The Sensory Animals of Ston Hill

William was to sleep in Ellen's bed tonight, and his room was given up to Miss Kerrings.

It was unbelievable that there were so many guest rooms in the villa, and they were all occupied by distinguished guests and his servants.After many days of turbulence, Miss Kerrings was in desperate need of rest, and William had to wait until tomorrow morning before sending her to a hotel in the city.

William sat in front of Alan's desk, carefully fiddling with an empty bullet casing in his hand, which he asked his subordinates to search out from the dueling grass.

Wipe off the remaining gunpowder with your fingertips, put it in front of your nose to sniff carefully, and then stick out the tip of your tongue to lick it.

Gunpowder certainly wasn't something to eat, but the job wasn't too difficult for William.They are usually in training—of course it is the same in actual combat. When loading ammunition, they use their teeth to open the ammunition paper package, and then hold the bullet in their mouths to free up one hand to speed up the reloading speed.

He was familiar with the smell of gunpowder, and could tell that the earl's gunpowder was no different from what they used in the army.So the biggest difference is the shape.

William used a knife to draw a shallow mark on the shell case, confirming that the material was copper.There was a specially shaped cap on the tail of the cartridge case, and he found a clear mark on it. Obviously, this place had been hit hard during the firing process.

At this time the door was pushed open, and William looked up and saw Allen came back, and said to him: "This should be a new type of cap pistol—" His words stopped abruptly.

Alan Ston dragged Grace, who was following behind him, into the house, quickly locked the door, then strode up to William, took out a letter from his pocket and stuffed it into William's hand: "There is a letter from Johnson on the back of the envelope. Schilling's address. I told you about him, and he's an honest, simple man."

William remembered the name.During an exercise at the military academy, this classmate turned his rifle into a fire barrel that was about to explode due to a wrong operation.Alan was standing next to him at the time and saved his life with his amazing courage and quick reflexes, and the classmate has been trying to repay him ever since.

William knew about Alan's classmate, but he didn't know why Alan gave him his classmate's address; in other words, he vaguely guessed something, but he didn't dare to continue guessing.

Allen said: "Give this letter to him. His family has some connections and can help you board the ship to the New World without revealing your identity."

William's eyes blinked violently.He didn't look at Grace, but he could feel that Grace had been looking at him brightly, which made him unable to veto what Allen said just now.But he also couldn't promise anything.

Thankfully Allen didn't need his response.He seemed very anxious from the moment he entered the house, and he spoke very fast, telling him what to pay attention to when rushing to Johnson Schilling's house at night, which road is better to take, and which town he can stop for a rest.

He was so anxious, but he still remembered to tell William: "Grace is afraid of riding a horse, you must hold her steady."

He stuffed a heavy purse into William's hand, and then firmly held William's hands: "I haven't had time to make arrangements for the New World. You should bring more money. When you get there, settle down by yourself first, and then look for An old friend of my father's life..." He gave a short laugh when he said this, and he held William's hand harder than before, "You definitely don't need my guidance, you will know what to do. But there is one thing you Remember, no suppliers to our fleet, they have all been bought by Arundel - write to Johnson when you have the exact address, he will forward it to me, and I will send you regular The money goes."

He also said that the climate in the New World is very different from here, and they may be prone to illness when they first pass by, so he asked them to take precautions in advance; he also said that taking a ship would probably be uncomfortable, but he didn't know too well, and they needed to find out by themselves. What to do to prepare.

He talked a lot, but he was the only one talking all the time.William hadn't opened his mouth, so the light in Grace's eyes gradually dimmed.

Alan felt something was wrong, became impatient, and shouted at him: "Why are you hesitating!"

"Alan..." Grace called his name softly, with pleas in her eyes.

Allen glanced back at him, grabbed William by the collar, "Take her away, William, right now! Tonight is the last chance!"

William let him tug at his collar and turned his head away.

Allen was furious, but he lowered his voice and asked him: "What are you hesitating about? With me on my mother's side, what are you worried about? Don't say you don't want those honors and status, I know you don't care about this! Or Because of Miss Kerrings? I know you don't like her at all! If you just because of promises, I can do this task for you, and I can take care of her!"

The entanglement in William's eyes had become painful, which made Allen miserable.

