Miss Pendleton (Update to C.222 END) - Chapter 192

Translation of the Chapter

Remzwick, at the age of twenty, first stepped into Whitefield Hall as a footman and served the Dalton family loyally for a remarkable forty years. Yet, his reputation as a capable butler stemmed not merely from his long tenure. He grasped the essence of a butler’s role and possessed the seasoned skills to execute its duties.

The basic tasks of a butler involved managing the servants and the estate’s facilities. However, these were surface-level responsibilities. A butler existed to ensure the master of the house enjoyed a comfortable and stable life. This required tact, quick thinking, a deep understanding of human nature, and exceptional crisis management skills.

During the long years of serving the bachelor Ian Dalton, Remzwick’s abilities remained largely unnoticed. A bachelor’s life tended to be so uneventful it felt almost desolate. Even after Ian’s marriage, little changed. A household governed by a responsible and inwardly resilient mistress, Laura Pendleton, was naturally peaceful. In such a serene home, a butler functioned much like a grandfather clock, performing only its basic mechanisms. A butler’s true capabilities shone brightest in a household facing a crisis.

Thus, the shooting incident in the study became the first crisis faced by the Dalton couple and the opportunity for Remzwick to demonstrate his true prowess.

When eight gunshots echoed through Laura’s study, Remzwick was in his small office, calculating the servants’ wages. Peering through his spectacles and sliding abacus beads, he snapped his head up at the sound of the shots.

His first thought was of a burglar. He swiftly rose, slipped a small pistol into his trouser pocket, and headed toward the library where the shots originated. However, what he encountered was not a thief plundering rare books or porcelain but Ian Dalton relentlessly beating his nephew to a pulp, while Laura, pale as if about to faint, sat frozen on the sofa.

Surveying the scene in the study, Remzwick instantly grasped the situation. The eight gunshots were a dramatic flourish in what could be described as a French-style romantic scandal—or, in cruder terms, a melodramatic fiasco.

Of course, Laura bore no blame in this fiasco. Her fidelity to her husband was so steadfast that Remzwick could testify to it even in a divine court. The frequent visits of Henry Fairfax, who had been crossing the estate’s threshold incessantly of late, were undoubtedly the root of this incident.

Yet the world knew nothing of Laura’s character and hungered viciously for gossip. If this matter leaked, tongues would wag, claiming that Laura Pendleton, the illegitimate daughter who had secured the position of Whitefield’s mistress, had seduced not only the estate’s lord but also the heir of the Fairfax family.

This must be prevented at all costs—for Laura’s sake and for the honor of the Dalton family.

“How to handle this?” Remzwick thought, watching Ian Dalton furiously pummel the nephew he once cherished like a treasure. The gunfire had been so loud that most of the estate’s servants likely heard it. Moreover, two servants who had been organizing books in the storage room beside the study stood with him at the door.

Remzwick’s mind began to race. His sole objective was to resolve the situation without tarnishing the reputations of Ian and Laura Dalton.

Ian soon ordered the removal of the battered Henry, as if he were a rotting rat carcass. Remzwick promptly directed the servants to carry out the order, dragging Henry Fairfax out.

Whitefield Hall had two staircases: the central one used by the master and mistress and the northern one for the servants. Remzwick led the two servants supporting Henry toward the central staircase. It was the servants’ teatime, so those cleaning the stairs would be gathered in the kitchen for a break. Even if some had heard the shots and moved toward the library, they would, by servant protocol, use the northern staircase.

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