Chapter 42

“So you’re going to eat with me?”

It was rare enough to count on one hand the number of times the two had eaten breakfast together.

Even that had only been in the early days of the marriage, and since they had not sat down to a meal facing each other for nearly two years, she could only feel bewildered.

“The food isn’t ready yet anyway, so there’s no reason we can’t eat together.”

When Carlisle said that and turned his gaze toward the doorway, the maids standing there with anxious faces bowed and rushed out.

* * *

Shhk.

Other than the soft sound of cutlery moving quietly, the dining room was so silent it was hard to believe anyone was there at all.

The servants exchanged awkward glances at the sight of the Duchess, who had gone so far as to leave the house saying she would divorce, suddenly returning, and then the husband and wife even having breakfast together.

The elegant figures of the two continuing their meal across the long table were so formal and refined that it was like looking at a classical painting. There was no need to even speak of their master, who had a flawless bearing without a single wasted movement even when firing a gun while serving as a Colonel, but the Duchess too carried herself with a grave grace as though she were not the daughter of an Earl’s house but royalty.

Even while admiring the couple’s appearance, the maids still rolled their eyes, unable to understand just what in the world was happening, when Carlisle frowned slightly as he looked at Yvonne’s place setting.

“Why are you eating only that much?”

“Apparently I look like I’ve gained weight. The food they bring me is always meager. Isn’t it impressive? The Polshared Dukedom is remarkably concerned for their lady of thoe house’s health. Even so, today’s is much better than when I eat alone.”

“……!”

The maids attending them froze as they drew in sharp breaths. Courtney, the head maid, who had never imagined the Duchess would so quickly report it straight to the Duke, hurriedly composed her voice and spoke.

“Madam, you said you had no appetite, so we prepared only the things you often eat. If you wish the portion to be adjusted, I will pass the word to the kitchen.”

“That won’t be necessary. More importantly, I said I had no appetite on the third day after I married into this house. It’s impressive that you still remember it even now. How very attentive.”

Courtney’s face turned deathly pale.

Meeting Yvonne’s eyes, Courtney felt her spine go cold under the Duke’s gaze, which was likewise fixed strangely upon her.

If she apologized here, she feared the Duke might question her further, so it was not easy to add another word carelessly.

Fortunately, Carlisle said nothing more and changed the subject.

“For the time being, stay at home instead of going out into society.”

“Why?”

“Did you forget how much noise there was over the divorce? If what that man Luca did is exposed now, when attention is still focused on us, pointless scandal will spread easily.”

“That reminds me, since you mention it. I want you to release Luca too.”

Carlisle moistened his mouth with wine and looked at Yvonne, seated some distance away across from him.

Even that strict old woman who taught court etiquette to the Kingdom had once admired her, and even now Yvonne was eating with an upright posture so flawless it left nothing to criticize. Even when she stretched out her hand to take the water glass, she was elegant, and even the moment she brought a piece of meat to her mouth and chewed, she was so quiet one might doubt she was really eating at all.

“That would be difficult. Someone has to take responsibility for what happened.”

“He was forced into confinement because of me, so there’s no need to keep up the show anymore.”

“The show?”

One of Carlisle’s brows lifted faintly. As the servants lowered their eyes at the sudden heaviness in his presence, Yvonne silently set down her cutlery in order.

Then she calmly lifted her gaze and met Carlisle’s eyes.

They had quarreled from time to time, but Yvonne had often chosen to let things pass quietly whenever possible so as not to go against Carlisle’s temper. But now that she knew such efforts were useless, there was no need to do that anymore.

“You used Luca deliberately as part of a plan just to force me back into this house, so isn’t it time to let him go now?”

“You’ve become rather diverse in your demands. I didn’t know you’d concern yourself even with people like that.”

“This happened because of me, so let it end with me taking responsibility for it. Release Luca. I’m asking you.”

At the word asking, Carlisle’s brow twitched faintly.

Nobles, by nature, had no concept of cherishing those who served them. Such people were always replaceable, and nobles believed there was no need for them to trouble themselves on their behalf. So for Yvonne, who had been raised quietly and properly only for the sake of a marriage into a prestigious house, to make a request for the sake of one person’s life struck him as rather strange.

When Carlisle lightly tapped the empty glass with his index finger, a maid who had been standing blankly tilted the teapot. As the reddish herbal tea streamed down and filled the white cup, Carlisle took a sip and then said in a dry tone,

“If you do as I say, it won’t be difficult, but not yet. I’ll decide after seeing how you behave.”

“Then let’s do that. I also find it exhausting to hear unpleasant things at banquets.”

