Chapter 62: Chapter 62 – Who´s the happiest now?

As unheard of as it sounded to some, this time the commitment between the protagonists was real. Oscar knew this because, in the days after the show, nothing else was talked about in town. Young Seymour was to marry the oldest of the Cornells! Well, neither of the two future spouses backed down from what they said before those hundreds of spectators! They did not back down, nor should they think of doing so.

Perhaps, at the present moment, Madeleine was the person they should be most concerned about in that regard. That is, she had been rejected on the same day that the guy she claimed she no longer wanted to marry proposed to her. Wouldn't it be possible that she had just said yes to comply? With so many people watching, refusing the commitment would have given even more to talk about.

So it was possible that the protagonist had chosen to say yes in public but, later, already in the privacy of her house, given notice to Patrick Seymour that she had no intention of marrying him. Doing things like this would also have caused rumours, of course, but it would have been a much more discreet way of dealing with the problem.

Fortunately for everyone, it was not in Madeleine's mind to give the situation another twist. And this she herself confirmed, a couple of days later, when she sent the villain a letter.

Albert could not do as he had when he was in London, ignoring the missives that were presented to him, even if they were from someone like Madeleine. He couldn't, nor did he want to. Well, with the news of the wedding already the favorite gossip of the villagers, and knowing that the Cornells had been their neighbors for decades, it could happen that what was contained in that letter was something important. Perhaps news about the wedding, considering that in the envelope the leading character had unnecessarily introduced herself as the "future Mrs. Seymour."

That is why Albert took the trouble to read it and, when finished, deposited it before Oscar without changing his grave expression but recommending him to read it if he wanted to laugh for a while.

That way of saying it, as if the content of the letter had not amused him at all but he imagined that the other would know how to see the humorous side of it, only fueled Oscar's curiosity. It didn't take twice for him to take the paper and begin to read Madeleine's painstaking handwriting:

«To my nothing dear Mr. Albert Northrop:

“I am writing to let you know that you no longer have to worry about me. Well, after several months in which I submitted myself to an enormous effort to attract the attention of Patrick Seymour and also make him a good man, I have managed to get him to accept me as his legitimate wife.

"I imagine you´re already aware of the news, since the happy event of the proposal took place the other night, at the theater, shortly after you had the rudeness to suggest that you wanted nothing with me and insult me in such embarrassing way... Even if you hear, don't worry about it. I forgive you. Now that I know that my marriage is assured, with a gentleman much more illustrious than some will ever be, I would not want to stir up quarrels with old acquaintances.

“I simply hope that you have been taught a lesson, that from now on you no longer pretends to be nice to young ladies of marriageable age, if you have no intention of walking down the aisle with any of them, since this can cause misunderstandings. And well, what else to say? Know also that, with your indecision, you have lost your chance to stay with me forever. I'll stay with Patrick until death do us part, know that.

»Lastly, I wanted to let you know that you should get ready, because you will soon receive an invitation to the wedding. My fiancé told me not to invite you, but to be honest, I don't see why we shouldn't. Yes, it is true that you still owe me an apology. And that, with the things you said to me the last time we met, one doesn't want to talk to you again. But why don´t invite you and her family? We've known each other all our lives, it would be stupid not to let you come just for a little fight.

“That said, please note that I'll reserve a front row seat for you, so you don't miss a second of the imminent happiness that awaits me!

“PS: You can bring that stupid Oscar with you if you want. I forgive him too. I understand that it must not have been easy for him to evade my questions about you, when it turned out that he was not only your employee, but also your biggest supplier when it came to satisfying those perverse fetishes that you got. The poor guy has gone through so much misery in his life..., that in recent times he seems like he would do anything in exchange for a few extra coins.

«Ah, but for the record, that preference of yours does not bother me at all! It is obvious that I already knew that there are people who are born with bad taste, but what can I do? As long as you both behave properly at my wedding, I don't mind if you come."

