Miss Pendleton neither scolded nor agreed with her. She simply took her hand and said:

“Miss Hyde probably won’t spend her life just typing.”

“Pardon?”

“Being a typist would be far too monotonous a job for Miss Hyde.”

“Miss Pendleton, I haven’t even found employment yet.”

“I know. I’m getting ahead of myself. But I want you to remember these words when I’m not by your side because our paths will diverge. Miss Hyde, you are a smart and strong young lady, and more than that, you crave a new world. So Miss Hyde, when another opportunity comes, don’t be afraid to push forward. Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”

Miss Hyde quietly looked down at Miss Pendleton’s hand. A small white hand. And a slender wrist and arm. Miss Hyde’s gaze traveled up the arm to the small shoulder wrapped in clothing. The delicate neckline. And then to the thoughtful and kind face.

Miss Hyde stared at her face for a moment, feeling unsettled. She became genuinely curious.

Why hadn’t Miss Pendleton found love? Unlike herself, Miss Pendleton was so beautiful and sensitive. And she wasn’t a woman who shied away from married life with a man like herself.

But Miss Hyde didn’t ask such an impolite question to Miss Pendleton, who had generously given her time, advice, and a typewriter. She simply held her hand tightly and promised to keep practicing.

As the two ladies prepared for the future with determined hearts and sweated through their training, the date of the spring picnic planned by Miss Lance rapidly approached.

* * *

Miss Lance was determined to spend her twentieth summer with grand entertainment and revelry. It might be her last social season as an unmarried woman, after all.

Miss Lance sent letters to all the young gentlemen and ladies she knew, inviting them to join her for a picnic. If everyone attended, there would easily be over thirty people. Naturally, Mr. Dalton was the very first gentleman to whom she sent an invitation.

Miss Pendleton received her letter and replied that she would gladly attend. As Miss Pendleton was writing her reply, Miss Hyde, sitting at the desk next to her, shook her head in bewilderment, wondering why Miss Lance, whom she had only greeted a few times, had sent her an invitation.

Miss Pendleton urged her to go on the picnic together. Miss Hyde would likely find employment within the year, and once that happened, such leisurely activities would be out of her reach for a while. But deep in Miss Pendleton’s heart, there was another intention.

It was to reconcile Mr. Fairfax and Miss Hyde.

For both Mr. Fairfax and Miss Hyde, the previous proposal was an embarrassing incident that couldn’t simply be forgotten. But Mr. Fairfax held no grudges, and Miss Hyde had no feelings for him, so there was no reason they couldn’t become friends again.

And in fact, Miss Pendleton was just as eager for Miss Hyde to find employment through Mr. Fairfax’s introduction as she was for their friendship to be restored. For Miss Hyde, who had never worked before, starting her career at a trustworthy workplace was worth enduring the past awkwardness.

Due to Miss Pendleton’s subtle encouragement, Miss Hyde decided to attend Miss Lance’s picnic with Miss Pendleton.

The picnic was on a bright day in late June. The gentlemen and ladies participating in the picnic immediately gathered at the Lance residence.

There were about twenty gentlemen and ladies, with women making up 2/3 of the group as usual. Most men were abroad trying to build their fortunes, so London’s social circles were always bustling with ladies.

Soon, four carriages were prepared in front of the mansion. They were open-top four-seater carriages. The few gentlemen present were gladly ready to escort the ladies and act as coachmen. In social circles, gentlemen had a duty to serve the ladies’ entertainment.

They each took their seats on the driver’s bench, while the young ladies formed groups of two or three with their closest friends, opened their colorful parasols wide, and sat in the carriages. Soon, the carriages departed for the outskirts of London.

The scenery outside the carriages gradually changed from shops and squares to green mountains and fields. The ladies enjoyed the swaying of the carriages, chatting and laughing merrily. Even when the wheels occasionally hit a stone and jolted, the ladies just giggled.

The noisiest carriage was the one carrying Miss Lance and her friends. Miss Lance’s three friends – Miss Daisy Orson, Susan Donovan, and Victoria Wilkes – had come up to London from Bath and Yorkshire just last week.

They had met every day for the past week, sharing in detail all the events they had experienced while apart. The main topics of conversation were the local social circles they had encountered and the men they had met there.

They each talked in detail about the charms and wealth of the men they had met, and spent time putting their heads together about how far things had progressed and whether it was worth meeting them again.