A quiet weariness lingered in Yvonne’s answer.

“If you conduct yourself well, that will be enough.”

“That may be easy for you, but for some people it’s difficult no matter how desperately they try. Then again, perhaps a wonderful husband like you wouldn’t know that feeling.”

“I’m not looking for a fight, so don’t sneer. Is there anything else you want to ask for?”

“No.”

With that flat answer, Yvonne returned to her meal. Carlisle, who had naturally expected her to bring up the matter of investment in the Sellus Earldom, looked at her strangely, but after that, Yvonne lowered her gaze as though she had no wish to speak further.

* * *

Showing her displeasure plainly, Vivian left the mansion and climbed into the carriage waiting outside. The moment she sat down, an irritated hand tore off the hat she had been wearing and flung it aside. The hat struck the opposite backrest and dropped with a thud, and the aide sitting beside it picked it up as if accustomed to this.

“This is absurd.”

Vivian glared fiercely out the carriage window toward the first floor. Toward the place where the dining room was.

Just before leaving for the treaty district, she had read the newspaper report about the divorce, and had hurried through her work as fast as possible to come here.

Naturally, part of it had been to see the mansion after Yvonne had surely left it, but also because she wanted to comfort Carlisle, who had suffered through that ridiculous slander.

And yet the woman who should not have been there was still perfectly present, still acting as lady of the house.

“What in the world is she thinking.”

Anxiety crept over Vivian’s face as she bit down on her nails. Even after all this, she still had no intention of backing down. Then her thoughts caught on the words Yvonne had spoken.

There was no way she had been pregnant. What an obvious lie. But it felt far too unsettling to dismiss it just like that.

“Jean-Paul, bring me every article from the last two weeks.”

“Should I include the gossip papers as well?”

“You just need to bring me anything with Yvonne’s name in it!”

Vivian snapped irritably at her aide, then added with doubtful eyes,

“No, besides the newspaper articles, look through the recent hospital records for any place Yvonne, that woman, might have visited.”

All she had to do was find out whether she had miscarried or not. If something felt unsettling, then she only had to confirm it.

* * *

After the meal was over and the cleaning was finished, the maids had gathered in the sitting room during their break. Usually they would have been chattering over gossip sheets, but today they all wore blank expressions.

“What happened here? Was the divorce really called off?”

“No, but the Duchess even had that scandal with Marquis Inglebert. What is she trying to do by coming back?”

The servants, having learned that the Duke and Duchess’s divorce was no longer happening, could not hide their disappointment.

Even yesterday, when they saw the Duchess suddenly return, they had still half wondered. Today, they had thought there would surely be some explanation. But unlike those expectations, seeing the husband and wife even sharing a meal made it seem they had guessed wrong after all.

“This is strange. Aerondo was in an uproar saying Madam and the Marquis were deeply attached to one another, and now suddenly the divorce never happened and the two of them are having breakfast together.”

At the maid’s words as she rested her chin on her hand, the others nodded in agreement. Then Courtney, who had been humiliated in the dining room, blurted out,

“Honestly, Madam only pretends to be refined. We all know what she’s really like, how eager she is about men. It’s obvious. Marquis Inglebert got played too.”

“That’s right. Every time she went out, she came back in different clothes. What reason could there be to change clothes outside?”

Since a year ago, Yvonne had begun going out much more often, and whenever she came back from somewhere, she looked somewhat tired and her clothes were different each time. Her excuses varied too.

That they had gotten dirty on the way back. That something had gotten on them.

At first they thought it was merely an excuse to buy new clothes, but perhaps the Countess, unable to bear the sight of her childish daughter any longer, had come to visit, and right in front of her, the Duchess had torn every one of her new dresses to shreds.

“She must have been spoiled terribly. What’s the use of being a lady well trained in etiquette when what’s inside is so sly.”

Compared to Vivian, with her straightforward personality, the Duchess was someone who could do nothing and yet possessed a sensitive and exacting temperament. Put kindly, she was a model out of an etiquette manual; put less kindly, she was a dull noblewoman with old-fashioned values that did not suit this ever-changing age at all. That was the image they had of the Duchess.

“She only looks polished on the outside. Inside, there’s nothing there.”

“In truth, what ability did the Earldom even have to stand beside the Polshared family?”

There was no one present who did not know the rumor that even the newspapers, which at the time of the marriage had been making noise that Yvonne Sellus fell far short of being a match for the Duke of Polshared, had ended up accepting it because of the Duchess’s beautiful appearance.

Even so, as servants who took pride in serving the illustrious and long-established Polshared Dukedom, there was no way they would acknowledge a woman whose beautiful exterior was all she had.