He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 209

The news of Count Sanderson’s disappearance in the Mediterranean, followed by his miraculous return, caused a stir not only in England but throughout Europe.

The Kingdom of Naples, previously consumed by sorrow, was especially jubilant.

The reaction from the French army, in particular, vividly illustrated Count Sanderson’s significance.

The French forces, who had been hastily preparing for a large-scale invasion of the Kingdom of Naples near Italy, abruptly abandoned their plans and withdrew to their homeland.

Upon receiving the news that Count Sanderson had returned alive, Napoleon immediately canceled all operations.

Although the top commanders of the French army strongly urged him to occupy Naples before Count Sanderson could provide support, they could not sway Napoleon’s resolve.

Napoleon suspected that the rumor of Count Sanderson’s death was a ploy and temporarily suspended the Naples invasion plan.

Thanks to this, the Kingdom of Naples and the Italian region were able to regain peace.

◈ A few days later. London, Mayfair, Theo’s mansion.

Colonel Jude Rogers was visiting the living room.

The two had been discussing the movements of the French army for quite some time.

As their conversation drew to a close, Theo asked,

“By the way, Colonel Rogers, do you remember Andres Green, the soldier who guided us through the underground facilities when we suppressed the rebels before?”

“Andres Green? Ah… you mean that bright fellow who was an apprentice of Sir Thomas Lewellyn?”

“Yes, that’s right. I heard he was Sir Lewellyn’s top disciple at the time, but I don’t know how he’s doing these days.”

“Well, I believe he’s still assisting Sir Lewellyn with his work. I often run into him in the neighborhood where I live.”

“Really? That’s good to hear. I have a favor to ask….”

“If you see Andres Green again, could you ask him to stop by our company?”

Theo was well aware of the formidable information network that Littleton possessed, thanks to the history books he had read in the 21st century.

Littleton was undoubtedly monitoring Theo’s every move, meticulously tracking who he met and what he did.

In such circumstances, personally meeting Sir Lewellyn, who was deeply involved in their corruption, would be unwise.

Therefore, it would be safer and faster to inquire about the situation through someone close to Sir Lewellyn.

“Pardon? Is there something you need to ask him?”

“Yes. There’s a problem with the company’s facilities, and he seemed to know a lot about it back then.”

“Ah, yes, I understand. I’ll pass it on to him if I see him.”

Theo reasoned that even if Littleton’s surveillance was thorough, it would not extend to Andres, who was merely Sir Lewellyn’s apprentice.

◈ A few days later. Kensington, Theo’s matchmaking agency, 5th floor, CEO’s office.

Knock, knock –

“Sir, a Mr. Andres Green is here to see you.”

Theo looked up and replied with delight,

“Oh, really? Tell him to come in. And bring us some tea.”

Theo got up from his seat and headed to the sofa.

“Yes, sir.”

The door soon opened, and a young man with a cheerful expression entered.

“Count! Oh, I’m so glad to see you! I’m so relieved you returned safely. I couldn’t focus on my work for a while after hearing that you were lost at sea.”

“Haha – I appreciate your concern. Andres, how have you been? Is your mother doing well?”

“Yes, yes. Thanks to you, everyone is doing well.”

Theo exchanged pleasantries before getting to the point.

“…Actually, Andres, I called you to the company today because I have some questions regarding Sir Lewellyn.”

Andres’ expression noticeably stiffened when Lewellyn’s name was mentioned.

“Ah, yes. What… is it?”

“I’ll get straight to the point. I’ve received information that Sir Lewellyn is under severe pressure from someone regarding the London sewer network maintenance project. Do you know anything about this? Even something small, anything you’ve seen or heard.”

The smile completely disappeared from Andres’ face. Judging by his expression, he seemed to be aware of the situation.

Theo asked more gently,

“Actually, I considered meeting Sir Lewellyn in person to hear his side of the story, but I know he’s under strict surveillance, so I couldn’t meet him rashly.

