Volume 12 - CH 3

Lord Constable was also going to be at the table of the evening banquet. Edgar, of course, knew that. 

That being said, there was no reason to shy away from it. Although Edgar was unhappy to see his face, he needed to wait for Madame Oughtred before the appearance of another important guest.

Therefore, before meeting, Edgar intended to rightfully go to the banquet in the dining room. First seated was Lord Constable who, with sharp eyes, suddenly glared at Edgar as he spoke. 

“Earl  Ashenbert, how unexpected it is to see you here. Have you changed your mind? If you plan to grovel to me, so that my elder sister and I could reconcile, you may as well speak your words.” 

-- --Oh goodness. Edgar laughed inside. 

“Speaking of which, you and Madame Oughtred are siblings. However, this was allegedly detested and ignored by the late Mr. Oughtred.” 

The Lord Constable obviously became enraged, but he also refuted. 

“It was only my sister who became estranged from me.” 

“But, now that you want to face her and reconcile with your estranged sister, what do you mean? Rumor has it that you took a fancy of Madame’s property.” 

"Did you just insult me?" 

“I’m merely speaking from rumors of the city streets.” 

“For what reason did you approach my sister? I heard that in this world, there are unscrupulous people who will seduce middle-aged widows for fame and fortune.” 

“My fiancee will be in Madame Oughtred’s care in a few days. So I came to say hello. ” 

Even though Constable heard rumors of a fiancee, when it was uttered as a fact by Edgar himself, Constable went silent. He was probably shocked that the rumors were true. 

In that moment, he thought he could quietly eat the meal. 

“So unexpectedly shameless!” 

Lord Constable again began to make noise. 

“Having a fiancee on one side while calmly flirting with my daughter--” 

“Or your daughter may not be writing down the truth in her diary? Speaking of diaries, because no one would see, there could also be casual imagination included.”  

“If nothing had happened, such as promiscuous matters, she would not have imagined it.” 

“Indeed. Since she has never done an indecent thing or have an indecent imagination, because your daughter must truly be on the proper side, doesn’t the side with imagination sound better in comparison?” 

Lord Constable’s cheeks flushed red. At that moment, he stood up. 

“Not pleased. Lord Ashenbert, I will not let this matter go.” 

Abandoning his speech, Constable suddenly stopped eating his meal to leave. 

Edgar didn’t like to make enemies in society, but there was no other way. 

All in all, regarding this matter, Edgar was purely innocent. And even if he wasn’t, for Edgar, it wasn’t difficult for him to remain on the proper side anyway.  

More or less, there were solutions to this. Even if the problem escalated, Edgar knew how to strike back and he could make the other party disappear from society. 

It was only because he didn’t want the event to spread to Lydia’s ears. 

Finally, with great difficulty, Lydia gradually believed in him and his sincere love, but it was likely going to be impossible now. 

However, there was still a few days before Lydia would arrive 

-- or Edgar so still believed. 

“I can finally enjoy the meal.” 

Edgar then called out to the butler to select him a glass of champagne. 

“Yes, this is fine wine. Worthy of Madame Oughtred’s mansion.” 

“You do me too much honor.”

“The dishes are also very good. However, since the widow withdrew from society, the banquet was not even held. Ah, what a pity. The skill of the chef and the hospitality of the servants, all of it cannot easily compare with other mansions!” 

“Despite the lack of a grandiose event, the flow of guests who come to respect and admire the Madame is ceaseless. We work in order to simply not tarnish the Madame’s reputation.” 

The butler, though modest, expressed a face of joy.  

If one wished to live comfortably in someone else’s home, other than the homeowner, obtaining a favorable impression from the servants was the right way to go.

Furthermore, Edgar calculated that, if their impression of him was good, he could insist on Constable being arrogant as well. 

Lord Constable’s impression could indeed become worse.  

Servants are not to be belittled. Opinions of the senior servants working for years could even influence the masters’ thoughts. Even if the content of Lucinda’s letters became a problem, he also wanted Madame Oughtred to feel that Edgar’s words were genuine. 

“Can you give me a little more of this basil sauce?”

The butler picked up the glass vessel and at the server, who stood blankly in a daze, he winked at him. However, the server did not immediately notice. 

“Billy.”

The server beside him cried out under his breath, surprised as he regained his senses. 

It seemed as if he was completely unused to work. 

