He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 11

His Heart Stolen by Her

The man named Thomas Clarke, the Baron’s closest nephew and heir, was a stout man with a mild demeanor.

“Uncle, you seem to be doing much better than the last time I saw you.”

“Yes, yes. I think my condition has improved a bit lately. I’m coughing less, too.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. Hahaha.”

Thomas glanced at Tae-oh and asked in a low voice.

“… But who is that?”

“Ah, he is a guest of mine. I have something important to discuss with him, so I invited him here. He was just leaving.”

Tae-oh greeted Thomas.

“Hello? My name is Theo Sanderson.”

“Ah… Yes. Thomas Clarke.”

Thomas nodded, offering a cursory greeting.

However, his expression when facing him directly was quite different from when he faced the Baron.

The face that had lost its smile looked cold, even mean.

It seemed he had already heard from Butler Brown about who Tae-oh was.

‘He’s acting like that because I’m not a noble and he heard that I’m a matchmaker. He’s very used to changing his expression depending on the person. He’s very different inside and out.’

As Tae-oh greeted the Baron and left the room, Thomas muttered, loud enough to be heard.

“Uncle, you really have to be careful of these rootless matchmakers. Haven’t you heard that all London matchmakers are swindlers? What else would a man do but become a matchmaker, tsk tsk…

Isn’t it an obvious trick to collude with the groom’s side and extract a large dowry, taking advantage of your poor health? If I inherit everything, do you think I won’t take care of Sarah and the children? That should never happen, but even if something bad happens to you, I will take good care of the children until the end, so don’t worry.

Trying to marry Sarah off in a hurry and entrusting it to such a low-quality matchmaker will only incite even bigger trouble.”

“Thomas! I know, so lower your voice a little. Mr. Sanderson will hear everything.”

◈ Two days later, Theo Sanderson’s house.

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

A maid entered Tae-oh’s study, holding a letter in her hand.

“It’s a letter from Baron Robert Clarke.”

Opening the letter, he saw that it contained the Baron’s acceptance of Tae-oh’s introduction proposal.

Tae-oh wrote a short reply, handed the letter to the maid, and said.

“Deliver it today.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Tae-oh was planning a meeting between Daniel Burke and Sarah Clarke.

But the meeting place was the problem.

The London Tea Garden, where he had met Burke last time, was too noisy and crowded.

So he searched for a more atmospheric and quiet place, and finally chose Richmond Tea Garden near the Thames.

‘The atmosphere must be as good as I confirmed last time.’

The atmosphere is very important for a first meeting between a man and a woman.

The voice in a tense state tends to be thinner than usual and not clearly heard.

At this time, if the surroundings are cluttered and noisy, the subtle emotional transmission from the change in voice tone will not be properly conveyed, and the quality of communication will inevitably decrease.

In the first meeting to explore each other, concentration on the other person is necessary, but a busy environment greatly reduces concentration and makes it difficult to discover the other person’s charm.

‘It’s still the 18th century, so most meetings and courtship take place in ballrooms or homes. There are hardly any cafes or restaurants with a good atmosphere for lovers. As a result, there are only places where attention is distracted, and it is difficult to concentrate on the other person.’

It was a pity. If the atmosphere is good, people with compatible personalities can communicate well with each other and quickly increase intimacy.

However, looking at the environment of London at this time, it was never an easy task.

Although it was still the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, many factories sprang up like mushrooms, and various environmental pollution problems caused by this were serious.

The smoke emitted from the factories lowered the air quality, and as a result, black, muddy sediment called ‘black mud’ was generated on the streets and piled up messily.

In addition, the sewage storage could not cope with the rapidly increasing population, so sewage overflowed, and near the cemetery, the corpses that were not properly disposed of gave off an unpleasant odor.

Since the basic environment was like this, it was impossible from the beginning to find clean and atmospheric streets or cafes like modern cities.

‘There is a palace and the Thames River near Richmond, so it was managed to some extent. I hope the weather will be a little warmer that day and not too noisy.’

He just hoped that the atmosphere would be good on the day of the meeting.

◈ A few days later, Richmond Tea Garden.

Luxurious mansions lined the Richmond Thames River, and the trees and landscaping were managed fairly well, so the environment was better than other places.

In addition, the weather was good, so he was satisfied in every way.

Tae-oh was sitting in the tea garden with Daniel Burke, exchanging stories.

“Thanks to Mr. Sanderson’s willingness to invest in my business, other members of the club are also making investment inquiries. Thank you so much.”

“Don’t mention it. I wish I could invest more, but my circumstances… Haha. Anyway, I’m sure you’ll succeed, so do your best.”

It was definitely less noisy than the London Tea Garden, and the surrounding scenery was pleasant.

However, compared to the cafes and restaurants with a good atmosphere in the 21st century, the level was inevitably much lower.

‘The times and development are different, but there are too many shortcomings. The perception of love marriage is also changing, so it would be great if there were cafes with a good atmosphere.’

Looking around with regret, Burke asked with curious eyes.

“Mr. Sanderson? It seems that your friend who is coming to this place today also lives in London?”

Burke assumed Tae-oh’s friend was a man.

It seemed like it was time to tell him that a woman was coming.

“Yes, that’s right. She lives in London. She is the eldest daughter of Baron Robert Clarke.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“Daughter… you mean a woman is coming now?”

“You’ll be in big trouble if you look down on her just because she’s a woman. If you talk to her, you’ll soon know why I brought her here.”

Burke couldn’t hide his embarrassed expression.

He didn’t express it openly, but he didn’t seem very happy that the person joining them was a woman.

Tae-oh had considered telling him in advance that a woman would be coming, but Burke seemed to need a more natural meeting.

If you force a person who is mentally rejecting marriage to have an introduction, the negative emotions will inevitably precede the actual feelings. Then you won’t even be able to start the meeting.

