52 - Chapter 52
<Eloise!>
Still, that night, his voice calling my name rang vividly in my ears.
The voice of salvation I heard in my most desperate moment. Had I ever been so glad to hear someone else's voice in my life?
The problem was that my heart kept pounding whenever I heard Ryan call her name after that.
So, when Ryan came near, Eloise deliberately hardened her expression and tried to remain calm.
Of course, she was easily agitated by his teasing, but that was better.
Otherwise, he would have noticed her trembling voice and blushing face while having a trivial conversation.
"I must be crazy..."
Eloise muttered, rising to her feet and covering her face with both hands.
The contents of a psychology book she had seen in her father's study long ago flashed through her mind.
If you are with someone in a dangerous place, you might mistake that anxious feeling for rational affection? Even if you're just together, Ryan even saved me.
Isn't it very natural and right to have feelings for a gentleman who saved you from trouble?
Eloise, who had been sighing incessantly, walked to the mirror in the corner of the room and looked at herself.
Having worked late for the past few nights, her skin was dull, and there were shadows under her eyes. Even if she had styled her hair, the roughly tied-up hair made her look like she had just come from working in the fields. Her hands were covered in ink stains, and there were sauce stains on her hem from helping in the kitchen.
Really, even she thought she looked hopeless.
It wasn't just her appearance.
26 years old. In Albion, she was well past the age of marriage. Moreover, she had been ill as a child, so her health often deteriorated depending on the season.
'Above all...'
Eloise looked at her stomach for a moment.
When she barely survived a life-threatening crisis as a child, the doctor said. She would probably have difficulty having children.
The problem was that the doctor, heavily drunk in Cambon, told that fact to others.
The Suberton family had already attracted attention from the people around them when they came here. The word that the daughter of that family could not have children spread in a day.
So, after more than a decade, it was no longer a big secret in this area.
She had a lifetime of trust funds and wasn't bad-looking, but the reason why she didn't receive any marriage proposals was probably because of that.
However, in the capital, many foreign ideas came in after the war, and people's thoughts also changed, so there were people who didn't care about such things, but not here in Feltham.
So, Harrison, the pastor, used to say that she should overcome the trials given by God with faith.
Although she kicked his leg hard when he spoke as if her illness was an original sin.
'I know my conditions too.'
There are plenty of young, beautiful, and, as people say, problem-free young ladies.
If Ryan were looking for a marriage partner, it was obvious that he would choose one of them.
Eloise pulled her face in the mirror this way and that.
Was it because she was only thinking of belittling herself? For some reason, her face looked uglier than usual.
Eloise, with weak steps, returned to the table and placed Julia and Patricia's paper cards in front of Ryan.
One from Feltham and one from Cambon, so she wouldn't hear that she favored one over the other.
"...Finally, it's all over."
Even though the work she had been worrying about for a long time was finally over, her heart was not at all relieved.
Monday, the last week of July.
Finally, the Blissbury Summer Ball was about to begin.
The Summer Ball that people talk about is actually on Wednesday, but the Banquet, which can be said to be its beginning, is first held on Monday of that week.
Usually, the first guests would arrive at such a Banquet after 6 p.m.
Even those who are very close to the host come to have a conversation before the Banquet starts, so the number is not very large.
Most guests arrive after 9 p.m., so I believed it would be the same today.
But at 5 p.m., when Mrs. Greenwood, who hadn't said anything special, appeared for the first time, the people of Blissbury realized.
This Banquet would flow very differently from what it had been until now.
"Please understand that I came so early. I had a lot of fun when I saw Sergeant Thornton in Cambon last time, but there wasn't enough time to have a sufficient conversation. So, I wanted to have a more intimate conversation today, so I left a little early."
A little early? At this point, she must have been prepared from the morning and rushed from Cambon.
It wasn't just Mrs. Greenwood who rushed like that. A little later, the young ladies of Cambon began to arrive one after another.
Compared to last year, they arrived several hours earlier, and their purpose was obvious without asking.
In the end, as soon as Ryan got dressed, he had to go down to the Reception room and talk to them. That was his duty as the host.
Just when it seemed that the young ladies of Cambon had made up their minds today, a familiar voice was heard.
"Eloise!"
When I turned to where the voice was coming from, Julia, who had already arrived, was standing there.
"Oh my gosh, you came this early too?"
"You too? Those carriages in front, could they be..."
Instead of explaining, Eloise looked towards the Reception room, as if telling her to see for herself.
Just in time, laughter was erupting from inside, as if someone had said something. Julia's expression hardened when she heard that voice. She realized that they were people from Cambon.
While Julia was glaring at the Reception room, Mr. Ogilvy's family came in.
"Eloise, noona!"
"Andrew!"
Eloise held the angelic child who ran to her and kissed him on the cheek.
Even though it was the Ogilvy family that she always saw, she felt like she was seeing them after a very long time.
Eloise, who was looking at them coming in, soon realized that the face she was looking for was not there.
"Andrew? Where's Abigail?"
"Abigail noona isn't coming today. She said she wasn't feeling well."
"Still?"
"Yeah! Ah, Mrs. Parker! Mrs. Parker! Hello!"
Andrew got out of Eloise's arms and ran to Mrs. Parker, who was coming up with snacks.
Looking at his face, it seemed like he was planning to receive all the cookies for the year today. Maybe not for the year, but at least he could get enough cookies to enjoy for about two months.
As with others, Mrs. Parker also adored Andrew very much.
Eloise approached Mrs. Ogilvy, who was shaking her head at her son. She saw Eloise and greeted her happily, lightly touching her cheek.
"Oh, Eloise. Are you okay? Mr. Suberton isn't here this year either, so you must have been even busier."
"I'm okay. Sergeant Thornton... Ryan helped me a lot."
As always, Eloise hurriedly changed his title, thinking of calling him Ryan.
Today is the day when people from Feltham and Cambon come. No, even if they don't come, she thought that from now on, she should call him Sergeant Thornton again, as before.
Eloise, who had sorted out her thoughts about Ryan, asked Mrs. Ogilvy.
"Mrs. Ogilvy, is Abigail really not feeling well?"
"I don't know. It doesn't seem like she's sick, but she's been so irritable lately that even Julia is watching her in front of Abigail. It seems like she has something to worry about, but she's not the type to say anything to anyone except you. If you're okay, would you stop by our house after the Summer Ball?"
"Of course. I'm planning to go back as soon as it's over anyway."
That was sincere. In the past, she would have stayed for a few more days after perfectly finishing the final cleanup and enjoyed the quiet Blissbury.
But this year, she was planning to go straight home as soon as the major cleanup was over.
Because if she stayed here, she felt like she would eventually make a mistake without properly hiding her feelings.
Soon, the Ogilvy family also went into the Reception room, and Eloise went out to the front door alone.
'What's really going on?'
I know that Abigail is looking forward to today every year. Even though her legs hurt a lot when she rides the carriage for a long time, she always hides it and participates.
But she chose to stay home alone.
Eloise looked towards Feltham with a worried face.
Hoping that nothing bad would happen to her friend.
Abigail sat in her room and looked at the dress hanging on the wall.
It's a dress I've been preparing since last winter. Because I couldn't spend a lot of money looking into Julia's marriage prospects, I repaired Julia's summer clothes that she bought a few years ago.
Julia had only worn it a few times and said it was out of fashion, so she didn't wear it anymore, but when I repaired it during the winter, it was reborn as a pretty decent ball gown.
How much I had been looking forward to the Summer Ball since winter, looking at this.
But I didn't go. Actually, I'm not sick.
