Ian left the house early the next morning.
He walked for about thirty minutes and turned onto Grosvenor Street. As he walked down the quiet street, the Pendleton townhouse soon came into view. He stood on the opposite side of the road, fixing his gaze on the third-floor window where Lady Pendleton’s room was located.
He stood motionless until he could see Lady Pendleton’s figure, or even her shadow. An hour later, the closed curtains of her room window opened. He stared intently at the window.
But contrary to his expectations, what appeared at the window was a maid wearing a servant’s uniform. The maid threw the window wide open. Then she leaned her upper body out the window and waved her arms in the air as if to check the temperature.
But the maid, who had been casually scanning outside, suddenly stared intently in Ian’s direction. She had discovered Ian.
He soon realized that she was the maid who had delivered the letter just before he left London. The maid who had said something quite bewildering to him. She looked at him for a moment, then made a gesture with her fist clenched and index finger extended, as if stabbing downwards. It seemed to mean stay right there.
Soon, the front door opened and the maid came out. She crossed the carriage road and walked over to where Ian was, bowing politely.
“Lingering in front of your beloved’s house from early morning. How romantic, sir.”
“Is Lady Pendleton well?”
“In terms of health, she’s fine. But there are problems other than health.”
“You mean the nouveau riche from America.”
“So you know.”
Ian stood silently and lit a cigarette. The shadows under his eyes deepened. The maid looked at him for a moment, then asked:
“Have you met Mr. Price by any chance?”
“So that fellow’s name is Price?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where he lives too?”
“Yes, I saw the address written on the invitation sent to him. But I won’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because your expression right now suggests that if I tell you, you’ll rush over there with a gun and shoot him until he’s riddled with bullets.”
Ian exhaled smoke leisurely and asked:
“Are you worried I’ll be hanged?”
“No. Why would I worry about a high-ranking gentleman like you? I’m too busy looking after myself. And truthfully, I wish someone would shoot Mr. Price too.”
Ian sighed.
“We’re alike in that regard.”
“But you shouldn’t do it.”
“Why?”
“You have to marry the young lady. We can’t make our Laura the wife of a murderer.”
Ian looked at the maid. She had such a confident expression. Although her attitude was bewildering, teetering on the edge of insubordination, she was clearly his ally.
“You’re a devoted maid.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
The maid replied primly.
“Well then, you… ah, what’s your name?”
“Anne Steel.”
“Anne Steel. So, Miss Steel, are you willing to help Lady Pendleton and me?”
“Of course. Two pounds is quite a large sum for a maid like me.”
“Didn’t you say two pounds was trivial?”
“I wanted to act tough.”
Ian looked at the maid Anne with an incredulous face.
“So, in your opinion, what are the chances of the young lady falling in love with me?”
“It’s hopeful, for now. Since you haven’t killed Mr. Price yet.”
“You’re also saying that if I duel with Mr. Price, Lady Pendleton will lose her affection for me?”
“Isn’t that obvious? If Lady Abigail passes away, Lord Pendleton will be the only family left for Laura. If you kill his friend, do you think he’ll leave Lady Pendleton alone? Moreover, Mr. Price is the matchmaker for Charles Pendleton, her cousin’s engagement. Laura will either be beaten to death by Lord Pendleton or be completely driven out of England.”
Ian sighed, “Hmm.”
“I can protect her. As much as needed. If she just leaves that useless head of the family and comes to me, everything will be solved.”
Anne shook her head.
“Our young lady would rather die than do such a thing.”
Ian bit his lip tightly. Both William and this devoted maid were giving consistent statements. That if he touched that old man Price, he would be cut off by Lady Pendleton.
“But, she has nothing to inherit from the family. Then, after the dear Lady Abigail passes away, where will Lady Pendleton go? Her uncle treats his niece like an enemy, doesn’t he?”
Anne looked at Ian with wide eyes.
“Don’t you know? The young lady has been preparing to become a governess for a long time.”
Ian dropped the cigarette he was holding between his fingers.
“What did you say?”
“You really didn’t know. Well, the young lady doesn’t talk about these things except to those close to her.”
Ian looked back at the window of Lady Pendleton’s room.
Laura Pendleton, she had been preparing to be a governess?
“But it’s not right for a woman of her high status to become a servant. A governess, good heavens. What family would take in a noblewoman who used to live higher than them as a servant?”
Anne, who had lived as a servant for over ten years, agreed with this statement.
“That’s right. Lacking expertise, and with the preconception that she would be too proud to properly follow the master’s instructions. It’s prone to misunderstanding that she might try to seduce the master to recover her status if given the chance. Even if she manages to get a job, there’s no way to escape poverty as a governess for life. But, our young lady knows Greek and Latin, so she’ll receive a bit better pay. She’ll probably be hired right away when she enters the job market. There are hardly any governesses who speak five languages.”
