The reason Rose came to be acquainted with Mrs. Harrison—who held a prominent place in Walsingham’s social circles—was thanks to her friend Anthony.
Anthony was a graduate of Walsingham University and a friend who had worked alongside Rose as a teacher at the night school. He introduced Rose to his sister, Mrs. Harrison, who took quite a liking to Rose, the guileless country girl.
From then on, Mrs. Harrison invited Rose to every party, ball, and bazaar, helping her build connections with people in high society. Because she had received such great kindness, whenever Mrs. Harrison asked for small favors—like helping embroider handkerchiefs to sell at a bazaar, as she had today—Rose readily went to assist.
When Rose arrived at the Harrison residence, the hall was already buzzing with the chatter of guests. As she handed her hat and robe to a servant, Mrs. Harrison appeared at the entrance to greet her guests, her black hair swept up high and her luxurious purple velvet dress trailing elegantly behind her.
“Oh, Rose! Thank you for coming!”
She welcomed Rose with a radiant smile on her finely made-up face. True to the rumors that she owned over a thousand dresses, she was wearing yet another gown Rose had never seen before.
As always, Rose admired Mrs. Harrison’s dazzling beauty as she replied,
“Thank you for inviting me. But I’m really not very good with my hands, so I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”
“Don’t worry about that. If people hear the handkerchiefs were touched by you, they’ll buy them at a premium no matter how poorly made they are.”
Mrs. Harrison joked with a mischievous expression, and Rose couldn’t help but smile—until, at that moment, she heard the hearty laughter of a young man echoing from the hall. Rose’s eyes widened.
“Has Anthony come back from Queensland?”
Anthony had left for a journey across the sea to the continent after graduating last year. When Rose asked with a bright, eager face, Mrs. Harrison furrowed her delicate brows.
“Yes, that’s right. He came back yesterday. Ever since he arrived, he’s been going on endlessly about his travels—it’s enough to drive me mad. Honestly, how different can foreign countries really be? People from our country make such a fuss just because they’ve crossed the ocean. Oh my, but what happened to your dress?”
Having only just noticed the scorched hem of Rose’s dress, Mrs. Harrison stopped in surprise.
Rose discreetly tried to hide it and replied awkwardly,
“I was standing by the fireplace, lost in thought, and I ended up burning it.”
“My goodness, isn’t that terribly careless for a young lady with only one dress?”
Rose did receive an allowance from home, so her situation wasn’t dire.
Still, after paying for transportation and daily necessities, she saved what little remained and used it to buy dinners for the night classes, leaving her with no room to commission an extra dress.
Knowing this, Mrs. Harrison let out a short sigh and took Rose by the hand.
“Come with me for now. I’ll lend you a dress—go change.”
“Oh, no, it’s really fine, ma’am. If you don’t look closely, no one will notice. Please don’t worry.”
Rose refused repeatedly at the foot of the staircase leading to the second floor, but Mrs. Harrison’s expression was firm.
“I can’t possibly not worry at the thought of you coming to the bazaar in a burned dress. Don’t refuse—there are clothes everywhere. Go pick one.”
__________𓍯𓂃𓏧♡𓇢𓆸_________
Late in the evening, gentle piano music filled the hall of the Harrison residence.
Noble ladies with a fondness for painting worked on artworks to be sold at the bazaar in one corner of the hall, while officers gathered around a round table, drinking punch and enjoying a card game.
And in front of Mrs. Harrison and the women embroidering on the sofa sat a young man, endlessly entertaining them with his stories.
“People talk about the magnificent buildings in Queensland’s capital, but I believe its natural scenery deserves far greater praise. I still can’t forget the white limestone cliffs of the Riverton Strait. And that’s not all—when I visited the Shire Hills, which the poet Anderson called a paradise on earth, I even thought I’d like to spend my entire life there as a shepherd.”
Anthony, handsome like his sister, lounged deep into the sofa, smoking a cigar as he spoke of his travels. Having stayed the longest in Queensland, traces of the local accent had even crept into his speech.
As Rose embroidered while listening to his tales, she asked,
“Then could you see scenery as diverse in Queensland as we have in Westmis?”
Sensing the implication behind our Westmis, Anthony smiled teasingly.
“Rose, are you feeling slighted because I called Queensland a paradise on earth instead of our Westmis? Everyone, let’s give a round of applause for our beautiful patriot here.”
