Chapter 4
Taehyung
"I'll just be a few minutes, Mr Jon,"
Tae said jumping down from the farmer's wagon that was loaded with Sunoo' and his belongings.
older Jeon servant
"Take yer time," the farmer replied, puffing on his pipe and smiling. "Me an' yer brother won't leave without you."
Sunoo Taeh's brother
Hurry up Taeh hyungie
Sunoo Taeh's brother
The train won't wait for us
older Jeon servant
"We got plenty o' time," Mr. John told him. "I'll get you to the terminal and yer train before nightfall, and that's a promise."
Taeh hurried up the steps of Bogum's imposing house, which overlooked the village from a hilltop, and knocked on the heavy oaken door. Good morning, Lian shi, he said to a plump housekeeper.
Taehyung
May I see Mrs. Park for a moment? I want to tell her goodbye and give her a letter to send to Bogum hyung, so he'll know where to write to me in Seoul.
housekeeper
I'll tell her Taehyung shi
The kind housekeeper reply with an unencouraging expression
housekeeper
But I doubt she'll see you. You know how she is when she's having one of her sick spells.
Tae nodded sagely. He knew all about Mrs. Park's "sick spells". According to Tae's father, Bogum's mother was a chronic complainer who invented ailments to avoid doing anything she didn't wish to do, and to manipulate and control Bogum. Taehyung had told Mrs. Park that to her face several years ago, in front of Tae, and the woman had never forgiven either of them for it.
Taeh knew that Mrs. Park was a fraud, and so did Bogum. For that reason, her palpitations, dizzy spells, and tingling limbs had little effect on either of them – a fact that, Tae knew, further antagonized him against her son's choice of life partner.
The housekeeper returned with a grim look on her face.
housekeeper
I'm sorry Taeh, Mrs Park says she isn't well enough to see you. I'll take your letter to Sir Bogum and give it to her to send to him. She wants me to summon Dr. Lee
She added in tone of disgust
housekeeper
She says she has ringing on her ears
Dr.Lee sympathizes with her ailments, instead of telling her to get out of bed and do something useful with her life
Taeh summarized with a resigned smile, handing over the letter. He wished it wasn't so costly to send mail to Europe, so he could post his letters himself, instead of having Mrs. Park include them in her own letters to Bogum hyung.
Taehyung
"I think Mrs. Park likes Dr. Lee's attitude better than she liked my father's."
housekeeper
If you ask me
housekeeper
She liked your papa a sight too much. It was almost more than a body could stand, watchin' her dress herself up before she sent for him in the middle of the night and – not
She broke off and corrected herself quickly
housekeeper
That your papa, dear man that he was, ever played along with her scheme
When Taeh left, Lian brought the letter upstairs
housekeeper
"mrs. Park," she said, approaching the widow's bed, "here is Taehyung shi's letter for Sir Bogum."
Bogum Mother
"Give it to me," Mrs. Park snapped in a surprisingly strong voice for an invalid, "and then send for Dr, Lee at once. I feel quite dizzy. When is the new doctor supposed to arrive?"
housekeeper
"Within a week," Lian replied, handing the letter to her.
When she left, Mrs. Park patted her gray hair into place beneath her lace cap and glanced with a grimace of distaste at the letter lying beside her on the satin coverlet.
Bogum Mother
"Bogum won't marry that country mouse," she said contemptuously to her maid. "He's nothing! Bogum written me twice that his cousin Mook in Paris is a lovely girl. I've told Tae that, but the foolish baggage won't pay it any heed."
housekeeper
"Do you think he'll bring Lady Mook home as his wife, then?" her maid asked, helping to plump the pillows behind Mrs. Park's back.
Bogum Mother
Mrs. Park's thin face pinched with anger. "Don't be a fool! Bogum has no time for a wife. I've told him that. This place is more than enough to keep him busy, and his duty is to it, and to me." She picked up Tae's letter with two fingers as if it were contaminated and passed it to her maid. "You know what to do with this," she coldly said.
Comments