gentleman's manor

In the summer full of flowers, my family ushered in a big day, my sister Anna is about to get married.

Like all little girls who are going to be brides, she is jumpy and nervous, happy and frightened.Until two days before the wedding, she still told me that she was afraid of getting married and wanted to stay by my side forever.

On the day of the wedding, I, as the local pastor, decided to officiate the wedding for my sister myself.The priests of the church worked very hard to put out all the gorgeous furnishings, and Mike didn't mind spending a lot of money, just decorating the church cost a lot of money.

The guests came in a steady stream, most of them were acquaintances in Vernon Town.We didn't send a word to Quint Manor, and we hope that those scumbags will stay out of our lives and don't give us any more trouble.On the contrary, he sent a letter to William half a month in advance, but he never heard from him at all, and he did not show up on the wedding day.

The roof of the church is a round high arch, and the painted relief on it is a small story in the Old Testament.The surrounding walls are covered with colorful tall glass windows, each of which is filled with a picture of Jesus, with the Virgin Mary, Son and Holy Spirit interspersed among them, the altar in the center of the hall is full of candles, and the toasts are arranged around the holy objects. A circle, the atmosphere of the whole church is extremely solemn.

The gentlemen and ladies were whispering and making a noise like the sea, and the daylight was streaming in from the gate, into the hall, and fell directly on the people.As the band began to play, people got up, dresses rustled, and the bride appeared at the sunny door with Edward on his arm.

Anna is wearing a white wedding dress. The long veil is made of white wool with many hollow patterns printed on it. On the shawl is a corolla made of small white flowers, which makes her look like a holy angel.

Edward wore a light brown tuxedo, a shirt with gorgeous bellflower lace sleeves, and a white bow tie made into many pleats. Anyone could tell at a glance that he was a wealthy gentleman.Since I couldn't carry Anna into church myself, I wanted Edward to do it for me.

Anna and Edward stepped over the threshold and entered the hall, walked gracefully amidst the attention of everyone, sent Anna to the altar, and Edward turned and walked into the guest seat.Then came several bridesmaids and children holding flower baskets, and finally Mike in the groom's gown.

After the newcomers arrived, the door of the church was slowly closed, and the choir and music stopped.

I stood in front of the altar, facing the altar full of candles, and married the two in the name of Jesus.The bride and groom knelt in front of me, I couldn't see Anna's expression, I only noticed a drop of bright dew on Anna's corolla.For some reason, I was suddenly speechless, feeling extremely sad. Today, I will entrust my most important relatives...

"Lord, please search and keep the vows made before you today. You know our heart's desire. May the love of the Father, the protection of Jesus, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit be with you and with the new couple until Forever. Amen..."

Resisting the urge to cry, I presided over the wedding.After Mass, Mike walked into the sacristy with his new wife on his arm.Guests lined up to pass in front of the couple, and Mike and Anna bowed to the guests and thanked them for their congratulations.

At this time, the hall was empty, only I was still standing under the statue of Jesus.Edward walked up to me silently, stood with me, and accompanied me to watch the new couple leave...

After the wedding, Anna will leave home and live with John in London.Suddenly there was no one in the family, and even the house became deserted. Fortunately, Edward came to visit every day, otherwise I don't know how empty and lonely it would be.

However, a few days later, one day in the middle of the night, someone suddenly called the door.

I had woken up when the neighing of horses broke into the yard, and I went down the dark corridor with a candlestick in my hand, and ordered Hughes to open the door.

A dusty courier handed me a letter: "Pastor Constantine, here is your urgent message."

I tore open the envelope and read by the dim candlelight. There was only one candle in the dark room. The midsummer night wind blew in through the door, and the candlelight shook violently.

After seeing off the messenger, Hughes came up to me and asked, "Sir, what's going on?"

I slumped down on the sofa, and the letter in my hand fell to the ground.

William is dead, and this letter is William's death notice.

Someone from the Sheriff's Department sent me a letter saying that William died in the house he was renting.When found, the body was badly decomposed, with a large amount of opium paste in the mouth.The magistrate suspected that he had been dead for more than half a month, and died of poisoning from swallowing an overdose of opium cream.

I sat on the sofa, covering my face in disbelief.This is impossible!it's out of the question!William is off drugs and he promised us that he will be fine, why is this happening!

The tragedy was caught off guard. When Anna found out, she almost cried and fainted: "We should pay more attention to him, and we should notice when there is no news when we send him a letter."

Mike comforted her and said: "Don't be so sad, it's not your fault. I've heard that people who are addicted to opium can't quit easily. Even if they quit by force, they still have a strong dependence and it's easy to get re-infected. "

"At this time last year, he said he was going to start a new life. Unexpectedly..." I sighed heavily and said, "Maybe I shouldn't have sent him to college. It's hard for him to control himself alone."

At noon, the servant we sent to Cambridge came back, but William’s body was not brought back. The servant reported to me: “Mr. William’s body has been transported to Quint Manor. A funeral will be held for him in the next day, so please be sure to go with Miss Anna."

I frowned and said, "They're actually faster than us."

Edward was sitting on the sofa smoking a cigar. He had been silent since just now. At this moment, he suddenly asked me: "After your brother died, you were the heir to Quint Manor."

The living room suddenly fell silent, and everyone looked at me, including all the servants.