He hoped that William would agree, so that at least everyone would not suffer.He thought, at least the two of them can be happy.

"I have nothing against Miss Catherines," said William.

Allen was like an angry bull, snorting anger in his nose, and dragged Grace to William.Grace's body was shaken by him.

He pinched the back of William's neck to let him look down at Grace's face: "You know what kind of 'like' I mean, I mean 'love'! How dare you say you don't love this person in front of you? You don't want to Take her away? Go to the New World, change her name, and she will be your wife—”

"You're crazy! Grace is my sister!" Hearing that word, William also became agitated, pushed Alan's hand away, and turned sideways.One of his hands was tightly clenched and trembling by his side, and the other hand was pressed on the table to support his body that was about to collapse.

"That's why I want you to go to a place where no one knows you, and you will be free when you go there, and no one will know what your relationship is!" Allen is still trying to seduce him by outlining the beauty of happiness in words.

William's face was like a wasteland that had been burned by fire.

This was the first time he faced up to this matter in front of Grace, spread out the most shameful part, and said it himself: "It's not that everyone knows, you know, I know... Grace... also knows, And God, it knows everything..."

Hadn't he imagined leading Grace into church?Didn't he ever fantasize about what Allen said?The fantasy just went away, with only Grace, no mother, family, commitment, responsibility, country, comrades in arms, war, all of it!Had he not had such a dream?Doesn't he long?He just can't!

"You...are you afraid of the 'Last Judgment' crap, too?"

William's eyes trembled, and he suddenly showed anger: "What if it really exists!"

Allen stared at him in disbelief, not understanding how William became like this!His elder brother is obviously the most rational thinking person, and he has also seen how William rushed to the front in the face of the gunfire.How can a wise man, who is not afraid of death, be as afraid of hell fire as those foolish?What is he afraid of?

Allen slowly loosened William's collar, spat on his face, and cursed, "Coward!"

"Alan!" Grace, who had been quiet since entering the room, yelled, and took out a soft pajama sleeve from her sleeve to wipe William's face.William let him move, lowered his eyes slightly, and finally looked at him.

Alan Stone looked at the two of them and suddenly laughed loudly, looking like he was going crazy.

William held Grace's hand amidst his piercing laughter, and Ellen stopped laughing maniacally and turned away.He couldn't look at them anymore.

William was about to confess his sin.Not to God, not to himself, but to Grace, this tortured his heart more than any confession in the past.

He took Grace's hand and knelt down in front of him, "Grace, it was I who brought sin to you and led you astray. I failed to fulfill the responsibility of a brother, but I got it from you. It is beyond the power that a big brother should have. You were a child at that time, and you were cleaner than blank paper. As an adult, I failed to shut down the devil in my heart. Wrong thought." He looked up at Grace, tears streaming from his blue eyes, "Grace, you can correct this mistake by staying away from me. This should never have happened... …You will grow up and still keep your soul pure, no worldly or spiritual condemnation will befall you. You will finally be able to get rid of these and live a normal life happily… If the world If there is any pain that I cannot bear, it is that I will destroy your happiness with my own hands."

Grace also cried and knelt down. He finally knew that his brother loved him, and at the same time knew that he was really determined to leave him.

"William, I'm not afraid of any condemnation, don't leave me behind..."

William cupped his face, "Grace, listen to me, you will be happy. You are the best person I have ever met, and you deserve better happiness. When you grow up, you will see more You will know that I am not as good as you imagined. You must be able to fall in love with other people, and you can find a man who is truly worthy of your love. He must be better than me and can give you real happiness. "

Through the tears, Grace used her eyes to describe William's face: there would be no more blue eyes that loved him so much, no such firm nose bridge, and no such painful lips... He wanted to tell William, he has accidentally fallen in love with someone else, but he is not as good as you.

There is no better person in this world than William.

"Grace, you must be able to find a husband who can take care of you for the rest of your life and have one or two healthy and beautiful children..." instead of a deformed baby after incest that makes the mother cry day and night.These children are a warning, reminding people that this is a wrong path, and they must wake up in time, otherwise there will be more terrible punishment.

