gentleman's manor

This year's summer is extremely hot. Before five o'clock in the morning, the sun shines on the wall of the bedroom, and the light and shadow are mottled.

After I got up, I dressed carefully, had breakfast, and then went to church to hold the daily morning class.After returning home, a carriage stopped in front of my house as usual, and the steward of Quint Manor came to visit again, and this time he brought a letter from my father, in which my father begged me to go back, saying yes talk to me.

I was very annoyed by Quint's housekeeper repeatedly asking me to go back, so I asked the servant to drive him away and ordered him not to come to my house in the future.

Anna came back today. Seeing me rudely driving away Quint's housekeeper, she said to me with hesitation: "Is this okay? My father told me that if you want you to inherit the manor, maybe he..."

"Maybe something!" I said impatiently: "Don't mention him to me, he is not at all good-hearted!"

Anna froze for a moment, then comforted me in a low voice and said, "Since we came back from Quint, you have been in a bad mood. Did father tell you anything? You really don't intend to inherit the manor?"

I sat on the sofa dejectedly: "No, I don't want to have anything to do with them anymore. I'm in a bad mood because of William."

Anna knelt at my feet and leaned her head on my knee: "Don't be sad, Brother William is addicted to opium and alcohol, self-indulgence, there is nothing we can do about it."

After getting married, Anna has obviously matured. She has become a real hostess, in charge of the family's affairs up and down, and she is full of energy every day. Obviously, her married life is very happy.

I asked her personal maid Martha quietly, and Martha didn't mention how Anna was doing, but complained to me about Mike: "Our gentleman is too unruly, and he has never slept with his wife in a separate room since we got married, sir It’s not a decent way to let the other wives know, and they will laugh at our wife’s indiscretion.”

Towards noon we were visited by a visitor.

Sister Maria was still so energetic, she circled around Anna happily, then hugged her and said, "Honey, how is your married life?"

Anna no longer blushed as easily as when she was a little girl, she said openly: "Very well, I am very happy now."

"Then I'm relieved. I've always been worried that your unreliable brother will marry you to a gentleman who is as unreliable as him."

"Sister Maria, don't you realize that I'm here?" I smiled and shook my head.

"Sorry, I just noticed. But please forgive me, I've been worried about you, Mr. Unreliable." The nun's words made us all laugh.

Anna once told me why the nuns didn't like me, and she didn't really like me, she just didn't like me going to their convent.It seems that every time I go to the convent, the young nuns there are a little impetuous, so the nuns simply labeled me as unwelcome, and I was surprised that she would take the initiative to visit my house.

After being seated, Sister Maria explained her reason for coming: "A few days ago, the monastery took in a young woman. She said that she knew you two, brother and sister, and that..."

"What else?" The nun's words caught my attention.

"I also said that the child in her belly is your brother's flesh and blood. I couldn't tell the difference, so I brought her here. She is still in the carriage outside, do you want to see her? If you don't see her, I will take her immediately Let's go," said the nun.

Anna and I looked out the window at the shocking news.

"What's her name?" I asked the nun.

"She said her name was Sarah," said the nun.

Anna exclaimed, "It's Sara!"

I immediately told Hughes, "Go and bring her in."

After a while, Sarah was led into the house by Hughes. She had a big belly and looked like she was six or seven months old.

"Master, Miss, woooo..." Sara hugged her stomach and wept softly, "I finally see you, William, Master William, woooooo..."

Sarah is a blonde beauty who has been William's mistress since girlhood.When William was kicked out of the house by his father and wandered outside, she had been with him all the time, but then she secretly left him.Unexpectedly, when they met again, she was actually pregnant, and said that the child in her belly belonged to William.She doesn't look very good, her skirt is dirty, and she has been reduced to a monastery. It can be seen that she has been very destitute.

"Well, it seems that you know each other, so do you want to take her in?" Sister Maria looked at me.

"Uh...let's keep her first, I have a few questions to ask her, thank you for your help." I said.

"Alright then, I'll go first, the monastery is still very busy." Maria got up to leave, but Anna hurried out to see her off.

Only Sarah and I were left in the living room. She kept crying, and then told herself about the hardships she had encountered: "Master William placed me in a hotel, and he would come to give me money every half a month. But one time after he sent the money, he never showed up again. As a result... the news spread that he was dead... woo woo woo... I went back to Quint Manor to ask for help, but I was kicked out. Miss news, I really don't know what to do. This child is so pitiful, he lost his father before he was born... woo woo woo..."

During this period, I kept staring at her suspiciously. I remembered what Helena said. She said that she was framed at the beginning, and it was Sarah in front of her who framed her.

After Anna came back, she hurriedly asked her: "What happened to Brother William? How did he get addicted to opium again?"

Sarah shook her head in pain: "Miss, once you get infected with that kind of thing, it's not easy to get rid of it."

Anna sighed and said, "Don't be sad, take care of the baby in your belly, we will take care of you instead of brother William."

I looked Sarah up and down, but my doubts became more and more serious.

"Is the baby in your womb really William's?" I asked.

Sarah stared at me with wide eyes, and then burst into tears: "... woo woo woo... How can you say that! What do you mean!"

