Chapter 872: Ignoring His Morals
When Grandpa Valente reached the very end of his narration, he shot another glare at his son-in-law who had associated himself with that other old man.
Raylene had received the answer she was looking for as her father had not only explained how he had met Rutherford but also revealed where they had found her children later on as well.
However, her next question was the one that everyone had in mind.
“Does Father not like Lord Leopold?” She inquired with an innocent but curious look in her eyes.
Since she was talking about the old man of the Leopold family who was the former Marquess, it would be inappropriate to call him by his previous title as it now belonged to his son, the current Marquess.
Therefore, it was safe to use either Sir or Lord in such scenarios when a former Fief Lord was being addressed in a formal conversation.
Hence, Raylene had also made use of one such title which she deemed safe and also respectful for this purpose.
.....
She was right in doing so as many others also utilized this same title while referring to the old man.
Yvonne would have just called him the old man from the Leopold family or even Elna’s grandfather since they were among family but her mother cared more about maintaining proper etiquette than she ever could.
Therefore, she did not mind what her mother said as long as they got to hear what could have taken place for her grandfather to have such a low opinion about the man whom most revered in the business world.
She too did not have a good first interaction with him but she had already tossed both him and that brief conversation between them to the back of her mind.
Now that she had been reminded about him, she was quick to recall that her father, just like her, had been displeased with the way he had tried to look down on her at the Tanner tea party that had taken place over six months ago.
While he had done so after being prompted by his granddaughter, Elna Leopold, it did not help improve their view of him.
There was no denying that he was a great businessman as she had read and heard a lot about him.
However, Yvonne still wasn’t sure about the kind of person he was in real life.
At the same time, she wasn’t too affected by what the old man had tried to do on that day and hence had forgotten all about it.
Today’s topic had piqued her interest and now she was curious to know more about what could have taken place in her grandfather’s generation.
At the same time, she was also curious to know what the reason for her father to meet the old man of the Leopold family could be.
After all, she could not come up with any reason for the two men to meet, especially in the Commerce Guild since the two families had no business ties with each other.
Thus she could not decipher what had led to this meeting between the two men.
Her inability to find the right answer led her to glance at her father, who sadly wasn’t looking at her.
Rutherford was more curious about what could have caused the hostility between the two old men and thus was focusing his entire attention on his father-in-law right at that moment.
Realizing that she would gain no answers from him right now, she too turned and fixed her gaze on her grandfather who seemed to be lost in thought ever since her mother had tossed that follow-up question his way.
It did not take Grandpa Valente to come back to his senses after feeling the numerous pairs of eyes being aimed at him.
Letting out a little cough, he rubbed his neck while trying to figure out how to explain this matter to those of the younger generation.
When Yvonne saw the slight tint of red on his wrinkling cheeks, she could tell that he was embarrassed about something which further increased her curiosity about what he was about to reveal.
Grandpa Valente sighed when he found no route of escape after finding everyone staring at him with deep-set interest dripping from their eyes.
Therefore, he did not dilly-dally any longer and explained exactly how he had met and gotten to know that old man from the Leopold family.
“When I was younger...” He began narrating his past, one where he was still a bachelor and had not yet gotten married to his beloved wife.
When he was still an unmarried youngster, his parents were busy looking out for a well-behaved and virtuous bride for him soon after he had returned from the Academy.
His family was one of the few who had not partaken in the tradition of childhood betrothals as it was something their ancestors had forbidden them from doing.
Following their wise advice, his parents had not found any woman for him until he was of marriageable age.
After he had completed his heir studies, he had briefly mentioned his interest in the topic of marriage, hearing which his parents were ecstatic.
However, he was too shy to reveal that he had already fallen in love with one noble lady he had come across by accident.
Ignorant of this fact, his family revealed his decision to get married in their social circles and the responses he received were numerous.
A future Viscount wished to get married soon so offers came pouring in almost immediately.
However, he had already set his eyes on some other woman and thus had rejected most of these proposals that had been brought to his attention.
While this was one of the reasons, another was the fact that many of these young ladies were far too young for him and he wasn’t willing to be paired with them.
Therefore, he had rejected them all and revealed to his family what he had meant when he had mentioned marriage.
His parents were surprised to hear this but at the same time, they were ecstatic after hearing who he was talking about.
The young lady named Hannah who belonged to a lower noble family was said to be virtuous but her family wasn’t too active in the social circles so not much was known about her.
However, the part that everyone often mentioned was that she, as the eldest child of the family, had been an excellent caretaker of her little brothers.
This made her the perfect candidate to become a young mother as she already had years of experience in taking care of her brothers.
When he had heard the reason why his parents were willing to accept the bride of his choice, he felt irked but did not mull over it too much.
Seeing his obedience, his mother had approached Lady Hannah’s family and asked for her hand in marriage.
At that time, all he cared about was getting closer to her and becoming an indispensable part of her life just as she had become in his.
He had seen Hannah on numerous occasions and had fallen in love with her free soul as well as her caring nature from the very beginning.
Sadly, he was far too nervous to approach her straightaway and thus had ended up observing her from the shadows on numerous occasions.
His first encounter with her was when he had accidentally chanced upon her in an unlikely situation.
Spying on a young lady he did not know was not something he usually did but on that day, he had turned a blind eye towards his morals and watched her acting in a manner that others would frown upon.
Hidden out of sight, he watched how the young lady had quite skillfully climbed a tree, dressed in a heavy gown, just to rescue a kitten.
He had attended a tea party organized for youngsters when this incident had taken place.
While other ladies would have ignored the pitiful creature, she had gone beyond her abilities just to save the kitten which wasn’t even hers.
Watching her care for others more than her reputation, which most would have done in this situation, was one of the aspects that had drawn him close to her.
He had fallen in love at first sight when he saw her brave act, following which she had scurried away before anyone could catch her.
She was courageous enough to climb a tree, disregarding her etiquette just to save the kitten but once she was done, she hurried to recover the image of a young lady before others could witness her insolence.
This only made him chuckle at how adorable she was and henceforth, every time he attended any social events, his eyes sought to find her.
She was the perfect image of a noble lady before others but when no one was watching, she revealed her true self.
This was a part of Hannah’s charm that drew him towards her.
Therefore, just after a few encounters, he had decided who he wished to spend the rest of his life with.
However, he wasn’t the only one who had been watching her as there was someone else who had also set his eyes on the woman he had fallen in love with.
After all, Hannah’s charm wasn’t something that could be concealed perfectly, and hence it was obvious that others had also witnessed it.
‘How did I not see that coming?’ Yvonne swallowed a chortle after she heard her grandfather revealing the name of his rival in love.
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