He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 136

136. The Grandson of the Duke’s Family (3)

◈ The Intelligence Club

As Theo entered the Intelligence Club, it was bustling with members eager to make an impression.

-Lord Sanderson, how have you been?

-Haha—Lord Sanderson? This gentleman is the Baron who recently joined our club. Why don’t you two introduce yourselves?

-Lord Sanderson, would you care for a cup of tea?

-I hear there’s quite a stir in France because they can’t get TS coffee [likely referring to a specific brand or type of coffee popular at the time]?

-My wife and daughters have received their first invitation to see the Queen. What would be a good gift to bring?

Theo’s influence, bolstered by his great achievements in suppressing the rebels, which had earned him the favor of King George, had grown immeasurably.

Rumors were rife among the nobility that King George would soon grant him the title of Earl, making friendship with Theo a matter of utmost importance.

After greeting several members, Theo joined Earl Simpson for tea.

He wanted to ask the Earl about the Edwards family.

Earl Simpson was known to have been close to the Edwards ducal family for a long time.

“Earl, do you happen to know about Sir Jeffrey Edwards of the Edwards ducal family?”

Earl Simpson gave a wry smile.

“Yes, I’ve known Jeffrey since he was a child.”

“Then, do you happen to know why he and Duke Garrett fell out?”

“Why do you ask…?”

“As you may have heard, Earl, someone claiming to be the legitimate grandson of the Edwards family has appeared. Duke Garrett asked us to accept this grandson as a member of our club.

To do so, we need accurate information. In the course of our investigation, we found that we also need to know about Sir Jeffrey, who brought the grandson from Jamaica.”

After a moment of contemplation, Earl Simpson lowered his voice and began to speak.

“Well… it’s a story known among close friends, so I see no need to hide it.”

Theo was able to hear from Earl Simpson the story of Garrett and Jeffrey, which was not well known among the people.

According to the Earl, about ten years ago, Jeffrey Edwards became addicted to gambling and ran up a large debt, going around trying to find money.

At the time, his brother, Duke Garrett, refused to lend him money because he had lied several times before.

Jeffrey was forced to wander around other regions, borrowing money from acquaintances.

While he was away from home, his second son fell ill with an unknown disease. Jeffrey’s wife, unable to afford a doctor or medicine, went to Duke Garrett.

However, Duke Garrett was cold-hearted.

He refused to lend her a single penny until his brother repaid the money he had borrowed last time, and he turned her away mercilessly. Eventually, the second son died a few days later without receiving proper treatment.

When Jeffrey returned home, he was furious, believing that his second son’s death was entirely due to his brother’s heartlessness, and he harbored great resentment.

“It’s not that Duke Garrett was so heartless from the beginning. In fact, Jeffrey had borrowed money several times in the past, using his children’s illness as an excuse.

It wasn’t just once or twice, but every time he lied and demanded money, so even a Duke with plenty of money wouldn’t want to lend it to him, would he?

In the end, he couldn’t believe that his second son was really sick and didn’t lend him the money. He clearly thought that Jeffrey was trying to get money by having his wife lie.”

Since then, Jeffrey Edwards had been desperate to tarnish Garrett’s reputation.

* * *

Clatter- clatter-

Inside the carriage on the way home.

Based on Earl Simpson’s words and the information he had gathered so far, Theo pieced together the puzzle.

‘The best revenge for Jeffrey, who regarded him as the enemy who killed his son, would have been the downfall of his brother, who had obtained the title of Duke.’

Just in time, a perfect weapon of attack appeared. It was the emergence of Leo Edwards, who claimed to be the real grandson.

The story circulating among merchants traveling to and from Jamaica would have been laughed off by ordinary people, but for Jeffrey, who was cursing Duke Garrett, it was an appealing story.

‘Jeffrey, who desperately needed Leo’s existence to bring down his brother, must have wanted to believe he was real, even if there were some strange things about him.’

