Episode 42
Contrary to Isaac’s expectation that their meeting would continue as it was, Sasha hurriedly rose from her seat the moment the play ended. She said she had urgent business. Isaac stared blankly at her retreating figure as she left the theater after greeting him and Caroline politely, yet warmly.
Only belatedly did Lady Caroline’s words reach his ears, asking what on earth he was doing instead of escorting Sasha home at once.
“……Pathetic.”
“It’s already too late.”
“What did I ever expect from you?”
“Will you be returning to the townhouse?”
“Before that, I need to catch my breath for a moment. There’s a place nearby I frequent.”
Did she mean to drag him around like this all day? Isaac grumbled inwardly, but before long, without complaint, he escorted his grandmother to the quiet café Caroline said she often visited. It seemed more accurate to call the place a small salon rather than a café.
Reluctantly stepping into a place filled with elegantly dressed old people who, at a glance, all seemed to come from distinguished families, Isaac pulled out a chair so his grandmother could sit.
“……I’ll kill some time outside.”
“Sit down, Isaac.”
Ah, of course. Isaac frowned in irritation at the situation unfolding exactly as expected, but soon sat down opposite Caroline with a mutter.
When a short woman approached, Caroline asked her to bring two cups of tea and biscuits, then rummaged through her bag and took out a cigar. With a crisp snip, the end of the cigar was cut into a neat circle. When Caroline tossed him a lighter, Isaac took it without complaint and helped her light the cigar.
Soon, hazy tobacco smoke flowed from the old lady’s dry lips and drifted through the air. Isaac watched the scene, one he had been sick of seeing since childhood, with a face devoid of any particular emotion.
“She is quite a fine young lady, isn’t she?”
Unlike before, Caroline spoke to Isaac in a much more easygoing tone.
“Why exactly did you call me here?”
“I wanted to check for myself. She kept saying you were fine, that it had gone well, and on top of that, she was praising you. I simply couldn’t believe it. Think back on your usual conduct, Isaac.”
“…….”
“I may be the only old woman in the world who hears praise of her grandson and, far from being pleased, grows suspicious instead. People who don’t know the situation would think I’ve gone senile.”
There came the soft rolling sound of a wheeled tray drawing closer. The short woman set down two cups of pale brown tea before Caroline and Isaac.
Isaac looked down at the floury cookies that seemed as though they would clog his throat just by looking at them, then said,
“No one will think that. Everyone knows the second son of the Fincher family is a scoundrel, don’t they?”
“Yes. That is the result of your own conduct. By the way, what exactly happened with that demotion? I happen to know someone in the higher—”
“Grandmother.”
Caroline, who had been speaking without hesitation, closed her mouth for a moment with a strange expression when Isaac cut her off with a serious face. Instead of replying, she drew deeply on the cigar again and exhaled.
“If you don’t want to tell me in detail, then don’t.”
“Yes. Please just remain unaware.”
The moment Isaac replied in a rather impertinent manner, a hand shot out toward his ear. Isaac, used to it, leaned back and avoided Caroline’s punitive grasp.
Impudent brat, and so on. Though Caroline grumbled with an irritated look, she withdrew her hand. She looked her second grandson up and down—the unreliable one who had only grown large in size. Then she let out a deep sigh and puffed out acrid smoke once more.
“So, what did you think?”
“Of what?”
“Of that young lady.”
Caroline tapped off the cigar ash and placed it back between her lips.
It seemed Caroline would not be satisfied until she heard exactly what her grandson thought of Sasha.
“……She is a good person.”
Suspicious, and beyond suspicious, someone with a slightly strange side to her, but apart from that, she was still a good person. After pondering for a moment, Isaac answered honestly.
“Yes. There is no better bride than her. Blood of a prestigious ducal house, and the inheritance she received last time must be considerable as well.”
“……I—”
“Well, setting such things aside, she was truly well educated. I wasn’t close to that lady in her lifetime, but I could tell how harshly she must have trained her granddaughter while raising her. From her manner of speech to every last movement.”
Unlike the letter in which she had praised Sasha as a pretty and proper young lady, the words that actually flowed from her mouth carried a nuance that could hardly be called pure praise. It was a tone that seemed to be pointing out flaws.
“She isn’t impertinent like young people these days, but she isn’t innocent either. Did that woman raise her granddaughter by keeping her under her thumb?”
“If you sat me down here to gossip about her—”
Whether Isaac showed his displeasure or not, Caroline calmly continued smoking and went on speaking.
“That sense that something is lacking somewhere suits you well, Isaac.”
Isaac froze for a moment with a blank expression. Then, belatedly, he said, “What?”
For all that she had sounded as though she were scrutinizing an expensive piece of porcelain to find a flaw in it, the conclusion she reached was completely out of nowhere.
“That young lady. Why do you think we even went so far as to watch a play together? The more I saw of her, the more curious I became about what sort of upbringing she had. So I deliberately invited her a few times and had tea with her.”
“Grandmother.”
“Isn’t she a truly faultless match for you? It is somewhat troubling that she rarely reveals what she really thinks, but she would become precisely the ideal wife you want. Don’t you want a wooden woman who would never show her emotions to you?”
Instead of replying to Caroline’s piercing words, Isaac quietly cursed inwardly.
“Do not go around saying such things anywhere. It will be on everyone’s lips as words and behavior just as shameful as the disgraceful things I have done.”
“Hmph. There are plenty worse than me. Everyone is desperate to marry that child off to their son, younger brother, or grandson.”
It was something Isaac already knew. Sasha Grayson, in and of herself, was the most attractive and coveted bride in the empire.
For some reason, a bitter taste filled his mouth. Isaac chewed over how Sasha had emphasized to him several times that she did not want to marry her cousin, the young duke.
Despite how boldly she had spoken, Caroline did not seem particularly sincere about this topic. Seeing the face of her grandson, who looked more than reluctant—almost displeased—she ended up chuckling aloud.
Only then did Isaac’s face grow hot.
“……You weren’t serious.”
“Ah, of course, if that young lady were to want my grandson—”
Isaac immediately cut her off with a displeased look.
“That’s enough.”
＊＊＊
He was only barely able to convey, by letter, that he was grateful she had put up with his grandmother’s fussiness, and grateful as well that she had forgiven and even smoothed over his own rudeness.
Sasha’s reply came at once the next day. It said that she had found the meeting that day very enjoyable.
It also said that, if the opportunity arose, she hoped the three of them could meet again next time. Reading that part, Isaac shook his head with a fed-up expression.
Meanwhile, Isaac’s grandmother Caroline, whom he had assumed had not been serious, began bothering him by sending letters whenever he was about to forget her.
From subtly prying into the reason for his transfer to unflinchingly pointing out the uncertainty of her grandson’s future due to his demotion, she was indeed his grandmother. Since the letters were full of content that would only make him unpleasant if he read them, Isaac repeated the process of skimming only the opening and then throwing them aside.
Time continued to pass in a muddle.