gentleman's manor

The winter in Kent is very cold. As early as the early autumn, the leaves of the trees are falling on the branches. When the cold winter wind sweeps with snowflakes, the whole world presents a vast and gray color.

I don't like winter, everything in winter looks so ugly, the cold air makes my hands and feet cold, but I still insist on long walks, the word home always makes me feel scared.

The country road is a bit rough, with high grass. A shepherd drives a few sheep across the path. The sheep with black fur are leisurely biting the turf, and a mongrel dog drives them around.

When the shepherd saw me, he took off his hat and saluted me: "Master Constantine."

"Hello." I nodded to him.

People living in Quint know about Constantine, because this family owns half of the town, and Quint Manor is their property. As the most famous local gentry, Mr. Constantine is respected by everyone .

And I am the second son of this Mr. Constantine.

A gust of cold wind blew by, I shivered, exhaled a lot of white mist, the tip of my nose seemed to be red from the cold, and I couldn't breathe.This feeling makes me uncomfortable and brings back very similar pains in my memory...

The dying man was lying on the luxurious big bed, panting with difficulty.His facial features are exquisite and beautiful, but unfortunately his face is covered with red bumps, and there is a long scar on his cheek, which makes him look very scary.

The pastor stood by the bed, looking at the man with pity: "Poor Mr. Constantine."

The man was panting heavily, his face was pale, and he looked at the priest with fear, but he couldn't say a word.

The priest said: "Your wife wants me to receive Holy Communion for you, although I am sure you will be well. But... if you take advantage of my visit, for example, to make a confession or something, I am sure it will be good for you." Your condition is helping. Your wife is a good wife, God bless you."

There was a long silence, the man was out of breath, he tried to say something, but in the end he was sweating profusely.

"Receive Holy Communion for him quickly, and don't torture him, my poor Adam." A beautiful woman begged sadly, wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

The pastor said apologetically, "Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am." Then he looked at the man on the bed: "God's mercy is boundless, my child, please say to me silently: 'I repent to the Almighty Lord...forever Chaste Mary confesses...'"

The man stared angrily at the tear-stained woman beside the bed. He struggled with all his strength to sit up, but fell down powerlessly.

The beautiful woman was taken aback by the man's last fierce resistance when he was about to die. She backed away in panic and almost tripped.

But the action just now made the man exhaust his last vitality, after a burst of convulsions, the man stopped breathing.

The pastor put the cross on the man, prayed for the dead, turned to the beautiful woman and said, "Please give me your condolences."

"Oh, oh, Adam, woo woo woo." The beautiful woman burst into tears, a tall and handsome man came over to comfort her softly, and said to the pastor, "Thank you for taking the risk to come here, brother will surely go safely, We will burn his belongings as soon as possible to prevent the spread of disease."

……

I felt chills all over and tried to shake the memory from my mind.

The cold death seemed like yesterday.

I was so unconscious that I wondered if I was still in a dream.

I am a lost lamb, I committed a sin, Almighty God have mercy on me, forgive my sin.

Thou art commanded to save the penitent and to cast the devil into hell.

So everything went back to where it was yesterday.

The lost return with memories...

Taking advantage of the last light of the evening, I hurried on my way and returned to Quint Manor before dinner.

Quint Manor is very large, with hundreds of hectares of land and mansions built in the last century.Looking from a distance, on the vast plain, a huge pale yellow building is located in the middle of the earth, like a small piece of cheese.But when you get closer, you will find how luxurious and beautiful the whole building is.

The mansion is surrounded by a square, and it is a three-story building with hundreds of rooms, countless corridors and stairs.The architectural style is very classical, retaining the medieval castle style, but all the windows are inlaid with glass, and the garden surrounding the mansion is lined with trees, which are neatly trimmed and beautifully trimmed. There is also a new statue of Venus in the center of the garden, which is very eye-catching .

The owner of the manor is Mr. Dean Constantine, who raised 5 children with his two wives.

The first wife was Margaret, whose maiden name was William, and was the daughter of a baron, who was very generous and gave her a dowry of five thousand pounds.Margaret gave birth to three children, the eldest son William Constantine, the second son Adam Constantine, and a youngest daughter Anna Constantine. Margaret died of dystocia while giving birth to her youngest daughter.

Less than half a year after her death, Mr. Dean Constantine couldn't wait to marry another woman into the house. The woman's name was Jenny. She was a weak-looking woman with blond hair and blue eyes, very beautiful.Her father was a small military officer and did not leave her any dowry. She did not choose to marry a clerk or a farmer, but became Mr. Dean's mistress directly. The two had an illegitimate daughter named Elizabeth long ago.When Margaret was in labor, Jenny was also pregnant. In order to prevent another illegitimate child, they got married in a hurry. After marriage, they gave birth to a son happily.

