It was Isaac who felt rather sorry for the leisurely Bridget.
It's convenient not to get angry, but why do you have such a calm face?
Isaac spoke meanly, deliberately trying to irritate Bridget.
"Then why don't you go now and use your purifying powers to cleanse Penelope of any impurities that may have clung to her during her travels. They might harm the fetus."
"..."
"It's just a useless trick that's not useful at times like this."
"I will do that."
Bridget answered obediently without blinking an eye.
Isaac let out a deflated sound as if he were taken aback by Bridget's meek answer.
'Are you really pretending like nothing happened?'
Even though your husband cheated on your friend?
Even though this marriage was intended to pay off her brother's gambling debts, she still looks so peaceful.
Isaac spoke with a deliberately more authoritative tone, feeling a strange sense of unease.
"Then I have nothing more to say, so I'll leave."
"I have something to say."
Her calm tone of voice gave off an air that made it seem like she shouldn't be ignored.
"Are you thinking of sending Penelope somewhere else?"
"I don't think it's any of your business. Why, don't you want to spend even a few days together?"
In fact, Isaac also thought that bringing Penelope to the mansion where his wife was was excessive.
In an aristocratic society where political marriages were common, it was acceptable to have a true lover, but it was not common sense to have a wife and a concubine under the same roof.
But he felt offended that Bridget was the one bringing up the subject first because it felt like interference.
But Bridget didn't flinch at his sharp tone.
"It's my job to welcome guests."
"Don't worry about it. I've already sent someone to find you a place to stay."
"No, that's not necessary."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's okay if we stay together."
"What?"
"She has a child, and I can stay with my friends, so I think it won't be so bad. Penelope must be familiar with this place, too, since she's been here often."
Isaac looked at his wife in bewilderment as she said she wanted to live with her husband's lover.
Bridget said calmly.
"My mother told me not to be jealous of my husband's lover. She told me that if I got married and lived with you, this kind of day would come someday."
"...Yes?"
"Is it so."
Isaac was speechless at the calm gaze of Bridget, who said nonchalantly that what was meant to happen was what happened.
***
Immediately after the conversation with Isaac, we went to Penelope's room. The servants who were moving the luggage quietly left the room, keeping an eye on me.
I saw the shadows of my employees beneath the closed door.
It was clear that they were standing behind the door, eavesdropping on the conversation going on.
'I guess you're quite curious.'
I had no intention of scolding them and chasing them out.
Because an audience is needed for a play to begin.
Why would I smile at Penelope, who makes my teeth chatter just by looking at her, if no one sees or hears me?
"Penelope."
"Bridget!"
Penelope looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"I'll explain everything. I never wanted things to turn out this way. My feelings for you are the same now as they were then. I'll explain everything to you, okay?"
I kindly offered Penelope a seat as she held my hand and pleaded.
"Let's sit down first, Penelope. You must be tired."
Encouraged by my kind attitude, Penelope sat down and began to tell me everything that had happened at a rapid pace.
People who make excuses tend to talk at length.
"You know that I went to Russel to forget my late husband. I was wandering around at that time. It was so lonely and unbearable."
"Yes, you wrote it in the letter."
Penelope fled to Russel immediately after her husband's funeral.
Thanks to this, when the Count of Bellingham's children from his previous marriage sued Penelope over the inheritance and won, Penelope was able to keep the numerous jewels and gold items that the Count had left behind when she left for Russel.
"I met Isaac at a masquerade ball. I swear I never dreamed it was Isaac. If I had known then, I would have rejected him. Trust me, Bridget."
Penelope wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, saying, "What kind of wicked trick is this?"
"When I found out later that he was Isaac, I was ready to give it all up. But..."
She cried for a long time, unable to speak.
Unlike me, who had an elegant and refined appearance and was unremarkable at first glance, Penelope, with her large lime eyes, contrasting thick red hair, and plump lips, was a gorgeous beauty who attracted attention wherever she went.
Penelope, who shed tears as big as her eyes, looked beautiful even when she cried.
"I fell in love with him too much, Bridget. I tried to stop several times, but I just couldn't. My heart doesn't always do what I want it to. Don't you understand?"
She cried so sadly that anyone who saw her might have thought that it was Penelope, not me, who had lost her husband.
"When I came to my senses, it was already..."
Penelope stroked her belly, which was not yet very swollen.
"I didn't want to tell Isaac. I was going to give birth to my baby alone and raise him alone. I thought that was the way to preserve our friendship. I knew it would be miserable for me, but I didn't want to lose you. But Isaac found out everything. I couldn't stop him. I didn't know what to do..."
Penelope wept sadly, saying that she had been dragged here like that.
"I really couldn't help it, Bridget. Forgive me. Don't hate me, okay? We're best friends, like one body. I have no one but you."
Penelope pleaded desperately.
I patted her shoulder and tried to comfort her, but her tears continued to wet the handkerchief.
Penelope was the one who did it, but the consolation was mine.
"Don't cry, Penelope. I'm okay."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. To be honest, when I first heard about you and Isaac, I was angry. But then I thought about it and realized that maybe the reason I was angry was because I was afraid that I would become distant from you because of this. That's why I decided to welcome you. Because you are the only one I can share such a great friendship with."
The words 'great friendship' had a thorn in them, but Penelope didn't notice it.
"Really...?"
"Then. We're special. Ever since we were little."
I smiled.
When I think back to my childhood, I have many happy memories.
The two, who were like sisters, would always walk arm in arm through the mountains and fields, diligently getting our skirts dirty.
We picked a basketful of wild strawberries together and made jam, and we even got scolded by the adults for falling off a swing while playing on it.
Even If we later find someone we love, we often repeat the promise we made to each other to never forget each other.
It was a warm memory. That's why it hurt more.
It was Penelope who helped with the wedding preparations and met Isaac more than the bride herself.
How much of her words can I believe when she says that she fell in love with him because she didn't recognize him in the hall when his face was covered by a mask the size of a palm.. and that she couldn't help it because she loved him?
Wouldn't the way to preserve a friendship not be to secretly give birth to a child, but to not sleep with your friend's husband in the first place?
Penelope, with whom I had spent almost my entire life, felt even more betrayed.
My jaw clenched as I clenched my molars.
As we were close friends, Penelope knew me better than anyone else.
So what was my past life like?
Everything precious was taken away from me, Penelope wanted to have anything that was mine,
'Where did you start lying?"
I wanted to ask you this in my past life, but when I saw your face, I still wanted to ask you this.
My hands have been shaking a little since a while ago.
I still couldn't tell whether the trembling was caused by anger, betrayal, or some other emotion.
In the past, I calmed my tremors by avoiding and running away from Penelope.
But this time it has to be different.
If I fall, the person who did wrong should fall, and if I run away, the person who did wrong should run away.
"I'm glad you came."
I calmly placed my trembling hands on Penelope's shoulders and stroked her back as if nothing had happened.
'I don't know when your lies started, but mine start from now on."
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