As they moved to a solitary place, the music was racing towards its end. Miss Lance and Mr. Fairfax, who had been dancing in the center of the wide hall, came out holding hands and spotted Miss Pendleton’s group. They naturally joined them.

While Mr. Fairfax was asking Miss Wilkes about his sister’s whereabouts, Miss Pendleton grabbed Miss Lance and took her aside. Miss Lance was very puzzled when Miss Pendleton suddenly pulled her to a corner.

Miss Pendleton led her to a deserted corner of the banquet hall. After looking around, she sat with Miss Lance on empty chairs.

“Miss Lance, please listen to me without misunderstanding. Promise?”

Miss Lance was quite surprised to see Miss Pendleton so serious for the first time.

“Yes, of course. What’s the matter?”

“Are you perhaps engaged to Mr. Dalton?”

Miss Lance was startled by Miss Pendleton’s sudden question.

“Oh, no.”

Miss Pendleton put her hand to her forehead.

“Miss Lance. Your friend just said in the lounge that you two were about to get engaged. In a not-so-small voice. At least eighty people must have heard it.”

Miss Lance asked back with a reddened face.

“What? Who? Who did that? Ah, it’s obvious. It must be Victoria. That fool! Geez, it’s not even certain yet. Why is she getting ahead of herself and making a fuss.”

Miss Lance fumed angrily.

“She talked about bridesmaid dresses, didn’t she? She’s been going on about which color is good for bridesmaid dresses for days now. What is she doing before I’ve even received a proposal.”

Miss Pendleton silently looked at Miss Lance. While her reputation was at stake, Miss Lance didn’t seem very anxious.

“Miss Lance, it might be embarrassing, but can you tell me honestly? Has Mr. Dalton definitely hinted at marriage to you? Did he give you a letter saying he would propose, or say that he had you in mind as a marriage partner?”

Miss Lance stammered at the sudden question.

“W-well, not exactly… But I still believe. I could feel it from his last visit to London. That he sees me favorably. And he’s been coming to our tea parties all month, and…”

Miss Pendleton listened with a serious expression.

Miss Lance was flustered. It was because Miss Pendleton didn’t show the confident expression her friend and mother always made whenever Mr. Dalton was mentioned.

Always, people around her whispered in unison that Ian Dalton was in love with Dora Lance, and it was her job to restrain them. But now she had to explain to the doubtful Miss Pendleton that Mr. Dalton loved her.

“He drew my portrait, promised to go on a picnic together, and, um, when I said I learned to play the harp, he said he’d like to see it sometime. That he really wanted to see it. And…”

Miss Lance gradually realized that the effectiveness of her testimony was becoming weak. Eventually, she closed her mouth a little later.

For a moment, silence hovered between the two ladies. Miss Lance watched Miss Pendleton’s reaction. Miss Pendleton, who had been listening silently, seemed lost in thought, her gaze turned away.

“Miss Lance, please don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say. I’m the one who introduced you two, and I wish for your union as much as your friends do… In fact, in the current situation, only your enemies wouldn’t wish for your union. Because your reputation is now hanging on a cliff’s edge.”

“What do you mean…”

“Miss Lance, let me tell you a story about a lady I know. It’s about someone who has already left society, so don’t try to find the protagonist of this story among the people around you.”

Miss Lance nodded.

“She was a lady who had just entered society. She was timid and naive. She had no proper guardian by her side, and her family was humble, so there were often men who approached her with bad intentions. Lonely and unable to find a group to mingle with, she fell for one of the men who approached her.”

Miss Pendleton paused for a moment, looked around again, and continued.

“The two quickly fell in love. They danced only with each other at every ball, and talked only to each other at every dinner party. The woman didn’t care about rumors because she thought she would marry him. The man seemed to have thoughts of marriage with her too.”

“…”

“But the man’s patron wanted him to be matched with a woman with a large dowry. The woman had a small dowry. The two eventually couldn’t be together. The man left. Leaving the woman alone in society. And in less than two months, news of the man’s marriage was heard. They said he married a woman with a substantial dowry. What do you think happened after that?”

“Did the woman… commit suicide?”

Miss Lance exercised her melodramatic imagination. Miss Pendleton smiled bitterly.

