Over the past decade or so, I’ve seen countless cases where couples with vast differences in social status or background married and ended up unhappy.It’s truly a regrettable thing.Couples united solely for financial reasons can’t escape regret, but since they had no expectations to begin with, they resign themselves quickly.In contrast, couples who marry purely for love fall apart terribly.With no practical benefits and emotional disappointment piling up, they sink into double heartbreak.In the end, they come to see the person they once loved so dearly as an enemy.

Laura exhaled once and continued.

“Miss Fairfax, if what I’m saying now is unpleasant, feel free to ignore it.But please, just once, remember this when you make the most important decision in your life.And observe those around you.See how happily couples who abandon practical concerns and marry for love alone really live.”

Olivia had never heard Laura express her opinion at such length before.But what was truly surprising was Laura’s demeanor while speaking.Her face was serious, her voice firm, and her gaze calmly settled.There wasn’t a trace of the gentle demeanor she usually displayed.

But having finished stating her opinion, Laura quickly returned to her usual kind teacher self.She smiled and said,

“Now, let’s return to more practical matters.You said earlier you recited French poetry to your friends, didn’t you?Let me hear it too.Pay attention to your pronunciation and breathing.”

Olivia recited the poem as Laura wished and received a few pointers on her delivery.

But Olivia wasn’t really listening to the feedback.In truth, she was lost in other thoughts throughout the recitation.What her teacher had just said kept lingering in her mind.

It was a very practical matter.Realizing how well her teacher grasped the issue, Olivia felt a surge of admiration.

After the lesson with Laura ended, she immediately went straight to her mother and recounted their earlier conversation.

Mrs. Fairfax was about to scold her daughter for meddling in her uncle’s marriage prospects.But when Olivia shared Laura’s perspective, she fell silent.

“Mother, isn’t it amusing?Teacher’s parents were so reckless they eloped to have her, yet she holds the complete opposite view.What’s that called again?Irony, wasn’t it?”

“That’s not quite irony.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s only natural for your teacher to have a realistic awareness about marriage.She’s likely spent her entire life paying the price for her parents’ mistakes her whole life.”

Olivia didn’t quite understand her mother’s words.

“The price?Do you saying she was treated like Judge Andersen’s illegitimate daughters?”

“Yes.”

“No way.Even if she’s illegitimate, how could a daughter of the great aristocratic Pendleton family be treated…”

“It wouldn’t be exactly the same as the Andersen’s daughters.Being a Pendleton, no one would’ve dared spit on her openly.But being whispered about and ostracized— that would’ve been the same as for the Andersen girls.In places like London, where high-nosed people rule, they torment others in more cunning and refined ways.Poor soul.How much heartache she must have endured spending her youth there.”

“Then, will Teacher reject Uncle’s feelings?”

“Miss Pendleton is smart enough to have learned the ways of the world from her own misfortune.She’s likely learned over a lifetime:Never forget who you are.Never step beyond your place.”

Mrs. Fairfax furrowed her brow, lost in thought for a moment, then muttered,

“Olivia, congratulations.It seems unlikely your uncle and your teacher will end up together.Just as you wished.”

That evening, Olivia mulled over her conversation with her mother throughout dinner.Unlikely, she’d said.Her ever-optimistic mother had said their union was unlikely.Then it truly was unlikely.

That conclusion strangely split Olivia’s heart into two parts.

The selfish, childish Olivia within her felt immense relief about this matter.Wasn’t it fortunate that Miss Pendleton, the worst possible match for her uncle, was so aware of her place?If Miss Pendleton was so resolute, she’d reject her uncle’s feelings and remain merely a governess.For Olivia, this was the best news she could hope for.

But within the selfish, childish Olivia lived another Olivia.A kind, compassionate Olivia.And that kind, compassionate Olivia felt entirely differently.

She pitied her teacher.

Olivia paused her spoon mid-soup and looked at Miss Pendleton.She was eating her soup, sweeping the bottom of her plate as if painting with a brush.It was an elegance that left Olivia dazed every time she saw it.

Olivia had always wondered why a woman like Miss Pendleton had to live as a hired servant.Now the question was answered.Her birth had led to her rejection from society and exclusion from the marriage market.