After a hasty farewell in which Madeleine again reminded Albert he would soon hear back about the wedding date and invitations, the letter concluded. And Oscar, in short, had been laughing almost from the first paragraph.

"What's wrong with this woman with front row seats?" he laughed. “Or that she would have accepted Patrick just for hitting you in the nose!”

"That's just what she seems to have done," replied Albert, still annoyed by the tone of that letter. “She doesn't think about the consequences of her actions!”

"I just hope the wedding is soon. The less time they have to make an optimal connection of their neurons, the less chance there is that they will change their mind again and refuse to join in holy matrimony with the abnormal other. Ah, but why are you so serious? It's not like you didn't expect such lovely words from Madeleine.”

“What I don't understand is why you're still so calm despite everything. The missive may be absurd from start to finish, but… But that postscript was completely off the mark! Who does she think she is to insinuate such a thing?” That must have been one of the few times Oscar saw the villain raise his voice. “Does she think we're going to accept and go to her liaison after such a letter?!”

“I wouldn't mind,” Oscar confessed, still in a good mood. “Did you know that this is already the third time that she insinuates that I dedicate myself to prostitution? The first time it was outrageous, the second time I was a little confused. Now I'm almost getting used to it.” Before Albert could complain again at such treatment, he added. “You don't need to bother with it. After all, she doesn't know what she's saying. Now, the question is, are you going to answer?”

The silence, coupled with Albert's averting his eyes, was answer enough for Oscar. No, the villain was angry with the protagonist. Not because of what she would have mentioned about him, but because of what she said about the one that now his partner. It was obvious that he didn't feel like answering! If it hadn't been for Oscar holding the letter at that moment, Albert might even have taken it and burned it with the help of a candle.

“Of course, it's just a suggestion on my part. You don't have to listen,” Oscar proceeded. “But I think it would be fun to go to that wedding… under our own rules.”

“Explain yourself.”

"Let's see… If Madeleine wants us to sit in the front row, let's better choose a seat at the back of the church. If they arrange a table for us, during the invitation, near the bride and groom, let's say that we prefer to sit at the quietest end of the room. We decline any offer to be close to these two in order to "witness their happiness", using as an excuse that what we were really looking for was some peace of mind and we are only there to comply.”

Albert didn't say anything, but he did listen to Oscar carefully. If he was hesitant it wasn't just because of the grievances presented, but because if the Seymours invited the Northrop family to the wedding, it would be difficult to convince his father not to attend. As Oscar had mentioned, appearances were important for people like that.

"The more discreet we are, the better." And… if we get bored during the time of the dance that´ll follow, we can always make a little getaway the two of us,” Oscar suggested, temptingly. “If Madeleine makes sure that we don´t make her look ugly, but that we really have zero interest in her marriage, she will surely burn. Instead, if we stay here or try too hard not to go, we'll give her what she wants. In other words, if we do the latter, she´d think that she hurts our pride that she decided to settle down with that jerk.”

"That second part wasn't necessary," Albert murmured from there a few moments later. “You had already convinced me with the first one.”

Oscar was satisfied to hear this and the subject died there, with that decision already made.

No, it wasn't just that he wanted to win Madeleine in this non-verbal fight they were having. To be honest, he resented lavish celebrations and large events almost as much as the villain. As much as he wanted to take revenge, he wouldn't go to a place like this on purpose. But this was a special case. He needed to verify that the plot closed as it should, that the protagonist married the one she was destined for and never bothered him again.

With the chapter on his death closed on him and his would-be killer on his side, Oscar felt confident enough to propose:

"What would you think if I am the one to answer Madeleine's letter?"

“Are you sure you want to do it? You don't need to bother, I imagine in a couple of weeks she'll write again about the invitations. And then yes, there´ll be no choice but to answer.”

“Oh, but I want to. When would she send this letter? Surely at such an hour she is still waiting for you to write an answer, however short and devoid of feeling it may be!”

