That evening, I returned from a pleasant meal with Jimmy at a traditional Scottish restaurant.
Personally, I liked the dish called haggis the most. It had a taste that reminded me of a sundae I had in my previous life.
“The English say haggis is disgusting, but that’s nonsense from people who don’t know anything about food!”
Jimmy, someone from Edinburgh, seemed to have a lot of negative feelings about England, but he was very happy to see me happily eat haggis.
Shortly after returning to the mansion.
“Emily, come here for a second.”
Helena called for me, so I entered her room. I quickly read the papers she had handed me, and I found myself reading them in awe.
“This is…”
Britain’s most haunted cemetery, Greyfriars Kirkyard. These documents pertained to an investigation of some of the statues there.
Helena explained, “The statues Jimmy saw moving, I looked into where they originated from. All sources point to Lille, which is in France.”
It was bizarre.
Originally, in the early 15th century, it was said that the statue of a saint was created by the residents of Lille to honor the souls of martyrs. At that time, the villagers suffered under the rule of a tyrant and were exploited by the lord. The parish priest and his clergy revealed this to the world.
The indignant lord then murdered the priest and his people.
“But thanks to this, the king’s army was dispatched, and the people who escaped from the evil lord built the statues to console the souls of the dead.”
Helena added that these statues were called Aveugle Révélateur.
Which translated to Blind Revealer.
I murmured the impressive name under m breath and took her word for it. “Hm, it’s a more touching story than I expected.”
“Here’s one more interesting fact. According to an urban legend, these blind revealers want to show something…” Touching a corner of the document, Helena continued, “They move their bodies and point in a particular direction.”
As soon as I heard that, I remembered what I heard from Jimmy a few days ago.
“They were pointing at something.”
If that was the case, what were the statues trying to tell him?
***
Once I left Helena’s room, Mr. Henry’s head maid was waiting for me.
“Miss Emily, if you don’t mind…”
Her hesitation in bringing it up slightly baffled me.
“…Was he waiting to eat with me?”
The maid nodded, embarrassed.
Obviously, when I left the mansion, I told the servants that I wouldn’t have dinner with him, but the message didn’t seem to get delivered.
“Oh, no.”
When I went to Mr. Henry to explain the situation, he shook his head, saying it was fine. He really was a gentleman among gentlemen.
“There must have been some sort of mistake in the process. Let’s have a cup of tea later.”
After he finished his meal, Henry and I enjoyed some refreshments in the drawing room.
Time passed. In the drawing room on the first floor of the mansion.
On the table, where Mr. Henry and I sat facing each other, there were small scones, butter, jam, and cheese.
“The tea tastes wonderful.”
As I took a sip of the fragrant, bitter black tea, Henry smiled softly and nodded.
“I can’t say it enough, but the maid who’s in charge of the kitchen is very skilled.”
“I agree.”
“Did you enjoy your dinner?”
“The restaurant Jimmy showed me was very good. The dish called haggis was more palatable than I thought…” I answered casually.
Suddenly, his expression darkened.
“…It was Jimmy who had dinner with you?”
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
Mr. Henry bit his lip, then shook his head. “It’s nothing. Never mind.”
“…”
I didn’t care about his response, but… Henry’s expression wasn’t good enough to continue being insensitive. Wasn’t that the expression he had when we first came to the mansion?
In the end, I couldn’t help but cup his chin and raise his head. His eyes were almost bulging out of their eye sockets.
“Henry, look me in the eye.”
“…”
“Tell me what you’re thinking. I won’t be disappointed no matter what you say.”
Henry Langham, whose lips had been pressed into a thin line for a long time, spoke only after I let go of his chin.
“Well, actually…”
A business acquaintance he met earlier in the afternoon told him something.
“Look, Henry, there’s the woman rumored to be in love with you.”
“Don’t say things so recklessly. She and I are just good friends.”
“Let’s not dawdle on the important things. Anyway, Mrs. Carter, right? The most beautiful widow in London.”
“Mrs. Carter, why…”
The acquaintance kept talking about it for no reason at all.
