He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 134

134. The Grandson of the Duke’s Family (1)

September 1779.

A certain rumor was on everyone’s lips in London as autumn arrived.

It was about the true grandson of the distinguished Edwards Dukedom, who was said to be arriving in London within a few days.

– Have you heard? The hidden direct descendant of the Edwards Dukedom was living in Jamaica.

– Really? Wow—if the late Duke Bentley Edwards had heard this while he was alive, how happy would he have been?

– Happy about what? It’s obviously a fake. There are already widespread rumors about him being a con artist, you know?

– If the real grandson of Duke Bentley comes from Jamaica, what happens to Duke Garrett Edwards?

– Well… he’ll keep the title for the time being, but if the person coming from Jamaica is the real grandson of Duke Bentley Edwards, he’ll have to cough up a significant portion of the inherited wealth, won’t he?

However, finding someone who had sailed far away was by no means an easy task.

As time passed without any progress, Duke Bentley eventually succumbed to old age and chronic illness, and the family’s status and wealth were all passed on to his younger brother, Garrett Edwards.

Up to this point, it was just a story of a cousin inheriting because there was no son to inherit, one of the common stories of this era, and nothing special.

However, Garrett Edwards, who inherited the title of Duke, published a book titled ‘For My Beloved Edwards Family’ several years ago, causing a stir among the people.

This autobiographical book humanely captured Garrett’s honest thoughts and concerns about unexpectedly receiving the heavy title of the Edwards Dukedom.

Even if he hadn’t inherited the Dukedom, he could have lived a comfortable life, but Garrett’s struggle to protect the family that everyone had left moved many people.

Moreover, the book contained a prediction that someone might appear in the future, claiming to be the rightful heir to the Dukedom and making absurd demands, which was later covered by local newspapers, causing a great sensation.

Was it because of that?

The man claiming to be the grandson of the Edwards Dukedom faced public criticism and uncomfortable gazes even before setting foot in London.

London was in an uproar every day, wondering who on earth was bringing this fake grandson to harass Duke Garrett Edwards.

◈ A few days later, at the Edwards Dukedom’s townhouse in London.

“I am very sorry to have brought you here with such difficulty.”

The old gentleman with a kind smile in front of Tae-oh was Duke Garrett Edwards.

“Not at all. I am honored to meet such a distinguished Duke in person.”

“What are you saying? I am truly delighted to meet the famous Baron Sanderson.”

Perhaps because he had learned and grown up in a traditional Dukedom for many years, Duke Garrett Edwards’ manners were excellent.

He was upright but not arrogant, and his intonation and tone were full of dignity.

He was cautious, as if trying to give meaning to every movement.

‘He’s a typical Duke of this era. There’s a reason why people praise him so much.’

He showed a different level of speech and excellent attitude with high self-esteem and respect for others.

However, it was difficult to feel his true emotions throughout the conversation.

‘He’s deliberately hiding his emotions….’

Perhaps he had become too accustomed to hiding his feelings and dealing with people over the years.

“The reason I called you here today, Baron, is to commission a personal matter to the marriage agency.”

Tae-oh had some idea of why Duke Garrett had called him.

That’s because the news of Leo Edwards’ arrival in London two days ago had been quite noisy.

People pointed fingers at the young man named ‘Leo,’ saying he was putting on a show to extort money.

Moreover, the fact that the person who brought him was Garrett’s younger brother, Jeffrey Edwards, made people gossip even more.

The general opinion was that it was a reckless plot by the younger brother, who had not inherited much wealth.

Furthermore, Sir Jeffrey was known for his poor conduct, so this opinion was bound to gain more weight.

“Ha—actually, I was greatly shocked to see a young man named Leo Edwards walk confidently into our house the day before yesterday.

If that young man is truly one of our family, if even a little of our family’s blood flows in him, there should be something similar, but there was nothing alike anywhere.”

Duke Garrett, with a look of regret, took a deep sigh and continued.

“Besides, that young man Leo didn’t come alone. He even brought the daughter of a Jamaican plantation owner, saying she was the woman he was going to marry, you know?

So, I asked the woman if she had received her father’s permission, but she couldn’t answer.

She was probably lured by the vain hope of extorting a large sum of money and living well in London, and ran away without considering the consequences.”

Tae-oh knew that Leo Edwards was working as a plantation manager in Jamaica, but he didn’t know that he was in love with the plantation owner’s daughter.

“Actually, I have no ill feelings towards that young man Leo. He’s just a child who doesn’t know anything.

But I can’t forgive my brother Jeffrey for causing this mess. There’s a limit to tarnishing the family’s honor….”

Duke Garrett was expressing his emotions for the first time, criticizing his brother.

“But, the reason why you specifically called me, Duke… ?”

“It’s embarrassing to even call it a family matter, but now Jeffrey seems to be trying to extort money by dragging us into a mud fight, using a fake grandson who doesn’t even exist.

But I have no intention of being played by his despicable tactics any longer. If you knew how much money he had borrowed and squandered on gambling, you wouldn’t be able to do that.

So, I was wondering what to do, and I decided to trust the credibility of Baron Sanderson’s marriage agency.”

“…….”

