2. Excuse Me, Are You My Husband?

Margie could no longer stand by and watch her husband’s neglect of their marriage.

She loved Frederic. From the moment she fell for him at first sight a year ago, through every moment he made her feel alone, not a single second excluded, entirely, always.

Even if Frederic used me to pay off his family’s debts, I love Frederic Graham completely. If being used is what love looks like, I’d let myself be used again and again. I gave my whole heart to him and got thoroughly used in return, boo hoo. Poor me. Pitiful Margie, waaah…… that’s ridiculous, right? Either way, I did manage to become Frederic’s wife, didn’t I?

If Frederic had truly been after something, he would have taken as his wife a woman from a noble family with both power and wealth, not the daughter of a lowly merchant like me. There were so many wealthy nobles who wanted him as a husband or son-in-law. Though even if you combined all their fortunes, none of them could match my father alone……

How many people sneered at my father for taking Frederic in as a live-in son-in-law, calling it pearls before swine. Frederic too was pointed at for selling his honor for money. He endured all of that and still chose me! I even ended up with the title of duchess, which I never thought I’d hear in my lifetime, so I can’t exactly say I came out with nothing. That cumbersome title won’t earn me any great fortune, but it makes me happy all the same. Hehe.

If you’re keeping score, Frederic is the one of royal blood who lost far more than he gained. This marriage cost him more than it gave him…… Haah. What’s the point of tallying it all up. Love is a game where the one who loves more loses. I’ve already lost to him. Badly, more than once. So even if he says something cruel and leaves me feeling hurt…… I’ll call it a sulk and let it go.

After a muddled exercise in convincing herself, she quietly accepted her defeat. Which meant she had to do whatever she could to repair things between them.

[Good day, Madam. Thank you for your patience. I write to inform you that the task you commissioned with our Gregory Agency has been completed.]

It had taken considerable effort to track down the private detective.

She had asked him, with his impressive record of experience, to look into her husband’s affairs……

[……I must first assure you that there is no evidence whatsoever of the infidelity you feared on your husband’s part. You may set your mind entirely at ease. I will also mention that in all our years of accepted cases, your husband is the only client whose private life has been this thoroughly without blemish.
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……What was notable, however, was that on every evening your husband informed you he would be home late, he paid a visit to the Somerset ducal villa. Naturally, there was no unseemly contact with any outside women on those occasions either, and the gatherings amounted to nothing more than light socializing among respectable gentlemen. You really ought to have seen it yourself, Madam. Refined young gentlemen without a single unlawful act to their names, sitting side by side and passing the time with sudoku, bridge puzzles, slitherlink, and the like. I, Arthur Gregory, will stake my reputation on this. There will never be another sight quite like it. Ah, did I mention that the gentleman who displayed the most commanding puzzle-solving ability among them was your husband?]

No remarkable findings, then.

[……I enclose herewith a record of your husband’s movements and several photographs taken during the period, and with that I bring this letter to a close. As his schedule and activities were quite straightforward, the record is brief and the photographs are few. Accordingly, no additional charges have been incurred, and I regret to inform you that there are likewise no refunds. The Gregory Agency guarantees the anonymity of all clients. We also extend our warmest wishes to you and your household. We hope you will continue to make use of the Gregory Agency in the future.]

Rather than spending his time with a boorish father-in-law and a wife he couldn’t communicate with, he had simply chosen to spend it in the company of high-ranking nobles who had received a similar education and cultivated a similar refinement. That made her feel even more defeated.

In the meantime, the date Frederic Graham was set to return to active duty and depart for field training drew to within a fortnight. There was no reason to hesitate any longer. She was someone who would stop at nothing to protect love.

Slipping past the household staff and the private coachman, Margie made her way out of the estate and hurried to the [Carriage and Motor Car Rental Centre]. There she chose a vehicle bearing a sign marked ‘Premium.’

“Hello! 164 Maiden Viewpoint Street, please.”

Horse-drawn carriages were still more common, but four-wheeled motor cars powered by engines were beginning to gain considerable popularity.

“Can you take me now?”

“Ah. The lanes over there are quite narrow, it’s a tricky drive, miss.”

The driver looked reluctant. He seemed about to refuse the fare.

“I’ll pay double.”

“Very well.”

Only after Margie offered twice the fare did he start the engine.

Vroom.

The engine rumbled awake with a clamorous noise.

“That’s the Somerset ducal family’s private estate, isn’t it?”

The driver unfolded his map, trying to pinpoint the passenger’s destination.

“Most people going there prefer a carriage, they can’t stand motor cars. Which is probably why the roads in that area are terribly inconvenient for driving and dreadfully unfriendly to automobiles. Just like those inflexible noble lords. Who do they think they are, refusing every new invention and clinging to their stubbornness forever……”

Most carriage riders were nobles, while those who purchased gasoline motor cars tended to be the newly wealthy. Nobles could not bring themselves to trust a machine that made such vulgar racket, while the newly risen bourgeoisie spoke ill of the old-fashioned nobles who had no idea how to make use of modern technology. Margie was firmly in the latter camp.

“Dressed so finely, I took you for some grand noblewoman, but seeing as you’ve cheerfully climbed into a motor car……”

The elderly driver peered at Margie in the rearview mirror with a sideways glance.

“Hmm? Now that I look at you, you seem awfully familiar. Wait! Could it be! Miss Margie of the Flynn family, the one and only daughter who recently wed Duke Graham? That’s you, isn’t it! Wow, it is!”

He marveled at his own eye for faces and snapped his fingers with a click.

“I saw you in the paper. It’s an honor, Duchess Graham. You’re far lovelier in person than in any photograph.”

The driver’s fussing made the corner of Margie’s mouth twitch.

“People have gone on and on about how handsome Duke Graham is, heavenly looks and all that, but I always thought that was entirely down to how he photographs, you know? Isn’t Your Grace actually the more beautiful of the two?”

The driver seized on that and launched into praise of her appearance, though in truth none of it was really reaching her ears. What actually made her happy was not the flattery about her looks but the title of ‘Duchess.’

“Your Grace’s figure, flawless from every angle! The authority of a woman who holds her own even before a duke’s nobility! That kind of bearing isn’t something you can fake with ordinary confidence or presence……”

“If you keep quiet about the fact that you drove me here, I’ll give you double the double we agreed on, and if you get me to my destination without a word, I’ll give you double on top of that double.”

“Good lord, how much does that even come to……”

“Which means you have a chance to earn a double-double-double in total. As long as you do exactly what I’ve asked.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get you there safely.”

The driver, counting the double-double-double on his fingers, gripped the wheel with a look of reverence. The earnings from today alone would surpass three months’ wages.