He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 111

< 111. The Libertine Club >

◈ Theo’s Marriage Agency

As Theo headed to the VVIP consultation room on the first floor, he inhaled deeply, taking in the air.

‘Hmm, it seems the aroma of coffee is permeating the entire building.’

The rich scent of coffee beans had been noticeable since he came down from the fifth floor, but the closer he got to the cafe on the first floor, the stronger the smell became.

Just as a pleasant perfume can enhance one’s appearance, the subtle coffee scent had the power to make the building feel more special.

As he walked towards the VVIP consultation room at the back of the first floor, he saw a long queue in front of the cafe.

Even though it wasn’t yet noon, the cafe was bustling with customers.

The always-popular outdoor terrace seats were full as soon as they opened, and there wasn’t a single empty seat to be found inside either.

In England, where tea was the preferred beverage, it was highly unusual for so many people to line up just to drink coffee.

Watching the long line, Theo pondered.

‘More and more customers are coming not just to chat, but to truly enjoy the coffee itself. If that’s the case, simply increasing the number of seats won’t solve the problem. Should I consider planning some takeaway options?’

Amidst the staff busily carrying coffee, Harold and Margaret were hard at work brewing it.

The customers stole glances at the twins, whispering among themselves.

The twins’ exotic beauty, along with the reputation of T&S Coffee, was spreading far and wide.

Even those who didn’t particularly care for coffee were increasingly visiting the cafe to see the famous twin siblings, and more and more of them were becoming addicted to T&S Coffee.

‘Hang in there.’

Theo encouraged the twins in his mind as he moved towards the VVIP consultation room.

Clunk-

In the consultation waiting room, a man who appeared to be a butler was sitting, and Melanie, the matching manager, was pacing opposite him.

“Ah, CEO!”

Melanie greeted Theo, appearing flustered by their first VVIP customer.

“Did you offer him coffee?”

“Of course. I offered him the ‘T&S Juba Collection’.”

Theo nodded.

At that moment, the butler who had been sitting stood up and politely greeted Theo.

“Are you Mr. Sanderson? Pleased to meet you. I am Samuel Ward, the butler from the Hughes estate.”

“Yes, pleased to meet you. I’m Theo Sanderson.”

“The Earl is inside right now, so please go in.”

“Yes.”

Theo went straight to the VVIP consultation room and knocked.

Knock, knock-

*

Christopher Hughes, Earl.

A well-groomed and healthy-looking nobleman in his late 40s.

In this era, an Earl was a figure with tremendous power, and the dignity that came from that status, combined with Earl Hughes’ bold features, exuded a subtle gravitas [a sense of seriousness and importance].

‘Lucy wasn’t wrong when she said he was intimidating.’

Theo and Earl Hughes exchanged greetings.

After introductions and some talk about the amazing taste of Juba coffee, the formal consultation began.

“I would like to commission you to arrange my eldest son’s marriage.”

The Earl said that he had applied for the VVIP course because of his eldest son’s marital troubles.

Marriage consultations were usually handled by the wives. It was extremely rare for a nobleman of such high status to visit alone, as he had today.

But the reason was soon revealed.

“My wife has been bedridden for almost three years due to an unknown illness. Since there are no suitable doctors to treat her in the countryside, my family has been staying at our London residence since then.”

It was common for Earl families residing in London to have large estates in the countryside.

So, they usually stayed on their rural estates until the cold winter and spring, and then came up to London after April when the weather warmed up.

Usually, this was for the purpose of attending various social events related to their children’s marriages, but they also came up to enjoy city life, escaping the boring and tedious rural existence.

However, in the case of Christopher Hughes, it seemed that his wife’s treatment was the primary reason.

“Your wife seems to be very ill?”

The Earl replied with a troubled expression.

“That’s… the doctors haven’t been able to determine what kind of illness it is for three years now. It’s just getting worse day by day, so my wife seems to be growing tired and impatient. That’s why she desperately wants our eldest son to get married before her health deteriorates further. But that son of mine…”

The Earl’s eldest son, Viscount Simon Hughes, had been intelligent and dutiful since he was a child.

The Earl and Countess Hughes took great comfort in watching Simon grow up.

But since he started attending London social clubs two years ago, their son had begun to change.

At first, it was just a matter of coming home a little late, but gradually he began to stay out overnight or even not come home for days.

“It may sound like I’m boasting about my son, but he had an extraordinary charm that drew people to him. So, I assumed that he would have many friends at the club, and that was why he was late or stayed out overnight.

I didn’t pay much attention to minor gambling, which was common in any club.

But unlike what I thought, my son seems to have fallen deeply into gambling while associating with the wrong crowd.”

Theo had a rough idea of what was going on.

Having lived in the 18th century, he had seen countless young nobles like Earl Hughes’ son.

“Could you tell me the name of the club your son attends?”