“I think she’s in that kind of relationship with a doctor, wouldn’t you say, old chap?”
“Stop talking nonsense. You’re disgracing her honor…”
“Do you think I’m lying? I saw it with my own eyes.”
Henry, who didn’t believe him, even punched his chest like he was frustrated.
“I saw her being escorted by a man in front of the Edinburgh Medical School building and climb into a carriage you gave her!”
I stared at Mr. Henry who had finished recounting the conversation. He couldn’t say anything more with his head down, but some time passed before he spoke again.
“I scolded my friend, saying he shouldn’t just gossip.” He looked at me with sad eyes. “I know it’s very silly of me.”
“…”
“Emily, no matter who you meet, no matter what you’re doing with Jimmy, you’re free to do it. And I… don’t deserve to be jealous of Jimmy.” Henry Langham’s expression darkened even more.
Well, I should do something before it gets worse. I spoke frankly.
“Henry, it’s true that I met up with Jimmy. As your friend said, we got into a carriage together.”
“…!” Henry’s eyes were tainted with shock, as if he didn’t want it to be true.
“But it was because of Jimmy’s request.” I briefly described what Jimmy wanted me to do in a respectable way.
Mr. Henry looked convinced when I said it was only to clear up the misunderstanding that Jimmy was receiving.
“I see.”
“Don’t get any strange ideas, all right? Oh, I’ll bring Jimmy here next time and we can talk about it.”
Jimmy said he’d visit the mansion at a later date. Mr. Henry’s face turned red when I added an explanation.
“…I’ve shown you such an ugly side of myself…”
“One more thing.” I rose from my seat with a smile. “In the future, if you have any questions, please ask me directly, okay?”’
“…All right.”
I approached him, who had moved his head away like a child reflecting on his mistakes, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“Good night.”
When I reached the door and looked back, I saw Henry, who was stiff as a stone with his hand on his cheek.
How cute.
I chuckled and returned to my room.
***
Two days after that.
I was alone in a strange place.
“If you need more information about the statues, will you meet them?”
Not only did Helena inform me of the Legend of the Living and Moving Statues, but she also pinpointed their distribution channels. Thanks to this, I made an appointment with McMerrin, an antique dealer and art expert who’s famous in Edinburgh.
This was McMerrin’s shop. It had a luxurious vibe to it. As I walked inside, the bell on the door rang.
“Welcome.” A young man who was guarding the shop greeted me.
“I have an appointment with Mr. McMerrin.”
Another door opened and a large, middle-aged man appeared.
With a red face and neat appearance, he asked, “Are you Mrs. Carter?”
“Yes. I have an appointment with Mr. McMerrin.”
“I’m George McMerrin. Nice you meet you, ma’am.”
George McMerrin.
It was a name I heard from somewhere, but that was it.
“Nice to meet you as well.”
Soon the man looked at me with a troubled smile. “I heard of you from Mrs. Blavatsky. What should we do?”
When asked what had happened, McMerrin scratched the back of his head and explained the situation. He put time aside in his schedule to meet me, but a regular called him all of a sudden.
“Suddenly, there’s something that needs to…”
It was a situation I understood. Most of these antique-collecting customers were aristocrats, and most of them could afford anyone with their money. Only those who provide excellent services to such people could survive in the world of business.
“He’s the most important customer of our store, and I know it’s rude of me…”
“It’s all right.” I shrugged. I couldn’t endanger this man’s livelihood to get some information.
McMerrin’s face lit up as if relieved by my words. “Thank you very much! You’re very kind. Oh, speaking of which…”
He pointed to the young man acting as a guard for the shop. “That’s Simon, a friend who looks after the store when I’m away. He knows more about the Living and Moving Sculptures than I do, so why don’t you two chat for a bit?”
I looked at the young man. His clothes were very shabby, but…
Only then did I recognize he was a very handsome man ill-suited to work as a guard for such a place. I wonder why. Even though this was my first time meeting him, I felt strange.
At the same time, a mysterious anxiety crept inside my chest.
