gentleman's servant

Mr. Gabriel was naturally delighted with the baron's arrival, and he strongly urged the baron to stay as a guest, and of course he also sold me.

"I wanted to send this servant to your house last night, let him go with you today." He said flatteringly.

"No need." The baron pulled out an ugly smile: "I was just joking last time, but now it seems that he is actually quite stupid."

Gabriel said with a dry smile, "These guys are stupid things."

The two were talking, and the atmosphere was very harmonious, although Gabriel was talking to himself most of the time.

During this period, Baron Oscar did not glance at me.As usual, he was calm and indifferent, speaking with a straight eye.

When he had nothing to say, Mr. Gabriel had no choice but to continue to show off his collection. He stood in front of a huge painting in the living room and said triumphantly: "This is Mensica's "Christian". It cost nearly a thousand pounds, look at the watercolor on it, look at his pen and ink, how delicate it is, I really hope everyone has the opportunity to see it.

While he was talking, a servant suddenly opened the door and walked in. I heard him whisper to Gabriel, "Sir, something happened in the factory. Some people came to inspect and said that we abuse workers here."

Gabriel's face sank, and then he smiled and said to the baron: "Something happened to the factory, I'll deal with it right away, I'm really sorry, if you don't mind..."

"I also like this "Christian" very much. You can go to work, as long as I have this painting, I can pass the time." The baron said empathetically.

"Then I'll excuse you first." Regardless of etiquette, Mr. Gabriel left in a hurry.

After he left, the baron immediately ordered: "You all step back! You stay."

The 'you' is definitely referring to me.

When the servants had left, the baron and I were alone in the room.

"You don't have to be nervous." The baron said, "I just have some things to tell you. After I finish these words, I will let you go and I won't bother you again."

The baron is a thoughtful, cautious and steady person. It's just his emotional innocence that makes him easily lose his mind when facing me, but now he has recovered his usual self.The way he looked at me was no longer special, the tone of his voice was no longer soft, and it was over, as if it had never happened.

"Is your body okay? Are you injured?"

"I am well, my lord."

"I'll take care of Baron Freys' matter, and he won't trouble you again."

"Thank you very much."

Our dry conversation, the atmosphere is very awkward.

"Sorry." He said suddenly.

I don't remember how many times he apologized to me. For a person of his status, apologizing to a servant can definitely scare others to death.

"Please don't apologize, I am the one who should apologize." I said guiltily, "I offended you like that yesterday..."

"No, I did make a mistake." He shook his head and said, "You're right, I'm actually a very hypocritical person, I'm talking about the truth in a high-sounding way, and I make a lot of demands on you, but in fact I do it myself. mean things. And I was so self-righteous that I thought you were in love with me too."

Hearing his self-blaming words, I felt very depressed and wanted to escape from here immediately.I wish he cursed me, wished he hated me, wished he punished me instead of confessing to me here, why would he do that?It just makes me feel more sorry for him.

"I have done too much to you, and even threatened you, but you have always been so kind to me. You have saved me several times, and you are my benefactor, but I always regard you as a thing, a property , wanting to forcefully keep you by my side. I am ashamed of what I have done, and I am not surprised if you despise and loathe me."

I couldn't continue listening, so I shook my head desperately: "Please don't say that, if you continue, I will be ashamed. You didn't threaten me, I threatened you, I Blackmailing you into keeping a secret from me. If you feel you made a mistake, it's me. Please don't blame yourself, you didn't do anything wrong, I took advantage of you , dragged you innocently through the mire, seduced you, made you feel affection for me on purpose, and gave you nothing in return. I am a vile and cruel man, please hate me so that I can still Get a little peace of mind."

"I can't hate you." The baron said sadly: "I loved you, and I still haven't changed, but after today I will forget you, I will forget you completely, as if you never appeared. But I still want to thank you, not only because you saved my life, but also because... because, you brought me unprecedented..."

"I have to deal with the dinner, so I'm leaving first." I suppressed my trembling and prepared to leave. I was afraid that if I stayed for a second longer, I would lose control of the pain.

"Owen." He suddenly stopped me, and then said in a daze, "I wish you happiness in the future."

I paused for a second and closed my eyes: "You too, my lord, I wish you happiness."

After hesitating for a moment, I took out the brooch he gave me from my pocket and placed it on the desk in front of him.

After that, I didn't say anything, and bowed out of here.

