Chapter 61

The gravestone, dirtied by time, bore no date of birth or death, only that short inscription.

“Why did you suddenly feel the need to come here?”

At the continued question, Harriet took a moment to catch her breath.

“I thought if not now, I might never have the courage to see her again.”

With each exhaled breath turning into mist and scattering in the air.

“I thought I’d at least curse her out if I met her. Asking what she was thinking, what state of mind she was in to meet a man with a family, tear another woman’s heart, and give birth to me.”

Harriet quietly parted her dry lips.

“Why she abandoned me after giving birth.”

In the pouring rain, Harriet looked down at the gravestone of her birth mother, whom she had no memory of, with a forlorn expression. Feeling as if she might disappear at any moment, Lennox tightened his arms around her.

“But seeing her buried like this… I don’t feel anything. I’m just sad.”

“If you want, I can look for Rosemary Donin’s family. If it would ease your mind even a little.”

At his soft voice, Harriet slowly turned her head to look at her husband. She had resolved misunderstandings with her father and cleared the resentment with her mother, but a sense of distance remained. When speaking about her biological mother, her father couldn’t even look her in the eye the entire time. It must have been the guilt weighing heavily on him.

The man standing silently beside her was now her only true family and ally.

Lennox had been looking at her for 15 years. Harriet couldn’t even imagine how difficult and challenging it would be to devote oneself deeply to one person for such a long time. Even her conservative and stubborn father had failed at it once.

With a bitter smile, Harriet shook her head.

“Thank you, but there’s no need. My birth mother was an orphan, they said.”

“Then she’s quite remarkable.”

“Remarkable?”

Harriet blinked at the unexpected answer. Lennox smiled faintly at her expression.

“Of course. Your mother, Rosemary, lived proudly as an actress, entering the theater company entirely on her own strength without anyone’s help.”

“Proudly on her own…”

“Even now, when people’s thoughts have changed a lot, there are still many who click their tongues seeing you venture into business as a woman. But back then, even more so, she was an orphan with no backing, so it must have been even worse.”

Listening, Harriet realized his words made sense. She quietly listened to Lennox’s words.

“Do you remember when we volunteered together last time?”

“Yeah…”

“Unfortunately, in the past, orphaned girls often ended up working themselves to death in factories or choosing to walk the streets at night. But Rosemary turned away from that path and pursued her dreams.”

“That’s true…”

If I were in the same situation, what would I have done? 

Just imagining it made her shiver. The reason she got goosebumps when visiting the orphanage last time was the same.

The thought that if her birth mother had abandoned her at an orphanage instead of the Vanetti family, she would never have lived as she does now.

“I heard Marianne also stayed in an orphanage for a short time after her parents passed. Maybe that’s why she dislikes me, because of those miserable memories? Because she experienced what was supposed to be my fate?”

At the thought passing through her mind, Harriet turned her body and grabbed Lennox’s arm.

“Can people change so much depending on their environment? Would she have been different if she hadn’t become an orphan? If it were the other way around…”

“No.”

Lennox cut off Harriet’s words and denied it firmly.

“You can’t ignore innate nature. That woman would have been the same even if she hadn’t become an orphan. She didn’t appreciate the opportunity given to her and threw it away. Falling into a coma after being thrown from a horse is her karma.”

Harriet looked up at him with a blank expression, startled.

Though she didn’t particularly sympathize with Marianne, Lennox’s reaction was colder than she expected. He was an endlessly kind and gentle husband and a perfect man to her, but sometimes he had a cold, frost-like demeanor. It was the same when facing Earl Eiden before.

While Harriet was surprised by his unfamiliar demeanor, Lennox, who had smiled as if nothing happened, added softly.

“Coco, if you were in her situation, you would have acted differently. Because you’re the exact opposite of Marianne Chasselot.”

“…You overestimate me too much.”

Embarrassed by his unwavering answer, Harriet averted her gaze. Lennox, quietly watching her as if engraving the moment in his memory, gently changed the subject.

“It looks like the rain will get heavier. You might catch a cold, so let’s go in now.”

“…Yes.”