“If only she had, it would have been cleaner. But she continued to attend social events at her parents’ insistence. For years, the label of being that man’s lover or mistress followed her, and there were even rumors that they had set up house together. After 7 or 8 years, when the rumors subsided and no one remembered anymore, she had already become an old maid and suffered irreparable damage. She… unable to bear it, had to marry a foreign rich man much older than thirty and leave England.”

Miss Lance listened quietly to the story. Miss Pendleton’s story was commonplace in society.

“Do you understand why I’m telling you this story, Miss Lance?”

“No, honestly…”

“Her misfortune might have been largely due to her background. She had no group to mingle with, no proper advisor, no friend by her side to stop her. But the root cause of her misfortune was foolishness. She clearly knew how terrifying rumors can be in society, how easily a woman’s reputation can be damaged. Warnings came from all directions. After all, advice on proper behavior is abundantly provided to women just entering society. But she forgot the moment she fell in love. No, she thought it was nothing. Because only love mattered. What ruined her life was her foolishness.”

Miss Pendleton looked straight at Miss Lance.

“I think there’s a lesson for you in my story. Think carefully and deal with future events. If you need advice, come to me anytime.”

Miss Pendleton left, leaving Miss Lance behind.

Miss Lance sat quietly, pondering Miss Pendleton’s words. And soon her face turned bright red. She understood the meaning of her words. She was warning her that she was acting recklessly.

Miss Lance trembled with shame. To be compared to a woman who, blinded by love, played around with a man without a proper promise, disregarding her reputation. It was a serious insult.

She couldn’t understand why Miss Pendleton had compared her to such a woman. Her relationship with Mr. Dalton was completely different from the story she told. Mr. Dalton was not such a scoundrel, and she was not such a stupid woman. And their relationship was completely different from what she described.

‘Wait… Is it different?’

Miss Lance shook her head violently. What on earth was she doubting? He was completely smitten with her. Hadn’t she always confirmed it in his eyes, his expressions, his tone? Hadn’t everyone around her been giving objective testimony about his feelings? So what was the problem?

Miss Lance struggled to escape from the very assumption that he might not love her. It was too frightening an assumption.

Her emotions had come too far to turn back. If she began to doubt his love, she might die of heartbreak at that moment.

She began to rack her brains to deny Miss Pendleton’s advice itself. And she could easily find plausible grounds. It was because of the speculation she had made earlier about Mr. Dalton and Miss Pendleton.

Miss Lance hesitated before doubting. She had a reasonable doubt that such a kind Miss Pendleton, who was also the one who introduced her to Mr. Dalton, would not act so cowardly.

But the insult that Miss Pendleton had just inflicted on her pride was more than enough to paralyze her reason.

She eventually began to think in a way that made her heart comfortable, and in a way that made the lady who had given her the right advice into a vulgar person.

‘Miss Pendleton must have been rejected by Mr. Dalton and harbored a grudge. So she’s trying to drive a wedge between him and me, who are getting along well.’

Miss Lance’s mind settled as if nothing had happened. The thought was quite sweet, as it was possible to feel superior while sympathizing with someone who had done her wrong.

But Miss Lance felt more disappointment than moral superiority. It had concluded that Miss Pendleton, whom she had always tried to treat without prejudice and with pity, had hurt her out of jealousy.

She liked Miss Pendleton. Kind and pretty Miss Pendleton. Miss Pendleton with her sad story. Miss Pendleton who constantly suffered unreasonable things because of her parents.

Miss Lance had always sympathized with her situation and tried hard to defend her whenever someone spoke ill of her. After trying so hard to do good, this was the result.

‘Yes, she loved Mr. Dalton too much. So much that she lost her mind at the situation where he and I might get engaged. She’s a good person, but still can’t help it in the face of love. With only strange men like Mr. Price courting her, Mr. Dalton must be her only hope. Let’s pity her. As a fellow woman, let’s cover up her faults.’

Miss Lance organized her thoughts and returned to her friends.

Exercising generous sympathy towards Miss Pendleton, she remained silent to her friends about the absurd behavior Miss Pendleton had shown her. It was clear that if her friends knew the truth, they would speak unspeakable ill of Miss Pendleton.