[HP Doujin] 1943

I looked at him in surprise: "Why are you here?"

"I'm here today with a group of guests," he said.

"If Francis would invite you, I'd be a giraffe," I said.

"He did invite me," he smiled. "Please don't underestimate my ability, Elizabeth."

"Oh." I said lightly, broke away from his embrace, and bent down in front of the table, pretending to sort out the wine list, but in fact I just wanted to find something to do for myself.My heart was still beating violently, and I never dreamed that it was at Stuart Manor that I saw him for the first time in months.

"See you at dinner then." I said, turned around and left.He hugged me behind his back, and his breath fell into my ear: "It's been a long time, don't you have anything else to say to me?"

There was a kind of gentle seduction in his voice, mortal danger, but full of irresistible temptation.He must have felt my trembling in his arms, his movements softened, he gently stretched out his hand, supported my chin, turned my face back, lowered his head, and looked at me carefully.

After a while he laughed self-deprecatingly, as if remembering that we were still under the Stuart roof.His slender, cold fingers brushed over my face and let me go.

"I'll see you at dinner, Mrs Stuart," he said in his solemn irony.I'm familiar with his tone.This caused a flame of rage to surge up in my heart.

Strange to say, this violent temper that has been with me for the past ten years has dissipated a lot after I got married, and sometimes I even feel that I have become a docile person.But as soon as I met Tom, the anger in me, this dark stuff of revenge, recklessness, and brutality, from my miserable childhood, just spewed out, as if they had never been touched by me. The stagnant marriage seemed to be suppressed.

At that moment, I really wanted to pull out my wand and cast an Unforgivable Curse on him.Since I was seven years old, I have had a violent and secret desire to conquer him.But I can't do it.

Later, I read a sentence in a book that most of the pain in a person's life comes from the anger and helplessness of his own incompetence.Yes, Tom's wrath came from his own dark and cold orphanage, his worthless origins.Francis’ pain came from a family that maintained its dignity with a mask, while my pain came from my own lack of money, power, and outstanding talent, only my own passion with nowhere to vent.

I went out of the cellar and went upstairs to change for dinner.I picked out a long black heart-shaped neckline dress from the closet and put it on. Becca combed my hair for me and put on a necklace and earrings.When I got married, Francis gave me a whole set of jewelry.These jewels remained in the room at the Stuart Manor, and I took none of them to York.Nor do I need them at any other time than these feasts at Stuart Manor.

I sat in front of the dressing table and looked at my strange self in the mirror. The brilliant diamonds adorned my earlobes and neck, and against the dignified and elegant black dress, I looked even brighter and more eye-catching.

"Ma'am, this dress really suits you," Becca said happily, picking out two beige silk gloves to go with the dress.

I smiled at her and picked up the perfume bottle on the table.The thin glass column is attached to the bottle cap of the glass sphere, and gently wiped on the back of the ear and on the wrist, and a burst of floral fragrance comes along with the cool touch.I put on my gloves and adjusted my somewhat plunging collar.

"Is Francis back yet?" I asked Becca.

But Becca didn't answer me. I turned my head and found Francis standing at the door looking at me. He had changed into the black suit he wore for dinner.He nodded to Becca, who went out, closing the door softly behind him.

I looked at him sideways, with my hands clasped in front of my chest, and was stunned for a moment.I haven't seen him for a few months, but he is still the same, with a handsome face, serious gray-blue eyes, and a cold expression, which makes people feel unapproachable.

"Nice dress," he said.

"Thank you." I said.

He walked up to me and looked down at me from the dresser.The shirt on his neckline was ironed without any wrinkles, and I could smell the scent of the flowers on my body mixed with the cologne on his body, which made me feel ambiguous and uncomfortable.

He took out a black box and put it in front of me.The box flicked open, and under the candlelight, there lay a delicate platinum hairpin in the shape of a camellia flower on the black velvet cushion.

He seemed to be very fond of platinum jewellery, and our wedding ring was also a plain platinum band with no diamonds.I once laughed at him for being too stingy, at least give me a pink diamond the size of a pigeon egg.

He whispered in my ear, "Put this on."

He gently removed the diamond hairpin from my hair, and inserted this delicate and elegant camellia into my high bun.

"Does it look good?" he asked.

The faces of the two of us were reflected in the mirror, and my expression seemed a little stiff.I reached out and touched the cold metal camellia, straightened it up, smiled, and said lightly, "Why are you buying this for me?"

"This is not bought, it is custom-made." He said, "Didn't you say that you like camellias?"

"All women like it." I said with a smile, stood up, took his arm, and said lightly, "Let's go downstairs."

to the living room.The guests were already inside, all men.I greeted them with a fake smile on my face, and looked around, but I didn't see the beautiful woman in the red riding suit I saw outside the manor this afternoon.I felt strange in my heart, but I didn't ask anything.

I slept deeply that night, woke up early the next morning, took a shower, put on casual clothes, and went downstairs aimlessly for a walk.Except for the servants, everyone is still awake.

I crossed the dewy slope, and the fine petals of the camellias billowed and fluttered across the grass, about the end of flowering.I walked in the direction of the sea. After 10 minutes, I heard the sound of rumbling waves, the wind gradually picked up, the sky was as blue as washing, and the dark blue sea water rolled and surged under the crimson cliffs, rolling up with white foam, and then Back away with a clatter.

