125. The Revealed Secret
◈ Price Duchess’s residence, St. James, London.
Eva Riley had been suffering from a high fever of unknown cause for several days.
It started the day after her big fight with Baron Grady Morrison.
She had spent the last three days lying in bed.
The maid replaced the cool towel on her forehead and sighed in relief.
“Oh, good—the fever has finally gone down. I’m so relieved. Your whole body was burning up like a furnace last night; I was so worried. The mistress couldn’t sleep all night either and only managed to get some rest towards dawn.”
Eva silently turned her head towards the window. It was drizzling outside.
Gazing blankly at the raindrops on the window frame, Eva murmured to herself.
“Let’s stop here… I wasn’t in love with him. I was just in love with Logan. I just had a brief infatuation with the way he understood Logan better than I did.”
“Miss? What are you saying to yourself?”
Eva didn’t answer but struggled to sit up.
“Oh dear—why are you trying to get up? Are you hungry?”
“Help me up.”
“Yes? You’re not well yet; where are you trying to go? Do you want to go to the restroom?”
“Just help me up.”
Eva leaned on the maid and headed to the study next door.
She approached the bookshelf and stopped in front of Logan’s works.
She intended to read ‘LOVE’ again from the beginning, starting today.
She didn’t know why, but she felt like she could forget Baron Grady Morrison if she did that.
“Susan, that book… the first volume on the top shelf, please get it for me.”
Eva pointed to the top shelf, and the maid was startled and tried to dissuade her.
“Miss? What are you going to do reading books in this condition? You need to rest more.”
“Hurry.”
Knowing Eva’s stubborn personality, the maid reluctantly approached the bookshelf and asked.
“You mean this book?”
Eva nodded.
But…
That’s when it happened.
The moment the maid opened the bookshelf door and reached out her hand,
Eva’s face, which had been looking at the book, froze like stone.
“Wait! Susan, wait!”
“Yes?”
Eva’s hollow eyes widened at what she saw.
“What’s wrong, Miss?”
Eva’s startled eyes repeatedly scanned the top and bottom of the bookshelf.
The maid, not knowing what was going on, also examined the bookshelf.
‘…….’
•
•
•
•
•
Eva stretched her neck and read the letters on the spines of the books where the titles were written, again and again.
The first capital letters of each volume’s subtitle, written on the spines of the novels LOVE, caught her eye, and as she casually connected them, a certain word caught Eva’s attention.
‘G…… R…… A… D… Y… GRADY…?’
Wasn’t that GRADY… Baron Grady Morrison’s name!
It was too strange to be a coincidence.
She had thought the subtitles were unique, but it seemed they were intentionally created with the first letter matching.
Eva’s heart was pounding.
‘Then… Logan is… Grady, is Baron Grady Morrison Logan?’
As Eva grabbed the bookshelf and stood there blankly, the maid asked worriedly.
“Miss? What’s wrong? Are you sick again?”
“…….”
“Shall I call the mistress?”
Eva pushed the maid away and wandered around the study like a madwoman.
She bit her nails, trying to understand this absurd situation.
She wondered if she was forcing things because she missed Grady too much.
‘Come to think of it, he’s been a bit suspicious the whole time we’ve been meeting for almost two months.’
His way of thinking was too flexible for someone with the title of baron.
Above all, he understood Logan’s world of work to an excessive degree.
He easily picked up on even the smallest details that only the writer would know.
‘Ah—why didn’t I notice it like a fool? The baron said those things that only a writer would know without hesitation? But I couldn’t imagine it! Really, really Logan… is Logan Baron Grady Morrison?’
Eva ran back to the bookshelf and lined up the books in order from Volume 1 to Volume 5.
Then the word ‘GRADY’ became even clearer.
‘That’s right! He secretly hid his name in the subtitles! Ah—he’s just like Logan!’
Now that she was convinced, Eva’s heart began to race.
Logan was everything to her.
She had dreamed of how wonderful it would be if she could just meet him, if she could just watch him write from the side for just one day, if she could just have tea with him and talk about his work.
