The friends, unaware that Eloise was listening from behind the hedgerow, stopped and continued their conversation.
"A rival? Julia, what strange things you say."
One of her friends, sensing the tension, attempted to reason with her.
But Julia, as if determined to express everything that had been simmering inside, refused to be calmed:
"And there's no need for *you* to pretend to be kind. Admit it—you all breathed a sigh of relief when Eloise told us about Sergeant Thornton. You were relieved she hadn't set her sights on him."
"..."
Julia's friends remained silent. She was right.
When Eloise had reached marriageable age, all the girls—not only in Feltham but in Cambon as well—had grown tense.
Even though she lived in this rural backwater, the Severton family commanded respect.
Wealthy intellectuals who had relocated from the capital. Moreover, Mrs. Severton moved in New York high society.
This meant that her daughter Eloise could enter New England society at any time she desired, even without letters of recommendation.
If Eloise had only wished it, Mrs. Severton's relatives and friends would have taken her in immediately.
That was why the only person in the village who could rightfully be called a *"lady"* was Eloise.
Besides, Eloise was Mr. Severton's only daughter.
In the event of his death, she stood to receive a substantial sum of five thousand pounds.
Family and fortune. That alone was enough to make her an enviable bride—but beyond all this, she possessed an attractive appearance.
Mrs. Severton lamented the sight of her daughter racing through the fields like an unbroken colt, but when Eloise ran down the hillside with her hair streaming in the wind, the local young men froze, unable to tear their eyes away.
Their gazes revealed admiration, but the hearts of the local girls harbored only anxiety.
They couldn't shake the fear that the young man they fancied might propose to Eloise instead.
---
But when Eloise turned twenty, she fell seriously ill once more.
She burned with fever, hovered between life and death, and the cough would not relent. On the day a physician from Cambon arrived wearing a grave expression, rumors began spreading through the village.
> *It is said that due to her illness, Eloise can no longer bear children.*
Everyone had already worried over Eloise, who had suffered a serious illness in childhood. But when word of the doctor's pronouncement spread, the young men who had lingered near the Severton house vanished.
Though the world was changing and the capital grew increasingly populated by unmarried women, Feltham remained a village where old values had been cherished for centuries.
This meant that a woman unable to bear children was not considered a candidate for marriage.
Therefore, Eloise—partly by her own will, partly by force of circumstance—had lived unmarried until now.
---
"All in all, I think it's for the best. And... this is merely my speculation, but Sergeant Thornton will likely remain at Blissbury for some time. So whoever marries him will essentially become the mistress of Blissbury."
"What? What news is this?"
Eloise nodded involuntarily at her friend's question. That was precisely what she wished to ask.
"Mr. Severton currently manages the estate, but he cannot do so forever, can he? He's advancing in years—he'll have to retire soon."
It was true. Eloise herself had noticed lately that her father was changing with each passing year.
"And whom will Blissbury trust then? Certainly not Eloise, who cannot even secure a husband."
"Well... yes."
The friends nodded slowly.
"And then Sergeant Thornton arrives—from a collateral branch of the Baron's family, no less. Frankly, I believe Baron Stanford has already decided to make Sergeant Thornton the new manager of Blissbury. Otherwise, why would he come here when there's been no talk of a new manager for the past ten years?"
After Julia's pronouncement, silence reigned once more. In the stillness, broken only by the singing of spring birds, everyone's thoughts began to churn.
Observing her friends, who merely shifted their gazes, Julia smiled triumphantly.
"In any case... if Sergeant Thornton becomes manager, Eloise will have to curb her pride."
Julia's voice grew sharper still, her hidden resentment bursting forth.
"Her father is merely the manager, yet she's always wandered about Blissbury as though she owned it. Once Sergeant Thornton is officially installed and married, she won't be able to do that anymore."
She spoke with deliberate casualness, but deep envy was evident in every word.
All the girls in Feltham and Cambon admired Blissbury. It was the most beautiful place in the district—a sanctuary where wealth and culture converged, admired even by residents of the capital.
Where they could enter only once a year, by invitation to the summer ball, Eloise came and went freely, as if into her own home.
But what irritated Julia even more was that Eloise didn't consider it anything remarkable.
As though it were her birthright. As though this place truly *was* her home...
---
"I think I shall go. Mama asked me to return early."
Perhaps she realized her hidden feelings had spilled forth? Seeing her friends' frozen expressions, Julia cited her mother and hurried homeward.
When Julia departed, the remaining friends exchanged awkward glances, murmured their farewells, and went their separate ways.
Where voices had filled the air moments before, there remained only birdsong and Eloise, huddled in a ball.
"Ha-ahh..."
Only after a considerable time did Eloise stir with a sigh.
Then she crossed herself, turning heavenward.
*God, I nearly rushed forward and seized her by the hair—but I restrained myself. Praise me for that.*
In earlier days, she *would* have rushed forward and grabbed Julia by the hair.
But today, Eloise resolved to show mercy.
*She must still be reeling from the shock of her broken engagement... But only this once.*
Last winter, Julia's engagement had been dissolved.
To be honest, there had been no formal engagement, so *"broken"* wasn't quite accurate. But the man had been calling on her for nearly two years, so everyone had considered them practically bride and groom.
The rupture itself had been devastating enough, but the man's parting words had inflicted the deeper wound.
> *"If you had the same portion as Miss Eloise—or at least as much as your sister—my parents wouldn't object."*
Abigail reported that after hearing this, Julia had not left her room for days, weeping ceaselessly.
A week later, Julia had emerged with eyes swollen from crying and become consumed by two obsessions.
The first was marriage. The second was wealth.
And hatred for Eloise and Abigail came as a bonus.
To hear the man she had believed was her fiancé speak another woman's name with the words *"if only you were a little more like her"*...
Though none of it was Eloise's fault, hearing the account from Abigail had made her uncomfortable.
So she resolved to dismiss today's words as the groaning of someone whose wound had not yet healed.
*Of course, if she continues spouting such nonsense, I shall have to—as in childhood—drag her by the hair somewhere our mothers cannot see.*
---
## — Uncertain Futures —
Returning home, Eloise fell into contemplation once more.
In truth, Julia wasn't entirely wrong. Her father couldn't remain manager forever; eventually, Baron Stanford would send a replacement.
*I could manage it myself.*
After all, her father didn't perform physical labor either.
She already wrote letters and selected servants for Blissbury in her father's stead. Sometimes, unbeknownst to her parents, she even repaired cottages on the Blissbury property herself.
But no matter how she argued the point, Baron Stanford would never appoint her as manager.
*If Sergeant Thornton does become manager of Blissbury...*
At this thought, a crease appeared on Eloise's brow.
"I don't want that..."
This man would never permit her entry to Blissbury. He might pretend it was an oversight and fail to send her the invitation extended to everyone else in Feltham.
And if he married a lady from the capital, he might cease inviting local residents altogether.
*Perhaps Julia is right—it would be better if Sergeant Thornton married one of our own.*
Though Julia was disagreeable, if she married Sergeant Thornton, she might invite Eloise to Blissbury simply to show off.
Eloise lifted her gaze toward the sky, in the direction of the estate.
Whatever happened, she hoped she would still be able to visit in the future.
---
She had thought it merely a pipe dream.
"You need to go to Blissbury."
A week later, when her house arrest ended, Mr. Severton summoned Eloise.