Windsor’s gaze slowly moved downward. Only then did he see that she was clutching a crumpled letter. Her pale hand trembled slightly.

Windsor’s eyes moved back up. Their gazes met. Her wavering eyes looked as if they might burst into tears at any moment.

No, transparent tears were already welling up in her eyes. But she did not cry in the end. She held her head up, clenching her jaw and enduring with difficulty.

“…..”

Suddenly, it occurred to him that perhaps she had endured alone like this during all those countless moments when she was called the “penniless young lady.”

As precariously as a tightly drawn bow.

A woman of the age to graduate from boarding school and debut in society had to bear that burden alone.

She cleared her father’s business debts and supported her mother who suffered from neurasthenia. She ignored the attention showered on her in society and dealt with reporters who swarmed like midges.

Yet she never once showed how difficult it was. Perhaps she was used to enduring. Or perhaps she had become used to it.

Suddenly, Windsor took a step towards her. Then he quietly clenched his fist.

He felt base for making her speak of “a governess’s duty” at this moment. Self-loathing reared its head.

Unable to approach her any further, Windsor stood rooted to the spot like a statue and merely nodded.

“Where did you say your mother is?”

“In Southfield.”

“I will prepare a carriage. I will also inquire about the earliest train tickets. So Miss Somerset, please return to your room immediately and pack your belongings. I will let you know as soon as the departure preparations are complete.”

“…Thank you, Lord Preston.”

Jacqueline, who had barely managed to utter those words, stared intently at Windsor. Windsor waited for her to say more, but Jacqueline ultimately said nothing.

She turned around and left the office. Windsor, who had loosened his tie, rang the bell to call William.

***

Southfield was an unremarkable rural village. It was also an unfamiliar name where more people didn’t know it than those who did.

Among the items produced there, the most famous were undoubtedly wool and mutton.

So in this rural village where trains came and went three times a day, one could find flocks of sheep grazing peacefully wherever one went.

Whenever she saw that sight, Jacqueline would wonder how the owners distinguished their sheep among flocks that all looked the same.

But today, she had no time for idle thoughts even as she saw countless sheep. Having luckily hitched a ride on a passing cargo wagon, she headed straight for her aunt’s house.

Everyone in the area knew Mrs. Brown. Although her husband was not a nobleman, he had owned quite a large sheep farm.

After her husband’s death, she had liquidated the farm and was living out a comfortable retirement, but the Brown name was still going strong.

Moreover, the presence of the “elder sister” living in that house was just as famous as Mrs. Brown herself. The story of how a former countess was living with her younger sister due to her husband’s bankruptcy was known even to the sheep in the neighborhood.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t happened to pass by? It would’ve taken you a good half hour to walk from there to the Brown house.”

“Indeed. I’m truly fortunate. Thank you.”

Hiding her anxious feelings, Jacqueline conveyed her thanks with a sociable smile. Her bottom hurt, but she had no leisure to show it.

The man with the shaggy beard kept glancing at her as he drove the wagon loaded with hay.

And Jacqueline knew the reason. Both sisters’ husbands had died. Behind their backs, the villagers called them “the husband-eating sisters.”

That was just the rumor Jacqueline knew; there might be many more rumors she hadn’t heard.

“Seeing as you’re going to that house, you must be Mrs. Brown’s niece.”

“Yes.”

The man said nothing more, but his implication was clear. Jacqueline quietly remained silent, looking down at the bumpy dirt road.

The wide plains and scattered hills were all covered in bright green grass. White sheep were placed like cotton balls on top.

Normally she would have been captivated by the peaceful and tranquil scene, but now her mind was preoccupied with worry for her mother.

The sky had begun to turn orange. The rural village where night fell early would soon be shrouded in darkness. As time passed, her heart grew more anxious.

“…..”

The uncomfortable silence continued without end. Just as the pain in her bottom from the jolting wagon was becoming numb, the wagon finally came to a stop.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Thank you. I’ll give your regards to my aunt.”

Jacqueline jumped down from the cargo wagon in one breath. Then she ran with her bag in one hand.

Beyond the wide yard, she saw the familiar brick house. It was a house with rose vines trailing along the walls. She reached the front door in one breath and knocked.

Bang bang bang.

The house was quiet. Suddenly, her face hardened. The worst scenarios flashed through her mind. Her mother with closed eyes, surrounded by people around the bed.

Surely not…. Good heavens, no.

Bang bang bang.

“Is anyone home?”

As Jacqueline was about to raise her voice again, a young maid opened the door and came out.

She looked at Jacqueline with an indifferent face, then suddenly opened her eyes wide.

“Who… Oh, Miss Somerset!”

“It’s been a while, Susan.”

“How… More importantly, please come in. Mrs. Brown, come out and see! See who’s here!”

