gentleman's manor

I dragged my tired body back home, and Edward greeted me at the gate.He stared at me blankly for a while, then helped me into the study without saying a word.

I sat down on the sofa and downed a large glass of wine, but still felt cold all over.

In August, it was as hot as a steam oven, but my heart was empty and I couldn't feel anything.

"He's dead..." I said, "I didn't forgive him..."

Edward put his arms around me and let me lean against him, and he grabbed my shoulders and said, "I shouldn't have listened to you when you didn't let me in. You're a good man and you shouldn't have to suffer. "

"I don't know if I should continue to do it. Almighty Bishop, we must be merciful and forgive others, but... I... I didn't forgive him. He was going to die at that time. Why didn't I forgive him..." I couldn't I suppressed my head and cried, that person is my father, he is my father, why do we hate each other until the end of our lives?

Edward comforted me softly: "It's all over. He killed your brother, and he deserved it."

"His words kept ringing in my ears before he died." I said blankly: "He said he didn't kill William. At that time, I just felt angry because he refused to admit his sins until he died. But thinking about it now, maybe It wasn't him who killed William at all..."

"If it wasn't your father, who would it be? Who else has such a big grudge against your brother?" Edward asked.

"There is one more person, Mrs. Jenny." I said, "Once my father dies, the Quint Manor will fall on the head of my brother William. Deport Mrs. Jenny and her children from the land. And William still has evidence of his father's smuggling. Once he takes his father to court, the court will impose a large fine, and Mrs. Jenny will have nothing at that time. But I didn't Any evidence, it's just my suspicion."

Maybe it was because my expression was too haggard, Edward sighed and said, "Let me do the rest, don't do it anymore."

"No, I can't let you do this for me." I said firmly.

"But...you are in pain, and I'm afraid you'll condemn yourself for revenge."

Hearing Edward's anxious tone, I felt my blood start to flow again, and the shadow in my heart gradually dissipated.When people are alive, they must have hope, because hope makes people brave.No matter how difficult I encounter, as long as there is one person who can accompany me unswervingly, then even if I am trekking in hell, my life will always be full of sunshine.

"As long as I have you by my side, nothing will overwhelm me." I looked at him and said.

……

Dean's funeral was held two days later. Anna was stunned for a long time after learning of Dean's death, but she refused to attend his funeral.She said she was not going to meet William's murderer, never.

The weather was very hot that day, and the sun made people dizzy. The gentlemen and ladies wore black dresses, and soon they were sweating profusely.

There were many people who came to the funeral. After all, Dean was the owner of Quint Manor, and the local gentry in Quint would not be absent, even Baron Hall's family came.Miss Lidis is already married to Mr. Carlos, and Miss Bonnie rolled her eyes proudly when she saw Edward, and she didn't even come forward to say a word, and she didn't know what Edward did to this lady, which caused trouble. Make her so unhappy.

Miss Liddice, whose name has been changed to Mrs. Hall, found time to talk to me, and comforted me: "My condolences."

"Thank you." I said to her, "Actually, as you know, my relationship with my father is not that close."

"I know." She smiled and said, "But you always have to say that, don't you? I heard that you inherited the Quint Manor and also own a large plantation in India. Your status has changed a lot."

"Yes." I said embarrassingly, the plantation in India actually belonged to Edward, and I just lied at the beginning.

"What a pity." Mrs. Hall sighed exaggeratedly.

"Sorry?" I wondered.

"Yes, there is no one more regretful than me." She said unhappy.

At this time, Edward came to this side, and Mrs. Hall complained quietly: "Your friend is really unlikable. Even a 'broad-hearted' person like Baron Hall despises him. My father-in-law hinted that you can Marry Bonnie to him, but he pretends not to understand. A guy who doesn't even have a title is so arrogant."

"The ceremony is about to begin," Edward said to me, and he gave Mrs. Hall a meaningful look.

I smiled and said, "Hurry up, or it will be too late."

We came to the site of the cemetery together, and people were hanging the coffin with ropes and putting Dean's coffin into the grave.After covering it with a layer of snow-white cloth towels, people threw the flowers in their hands on it one after another, and then filled the soil and erected monuments.

Mrs. Jenny was wearing a black mourning dress, and she cried until she fainted during the whole process, but it was strange that she didn't pass out this time.It seems that after Dean died, he pretended to be unconscious and no one saw him, so he simply stopped fainting.

After the ceremony of silence was held, the guests left one after another, leaving only those who were waiting to divide the estate of the deceased in Quint Manor.

