"What sort of behaviour is this?" Soojung scolded the two girls. Haneul and Minah had tried to sneak into the house but hadn't been so lucky. Soojung and Minjun, Haneul's mother had noticed that Hanbyul had come home without the girls and had expressed severe disappointment in it.

"You are supposed to be the elder and more responsible one Haneul. And look at you now. Is this the example you are setting for your sister?" Minjun asked harshly. Haneul but her lip and held her silence. An explanation of her state would only result in angering the two women. 

"Off with you two. Clean yourselves up" Soojung said, knowing no explanations were coming. She wondered what had happened to keep them so tight lipped about it. But she knew the girls wouldn't do something scandalous. So for now they could let it slide. Perhaps Minjun could coerce it out of Haneul later.

"What happened at the estate?" Minah asked once they were in their room. "Nothing" Haneul said, blushing again. Minah raised an eyebrow. "Who was the gentleman?" she asked suspiciously. Her cousin's dishevelled appearance and flustered state while in proximity of a man had definitely brought up questions. 

"I don't know. This is the first time I saw him" Haneul told her as she attempted to fix her hair. "And you let him kiss you so intimately at the first meeting?!" Minah exclaimed. "What?" Haneul blanched. "Of course not! I accidentally crashed into him while looking for you. That was all that happened!"

Minah eyed her sister suspiciously. "He's not a secret love affair?" she cross questioned. Haneul shook her head. "Such a shame. He was good looking" Minah said with a sigh only to be hit with a pillow. 

"Did you two sleep well?" Hyunshik asked when Minah came down to breakfast. "Very well. How about you Uncle?" she asked, sitting down next to her aunt. Haneul was still upstairs and would be down shortly. "Good indeed. I would have slept in as well if not for the hustle bustle of the house waking me up" he told her. 

Minah took a piece of bread and buttered it while the maid served her a bowl of porridge. She refused the fruit and sent her off to serve Haneul who had just sit down at the table. Hanbyul appeared with a handful of letters and notes for Hyunshik who took them promptly and waved him off.

"Minah. You have a letter from your brother" Hyunshik said, asking Minjun to pass the letter over. "How is he?" he asked with a smile. Minah could sense Minjun's face stiffen with disdain. Haneul had the decency to be embarrassed at her Mother's behaviour while Soojung ignored the entire affair, knowing not to step in. "Very well I hope so" Minah said, focusing on the letter.

"He has started violin lessons" she said, halfway through the letter. "Let us pray he sticks to it. He left his piano lessens right after the third instructions" Soojung scowled. "Hopefully. He had been asking for them for a very long time" Minah agreed. "Boys his age rarely focus on one thing for a very long" Hyunshik said. 

"I might have to go to London soon" he told Minjun with a frown. "A business prospect has come up." "How long will you be gone for?" Minjun asked him. "Perhaps a week. No more than two I suspect" he told her. She nodded. 

"Did you know Minah, that when Haneul was very little she had packed her sunday frock and sat in my carriage, insisting I take her along?" he told Minah. "Papa!" Haneul protested indignantly. "I did not know this" Minah laughed. "She did. The very bag also contained a huge slab of cheese that ultimately ruined her dress. But Haneul couldn't go anywhere without it. It would have been a blasphemous thought" he laughed. Haneul grumbled and pushed away the cheese she had cut out for herself causing the family to laugh. 

"We must have a new neighbour" Minjun noted, seeing a calling card next to the letter she had been reading. "Just in time for the new season too. We will have something to look forward to." Minjun read through the brief note on the card. "Oh my. The Duke has parted ways with Chatsworth!" she exclaimed. "Chatsworth estate has been sold?" Soojung asked in surprise. 

"To a gentleman named Kim Wonshik. He must have moved in a day or so ago" she deduced from the letter. "He has written to invite you for tea to make acquaintance with his new neighbours. Oh you must meet him before you leave for London!" Minjun insisted. "I suppose I can. I am not required in London for a month or so" he confirmed.

"Such a polite letter. Signs of a good breeding. And to think, if he could afford to buy such a large estate he must have a good income bestowed on him as well" Minjun discussed with Soojung who nodded as well. "You must absolutely ask him to dine with us when you meet him. And Haneul you must help me select courses and desserts" she told her daughter.

"He hasn't even agreed to dinner yet Mama" Haneul reasoned. "But he eventually will. And when he does you must help me. We need to set a good impression. You know, his letter doesn't imply a wife or family along with him" she said, hinting at the implications for Haneul. Haneul nodded curtly before focusing on her food.

Minah frowned at her cousin's strange behavior. Haneul had never expressed disgruntlement at marriage proposals. Surely she had never built castles in the air but she had never been this hesitant to respond. Then it hit her.

A gentleman at Chatsworth Estate. 

Someone who must have been new.

Minah suppressed the urge to laugh. Unbeknownst to the elders, Haneul had already met the lovely gentleman with good breeding and large income. Minah was sure that the pair had already left quite an impression on the man. Haneul had realised the same and was now dreading the prospect of ever meeting him again, lest their embarrassment be exposed. Minah pitied her cousin because she could already tell that her aunt aimed on getting Haneul married to the man while all Haneul wanted to do was run away from the same. 

Suddenly, it was a blessing to be just fifteen and not seventeen.