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"That's exactly what bothers me." Seeing that Oscar was already picking up a pen and paper to draft an answer, Albert inquired, guessing that it was not a good thing. “What do you propose?”

But Oscar didn't want to reveal it right away, he just asked Albert to relax and listen to what he would say next. Because, as he wrote, he would read what would be contained in that missive he planned to send. Since Madeleine's original message was addressed to the villain, it was only logical that he, too, would be aware of the reply that would be given.

"Sometimes dear Madeleine:

"It's me, Oscar. Did you miss my letters? I'm sure you did, because I wasn't much to write to you before, and now that you've finally managed to catch Patrick, I imagine you'll have a bit of a hard time corresponding with other men anyway.

I´m sending you this letter in reply to the one you recently sent to Albert Northrop. You know, he would have answered it himself but the emotion overwhelmed him at the precise moment in which he read your funny words, so he did not find the strength to put on paper the ineffable phrases that came to his mind. Hence, he delegated to me the honor of carrying out this task.

“First of all, you must know that it is a great joy for us to know of your commitment. Hopefully this will outlast the money in young Seymour's bank account and the wedding can take place soon. Which, speaking of this, we would love to attend.

“I must confess that neither Albert nor I are used to such events, in any case. Therefore, despite the fact that we are tremendously excited to attend, we would prefer not to stand out too much. I mean, things like sitting in the front row would be great, but we are afraid that by occupying such important places the rest of the guests will think what it is not. Because let's see, people talk and many will wonder what the bride intends by inducing several men who are not from her family to occupy the benches designated for such. What would Patrick even think?

That is why we have concluded: “It would be better to give the bride and groom a certain margin, so as not to steal the limelight from them”.

“I hope you don't mind our unwillingness to be the talk of such an event and also excuse us for not being able to invite you back to our own liaison. Since, I am afraid, in this country and date that would not be well seen. We will therefore wait expectantly for these invitations.

»PS: The stupid servant accepts your far-fetched apology and knows that what you said, you didn't mean it. I hope that, with what I have mentioned above, you will be convinced to give Albert and me a discreet place - both in the parish and in the building where the banquet is held - so that we can carry out those alleged perversions of which you speak with the reserve they deserve.”

"If you send that, that woman will tear up the letter and will ban you from participating in the event for life," Albert pointed out, with a mixture of embarrassment and anticipation.

From how he smiled upon hearing a few lines, it was obvious that he was liking the look that wording took. And that, despite worrying that it caused damage, he would not make an effort to change it either.

"Do you think she will do that? What a bad character some have, right? Nothing can be said to them anymore.”

"Send it," the villain laughed, finally free of the tension built up since he started reading Madeleine's words. “With any luck, she might get angry enough to stop sending us the invitations.”

"No, if that's the idea, I'm not sure I want to send anything anymore!" Oscar joked.

But, of course, he did send it. He wanted to attend the event out of pure curiosity but, if in the end the couple decided that it was better that he didn´t appear there, the world would not fall on him for it either. At least he knew one person who, whether he asked or not, would attend the wedding and fill him in on everything that happened that day.

Having sent that letter, neither Oscar nor Albert waited for another reply. And it was not because they were convinced that Madeleine would not be noticed again. In fact, they were sure they'd hear from her soon, whether she'd taken her word badly or not. The point was that, and this is something that Oscar had already agreed with the villain since before the charity took place, in a few days they would leave Snodland.

While the protagonist and the rest of the characters prepared to have the function ready, Albert and Oscar struggled to manage their own work matters. So that now, in early April, they could make a little getaway to Oxford, to pay a visit to that cold-hearted cousin who, they had no doubt, had stolen from them.

Barely two days after they had written back to Madeleine, they took a coach to London. And, from there, they used the railway to reach their destination.

