Crash! A wooden crutch clattered noisily across the hallway.

“Abigail!”

As expected, Eloise hurriedly scrambled up and opened the door.

Abigail picked up the crutch with a grin and looked at her friend.

“Mind if I come in? You little sneaky, Eloise.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“I won’t deny that I took advantage of your kindness. But let’s be honest, you wouldn’t have opened the door otherwise.”

Seeing that Abigail had no intention of leaving, Eloise sighed and stepped aside to let her in.

Abigail set the crutch beside a chair, quickly sat, and placed her hands on her lap.

“Alright, now tell me—what happened in Blissbury yesterday that has you bedridden like this?”

Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

There was no one in Feltham more brazen and confident than Eloise.

And yet, here she was, lying in bed. That could only mean something significant had happened.

Abigail’s heart raced at the thought that this might be the most thrilling event in Feltham this year.

“…It was nothing.”

“Oh, Eloise. Even my baby brother wouldn’t believe that.”

Eloise frowned, picturing the five-year-old youngest member of the Ogilvy family.

“Come on, tell me! I’m dying of curiosity. What happened? And is it true that a new steward is coming? Does that mean Mr. Surberton is stepping down completely?”

“My goodness, Abigail. You sound just like your mother.”

This time, it was Abigail who grimaced.

She knew how her mother had been running around lately, trying to find a suitable husband for her second daughter, Julia.

“Bear with me. This is the biggest news our town has had in a year. And since Mother was out in Camborne all day yesterday, excited about buying new clothes for my siblings, her excitement rubbed off on me.

Abigail cupped her cheeks with both hands and took a deep breath. Once she had calmed down, she took Eloise’s hands in hers.

“Alright, now tell me what happened in Blissbury. And don’t even think about lying.”

“…”

“Eloise.”

Despite Abigail’s relentless prodding, Eloise remained silent, which only made Abigail realize that whatever had happened in Blissbury must have been profound.

Eloise usually got even more excited than when there was an incident.

But now, she couldn’t say a word.

Abigail’s enthusiasm faded, her expression hardening.

“Eloise… Did you run into that vagabond lurking around the village lately? Did he say something inappropriate to you…?”

There had been rumors of a deserter wandering through the woods.

It was said that he hid when men passed by but threatened and robbed women. The women of Feltham had grown fearful of walking through the forest because of him.

“No, that’s not it!”

Eloise was startled and quickly denied it.

“Then why do you look so troubled? Who did this to you? Come on, we should tell your father. That’s the best—”

“Absolutely not!”

Eloise shot up in alarm.

“If he finds out I did something like this, even my father would—”

“You did? Wait, you weren’t the one harmed, you… hurt someone else?”

Abigail’s voice trailed off as she realized what Eloise meant.

Eloise’s face twisted with distress as she nodded.

“The truth is…”

Cautiously, she began recounting what had happened in Blissbury the day before.

***

“…”

“…”

When Eloise finished her explanation, silence filled the room.

Abigail hesitated before finally speaking.

“Uh, so… You drew something… rather inappropriate… for others to see…?”

“A n*de painting. And I used Lieutenant Colonel Ryan’s face for it.”

“Oh, dear Lord.”

At the word “n*de,” Abigail clapped her hands over her ears as if she had just heard the most obscene thing in the world, then quickly made the sign of the cross as if begging for forgiveness.

“So, a man—no, the new steward—caught you with it? And you couldn’t find an excuse, so you just ran home?”

Hearing her friend bluntly summarize the situation made Eloise want to cry again.

“Why didn’t you try explaining the situation to him first?”

“It wasn’t the kind of situation where that was possible. Besides, he didn’t seem like the type to listen.”

“You won’t know unless you try, right?”

“That’s because you didn’t see him yourself! His appearance was one thing, but his rudeness—unbelievable!”

Eloise recalled his figure once more. He looked like he had rolled through the mud, his entire form covered in filth.

His hair was a disheveled mess, his face unkempt with an untrimmed beard. And worst of all—his hand, grabbing her arm as if it were nothing!

Remembering that moment, Eloise shuddered and brushed off the spot where he had touched her as if something dirty had been left behind.

Then, another thought came to her. Despite his disheveled state, his piercing blue eyes had been obvious and deep.

Everything about him had been a mess, yet his eyes had been surprisingly bright. Realizing where her thoughts were drifting, Eloise quickly shook her head. This was hardly the time to be thinking about such things.

‘I never expected someone like that to come.’

She hadn’t expected a gentleman as refined as her father or Baron Stanford.

Still, as a young military officer, she had at least assumed he would have some basic manners.

Yet the man who had arrived looked more like a vagrant—accusing people of theft without hesitation and displaying a complete lack of courtesy.

She was genuinely worried about the future of Blissbury Manor and the people working there.

But more than that, she was worried about herself.

Of all things, he had discovered the one thing she most desperately wanted to keep hidden.

What if he went around telling people?

What would they say if they learned that the daughter of Surberton, the most respected intellectual in town, spent her time sketching n*ked male figures and overlaying the faces of men she admired?

“Oh no…”

Imagining the consequences, Eloise covered her face with both hands.

She knew her reputation among Feltham’s unmarried women wasn’t stellar.

Still, people viewed her with sympathy rather than contempt or scorn.

Thanks to that, she has remained a respected member of the community.

But if this got out, her reputation would be utterly ruined.

“What should I do now? If Father finds out, he’ll be furious—he’ll say I’ve brought disgrace to our family. No matter how much he loves me, he won’t just let this slide. And he already went to Blissbury this morning after hearing the new steward had arrived.”

“Which means…”

“He’ll be back soon.”

Abigail made the sign of the cross once again, sighing deeply.

At that moment, the sound of approaching hooves echoed from outside.

Both of them turned toward the window. A moment later, Surberton’s voice rang out from below.

“I’m home. Eloise, are you upstairs?”

The instant she heard her father calling for her when he returned, Eloise’s face turned deathly pale.

“Oh no, what do I do? That steward must have told him everything!”

Watching Eloise tremble, Abigail firmly grasped her hands.

“If you get thrown out today, you can sleep in my room.”

How her friend spoke, as if being thrown out was already a certainty, only made Eloise want to cry even more.

***

“Ah… Y-You called for me? I haven’t been feeling well… cough, cough!“

Wrapped in a shawl, Eloise forced out a cough while glancing at her reflection in the mirror. She looked far too healthy.

“Eloise, I heard you visited Blissbury yesterday.”

So it had come.

Was this what it felt like to stand before God after death, awaiting judgment?

Standing precariously between heaven’s gates and hell’s fires, Eloise bit her lip.

“The new steward spoke to me about you.”

Of course, he did. He must have described her as the most shameless and depraved woman in existence.

“He said you were a delightful young lady, and he’s looking forward to seeing you again at dinner tomorrow.”

“…What?”

Eloise’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.

Surberton, who had just hung up his coat, continued speaking casually.

“I invited him to our home tomorrow to discuss his role as the new steward. Oh, by the way, Thornton mentioned something…”

With a bemused expression, Surberton glanced at Eloise.

“He said you left something behind, and he needs to return it to you.”

“…I left something behind?”

“Yes, a drawing.”

At that moment, Eloise’s face turned a deep shade of red.

That man!

No wonder she hadn’t been able to find one of the sketches she had worked so hard on—it must have fallen there.

And now, he was planning to return it to her?