Recently, among the people, if you were registered as a member of Theo’s marriage agency, you were treated as someone with more reliable status than recognized by a national institution.

Thanks to the activities of excellent information investigators and the detailed psychological analysis of matching managers centered on Tae-oh, the person’s identity as well as character were being indirectly proven.

‘Duke Garrett must be really frustrated. He’s even asking me directly like this.’

Although he had a way of thoroughly hiding his emotions, seeing him sincerely thinking about the family and politely asking Tae-oh for a request, his true feelings were somewhat felt.

And if he wanted to reveal that Leo Edwards was a fake by entrusting the work to Tae-oh’s company, which was famous for its good information, he seemed to be sure that Leo Edwards was a fake.

‘If my heart is like this, people can’t help but have a great animosity towards the young man named Leo.’

Duke Garrett told Tae-oh about his brother Jeffrey’s house where Leo Edwards was currently staying, and paid all the expenses for registering with the marriage agency in advance.

And as Garrett escorted Tae-oh to the front door, he repeatedly asked.

“Baron Sanderson, for the sake of our family’s honor, please conduct a fair and just investigation. I can no longer stand by and watch our family be shaken by external forces.”

“Yes, Duke. Don’t worry.”

The Duke held Tae-oh’s hand with a warm smile and patted it.

◈ Two weeks later. Theo Marriage Agency, 5th floor CEO’s office.

Information Investigator Gregory Dawson was talking with Tae-oh.

As soon as he received Duke Garrett Edwards’ request two weeks ago, he entrusted the investigation of Leo Edwards to Information Investigator Dawson.

Perhaps because of the many rumors about Leo Edwards, Dawson put more effort into the investigation than usual.

He seemed quite puzzled as to why he would come all the way from Jamaica and commit such a reckless scam.

But he couldn’t go to Jamaica right away to investigate his whereabouts.

So, Dawson first began investigating the whereabouts of Sir Dylan Edwards, whom Leo claimed to be his biological father.

“You found something different from the contents of Duke Garrett’s autobiography?”

“Yes, during the investigation, it was confirmed by several witnesses that Sir Dylan Edwards married a woman in Liverpool about 20 years ago, and the local parish’s Church of England pastor conducted the ceremony.

And he stayed there for more than 6 months and had a son, and even put his name on the register recording the birth of the newborn.”

“……?”

“And a year later, Sir Dylan Edwards took his wife and son on a ship bound for North America.”

“Then, if we secure the newborn register of that local parish, we can confirm the truth of that statement, right?”

Dawson shook his head.

“But, I don’t think that will work. The place where the records were kept in that local parish was destroyed by a fire about ten years ago, and all the records disappeared.”

“…….”

It was strange.

Clearly, Duke Garrett Edwards’ autobiography stated that Dylan Edwards left England immediately.

Of course, that could also be a record based on speculation, but the book described Dylan Edwards as if he had never had a child, with quite plausible grounds.

He even wrote a blatant story that the maid who ran away with Sir Dylan Edwards had a child with another man due to her promiscuous private life as soon as she went abroad.

Dawson, who was watching Tae-oh’s expression, carefully opened his mouth.

“CEO… this is my intuition from my long police life. I think there’s something going on. I don’t think we can make any hasty judgments at this stage. I think you should meet Duke’s brother Jeffrey and the problematic Leo Edwards.”

Tae-oh nodded silently.

* * *

Based on the data investigated by Gregory Dawson, the information investigation team leader, for two weeks, Tae-oh went to meet Jeffrey Edwards, Duke Garrett Edwards’ brother, the next day.

He thought he should hear his explanation for bringing Leo all the way to Jamaica.

And if possible, he decided to take a look at Leo Edwards, who would be with him.

Clatter- clatter- Whoa- whoa-

“We have arrived, sir.”

Jeffrey lived near Covent Garden [a district in London associated with entertainment and markets].

However, he was living in a house of a terrible standard to be called a descendant of a historic Dukedom.

According to the investigation, he had squandered all his wealth on gambling and entertainment and had been living here for several years.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Theo Sanderson.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Jeffrey Edwards.”

After exchanging brief greetings, Tae-oh sat down and looked around, asking.

“Mr. Leo Edwards doesn’t seem to be home?”

“Yes, he’s out. It will take about 2-3 days to travel around London.”

He seemed to have gone on a trip to meet the cousin of the young lady named Laura, who had come with Leo.

While drinking the tea he brought out and talking, Jeffrey did not hide his discomfort when he mentioned Duke Garrett.

“So, what exactly do you want to know, Baron Sanderson? What did Garrett say?”

He was somewhat agitated, but unlike the rumors, he was not rude.

As expected of someone from a Duke’s family, he had well-trained manners ingrained in him since childhood, so he did not reveal his inner thoughts as Duke Garrett did.

However, when his brother’s name came up, the hidden feelings of anger were strongly emitted through subtle expressions and gestures.

He casually spat out cursed words during the conversation, calling Duke Garrett’s name carelessly as if he were talking down to him.

It seemed that there was a special story between the two of them that had accumulated bad feelings.

And it seemed likely that a clue to solving the Leo Edwards case was hidden in that story.