Chapter 60

Lukewarm tea was poured over her head. Angela, unable to grasp what was happening, looked up like a broken doll. The perpetrator, who had just poured the tea on her, commanded coldly.

“Leave immediately.”

“What are you doing!”

Angela, who had jumped up, shouted, wiping the tea dripping from her head and face with her hands.

“Do you think I’ll stay quiet after this?!”

“And if you don’t?”

Harriet tilted her head and reached out to grab Angela’s chin.

“If you don’t stay quiet, what will you do?”

“What…?”

Her tone, devoid of any honorifics, was filled with menace. Angela, feeling like a mouse before a viper, froze with her eyes wide open.

“Since you seem unaware, let me kindly inform you. People have a sense of propriety. In this situation, you shouldn’t act like this.”

“…”

“You came here to remind me that I’m cornered and to tell me to jump off the edge myself. And yet, what did I just do?”

Angela swallowed a short breath at Harriet’s precise and deliberate words. When Harriet released her chin, Angela’s legs gave out, and she slumped down.

“Do you think you can take my place if I’m gone?”

Calming her excitement, Harriet quietly asked the dazed Angela. Instead of answering, Angela glared at her. Harriet, who was somewhat impressed by her continued defiance despite being drenched like a wet rat, spoke softly.

“No. Even if I’m not here, you won’t take this place. Lennox has not the slightest interest in you.”

“Don’t make assumptions.”

“It’s not an assumption; it’s a fact.”

Harriet, who had lightly scoffed, flung open the reception room door. The butler and head maid, who had been waiting in the hallway in case of an emergency, looked at their mistress with surprised eyes.

“The guest is leaving, so see her out. Since I accidentally spilled tea, give her a towel or a change of clothes.”

“Ah, yes… Understood.”

The head maid, bowing her head, approached the bewildered Angela. Harriet glanced at her retreating figure and turned to walk away. Then she suddenly stopped and instructed the butler, who was following her.

“Prepare a carriage.”

“Pardon? Madam… The master said you would rest well at the mansion today.”

“I have somewhere to go. Prepare the carriage and coachman. As soon as possible.”

“May I ask where you are going?”

Harriet, who blinked for a moment at the cautious question, shook her head.

“I’ll be back soon, so it’s fine.”

* * *

The butler, having finished recounting the events from a few hours ago, bowed his head apologetically.

“Madam insisted on taking the carriage, no matter how much I tried to dissuade her. I told the coachman to send word when they reached their destination, but we haven’t received any contact yet.”

“…Haa.”

Lennox, running a hand through his hair, turned his back. He quickly passed through the entrance and went outside, heading straight for the stables. The coachman, who was cleaning inside the stable, was startled and hurriedly removed his hat.

“Your Grace?”

“This horse will do.”

Lennox approached the horse, which looked lively and satisfied after a good meal, and placed a saddle on its back, then mounted it.

His destination was the Vanetti Estate. As soon as he entered the mansion, which was in chaos due to the shocking incident, he was greeted by the Countess, who was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief in sorrow.

“Duke!”

“Countess.”

“I was so shocked when I saw the newspaper… But I assure you, it was not intentional.”

Perhaps thinking he had come to demand a divorce, Margaret immediately bent over, ready to plead. Surprised, Lennox stopped his mother-in-law from bowing to the floor.

“Please don’t. It puts me in a difficult position.”

Though they weren’t visible, he could feel the dozens of eyes watching keenly. After calming Margaret, Lennox sat her on the couch.

“Has Harriet come here?”

“Yes… About an hour or two ago.”

Margaret nodded, sniffling.

“To see the Earl?”

“Yes.”

“Where is the Earl now?”

“With the butler in the study… Duke!”

Before she could finish speaking, Lennox, who had stood up, quickly walked toward the study. Without allowing the servant to announce his arrival, he knocked on the door, and permission to enter came immediately, as if they had been expecting him.

“You’re here, Your Grace.”