I was familiar with the plants and trees of Quint Manor. When I was a child, I was afraid of staying in this big house, so I lingered outdoors all day and night, whether it was ice and snow or hot summer.Although this ancient manor building is extravagant and gorgeous, it has been carefully decorated by generations of Quint masters, but it can't hide the fact that it is empty and lonely.Because this is not my home, I can't feel the slightest warmth here.

But now, this manor is going to belong to me, really belongs to me.

The maid brought refreshments to the people in the living room, and then exited carefully.

Mrs. Jenny shook her fan lightly and said, "Shouldn't this Mr. Edward Garry avoid it for a while? After all, it is our housework."

"Edward is a close friend of mine, and I don't think it is necessary," I said.

Edward said to Mrs. Jenny with a full smile: "So excuse me for disturbing you."

An unhappy expression appeared on Madam Jenny's face, but her tone did not become rough because of it. Instead, she smiled at me very cautiously: "In that case, let's start."

We sat around a sofa in the foyer, and Dean's estate lawyer and local clerk were there.

The lawyer read out the will and said: "According to the will of Mr. Dean Constantine, Quint Manor is a limited inheritance land, and the only legal heir, Mr. Adam Constantine, the son of the late Ms. Margaret Constantine inherit."

"All the current assets of Mr. Dean Constantine during his lifetime, including 4000 pounds of national debt in the bank, all the furniture, collections, precious flowers, horses, carriages, jewelry, tableware, etc. All were handed over to Mr. Joseph Constantine half a year ago. Therefore, Mr. Dean currently has zero current assets and no property to distribute."

Hearing this allocation, I secretly felt funny, and it was the same in my previous life.It seemed that they were afraid that I would get any property other than the estate. They didn't even wait for the distribution of the estate, and signed the agreement before Dean's death, transferring all liquid assets to Joseph's name.Everything, not even a piece of cloth is left for me. I have seen greedy people, but I have never seen such greedy people, so if they don’t fall into the trap, who will fall?

Edward sneered and said, "Well, it's really clean. I'm afraid this manor will be uninhabitable for a while."

Mrs. Jenny immediately said: "Don't worry, if we can continue to live in Quint Manor, all these furnishings will remain so that everyone can continue to use them."

"No need ma'am, you'd better move out, please move out the things here as soon as possible." I said coldly.

Mrs. Jenny frowned, and remained silent.

Elizabeth and Joseph yelled on her behalf: "What a miser!"

"Are you going to throw us all out of the house as soon as my father is gone? You are very cruel for a gentleman, and a priest. I don't know how everyone will feel."

"Thanks to my mother's insistence that you inherit the manor, you shameless person who will repay your favor!"

"The division of property is clear. If you want to slander me like this, I can't do anything about it. However, everyone outside is clear about Quint's matter. It's really hard to say who everyone will agree with." I said slowly: "Anyway, I have already inherited the manor. Besides, people of our status should not work. It seems that you are not strong enough to threaten me with this."

Edward looked at the clerk and said, "Your Excellency, what do you think?"

"Since the inheritance has been divided, don't get entangled. Mr. Adam, you are now the owner of Quint Manor, and you have the right to evict anyone on your land. If someone refuses the ruling of the manor owner, you can Notify the sheriff." The clerk tugged at the silver-white wig on his head, with an expression of indifference.

Joseph snorted heavily, his eyes were as round as bells, and then he said with a gloomy face: "Let's wait and see!"

Mrs. Jenny stopped her impulsive son, and immediately cried tears like rain: "We will follow your instructions to move out immediately, poor Dean, poor Dean, why did you leave so early, woo Woooo..."

Joseph and the others are looking at me with twisted eyes. I understand this kind of eyes, and I have often seen them in my previous life.They seem to be saying that this idiot is not to be feared at all, let him be arrogant for a while, and clean up immediately after using him.So hatred and contempt were intertwined, creating such haughty and disdainful eyes, like clowns secretly cursing others.

"Since the property has been divided, we will not accompany you." I stood up, without looking at them again, and left the manor with Edward.The following things are a foregone conclusion, I don't want to see these people's ugliness again.

Joseph cursed under his breath.

Elizabeth flushed with anger: "Enough is enough, he is so arrogant! Sooner or later, let him know how powerful he is!"

Mrs. Jenny looked at the lawyers and clerks suspiciously, because they didn't intend to leave, so she sighed and said: "I made some gentlemen laugh, Mr. Adam hates me very much, and now he does such a thing. The decision is really regrettable. At the beginning, my husband signed an agreement with him to give up inheriting the manor. If I hadn’t convinced him, Adam would not be able to inherit the manor today. But unexpectedly, he still hates me so much... Kicking us all out..."

But the clerk yawned impatiently, and said to the lawyer, "Isn't it over? I still have a lot of things to deal with, so I don't have time to waste time here."