“If only Teacher’s parents had married properly, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Olivia thought to herself.A wave of regret, unlike anything she’d ever felt for Judge Andersen’s illegitimate daughters, came rushing in.

In truth, over the past month, though she hadn’t admitted it to herself, Olivia knew her teacher was a good person.Kind, diligent, and intelligent.Despite looking at her with thorny jealousy, Olivia couldn’t help but acknowledge Laura was a good person.

Yet that teacher had been labeled an illegitimate child, like the Andersen daughters, and pointed at her whole life.For over a decade in society, no less.That fact weighed heavily on Olivia’s heart.

The next day, during a French lesson on a garden bench, seeing her teacher speaking softly to her made Olivia’s pent-up pity burst forth.Without thinking, she blurted out,

“Teacher, don’t you ever resent your parents?”

“My parents?”

“Because of the mistakes your parents made, you’ve suffered all sorts of losses, haven’t you?”

“That’s true.”

Laura nodded calmly.

“If I had parents like yours, I’d surely feel wronged.”

Laura looked at Olivia.The girl, gazing at her with a sullen expression, was visibly full of pity for her.Laura smiled.Then she slipped her hand into the collar of her dress.Soon, a pendant necklace emerged from beneath her clothing.

Olivia looked at Laura with a puzzled expression.Laura took the pendant from her neck, opened its lid, and showed it to Olivia.Olivia peered inside and gasped.

“Is that a picture of you, Teacher?No, wait, the eye color’s different…”

“It’s my mother.”

“…She looks just like you!”

“We’re very alike.Except for the gray eyes I inherited from my father, I’m the spitting image of my mother.When I became an adult, I tried on a dress my mother wore in her youth, and the measurements didn’t differ a bit.”

“That’s amazing.Wow…”

Olivia gazed at the picture for a moment.She was a beautiful woman.Dazzlingly beautiful.Just like the Laura sitting before her.

“This picture was secretly drawn by my father when he first met my mother.”

Olivia looked up at Laura.Laura was smiling.

“The year he turned twenty-one, my father visited the Pendleton household to paint my grandmother’s portrait.That day, he saw my mother and fell in love at first sight.But it was a relationship that could never be.So he steeled himself and focused solely on his painting.My grandmother cherished my mother dearly and always kept her close, even during the portrait sessions.While painting, my mother would sit by my grandmother, embroidering.My father stole glances at her and, back in his quarters, captured her image from memory.In this tiny form.”

Olivia listened to Laura’s story with rapt attention.It was romantic.More so than any melodrama she’d ever seen.

“But as the painting neared completion, my father had to prepare to leave.He couldn’t delay.The promised deadline was less than a month away.On the final day, when he had to add the last touches, my father finished my mother’s picture alone in his room.A picture to put in a pendant, to keep close to his heart always.That night, a maid came to his quarters.She was my mother’s personal maid.She handed him a note.My father unfolded it.It read: ‘If you can’t take your eyes off me, run away with me.’”

Olivia felt a shiver run through her.

“Wow, that’s incredible.And then?”

“The next day, they ran away together.But when my uncle found out, instead of reporting it, he immediately sent men to search the area.He likely thought if he caught them quickly, he could bring my mother back without public scandal.But by then, they had already become husband and wife before a priest.”

“Then, you…”

Olivia couldn’t finish her sentence.She couldn’t bring herself to say “illegitimate” in front of her teacher.Laura finished for her.

“Yes, it’s ambiguous to call me illegitimate.But marriage requires procedures, as you know, Miss Fairfax.An officially issued license is needed, and registration in the Church of England’s records for the marriage to be recognized.Moreover, at my mother’s age back then, parental consent was required for marriage.But my father, fresh from America, didn’t know these details, and my mother, terrified her uncle would track her down and take her away, wanted to become the wife of the man she loved as quickly as possible.”

Olivia held her breath, engrossed in her teacher’s story.

“In the end, they lived as husband and wife in hiding after a marriage that held no legal weight.They planned to go to Gretna Green, where elopements were possible, to have a proper ceremony once the surveillance died down.But my mother fell ill with morning sickness compounded by influenza, making long-distance travel impossible.In the end, she gave birth to me while ailing and passed away in the process.”

Olivia stared at her teacher, stunned.It was a more tragic ending than any melodrama she’d ever seen.