I shook my head and said, "No, I signed an agreement with my father when I was 18 years old. I gave up the inheritance of the manor, and then I got my mother's inheritance of [-] pounds and Anna's custody."

"Huh..." Edward let out a long breath, as if letting go of something on his mind, and smiled at me: "It's just a broken manor, there's nothing to argue about, just give up if you give it up."

"Then will your younger brother inherit the manor?" Mike frowned and said, although he was glad that he became acquainted with Anna because of this, but he was still angry at Joseph's letter to slander Anna.

I shook my head and said, "No, back then my grandfather and my grandfather signed a strict limited right of inheritance. The manor can only be inherited by the male heirs born to my mother. If neither of us can inherit the manor, then the manor and all the fixed inheritance in the manor Both will return to the name of Viscount Constantine."

Mike whistled and said, "Fox-like old men are so old-fashioned, but I like their old-fashionedness."

What Mike said is correct, Quint Manor is the land given to my grandfather by Viscount Constantine in the era of my grandfather, and it is hereditary inheritance.But my grandfather is an extremely rigid old guy, who strictly abides by the dogma of a gentleman, does not divide the family property, and does not allow his heirs to decide on marriages without authorization.The selected daughter-in-law must come from a famous family, have noble blood, and have to bring a large dowry.In order to prevent the blood of inferior people from mixing in, a strict limited inheritance will was made. If one's heirs cannot abide by the agreement, all the property must be returned to Viscount Constantine to ensure the nobility and purity of the surname Constantine.

"Elizabeth and the others must be very happy. Joseph can't inherit the manor, and neither can my brother. They finally got their wish." Anna bit her lip and said, ever since that incident happened, Anna also began to hate Quint's people to the bone.

"Although I don't want to have anything to do with them, I still want to go to William's funeral." I said to Anna, "I can go by myself, and you don't have to meet those annoying people."

"No, I want to go with you." Anna said firmly: "Brother goes alone, they will bully you, I won't let you go alone, and I'm going to send brother William off."

Edward said thoughtfully: "Why push around, we might as well be together, I also want to see the place where Adam grew up."

"Although I didn't have any good memories there, it's a beautiful place." I said, "William should be happy to be buried in Quint, after all, he has been waiting to inherit this manor all his life." .”

Next day we packed up the two large wagons and set off.Quint Manor is in Kent, very close to London, and it only took one morning to arrive.

It was summer, and the weather was unbearably hot. The shade trees on both sides of the road were tall and dense, and the cicadas were singing hoarsely under the bright sun.The carriage stopped in front of the gate of the manor building. I found that Mrs. Jenny brought her children to welcome us at the gate. A dozen servants were neatly dressed and lined up on both sides of the manor building. A manservant dressed as a butler Open the car door for us.

"Master Adam, welcome home." The strange housekeeper bowed his body and said, then he looked at Anna: "I wish Mr. Burns and Miss Anna a happy wedding. On behalf of all the servants in the manor, I would like to extend my sincere wishes to you."

Mrs. Jenny greeted her cheerfully, with tears in her eyes: "Adam, Anna, welcome back."

"Hello." I bowed to her distantly.

"Oh, I know, I know, you are angry with Joseph." Mrs. Jenny wiped her tears and looked at Anna: "I am so sad that he did such a thing. Anna is sorry, I did not discipline Joseph well, You have lost that Mr. Laurent. You loved him so much that you were engaged. I can imagine how sad you are, poor Anna. It is all my fault. I don't ask your forgiveness, I only hope You can be happy now..."

I looked at Mrs. Jenny's behavior and sneered in my heart.I haven't seen her for many years, but she is still so good at sowing trouble. It sounds like she is apologizing, but in fact she sees blood in every sentence.If Mike had been an asshole like Laurent, he would have resented the bride after hearing her family go back and forth about how sad she liked other men and not being able to marry that man.

Mike really heard the wit in Mrs. Jenny's words. He put his arms around Anna's waist, smiled at her comfortingly, and then looked at Mrs. Jenny: "We are very happy, we can never be happier than now, and we will You have been so happy, you have to worry too much."

"I'm relieved that you guys are happy. Joseph, a mischievous child, is messing around, and finally he didn't cause tragedy." Mrs. Jenny looked at the two with a gratified expression, as if she was really happy that they were so happy, and she took advantage of the opportunity Joseph's outrageous behavior was defined as 'naughty'.Then she looked at Edward beside me: "This gentleman is..."

"Hello, ma'am, I'm Edward Gary, Adam's friend. I heard that your manor is beautiful, so Maoming came to visit. I hope you don't blame me for disturbing me." Edward stepped forward without any introduction.

"You are very polite. Since we are Adam's friend, we will treat him as the honored guest, and we are worried that we won't be able to let the distinguished guests enjoy themselves." Mrs. Jenny also smiled.

Looking at Elizabeth who was glaring at Edward, I couldn't believe that Mrs. Jenny didn't know who Edward was.But she not only greeted her with a smile, but she never mentioned that Edward had humiliated Elizabeth.I really don't know if she is afraid to confront Edward head-on, or if she is planning some conspiracy.

I looked at the two people who looked at each other and smiled as if exuding the radiance of the Virgin, and sighed, "We are just here to attend William's funeral, and we will leave immediately after it is over, so you don't have to trouble yourself."

Mrs. Jenny's face changed, and she said to me sadly: "Oh, no, Adam, you can't go, your father is sick."