So, I thought of you as someone who could avoid that surveillance and tell me the details. Can you help me this time, like when we suppressed the rebels?”

Andres, looking troubled, hesitated before speaking,

“I’m just an apprentice who assists him. So, I don’t know the details of what kind of trouble Sir Lewellyn is in. He doesn’t tell me properly either.”

“I know. But you must have seen something while you were there, right? You must have sensed that the atmosphere surrounding the grand national project has completely changed from the beginning.”

Andres’ expression gradually changed.

“Andres! If Sir Lewellyn is in great difficulty, I’m the only one who can help him right now. But to help Sir Lewellyn, I need to know what’s going on, and you’re the only one who can tell me that right now.”

The intelligent Andres did not hesitate for long. He seemed to have grasped Theo’s sincerity and decided to reveal everything.

“Yes, I understand what you mean. I’ll tell you everything I know.”

“Oh, really? Thank you so much.”

After taking a sip of tea, Andres began to recount what had happened.

“It started after you left for the Kingdom of Naples, sir.

At first, Sir Lewellyn was very happy to be able to maintain the London sewers and build a new sewer network.

He said that it would improve the water quality, prevent the city from smelling bad, and prevent flooding even when it rained.

In fact, London sewer maintenance was Sir Lewellyn’s lifelong ambition.”

“Yes, it was.”

“I heard that the parliament also enacted legislation according to His Majesty the King’s orders. So, Sir Lewellyn called many contractors, distributed the work, and assigned specific project progress in detail.

Everything seemed to be going well as planned, but one day, three nobles who seemed to be of high status barged into our office. And I think things went wrong from then on.”

Those high-ranking people were probably Littleton and some of his seven associates.

“Not long after they went into the office, I heard a loud noise. It was almost a one-sided scolding.”

“Did you hear what they were saying?”

Andres shook his head.

“The attendants blocked me from getting close, so I didn’t hear everything. But it sounded like they were threatening that if he didn’t follow their orders, something bad would happen to Sir Lewellyn’s sons.

And they shouted that they would find fault with every construction project that Sir Lewellyn had handled. They even said that he would never get out of prison for the rest of his life.

After that, several provisional contracts with related companies were canceled, and it was very noisy for a while.”

In the history books of the 21st century, Sir Lewellyn was recorded to have eventually committed suicide.

He had turned a blind eye to the poor sewer construction to protect his family, but he was tormented by guilt when tens of thousands of London citizens lost their lives because of it.

‘As I saw in the 21st century, Littleton’s gang threatened Sir Lewellyn. Vile bastards.’

Now that he knew what they had done, he had to gather solid information and deliver it to King George.

However, there were still many members of parliament who followed Littleton and his gang in the National Assembly.

If he confronted them rashly without evidence, he could easily be attacked in return.

Moreover, the sense of camaraderie among the parliamentarians at the time, as seen in the history books, was unimaginably strong and solid. He needed clear evidence to break their unity.

“Andres? Is there any way to get evidence that the sewer construction project has not been carried out properly?”

After a moment’s thought, Andres nodded.

“I know several representatives of companies who participated in the London sewer network construction project initially and took on the project.

At first, the company representatives were very happy to have been awarded a large project when they signed the construction contract.

But after a larger amount of money was confirmed by the government based on the provisional contract, the contract was suddenly revised significantly, resulting in huge losses.

If you check with those representatives, you will find many small companies that have been contracted under them. Through them, you can get solid evidence that the work has not been carried out properly.”

Theo asked with delight.

“Great idea. Then, can you tell me the names of the representatives of those companies and the names of the companies?”

“Yes, of course. I have the list in my office. I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.”

“Okay, thank you so much. Please bring it tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir!”

***

The next morning. Thankfully, Andres brought the requested data without even delaying his commute.

After sending Andres away, Theo carefully examined the names and company names he had written down, pondering how to deal with them.

‘Their greatest strength is, in a way, the solidarity of their fellow lawmakers. More than 700 members of the House of Lords and Commons, who have legislative and taxation powers and can even control the king’s appointment rights.