Susan shouted towards the inside of the house. A maid shouting to call her mistress was unimaginable in the rigid Preston household.

But it was not an unfamiliar sight to Jacqueline. Before going to the capital, she too had stayed in this house with her mother for several months.

Jacqueline slowly looked around as she entered. Nothing had changed since she last left this house.

The brick house had small windows, so not much sunlight came in. So it was colder inside than outside, but considering this was a cold region, it wasn’t such a strange scene. Thanks to that, winters could be spent a bit more warmly.

“Susan, what’s all this commotion about who… Oh my, who is this? Jackie?”

Her aunt looked surprised to see Jacqueline. She approached with her arms spread wide and hugged Jacqueline tightly. She was buried in her aunt’s ample bosom.

“Goodness, Jackie! How long has it been? Have you been well? Are you not sick anywhere?”

“Aunt, have you been well….”

She suddenly closed her mouth as she was about to return the greeting. It was because she felt an inexplicable sense of dissonance in her aunt’s warm welcome.

And only then did she realize it was because of her aunt’s overly relaxed expression. Jacqueline slowly loosened her arms and asked:

“I came down urgently after receiving the letter you sent. Didn’t you say mother was critically ill?”

“Ah, that.”

Her aunt put a hand to her chin with an awkward smile. Jacqueline’s eyes grew even more suspicious.

“Your mother was so insistent. Jackie, you know how much your mother nags people. So I wrote the letter as she told me to, but….”

“So that was a lie?”

Jacqueline asked sharply, as if she couldn’t believe it. The past few hours of riding the train Windsor had arranged and rushing here without rest flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern.

Along with the memory of her heart burning with worry for her mother.

“Come inside and let’s talk.”

Just then, a brusque voice came from inside the house. Both of them turned their heads at the same time. Mrs. Somerset, with her thin frame, was standing in the hallway watching the two of them.

“Mother.”

Jacqueline called out to her in a voice filled with many emotions. She seemed a little thinner than when she had last seen her.

Despite the warm late spring weather, she was wrapped in a thick shawl. Southfield was not a very pleasant place to live for someone who was very sensitive to cold like her.

Judging by the dark circles under her eyes, it seemed she still wasn’t sleeping well these days.

“Have you been well?”

Jacqueline asked in a softened tone as she walked towards her. Susan, who had been watching the family reunion with fond eyes, quietly left with Jacqueline’s bag.

“Do I look like I’ve been well to your eyes?”

Jacqueline stopped in her tracks.

Mrs. Somerset’s eyes held an unpleasant look as she stared at her. The voice that escaped through her mother’s teeth was colder than Southfield’s winter wind.

“Oh sister. Why are you getting upset at Jackie again when you’re seeing her after so long?”

Mrs. Brown, who had been gauging Jacqueline’s reaction, shot a glance at Mrs. Somerset. Then she tugged on Jackie’s arm.

“Come in, Jackie. You must be tired from coming all this way. Let’s have some tea and talk. Tell us about the capital too.”

“I’m living in hell day by day, stuck in the countryside, but you look very happy, Jackie. Seeing how you only came down after receiving a letter saying I was dying. How can you be so heartless to the mother who bore you?”

Instead of answering, Jacqueline only swallowed a silent sigh. Her mother’s irritability was nothing new, but familiarity didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

Throb.

The vitriol her mother spewed became a dagger that pierced her heart. At the same time, guilt weighed down on Jacqueline’s shoulders.

Perhaps she had indeed found life in the capital quite enjoyable, as her mother said. Just because her hysterical mother wasn’t by her side, it felt as if she had thrown off a heavy burden.

I guess I am quite a heartless daughter, as mother says.

Jacqueline moved her feet with a bitter smile. They headed straight for the living room. Mrs. Brown scolded her sister and took her niece’s side.

“I wouldn’t want to come back either if I were her. You have to say nice things for someone to want to come back. Who would want to return when all you do is say unpleasant things?”

Mrs. Somerset glared at her younger sister with eyes full of anger. Mrs. Brown looked back at her as if to say, did I say anything wrong?

“And what joy would Jackie have? Do you think being a governess in someone else’s house is an easy thing? You’ve never even worked or earned money yourself, sister.”

“The way you talk, people would think Jackie is the only one who works. Stop making such a fuss over something everyone does.”

“…..”

For a moment, Jacqueline stopped in her tracks. Suddenly she felt suffocated. Only then did she recall that she often felt this suffocated when talking with her mother.

That too was a sensation she had forgotten for a while. She almost missed the rigid Preston mansion. At least there was no one there who made her feel suffocated.

Mother is just ill, Jacqueline. There’s no need to be hurt or get angry. So you have to endure.