Under two huge oak trees facing the sea, I saw a woman in a long gray trench coat.She was sitting on the grass with her back to me, but I recognized that she must be the woman in the red riding dress.

I didn't think much about it, so I walked forward.When I walked behind her, I heard a sobbing sound, and I stopped, but it was too late to turn around, because she had already heard my footsteps and turned her head.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I didn't mean to bother you."

"It's okay." She showed a bright smile, "Good morning, Mrs. Stuart."

She wiped the tears off her cheeks and said to me politely, "Would you like to sit with me for a while? The scenery here is really nice. I watched the sunrise here."

"Then you must have woken up two hours earlier than me!" I said in amazement, and sat on the grass next to her with the corner of my skirt lifted.

"But the view here is worth getting up early," she said with a smile.She has no makeup, her face is a little pale, there are already fine wrinkles around her eyes, her long golden hair is curly and thick, tied in a white ribbon at the back of her head.She looked at the sea, the corners of her dark blue eyes were bright and energetic, very beautiful.

I developed an unreasonable affection for her.Maybe it's because she has an easy-going, natural, and gentle temperament.

"Are you a guest at the manor?" I asked. "I didn't see you at dinner yesterday."

For some reason, there was a trace of pain in the smile on her face: "I'm not in good health."

I was surprised and said, "But you looked so healthy when you rode the horse that day."

"It's a bad habit. My therapist and—and my family say I shouldn't be riding a horse anymore. Vigorous exercise won't do me any good." I still like riding horses, especially here." She looked at me with a gentle and peaceful expression, and the smile on the corner of her mouth was like a calm and warm sea breeze, "Mrs. Stuart, I don't know if you will feel this way. If a certain place has left you with the best memories, even if the person who brought you the memories has drifted away from you, when you come to this place alone, you will still feel a sense of the past. Happiness."

I stared blankly at her, and nodded: "Yes, of course. You are here—" I hesitated and stopped, not sure if she would like to talk about the past with a stranger like me.

"That's right, I spent my childhood here and met my first love." She smiled and said, "I'm in my 30s now, but looking back on the past, it seems like it was yesterday."

"Did you ever get together with your first love?"

She asked me back: "How many people in the world can be with their first love?"

I thought of Tom, and felt a pain in my heart. I lowered my head and said, "Yes, not much."

"You're not what I imagined," she said.

"Oh?" I also looked at her with a smile, "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"I didn't expect you to be so childish, and you are much more easy-going than I thought. It's nice to be young, and I really want to be 20 again." She said happily, "The weather is so good today, we really shouldn't be here Here's to talking about sad things. Do you like riding? We can go for a run in the hills before breakfast."

As she spoke, she stood up and gave me a hand.I nodded, and then asked her worriedly: "But aren't you sick? Can you really go riding again?"

She shook her head and said briskly, "No problem."

We went back to the castle to change our riding clothes, and a quarter of an hour later we went to the stables, where the stable boy saddled the two Thoroughbreds and led them out into the drive.When I got on the horse, I saw the stable boy gave me a strange look.I didn't take it too seriously, turned around and greeted her, the two of us clipped the horse's belly, and galloped along the driveway at a fast speed. The cool morning wind blew along my cheeks, and I felt great.

She is obviously more familiar with the terrain near the manor than I am.I followed her through the woods, jumped over shallow streams, and ran all the way to the low-lying part of the valley.Panting for breath, we stopped on the wilderness full of ferns and took a rest for a while, watching the thin mist on the horizon gradually dissipate, and the valley full of camellias gradually became clear.

"It's almost time for breakfast." She looked at her watch and said, "It's time for us to go back."

"Whoever arrives first in our competition." I said on a whim, "Take the road, not the woods." I added, because I am not familiar with the terrain in the woods.

"No problem," she said, "One, two—"

On the count of three, we galloped out together, the horseshoes galloping on the early morning road, kicking up clouds of dust, she led at first, and I passed her near the second corner, and together we Galloping towards the gate of the manor, and then reining in the horse in front of the stone porch, I turned around and said loudly, "I won!"

My laughter froze as I saw Francis, Tom, Tony, and Malfoy standing in the doorway, wearing capes, as if they were about to go out.Francis glanced at me with a terrified look on his face.

"What are you doing?!" There was fury in his cold voice, and, what's even more strange, he didn't say it to me.

I slid off the horse, and inexplicably turned my head to look at the woman riding with me, then at Francis, and said, "This is not—" Halfway through, I remembered that I didn't know her name yet.

"Go back to your room," Francis said sharply to the woman, "immediately."

After finishing speaking, he glanced at me, said sorry to the others, followed her into the door, and left me at the door.I turned to Tony, who looked as if a cauldron had just exploded in front of him.Malfoy had an expression on his face as if he had watched a wonderful show, while Tom looked at me with almost pity eyes, and a helpless smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Who is she?" I asked a few of them.

"Don't ask me." Tony turned around immediately, and Malfoy also looked at the sky, pretending not to hear me.Tom put one hand in his trouser pocket, shrugged, and said, "Elizabeth, how can there be such an idiot woman as you in the world? She is Jacqueline Pierre, your husband's mistress."