Chapter 107 – Jade Slipped Away
Ashborne repeated Jade’s words, his eyes widening with a mixture of sharp disbelief and a sudden edge of irritation. “Someone had the audacity to cast sheep’s eyes at you?”
“If you’re sayin’ he was staring directly into my eyes, smiling at me with sky-high confidence, and oozing a distinct hint of romantic intent,” Jade frowned, letting out a huff, “then yeah. He cast sheep’s eyes at me.”
She paused briefly and added with a shrug, “Though he probably wasn’t that obvious, because others didn’t seem to notice it. It could be me overthinking it.”
Ashborne could not entirely untangle the knot of emotions tightening in his chest.
It was a volatile mixture of irritation, anger, disbelief, and frustration – as if he were a territorial beast that had just detected a hostile intruder encroaching on his domain.
He took a deep breath, firmly mastering his chaotic emotions before turning back to face Jade. She was clearly just as displeased by the stranger’s forward behaviour as he was. “Where did you encounter him? Were you alone?”
“Here. He showed up as a visitor intending to donate,” Jade explained. “He was received by Sister Lucy, and Josh was following right behind us the whole time.”
Ashborne frowned. “Did he say anything improper to you?”
“I guess so?” Jade tilted her head. “You know I’m still not completely fluent in y’all’s kind of decorative wording. But Sister Lucy said his speech was improper, so…yeah, I guess?”
Ashborne pressed on, “What, precisely, did he say to you?”
Jade recalled the encounter, and repeated the words. “He said he would call again, and… restore me to my proper place? And then he was very confident we would meet again.”
She did not notice Ashborne’s deepened displeasure. She had not caught the subtext of those words, but Ashborne did – a man promised to restore a woman to her proper place unequivocally indicating he meant to take her out of her current position, either by marrying her or keeping her as a hidden mistress.
Ashborne did not think that stranger intended a legitimate path toward Jade. The irritation boiling within him.
The schoolmistress huffed again, narrowing her eyes. “The thing is, Sister Lucy introduced me to him as ‘Miss Lysmere’. But right before he left, he straight-up called me ‘Miss Jade’! That’s not something a proper gentleman would do, right?”
“Indeed,” Ashborne muttered, gulping down a mouthful of herbal tea to force down his mounting frustration. In a voice dripping with forced calmness, he asked, “And who is this bold, unknown gentry who has come to visit my parish? I should very much like to invite him to dinner to show him my hospitality.”
“Well, I doubt he’s even staying in your parish,” Jade remarked. Having a better knowledge now about the customs regarding calling cards and paying visits, she shrugged. “My guess is he’s staying somewhere over in Velport, because he arrived in a hired stagecoach, and Josh recognised that it was from a cab stand near the dressmaker’s they are familiar with.”
“His name, Jade.” Ashborne reminded her, pulling her attention back to his question.
“Oh.” Jade blinked, and thought for a moment. “Ran…port? Oh, right, Owen Ramport.”
Ashborne rubbed his chin. “The name does not ring a bell. Trent?”
Sitting a half-step behind him, the loyal secretary shook his head as well and replied. “I do not recall recognising that name from any of our listings or correspondence, my Lord.”
“A baffling situation.” Ashborne muttered. He glanced back at the frowning schoolmistress, a rapid thread of thoughts running through his mind.
He had always known that ever since the domus and the ragged school had made headlines in the newspaper, a massive influx would come to inspect the charity, whether out of genuine curiosity or philanthropic intent. And naturally, since two eligible young women had made a public appearance during the high-profile auction, Mamas eager to secure a suitable, virtuous wife for their sons would be attracted immediately.
Though he personally harboured no interest toward the other two maidens residing in the domus – in his eyes, none of their glows could ever match the brilliance of his Miss Jade – he knew they possessed virtues or qualities that had convinced Miss Jade to willingly step back and leave the stage to them. He had expected visitors to come seeking Miss Whitcombe or Miss Arrowot; Father Rochester had already reported on the matter to him through letters.
But, he had been caught off guard by a visitor arriving specifically for her – his one and only invaluable consultant.
Despite her efforts to downplay her achievements and remain anonymous behind the scenes, it seemed another pair of eyes had managed to detect her brilliant, hidden glow. And it was not from a Lady of similar status to himself, but another man – one whom Jade had already noted was dressed rather “flashy” and was “quite good-looking”.
“What I’m trying to say is, I don’t have a good feeling about him,” Jade’s words snapped him out of his deep contemplation. She began analysing the situation as thoroughly as she could. “No outsider should have called me ‘Miss Jade’. I mean, only people in our neighbourhood and my students call me that. Oh, and probably the shopkeepers and some of the regular customers, because most of them know I lost my memory and that my surname is just the name of a river. Them calling me ‘Miss Jade’ is fine, I get it.”
Jade narrowed her eyes. “But he is no neighbour, nor a customer I’ve ever met before. I repeat: Sister Lucy only introduced me as ‘Miss Lysmere’, not ‘Jade Lysmere’. And he was able to call me by my name accurately! Not ‘Miss Jane’ – he called me ‘Miss Jade’!”
The environment here was vastly different from her previous life, where people would comfortably call her ‘Jade’ the moment they exchanged names. Here, how one addressed another person played a very vital, defining role. Because of that, Jade was a hundred percent sure that Ramport guy was playing some kind of trick on her, even if she could not pinpoint its exact nature.… Luring her into marrying him? Like, did she look stupid enough to fall into such a simple trap?
It was not that Jade was purposely excluding other possibilities, but based on what she had observed of this kingdom, scams targeting unmarried women were almost exclusively love scams. She could hardly find other examples in local news.
