.jpg)
“But I think Rose is quite acceptable. Above all, her personality isn't like those of the people in Bolton. She is very calm, even after everything that has happened. She doesn't show her emotions much. I value that trait highly. She must take after her mother.”
Calm?
Ray felt it was a pity that Agatha hadn't seen the woman throwing her comb on the floor.
As he recalled that uncharacteristic sight of her huffing and puffing while flinging the comb away, he felt a laugh—no, a smirk—bubbling up, so he drank his tea instead.
“A month or two is short, but I am certain that things will improve significantly as more time passes.”
Because Agatha continued to ramble on about things he hadn't even asked, Ray eventually folded his newspaper and set it down on the table.
It would be against the manners he had been taught to leave his mother talking to herself like a madwoman.
However, when Ray stopped reading the paper and looked at her, Agatha lost her train of thought and began to hesitate again.
“Surely you aren't thinking of divorcing her?”
Then, after a long pause, she asked a blunt question that didn't suit her cautious demeanor.
“It is not interference, merely curiosity.”
Her tone was softer than usual, as if worried about how her son might respond.
Ray had no intention of scolding his mother for her curiosity. However, the word 'surely' attached to the question grated on him.
Of course, he knew well why Agatha wouldn't consider divorce. Divorce would be a public admission that Crawford's decision had been a failure.
If there were anything more embarrassing than marrying a Bolton woman, it would be undoing that marriage.
Ray had thought the same until he got to know the woman named Rose Davis personally.
“It seems you haven't stepped foot in her bedroom once. How do you think I know this?”
“I wonder. Did the dear Mrs. Crawford's lady-in-waiting express pity for the mistress who wakes up alone every morning?”
Agatha let out a small sigh at Ray's nonchalant attitude.
“Now that the wedding has taken place, Rose is the Duchess of Crawford. But I worry about what the servants will think if they find out she is terminally ill. The internal order might be disrupted.”
Seeing her use the term 'terminally ill,' it seemed that, fortunately, Agatha had no intention of stopping Ray even if he were to consider divorce. Then again, she no longer had the right to.
“People outside are trying to shake her every chance they get; wouldn't it be dangerous if she were shaken from within as well?”
She was simply saying that others did not need to know that fact.
“It is not interference. Nor is it an opinion. Just a personal... impression, shall we say.”
Even then, Agatha insisted once more that she had no authority in the matter.
“Then I have nothing to say other than that I have heard you well.”
When Ray smiled, Agatha nodded without much disappointment, as if she had only expected that level of reaction.
“Yes, you must be busy, so I shall leave before I disturb you further.”
Once Agatha left, Ray picked up the newspaper he had been reading and pondered her words.
Though he hadn't given a particular answer, Ray agreed with his mother.
The fact that he had avoided the bed for nearly two months, not just a week or two, was indeed a problem. The servants had eyes to notice it and mouths to speak of it.
It would be difficult to divorce until he got rid of Avery, but he couldn't avoid her for that entire duration...
He couldn't risk the danger of a child being conceived, so there was no need to actually have sex, but he should at least seek sleep in the Duchess's bed. At least once a week.
Organizing his thoughts with a sigh, Ray finished the newspaper and prepared to leave.
However, there was an unexpected uninvited guest.
Rose entered the study, guided by the valet, Martin.
The moment he saw that frail, pale face, an inexplicable feeling of reluctance enveloped his entire body once again.
She looked a bit thinner, having reportedly skipped several meals because she felt unwell. Even normally, she didn't seem to take many walks lately.
“Now is not a very good time.”
If possible, Ray wanted to start his day without having a conversation with her.
“It will only take a moment.”
Despite the indirect rejection, Rose did not yield.
Contrary to her lifeless face, her attitude of saying what needed to be said remained strangely intact.
With a sigh, Ray gestured with his eyes toward the opposite chair, inviting her to sit, but she shook her head.
“It really will only take a moment.”
The woman paused for a second and fiddled with her hands. Why on earth were the women who visited him today all so hesitant?
“...My father sent a letter.”
