Suddenly Jeff said:
"Adaline is real, Rachel."
“Who says otherwise?” - she frowned. “I’m not a fool not to recognize a person I once saw. Yes, the world is full of doubles, but everyone has a different bone structure.”
Rachel had a keen eye. She could remember the smallest features of many clients and that is why she provided impeccable service. Jeff chose Madame Harper's fitting room for a reason; he wanted her to confirm that this was indeed Adaline.
“Even with magic?” - he specified.
“Even with magic. Eye color will not be absolutely identical. Even brown or hazel eyes have hundreds of shades, saturation, reflection... Do you doubt it?”
"No. I believe."
He, of course, considered the possibility that [someone had simply set up an overly convincing double and hypnotized everyone. Shane was quite capable of something like that.]
[If you close your eyes to the fact that he is generally capable of much...]
But Jeff saw Adaline's body in person. [I was convinced that she was not in a coma and was not fast asleep.]
[And no one in the Bertrand family was stupid enough to believe such a primitive lie.]
[However, the method of her return to life was not so important. That's why no one discussed it out loud.]
[Adaline looked the way she should have looked five years later.]
[Five years is not too long to change a lot, but not too short to stay the same.]
[Well-groomed nails, regrown hair, barely noticeable scratches and marks on the skin... Everything said that her body lived its own life, and did not lie motionless.]
[If she had really been in a coma for so many years, her muscles would have been sore for a long time, she would not have been able to even stand up, let alone walk.]
[And Adaline moved confidently, without tension, like a person who had lived an ordinary life all these years.]
[And, most importantly, the eyes.]
[Those same green eyes, full of guilt and reproachful silence. She tried to hide the truth, but not completely.]
[Adaline Bertrand knew how to lie.]
[But her soul was soft. And she did not know how to indifferently turn away from those who clung to her with prayer.]
[That is why every burden is drawn to her.]
[Shane is a prime example. And that young servant is with her. And even the Saint herself - they are all in this category.]
[Shane most likely did not expect that the Bertrand family would be deceived.]
[This miracle was nothing more than a convenient screen placed before the world.]
[He could very well tell the truth, but he thought it would be more effective if Adaline thought her family really believed in a miracle.]
[Guilt is the strongest chain.]
[Emma, for example, understood this. And now she cried regularly in front of Adaline once a day.]
“Still...what’s the problem?” - Rachel asked.
“Hmm... The very fact that we don’t know what the problem is is the problem.”
"..."
“But we’ll find out soon.”
"It's clear. I'll just try to finish the wedding dress on time."
She watched him with mild surprise: [as someone who loved his sister so much, he didn't seem to mind her wedding at all.]
[Rachel, to be honest, was one of those who believed the rumors about the Duke of Blanchard and the Saint.]
“In the past, by the way, Adaline never seemed particularly close to Shane. They were rarely seen together."
But as soon as Rachel mentioned this, Jeff snorted and said:
“If you had ever met Shane, you would have realized how ridiculous these rumors are.”
He claimed that he could hardly hide his contempt for everyone except Adaline. And if after that Rachel still continued to believe the rumors, he advised her to throw her eyes in the trash.
[Why, the very source of the rumors, according to him, was...Adaline.]
Remembering this, Rachel said a short goodbye:
“Okay. I went. Don’t break the wood.”
Jeff didn't even turn around, just waved his hand casually, as if he was swatting away an annoying fly.
No matter who he was waiting for, Rachel firmly decided: [if even a drop of blood gets on her expensive silk for the princess, she will demand compensation five times higher than usual.]
Soon after she left, the door opened again, as if at the changing of the guard.
Lloyd came in.