Chapter 7

***

Madeline looked around. Downstairs, she saw Isabel getting her jacket back from a servant. Isabel’s graceful neck, like that of a deer, was still red with anger.

An impatient Madeline spoke first. Of course, there were no measures against what to do then. 

“Miss Nottingham.”

“…?”

Isabel Nottingham nervously turned around. Her face colored with irritation. 

“I’m sorry I’m busy. If it’s urgent, please send a telegram.” 

She said. Then she turned away from Madeline completely. 

“Please stop.”

Madeline couldn’t stand the awkwardness in her own voice. But the intuition was that she had to catch Isabel now.

“What is it…?”

Madeline went down the stairs. She grabbed Isabel’s hand and whispered low and fast. 

“Are you going to see your lover?”

“…… what is it? You.” 

Isabel’s expression hardened. She grabbed Madeline’s hand and glared at Madeline with cold eyes. 

“You’ve been eavesdropping on our conversation, haven’t you?”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? Ha, yeah. I knew that my brother was surrounded by all kinds of things, but I didn’t realize this was the situation. You seem to be Ian’s follower, but you can’t make him like you even if you nag me.”

“You are going to see Mr. Miloff, are you not?” 

Isabel’s tongue clenched at the mention of her lover’s name from Madeline. She didn’t say anything for a while, as if in shock. 

“…….”

“Don’t worry, I will never tell anyone else. Is it socialism or something…I’m not a person who knows much about such things.”

Madeline’s face turned red. She knew she sounded like a crazy person. But if she let Isabel go, Isabel Nottingham would drive her car off the bridge. 

…It was suicide under the circumstances. It was a tragic love affair that could not be achieved. Madeline wanted to prevent to the maximum extent possible the childish behavior of the young woman in front of her now. 

She didn’t know if it would be now or later, but she didn’t want to regret not preventing it now. She’d preferred to be treated as a crazy woman. 

“You’re like my brother’s dog….”

Isabel’s face was full of frustration, anxiety, and anger. When she looked closer, she could see angry tears welling up at the corners of her eyes. Madeline froze a little, as if she were about to be punched in the face, but she continued calmly.

“Master Nottingham is a fine gentleman, but that man can be too stubborn. He is very good at controlling people.”

“But we don’t need to get caught up in that control,” said Madeline, taking hold of the back of Isabel’s trembling hand. She continued speaking calmly.

“As long as we don’t do anything we regret, there is always tomorrow. I think it’s better to calm down for now.” 

Madeline looked into Isabel’s eyes with a determined expression. You can only promise tomorrow if you live now. She wanted to convince the woman in front of her as much as possible, even if she had to indulge the risk of looking like a crazy woman. 

It was then. Two men came downstairs with thumping footsteps. It was Ian and George. Ian’s eyebrows twitched as he saw Madeline and Isabel holding hands with each other. He looked upset.

“Miss Loenfield, would you excuse us for a moment for a family conversation now?”

“…… no. I’m with Miss Loenfield.”

Isabel said sternly. She grabbed Madeline’s hand tightly.

“You’d rather be with a strange woman you see for the first time than your brother?” (Ian)

Madeline broke out in a cold sweat.

“…….” 

Ian Nottingham’s lips twisted relentlessly, unable to hide his displeasure. He descended the stairs and picked up his coat roughly. The man in the hat stared blankly at Isabel.

“Don’t forget that every action has a price. Isabel.”

He glanced at Madeline for a moment. 

“Miss Loenfield. I don’t know how long you two have known each other, but it’s not very wise to meddle in the affairs of other people’s family.”

The look in his eyes was casually hostile. Madeline sighed when he finally left. She felt again that Ian was a man of many faces. That cold appearance was probably the closest to his true nature, she thought. 

Isabel looked at Madeline and whispered to her. 

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but you’re not my brother’s dog.” 

“…….”

“I don’t know what kind of feelings you have for my brother, but…”

It was a really unladylike way to speak. It was a far cry from the image Madeline had imagined of an elegant and charming lady. Isabel was an angry woman with a temper. 

But that didn’t matter right now.

“If I have questions, I’ll ask you later.”

Isabel, who came to her senses late, gave a slight nod and left. 

Madeline felt far better as she watched her disappearing back. They kept getting tangled up like this, and nothing good ever came of it. Swallowing the ominous feeling, Madeline hurriedly called for the carriage.