Jeffrey, obsessed with the strong desire that Leo be the real grandson, might have tried to accept even the wrong information as fact.

‘Yes, things will become clearer when I meet Leo Edwards the day after tomorrow.’

With Jeffrey’s cooperation, Theo arranged to meet Leo directly at the company.

Everything was full of questions, and he hoped that meeting him would be the only way to untangle the tangled thread.

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

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Sir, a Mr. Leo Edwards is waiting in the VVIP room.”

The day had finally come to meet Leo Edwards.

Theo hurriedly wrapped up what he was doing and headed straight to the first floor.

Knock. Knock.

Thump-

When he opened the door to the VVIP room, the man who had caused such a stir in London was sitting with his back to him.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. I had something I was working on.”

A tall man with disheveled blond hair rose from his seat and turned around.

“No, not at all. I haven’t been waiting long.”

He greeted Theo with a gentle smile and a cautious but confident demeanor.

Leo Edwards was completely different from what Theo had heard and imagined.

Living in the 18th century, one of the things Theo, with his historical knowledge, valued most was ‘manners’.

Even if you had a lot of money and power, manners were very important in order to be treated like a nobleman.

Especially as more and more merchants and gentry suddenly made great fortunes through trade, it became difficult to distinguish nobles from commoners by money alone.

So, the existing nobles emphasized the manners of a nobleman, which could not be bought with money, and differentiated themselves from them.

For this reason, people who lacked etiquette and did not know the formalities were treated as mere rich upstarts and ignored.

Theo was able to gain recognition from other nobles even before he made a lot of money through his business, thanks to the manners he had observed and cultivated.

It may be somewhat difficult for modern people, whose ‘manners’ have been standardized through school education, to understand, but in this era, when education existed only for a special class, ‘manners’ were the most obvious difference.

However, Leo Edwards, who had lived in Jamaica and worked as a farm manager all his life, clearly displayed the ‘manners’ unique to the upper-class aristocracy.

Of course, it wasn’t a skilled or proficient appearance, but it was clear that he had been taught and cautioned by someone from a very young age.

Theo, who had watched countless nobles and learned their manners on his own, could read even the meaning contained in a small gesture.

Leo unknowingly possessed such manners.

Moreover, there was even a unique arrogance hidden in him, which could only be felt by nobles from very high-ranking families.

It was an atmosphere that an ordinary Jamaican farm manager could never have.

‘Huh- So, is this young man really a descendant of the Duke….’

Theo was taken aback by the unexpected situation.

* * *

Throughout the light greetings and tea, Theo carefully observed Leo Edwards’ every action and expression.

Interestingly, not only his attitude but also his English pronunciation had a mix of upper-class accents.

Perhaps he had unconsciously acquired his father’s accent as a child.

‘…….’

However, his appearance was very different, as Duke Garrett Edwards had said.

The Edwards family members were generally short and had dark brown hair with little volume.

But Leo was tall and had light blond hair.

Looking only at his outward appearance, no one would have seen him as a member of the Edwards family.

If this young man was real, it seemed that he had inherited a lot of his mother’s genes in terms of appearance.

“I know this is your first time in London. What are your impressions?”

Leo smiled slightly and replied.

“Everything is amazing. It’s really a different world. I’ve heard about it from time to time in Jamaica, but I didn’t realize that London was such a big and developed place. Yesterday, I was with Laura…….”

Leo said that he had spent a few days touring London with a woman named Laura, to whom he was engaged.

London, which he had only heard about and read about in newspapers and magazines.

He seemed very moved to be in the city where his parents had spent their youth.

‘…….’

Throughout the observation, there was no falsehood in his expression or eyes.

Leo was sincerely filled with a desire to know his roots, and he was simply excited to have come to London after many twists and turns.

However, even in the expression of overwhelming emotion, there was restraint, and he carefully selected each word and was cautious.

