He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 113

< A Bet of 1,000 Pounds >

Late at night. In London, in front of the Libertine Club.

“Lord Simon Hughes!”

Someone called out from behind to Lord Simon Hughes, who was leaving after losing a large sum of money gambling.

Simon stopped and turned around.

It was a man he had never seen before.

With a wary look, Simon asked,

“Who are you?”

The man approached, tipped his hat, and greeted him.

“Good evening, Lord Hughes. I am Theo Sanderson.”

Upon hearing the name, Simon tilted his head.

“Theo… Sanderson? Surely, you’re not the one who runs the marriage brokerage and coffee business?”

“Yes, that’s right. I am he.”

One advantage of Theo becoming well-known was that his name served as his business card.

Even strangers now quickly lowered their guard when he introduced himself as ‘Theo Sanderson.’

Simon was no exception.

“Really… are you *the* Lord Sanderson?”

“Yes.”

“But, how do you know me…?”

“If you have a moment, would you mind speaking in my carriage? I’ll explain everything there.”

Simon Hughes looked troubled.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I have urgent business and need to leave quickly.”

With a knowing look, Theo said,

“If you need money urgently, I can lend it to you. So, instead of going elsewhere to borrow, why not talk to me for a bit?”

Simon was taken aback.

“How did you know I needed money?”

“Haha. I watched you lose a considerable sum at the club and leave looking dejected.”

“……”

Simon couldn’t shake off his suspicious gaze. Everything felt strange: being known, being watched, and, above all, the offer to lend him money without hesitation.

‘Tsk, tsk, how can someone so suspicious not realize his friends are scamming him?’ Theo thought.

Theo decided to be frank.

“I should be honest with you. I came here at your father’s request, Lord Hughes. Does that explain my presence?”

“…!”

Upon hearing his father’s name, Simon finally relented and followed him.

Clunk-

The carriage door opened, and Simon Hughes and Theo sat side by side.

“You came at my father’s request? What do you mean?”

“Are you aware that I recently established a marriage brokerage?”

“Yes. I believe I saw it mentioned in an article.”

“We have a VVIP [Very, Very Important Person] consultation service, and the Earl has entrusted me with your marriage consultation and proceedings.”

“My… marriage?”

“Yes. So, I ended up observing you at the club to assess your reputation and tendencies.”

Simon’s expression twisted for a moment at the thought of being secretly watched.

“Are you saying you were investigating me? Did my father order you to do this?”

Simon’s emotions were greatly agitated.

“Would the Earl order such a thing? It’s simply the policy of my marriage brokerage. You can consider it an investigation, but it’s unavoidable.”

In the 21st century, such actions might be considered a criminal offense, but in the 18th-century marriage market, thorough background checks were rather common.

“……”

“Even if he did order an investigation, is it so wrong? Your parents are very worried. You haven’t been home for days, gambling with friends, have you?

Naturally, parents would assume their son is being led astray by bad company and want to know the situation. Besides, your mother is quite ill. How can you, as the eldest son, be acting this way?”

Simon’s face hardened.

“Why are you bringing up my mother? Do you think I’m not worried about her? I spent all last week nursing her every night before coming to this club! Do you even know that I spend at least a week every month by my mother’s side, caring for her?”

“……”

“But, I’m getting tired of it, too. All the doctors say it’s nothing serious, but my mother keeps saying she’s in pain. She just cries, saying she’s about to die…

In my opinion, it’s just a mental burden caused by excessive worry. I was just so frustrated with these problems that I met up with friends and gambled a little!”

Simon vehemently poured out his pent-up frustrations.

“My father is the same. He talks as if I’ve squandered a huge fortune gambling, but that’s not the case. I only lost a few thousand pounds and a small farm in the countryside. It’s not a small amount, but honestly, there are plenty of friends around me who have lost that much.”

“……”

“Even with the rural farm issue, he made it sound like I was scammed out of it by a friend in a rigged game.

I clearly lost in a card game and handed it over as a debt. I admit I was wrong, but that farm was a property my grandfather gave me.

I don’t know what my father told you, but I handed over the farm and even received a considerable amount of money back from that friend, excluding the debt from the card game.

What kind of con artist would return a portion of the land they took in cash?”

Theo asked with a cold face,

“So, what happened to the money you got back?”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t that money eventually go to the friend who received the farm or to your other friends? Lost in gambling, that is.”

“……”

Simon Hughes couldn’t answer.

“I observed Lord Hughes playing cards with his friends in detail a few days ago. It could be that your father misunderstood, as you said.

However, all of Lord Hughes’ friends I saw were colluding to deceive you. Moreover, the wealth of the friends who played cards together has increased noticeably in the past year or two.

I am convinced that this is due to their deception. In other words, they are working together to take your money.”

Simon immediately protested.

“I haven’t known them for just a day or two! They aren’t acquaintances I met through club gambling, but true friends I’ve known since childhood!

They are definitely not the kind of friends that Lord Sanderson can so easily judge and insult after observing them for a short time! This is very unpleasant!”

A person who is agitated has significantly impaired judgment.

At this point, trying to persuade him will only create more resentment. It may be better to simply convey the key points and encourage action.

Swoosh-

Theo took out a thick envelope from his inner pocket.

“So, Lord Hughes is confident that there was no deception from his friends. Very well. Then, let’s do this?”

“?”

“I will lend you this money. Here is 1,000 pounds.”

At the mention of 1,000 pounds, Simon’s furrowed brow smoothed out.