The server finally came to the side. With the stiff movement of his hand gestures, the server’s spooning was also quite clumsy. 

Edgar stared at the firm hand, feeling as though the sauce was slightly not evenly spread. 

Those hands, not matched for servants, was a hand that was clearly used to handling weapons.

*

For Annie who was combing Lucinda’s hair, her sincere hand gestures carefully grasped the hairbrush. 

“Wait a minute, the pain!”

The young maid jumped in fright, slightly bowing her head. 

The movement was obviously slow, so what was so wrong? Lucinda worried as if it burned. 

“Help me hang more beautiful hair curls. I want to see Earl Ashenbert.” 

When the Earl needed to visit here, Lucinda had already investigated in advance. The relationships between noble families were intricately linked. When he visits a family and his associates, whenever there was a discussion, there were always some people who knew  of these things. 

Of course, because people pay attention to any notable affairs of the Earl Ashenbert, they could actually go inquire about ‘who were those he became intimate with’ or also ‘where servants go for exchanges, which were growing more and more complex’. 

Therefore, when Lucinda especially found out of Earl’s agreed arrangement to visit Madame Oughtred, Lucinda knew the news was a good opportunity. 

She hurriedly changed her travel schedule, all in order to run into the earl. 

“Annie, it’s not this hair ornament. I said it was coral!” 

Annie searched nervously for the coral hair accessories. 

Useless maids. However, Lucinda actually very much liked this recently hired girl.

“Indecisive” Annie was not so bad. The best thing was, this girl was not too talkative. 

Lucinda made up the whole matter regarding the story of the diary. She deliberately allowed her father to see, intentionally having him believe she and Earl Ashenbert were meeting each other. 

With such a secret, Annie would not expose it. 

Letting herself be marked in the Earl’s eyes, with an impression that someone cheated the pitiful girl. Just by being robbed of her lips made her quiver. That sort of face probably arouses more sympathy. 

Lucinda faced toward the mirror with a smile. 

A weak and fleeting smile was perfect. Lucinda very clearly understood that this smiling face would show herself to be quite beautiful. When venturing out to society, her beauty would surely arouse the attention of men. 

“Annie, though for you, you won’t have any luck, marriage is a competition. It’s a victory to marry a girl who makes everyone else jealous. If the husband is outstanding, only then can you gain the respect of others in society.”

The maid who found the coral hair accessory quickly placed it in Lucinda’s hair. 

“Of course, not only status, but having good looks is also important. If so, Earl Ashenbert is impeccable. He is secretly admired by many women.” 

Lucinda stood up. This time, she was in front of the dressing mirror to inspect her skirt. With a swift spin, the organdy ruffles of the skirt rose and fell gently. 

“However, to wait will make it impossible for us to get acquainted. Especially with the Earl of Ashenbert, all the women he spoke to, one after another, he had only spoken a few words to them. Therefore, just relying on this brings me ahead of them by several steps.” 

Getting into a marriage envied by everyone, this could bring value to herself before anyone else.  

For the people who thought that those with mothers of inferior status would never have a good marriage, Lucinda was going to make them regret it. 

When she was informed that Earl Ashenbert’s fiancee held the same initials as her, it was in that moment that she fabricated the lies and opened up her opera play. Even just immersing herself in the vision of everyone’s envy was very satisfying. 

Anyway, it was too late for her to escape from this. In any event, she could only try to make this dream into reality. 

She initially planned for her aunt to act as a matchmaker. However, now she had no hope for that because her aunt then fell ill. Therefore, Lucinda could only then rely on herself to try.   

“The remaining problem now is his fiancee.” 

But Lucinda heard from rumors that she was not of nobility. Therefore, she still couldn’t inquire who the girl Earl Ashenbert was going to marry from the rumors. 

“But against a low-class woman, that is no competition.” 

Regardless which side her mother was from, Lucinda was still undoubtedly the daughter of a Count. No matter what you think, you’re always valuable. Also, her aunt Countess Oughtred was part of the Royal Court as well.

A powerful person. 

Lucinda believed that the love of a gentleman could only depend on the appearance and status of the woman.

*

After Edgar finished his meal, he just returned to his room where he then saw Miss Lucinda was inside.  

Although it was used as a dressing room for meetings, this was still without a doubt a gentleman’s private quarter. Even with a maid, most daughters would not stay in this place.