Therefore, he judged that it would be better to have a casual meeting to get to know each other, rather than a meeting specifically for marriage.

Of course, he had told Sarah Clarke about these circumstances in advance.

“Ah, she’s coming over there.”

Sarah Clarke, walking up to the tea garden and looking around, found Tae-oh and approached with a bright smile.

The sight of her walking, the hem of her dark green French-style long coat fluttering, was so elegant and graceful that it attracted the attention of those around her.

As she came closer, Tae-oh bowed his head, and Sarah also curtsied in greeting.

“Miss Clarke, this is Daniel Burke.”

With Tae-oh’s introduction, the two greeted each other for the first time.

Burke, who had been staring blankly for a moment, hurriedly straightened up at Sarah’s greeting and politely expressed his respect.

*

Men tend to react immediately to what they see because they are visually oriented.

Therefore, they are more sensitive to appearance than women, who value emotional connection.

Tae-oh knew from experience that ideal types vary greatly depending on personality, having matched countless men and women so far.

Even faces that everyone would consider beautiful or handsome, he had seen countless cases where they just looked ordinary or didn’t evoke much charm depending on the person.

Thanks to connecting men and women with such diverse personalities and seeing the results, Tae-oh had accumulated a considerable amount of data in his head.

Thanks to this, now that he properly grasped the personality, he could naturally associate not only the personality of the other person who seemed to get along well, but also the preferred appearance.

Daniel Burke was also like that. Burke was analyzed to prefer an intellectual image rather than a flashy or cute appearance, and it seemed to have hit the mark properly.

In addition, Sarah had wisdom, emotional control, and excellent empathy.

And with the knowledge and logical thinking gained through books and discussions over a long period of time, she was an excellent person with not only the ability to understand herself but also the ability to cope with situations.

The person who came to mind while talking with Sarah was Daniel Burke.

Burke and Sarah, who had a strong curiosity about learning, an adventurous and progressive personality, and a high ability to understand themselves, were a very good match.

If a woman with poor emotional control meets a man who runs a business, the stress is much greater, and in the end, the scope of marital discord deepens.

On the other hand, if she manages her emotions well and copes well with situations, she can calmly respond even if there are changes in her husband’s business, and this gives her husband psychological stability and gives him the power to overcome the business well.

‘As expected, the conversation is going well. That’s a relief.’

The two naturally fell into conversation with Tae-oh’s skillful lead, easing the initial awkwardness.

If you exchange feelings well with each other in the early stages, you can greatly reduce the unnecessary time spent checking each other out while intimacy rises rapidly.

As Tae-oh expected, Burke’s signs of favor began to be strongly detected as time passed.

The distance that Burke usually keeps with close people is around 1 meter [approximately 3.3 feet].

When Tae-oh deliberately sat closer, he caught Burke unconsciously stepping back several times.

But now Burke and Sarah were close enough that the distance was a little less than 80cm [approximately 31.5 inches]. But Burke’s body did not back away. Rather, his body was leaning towards Sarah, getting closer and closer.

In addition, his orbicularis oculi muscles [muscles around the eyes] were slightly elevated, and the time his gaze stayed on Sarah was clearly longer than with other people.

But unlike Burke, no special signs of favor were detected from Sarah yet.

Women’s movements are smaller than men’s, so it is often difficult to notice signs of favor.

While Tae-oh was busy grasping the emotional signals of the two, the topic of conversation was cut off and a moment of silence fell.

If the intimacy between each other increases, the response to situations that can become awkward also becomes faster.

Tae-oh deliberately did not intervene and quietly watched how they coped.

Then Sarah quickly opened her mouth to induce a change of topic.

“I thought coal was mainly mined in coastal areas with the sea.”

Sarah was indeed a wise woman.

In an atmosphere that could be awkward, she cleverly brought up a story about a field that Daniel Burke knew best and was confident in.

“Haha, that’s right. Usually, in the past, it was mined a lot in coastal areas called seacoal. But these days, we are digging vertical shafts in the ground to mine coal.”

“Ah, then, since it is mined in mountains closer to the city than when mining in the far sea, wouldn’t the moving distance be shorter and much more economical?”

“Oh, that’s right! Wow, that’s amazing. You’re the first person I’ve seen who immediately grasps such economic benefits and speaks about them.”

At Burke’s sincere compliment, Sarah’s cheeks flushed for a moment, and her right hand swept her hair next to her ear.

And her pupils were caught in Tae-oh’s sight, looking at Daniel’s eyes for about 2 seconds.

‘Ah…’

It was a clear sign of favor.

When he first met Sarah, what he captured as a different appearance from her usual attitude was the ‘adjustment action’ of touching her hair next to her ear.

Women unconsciously create their own unique ‘adjustment actions’ to control suddenly changing emotions, and the representative one is the action of sweeping up or down her hair that Sarah shows.

Tae-oh, who had already grasped that this was not her usual habit, easily recognized that it was a sign of favor.

And Sarah’s ‘gaze’ sealed Tae-oh’s conviction.

At first, women intentionally avoid eye contact for fear of being caught.

However, once a certain level of intimacy is built, they rather boldly stare at the other person’s eyes for 2-3 seconds, which can be seen as a sign of intense favor.

In addition, the feet of the two people visible under the table were facing each other.

‘Good. I don’t need to intervene anymore, haha.’

The two young men and women sitting in the tea garden with the long red sunset were a good match, even for Tae-oh to see.

Burke’s gray eyes, which always seemed to be filled with melancholy and even looked a little depressed, were sparkling like jewels when he met the beautiful and thoughtful Sarah Clarke.

If you can communicate with someone you like, time really flies by in an instant.

The time he had expected to be about an hour had already passed far beyond 3 hours.