Eva, who had fallen deeply in love with Logan, suddenly found all men to be boring and childish.
Even if she liked someone, it was only for a moment, and she soon got tired of them after meeting and talking a few times.
Then a man appeared who caused a stir in her heart.
On the surface, he was just a young nobleman who liked to show off, but the words that came out of his mouth overwhelmed Eva to the point of suffocation, and sometimes he played with her as he pleased.
The ripples in her heart grew stronger and stronger, and at some point, she found herself deeply in love with Baron Grady.
However, she couldn’t tell whether she was attracted to him because of his similar ideas to Logan or because she liked Grady himself.
But if Baron Grady Morrison was Logan, the story would be completely different.
Suddenly, Eva raised her head.
‘Yes, Sir Sanderson! He must know. He knew and brought him to the book club! If I meet him right now, I’ll know if Logan is really Baron Grady!’
Eva threw on some clothes and ran out like a madwoman to find a coachman.
* * *
Theo’s matchmaking agency, 5th floor CEO’s office.
“Sir Sanderson, it’s so frustrating not being able to see her face. But I can’t go to Miss Riley’s house either. I thought about sending her a letter, but she’ll definitely think I’m ridiculous. Ha…”
In front of Theo, Baron Grady Morrison was sighing as if the ground would cave in.
He had suffered so much that his face had become gaunt in just a few days.
“I shouldn’t have deceived her from the beginning. I should have just honestly revealed that I was Logan and met her….”
Theo shook his head.
“That’s not true. Nothing would have changed. Rather, because Miss Riley was so deeply in love with Logan, if you had told her the truth, Miss Riley herself might not have been able to figure out whether she really liked the baron or not, and she might have been confused.
I think it’s better this way. I think Miss Riley has had enough time to calmly consider her true feelings for the baron.”
In modern times, there would be fast and efficient means of connection such as cell phones or SNS [Social Networking Services], but in this era, such civilization cannot be expected, so it is not easy.
However, there was an advantage in that she was given more time to think deeply and make a careful judgment.
Her notification was later than expected, but Theo had a certain conviction that the two would definitely be connected.
“Huhu, it’s really funny.”
“What is?”
“Doesn’t my appearance look like Kaiden in my novel? My emotions are swept away somewhere, shaking uncontrollably….”
Baron Grady Morrison was saying the same thing as Eva.
It seemed like it was time for comfort.
* * *
Theo went down to the first floor cafe with Grady to soothe his heart.
He thought he should help him get his mind right while drinking coffee.
Grady, who was walking down the stairs weakly, opened the cafe door, and his eyes suddenly widened.
Theo followed his gaze and saw Eva drinking coffee alone, deep in thought.
Eva was taking some time to sort out her feelings here before confirming with Theo.
And soon she felt the gaze looking at her and raised her head.
Grady, who she hadn’t seen for a few days after meeting every day, had the expression of a lover who had been separated for several years.
Eva also stood up from her seat with a heart-filled face full of respect and love.
‘I don’t have to step in; it seems like it’s being resolved here again like this. Coincidence becomes inevitability if it overlaps several times; the two must have been destined to be connected, huhu.’
Theo couldn’t help but smile as he watched the hot gazes exchanged between the two.
◈ 2 weeks later, Kensington matchmaking agency, 1st floor VVIP consultation room.
The Price Duchess continued with a soft smile.
“…After meeting Baron Grady Morrison in person and talking to him, I found that he had all the conditions I wanted in every way.
Eva doesn’t whine anymore and has become very docile. She had a desperate look in her eyes, begging me to just marry her to Baron Grady. I really couldn’t have imagined that I would see such a sight from Eva.
Also, when I said that I wanted to donate all my assets to society, Baron Grady even found an orphanage and recommended it. He didn’t even mention the dowry.”
“Yes, Baron Grady Morrison is a person who has no greed for money at all. Rather, he is a person who is very afraid of the corruption that money has.”
