Of course, the northern road remained, but with rain pouring like this, it was worrisome whether the embankment there would hold.

“I should go too.”

At Eloise’s words, Philip shook his head.

“I understand your concern for Feltham. But the rain is too heavy right now. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until it eases, even just a little, before setting out?”

“But…”

“And Ryan and Richard said they would check the situation and return immediately. There might be dangerous spots on the road for a carriage, so it won’t be too late to leave after they come back and report.”

With Philip’s persuasion, Eloise couldn’t insist further.

She could ride out alone, but if she wanted to take a carriage, she would have to use Blissbury’s coachman and carriage, so she couldn’t just do as she pleased. Their safety was important too.

“Alright. I’ll go back to my room and pack for now.”

“Are you really planning to go? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until the rain stops?”

Julia asked, sounding as if she was worried for Eloise, though it was clear she was also anxious about having to leave soon herself if Eloise returned.

“I’m worried about my mother. Emily is with her, but without Father there, I think she must be even more uneasy. If only my family were as large as yours.”

Julia looked a bit more relieved at Eloise’s words.

Unlike the Surberton household, where only the mother remained, Julia’s home still had many family members. If anything happened, they could all help each other, so she believed they could handle any difficulty.

Eloise immediately returned to her room and began packing her bags.

She had stayed so long that she had accumulated a lot of things. Especially since Emily had brought all the summer clothes, three bags were already full.

She wanted to just leave, but if she went home like this, she’d have nothing to wear at home.

Eloise reorganized her luggage. It would be nice to travel by carriage, but with rain like this, the roads would be a mess. If that happened, she’d have to ride alone, and it would be hard to carry more than one bag.

Eloise quickly finished packing and went back down to the front hall.

“I’ve told the coachman to prepare the carriage and horses. But with the weather so bad…”

Mr. Palmer’s face was full of concern. It was obvious he wanted to dissuade Eloise from leaving.

“In any case, as soon as the sergeants return and let us know the state of the roads, we’ll be ready to depart right away.”

“Thank you, Mr. Palmer.”

Even with the promise of immediate preparation, her anxiety didn’t subside.

Eloise sat in the drawing room, waiting for Ryan and Richard to return.

Time passed.

“It seems like they’re taking too long.”

Abigail glanced at the clock and murmured. The two men who had left in the morning had not returned, even though it was past three o’clock.

Even considering the rain, they had been gone far too long.

“Could something have happened?”

Julia, too, was anxious and couldn’t hide her unease.

Since the two had gone together, if something had happened, at least one of them would have come back to call for help.

The anxiety among those left behind grew steadily.

Eventually, Philip stood up.

“Mr. Palmer, please prepare a servant who can ride. I think I should go check myself.”

Just as Mr. Palmer was about to reply, a maid at the entrance shouted.

“Look! There are people coming!”

At her words, everyone rushed to the window and looked where the maid was pointing.

They thought Ryan and Richard had finally returned, but what appeared at the end of the road was a group of several people.

They were heading straight toward Blissbury. Who could be coming in such a group through this rain? As they drew closer, the expressions of those inside the manor stiffened.

“Aren’t those people from Feltham?”

“Yes. Isn’t that Mr. Turner at the front?”

At that moment, the man in front started running toward Blissbury. As he came closer, it was clear—it was definitely Mr. Turner.

“Mr. Turner!”

Eloise grabbed an umbrella and hurried outside.

Even with a large umbrella, the fierce wind and rain soaked her clothes in an instant, but she couldn’t care about that now.

“Miss Eloise!”

Mr. Turner ran even faster, clearly relieved to see her. But his appearance was alarming.

“My goodness, Mr. Turner. What happened?”

His chest was caked with mud. Gasping for breath, Mr. Turner spoke urgently.

“The embankment is in danger! Water started seeping out everywhere and mudslides came down! Some houses nearby were buried by the mud! I got this way trying to rescue people…”

Mr. Turner’s voice trembled as he remembered the panic of that moment.

“If Sergeant Thornton and Sir Cameron hadn’t helped, it would have been really dangerous. The house collapsed just after we got everyone out.”

Listening to his explanation, Eloise looked at the people approaching. They were all in a similar state to Mr. Turner.

Children riding in the back of the wagon looked terrified, and some people had splints on their arms or legs, wrapped in muddy cloth, as if their bones were broken.

“Sergeant Thornton told us to bring everyone to Blissbury as quickly as possible… We brought the children and injured first. If it’s alright, could everyone come to Blissbury…?”

“Of course! Hurry, everyone, come inside!”

Eloise handed the umbrella to Mr. Turner and rushed to the wagon. The village children she knew so well were staring at her, frightened.

Eloise picked up the youngest child.

“Eloise…”

“Emma? Where are your mother and father?”

Emma was the child of Mr. and Mrs. Hampton, who lived at the top of Feltham. They ran an orchard and were generous, always sharing apples with the whole village at harvest time.

Eloise knew how much the Hamptons cherished their only daughter, but now the couple was nowhere to be seen—only the child had come.

“M-my mother and father had to help other people… They told me to go ahead and wait here…”

Thinking of her mother, Emma could hold back no longer and burst into tears.

Eloise felt a moment’s relief that the Hamptons were safe, but as Emma cried, the other children started crying as well.

Eloise handed the umbrella to Mr. Turner, picked up Emma, and hurried back to Blissbury.

By then, perhaps hearing the commotion, Mrs. Parker and the maids were standing anxiously at the entrance.

“The embankment at Feltham is in danger! Most of these are children and injured people—move all the furniture in the unused rooms on the first floor to the back and lay down as much bedding as possible! Prepare hot water and clothes so people can wash!”

Eloise shouted orders to the gathered people.

Those who had been at a loss snapped to their senses at her commanding voice and began to move.

“Sir Osborne! Julia! Come with me to bring people in. Abigail, please take care of Emma.”

As she spoke, Eloise handed Emma to Abigail, who was sitting nearby.

Soon, people began coming into Blissbury. Mud dripped from their clothes, but no one cared about that now.

The maids took the children straight to the baths, and the injured adults were carried to rooms by Philip and the servants.

Blissbury became a battlefield in an instant.

Before they could even finish tending to the first group, more people appeared on the hill—also from Feltham.

Eloise ran out again. Most of those riding in the wagons were elderly.

“Is everyone alright? Are there any injured?”

“We’re fine. But the children…”

“They all arrived safely. Please, come inside.”

Eloise then saw a young man sitting in the back of a wagon and asked,

“Ellen? Did you hurt your leg?”

“Yes, I think it’s broken. If not for that, I would have gone with my brothers to help rescue people…”

Ellen pounded the wagon floor in frustration.

“How is the village?”

“It’s not good. More and more mud is flowing down from the embankment. At this rate, it will collapse completely soon!”

Ellen continued,

“This morning, muddy water started flowing from the embankment, and soon after, the mud began sliding down.”

“Houses in the northwest of the village have mud up past the ankles. At least the eastern high ground is safe, so people rushed there without even grabbing their belongings.”

“But even that place isn’t safe. If the embankment collapses completely, the mud will reach there too, and the bridge leading out of the village from there has started to shake.”