Ah.
“He requested that you arrange a meeting with him—”
“Surely not.”
He barely managed to hide the rising irritation, but the speed with which he cut Rose off was coldly swift. To hide his emotional agitation, Ray paused for a moment before speaking.
“I assume you aren't still unable to predict what will happen.”
He couldn't believe the nerve of a woman coming to make such a request.
“I suppose after experiencing it once or twice, she has adapted to being hounded by the newspapers.”
The joy of having a son-in-law who was a minister was short-lived; Elliot Davis was gaining absolutely no benefit from it.
Thanks to Ray pulling strings at each city hall, Elliot hadn't been able to get a single finger into any highly profitable public development projects.
In fact, his business radius had narrowed since the marriage to Crawford.
Having been deceived by Avery's lie—that the marriage to Crawford would be possible if he simply donated to the Conservative Party—he had spent a vast amount of money, so he must feel wronged.
Even when making a suggestion that felt like a demand to donate to an orphanage, Elliot had been venting his disappointment that his son-in-law hadn't shown his face even once.
However, all Ray had promised was the marriage; he had never promised the benefits that would come from it.
Despite the rather harsh criticism, the woman had no words—no, not even an excuse.
Ray didn't take his eyes off the woman, who stood still like a still-life painting, searching for even a trace of a reaction, but her pale face, her ever-lifeless green eyes, and her expressionless mask remained the same.
The image of her raging furiously felt like a dream. Since only Ray had seen it, no one would believe him even if he told them.
“I tore that letter up.”
Finally, from her opening lips flowed the Orturan language, as usual, with its distinct accent and rhythmic cadence.
“The reason I came to see you was because I wanted to talk about my father. I don't know how much you know about him, but...”
As a small sigh lingered at the end of her explanation of her father, only then did she look human.
“He is so persistent that I thought you should know, as he is the kind of person who might do anything if his request isn't granted. Seeing as he even wrote to me, he must be desperate.”
Ray stared silently at the woman to understand the meaning of what he had just heard.
No, in truth, he understood it intellectually, but his heart couldn't accept it immediately.
In other words, the woman had come to warn him.
To tell him to be careful of her father.
Contrary to Ray's thought that she was unable to grasp the situation, she actually knew her own position and the turmoil it would cause quite well. Quite accurately.
More baffling than his hasty conviction that she was shameless was the woman's composure despite being falsely accused. Ray noticed that Rose had changed slightly after the cigarette incident.
In the past, she would have said something, somehow, to Ray for making assumptions. She was a woman skilled in sarcasm.
Was the fact that the bill was almost shelved that much of a shock?
“That is all. I've said what I needed to, so I'll leave.”
As if proving her statement that it would only take a moment, the woman's face was devoid of lingering attachment.
“Wait a moment.”
Ray stood up, catching the woman who was about to turn away without hesitation.
He had to leave now anyway. Rather than sending someone to deliver the message, it seemed better to do it directly.
“I will return home early this evening.”
As they walked together toward the study door, the woman looked at him briefly at Ray's words.
It was a gaze far too emotionless for someone looking at her husband, but Ray was likely no different.
“Ah...”
Even in her expressionless face, the words 'so what?' seemed to be read.
“I will go to your bedroom.”
As he finished speaking, a slow change occurred on her face.
“What...?”
First suspicion, then bewilderment, and finally, shock. It was an expression that looked human for the first time in a long while. Even in her voice, one could feel how surprised she was.
“I'll see you later then.”
Leaving the woman frozen in place from the shock, Ray nonchalantly stepped out through the open study door.
If it was something that had to be done anyway, there was no need to postpone it.
* * *
Why is he coming?
As the hour hand of the clock moved notch by notch, Rose became uncomfortable.
It was an unpleasant feeling, as if food she hadn't even eaten much of was stuck in her throat. These days, she felt stifled even when staying still.
Intellectually, she knew it was a marital duty, and she knew it was something that would have to be settled eventually if Ray didn't intend to divorce her, but because he had naturally neglected her, she had completely forgotten about that part.
.jpg)