Miss Pendleton (Update to C.222 END) - Chapter 90
His candor and ever-changing emotional expressions were qualities she lacked, making them all the more captivating. Moreover, his manners and tastes carried a refined elegance, ensuring that time spent together was always pleasant and free of discord. Being with him felt as though their hearts meshed like perfectly aligned cogs in a wheel, turning in harmony.
No one had ever connected with her so effortlessly, nor matched her heart so well, except for one man who had briefly appeared twelve years ago before vanishing.
As Laura savored her growing friendship with Mr. Dalton, autumn arrived in Yorkshire. The midday air carried the crisp breath of fall, and the green leaves of the trees began to turn patchy shades of yellow and red, like fabric poorly dyed. Servants donned woolen sweaters and flannel undergarments beneath their uniforms, looking slightly bulkier, while the distance between Mrs. Fairfax’s favorite rocking chair and the fireplace shrank by half a foot.
Around this time, Laura also grew close to the vicar and his wife.
It was entirely due to an unexpected downpour. One autumn afternoon, when Laura and Olivia attended a teatime at the vicarage, the sky—clear and bright that morning—suddenly darkened with rainclouds, unleashing a torrential storm accompanied by thunder and lightning.
As the teatime concluded, the gathered villagers borrowed umbrellas from Mrs. Starr and departed, but Laura and Olivia had no choice but to remain. Between the vicarage and Dunville Park lay numerous fields and streams, the latter prone to overflowing with even a little rain. The fields, poorly maintained, easily turned into sticky mires that could trap carriage wheels. Setting out rashly would surely leave them stranded halfway.
After hours of waiting for the rain to cease, Mrs. Starr, unable to bear it any longer, suggested that the two spend the night at the vicarage. There were guest rooms available, preparing extra meals was no trouble, and her husband, Reverend Starr, would consider it an honor to host the ladies of Dunville Park. They gratefully accepted the kindness.
That evening left Laura with fond memories. The Starrs’ hospitality was impeccable, and neither the meal nor the guest room could be faulted. Yet what warmed Laura’s heart most was the couple’s evident devotion.
This young couple, as evidenced by the notorious French-style kissing incident that had stirred the small village, were deeply in love. The lively Mrs. Starr gazed at her husband with rapturous expressions no matter what he said, while the reserved Reverend Starr, striving to maintain a dignified demeanor befitting his title in front of guests, struggled to suppress smiles whenever his wife displayed her affection.
Laura soon learned that the two had grown up as childhood playmates in the same village, becoming a couple after a nine-year engagement. After such a long journey, they had become a pair of larks, living happily in the small nest of the vicarage, rubbing beaks and reveling in the joy of being lovers and family, raising their adorable son, the fruit of their love.
The next day, the skies cleared, and the sun shone brightly, hardening the roads. Laura, her heart warmed by the beautiful couple, returned to Dunville Park with Olivia.
Some time later, an invitation arrived from the vicarage, requesting their presence at a weekday evening dinner. Laura found herself in a quandary. She dearly wished to attend, but her circumstances made it difficult to move freely in the evenings. However, when Olivia learned of the invitation, she rushed to inform her mother. Soon, Mrs. Fairfax summoned Laura, sat her down, and spoke gently.
“Reverend Oliver Starr has been like a son to Reverend Jenfield, serving under him as an assistant vicar for years. My health prevents me from visiting often, but if you would keep company with the Starrs, it would be a great kindness to me.”
With permission granted, Laura, grateful for Olivia and Mrs. Fairfax’s consideration, boarded the carriage. Unbeknownst to her, the mother and daughter left behind whispered about how many times Ian typically visited the vicarage dinners.
Surprisingly, Laura was the only guest invited to the dinner. As she tried to conceal her puzzlement, Mrs. Starr whispered the reason.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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It’s progressing a bit slowly, but nicely… I hope there won’t be unnecessary distances between them due to misunderstandings.
I think this trip to Bath will be good to Laura. Meeting these women will inspire her to be more confident. I just hope her ex and Mr. Dalton don’t ruin it.
Each chapter leaves me in suspense for the future. Although the readers are given assurance from Laura’s feelings since the carriage kiss, I can’t help but doubt the next steps for this couple! Ian’s feeling are deep and tumultuous like waves against a cliff. I can only hope that when the two finally meet, he will remain level headed.