Just listening to his choice of words, he was definitely not at the level of a Jamaican farm manager.

It was obvious that he was someone who had been educated from a very young age and had read many books himself.

‘His appearance is clearly completely different as Duke Garrett said, but his attitude and behavior are full of dignity like a member of the Duke’s family.

Duke Garrett must have seen it clearly, so why did he only criticize him as a fraud without considering such points at all?’

But if Leo was really Dylan Edwards’ son, he should have lived in North America as a child.

It was most urgent to confirm that issue first.

“Sir Leo Edwards. May I ask you about your personal affairs from now on?”

Leo hesitated for a moment and nodded.

“Is it true that you were born and raised in Jamaica?”

At the direct question, Leo’s expression changed.

Emotions completely different from his relaxed appearance arose and disappeared along with subtle expressions.

“I heard about that from Sir Jeffrey. Did you find a record that I lived in North America?”

“Yes, we were able to find such a record during our investigation.”

However, Leo avoided giving a direct answer and kept talking about other things.

“I don’t know where you found such a record, but I don’t know if it’s so important where I grew up as a child. There are many problems with records. Actually…”

Leo seemed reluctant to talk about his childhood, deliberately avoiding questions related to it.

‘He’s hiding something. It seems that he wasn’t born in Jamaica, and he’s unconsciously suppressing his emotions and telling a lie.’

For some reason, he closed his heart and didn’t want to go back to that time.

No, it was more accurate to say that he was afraid.

In this case, you should wait patiently until the person’s emotions are read as much as possible and the heart opens on its own.

In other words, it is necessary to induce conversation while giving psychological stability.

Theo went back to being a 21st-century clinical psychologist and attempted to share emotions to elicit answers.

Fortunately, Theo’s experience in Jamaica for a year helped a lot in drawing out Leo’s emotions.

“……That’s right. If you whip black people to manage them, it’s easy to have the opposite effect.”

“Sir Sanderson was a really good owner. Our farm owner was still better than other farm owners, but I was very uncomfortable with that too.”

Theo intentionally mirrored Leo’s speed, pitch, and movements to give psychological stability and get closer to his emotions.

As Theo’s skillful lead continued, his somewhat wary heart quickly changed to a comfortable feeling as if he were dealing with an old friend.

In addition, as he unraveled the conversation through the ‘paraphrasing technique’ that clearly understood and summarized Leo’s current situation and the essence of the problem, his attitude changed noticeably.

“…In the end, you must have had a great desire to confirm your identity. The stories and education you heard from your father as a child had an impact throughout your growth.

It’s only natural for a human to want to find their roots again. So, you knew that Sir Jeffrey had some shortcomings, but you came with him.”

Leo nodded repeatedly in agreement.

“Yes, you saw it exactly. In fact, I knew very well that people were looking at Sir Jeffrey Edwards with a negative eye even before I came here.

But if it weren’t for him, no one would have tried to bring me here to London from Jamaica. Who would believe in me, who is just a manager of a small farm, and bring me here?

In that respect, I am deeply grateful to Sir Jeffrey for believing in me and helping me come this far.”

Theo, having confirmed that Leo’s heart was open, revealing even the deepest parts of his heart, brought up an important question once again.

“Now, I would like you to tell me about your childhood.”

“…….”

“Isn’t that the only way to properly find the roots you want to find so much?”

“What did you find out about my childhood investigation?”

“As far as we have confirmed so far, the real son of Sir Dylan Edwards was not born and raised in Jamaica, but was born in England, moved to North America again, and operated a farm there.”

Leo’s expression, giving a bitter smile, was captured and a moment of time passed.

And finally, he answered the question he was curious about.

“I’m impressed that you knew that fact. Yes, that information is correct. …I was born in Liverpool, England, and spent my childhood with my parents on a corn farm in South Carolina, North America.”

“……!”

Detailed information that he had not even told Jeffrey on purpose was flowing naturally from his mouth.