The room was silent, the baron did not move for a long time, he stood there motionless until the sun set...

There was a knock at the door, and Billy the valet entered.

"My lord, are we going to say goodbye and set off? We have to catch the boat tomorrow."

"Yes, we will go at once," said the baron.

"Then I'll go and order."

"En." The baron nodded: "By the way, you go and call that Anne's maid in."

Billy bowed back, and a timid woman walked in shortly after.

"Master Baron, are you summoning me?" Anne whispered, obviously she didn't know the reason why she was called in, so she was very nervous.

The baron sat down at the desk and asked softly, "You've been in some trouble recently, haven't you?"

Annie froze for a moment, then shook her head: "I haven't encountered any trouble, my lord."

The baron smiled: "Didn't the bank come to collect the debt?"

Annie was a little surprised, she nodded: "If you mean the arrears... Yes, my lord, we have encountered some troubles."

"Here is a hundred pounds, you can take it." The baron took out a check and put it on the desk: "Your husband's paintings will also be bought soon, and you will become rich, so there is no need to buy money from the factory. Stolen items are sold.”

Annie's face turned pale, and she raised her hands and shook them desperately: "I didn't steal anything from the factory. We put the money we earned into the account. Owen said that as long as we earn enough money, we will tell Mr. Gabriel, Chia Tai Bright buys from him."

The baron nodded: "Yes, neither you nor Owen have stolen anything, because there are not many people who know that you secretly sell goods, and since they don't know, there is no guilt. I have already dealt with that man named Martin Now, as long as you don't secretly sell things in the factory, then you are innocent, but in the future, you can't do such a thing again. Because according to the law, this is theft, and you and he will be sent to the gallows for it .I assume for a moment that you're Owen's friend, so you're going to stop him, right?"

Annie was already crying in fright, she explained incoherently: "Owen, he just wanted to help me, he didn't steal anything, if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't come up with these risky ways, we don't know, we really don't I know, I'm sorry my lord..."

"Don't worry, I didn't mean to blame you. I believe that you and him are good people, and you will not encounter any trouble." The baron was silent for a while, and then said: "You take this money as your capital, you It can be said that it is the inheritance given to you by your deceased relatives. If you encounter troubles in the future, you can come to me. But remember, what happened today must not be disclosed to anyone, let alone a word to Owen, Otherwise, not only will your husband never sell another painting, but I will send you to jail, do you understand?"

"Yes, my lord, I won't say anything." Anne replied tremblingly.

The baron nodded and motioned for her to come and take the check.

Annie took two steps forward carefully, and then took the check from the table. Her eyes suddenly caught another thing on the table, the hexagonal golden brooch.

She subconsciously said, "Isn't this Owen's brooch? Why is it here?"

The baron picked up such a thing and twirled it at the tip of his finger: "Have you seen this thing?"

"I... I saw exactly the same one at Owen's. He said it was a gift from someone he liked."

The baron froze for a moment, he opened his eyes wide and asked, "What did you say? Say it again!"

"I've seen exactly the same at Owen's..."

"The latter sentence! You said... it was a gift from someone he likes?"

"Yes, that's what he said. He said that he fell in love with a noble lady who gave him this thing. He also said that he had done something wrong..."

There was a roar in the baron's ears, he could no longer hear what she said, he just held the brooch tightly, suddenly, countless memories flooded his heart.

The daily bits and pieces seem to be clearly engraved in his mind, his eyes, what he said, what he did, when they were together, his emotional reaction...

Everything was speaking loudly to him, so vivid, so clear at a glance.

"I don't understand...I don't understand..." He was confused and repeated over and over again: "Why? Why did he do this? Obviously...Obviously...I don't understand..."

"My lord, what's the matter with you?" Annie asked in amazement, because the man in front of him suddenly became very excited, and his expression was also happy, painful, and confused at the same time.

"No, I'm fine." The baron forced himself to calm down, and he looked at Anne: "It's none of your business here, you can step back. By the way, what we just said still counts. I need you to keep silent, you Can it be done?"

"Yes, my lord, I will say nothing, not even if a knife is put on my neck."

"Okay, go and call my valet in."

……

I thought the baron would leave that afternoon, but he stayed here for another night.

Early the next morning, he sent someone to call me into the bedroom.

That's the first thing you say.

"I've changed my mind, I'm taking you away."