Chapter 35 – The Truth

“Eloise.”

A low, calm voice echoed in her ear. Eloise thought she was dreaming.

“Elsie.”

However, when the cool, rough palm touched her forehead, Eloise vaguely realized this was not a dream.

Her eyelids felt as heavy as if they had rocks on them, making it impossible to open her eyes.

Eloise mumbled in her sleep. Her voice was unclear, as if she had a mouth full of candy.

“How are you… here…?”

“Ha.”

A soft laugh, like a sigh, made her eyes flutter open.

“How could I not be here? I was worried.”

“…Archie?”

“I heard you were back, but I haven’t seen you for over a month.”

At that, Eloise groggily sat up. Her unsteady movement made Archibald rush in concern.

“Wait, is it okay for you to get up?”

“I’m fine. What time is it?”

“Um… the sun hasn’t set yet.”

So it was already close to evening. On a Sunday when the family had gone to church, she had stayed behind, intending to take a short nap after a simple lunch, but ended up sleeping for several hours straight.

Though she managed to sit up, Eloise still had a dazed look on her face.

Watching her, Archibald eventually chuckled without resistance.

“I was going to complain about you not letting me know you were back sooner. But I can’t.”

“Sorry about that…”

“It’s fine, Elsie. I’m sorry about Miss Sally.”

“Archie, that person…”

Eloise, who was about to ask about Ansel, groaned and covered her eyes with one hand.

“…Shall we go outside for a bit? Let’s take a walk.”

“What? You don’t have to push yourself.”

“I want to walk. I’ve been at home all day, and my body feels stiff.”

Even with an old friend, being alone in the bedroom wasn’t entirely comfortable.

Fortunately, Archibald stood up without hesitation.

“Alright, let’s do that. It seems like there’s a lot to talk about.”

* * *

It started with a story about a relative who lived in the capital but was no longer there, leaving her in a difficult position.

Then came stories about how she ended up living in that house, working at the bead factory, the summer scenery and people of Brightnum, the square and streets, and even Mrs. Mullich’s strange cat. Only after all these did they finally get to the main topic they had been putting off.

“I really didn’t expect that to happen.”

“…”

“Until the morning of the day before, he was having meals with the Earl as usual, and there was no mention of needing help with any outing preparations.”

Eloise and Archibald sat side by side near a hill not far from the house.

It was a fairly windy afternoon. It seemed the sun would set soon.

“Then how did it become known that he went to the capital? I heard everyone knows about it.”

“Well, the young master was trying to ride a horse from the stable, so the stable hand asked where he was going. The young master was displeased with the question, so the stable hand, thinking it couldn’t be since it was the day before the wedding, said the horse was too tired to go far…”

“So what did Sir Ansel say?”

“…’Then this one won’t do. I need to go to the capital’.”

So, in the end, it was said that he rode the distance himself, not by carriage, the day before the wedding, without telling anyone.

As expected, the more she thought about it, the more devastated she felt.

“Archie, do you think he’s okay? What did the Earl say?”

“…”

Archibald was momentarily at a loss for words, staring blankly at Eloise, wondering who the Bailey family’s second daughter was worrying about.

Her wheat-colored hair, tinged with faint sunlight, fluttered along the line of her delicate profile. Her star-like blue eyes were gazing far into the northern sky.

“The Earl didn’t say much as usual. He didn’t seem particularly inclined to look for the young master. The mansion is just silent.”

“That means…”

In his childhood, Ansel had mentioned that his relationship with his grandfather was awkward.

At the time, Eloise couldn’t imagine a grandfather who didn’t love his only grandson, so she hadn’t paid much attention to his words.

She had no way of knowing about his status or the complex circumstances of a noble family.

“In fact, the Earl didn’t even have a proper conversation with the young master for several years after he came to Longfield. That he cared so much about the young master’s marriage was surprising even to the servants who had known the Earl for a long time…”

“…He must have been angry.”

“He must have been very disappointed too.”

After a brief silence, Archibald asked,

“Eloise, did you meet the young master?”

At those words, Eloise’s mouth clamped shut in shock, and she tensed up.

But soon, her tense shoulders slumped. It was because of Archibald’s eyes, which seemed to know everything.

“Yes.”