I don't like staying in Quint Manor, because I was killed by my 'good' father, stepmother and siblings in my previous life, not to mention living with them, sometimes I would be terrified to look at them a few more times trembling.

I entered the mansion by the back door of the manor, and a doorman opened it for me.

The butler, Simon, was already waiting there. He bowed to me and said, "Welcome home, Master Adam. I hope the freezing air outside has not frozen your toes."

I knew Simon was angry, he was a good man, cared deeply for our brother, and always objected to my father marrying a mistress who had no money or power.

"I don't want to see my father and brother arguing endlessly every day. You have to be considerate of me." I said to him with a smile.

"My young master, escaping is not what a gentleman should do." Simon shook his head dissatisfied. He sent me to the small living room with a fireplace and ordered a maid to bring me warm black tea: Let it warm up here for a while, don't go out for a walk tomorrow, it's too cold, it will freeze you to death."

Under the careful management of the housekeeper, Quint Manor has a net income of 800 pounds a year, which is a lot of money, enough to make all the country gentlemen envy their father for having such a capable housekeeper.You must know that some noble lords who have been running manors for generations can't make so much money. People respect Mr. Constantine because he is as rich as the lord.

Simon has served in Quint Manor for nearly 40 years. He has grown from a young man to gray hair. It is said that he has been the housekeeper of the manor since his grandfather. Now his son is studying in school, and he will also be in school after graduation. Will be the steward of an estate.Time flies, time only left traces on his face, but his life trajectory has been the same for decades, he is in charge of everything in the manor every day, like a spinning top that keeps spinning.

After a while, a maid in a black tutu skirt and a long white apron came to inform me: "Master Adam, it's time to go downstairs for dinner."

There are more than a dozen servants in the Quint Manor, three junior servants, a master's personal servant, four cooks, a cook, four junior servants, a lady's personal servant, a groom, and a manor A night watchman, a porter, a gardener.These people are all low-level servants who make a living by selling their physical strength, and live and eat in the manor.

The so-called senior servant refers to the butler. Simon is a senior butler. He has read books, can spell and math, can speak Latin, and helps the master manage all the affairs of the manor. His annual salary is as high as 15 pounds.There was also a housekeeper at Quint Manor named Selina, the daughter of a lonely merchant who had gone to a girls' school and earned £4 a year.

The servants were still busy serving food when I stepped into the restaurant.

The long wooden dining table was covered with a large white tablecloth, the corners of which were embroidered with patterns.Two silver triangular candlesticks were placed in the center, and the white candles flickered, leaving long shadows on the table.

The life in Quint Manor is very luxurious. Even if they don't entertain guests, they will prepare dinner every day.Unlike the delicate cuisine of the French, for the British, having bacon, eggs, ham and toast with butter is quite a hearty meal.

My brother William has already been seated first, he is 16 years old, he is very handsome, he has curly auburn hair, he doesn't like the color of his hair, so he always wears a long wig, in dark blue The ribbon is tied into a small braid at the back.At this time, he was flirting with a maid named Sarah, and he didn't shy away when he saw me walking in, and he still flirted with the maid.

My brother is a very rebellious person, even synonymous with a dude, I can't see anything now, in a few years, when he inherits the inheritance left to him by his mother, he will completely become a playboy, gambling, Drinking, pampering actors and prostitutes, and not caring about Anna's and me's life or death.Even so, when he died that year, I was still very sad. Having a big brother is like having a big umbrella in the sky. Even if he is tattered, it will give me a sense of security.

It has been seven years since their mother died, and their younger sister Anna and younger brother Joseph were both seven years old. They were carried to the dining table by the maid and ate with the adults.

Father brought his beautiful wife, Mrs. Jenny, to the restaurant. Mrs. Jenny was wearing a beautiful white cotton gauze dress, with her plump white breasts exposed, and a pearl necklace on it, making her look noble and elegant.If those things hadn't been my mother's relics, I would have been happier looking at such beauties.

Elizabeth, their illegitimate daughter, came in right after her. Elizabeth was two years older than me and had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as her mother. Although she was only 14 years old, she was already very beautiful, but she was always covered in jewels Cui, dressed like a nouveau riche.After all, she lived outside since she was a child and has no experience in high society life. Even though she is a young lady now, she always feels shy in every gesture.

After everyone was seated, they began to eat quietly.

Unlike the lively atmosphere of other people's dinners at home, I guess my father would like to give up the activity of dinner, because there are always people who make him uncomfortable.

You see, William is at it again.

"It's astonishing how shameless this inferior woman is sitting up again." William made no secret of his disgust for Mrs. Jeanne and her children.