At Theo’s question, Earl Hughes replied with a darkened face.

“It’s a club called the Libertine.”

“…Libertine.”

The Libertine Club.

As the word ‘Libertine’ implied, it was a club notorious for all sorts of debauchery, and it was especially famous for its rigged gambling and gambling addicts.

Of course, many of the club’s members were from prestigious families, and they prided themselves on being ‘free thinkers’ who were morally irreproachable, but the reality of what happened there was quite different.

In the end, spending days there meant that he was likely already addicted to gambling.

“Has your son ever disposed of family property or spent a lot of money without your knowledge?”

The Earl sighed deeply.

“Haa… Yes. I learned through the butler that there was a small but valuable farm in the countryside under my son’s name, and he sold it without telling me.

Later, I found out that the person who acquired the farm was an acquaintance of a friend who was in the same club.”

“…Yes.”

The Earl’s eyes reddened as he recounted his eldest son’s disappointing actions at length.

It was an unexpected sight from a man who had only seemed strong. The Earl said with a bitter smile.

“I think I’m getting old now. My wife is sick, and I’ve always taken great comfort in the fact that my eldest son has grown up to be upright, but these days, even my son is like this, so I just feel depressed and have no joy in life.”

Theo fully understood the Earl’s feelings of worry for his wife and eldest son.

“Actually, my wife’s earnest request was also the reason I came to see you, Mr. Sanderson. My wife heard that you are skilled at addressing mental distress, and she begged me to ask you, Mr. Sanderson, saying that gambling is caused by a harmful mental condition.

I truly have no other wishes now. If only my eldest son would come to his senses, find a good match, and get married before my wife gets any sicker… then, I really wouldn’t want anything more.”

*

Although he unexpectedly took on his first VVIP course, Theo wanted to help the Earl because of his desperation.

The problem was his son’s gambling addiction, and unless that problem was resolved, he could never get married.

The first thing to do was to go to the Libertine Club and observe Viscount Hughes in person.

‘If he’s been staying up all night there and even selling off his property, then his gambling addiction could be severe… If it’s so severe that it’s difficult to improve, then it’s going to be difficult to proceed with the marriage right away.’

Theo, who had treated people with gambling addictions in modern times, knew better than anyone the horror of gambling addiction and the difficulty of treating it.

For now, he could only hope that Viscount Hughes’ addiction was mild.

◈ A few days later. London, the Libertine Club.

Joining the Libertine Club, located in the center of London, was not as easy as he thought.

Unlike other clubs that had recently sprung up, there were greater restrictions on status.

To enter the club, one had to have a noble title or be a gentleman from a noble family.

If Theo hadn’t had a baronet title [a hereditary title of honor, ranking below a baron], he wouldn’t have been able to enter in the first place.

In addition, a letter of recommendation from a special member independently verified by the Libertine Club was also required.

Fortunately, there was a special member of the Libertine Club at the Intelligence Club, so he was able to get a letter of recommendation.

‘Hoo, I thought it would be easy to get in if you had money because it’s a gambling-oriented club, but it’s stricter than most clubs.’

The inside of the Libertine Club, which he had entered after going through a more difficult identity verification and recommendation process than he had expected, had a very luxurious atmosphere.

The fairly large space was set up for dining or having tea, and there was a large bar for drinking and private spaces like rooms where you could play cards.

Fortunately, there were no doors in the gambling rooms, so you could see the inside of the rooms where gambling was taking place to some extent from the outside.

Theo walked around the gambling rooms, looking around.

Inside the private rooms for gambling, there were tables covered with green cloth, and several candles around them illuminated the gambling table.

‘Anyway… I have to find Viscount Simon Hughes first.’

No full-scale gambling was taking place yet, and people were gathering in groups of three or five to chat.

‘ …! ‘

Then, a young nobleman caught Theo’s eye as he was looking around.

A man with bold, sturdy features and a dignified physique. He was the spitting image of Earl Christopher Hughes.

‘Huh? That young man looks just like Viscount Simon Hughes?’

He was worried that it would take a long time to find him because he couldn’t openly ask around about who Viscount Hughes was, for fear of being noticed.

But it seemed that he had found him easily because of his appearance, which was so similar to his father’s.

He was surrounded by several people, explaining something intently.

Theo, who had approached stealthily, pricked up his ears to hear what they were talking about.

Then, the name ‘Simon’ was clearly heard in Theo’s ears.

‘That’s right! It’s Viscount Simon Hughes! I think I found him faster than I thought?’

Then, Simon’s voice, which had become somewhat louder, was heard.

“…I think that monopolies or tariffs on extensive trade are rather detrimental to the future world economy. Just look at the Netherlands and Portugal…”

Simon was holding a glass full of punch and answering a question without hesitation.

As a talented person who majored in economics at university, he was quite knowledgeable.