“Did he confess his love to you?”

“…Yes.”

“Did he ask you to leave with him, to get married?”

Somehow, the voice that sounded like an interrogation made Eloise close her eyes tightly.

“No, Archie! If he had, would I be here?”

“It sounds like you would have gone with him.”

“Ha, are you mocking me now?”

When she asked back in an agitated tone, he shrugged lightly.

“No. That wasn’t my intention.”

“He just… said that the person he truly wanted was me. That’s all.”

That confession was a mess. Ansel was soaked from head to toe, and he even shouted at her.

‘Because my family is everything to me!’

Even in his youth, when he had been gentle, seeing him shout was truly a first. However, it sounded more desperate than violent.

It felt like a groan of pain. Perhaps it was because he was trembling, and his rain-soaked face looked as if he were crying…

What was certain was that Ansel Blaine that night was not himself for even a moment.

Naturally, that confession didn’t seem prepared either. His usual composure and grace were nowhere to be found, and only a pitiable man, like a wounded animal, was there.

Turning his back on his family must have been a great misfortune for him, so he was probably filled with self-reproach and loss.

Perhaps that night was an accident for him too.

Then Archibald asked,

“So what did you say in response?”

“I got angry. I told him to go back immediately. To go back and set everything right…”

“…”

“And I left him and returned to Maybury. That’s all there is to that day.”

Thinking about that day made her chest burn as if she had swallowed fire. Even though quite some time had passed, it still felt like that out of habit.

It’s absurd how such a night can be summed up so simply.

She got angry and ran away. Leaving him alone on the cold night street.

“…I don’t know how it ended up like this, Archie. My heart still aches.”

Eloise, who had been maintaining her composure, finally buried her face in her knees. A low voice reached her ears.

“Did you not expect something like this to happen at all?”

“What? Of course not!”

Eloise’s head jerked up. Her expression said she couldn’t believe she was hearing such nonsense.

“He liked Sally. You know that. He treated my sister specially. He always sought her out, visited Maybury secretly on her birthday, and wrote letters to her before leaving for Berth. He was always courteous to her. Like he would treat a true lady…”

“…”

“You can’t say you didn’t know. We became friends because he always sought out my sister. Don’t you remember?”

At that question, Archibald quietly lowered his gaze, as if he had something he couldn’t say.

Naturally, Eloise thought,

Is he pretending not to remember to defend Ansel? After all, he serves the young master.

“Archie, the reason I was angry that day… wasn’t just because Sir Ansel ruined my sister’s marriage.”

As the thought crossed her mind, Eloise’s lips moved on their own.

“His confession wasn’t sincere. Saying he loved only me from the beginning! All he cared about was convincing me right then. He has noble status and pride, so not being rejected was most important to him.”

“Elsie.”

“If he threw everything away in a fit of anger, it would be difficult if even I turned away from him. But that’s deception!”

“Why are you so angry, Eloise?”

At the soothing, calm voice, Eloise finally stopped talking and breathed heavily.

Her cheeks were flushed with an emotion she couldn’t identify, whether it was anger or something else.

Archibald, who was sitting with one knee up, draped his arm loosely over it and continued speaking.

“Then, if it wasn’t deception, were you thinking of accepting him?”

“I don’t know if I even have the right, but if that had been the case, at least I wouldn’t have left him alone on the street and returned like I was running away—”

Eloise couldn’t finish her sentence. It was because she suddenly burst into tears.

“Oh…”

Eloise, flustered, clumsily wiped her tears like a child. Her expression showed she didn’t understand her own emotions.

“Why am I like this? Sorry, why are tears…”

“Eloise.”

At that moment, Archibald called his long-time friend. Eloise looked at him with wavering eyes.

“Do you want me to tell you the truth?”

“…The truth?”

At that moment, a cold breeze brushed past them.

Did it come from Longfield? It carried the fresh scent of the forest. But Eloise was habitually searching for another scent within it.

Chiding herself for this, shaking off her thoughts had also become a habit by now.

The serene sunset was about to unfold. Eloise wiped away the remaining tears and cast a distant gaze into the sky.

“There was no lie in that confession, Elsie.”

Archibald continued speaking immediately after.

“…What?”

“He liked you, from the very beginning.”