If it weren't for his gaze never straying to Jane Sampson while he spoke, instead remaining fixed on James Black, anyone who didn't know better might think he was overjoyed to see his married daughter returning home.
"Dad," James Black called out to Father Sampton in his usual indifferent tone, as unfazed as ever.
But Father Sampton didn't mind at all, he had long understood James Black's personality, and felt honored just by James Black's presence today.
"Go call Madam and the second miss over," Father Sampton ordered a servant nearby, "Tell them Jane and James Black have arrived."
Mother Sampton was right next door and soon came over with her daughter, only then did James Black realize what spectacles the guests had been enjoying.
It also dawned on him why Jane had chosen to wear that red formal dress today.
James Black was unsure whether it was coincidence or deliberate, but the red formal dress Jane wore today was strikingly identical to Julie Sampson's.
Naturally, Mother Sampton and Julie Sampson noticed what James Black had seen, and upon seeing Jane being led by James Black, Julie Sampson felt a burning pain on her cheeks.
Her fingers tightened around the wine glass, her eyes on Jane, as if wanting to burn a hole through Jane's clothes.
"What a coincidence, I didn't expect to wear the same dress as Julie today," Jane said with a faint smile at the corners of her mouth.
In her last life, she had worn that white dress, and when she returned home and saw Julie Sampson, her first thought was she was glad she hadn't heeded Nina Rice's badgering to wear the other dress she had picked out for her to attend her mother's birthday banquet.
For those years, she had been tolerant of Julie Sampson, and yet her patience had been mistaken for weakness and incompetence by some.
This time, Jane decided not to exert herself in vain anymore. Some people simply don't like you, no matter how you change, they will never like you.
After enduring it for years and getting nothing she wanted in return, why should she continue to torment herself?
Youth is so fleeting; an accident could happen at any time and take a life. When it's time to live freely, shouldn't one embrace it?
"It seems both sisters have the same taste in clothes, very lovely, as if you both were twins," Father Sampton said cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to the tension between his two daughters, as he complimented them both.
But what was the reality?
Were both really lovely, like twins?
Jane scoffed inwardly. How could that be possible? She and Julie Sampson had no blood relation, how could they possibly look alike?
Anyone with eyes knew that she, Jane Sampson, was thousands of times more attractive than Julie Sampson!
Clashing in outfits is not the issue; it's the less beautiful who ends up embarrassed.
Now, the most embarrassed of all was Julie Sampson. The moment Jane arrived, she was immediately outshone and became the ugly duckling by comparison.
Julie Sampson's eyes almost seemed to smear poison with their hateful glare; how could she wear the same dress as her!
Father Sampton didn't meddle in women's matters. As soon as James Black arrived, his whole attention was on him. He asked Jane to have a good talk with her mother and sister, and then he led James Black into the crowd.
Once Father Sampton and James Black left, Mother Sampton could no longer maintain her smile. Looking at Jane's clothes with furrowed eyebrows, she said, "Jane, go upstairs and change your clothes. Come back down after you've changed, and come find me before you leave later; I have something to tell you."