The Serpent of Paradise - Chapter 73

Natasha looked at the coachman. He was peering into the annex, checking to see whether Anastasia was there. Thinking it was fortunate that Anastasia was out at the moment, Natasha spoke to the coachman.

“You’ll have to tell me exactly what this is about before I can pass it on to her.”

“Well, it’s nothing important….”

“Then tell me first, and I’ll pass it on to her.”

When Natasha refused to back down, the coachman answered with obvious irritation on his face, “What’s so important about meeting that young lady that I have to report every little thing to you before I can see her?”

In truth, the coachman was bewildered. When he worked at Edenhurst, Anastasia was like a clump of dust rolling through the corridors. Someone whose occasional appearance made people frown.

Whenever he saw her wearing several layers of clothing like a vagrant, as though she were mentally unsound, he thought the Count and Countess were exceedingly merciful not to throw out a woman like her. Moreover, because she was an uncomfortable presence for the Countess and her daughters, none of the servants ever mentioned her either. Only once did a servant who was particularly fond of behaving lewdly toward the maids at the estate speak about Anastasia.

“She may look strange, but I bet she’d be quite usable once you stripped her. I want to work at the estate for a long time, so I won’t touch her… but who knows? If I have my fun with her once, she might keep quiet about it.”

Not long afterward, it was discovered that the servant who said that got another maid pregnant, and he was forced to leave the estate. After that, no one spoke about Anastasia again. She was that kind of woman, and yet….

‘Now she’s driven out the Lauderdale lady and is playing mistress of the house.’

The few servants who remained at Edenhurst until the end initially looked at the returning coachmen as though they were traitors, but when asked whether anything happened in the meantime, they suddenly vented their resentment and spoke about Anastasia.

“She looked presentable enough once she was dressed up. But even so, how could she crawl into the bedroom of a man who was discussing marriage with Miss Elizabeth…? She has no shame….”

After hearing the circumstances, the coachman was dumbfounded. Just how much could Anastasia have changed for a wealthy man who must have seen everything there was to see in the big cities to become so infatuated with her that he couldn’t pull himself away? He remembered what the servant who was driven out in the past said. That she would look decent once she was stripped.

So he intended to see for himself just how much she changed, but the woman who used to be like dust was now a lady of the estate with a personal maid of her own. The fact irritated the coachman for no particular reason. To think that a lewd woman who seduced a man and lived off him after displacing the true lady of this family was being treated like a lady herself.

But he couldn’t reveal those feelings as they were.

“If she isn’t here, then never mind.”

The coachman turned away. He came at Elizabeth’s request, but with the maid acting so firmly, it seemed unlikely that lingering any longer would help him accomplish his purpose.

Natasha watched the coachman’s retreating back, then went out to the garden. She thought she should bring Anastasia back to her room and report the coachman’s visit to Mikhail.

***

He isn’t going to take you to Sokolov.

Ilya’s voice was filled with conviction as he said it.

“What… do you mean…?”

“Anastasia. I was born into a noble family and spent my entire life in the capital. That’s why I know how nobles and wealthy people live. Mikhail Sokolov’s original purpose in coming here…. You must know it too. He came here to buy a title with money.”

Anastasia knew too. On the day she first heard about him, hadn’t she also heard about Mikhail’s purpose?

“He’s a vulgar man who believes money can buy anything. Men like him are all the more faithful to their own desires… and they can become as shameless as necessary to satisfy them. For example… they might claim to love someone and falsely promise her a future….”

As though uncomfortable saying it himself, Ilya kept glancing at Anastasia and broke into a sweat as he tried to couch his words in the most gentlemanly terms possible. Elizabeth told him that Mikhail intended to marry her and that Anastasia was nothing more than a mistress he planned to keep here.

He felt some doubt about her words, but Elizabeth would never lie about something like that. Furthermore, when Anastasia froze the moment he said Mikhail wouldn’t take her with him, Ilya became certain.

“And it’s customary to keep such a woman… at a country villa so she won’t tarnish one’s reputation. Especially because it wouldn’t be good for a scandal to spread before marriage….”

“…Marriage?”

“So… you didn’t know.”

When Anastasia murmured, Ilya swallowed a sigh. As expected, Mikhail hadn’t told Anastasia anything. He recalled what Elizabeth said.

“As far as I know, the preparations for my stay in Sokolov are nearly complete. Of course, Anastasia probably doesn’t know. Perhaps she thinks the preparations are for her own stay. Mikhail… will probably keep the matter concerning me a secret until he leaves.”

Elizabeth paused several times as she spoke, as though somewhat embarrassed.

