To Those Who Regretted After I Died - Chapter 63
“Hey, did you hear? About Master Alec and Miss Emily breaking up.”
A maid of the Parris household, cleaning in the morning, was talking about Alec and Emily with a fellow maid.
“I heard it from Richard. But, would Miss Emily really break up with Master so easily?”
“You know that Master and Miss Emily haven’t been getting along well since the mistress passed away, right? She was hiding the fact that she had a fiancé. Master must be fed up.”
“If only Master had known what Emily was hiding, the mistress wouldn’t have…”
The maids fell silent, saying that if Alec had known Emily’s circumstances sooner, there would have been no relationship between them.
“Didn’t she have a miscarriage?”
“The baby is pitiful, but I think it’s good that it wasn’t born to Miss Emily. Don’t you all think so?”
“That’s right… The child is pitiful.”
“I feel bad for Master, but I think it’s for the best.”
Some of the maids were glad that Alec and Emily’s child wasn’t born…
“But, Master has changed, hasn’t he? I was surprised when I heard he was changing the carpets back to the old ones. And even the flowers.”
“Miss Emily’s flowers are still there, right?”
“The gardener, Harry, and the others apparently asked Master not to dispose of the still beautifully blooming flowers.”
“Flowers are innocent.”
“It seems he’s gradually planting some of the lady sophia’s flowers as well.”
As the maids were talking about Alec, they saw Richard, the butler, entering Alec’s room with a bundle of letters.
“That was quite a bundle of letters…”
“It looks like half of them are marriage proposals for Master.”
“Eh!? Marriage proposals?”
The maids exclaimed in surprise.
“It seems the people who sent the marriage proposals are quite something. Some are from women in their forties and fifties who have missed their chance for marriage, others are from widows, and even invitations from married ladies… Richard said he’s been receiving letters from people with complicated circumstances and is troubled by it.”
“I’m speechless…”
“Could they be letters saying things like, ‘He seems like someone who would accept even me,’ after hearing the rumors about Master?”
The maids’ conversation became lively with laughter.
━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━
The butler, walking towards Alec’s room, sighed as letters had been arriving since yesterday.
“For letters to come like this as harassment because of the rumors with Miss Emily…”
Shaking his head, the butler entered Alec’s room.
“Butler…”
“……”
Alec, seeing the butler enter the room, turned his face towards the documents spread out on his desk.
(He thought it was Miss Emily… He said he wouldn’t see Miss Emily, but they had been together until now… It won’t be easy…)
“Master, Miss Emily is…”
“I’ve left it to the Lemoire family’s doctor…”
“Will you not be seeing Miss Emily at all?”
“To say such a thing when they thought so poorly of me and Emily…”
Alec showed a wry smile to the butler.
“I thought that if you were to part ways, it would be best to speak to Miss Emily directly…”
“It’s better not to meet… It’s for Emily’s sake as well.”
“If that is your decision, Master, I will say nothing…”
The butler handed the bundle of letters to Alec.
“Have they come again…?”
“I believe they will continue for a while. If there is anyone Master wishes to meet, I will contact them…”
“I will not be taking a wife in the future… There are other heirs to the Parlis family.”
“Master?”
“Tomorrow, there will be a meeting at my aunt’s mansion… I believe there will be discussions about my future…”
“Master!?”
After telling the butler about tomorrow, Alec said nothing more…
“……”
Alec, having received the bundle of letters, was reading them.
‘I heard you were having an affair. I have always admired you, Lord Alec… When I heard that you had married Miss Sophia of the Lemoire family, I cried every day. I heard that your wife, Sophia, was working at a shop, so I went to the shop… When your wife spoke to me as I stood there confused, my heart ached… She was such a wonderful person that I thought… I could give up on you for her sake. But then… I was surprised and very disappointed that you were not cherishing your wife.’
“……”
‘You’re a terrible man! Why don’t you give up your nobility?’
“……”
‘Marquis, I have thought so since the first time we met. How about having tea with me? Wouldn’t you like to meet me occasionally?’
“……”
‘Alec, is it true that you had an affair and deceived Sophia? I can’t believe it… That you, who was said to be so serious, had an affair… Is it true that it was with Sophia’s younger sister, whom you brought to every banquet? What are you doing when Sophia has just passed away! I’m going to distance myself from you for a while. I’m getting married soon, and I don’t want it to be known that I was friends with you.’
“……”
‘I sent you a letter yesterday, did you read it? My husband passed away three years ago. As a widow, I have no one to marry… I sent you this letter because I thought we were the same, as you have also lost your wife. I am aware of the affair… I believe it is only natural for such a wonderful man to have affairs. I would like to meet you just once, Marquis… I await your reply.’
“……”
‘Having heard the rumors, I couldn’t help but write… I still can’t believe that you are the kind of man who would do such a thing. If this was going to happen, I should have taken Sophia’s hand… I knew before that you brought Sophia’s younger sister, Emily, to social gatherings instead of Sophia… I wondered why you didn’t bring Sophia to social gatherings. I thought it was pointless to introduce Emily to people from other countries, so I watched you and Emily… Do you remember me jokingly saying, “Emily seems to be a good match for you, why don’t you give Sophia to me?”? I still remember how I felt offended when you laughed with Emily and said to me, “Sophia? I don’t mind, but if it’s okay for her to be a wife who doesn’t mind her husband,”… Was that your true feeling? If so, I could have saved Sophia from you… I deeply regret it.’
“……”
Alec crumpled the letter in his hand, dropped the dozens of letters spread out on his desk to the floor, and trembled with drooping shoulders. He wanted to redo everything if he could, but his wife Sophia was gone… Knowing what he would be told at tomorrow’s meeting, Alec felt time passing too quickly.