Although they are now in conflict between the Whig Party and the Tory Party, the oppression of lawmakers is regarded as the oppression of all lawmakers, regardless of party, and they have no choice but to unite and strongly resist.

Then, what can break this solidarity is clear evidence and a situation in which these eight lawmakers can be caught at once….’

If it had been just Littleton, things would have been much easier.

However, catching this group of eight at once was by no means an easy task.

In fact, in the history he saw in the 21st century, George III’s investigation order was issued and five people were arrested, but three other lawmakers who heard the news of the arrest immediately raised troops and drove the king into a mental hospital, imprisoned him, and established George IV, which received the support of other lawmakers.

‘Hmm… Is there a way to get all eight of them together at once?’

Since half of the eight were in the provinces, it was not easy for all eight to gather in London.

In addition, even if an arrest warrant was issued to the investigative authorities, it was clear that the information would leak out the moment the arrest warrant was issued, and they would prepare accordingly.

Theo, who had been thinking deeply for a long time, suddenly raised his head.

‘Ah, that’s it! That’s how it should be done!’

Theo quickly checked the date and wrote it down in his notebook.

◈ The next day. Theo’s matchmaking agency, information investigation office.

Theo, who visited the company’s information investigation office, explained the overall outline of the sewer network construction project corruption case to the information investigators.

And, he asked if it was possible to conduct a secret corruption investigation while avoiding Littleton’s surveillance.

Gregory Dawson, the head of the information investigation team, who was listening carefully to Theo’s story with a serious expression, replied confidently.

“You don’t have to worry about that. That’s our specialty.”

Townsend, the head of the Bow Street Runners [an early form of British police force], was the best person to investigate the corruption of Littleton’s group and find evidence.

However, all of England’s power and investigative agencies are now infiltrated by Littleton and his group’s information network.

Naturally, the movements of the Runners and Townsend would be immediately reported to Littleton’s group, so using them was a very dangerous choice.

So, after much deliberation, Theo thought of the information investigators at the matchmaking agency.

These people, who would be retired police officers in modern times, were veterans who had been active in the Runners and various investigative agencies in their younger days.

Even considering the performance they had shown at the company, their ability to find information and discover corruption was as good as that of the current Runners agents.

Above all, they were completely off Littleton’s radar, and they had the advantage of being able to meet Theo frequently within the company and naturally exchange information about the investigation.

In other words, they were in the best position to collect evidence of corruption and discuss it while avoiding Littleton’s surveillance.

In addition, the information officers’ confidentiality and loyalty had been confirmed over several years of work, so he could trust them enough to entrust them with the task.

“Here is the company-related information.”

Gregory Dawson, the head of the information investigation team, said, checking the company name.

“They’re really trashy guys. Don’t worry, sir! I know this well because I’ve dealt with similar cases a lot in my current position. We can approach the subcontractors by bribing them to take on the construction as if we were private operators.

Then, the sewer-related companies will say that there is no work to be done because there is no actual construction. At the same time, we will be able to know for sure why the construction was not carried out properly and stopped, and to what extent the construction was carried out.”

Theo nodded.

“Good idea. If we approach them in that way and investigate their testimonies, we will be able to reveal the scale of the finances embezzled by Littleton’s group to some extent.”

“That’s right. And if we continue to look for contractors, complaints from people who have suffered losses under them will come out one by one. Then, unexpected evidence may surface.

If we take all the testimonies and find common ground, the corruption will be revealed soon. After all, a huge amount of national money went into designating construction companies and contracting with them, but the work of the construction companies has disappeared.”

Theo looked around at the information investigators and asked.

“Okay. Then, please set aside the work of the matchmaking company for a while and focus on this work. In particular, always be aware that Littleton and his group are constantly monitoring you.”

“Yes, no problem. This feels like I’m doing investigator work again after a long time. Heh heh.”

Although they were old, Theo found the relaxed smiles of the experienced information investigators to be more trustworthy today.