The Earl, who had been talking with the butler, stood up and gestured toward the couch. Lennox shook his head, refusing to sit, and spoke with forced gentleness.

“I’m fine. Please feel free to address me comfortably.”

“Then… I’ll call you Lennox.”

“Yes.”

“Lennox. What brings you here?”

“I heard my wife came to see you.”

“Ah. Yes, she did.”

Lennox furrowed his brows at the calm reply. Both the Countess and the Earl’s reactions were strange. If Harriet had come here wounded by Angela’s words, it would have been natural for both to show some resentment toward him.

However, there was no such sign at all.

“What did Coco say?”

“Coco……. So you call her that. I haven’t called her that since she was little.”

Franz muttered absentmindedly at Lennox’s question, then sighed deeply when he saw the serious expression.

“Rest assured, Lennox. My daughter and your wife, Harriet, is not a weak woman.”

“What did she say?”

“She asked about her birth mother. When and how I met her. How she disappeared. She wanted to know where she might be, if possible. She wanted to meet her.”

“About her birth mother…?”

“It seems she has something she wants to resolve.”

“So, did you tell her?”

“Yes.”

Franz nodded and took a cigar from the mahogany desk drawer with anxious hands. Lennox, who had given him a moment’s respite until he exhaled the smoke deeply, could no longer hold back and pressed on.

“Then please tell me where that place is too. I need to go.”

The old, inscrutable eyes quietly watched him. Just as Lennox was about to clench his fists in impatience, Franz suddenly asked.

“Aren’t you going to cast her out?”

“What?”

“She hid her birth. She is my daughter and is registered as the child of my wife, Margaret, and me, but in reality, she is the lowly offspring of an unnamed actress from the Sainter Theatre Company. An illegitimate child.”

“Such a thing!”

No one dared to call Harriet by such a word. Unconsciously, Lennox slammed the desk with his clenched fist and growled lowly.

“I already knew about that.”

“You… knew?”

“What do you think of the intelligence of my family?”

“…Ha.”

Franz, unable to fathom it, let out a hollow laugh, rubbing his arms which had broken out in goosebumps.

“You knew everything, yet you wanted Harriet. So you brought her in as your wife.”

“She is someone I have longed for and desired over a long time, finally within my grasp. A small flaw like that didn’t matter. It didn’t even catch my eye.”

He only wished she would confide that secret to him herself. He wanted her to trust him as her husband and rely on him completely.

And Harriet eventually did just that. In that moment, she was so lovable that he wanted to devour her whole from head to toe. He wanted to become one with her forever.

“So please tell me. Where is Harriet’s birth mother? Where did she go?”

Lennox, who had asked repeatedly, lowered his voice at a sudden ominous feeling.

“Is there any chance that woman might harm Harriet…?”

“That won’t happen.”

Franz waved his hand dismissively and stubbed out the cigar in the ashtray.

“She… died of illness a few years ago.”

* * *

The place Franz mentioned was a secluded, deserted cemetery. Located far from the capital, the cemetery seemed to bury only the poor and powerless, with no sign of a caretaker’s touch, nor any notable statues.

To make matters worse, rain had started pouring down on the way, and as mist rolled in, the atmosphere inside the cemetery became even more eerie and desolate.

After wandering past gravestones with only names inscribed, Lennox finally found a woman standing far away, her head covered with a black robe.

“Coco.”

Relieved, he approached her quickly. The woman, who had been staring endlessly at the grave at her feet, slowly turned her head.

“…Lennox.”

“What are you doing here alone in a place like this? You should have contacted me to come with you.”

Lennox, observing her complexion, tilted the umbrella to shield her from the drizzling rain. Harriet naturally leaned into the arm that wrapped around her shoulder.

“There was no time for that.”

“…”

Though she wore a robe, she shivered slightly, perhaps from the cold. Lennox took off his coat and draped it over Harriet’s shoulders, asking quietly.

“Why now?”

At the low question, Harriet quietly looked back at the gravestone.

[Rosemary Donin.

Resting peacefully here.]