"...they'll love you, respect you, care about them, and you'll have a real good life. You'll be sitting on your patio at home with a thin blanket on your lap and a book of yours on your lap. Loved the book. The cat dozed at your feet, the sun shone on you, and the ends of your hair and the cat's back were illuminated."

"As soon as you look up, you can see children playing with dogs on the grass in front of your house. They are sweating profusely from playing, and they run towards you. You take out a handkerchief to wipe their sweat, and the dog shakes around your feet. twirling their tails..."

"And you, William, where are you?"

"I... I live next door to you, okay? I teach the kids how to ride and hunt, and I can teach them to read poetry in Latin. On weekends we can have barbecue together, just eat what the kids bring back from the woods prey, you are in charge of the seasoning."

Grace laughed wetly, "I'm good at this."

"What about me?" Allen turned around and asked.

"You can live nearer to us if you like."

Grace said, "I'll give you an invitation to the weekend party."

Allen lowered his head and stomped his feet twice, muttering something, as if scolding someone.But it could be heard that he was not so angry anymore.

William helped Grace up from the ground, and Grace asked him: "If I go to the court, will you look down on me?"

William was silent for a while, and said, "Grace, you don't have to go, I can think of a way."

"Your Majesty is a good man, he treated me very well. Your Majesty and the Queen are just a political marriage, there is no love between them."

"Then you...do you love him?"

Grace thought for a while sincerely, "Sometimes I feel that he understands me very well. I don't dislike him, maybe I like him a little...Maybe I can fall in love with him, maybe the happiness you said is in the court."

He lied very cleverly, but Alan saw it right away.He took Grace's arm and urged: "Let's go! It would be too late to be seen in the corridor."

Before walking out of the room, Allen suddenly turned around and asked William, "Do you know what it's like where Grace lives?"

William thought he was accusing himself of indiscretion, and said in a low voice, "I don't know."

"Alan," Grace stopped him again and asked William, "How is Miss Kerings?"

"She's a nice woman."

That's good.

So Grace followed Allen and left the room.

After they left, William locked the door again and knelt down facing the night sky outside the window: "God who keeps the earth turning and the world working normally, I don't know your name or where you came from, but I Willing to confess to you. I want to tell you that Grace is the best person in this world, she is the purest and has the cleanest soul in this world. Everything about her is taught by me, if she makes a mistake , it's all my responsibility, it's me who put the stain on her."

He has said the following sentence countless times, "If there is really hell fire, please burn it on me twice! All sins have nothing to do with Grace."

After Alan sent Grace downstairs, he left without saying anything.

Standing at the bottom of the stairs, Grace heard light footsteps overhead.After the footsteps disappeared, and after a while, he also went upstairs, one floor higher than Alan's room.

In the corridor on this floor stood the night guards, who bowed their heads when they saw him.

When he came to His Majesty's room, the two guards at the door opened the door for him.

There was no candle in the room, the door was closed behind him, and the little light that leaked in from the outside was gone, and the room was dark.

But Grace seemed to see that King Louis' eyes glowed like a cat's at night.

He seemed to be sitting on the bed all the time, never lying down.He said to Grace, "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Grace took off her coat and got under the covers in her nightgown.

His Majesty immediately lay down on top of him.His eyes had adapted to the dark, watching Grace's eyes in the dark.He had seen Grace come in wearing a cloak, and now he saw that he had wept hard.He leaned closer to Grace's face and clothes and sniffed carefully, like a dog smelling fresh bones.

The bones are fresh, not licked; and warm, not chilled by the night wind.It just smells different.

His Majesty went to the bathroom, came out quickly, returned to the bed, and wiped Grace's face vigorously with a wet towel.

He rubbed very hard, Grace showed patience on her face, and His Majesty immediately eased the force.

He made sure to wipe off the smell of gunpowder on Grace's face, and then applied a fragrant face cream to Grace's face, then kissed his face, and lay down with him in his arms, "I will hold you in my arms tonight." you."

Grace turned over and buried her face in his arms, tears flowed out again, soaking His Majesty's soft pajamas.

After a long time, Grace's sobbing gradually stopped, and King Louis asked him: "If I treat you as well as Colonel Ston treats you, will you love me as much as you love him?"

Grace did not speak, his face curled into His Majesty's arms, pretending to be asleep.