Page 37 of Silk and Sensibility

“And who is the lucky man you’ve set your heart on?” Grand­mother Jiang asked.

Miss Shen smiled again, revealing pearly white teeth. “The man I want to marry is known by many present. His name is Fan Enze.”

Ailin looked at her mother, who was politely listening to the conversation near Grand­mother Jiang at the head of the table. Shock flashed across her mother’s face but was quickly controlled and masked. Ailin’s stomach tightened. Mother loved Enze like a son and had moved their family to Suzhou to avoid Fulan’s malice. Mother’s pain and disappointment hurt Ailin more than her own.

“What?” her two younger sisters exclaimed at the same time. It was the first time that evening they showed attention to the table’s main conversation.

“What is so surprising?” Grand­mother Jiang asked as her shrewd eyes moved between Meilin and Ming­ming.

Mother’s face was pale, but after Ailin caught her eye, she replied to Grand­mother Jiang’s question with the composure expected of a scholarly family’s matron. “I think my daughters are reacting to the name of the gentleman. My family is also acquainted with a young man named Fan Enze. He’s the maternal uncle of my grandson, and he spent many happy weeks with us at our family home in Nanjing.”

“Is he the same young man that Lusi is talking about?”

“He is, Grand­mother Jiang,” Miss Shen replied. “My Enze told me all about the wonderful Duan family when he visited me. That’s why I was so eager to sit by Miss Duan. Friends of my beloved are friends of mine as well.”

The calculating gleam in Miss Shen’s eyes made Ailin suspect that the girl had planned this all along, from the disarming small talk to the final reveal of her ambitions for Enze.

Ailin chewed her lip. She was within her rights to challenge Miss Shen’s claim. Enze had made a promise to her as well as to her mother. Even without a formal proposal letter or betrothal gifts, that was enough to at least raise a dispute.

Ailin looked at Miss Shen, determined to say something, when a wave of nausea rose in her gut. She swallowed her words. Her heart was shattered, but the thought of arguing in public was worse. Contradicting another guest would put her family’s hosts in an awkward position.

“Are you all right?” Meilin asked.

Ailin startled at Meilin’s question and light touch on her arm. Only then did she realize she was shaking. She clasped her hands in her lap to suppress the involuntary movement. She couldn’t afford to break down in front of so many people. She needed to keep herself and her family calm.

“I’m fine,” she whispered to Meilin. “Let’s listen now and talk later.”

春如舊，人空瘦，淚痕紅浥鮫綃透。

桃花落，閒池閣。

山盟雖在，錦書難托。

莫、莫、莫！

Spring is as lovely as before, but I grow hollow

As tears soak through a handkerchief of silk.

While peach blossoms fall across the pond,

My message is trapped.

For I am bound, bound, bound.

—Poem by Lù Yóu, Song dynasty, transcribed by Fan Enze

Chapter 14

Meilin

Despite sitting quite comfortably next to Master Wei, Meilin had a difficult time enjoying the second half of dinner. After Shen Lusi’s shocking claim that she was in love with Enze and that he had promised to marry her, Meilin took less than a minute to decide that she half believed exactly one of those claims.

First, there was no way Enze could have promised to marry another woman when he was in love with Ailin. Second, Meilin couldn’t tell if Shen Lusi was genuinely in love with Enze or disturbingly obsessed.

“I’ve known Enze for years, so I understand he is not in a position to marry right now despite being the eldest son of the Fan family,” Shen Lusi explained with an air of affected despondency. “However, I am willing to work as hard as it takes to support us both.”

“I like your sense of determination, young lady.” Grand­mother Jiang’s approval of the scheme made Meilin want to confront Shen Lusi on the spot.