Upon reaching the lakeside, they each picked out suitable stones for skipping.The boys began skipping stones, and Mr. Dalton, watching quietly, approached them to teach them about posture and angles.In a rather serious atmosphere, the boys obediently followed their uncle’s instructions.

Laura closely observed Daniel and George.They diligently followed their uncle’s words.At first, she thought they were afraid of their stern uncle, but upon closer inspection, that wasn’t the case.

They occasionally glanced at their uncle.Sneaking looks, as if gauging his mood.They followed his teachings with fear and impatience.But at times, when their uncle offered small acknowledgments and encouragement, their eyes sparkled with a momentary gleam.Laura closely watched their eyes.In the boys’ gazes toward their uncle, there was admiration.Admiration for an adult man far bigger, smarter, and stronger than themselves.

They began throwing stones across the water’s surface as their uncle had taught them.The stones bounced, plop, plop, across the water.They got excited and immersed themselves in stone-skipping.

Mr. Dalton stepped back and came to Laura’s side.The two stood quietly, watching the boys.The backs of the boys diligently throwing stones toward the river.The gentle ripples spreading as the stones hit the water.

Mr. Dalton broke the silence first.

“This is where I first skipped stones.”

“At this lake?”

“Yes. With William. I was eight, perhaps.”

“Younger than Daniel and George are now. Was there someone to teach you back then? Like you’re doing for these boys?”

“My brother-in-law took that role. He was obsessed with hunting back then, just as he is now, but when I came to him, he paid me quite a bit of attention. His way of treating his brother-in-law, I suppose.”

“It must feel like returning to childhood when you come to Dunville Park.”

“You’re right. My boyhood memories are more tied to Dunville Park than to Whitefield.”

The two stood silently, watching the two little ones skipping stones.

She tried to imagine little Ian Dalton.Being aware of the grown man standing beside her, a head taller with broad shoulders, made it hard to picture.She tried to paint a mental image over the two boys in front of her.

A build like George’s, jet-black hair and eyes, a clearer, fairer complexion than now, a delicate, lovable face.A refined boy who didn’t laugh easily at trivial things.But when throwing stones into the river with his friend and relative, little William, he must have been just an eight-year-old boy.

He must have been adorable.

She thought this unwittingly and pressed her lips together to keep the thought from slipping out.But though the words didn’t escape, she couldn’t suppress the smile that bloomed naturally.

He must have been adorable. Truly adorable.Even now, with such refined features, as a child, he must have been a truly beautiful boy.And his cheeks must have been chubby, still carrying baby fat.

“Why are you smiling like that?”

Mr. Dalton looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“Oh… I was imagining two little gentlemen skipping stones like those boys. I only met you and Mr. Fairfax as adults, so I only see you as respected gentlemen. The thought that you might have had such times feels….”

“Feels what?”

“It tickles, Mr. Dalton.”

“A tickling feeling. That’s an odd way to put it.”

“It’s just a feeling, so don’t think too deeply about it.”

“No, I think I understand. Sometimes, when I look at you, Miss Pendleton, I imagine your childhood too.”

“My childhood?”

“Yes.”

“What’s my childhood like in your imagination, Mr. Dalton?”

“With pigtails on both sides, never spilling a single crumb on your clothes, a neat and proper young lady. Preferring to read books in your room over playing in the woods with friends, a quiet bookworm who loved small animals but was afraid of big ones like horses. A shy girl. Am I right?”

“Just one.”

Mr. Dalton let out a disappointed hmph.

“Just one? What did I get right?”

“Being afraid of horses. I’m still scared of them. That’s why I never learned to ride.”

“What about the rest? Was I completely wrong?”

“When I ate snacks, my skirt was always a mess, and after snack time, I’d go to the window and shake out the crumbs. Birds would gather near my window during snack time. And while I loved books, I wasn’t one to pass up a chance to play outside. I loved running around outdoors. During school picnics, I’d take the lead in rowing or even play cricket.”

“You played cricket?”

“Hard to believe?”

“Honestly, I can’t picture it at all.”

“But it’s true. I just didn’t get many chances.”

“What about small animals? Didn’t you like animals?”

“I didn’t dislike them. I sometimes fed stray cats or watched chicks in the henhouse. But I preferred livestock on the table over live animals.”

Mr. Dalton chuckled softly, and Laura laughed along with him.

“I had all sorts of preconceptions about you, Miss Pendleton. Seeing you as such a perfect lady now, I assumed your childhood must have been much the same.”