“I’ve heard countless times that Sir Sanderson’s abilities are outstanding, but I’m just amazed at how you were able to meet such perfect conditions.”
“Actually, I was about to give up when a suitable gentleman appeared. I was really lucky.
And your granddaughter was not the immature young lady that the duchess thought she was. She was just pretending to be strong because of her childhood wounds and pride.”
The duchess nodded with a satisfied face.
“Anyway, as promised, I have told the butler to hand over the intersection building at the market price. We will sell the building in a few days, so please prepare.”
“Yes, thank you very much.”
As she stood up, the duchess said as if she had remembered something.
“Oh, right. The two of them said that they would like to have their wedding at the wedding hall that Sir Sanderson is opening in a few months. If that’s possible, I would like us to meet and discuss it together.”
“Haha. Yes, let’s do that.”
◈ 3 months later, early March 1779. Matchmaking agency 5th floor CEO’s office.
Swish swish swish-
Around midnight when a sudden downpour was falling.
The CEO’s office of the Kensington High Street matchmaking agency was still brightly lit with candles.
Drawer- Squeak- Squeak-
Theo, who had bought almost all the buildings needed to complete Street, opened a ballroom, wedding hall, book rental store, and costume shop in turn.
Ten days ago, the wedding of Baron Grady Morrison and Miss Eva Riley was held grandly at Theo’s wedding hall.
However, there were still many empty stores, so Theo was busy with the detailed planning of the street.
He hadn’t gone home for days, staying at the company and focusing on his work.
He spread out the map, analyzed the stores to be opened, and diligently examined the various problems that could arise when creating a wedding street.
But then, that’s when it happened.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Someone was heard quickly climbing the stairs.
‘Who is it? There’s no one who would come at this hour?’
The sound of hurried footsteps made him feel an inexplicable sense of foreboding.
Theo unknowingly gripped the long fire poker he had placed next to him.
Thump-
And soon the door was thrown open without a knock.
Surprised, Theo shouted at the person who came in.
“Who are you! Who are you to be so reckless….”
But it wasn’t a stranger.
“…Aren’t you… Admiral?”
The person who opened the door was unexpectedly Admiral Matthew Bentham.
“Admiral, why are you here at this hour…?”
“…….”
“Admiral, please sit down first.”
Swish swish swish-
Admiral Bentham was a very grateful benefactor to Theo.
He had saved his life when he was attacked by pirates and abandoned on a deserted island, and he was able to join the Intelligence Club thanks to the letter of recommendation he had personally written.
But he couldn’t just welcome him happily now because Admiral Bentham’s atmosphere was unusual.
“Admiral, why did you come all the way here in the rain at this late hour? Were you passing by?”
The admiral, who was sitting on the sofa in a wet coat with raindrops dripping, was breathing heavily.
The red string tightly tied to his left arm reflected in the candlelight and flickered.
“Hoo- Hoo-.”
From Admiral Bentham’s rough breathing, an endless sense of fear and tension flowed.
‘…….’
And after a while, his heavily closed mouth opened.
“Really… it’s a relief.”
“A relief?”
“I don’t know how surprised I was. I went to your Mayfair home thinking you were there, but when I was told you weren’t there, I wondered if you might be here… I’m so glad you’re here like this… it’s really a relief.”
“……?”
Theo sat down in front of the admiral who was pouring out unstable emotions.
“Admiral? What on earth is wrong? Did something big happen?”
He nodded slowly.
“Yes, something very big has happened. Currently, most of the roads leading to London, centered on St James’s Palace, are under control.”
“The road is under control? No… why?”
George III was staying at St James’s Palace for the official approval ceremony of American independence, which would be held in a few days.
In addition, heads of state from various countries, including Benjamin Franklin and the American delegation, were visiting to watch the event.
Theo asked again with anxious eyes.
“Admiral? What on earth happened?”
Admiral Bentham glared with bloodshot eyes and replied.
“Right now… right now the military has launched a rebellion in the center of London.”
Theo’s eyes widened.
“A military… rebellion?”