SIDE STORY – Elgagrove (Part 9)

The source of the fragrance was soon revealed. After retracing their steps from Black Peril and returning to the car, Bryant started the engine, saying he had something to show her. 

Where are we going?

She asked, but he only smiled without answering. 

You can look forward to it. 

Evelyn didn’t press the man who only gave evasive answers.

There was no need to press further. ‘That place’ soon came into view.

“Oh.”

Evelyn found herself pressing her face against the car window. Her eyes were dazzled by the unbelievable colors. Between the green forest and meadow was a very vibrant color. A vast expanse filled with waves of blue-purple.

It was a lavender field.

There were no workers in sight anywhere. However, the orderly boundaries and neat furrows indicated it was for cultivation. The lovingly tended lavender field seemed endless. Under the clear blue sky, the blue-purple field stretched out. Evelyn had never seen such a landscape before.

As she opened the car door, a strong fragrance rushed in. She descended, enchanted, and approached the flowers. Bryant, who had followed, took her hand. The man, having set down his gun, looked much lighter.

He led her into the field without hesitation. Evelyn willingly followed him, walking into the waves of astonishing fragrance and color.

“It’s beautiful. …It’s breathtakingly so.”

The lavender was in full bloom in mid-June. Butterflies, enchanted by the scent, fluttered everywhere. She thought she could even hear the wings of busy bees. Evelyn reached out her hand and brushed the flowers. The waves of lavender rose from her knees to her thighs.

“Do you like it?”

“That doesn’t even begin to describe it. I can’t keep my wits about me. It’s such an overwhelmingly beautiful sight.”

Evelyn replied, half-excited. As she did, she thought. 

Why is it that the heart races when witnessing something overwhelmingly beautiful?

“That’s good.”

Bryant spoke with a low laugh.

“That’s exactly what I was aiming for.”

“……”

“When you’re too overwhelmed to think straight, that’s when I have a chance.”

At that moment, Evelyn seemed to intuitively know.

“If I get rejected for the third proposal, I think I’ll really be hurt.”

That he was going to take out that ring again.

The small cubic box came from his coat pocket. Evelyn watched silently as his large hand opened it. Holding out the open box, Bryant spoke. Simply and earnestly.

“Let’s get married, Miss Evelyn Dale.”

No more words of proposal were needed. He had already proposed twice. Once recklessly, once formally. Evelyn preferred the former.

Recalling it made her smile a little, and she jokingly asked him,

“Are you now sure you can make me happy?”

“I’m sure you’ll make me happy.”

“My goodness. What a selfish proposal.”

“Even so, if you give me a chance,”

Bryant replied. With smiling lips. But with the most serious eyes.

“I promise. I’ll do my best.”

He said with those eyes.

“Whether you’re happy or not, I’ll be by your side.”

“……”

“I won’t let you be lonely.”

“……”

“Until the day I die.”

Bryant ultimately did not promise happiness. He specifically mentioned the limit that she wouldn’t be lonely only until the day he died. Even on his third proposal, he didn’t guarantee her happiness. He was that kind of man. One who pursued romance but didn’t apply it to reality. A person rational to the point of being slightly cold.

Even so, Evelyn thought it was enough. If he would always be by her side. If he promised to do his best. If they vowed to protect each other until the day they died.

What more could a woman ask of a man, and a man of a woman, than that?

When they longed for each other so desperately.

So Evelyn extended her hand to him. With a full heart.

The ring shone on the fourth finger of her left hand. The teardrop-shaped diamond reflected the transparent sunlight of Elgagrove in white. Looking down at it, the two stood in silence for a while.

Unable to bear the silence, the woman was the first to laugh.

“Say something. It’s awkward.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

Bryant hesitated and continued.

“I wish I could show you how I feel right now.”

“You can just explain. You’re good with words.”

“It’s impossible.”

He shook his head as he answered. As if emphasizing. Or as if lamenting.

“Impossible.”

Evelyn looked up at him silently. His face seemed to be on the verge of a smile. Silence began again from him. Until the high early summer sun reached noon, and a yellow butterfly flew past the two.

Eventually, Bryant reached out his hand. He gently pulled her in and pressed his lips to her forehead. Evelyn obediently closed her eyes. It seemed as if his lips trembled slightly as they touched her forehead.

It was a very long, quiet kiss.

Language can never fully express reality. Words are always subjective, and sometimes terms are ambiguous. Feelings that cannot be described. Things that are impossible to explain. Emotions that can only be conveyed through earnest glances and gestures.

Evelyn knows what that is.

She already knows.

*

…The wedding was held at noon on Saturday at Kingston Cathedral. It was officiated by Bishop Anderson, the royal chaplain, and attended by Crown Prince Richard and his wife, as well as Grand Duke Logan and his wife. The cathedral was filled with over 2,000 guests, including nobles, politicians, and businessmen. Aside from a royal wedding, it was the most grandiose wedding held in Kingston in the past decade.

…Another topic of interest at the wedding was the bride’s tiara. The tiara, which captivated everyone’s attention, was set with 2,500 diamonds totaling 72 carats and was sent as a wedding gift from the Trissen Imperial Family. The unusual favor from the proud imperial family is because the groom, Lord Clifton, is related to the Empress. Lady Clifton, upon marrying him, becomes the aunt of Empress Reinus and the great-aunt to Crown Prince Louis, first in line to the throne.

…With this marriage in the spotlight, Dennis Howle’s works are gaining renewed attention. Readers’ expectations for his next work have also increased. Viewcastle Publishing stated that there is no scheduled release for the author’s next work yet.

<Kingston Times> October 27, 1889, ‘Popular Novelist Dennis Howle’s Wedding Held at Kingston Cathedral’

― Fin.4