The lawyer hastily bowed to the clerk, and then said to Mrs. Jeanne: "Ma'am, we haven't finished talking about the inheritance."

Mrs. Jenny's heart skipped a beat, she felt uneasy for some reason, she said slowly: "But Adam has already left, do you want to call him back?"

"No, the following matters have nothing to do with Mr. Adam." The lawyer took out a document and put it on the table and said, "This is the asset freezing statement sent by the government. Please take a look."

"Frozen assets? What frozen assets!" Mrs. Jenny took the document and quickly browsed through it, then she stood up from the sofa with a 'bass', stared at the lawyer and said, "What's going on! Why did Joseph get all the inheritance? frozen!"

Joseph hurriedly grabbed the document, glanced at it, and looked at the lawyer in a panic: "Why? Why are the bank's national debt and the estate's assets frozen?"

The lawyer said: "This is exactly what I am going to tell you. Mr. Dean Constantine had borrowed ten thousand pounds from a gentleman named Edwin Ethan, so the assets of Mr. Joseph Constantine Pay off your debts first."

"This is really ridiculous! Ten thousand pounds! This is impossible! When did you borrow money? I have never heard of it!" Mrs. Jenny's tone was irritable, and she stared at the lawyer irresistibly.

"Ha!" The clerk sneered, and interjected, "What's so strange about this? I borrowed debts during my lifetime, and kept hiding them for fear of embarrassment. I didn't even tell my family members, and they were stabbed after death. I don't care about such things." See you a lot."

"It's impossible! Dean will never do such a thing!" Mrs. Jenny shouted hysterically. She was no longer elegant and calm. At this time, her expression was flustered and her whole body was trembling, completely different from her usual posture.

"Black and white, as well as the government's justice, can't be wrong." The clerk said with a smile.

Mrs. Jenny panted heavily, as if she couldn't breathe, she tremblingly said: "Forget it! Even if Dean borrowed the money, but he is dead, and those assets have long been in my son's name, why should you freeze my money?" My son’s assets to pay my husband’s bills! It’s against the law!”

"Ma'am, your husband's loan date was two years ago, and he transferred the assets to your son's name half a year ago. According to the law, in order to prevent the borrower from deliberately borrowing money and not repaying it, he deliberately transferred it before his death. Assets, especially assets handed over to children for nothing, are to be returned to creditors as loans.”

After the lawyer's voice fell, Mrs. Jenny's face turned pale instantly, and she slumped down on the sofa, her body trembling unceasingly.

Elizabeth was still arguing with the lawyer: "My father never borrowed any money. We can testify that this loan must be forged! Let that Mr. Ethan come out and confront us!"

"Miss Elizabeth, I am just in charge of notifying you of this matter. If you have any questions, please solve them yourself. Also, all the finances of this manor have been frozen and will be awaiting auction, so please don't take them with you when you leave Anything, so as not to cause disputes to go to court." The lawyer said, and then he bowed to the clerk and said, "My lord, it's ready."

The clerk waved to the door, and then several sheriffs in uniform came in, and an elderly sheriff said to Mrs. Jeanne: "Sir and ladies, please leave the manor now, everything here must be sealed." Get up and move away, send it to the auction house."

"Now? What do you mean? Are you driving us away now?" Elizabeth looked at the sheriff with a pale face.

"I'm afraid so, miss," said the sheriff.

"No! I'm not leaving! This is my home, I'm not going anywhere! That loan must have been forged!" Elizabeth shouted violently.

"Please cooperate, otherwise we will have to drag you away, and you don't want to be sent to court for obstructing the execution of official duties." The sheriff said.

"How dare you! Let's see who dares to touch me! We are the children of gentlemen!" 19-year-old Joseph shouted.

"It used to be, but your father is dead. I'm sorry. You don't have any privileges now." The sheriff said to Joseph: "Please don't make it difficult for us. I heard that you are in college, and you don't want to affect the people in college." Review it."

Mrs. Jenny, who had been sitting motionless on the sofa just now, finally reacted with slack eyes. She stood up to block the angry Joseph, and then said to the sheriff: "I apologize for this child, please understand our difficulties, we Leave now."

Then she told Elizabeth, "You all go and pack your things."

But the lawyer shook his head: "I'm sorry, I'm afraid you can't take anything away."

"What does it mean that you can't take anything away!" Elizabeth said loudly: "Can't we take away our clothes and jewelry too? My mother is a widow, and the law stipulates that the widow's belongings are the widow's property!"

The lawyer said quietly: "But Mr. Dean has no property. He transferred all his assets to this Mr. Joseph when he was alive, so there is no widow's inheritance."