* * *

—-Madeline, 26. (The past)

“Cory!”

“Cory!”

“Where are you, Cory?”

It was a stormy night. Outside the mansion was hell. Madeline let out a high-pitched scream, but soon that terrible wind swallowed her voice. It was impossible to see an inch of the darkness. 

“Ma’am, please come in.”

The footman Charles caught Madeline in distress. But Madeline did not care. 

“I have to find Cory right away. I don’t know where he’s shivering in the cold.”

Her hands were shaking. She felt as if she would never forgive herself if anything happened to her beloved dog, Cory.

Cory was a terrier hound, a gift from the Count. He had generously offered it to her like an object since they had faced each other in the study. 

But Madeline did not want to think of Cory as such a “compensation” or “substitute” . The Count gave it to her with that intention. But that dog was innocent of any crime.

Furthermore, it was true that Cory was loyal, and a great reliance for her lonely life in the mansion. 

Dogs have a beautiful soul that people do not have. Madeline found much comfort in the child. 

Such Cory was lost in the storm. Madeline’s heart ached as if it were burning. 

“Charles, you can come in. I will find it myself…”

“I wouldn’t go in

“How can I leave the madam behind? Let’s look for it when it clears up tomorrow.”

While she was arguing with Charles, even Sebastian, the head butler, came out and started to stop Madeline. His tone was polite, but Madeline began to get angry at their apparent fear. There was only one reason they were afraid. 

“Why? Do you think the Count would be angry?”

She knew, too, that they were only speaking from a servant’s point of view, but with Cory’s disappearance, she lost her reason. 

“If you are afraid of the Count, you need not worry. Do you think he would blink if I died and was found dead?”

“No, ma’am, he would not do that. The Count should definitely be….” 

It was then. The heavy doors opened on both sides. A long shadow began to seep out of the storm.

“Madeline.” 

With a long sigh, the man stood in front of Madeline. It had been a long time since he had stood so close to his wife. Madeline wondered if he had heard her conversation earlier. 

He looked like a vampire as he stood there with his back to the light leaking from the doorway. With his crutches, he looked as exhausted as a person nodding off in a nightmare. Shadows fell on his cheeks and the scars across his face. 

He looked down at Madeleine, stooping forward with a tired look in his eyes.

“Let’s go in for now.”

“But Cory….”

“Give it up.”

“…….”

His speech carried a heavy weight. 

“You…how could you…?” 

She did not say it. It was a pet dog given to her by the man.

“A dog is just a dog. You can’t have people getting hurt looking for a dog.”

Whatever Madeline’s anger, the Count remained superstitious. He shielded Madeline like a solid reef . 

“Go back.”

It was dark outside. 

* * *

Madeline did not sleep a wink. The weather cleared up and she ran downstairs as soon as the sun appeared. The hem of her thin silk skirt kept bothering her. She was impatient to find Cory with the others as soon as possible. 

“Woof!”

Then she saw a remarkable sight.

“Woof!”

A bright-eyed brown terrier Cory was wagging his tail in front of her. When Cory saw Madeline, he came up to her feet, wagging his short tail. His damp nose tickled her ankle.

* * *

A few days after Cory returned, the Count began to suffer greatly from an unexplained high fever. The house was in a state of emergency, and Madeline was nervous without realizing it.

“Is it pneumonia?”

It was certainly chilly these days. The house was not heated as well as it was large and splendid. It was a problem that could not be solved no matter how many of the best architects stuck together. One room was too hot and the other as cold as ice. It was a very troublesome problem as the hostess of the house. 

“…….”

Madeline stuck out her tongue and patted the playful Cory. She didn’t feel happy.

The house was breathtakingly quiet. The servants walked around quietly like assassins, and Madeline was the lone ghost left on the stage. The wealth and history of this place swallowed people.

Madeline walked around the house. Only the loyal Cory followed her around. Little by little she began to investigate the cause of her discomfort. 

“The Count is sick.”

She thought he might have been upset by the words she spoke in frustration in the stormy night.

The Count was always sick, but this time something was strange.

[Please do not disturb the Count. He needs absolute stability…]

Originally, it seemed that this fact should never be disclosed. How the Count had told the butler not to say anything and his face was full of fear.

Madeline blinked her eyes.

‘I think It’s okay to go up and check once.’  She concluded simply.