Laughter burst out around them. Rose shot him a sideways glare, but soon laughed along, embarrassed at having been seen through so easily.
Anthony held the cigar between his fingers and continued,
“If you ever get the chance, I hope you’ll cross the sea and visit the continent yourself. Once you do, you’ll realize just how narrow your world had been.”
“Yes. I hope that one day, I’ll get the chance to see that paradise for myself.”
Rose nodded obediently as she embroidered daffodils with yellow thread. Just then, one of the officers checking his cards at a nearby table leaned back in his chair and asked Anthony,
“Anthony, what’s the atmosphere like in Queensland these days? There are rumors that if war breaks out, Queensland will help the South gain independence. Is that how it feels on the mainland as well?”
“Oh dear, are we starting on war talk again?”
Mrs. Harrison complained irritably, clearly tired of the topic that surfaced every time people gathered.
But Anthony paid no mind to his sister’s annoyance and answered not only the questioner but everyone nearby.
“It’s true that Queensland and the South are economically intertwined. But Queensland has already abolished slavery, hasn’t it? There’s significant criticism within Queensland itself. So I doubt they’d officially side with the South.”
“But will war really happen?” an older noblewoman asked anxiously.
“President-elect Mason is touring the country right now, trying not to provoke the South.”
Anthony delivered news that was far from hopeful.
“In my opinion, it’s already too late. Before I returned from Queensland, I had a chance to meet some Southerners. They said that in every state that seceded from the Union, men are gathering to practice shooting. They’re preparing for war.”
Even so, the men nearby merely laughed boisterously.
“What good is preparation? They don’t have the means to fight us. A South that can’t even run a proper factory—what resources could they possibly use for war? Even if it does happen, it’ll end quickly with a Northern victory.”
“Still, I can’t help thinking we shouldn’t be so complacent. Honestly, aside from the officers here, how many of us have even had proper drill training? Probably only those from Waterford.”
At the mention of Waterford, Rose suddenly thought of her brothers and her fiancé and asked,
“If war breaks out, everyone from Waterford will be sent out, won’t they?”
“They’ll be the first to be called,”
Anthony replied with certainty.
No matter how firmly the goddess of victory might favor the North, war was a matter of human lives. For Rose, who had brothers—and even a fiancé—who could be sent into danger, it was impossible not to worry.
Fortunately, before her anxiety could deepen further, Mrs. Harrison shuddered theatrically and changed the mood.
“Enough of these headache-inducing stories. Mr. Martin! Could you play something brighter?”
“Please play ‘Gentlemen, March On.’”
Mrs. Harrison hurled a nearby cushion at her brother for provoking her. Anthony pretended to be struck down by it, and the atmosphere lightened at once.
After the laughter subsided, Anthony rose from his seat, extended a hand toward Rose, and said,
“Rose, let’s dance.”
“Oh, I still need to finish this embroidery,”
Rose replied regretfully as she declined.
But beside her, Mrs. Harrison pleaded,
“Oh, Rose, please—I’m begging you. Get that man out of my sight. He’s driving me mad.”
In the end, Rose yielded to Mrs. Harrison’s request and stood up. Together with Anthony, she headed toward the center of the hall to dance.
To the lively music, other couples were already pairing up and stepping onto the floor. Anthony glanced at the wine-colored dress Rose was wearing and looked slightly puzzled.
“That’s not a style you usually wear. Has your taste changed since I last saw you?”
Because of her red hair and striking features, Rose tended to attract unwanted attention whenever she dressed too flamboyantly, so even at parties she usually wore modest dresses with minimal exposure.
But the dress she wore now revealed the curves of her shoulders and chest and was lavishly adorned with ruffles.
Only then did Rose belatedly feel embarrassed as she answered,
“Mrs. Harrison lent it to me. I caught my dress on fire while standing by the fireplace.”
“Haha, you’re just as careless as ever.”
Asking after each other’s well-being, the two danced happily.
But just as ‘Gentlemen, March On’ ended and they moved into a polka, a commotion arose from the entrance of the hall.
When Rose turned her head, she saw Mrs. Harrison entering the hall with her husband, President Harrison.
“Oh, it seems the president has arrived.”
But before Rose could finish speaking, another person followed closely behind President Harrison. The color drained from Rose’s animated face, freezing there in an instant.
