MDCHC 93

Chapter 93

“Madam! Madam!”

The Camellia estate was thrown into chaos again about an hour later.

I had been pacing nervously near the entrance when a servant burst through the door.

“I’m here!”

I ran toward him, but the servant was so out of breath that he couldn’t speak right away.

Ah! How frustrating!

“What’s wrong?”
“It’s terrible, madam!”
“Yes, I can tell it’s terrible — now tell me what it is.”
“Th—the Count…!”
“Yes, the Count!”
“The Count!”
“What about him!”
“He’s… causing a disturbance!”
“What?”

For a second, I felt like I’d been struck on the head. The words “Lord Winchester” and “causing a disturbance” didn’t belong in the same sentence. And besides, why would he be making a scene when he’d gone out to look for me? Where, and why?

“Where is the Count causing a disturbance?”

I pressed the servant, who was still gasping for breath. If he didn’t hurry, I was going to suffocate from curiosity first.

“At—at the Pomots residence, madam.”
“What? Where?”
“Pomots! Someone came from your family home, begging you to come right away and stop Lord Winchester!”

An unexpected name left the servant’s mouth. I wondered if he was babbling nonsense from exhaustion and looked him straight in the face to make sure I’d heard right.

Pomots? It even sounded like a sneeze, but no — that’s exactly what he said.

“No, no… no way… No!!”

My mind went blank. I didn’t even know what to say. No — this wasn’t the time to talk.

“Prepare the carriage!”

It was time to act. I had to go and stop Lord Winchester from whatever rampage he was on.

The darkness had fallen evenly upon the Pomots estate as well.

“Where is Lord Winchester?”

The moment I got out of the carriage, I asked. But there was no need for an answer.

Amid the dark mansion, one place blazed with light — the entrance hall. It practically screamed, ‘There’s a commotion here!’

I gathered up my skirts, forgetting all sense of propriety, and ran as fast as I could. Soon, familiar faces came into view.

My parents, of course — and my brother James, my sister-in-law Sierra, even Freddie. Everyone was there. Judging by their robes and nightclothes, they must have leapt straight out of bed.

At least Aisha wasn’t among them. Please, let my little niece still be sleeping peacefully through all this!

And standing before them was a man — his back to me, but I knew instantly who he was.

That tall figure, those broad shoulders, the black hair — it could only be him.

“I will not leave unless it is with my wife.”

The firm, low voice cut through the crisp autumn night, freezing me in my tracks.

Wait… what did I just hear?

“How many times must I tell you? Neary isn’t here,” my father said with a weary sigh, clearly dreading yet another round of this argument.

“I understand perfectly why you doubt me,” said Lord Winchester calmly. “If a husband drives his wife to pack up and run home to her parents, any father would feel the same. But I promise you — it will never happen again.”

“My lady packed up and went somewhere? But she doesn’t even have anywhere to go…”
“Dear! Don’t say that!” my sister-in-law scolded hastily. “That’s exactly why Lord Winchester is saying she must be here — because she has nowhere else to go!”

My brother nudged her sharply, glancing toward Lord Winchester to see if he’d overheard.

Of course he had. Even I, standing this far away, could hear them — there was no way he’d missed it.

“I… was wrong.”

“Wha—what? My lord—!”
“Oh, my goodness!”
“Good heavens!”

A chorus of startled exclamations erupted from the Pomots family.

“!!”

And I was no different. I froze in the garden, a hand flying to my mouth.

Because Lord Winchester had just knelt — one knee on the ground — and said he was wrong.

To my family, Lord Winchester was an uneasy, intimidating presence. In truth, being my husband made that discomfort even worse.

So his sudden act of kneeling left them utterly flustered.

“I was foolish,” he said, his voice carrying clearly through the quiet night. “I did not understand my own feelings. I thought my wife merely irritated and vexed me. But now I know the truth — it was jealousy.”

I forgot to breathe as his clear voice rang out across the garden.

Even the most oblivious woman would recognize what this was — a confession. Words I never imagined I’d hear, not from him, not like this.

“Her absence has made it plain to me. I need Neary. Without her, my life is barren and unbearable.”

He lifted his head then.

I longed to see his face — to know what expression he wore as he spoke such words.

Step by step, I began to move closer, as he continued speaking.

“Neary taught me what warmth is, how precious a smile can be, and how deeply valuable family is. Now, I wish to return what I’ve learned — to give her smiles, warmth, and happiness in return.”

His voice — his heart — came to me like gentle waves. A warmth that drove away the chill of the autumn night.

Unconsciously, I took another step forward. The grass brushed my ankles; the cosmos petals brushed my calves.

It felt as though I were walking down a wedding aisle — yet my heart fluttered more now than it had on my actual wedding day.

“I love my wife.”

At last, he placed a period at the end of his confession — just as I reached him.

“Lord Winchester.”

I called softly. His black hair flinched in the air; then he sprang to his feet.

His expression — the one I’d missed so desperately — held surprise, confusion, and a faint spark of joy.

“My lady?”

He stared as if he couldn’t believe I was really there.

At the sound of that voice, that title — my lady — a smile spread across my lips before I knew it. Seeing that, a faint smile also appeared on his.

But his smile froze when mine faded.

“I… I thought you were in love with someone else.”

My voice trembled slightly. Not because I doubted his words — I didn’t think Lord Winchester was the sort of man to lie, not about something like this.

He wasn’t the kind of man to rush to my family’s home in the middle of the night and make a spectacle of himself for a falsehood. And yet, despite trusting him, a small, anxious knot remained inside me.

“Someone else? Ah — you mean Lady Evelyn?” he said. “That’s a misunderstanding. I couldn’t tell you what she said at the time because she came to accuse you of… impropriety.”

“Im—impropriety? Me?”

“Yes. She claimed you were… quite skilled at beguiling men.”

He hesitated slightly, sounding embarrassed.

“What?”

“Of course, I didn’t believe it. I assumed other men had simply misunderstood your kindness. But the next day, she brought what she called proof — a love letter and some receipts for flower deliveries.”

“I’ve never written love letters, and I’ve neither sent nor received flowers!” I shouted, outraged.

I’d known Melissa was mean-spirited, but I hadn’t imagined she’d go so far as to scheme behind my back like that.

“I didn’t believe her,” he continued calmly. “Why would my wife, who tends the gardens of Camellia House so beautifully herself, need to buy flowers? And anyone who truly knows her would understand — she’d never bother to send them to anyone else.”

The reason his words startled me wasn’t because he’d logically dismantled Melissa’s plot. It was because he knew.

He knew I tended the gardens myself.
He knew how I thought, how I acted.

I had thought Lord Winchester was indifferent — a man who never really cared about me.

But I was wrong.
He had been watching me all along. He’d seen, understood, and remembered.

“I trusted you then,” he said firmly. “And I still trust you now.”

His voice carried such conviction it sounded as if he trusted me more than I trusted myself.

“So, please — don’t think I ever cared for Lady Evelyn.”

At last, one misunderstanding had been cleared away.
But one more still remained.