed cheeks with the back of his hand, looking embarrassed.
"Forgive me. I am simply delighted to have the opportunity to show you that I also have good friends. Like Miss Pendleton, good friends are my pride."
Laura, who valued friendship, understood his feelings at once.
"Then Mr. Dalton's reaction is quite natural. The Star couple are friends worthy of boasting about."
A deep smile spread across Mr. Dalton's face. Laura found that smile pleasant, and she felt even better that she had made him smile.
"I hope Miss Pendleton will continue her friendship with the Star couple. They are wonderful and respectable people, and a model couple."
"You are fortunate to live so close to such people, Mr. Dalton."
He gazed at Laura quietly.
"...Proximity certainly favors friendship. Whitefield and the Parsonage are less than thirty minutes' walk apart."
"You are definitely more fortunate than I am. It takes me over two hours just to travel back and forth. I always feel apologetic whenever I use the carriage."
"If Whitefield Hall were Miss Pendleton's home, it would be much easier to cultivate friendships. It is a pity for Miss Pendleton."
"Indeed, Mr. Dalton."
After that, Mr. Dalton frequently attended the Formal dinner parties at the Parsonage. Every time he met Laura at the Formal dinner, he would worry about how difficult it must have been for her to come all the way there, traveling such a long and arduous road. He would say how easily she could come if she lived closer.
Laura was grateful for his concern and said that the road wasn't always so difficult. But he always added:
"Friends are better when they are close. Having friends within walking distance is one of life's greatest joys. If Miss Pendleton lived at Whitefield Hall, she would come even if she had to walk."
Hearing this every time she met him, Laura felt as if she was being brainwashed, and the effect of the brainwashing began to take hold. At some point, she began to think that Dunville Park was too far away to cultivate friendships, especially with the Star couple's Parsonage and Mr. Dalton's Whitefield Hall.
Whenever she had such thoughts, Laura felt a little lonely, especially when she realized the distance from Whitefield Hall.
When she returned after meeting him, a bleak autumn wind seemed to swirl in her heart. That feeling lingered in the center of her chest until she arrived at Dunville Park and went to bed.
It hadn't been like this when she was in London. She missed him during periods of absence from friendship, but it was just a fleeting emotion. But since coming to Yorkshire, the emotion lingered instead of fleeting. He had become a presence in her heart that was hard to ignore.
'Could it be that the birch trees surrounding Whitefield Hall have cast a spell? I certainly feel like I'm under a spell while passing through there.'
Laura laughed at herself for having such absurd thoughts. Magic? She had graduated from such sentimental fantasies in her girlhood. She resolutely closed the lid on her emotions. The lid was still firmly closed.
Laura's reason always prevailed over her emotions. She had lived a life where only reason was on her side in the face of a harsh fate. To avoid following in her parents' footsteps, she had shed tears of blood for over a decade, turning her heart into an impregnable fortress.
She trusted herself in this matter. She would never let anyone know her feelings. She would keep it a secret until the day she died. She was confident.
But she did not know. Life is a battlefield where unexpected attacks can come from anywhere at any time. The arrow that flies across that battlefield, shot by God, can shatter the impregnable fortress that a human has built over decades with just one shot. The downfall that often occurs in life. Laura would soon experience reason being consumed by emotion due to that fate, and she would realize that nothing in life can be certain.
It all started with just a small tombstone.
* * *
"Teacher, please tell me honestly."
One warm Wednesday afternoon, Laura, who was enjoying a slice of apple pie filled with apples in the cozy living room of the Parsonage, stopped the fork she was moving and looked across at Mrs. Star. Mrs. Star was looking at Laura with her round, black, squirrel-like eyes, poking her lower lip with the end of her fork.
"What...?"
"Mr. Dalton has a lady he adores, doesn't he? You fell in love in London, didn't you?"
Laura was surprised and swallowed the half-chewed apple pie.
"My husband often takes walks along the river with Mr. Dalton, discussing books or theology. But since he went to London last summer, he has started talking about marriage a lot more. What it feels like to have a wife at home, what it feels like to be a father, how to be a good husband like my husband. And he returned to London again not long after."