“Everyone does that. I imagined your childhood based on how you are now, too.”

“How did you imagine it?”

“You want to hear?”

Mr. Dalton nodded. Laura thought for a moment and then blurted out exactly what she’d imagined.Mr. Dalton listened to her story and soon smiled gently.

“You’ve got quite the deductive skills, Miss Pendleton. You got everything right except one.”

“Really? What did I get wrong?”

“I wasn’t that adorable.”

Laura let out a small laugh.

“You’re lying, aren’t you? You’re just embarrassed to admit you were adorable as a child.”

“No, really. I wasn’t that adorable.”

But Laura gave Mr. Dalton a skeptical glance, as if she didn’t believe him.

“If you don’t believe me, come to Whitefield. I have childhood photos there. You’ll see whether I’m lying or not.”

“That’s an odd way to extend an invitation, Mr. Dalton.”

“It’s hard to invite someone like you any other way.”

“You see right through me, Mr. Dalton.”

The two fell into silence again. With anyone else, it might have felt awkward, but Laura found the silence shared with him entirely comfortable.In fact, she felt an astonishing sense of ease standing beside Mr. Dalton.Perhaps, despite how comfortable life had been, she’d been exhausted from being among strangers.Having Mr. Dalton, someone she’d known for a while, by her side brought such a sense of calm.Or perhaps it wasn’t just that.

Laura glanced up at Ian, standing beside her.His beautiful profile as he gazed at the lake.Seeing him, Laura felt as if warm water had been poured over her head, her body softening and a gentle heat rising.A comfortable yet sweet feeling. A sensation she hadn’t felt the entire time she’d been at Dunville Park.

In the distance, the sunset began to fade.The two told the boys it was time to go back, and the boys obediently put down their stones and followed them.

They passed through the garden and returned to the manor.Laura and the two boys went to their rooms to wash up and change before dinner.Meanwhile, Ian, left alone, walked familiarly through the hall to the glass window of Dunville Park’s hall.

Beyond the window, evening was creeping into Dunville Park with the sweet orange glow of the fading sun.

Ian, gazing at the setting sun, was enveloped in an unfamiliar feeling.To feel this way in Dunville Park, a place he’d treated like home for over twenty years.Every pattern on the window frame, every view outside, was as familiar as his own.Nothing had changed. It was strange.

No, one thing had changed. A new person had come to this place.

He thought of her, who had just gone up the stairs.By now, she’d have entered one of Dunville Park’s many rooms.In a room where her unpacked belongings greeted their owner, she’d be preparing for dinner, arranging her appearance.Letting down her hair, asking a servant to prepare bathwater.

Ian clenched his fist tightly.His heart pounded fiercely, every nerve alight with joy.That she was living in the place where he was born and raised, so close to his own land—he still couldn’t believe this reality.Even though he’d seen her with his own eyes today, walking through the woods with his nephews.That she was living in the place where he spent his childhood.That she… Laura Pendleton.

“Hello, little brother?”

Ian snapped out of his reverie at the familiar voice and turned around.He replied dryly, “Hello, sister.”

Despite it being midsummer, Mrs. Fairfax, wrapped in a thick shawl, smiled brightly at her brother.

“Why are you standing there so dramatically? You’re not thinking something like, ‘The woman I love is living in the manor where I spent my childhood, it’s too overwhelming,’ are you?”

“Do you think I’m that childish?”

Ian brushed it off calmly.But he couldn’t fool Mrs. Fairfax, who had cared for him since he was in swaddling clothes.She giggled and led her younger brother to the drawing room.Sitting by the roaring fireplace, Mrs. Fairfax asked her brother across from her,

“Why did you come so late, Ian? I thought you’d be here every other day, practically clocking in at Dunville Park.”

“If I started coming to Dunville Park the moment she arrived, it would raise suspicions.”

“True, she’s clever, so she might catch on.”

Ian brought up the question that had been driving him mad for days.

“How has Miss Pendleton been?”

Mrs. Fairfax told him about the past few days.How Laura went to the woods every day to play with George and Daniel, how she met little Ian, and even how she took on Olivia’s French lessons.

“At first, I was worried. I thought, what if this delicate young lady, running around with rambunctious boys every day, collapses from exhaustion? But surprisingly, she’s managed quite well. Last time, Daniel told me his teacher climbed an elm tree and tapped the top. That century-old elm tree you and Master William used to climb every day as kids. Can you imagine that?”