Ian continued to stare intently at the window of Lady Pendleton’s room. As he listened to Anne’s words, his head gradually cooled. The possibility that Lady Pendleton would become a governess made him extremely rational.
Yes, she would do well. Although being a governess wasn’t a well-treated job, she was an intelligent and persistent woman, so with a bit of luck, she could become independent with good treatment.
That meant she could go somewhere, anywhere, out of his reach.
She could go somewhere beyond my reach. At that thought, the anger that had been burning in his stomach and darkening his vision all night suddenly disappeared. His heart cooled, and his mind cleared.
He had truly regained his reason in the true sense.
He silently gazed at the window leading to Lady Pendleton’s room for a while.
“Don’t tell the young lady that I came. Understand?”
“That’s easy, but… do you have a plan, sir?”
Ian silently stared at the window for a moment. He remained like that for a while, then turned away without a word.
After he left, Anne returned to her workplace, the Pendleton house. And as per her morning routine, she helped dress Laura and style her hair.
Completely unaware of Ian Dalton’s visit today, Laura was just worrying with a tired face about whether the stair repairs could be finished before her uncle arrived.
Anne combed the young lady’s hair and gently soothed her to alleviate her worries. Meanwhile, in her mind, she recalled Ian Dalton looking at Laura’s room before he left earlier.
The expressionless face with rising coldness and the sunken, chilly eyes. But his eyes were shining clearly with a single purpose.
Anne was surprised to see such an expression from him for the first time. She felt a dangerous obsession she never expected from the gentleman Ian Dalton, who had always seemed elegant and ascetic.
But the more Anne recalled his appearance, she felt oddly pleased. The object of his obsession was her lovely and diligent mistress, Laura Pendleton.
He would never give up on Laura. A man with such eyes could not possibly give up on anything. He would surely take the young lady to his hometown of Whitefield. And he would give her a different name than before.
The name of ‘Mrs. Dalton’, who would be the most respected woman in Yorkshire.
[This is the timeline separator]The rumor that Ian Dalton had returned to London spread instantly through the painting hanging in Miss Lance’s reception room.
It was unusual to have an uncolored sketch hanging in the reception room, so visitors to the Lance house always asked about the painting, and the Lance mother and daughter had no intention of hiding the fact that it was a work received from Mr. Dalton.
In social circles, people once again became alert about Ian Dalton, who had reappeared without any news. Especially, the fact that the first thing he did on his arrival day was to draw pictures for Miss Lance and Miss Fairfax was enough to spark some interest.
A gentleman giving a painting as a gift to a lady was enough to sow the seeds of scandal in social circles. But fortunately, another lady in the frame, Miss Janet Fairfax, was playing an excellent role as a breakwater against scandal.
As those who knew were all aware that Miss Lance was friends with the Fairfax siblings, people could easily guess that Miss Lance had visited the Fairfax siblings’ townhouse and received the painting as a gift.
The painting of his hanging in the Lance family’s reception room left only rumors of Ian Dalton’s excellent painting skills and gradually faded from people’s minds.
But it wasn’t so for Miss Lance. The painting he had drawn for her became more important as days passed.
She often stood absent-mindedly in front of the painting, lost in thought. Of course, those thoughts were of the moment when this painting was being drawn.
Tea time on a fine afternoon, herself sitting on the sofa in the reception room of Mr. Fairfax’s mansion. Ian Dalton sitting across from her. The neat navy travel clothes he wore, his head tilted over the sketchbook, the pencil moving with a scratching sound. The black hair that had fallen. The dark, calm eyes that looked at her. The scratching sound that emanated from his hand.
‘He looked just like the male lead in a melodrama.’
Miss Lance would retrace each moment one by one, then suddenly realize what she had been thinking about. Then she would step back from the painting, covering her blushing cheeks.
Like other ladies, Miss Lance loved melodramas. Numerous novels and sonnets, serenades. Many ladies who had not yet awakened to love learned what it felt like to fall in love through these works.
A fluttering heart. The face of one person that flashes in her mind several times a day. A feeling of embarrassment and thirst. Heightened sensitivity. It was exactly the same as her feelings now.
At first, she was embarrassed, but gradually she came to think it was a feeling worth enjoying in its own way. Love is often said to be painful, but at least not for her. This was because she already believed that Ian Dalton felt the same way.
The foolishness of believing that her belief could not be wrong was characteristic of that age, but the consequences were entirely her own.
Miss Lance, unaware of what consequences she would have to face in the future, remained lost in sweet dreams.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