Above all, he exuded a strong energy that could influence those around him and shape opinions. His friends also acknowledged and respected his knowledge and learning.

‘Hmm… It wasn’t just common bragging about his son. He really seems to have leadership skills and knowledge in his head.’

He was a rare nobleman who had everything from the confidence and logical tone that flowed from his expression to the manners that showed consideration for the other person.

In modern terms, he had a strong CEO-like personality from a large company.

But there was something in Simon’s words that caught Theo’s ear.

“…I heard that Richard Twining is doing a lot of lobbying to lower the price of tea right now. It’s true that the current taxation on tea coming from China and India is excessive. Because of this, the amount smuggled from the Netherlands and France alone is enormous, isn’t it?

But in my opinion, the problem is rather what happens when the price of tea becomes cheaper and more people buy tea than now, when the tea market grows even bigger.

In other words, the cheaper price due to lower taxes will definitely increase the overall tea consumption in England, which will lead to a large amount of our English silver flowing into China…”

Theo, who had been eavesdropping, was startled.

‘He has considerable knowledge of tea, market analysis, and even predictions about the future?’

Simon accurately grasped the outflow of silver due to England’s tea imports and the problems with China that would result.

‘Wow, he’s the kind of talent I’ve always wanted to recruit to our trading company?’

The biggest obstacle for Theo, who was trying to open a coffee market in England, was ‘tea’, which was currently dominating the British beverage market.

However, Theo had not yet properly analyzed the tea market in the 18th century.

He didn’t have the time, and it was quite difficult to find information and obtain data like in modern times.

But Viscount Simon Hughes was showing off his great knowledge and predictive power, perhaps because he had been interested in this field for a long time.

‘It would have been difficult to find so much information in a society without the Internet, just through books or newspapers… How could he have done such an analysis? Amazing.’

Unlike Theo, who was amazed by the Viscount’s extensive knowledge and analytical skills, the friends around him didn’t seem to be very interested in what he was saying.

No, to be exact, they didn’t seem to understand what Viscount Hughes was saying properly.

They were just asking questions formally and pretending to know.

‘That Earl’s son has a little bit of Colin Peterson’s personality and a little bit of Daniel Burke’s personality.’

It was a combination of Colin Peterson’s smartness and Daniel Burke’s aggressive ambition.

In a word, it was as if the two men’s tendencies had been well mixed.

‘Yeah… A person with the ambitious tendencies and knowledge of a strong entrepreneur and the heart of a leader could have fallen into gambling more easily.’

For the nobles of this time, who usually didn’t have a clear occupation, gambling was one of the only means by which they could indirectly experience a sense of belonging, autonomy, and even competence by winning at gambling.

In addition, gambling gave them a clear sense of purpose to win a lot of money.

Theo carefully watched Simon’s subtle expressions as he listened intently to what his other friends were saying.

Each small expression was full of vitality and seemed to be alive.

He probably wouldn’t be able to show that kind of face if he went outside the gambling hall.

‘He’s much more deeply addicted to gambling than I thought. In this case, I think it’s largely due to his tendencies… If he’s allowed to continue gambling like that, something really bad is going to happen.’

The most basic human psychology includes the desire to belong somewhere, to handle things autonomously, to demonstrate competence, and to achieve certain goals through it.

In modern society, most people have this sense of belonging and competence while doing their jobs.

However, for the nobles and gentry of this era, for whom being unemployed was a virtue, the environment itself was insufficient to satisfy such basic desires.

For this reason, the aristocratic society of 18th-century England had an atmosphere in which gambling was taken for granted and enjoyed, regardless of the high or low status of the individual.

Simon Hughes seemed to have gained a sense of belonging, autonomy, and even his own competence and achievement in it while interacting with friends and gambling at the clubs in London.

This was soon accepted as a strong reward, and he became so addicted to gambling that he would stay up for days to feel this reward again.

“Well, today won’t be as easy as yesterday, haha.”

When he came to his senses at the sound of hearty laughter and loud chatter, he saw Viscount Simon Hughes entering the gambling room right in front of him with his friends.

It seemed that they were about to start gambling in earnest.

Fortunately, the card game room they entered was in a location that was somewhat visible from where Theo was sitting.

Theo decided to move to a closer seat and check out Viscount Simon Hughes and the group gambling with him.

Earl Christopher Hughes suspected that Simon had been caught up in a rigged gambling ring.

His argument was that there was no way they could have taken so much money and real estate in such a short period of time unless they were professional swindlers.

However, it was a strictly aristocratic club, and those who were gambling with Simon all seemed to be close friends.

There were several questions as to whether it could be determined to be a professional gambling ring.

‘Let’s see, I’ll have to keep a close eye on whether it’s really a rigged gambling ring or not.’

Theo, who had moved to a better seat, began to carefully observe their actions and expressions.