A Mad Lady’s Confession - Chapter 19

The mistress of a noble house had many duties, yet even after more than a month since entering House Nielsen, Eleanor hadn’t been given any responsibilities.

Lady Jules had insisted that tasks could only be entrusted after teaching them one by one, and delayed handing over the storeroom keys, which were essentially the authority of the mistress.

It was a clear overreach, but Matthias let it be. After all, he didn’t think there was any need for Eleanor to take on the role of mistress when it would all end in a year.

In truth, Eleanor didn’t know how to do many things. She was passable with etiquette, but clumsy with embroidery and not adept at managing the household accounts or calculations.

To put it bluntly, it was strange enough to wonder what on earth the Count Brynhill household had taught their young lady.

On top of that, perhaps because she was aware of her own position, she lacked confidence, so there was no way she would meet Lady Jules’s standards. Especially with someone so capable right beside her for comparison.

Miss Sorelson glanced at the embroidery frame in Eleanor’s hands and asked, “Madam, is that a rabbit?”

It was a rose.

She thought it at least looked like a flower, but to be mistaken for an animal, Eleanor quietly covered her embroidery.

The drawing room of House Nielsen. Lady Jules, spectacles perched on the bridge of her nose, was reading, while the young mistress and her lady-in-waiting sat side by side embroidering, forming a peaceful afternoon scene.

These days, Miss Sorelson was happy every day.

A month ago, when she lost her prospective groom right before her eyes, and to a madwoman at that, she’d felt like she might burn up with anger.

For a while, she truly thought of dying. She wrapped herself in blankets, cried, and planned to starve to death. But now, Miss Sorelson was grateful to be alive.

If she hadn’t lived, how could she have found this chance to sit beside such an unworthy woman and look down on her as much as she pleased?

With Lady Jules backing her, Miss Sorelson often felt as if she herself were the mistress of the house. In fact, lately, it was obvious that the maids followed her words more than those of the timid mistress in name only. That brought her a thrilling sense of satisfaction.

The best part was that she could see the Duke almost every day. Remembering how his blue eyes had turned toward her when she gave a slight bow, her heart raced.

‘Divorce and remarriage aren’t uncommon.’

Miss Sorelson harbored such hopes. Before that, she planned to torment the shameless woman who had taken this place without any qualification a few more times.

As if something had just occurred to her, she spoke, “Madam. I’d like to embroider the vine pattern engraved on the perfume bottle I saw yesterday. Could you show it to me just once more?”

For Miss Sorelson, who usually hovered ambiguously between courtesy and rudeness, it was an unusually polite and respectful request.

Wasn’t it said that showing generous tolerance to those beneath you was a virtue of those above?

Eleanor set down the frame with the rabbit, no, the rose, and instructed a maid to bring the perfume bottle kept in its case.

The problem arose not long after. The maid who had been sent returned with a pale face.

“Madam, the perfume isn’t in the case….”

That couldn’t be. Eleanor was certain she had placed the case containing the perfume bottle in her private drawing room yesterday. It was too precious, so rather than using it during her bath, she wanted to keep it.

With a bewildered expression, Eleanor asked for understanding and headed to the drawing room herself. The case was still there, but the perfume inside it had truly vanished without a trace.

“This can’t be…!”

Eleanor searched the entire room with the maid. They checked the bathroom and the bedroom as well, but the perfume bottle was nowhere to be found.

Only then did Eleanor understand the maid’s pale face. It wasn’t just any gift, but one bestowed by the imperial family. To lose something like that….

Naturally, the household was thrown into an uproar. Even the head maid and the butler stepped in and searched the entire mansion, but as if it had grown legs and run away, the small perfume bottle didn’t exist anywhere.

A heavy atmosphere settled over the space where the ladies had been leisurely passing their time. Lady Jules spoke in a stern tone.

“Gather all the maids.”

“Yes.”

Madam Nella lowered her head with a dark expression.

