Chapter 27 #2
His face was drawn and tired, the lightness in his step replaced by a weary shuffle. He entered the room and seemed to bring in with him a pall of despair.
“It appears,” Father began slowly, “that Yeonhee has run off to take justice into her own hands.”
“What does that mean?” Mother demanded. “Where is she?”
“She was spotted tailing Inspector Wuyeong, and last seen questioning his servants about a certain journal she wished returned to her. I think it must be this book of letters you so vaguely told me about, Haewon-ah.” He sighed. “Then she disappeared.”
“But why? All over a journal? I don’t understand! Yeobo, you must do something! Oh—” Mother gripped the back of her neck, taking a few staggering steps back. Jade rushed over to hold her. “I think I shall faint!”
Father massaged his temples, then sat before the low table where their untouched meal lay.
He poured himself a drink, then simply peered down at his liquid reflection.
“I went to Five Willows, since Yeonhee visits there often. You girls call it your second home, after all. But Merchant Hyoyang hadn’t seen her.
Then this young gentleman approached me; he must have seen my distress.
I didn’t know it was Lord Yu until he introduced himself. ”
Haewon straightened in shock. She must have misheard.
“His Lordship shared with me that he knew this officer very well and offered his assistance—” Father looked up, his gray brows puckered. “Oh dear, Lord Yu asked that I keep quiet of his assistance. I forgot about that.”
Her pulse thundering, Haewon could only stare at her father. She was half convinced this was all a feverish nightmare. “Surely,” she barely managed to say, “surely you did not disclose our predicament to him … abeoji…?”
“You shared everything with a stranger?!” Mother finally crumpled to the floor, leaning into Jade’s embrace. “Oh, we are ruined! We are done for! Lord Yu will certainly feed us to the scandalmongers—!”
“Lord Yu is a good man. A better man than most. It is, all thanks to him, that our family was not already ruined by the gibang-house incident,” Father noted, as a thoughtful look passed across his countenance.
“Indeed, Lord Yu was very considerate of my distressed state. He took the lead, questioning shopkeepers and servants. Lord Yu has even arranged for me to have an audience with Inspector Wuyeong tomorrow. And I was feeling so ill with panic, I am ashamed to say I collapsed more than once. His Lordship assisted me—”
“And where is he now?” Mother stood up again, hands fluttering against her throat. “Where is this kind gentleman you speak of?”
Jade had moved to the window, then turned. “The moon is finally out, and I think I see someone. He’s just leaving. Isn’t that him?”
A gasp punctured the room, and Haewon realized, with terror, that the gasp was her own.
“He is here?” Mother cried.
“Lord Yu escorted me here. A polite young man,” Father added, his voice heavy with fatigue. “He insisted that I oughtn’t to travel alone in my condition, especially not with rumors of a tiger nearby.”
“And you let him leave?” Mother cried. “Alone?”
“I did suggest he stay the night. I assured him we have welcomed travelers before him,” Father supplied. “But he refused. The fortress gate will soon close for the night, so he insisted on staying at the inn.”
“Aigoo! What does discretion matter when there are tigers in the woods? Tigers!” Mistress Myeongok’s voice trembled. “What will our neighbors say when they find his dead body right outside our own home?”
Father rubbed his eyes, visibly exhausted, but Mother pressed on in a rising voice.
“And if Lord Yu dies—for he surely will die!—we’ll lose all hope of finding Yeonhee.
Lord Yu knows this Wuyeong scoundrel, knows where to search.
And if His Lordship is devoured alive, we’ll have nothing.
No connections, no answers, nothing at all! ”
Father hesitated. “Yeobo, he turned down the invitation firmly. I cannot force him.”
Haewon shifted uneasily. She tried not to imagine Lord Yu riding through the darkness, where danger prowled.
But mostly, she recalled travelers complaining about the inn, of bedbugs leaping about on the straw mats occupants were made to sleep on.
Her soul shuddered to think of Lord Yu, the gentleman who had likely been raised with the reverence of a prince, attempting to sleep in such a place.
“Father,” Haewon whispered, feeling a sheen of cold dampen her collar. “Mother is right. You shouldn’t have let him go.”
“Indeed,” Jade chimed in, “the roads aren’t safe at night.”
Father folded his arms as he stared ponderously at his drink. But at length, he stood. “Very well. I’ll go bring him back. Though, mark my words, he will not be pleased.”
As the door closed behind him, Mother collapsed once more, muttering to herself in a frenzy. As for herself, Haewon felt as though she were going to be ill.
“We ought to return to our quarters,” Jade whispered, eyeing Haewon. “It would be improper for us to be here when Father brings in the gentleman.”
As they slipped into their room, Jade added, “We will remain in our room. You won’t even have to see him.”