“That’s why I feel sorry for Anastasia. I know very well that Anastasia and I can’t have a good relationship. Our positions make things far too difficult for both of us. Even so, I never wanted things to turn out this way…. That’s why, Ilya, I want to ask you for help, even at the cost of my own humiliation. And since that patron also offered to help, I truly feel relieved. So, Ilya… I’m placing my trust in you.”

Remembering what Elizabeth said, Ilya told Anastasia the sad truth. The truth he heard from Elizabeth. This fact would surely change Anastasia’s mind.

***

The coachman who went looking for Anastasia in the annex came out into the garden. Catherine was still riding around there, while a short distance away, Elizabeth strolled through the garden beneath a parasol. The coachman discreetly approached Elizabeth. Elizabeth asked him,

“What happened with the task I gave you?”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to see Miss Anastasia.”

“I see.”

Despite the coachman’s apology, Elizabeth showed no particular disappointment. She knew that the maid named Natasha who stayed beside Anastasia was good at preventing others from approaching her.

“You asked me to do this personally….”

Looking at the coachman bowing his head, Elizabeth decided to let it pass even though what she gave him wasn’t a request but an order.

“It’s all right. It’s merely something that’s been on my mind for a long time. I only ask that you keep quiet about the fact that I was the one who asked. It’s nothing important, but it might somehow look as though I’ve been suspicious of that child for a long time.”

The coachman nodded at Elizabeth’s words.

When they brought out the horse for Catherine to ride, Elizabeth, who was with them at the time, told him that one of the Count’s possessions was missing on the day he died.

“I wondered whether he dropped it when he fell from his horse. I thought about searching for it afterward, but Mother forbade anyone from going there, and in all the confusion, I forgot about it. This morning, I thought I saw Anastasia holding that pendant. Of course, perhaps the child found it lying in the forest while she was wandering around and picked it up without knowing who it belonged to… but I’m in an awkward position to ask her about it myself, so I’ve only been worrying over what to do. So I’d like you to tell her that it troubled you that you couldn’t find it in the past and ask whether she happened to pick up anything in the forest.”

Recalling their conversation that morning, the coachman bowed his head. “Of course. But I do hope you’ll find it. What will you do if you don’t?”

“If I can’t find it, then there’s nothing to be done.”

Just then, apparently having enjoyed herself enough, Catherine said she wanted to dismount. As the coachmen approached Catherine, Elizabeth turned away as though she had no further business with him and walked through the garden alone.

‘That maid will tell Mikhail… and she’ll tell Anastasia too.’

Elizabeth knew very well how shaken Anastasia would be if a coachman who left long ago suddenly said he had something to tell her, especially if it concerned the Count. That was because Elizabeth also knew the truth about the day the Count died.

Elizabeth remembered the day she learned the truth.

***

Many people came to the Count’s funeral to pay tribute to him. Etiquette dictated that he should receive the mourners with his face exposed in the coffin, surrounded by flowers, but his injuries were so severe that the mourners had to place their flowers atop the closed coffin.

Guests continued to arrive until late at night. In place of their half-unconscious mother, Edward calmly received the guests, while Elizabeth also managed matters by giving orders to the butler and head maid so the guests could remain in comfort.

Then, late that night, a guest of fairly high rank arrived belatedly.

“This must be a great loss. But where is the Young Count?”

At those words, she looked around but couldn’t see Edward anywhere. Since he’d received guests since morning, she thought he might have gone to rest during a brief lull.

After asking the guest’s understanding, Elizabeth stepped into the corridor and asked passing servants where Edward was, but no one knew. In the end, Elizabeth instructed them to tell Edward to return there immediately if they saw him, then anxiously wandered around the estate to search for him herself.

After confirming that Edward wasn’t in his room, Elizabeth headed toward the Count’s room just in case.

‘He shouldn’t have gone inside.’

According to Novgod etiquette, no one entered the room of the deceased until the funeral ended. That was why several chairs were placed in the corridor leading to the Count’s room to indicate that no one should enter.

‘Edward is still young….’

Like most nobles, he wasn’t particularly close to his father. He spent most of his time at boarding school, so that was inevitable. Even so, she wondered whether he entered the Count’s room because he missed his father.

Elizabeth passed the chairs and approached the Count’s room. The place was even more silent because no one came there, giving it an eerie atmosphere for some reason.

‘Just as I thought.’

Elizabeth saw light leaking through the gap beneath the door. Edward was clearly inside.

Thinking she should quietly call out to her grieving brother, she approached the slightly open door.

“Hah, ah, ngh….”

Edward’s ragged moans came from inside.