Eleanor knew what this meant. If the item hadn’t grown legs and run away, if something that had been properly placed couldn’t be found anywhere, then there was only one thing to suspect.

Something that happened more often than one might think in noble households. At this moment, Lady Jules believed there was a thief within the mansion.

Eleanor clearly remembered what had happened in her family home, the Brynhill household, after her mother’s handkerchief went missing.

Every servant’s and maid’s quarters were searched, and their bodies were inspected. And after they ultimately failed to find the handkerchief, she remembered what her father did. Recalling that memory, Eleanor’s face turned pale.

“Lady Jules!”

Eleanor, who had never once raised her voice, let out something close to a scream, drawing everyone’s attention to her. Steadying her trembling voice, she barely continued.

“I think… I must have left it somewhere else. Please let me look for it again!”

“We’ve already turned the entire mansion upside down. Where else do you intend to search?”

“Uh… the pond! The pond in the garden—”

Tsk tsk, at the disapproving click of the tongue, Eleanor’s face flushed red to her ears. Even she thought it sounded utterly pathetic.

Without hiding her reproach, Lady Jules continued, “That gift isn’t personal. It is a gift from the imperial family bestowed upon the household. Do you not realize that failing to safeguard something so precious disqualifies you as the mistress? Ha…. This is why I warned against bringing in someone new so carelessly….”

She didn’t continue, but it was obvious. Eleanor pressed her lips together tightly. Gripping the hem of her dress until her hand turned white, she thought for a moment, then steadied her trembling body and spoke.

“It disappeared from my drawing room, so we only need to question the maids who have access to that space.”

An uncharacteristic calmness followed.

“Head maid, gather all the maids in charge of the mistress’s quarters in the study.”

Lady Jules cut in, sounding frustrated.

“What nonsense! In matters like this, there can be accomplices. All of them must be gathered and made an example of properly!”

“Even if there are accomplices, they would still need access to my space first. …This is my fault. However, please allow me to confirm and search for it myself.”

Eleanor remembered clearly. How her father treated the servants when they couldn’t find her mother’s handkerchief.

They were all beaten and driven out into the streets overnight. She couldn’t even ask whether it was necessary to be so cruel. Her father had been mad.

Eleanor couldn’t bear to see something like that again before her eyes. Even thinking about it made it hard to breathe. It felt like she wouldn’t be able to endure it.

“Please… let me find it myself.”

At the plea that was close to a supplication, Lady Jules could no longer argue and pressed her forehead.

At Eleanor’s small nod, the head maid immediately stepped back and left the drawing room.

Then the arrow suddenly turned to Miss Sorelson, who had been watching as if enjoying a play.

“Miss Sorelson, you’ll have to come as well.”

“…What? What are you—”

“I said everyone who can enter my space.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Are you saying I had anything to do with it?!”

Miss Sorelson sprang to her feet in agitation, but she couldn’t deny that, as a lady-in-waiting, she could move in and out of the space more freely than anyone else. This wasn’t just anything; it was a gift from the imperial family. Not a single doubt could be left behind.

“Miss Sorelson.”

When Eleanor called her again, the trembling young lady bit down on her lip.

“Will you come to my drawing room?”

Soon after, a strained answer slipped out.

“…Gladly, Madam.”

Ten maids were assigned to the mistress’s quarters.

They rotated shifts, assisting with the mistress’s daily life.

The private drawing room where the perfume bottle had been kept was attached to the bedroom, a highly personal space not permitted to anyone except the husband.

When Eleanor arrived at the drawing room, the ten maids waiting there lowered their heads. Eleanor’s fingertips trembled slightly as she looked at them.

At times like this, she truly didn’t know what to do. No one had ever taught her something like this. It wasn’t even in the etiquette book.

The only method of questioning she knew was her father’s. She didn’t want to do it that way.

“I want everyone to be honest. If you didn’t take it, just say so as it is. If by any chance it was moved somewhere else by mistake, then you can be honest about that as well. I won’t be angry with any of you.”

After finishing her words, Eleanor stepped into the drawing room.