“Before that, just a moment.”

He moved the umbrella so that the gravestone wouldn’t get any wetter.

Then he took off one sleeve of his coat and put it over Harriet’s head to shield her from the rain.

“The carriage is waiting just a little ahead.”

“Yes.”

Harriet quietly savored the now-familiar fluttering in her chest from his silent consideration. Burying her face in the chest of her only ally, she felt that no enemy in the world could ever frighten her.

* * *

As Lennox had said, the rain, which had been falling lightly at first, grew heavier with time, and by the time they were on their way back, it was pouring so hard that it was almost impossible to see ahead.

Fearing an accident might occur if they continued, the two decided to stay nearby until the rain stopped.

However, finding no suitable inn along the way, they were in trouble until they luckily found a cabin.

“It seems to be a resting place for the nearby postal workers.”

The cabin didn’t have a proper fireplace, but instead, there was a large cast-iron stove in the middle and a couch to sit on.

Lennox shook off the coat he had used as an umbrella and hung it on the coat rack, then led her to the cast-iron stove. Fortunately, there was some wood that could be used for fuel in a corner. As he put it in and lit a fire, the cold room quickly warmed up.

Harriet, who had been shivering in the spreading warmth, suddenly asked.

“Why isn’t the coachman coming?”

“He said he’d stay with the horses. The horses seemed startled, so since there was a makeshift stable nearby, he gave them some hay and stayed with them.”

“Oh…”

That meant they were alone in this cabin until the rain stopped. Though they had already seen everything of each other, being alone in a cozy cabin, cut off from the world, made her conscious and tense.

The day quickly darkened, and the inside and outside of the cabin became pitch black. As the rain poured down, shaking the windows, and the firewood crackled in the stove, the two sat side by side, watching the flickering flames inside the cast-iron stove.

In the serene silence, Lennox spoke first.

“Are you thirsty? Let me see if there’s something to boil and drink.”

“No.”

Harriet held his arm as he tried to stand, pulling him back to sit.

“Just stay. It’s okay.”

“…Alright.”

“Given the situation, we’ll probably be here for an hour or two anyway, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to talk about things we haven’t been able to.”

Instead of answering, Lennox nodded. Harriet took a deep breath and continued.

“I’ll start.”

“Go ahead.”

Lennox leaned comfortably against the couch backrest, waiting for her words with a faint smile. Harriet, who had been quietly avoiding his gaze, cautiously asked.

“What would you do if I…… said I wanted a divorce?”

“…”

The atmosphere, which had been calm even in the stillness, suddenly chilled as if someone had poured cold water over it. Though the stove’s firewood was still burning, it felt like being thrown back outside, and a chill crept up. Looking down at the goosebumps on the back of her hand, Harriet quickly added.

“Just hypothetically speaking. Our marriage was initially based on the premise of divorcing after half a year, wasn’t it?”

“…”

“Lennox?”

Watching his wife carefully for signs after uttering such a dreadful thing, Lennox quietly observed the rising impulse within him.

Where did it go wrong? I thought I had been thorough, but had she noticed something?

Should I immediately shut that adorable mouth and lay her beneath me, making her moan as if she’d lose her mind? Should I brainwash her into believing there’s only me in the world, so she could never leave this small cabin for the rest of her life?

Block her eyes and ears, bind her hands and feet, making her live her entire life relying solely on me. Who needs other family or friends? There are so many women in the world who live only looking at their husbands.

“Coco.”

Lennox grabbed Harriet’s chin, making her look at him.

As her head turned, Harriet held her breath. The eyes that had been kind just a moment ago now gleamed with madness.

“What do you mean by that?”

“…”

“Harriet Coco Diorne.”

His eyes shone brightly in the darkness, as if ready to sink his teeth into his wife’s neck.

As Lennox reached out, hiding the sinister thoughts in his mind, Harriet suddenly lowered her head and mumbled in response.

“It won’t happen. It’s just a thought.”

“Why?”

Lennox lowered his hand and asked, biting out the words.

“Because of what Angela Donovan said?”

“…I can’t say it had no influence at all. But that’s not the only reason.”