I don't like to entangle with crying women, just say what you want, why cry, it's like I tortured her.

"Last spring, you left the down-and-out William and sneaked away alone. Did you make up with him again?" I asked her.

"I shouldn't have left Master William in the first place, but you know, at that time, he gambled, drank, smoked opium, and beat me at every turn, so I had no choice but to leave him. He apologized to me for the incident, saying that he wanted to change his past, and we conceived this child after we got together. Please believe me, Master William loves me, this is really Master William's child." Sara cried speak.

Seeing her crying, I can't help but feel a little soft-hearted, after all, she is a pregnant woman...

"Hughes, get her a room," I ordered.

"Yes, sir." Hughes looked at Sarah and said, "Ma'am, please follow me."

While we were struggling with this matter, in the evening, Edward brought us a shocking news.

"We need to talk alone, about your brother William, and the Quint Manor..." Edward looked dusty and solemn.

"What's wrong with Brother William? What's the matter with his death..." Anna hurriedly stood up: "I want to know too!"

Edward looked at Anna hesitantly: "It's a terrible thing, maybe it's not suitable for ladies to listen to."

"No, I want to listen, let me know!" Anna said, looking at me.

"Let's go to the study to talk." I nodded and said.

The light in the study was dim, and Anna lit a few candles, and sat across from Edward and me.

Edward took out a few documents from his purse and put them on the table, and said straight to the point: "William's death is very strange."

"I sent someone to the university to inquire about him. His classmates said that he was very serious in his studies, and he neither drank, smoked, nor smoked opium. In this case, it is very suspicious that he suddenly swallowed a large amount of opium. And I found that Your brother is inquiring about something about your father's smuggling, he seems to have inquired about something, and threatened your father to give him money, so his life in college is very good." Edward pointed to the document and said: "His Friends also said that there used to be a very beautiful maid beside him, but for some reason, they had a big fight, and then your brother drove the maid away. She was already pregnant at the time, kneeling at the school gate and crying Begging, it brought a lot of trouble to William. That day, William scolded her for colluding with his stepmother in front of everyone, saying that he believed in the wrong person, that he was sorry for his wife, and wanted to save his marriage."

The candlelight on the table flickered slightly. Edward crossed his hands on the table and said with a serious expression: "According to logic, it is impossible for a person who intends to regain his strength to easily return to the previous life of wandering. The most doubtful thing is , if he really has something that can threaten your father, why is there nothing in his belongings, no private messages in the diary, it is as clean as if it has been swept away by someone."

"You...you suspect..." Anna turned pale, trembling all over, and looked at Edward tremblingly: "This is impossible! This is impossible! You don't have any evidence, my father can't...impossible!"

"Yes, I'm just skeptical, so I'm not sure," Edward said.

"Then don't doubt it! How dare you say such a thing! Even if my father hates William, he can't kill him! I won't allow you to say that!" Anna shouted excitedly.

"Miss Anna, calm down." Edward said helplessly.

"He's talking nonsense, right? Father can't do such a thing." Tears blurred Anna's face, she grabbed my skirt and said loudly, "Tell me, this is impossible!"

I was powerless to comfort Anna, because I felt lost myself.If William's death was not a coincidence, then in his last life, did he really die on the street because of a fight?

Anna saw that I was silent, so she sat down on the chair weakly and wept silently.

"I don't want to believe that a father would kill his own children, but I have another matter here." Edward looked at me and said, "It's about you, about the inheritance of Quint Manor..."

"I've always wondered why your stepmother tried so hard to persuade you to inherit Quint Manor? So I bought a servant in the manor and asked him about the people who had been in close contact with the manor recently, and a person came out Water surface. His name is Herb Vincent, a wealthy businessman, and he has a beautiful daughter named Catherine. If I remember correctly, this is the name of the fiancée your father introduced to you."

"I sent men to threaten Herb Vincent's lawyer, and guess what I found out. Mr. Vincent had consulted the lawyer about a matter, and he was going to sign an agreement with a certain squire, as long as the squire If his son marries his daughter and bears an heir to the estate, he will pay the squire's wife five thousand pounds on her marriage."

"Ha! Five thousand pounds!" I shook my head and said, "I heard that the lady still has a dowry of two thousand pounds, so the total is seven thousand pounds. I really doubt that the name of a manor mistress is worth these money."

"She's a merchant's daughter, and she wants to marry a gentleman like you. I'm afraid five thousand pounds is not enough. I guess the merchant is doing this marriage as a business. I heard he values ​​the vegetation of Quint Manor." It is lush and there is a river passing by. I have considered renting a large area of ​​the manor to start a wool spinning mill. If his daughter marries the manor owner and gives birth to a future heir, then this business can be done for a long time.”

"Perhaps in your father's view, this is a win-win situation. You marry the rich merchant's daughter, and then inherit the manor, while his wife and children get five thousand pounds in benefits." Edward's tone suddenly increased, and he was gloomy She said with a straight face: "If it's just that, it's fine, but I heard that your younger brother is visiting the rich merchant's house, and he has an ambiguous relationship with the rich merchant's daughter..."