“1,000 pounds? You’re lending me that much money?”

“Yes. But I’m not just lending it to you. I’m suggesting we make a bet.”

“A bet?”

“I believe your friends are deceiving you, but you believe they are not, correct?”

Simon confidently replied,

“Yes! As I’ve said, they are definitely not petty friends like that. They are all noble individuals who value their family’s honor as much as their lives.”

“Very well. Then you’re confident that we can bet on whose assessment is correct?”

“…Well, yes.”

“The betting method is simple. Take this 1,000 pounds and go back to playing cards, but this time, don’t focus on gambling. Instead, secretly observe your friends’ actions carefully.”

“…?”

“If you can’t find any special tricks even after examining those friends, then consider this money as compensation for insulting your friends and use it as you please. You don’t have to repay a single penny.”

“……”

“But if you find your friends cheating during the gambling, Lord Hughes must repay the borrowed money with interest. The interest will increase by 100 pounds for each day that passes, starting today.”

During the Georgian era, the legal interest rate was limited to 5%, but excessive interest rates were often charged between individuals, ignoring these restrictions.

Perhaps that’s why Simon wasn’t very surprised and scoffed at Theo’s proposal.

“Isn’t that a foolish bet? Even if they were deceiving me, and I realized it, I could just tell you it wasn’t a scam, couldn’t I? Then I wouldn’t have to repay this money, would I?”

Theo sneered and retorted,

“Even if such fraudulent behavior of friends you trusted was revealed, could the relationship with those friends be maintained as strongly as it is now?”

“……”

“I can easily find out the result by having someone investigate how the relationship between those friends and Lord Hughes has changed.”

“……”

“Also, Lord Hughes is not the kind of person who would ever lie to me like that. If you were the kind of shameless person who would betray your conscience just to avoid repaying the borrowed money, you wouldn’t have said those things just now. I wouldn’t have made this proposal either.”

“……”

Theo’s words, known for his keen insight and discernment, were causing small ripples in Simon Hughes’ mind.

On the surface, he told him not to insult his friends, but when he thought about it, there were suspicious aspects.

But he wondered if he had been deliberately ignoring the possibility that his precious friends might be deceiving him.

‘No! Still, absolutely not! Everyone uses small tricks, but it’s just a joke. There’s no way my friends would have systematically scammed me like that man said.’

After pondering for a long time, Simon Hughes slowly nodded.

“Alright. I will carefully observe as Lord Sanderson said from now on. And I don’t think there’s a possibility, but if my friends really deceived me, I will definitely repay this money.”

“Then let’s consider the bet established, and please sign below this paper. It’s a contract summarizing the conditions and repayment methods for the money being lent. It’s good to be sure about everything.”

Simon was briefly taken aback by the fact that the contract was prepared in advance, but he carefully read the contents and signed without any objection, judging that there were no unfavorable terms.

As Simon got out of the carriage, Theo firmly urged him,

“Once you are certain of your friends’ fraudulent behavior, you must come to my company in Kensington as soon as possible.

Even if you discover the fraud, you will surely feel like going back to the gambling den the next day. You must suppress that feeling and come.”

“……”

“And… it may sound cold, but I am a businessman. Remember that I will calculate everything accurately when it comes to money. Also, keep in mind that the interest increases by 100 pounds every day it’s delayed.”

“Well. I don’t think there’s any need to worry about that? Because my friends wouldn’t have done that.”

“Hehe. We’ll see about that.”

A few days later. Kensington, Theo’s Marriage Brokerage, 5th floor CEO’s office.

Past noon.

Theo had been rummaging through the female member registry since morning, looking for someone.

‘No. It wasn’t this lady either…’ Theo thought.

Recent registries had portraits drawn directly by Charlie, making them easy to distinguish, but previous registries were only written in text, so it took much longer to find them.

‘There was definitely a lady who seemed to have a mix of Sara Clark and Catherine Osborne’s characteristics.’

A few days had passed since he met Lord Simon Hughes.

He hadn’t come yet, but Theo was sure he would.

And, as Theo planned, once he broke free from gambling, he was going to connect him with the most suitable match, as the Earl and Countess wanted.

‘Hmm…’ Theo mused.

Simon seemed to have a mix of the tendencies of Daniel Burke, who runs a mining business, and Colin Peterson, who manages the Osborne factory.

Therefore, if his partner also had a good mix of the characteristics of Sara Clark and Catherine Osborne, there was a high possibility that they would be a good match.

Of course, you can’t simply quantify and apply it to people’s hearts, but Theo remembered that she actually seemed like a good match for Lord Simon Hughes.

‘…!’

His finger, which had been diligently searching the member list, stopped on the name ‘Christina Mitchell.’

‘Christina… Mitchell. Christina… That’s right! This is the lady.’

Miss Christina Mitchell, the daughter of Baron Joseph Mitchell.

Even when he consulted with her previously, she had considerable knowledge and understanding, and she also had logic, so she was someone who Simon Hughes would get along with and have good conversations with.

‘I’ll have to meet her in person to know for sure, but I should prioritize looking into Christina Mitchell first.’

Knock knock-

Theo raised his head at the sound of someone knocking on the CEO’s office door.

“Come in.”

It was Lucy.

“Sir. Lord Simon Hughes has arrived at the reception desk on the 2nd floor.”

“Heh- Speak of the devil,” Theo chuckled.

“Pardon?”

“Never mind, Lucy. Please escort the Lord to the consultation room on the 1st floor.”

“Understood.”

The time has come to transform him in a big way.