'That's right, Mr. Dalton said he was seriously considering marriage in London.'
Laura put down the fork and plate she was holding on the table. She felt so down that it was hard to believe she had just eaten something sweet.
While traveling to and from Whitefield, Laura's heart had leaned towards him more than ever. But she mustn't forget. No matter how close she became to him, his side belonged to another woman. Even if he was kind to her, it was only the kindness that came from the friendship he offered to a friend.
That was how it should be, and that was how it had to be.
Even if he occasionally blushed at a few of her words, and even if he remembered and took care of her strangely trivial habits and preferences, so that she secretly doubted his feelings and sometimes even had presumptuous hopes sprouting in her heart.
'Still, his heart must belong to another woman.'
To suppress her sadness, Laura quickly began to guess who his bride-to-be might be.
Soon, one lady came to mind. A lovely lady from a good family. Miss Dora Lance.
He had never directly said that he loved Miss Lance. But he had followed Miss Lance around during his second visit to London, and he had given her surrounding friends the certainty that their friend would soon become Mrs. Dalton.
A gentleman like Mr. Dalton would not have done such a thing without a clear intention. His heart must belong to Miss Lance.
'He even asked a friend how to be a good husband. He must really like Miss Lance.'
She thought it was a good thing. She could manage that in her head. But sadness stirred in her heart.
Laura poured the milk from a small porcelain milk jug into her share of the tea. Then she stirred it gently with a teaspoon. It was a smooth and elegant movement.
There was no emotion in her eyes as she looked down at the cloudy liquid in the teacup. The acting skills she had honed in society were still her shield, even though her living environment had changed.
"I also think that Mr. Dalton won't remain single forever."
"You know something?"
"Forgive me for not being able to give you a definite answer. I am a third party, so I have to be careful in many ways. But one thing I can say is that when everything is confirmed, Mr. Dalton will definitely tell the Star couple everything after the Dunville Park family."
It was an answer that was no different from an affirmation of the question. Mrs. Star put down the fork she was holding and clapped her hands. She was like a twelve-year-old girl who had been paired with her favorite friend.
"Oh my, Mr. Dalton is in love!"
Laura became uneasy as she watched Mrs. Star, who was jumping up and down. She was a lovely woman, but she was far from discreet. And she was too sociable. She was just the right person to start a rumor.
"Mrs. Star, even if he really has found a partner, there is no guarantee that it will come to fruition. Love is like an old ferry that is easily shipwrecked before reaching its destination."
Mrs. Star waved her hand.
"Don't worry, Teacher! I wouldn't go around spreading rumors about other people's marriages and ruin everything. But I am really, really happy. Our couple's happiness is all thanks to Mr. Dalton, and now Mr. Dalton will get to enjoy this happiness too!"
Laura understood her feelings. It was because Mr. Dalton had recommended him that Star, a seminary student without any backing, was able to obtain a Sinecure in a suitable parish at a young age. If it hadn't been for Mr. Dalton, the day the two of them became a couple would have been postponed much further.
Mrs. Star, whose face was as red as a peach, clasped her hands tightly.
"Oh, I can't wait to see the Dalton family pew at the church filled with their family! And how wonderful the wedding will be! Teacher, what kind of lady has captured the heart of such a picky gentleman as Mr. Dalton? Can you give me just a little, just a tiny hint? Huh? Huh?"
Laura, who was the epitome of discretion, simply smiled once and sipped her tea. She had no intention of saying anything more. The more she spoke, the more her heart would ache, and above all, she was worried that his reputation would be tarnished if the marriage fell through.
Mrs. Star, who had no idea what Laura was thinking, began to act cute and fawn over her in order to get the information she wanted. She had the personality of a playful puppy, and she would fully reveal that nature in front of someone who was willing to accept her cuteness.
Laura laughed at Mrs. Star's cuteness. Mrs. Star was the embodiment of charm that disarmed even other women.
As Mrs. Star's cute show continued for a while, someone knocked on the door of the drawing room. Mrs. Star answered, and the plump maid waddled in.
"Mr. Dalton of Whitefield is here to visit."
Laura's body trembled. She smoothed her clothes and hair, which were no longer neat.
