“Eloise!”

Even now, the sound of his voice calling her name that night rang vividly in her ears.

The voice of salvation that came at her most desperate moment. Had she ever been so glad to hear someone else’s voice in her life?

The problem was that ever since then, every time she heard Ryan call her name, her heart would start to race.

So whenever Ryan came near, Eloise would deliberately harden her expression and try to remain calm.

Of course, whenever she heard his teasing remarks meant to annoy her, she would get flustered right away, but that was actually better.

Otherwise, during even the most trivial conversations, he might notice her trembling voice and flushed face.

“I really must be crazy…”

Muttering to herself, Eloise stood up and covered her face with both hands.

She recalled something from a psychology book she had read long ago in her father’s study.

It said that when you’re with someone in a dangerous situation, your anxious feelings can be mistaken for rational affection. Just being together can do that, and Ryan had even saved her.

It was only natural to develop feelings for the gentleman who had rescued her from trouble.

Letting out a long sigh, Eloise walked over to the mirror in the corner of her room and looked at herself.

Having worked late into the night for several days, her skin was dry and there were shadows beneath her eyes. Even though she’d tried to tidy her hair, the hasty ponytail made her look as if she’d just come in from the fields.

Her hands were stained with ink, and the hem of her dress still bore traces of sauce from helping in the kitchen.

Truly, even to herself, she looked hopeless.

And it wasn’t just her appearance.

Twenty-six years old. In Albion, she was already long past the age for marriage. On top of that, because of an illness in childhood, her health often failed her with the changing seasons.

‘More than anything…’

Eloise glanced down at her stomach for a moment.

When she had barely survived a grave illness as a child, the doctor had said she would likely never be able to have children.

The problem was that the doctor, after drinking far too much in Camborne, had blurted out that fact to someone else.

The Surberton family had already attracted attention when they first arrived here. The rumor that their daughter couldn’t have children spread throughout the region in a single day.

So now, more than a decade later, it was hardly even a secret in this area.

She would receive a trust fund for life, and it wasn’t as if she was unattractive, but not a single marriage proposal had come her way—surely, that was the reason.

Perhaps in the capital, where foreign ideas had spread since the war and people’s thinking had changed, there would be those who didn’t care about such things. But in Feltham, it was not so.

When she was younger, Reverend Harrison had told her to overcome the trial God had given her through faith.

His words implied that her illness was some sort of original sin, and she had kicked him hard in the leg for it.

‘I know my circumstances!’

There were so many young, beautiful women with what people called “no problems” all around.

If Ryan were looking for a marriage partner, of course he would choose one of them.

Eloise pulled her face this way and that in the mirror.

Perhaps because she was thinking so poorly of herself, her face looked even plainer than usual.

With heavy steps, Eloise returned to the table and placed Julia and Patricia’s name cards in front of Ryan’s seat.

One from Feltham, one from Camborne—no one could say she was favoring either side.

“…It’s finally done.”

Even though the matter she’d agonized over for so long was finally resolved, her heart felt anything but light.

***

The last Monday of July.

At last, the day of Blissbury’s summer gala had arrived.

The event people called the summer gala was actually held on Wednesday, but the banquet that marked its beginning always took place on Monday of that week.

Normally, the first guests wouldn’t arrive at such a banquet until after six in the evening.

And those early guests were usually close friends of the host, coming early for conversation before the banquet began, so there were never many.

Most guests wouldn’t arrive until after nine, and Eloise believed today would be the same.

But at five o’clock, the moment Lady Greenwood—who hadn’t said a word about coming early—appeared, the people of Blissbury realized something.

This banquet was going to be very different from any before.

“I hope you’ll forgive me for arriving in such a rush. When I met Sergeant Thornton in Camborne the other day, I had such a wonderful time, but there wasn’t enough of it to talk as much as I wished. So I decided to set out a bit early today, hoping for a more intimate conversation.”

A bit early? She must have prepared from the morning and hurried all the way from Camborne.

And Lady Greenwood wasn’t the only one who had rushed over. Soon, the young ladies from Camborne began to arrive one after another.

They were hours earlier than last year, and their intentions were obvious without anyone needing to ask.

In the end, as soon as Ryan finished dressing, he had to go down to the drawing room to converse with them. It was his duty as the host.

Just as Eloise thought the Camborne ladies had truly set their minds on tonight, a familiar voice called out.

“Eloise!”

She turned toward the voice and saw Julia, who had arrived before she knew it.

“My goodness, you arrived so early too?”

“What do you mean, ‘too’? Don’t tell me all those carriages in front…”

Instead of answering, Eloise simply looked toward the drawing room, as if to tell her to see for herself.

At that moment, laughter burst out from inside, as if someone had just told a funny story. Julia’s face stiffened at the sound, realizing those were the Camborne ladies.

While Julia was glaring at the drawing room, the Ogilvy family entered.

“Eloise!”

“Andrew!”

Eloise hugged the angelic child who ran into her arms and kissed his cheek.

Even though she saw the Ogilvy family all the time, it felt as if it had been ages.

As she greeted them, Eloise soon realized someone was missing.

“Andrew? Where’s Abigail?”

“Abigail isn’t coming today. She said she wasn’t feeling well.”

“Still?”

“Yeah! Oh, Mrs. Parker! Hello, ma’am!”

Andrew slipped from Eloise’s arms and ran to Mrs. Parker, who happened to be coming up with a tray of pastries.

From the look on his face, he seemed determined to collect a year’s worth of cookies today. Even if not a year’s supply, he’d surely get enough for at least two months.

Like everyone else, Mrs. Parker adored Andrew.

Eloise approached Mrs. Ogilvy, who was shaking her head at her son.

Upon seeing Eloise, Mrs. Ogilvy greeted her warmly with a light kiss on the cheek.

“Oh, Eloise. Are you all right? You must have been even busier this year without Mr. Surberton.”

“I’m fine. Ry—Sergeant Thornton has been working very hard.”

As always, Eloise almost called him Ryan, but quickly corrected herself.

Today was the day when people from Feltham and Camborne were coming. No, even if they weren’t, she decided she should go back to calling him Sergeant Thornton, as before.

Composing her thoughts about Ryan, Eloise asked Mrs. Ogilvy,

“Madam, is Abigail really not well?”

“I’m not sure. She doesn’t seem sick, but lately she’s been so irritable that even Julia is wary of her. She seems to have something on her mind, but you know she never talks to anyone but you. If you don’t mind, could you visit us after the summer gala?”

“Of course. I was planning to go straight there as soon as it’s over.”

She meant it. In the past, she would have stayed a few more days after everything was cleaned up to enjoy the quiet of Blissbury.

But this year, once the main work was done, she planned to return home right away.

She felt that if she stayed here any longer, she would eventually fail to hide her feelings and make a mistake.

Soon, the Ogilvy family also went into the drawing room, and Eloise stepped out alone to the entrance hall.

‘What could be going on?’

She knew Abigail always looked forward to this day every year. Even if her legs hurt from the long carriage ride, she would hide it just to attend.

But this year, she had chosen to stay home alone.

Wearing a worried expression, Eloise looked toward Feltham, hoping nothing was wrong with her friend.

***

Abigail sat in her room, looking at the dress hanging on the wall.

It was a dress she had prepared since last winter. Because she had spent so much on Julia’s marriage prospects, she couldn’t afford a new one, so she had altered a summer dress Julia had bought a few years ago.

Julia had only worn it a few times before declaring it out of fashion, but after altering it over the winter, it had turned into a rather nice party dress.

She had looked forward to the summer gala all winter because of that dress.

But she didn’t go. In truth, she wasn’t even sick.