Ashborne finally shook off his enraged, irrational protectiveness, and began to weigh what Jade had mentioned. “He does sound suspicious. Trent, get someone to scout for his information.”
He turned back to Jade, but she spoke up before he could utter a word. “I know, I know. I’ll stay indoors and won’t leave the domus until it’s time to move into your kitchen. Just remember to send a cart to pick me up when the day comes.”
“I will undoubtedly send my carriage over,” Ashborne corrected with a smile, secretly deciding to make her new kitchen entirely flawless so she would never even contemplate leaving it.
Anyway, Jade’s original plan to go out and check on the school’s street stall was officially cancelled. Fortunately, the stall was running perfectly fine without her constant oversight anyway. Jade decided that from now on, everything regarding the stall’s daily operations would be managed solely by the older students; the teachers would only observe and provide assistance when necessary.
Currently, Jade had passed the responsibility of monitoring the stall over to Mr. Hanson, the assistant teacher working under Mr. Anderson. Since Miss Arrowot was entirely occupied with drafting next term’s syllabus, a male teacher was – frankly – more convenient to handle the public street in this society anyway.
Later, after hearing Jade’s reasoning, Sister Lucy – the nun who always appeared quiet and calm – became visibly alerted, her brows knitting together as her voice rose slightly. “He dared attempt to seduce you? Under our roof? In front of me?”
“No, no, I’m just suspecting,” Jade quickly motioned for her to calm down, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper to keep the conversation private. Jade did not want the rest of the clergy to view her as someone who liked to speculate about strangers, but she simply had a bad feeling about the man. “I have no proof that he has bad intentions, Sister. I just disliked the way he evaluated me with his eyes.”
“Evaluate?” Sister Lucy repeated the word.
“I mean, I’m not blind,” Jade stretched out two fingers and pointed them at her own eyes. “I know how a pair of lovers are supposed to look at each other, and how someone looks when they admire another person. His words sounded like he was into me, but his eyes did not match what his mouth was saying.”
Sister Lucy recalled the scene in the main hall when the man was in Jade’s presence. His gaze had certainly lingered on the schoolmistress quite often. Narrowing her eyes, the nun let out a huff. “I thought I was being considerate by offering him a chance to meet a potential match, Miss Jade. It appears that despicable men will try to take advantage of even the narrowest gap. Worry not, Miss Jade, he shall never set foot near you again.”
“Well, I would prefer seeing no one at all,” Jade shrugged. “Unless he happens to be my students’ parents and wants to discuss the kids’ education. Other than that, I’ll leave all communication to you all. Any baking matters can be forwarded to Sister Miriam, food donations to Sister Geenia, money donations to Brother James, and letters first go through Father Rochester. The rest can be forwarded to Miss Arrowot – she should begin picking up more responsibility around here anyway.”
“A wise arrangement,” Sister Lucy nodded in agreement.
Mr. Ramport returned several times following his initial meeting with Jade. However, he never once managed to see her again, as the nun would observe him with a cold gaze whenever he so much as inquired about the schoolmistress.
He did eventually donate some soap – not a particularly impressive amount, but he did provide it, prompting Josh to mumble that “his donation does not match the size of his ring”. Beyond that small contribution, there was little else for him to do apart from wandering around the premises. This domus was not a grand venue with historical remains or aesthetic scenery meant for sightseeing. Before long, he grew bored by the dull, rustic buildings that bore patch after patch of obvious repair and maintenance.
Yet, every time he tried to steer the conversation back toward the schoolmistress, the nun skillfully dodged his inquiries by mentioning the broken roof again.
On a few occasions, he spotted the maiden seated out in the corridor when he arrived. But the exact moment he set foot onto the property, she would immediately gather all her belongings and retreat into the private quarters where visitors were strictly forbidden.
Frowned in frustration, he finally confronted the nun guiding his tour.
“My apologies if I have somehow offended Miss Lysmere,” he said, adopting his most genuine, earnest tone. “May I inquire as to what error I have unintentionally committed that has caused her sudden avoidance of me?”
Sister Lucy cast a chilling look at him, though her voice remained perfectly calm. “You have displayed great generosity toward our students, and we thank you kindly for the donation of soap. As for Miss Lysmere, she is currently preparing to enter service soon. Hence, she deeply values what little time she has left for her farewells and packaging.”
“She is preparing to enter service?” Mr. Ramport’s voice rose in sharp astonishment, though he immediately concealed the slip by clearing his throat. “May I have the honour of knowing whom Miss Lysmere will be serving?”
Sister Lucy did not reply. Her gaze merely turned a fraction colder.
Just as Miss Jade had pointed out, there was no proof that the man intended anything malicious – a casual onlooker might even interpret his persistence as genuine admiration for the maiden. Yet, hearing the tone of his words now, Sister Lucy felt her own suspicions surface slightly more than before.
“I’m afraid it is time to conclude our tour for today,” Sister Lucy said, gesturing firmly toward the exit. “We have been quite busy lately. Thank you for your visit, Mr. Ramport.”
Mr. Ramport tightened his lips into a thin line. He tipped his hat, turned on his heel, and left the courtyard to board his hired stagecoach.
As he sat inside, lost in dark contemplation, his stagecoach brushed past a modest but elegant carriage bearing a subtle, painted crest on its door. He raised his gaze, and within a split-second glimpse, his eyes locked onto the emblem.
The Conburys.
The very Lady who clearly haboured an interest in the Landlord of this parish.
A slow smile spread across Mr. Ramport’s face, his confidence fully restored as he plotted his next move.