But such topics were not appropriate in this picnic carriage now. The driver’s seat and the carriage seat were within arm’s reach. Moreover, the man sitting in the driver’s seat of their carriage was none other than Ian Dalton.

They already knew quite a bit about Ian Dalton. When they arrived in London, his name was the most frequently mentioned among the ladies. His wealth and status were already common topics of conversation among young ladies and matrons with marriageable daughters.

And the fact that the first formal dinner he was invited to was at the Lance residence was just as widely discussed.

The three ladies were curious about what the rumored Ian Dalton was really like, and also wanted to know how Miss Lance, who was like an object of their admiration, had spent her time with Mr. Dalton.

At the first tea party of this social season where all her friends gathered, Miss Lance had told them about the ball and formal dinner with him.

The three young ladies sensed that Mr. Dalton had fallen for Miss Lance even before the story was finished. The way she described his gaze and tone was exactly like that of Miss Lance’s admirers.

When Miss Daisy Orson mentioned this speculation, Miss Lance of course vehemently denied it. But she didn’t stop the three young ladies from making Mr. Dalton the topic of conversation and praising him for the rest of the tea party.

When Miss Susan Donovan from Yorkshire shared what she had heard from her neighbors about Ian Dalton’s assets, the admiration for Miss Lance, who had captured Mr. Dalton’s heart, grew even stronger among them.

The ladies in the carriage were already firmly convinced that there were hearts floating between Mr. Dalton and Miss Lance. They were constantly aware of the handsome coachman driving the horses, and while they laughed and chatted among themselves, they kept talking to Mr. Dalton as well.

“Mr. Dalton, why don’t you dine at the Lance residence these days? Miss Lance says you always decline her invitations.”

Mr. Dalton replied without even turning around.

“I’m afraid urgent matters always come up.”

“Oh my, that’s nonsense! How urgent could these matters be for you to decline an invitation from the Lance family? Being invited to the Lance residence is tantamount to being called the most respectable person in London.”

“If I had known it held such meaning, I would have put everything aside and attended. What a pity.”

Not a single gram of enthusiasm was mixed in his words, but thanks to the jolting of the carriage, his tone didn’t quite reach them.

“I hear you mainly appear at the Pendleton family’s tea parties. Do you enjoy spending time there?”

At Miss Daisy Orson’s words, Miss Susan Donovan chimed in.

“Hey, how could that place be fun? Do they hold any decent concerts or balls? They just sit around talking about books and music all day.”

“Still, Mrs. Pendleton is an interesting person. And Miss Pendleton’s piano skills are wonderful. Cultured people greatly prefer the Pendleton family’s tea parties. Mr. Dalton surely has a taste for such refined things. That’s why he frequents the Pendleton residence so diligently. Isn’t that right, Mr. Dalton?”

Mr. Dalton replied briefly. He was starting to get a headache from the incessant chatter of the ladies.

“The food there is really delicious too. I don’t know who the chef is, but they must be French? At the last dinner party, they served barbecue, and the skin was so crispy I almost burst my corset from eating too much!”

The young ladies burst into laughter.

“The wine and desserts too. Mrs. Pendleton is quite the gourmet. She must have gone to great lengths to procure the chef. But I wonder why she spends so much money on food but not on her granddaughter. Keeping Miss Pendleton a spinster for so long.”

Miss Lance intervened politely.

“Susan, it’s not appropriate for us to gossip about Miss Pendleton’s marital status. The person in question would surely be offended if she heard.”

Miss Susan Donovan glanced towards Mr. Dalton and closed her mouth. But Miss Victoria Wilkes beside her was less tactful than Miss Donovan.

“But is there anyone in London who doesn’t know that Miss Pendleton doesn’t have a penny to her name? Miss Pendleton was quite a beauty in her prime. Even now, she’s not bad for an old maid, but anyway, with the Pendleton name and that beauty, she should be riding around in a golden carriage and acting like a noble lady by now. But the fact that she hasn’t received a single proper proposal so far is all because she has no money to bring to a marriage. Miss Pendleton would probably readily admit that herself.”

Miss Orson, who had been listening, couldn’t contain her curiosity.

“But why didn’t the Pendleton family provide any money for Miss Pendleton?”

Miss Victoria Wilkes asked in surprise.

“You still don’t know? Miss Pendleton’s mother…”

“Victoria!”