This was not a long journey, but it was tiring, since it took them about three days to reach Oxford. At the time, Oscar couldn't help but wonder what was so important to Albert that he would leave Thornfield like that, out of the blue, and launch into a chase they had no guarantee they were even going to win. Because, at that point the villain had already registered everything he had to register, coming to the conclusion that Thomas had stolen an object from him. But Thomas had done that in January, ergo, he had plenty of time to resell it.

And if it was a matter of money, Oscar could have wheedled it out of his cousin after a bit of persuasion. He didn't think that, after how his parting had ended, Thomas would be very vehement in denying him something that was fair. If we add to this the fact that Oscar had a matter to settle at his cousin's university, the result is that it would be common sense for him alone to go to that city, as soon as he had a few days off.

Now, Albert ignored him not once, but several times when he suggested going to Oxford alone to take care of both matters. It seemed that the thing that the villain had to recover was too valuable for him to tell what it was about and, therefore, it was unnecessary to insist that he talk about it: He had already decided that he would keep it secret.

Given the panorama, Oscar believed that, once they arrived in the city, Albert would immediately want to go to the gallery run by Thomas and his friends. But no, none of that. After checking into the appropriate hotel, where they would stay until all the entanglements were resolved, Albert himself suggested that they first go and visit the university. This was because, in his own words, "they shouldn't wait any longer to clear up misunderstandings with the Stevens." And, now that they were in the right place, the sooner those documents were obtained, the better.

Therefore, that first day they were in the city they limited themselves to settling in the hotel and making an appointment with the dean of the university. Who, this time, offered them the documents they were looking for without putting up any resistance.

Perhaps if everything was so easy, it was because Albert was there. And it is that, although none of the current Northrop studied in this building, this family had always excelled in terms of studies. Although they were, in general, discreet people who did not like to show off their exploits, there were certain academics who could not be fooled. Academics like the ones at Oxford, for that matter, who were aware of how excellent they were. Not for having taught them, but for having heard about them from other colleagues and professional friends.

Albert may have repeated on numerous occasions that he was not one of those individuals whose brains reached the floor, glued as he always should have been to his textbooks. But the reality was that everyone around him thought so.

Oscar saw it clearly when they asked the university staff for a favor. For although they paid attention to him when he justified himself by saying that he was Thomas's cousin, who came on behalf of parents who were worried about his son, the real persuasion in the dean was made by Albert. And the villain isn't that he was bragging about his accomplishments, or that he was trying to threaten the staff. Rather it was that, just by hearing his name, they recognized him immediately.

Or well, rather, they recognized his grandfather. Apparently, an ancestor of the Northrops did study a couple of courses there and, although more than half a century had passed, they still remembered and admired him as one of the best students they had ever had.

Either way, it served as a distraction. Because, while some teachers were busy trying to get information from Albert about his occupation and that of the rest of his uncles and cousins, Oscar took the opportunity to ask those who were in the offices for the reports on Thomas. And those people, seeing their superiors busy and even animated by such an illustrious visit, did not even stop to ask too many questions about how these papers would be used.

Having occupied an entire afternoon for this task, Oscar and Albert returned to the hotel in time for dinner.

They were both exhausted, not from the trip, but from having to listen to several bombastic monologues from people they didn't even care to meet. But at the same time, they were satisfied. It wasn't just that they had obtained the documents proving that Thomas had dropped out of college of his own free will, along with his last semester's grades, it was that they also had a letter written by the director of the center and addressed to the Stevens. With that and all the papers signed and stamped, it was impossible for anyone browsing through them to think they were forgeries.

Considering finished the matters that forced Oscar to remain in this city, the only thing left was to resolve Albert before taking the road back to Snodland. And what to say about this? The thing promised to be a little more complicated than what was already settled.

To prove that Thomas had been lying, Oscar only had to visit the university and talk to a couple of people in administration. To recover what Albert had lost, however, the first step would have to be to have a not exactly pleasant conversation with Thomas and, from there, who knew what would come next. 

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