Глава 11

I have assurances from one whose word carries weight that Cumberland Manor will be safe until tomorrow.

Enough for us to get these little flesh wounds treated.

Vina...

You knew I was there?

I know what sounds I should hear from outside my room.

My dear Lady Vina, staring at me won't heal the wounds on my back.

Would you kindly change the bandages?

...Right.

Ugh...

Sorry, was I too heavy-handed?

It's nothing. I just let my guard down when there aren't so many eyes on me.

You bled a lot... how many times did you get hit?

Most of them don't hurt anymore.

If I reacted faster... maybe it would have saved you a scar.

Escaping from those fighters was no mean feat.

Besides, I've been wanting to thank you for days.

You've helped the Corps a lot, and you even saved the old steam armor.

I have a responsibility, Allerdale. I... I don't want to see you lose anything else.

Hah.

No matter, Vina. If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that life usually doesn't go the way we want.

If it did, we wouldn't be hiding in this dark, little room, and we wouldn't be sitting with a bunch of stinking bandages.

We...

Let me think... we'd be sitting in a garden, taking tea together, discussing poetry and the weather.

We could go hunting. The alcornes are plentiful in the countryside this season. They run fast, but stop and stare when they see a crowd. Do you like hunting?

...I don't know.

I've almost forgotten how it feels myself. But I'm guessing you don't like dancing, at least not at those onerous dance parties in the social season. I don't like them either.

The dresses are so much stiffer than hunting attire, and so tight they rob you of your appetite for the banquet.

Ha, I can imagine.

And...

What?

I'm thinking the hunting outfit would look better on you.

Vina...

Yes?

Perhaps... we should have seen more of each other. Much more.

Fate robbed us of a beautiful life, against our will.

Luckily, we still have the future...

What's the matter? You look surprised.

...I'm talking about the future.

You don't do that often?

Back when I was running for my life, I hardly ever thought about the future. The past was in my dreams, and the future... it was in a fog, where I couldn't see anything.

This is not a flaw, Vina. It's a virtue.

Nobles like to talk about the future, but most of them are more concerned about the dinner menu.

It's not because they've grown numb to life, but because they understand how precious the present is.

Like the present now?

Yes...

Like the present now.

Ailshie.

Good morning, Lady Allerdale. Everything is in order.

The steam armor... why have you taken it out?

It's too big to take with us.

...Is that so?

Has Her Highness Alexandrina left?

Yes, she has her own mission.

Your injuries...

Are fine, thanks to Her Highness.

I haven't seen you smile like this in a long time.

Am I being too calm before the storm?

It does bring back long-forgotten feelings to stand with Her Highness and the others.

It's been some time since I encountered someone I could trust.

Her Highness Alexandrina saved this armor for you. I may be a lowly servant, but I feel a sense of gratitude.

It's the pride of Cumberland.

Pride...

The armor and your honored ancestors... I remember how you used to talk to them.

Children like to wallow in fantasy.

But I learned, twenty-six years ago, that it's no hero, just a broken hunk of metal.

We've all changed, yet the armor seems frozen in time.

Do you... like Her Highness Alexandrina?

Her Highness is very kind. I've seen how she treats her fellows, eating the same food and sleeping in the same room.

She's not like most nobles. She doesn't see them as her servants, nor will she abandon them.

Victoria is fortunate.

The heart of Her Highness is strong. Years of exile have not undermined her dignity and integrity.

You said Victoria. What about yourself, my lady? What do you think of Her Highness?

I hope she has a bright future.

So you...?

I got a letter last night. Two in the same day.

She's... impatient.

But you've reunited with Her Highness!

Do you remember how Her Highness came here with the Sighs of Kings, twenty-six years ago? It must've been a sign, and its portents might come true very soon!

We've waited for so long, Miss. You could...

'Allerdale Cumberland.

You will meet Vina again, someday.'

He...

I've long since given up waiting, Ailshie.

How long has it been since Jim left?

He returned home to County Peninsula the year after the incident.

...Twenty-five years. We haven't had a gardener for a quarter century.

I used to love the bushes that grew there. They tripped me from time to time, but the tiny golden flowers that bloomed from them were so beautiful.

The first batch all died the winter after Jim left.

Mother sent people all around and learned that it was the noblest breed from Minos. The money it took to buy those seeds would have fed an ordinary family of Londiniers for half a decade.

Your garden remains beautiful, even without that particular kind of bush.

I tried, Ailshie. We all tried. You toiled tirelessly, summer and winter, in order to keep the garden in good shape.

But without those seeds, our garden would never return to its former glory.

I sent her a letter the fifth New Year's Day after Dad died.

Her reply included the seeds that House Cumberland could no longer afford.

Ailshie... we've always been living like this.

If the Duke was here...

...She always had tricks up her sleeve.

No, my lady, I meant your father.

Father... father.

I can hardly recall his voice now.