He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 24

24. The Bizarre Man

I went down to the reception room and found a well-dressed, middle-aged couple sitting there.

“You must be Baron Murray, introduced by Lord Parker? I’m Theo Sanderson.”

As Theo greeted them politely, the Baron and his wife stood up and returned the greeting with courtesy.

Baron Murray and his wife were both tall and handsome, and appeared to be quite wealthy aristocrats.

Theo sat facing the Baron and his wife, and after taking a sip of the tea Lucy had brought, he began the conversation.

“Which area did you say you were from?”

“We came from Beckenham, near London.”

“Ah, I see. And your son didn’t come with you? I mentioned it to Lord Parker beforehand, but the matchmaking method I use relies on understanding personality through consultation.”

The Baroness quickly offered an excuse.

“Yes, we are well aware of that from Lord Parker. However, our son has had a slight cold since yesterday. Would it be alright if he visited separately tomorrow?”

“Ah, yes. I’m free until tomorrow morning, so that’s fine.”

“Thank you. We will send him early tomorrow morning. By the way, as I was passing through London, I noticed something that wasn’t there until recently…”

The Baroness, who was rather talkative, seemed very interested in fashion.

The silk dress she was wearing had a stylish black and white stripe pattern, a deeply cut neckline, and uniquely shaped accent buttons. It was an expensive, trendy dress that looked like it had come straight out of a famous French magazine.

‘Seeing how meticulously she’s taken care of everything from head to toe, the Baroness is the type who is very sensitive to how she appears to others.’

However, her husband, Baron Murray, was a bit different.

He was definitely wearing a luxurious-looking black velvet coat, but it was quite out of fashion.

‘Either the Baron isn’t sensitive to trends, or his wife doesn’t pay much attention to her husband’s clothes.’

Theo placed his teacup on the table.

Theo also assessed the emotional state of the two people.

Behind the carefully polite demeanor, Baron Murray, with his overbearing presence, subtly revealed his discomfort as his upper lip curled slightly.

He seemed displeased that he had to come to a place like this to receive counseling about his son’s marriage.

In contrast, Baroness Murray maintained a consistently curious gaze and took a very active role in the consultation.

She didn’t hide her expectations for social status advancement through her son’s marriage.

The Baroness asked with an excited voice.

“Mrs. Miller praised Mr. Sanderson so much. She said that Mr. Sanderson connects aristocrats from good families so well? I heard that you married off an old maid in her thirties to a successful Count’s family?”

“No. That’s an exaggerated rumor. It’s not that I connected them to good families, but rather that I found the most suitable match, and that’s the result that came out.”

“Oh, that’s the same thing, isn’t it?”

Baroness Murray’s body was gradually leaning towards Theo.

In signals related to liking, the inclination of the body is one of the important signals. People tend to unconsciously lean towards someone they are interested in and trust.

Interestingly, the ‘distance’ between Baron Murray and the Baroness was slightly greater than the distance between Theo and the Baroness.

Even when the Baron pulled his chair slightly to the side, the Baroness moved her body as far as possible to the opposite side.

She unconsciously felt uncomfortable when her husband entered her space and reacted to it.

This was also counter-evidence that the relationship between the two was not close.

“I heard that the social season started recently, and the ballrooms are full of charming ladies, hoho. But our son is such a simpleton that he doesn’t know how to enjoy such balls, so I’m very worried.”

At that time in England, young ladies from prestigious families who were turning 18 held events to introduce themselves for the first time through balls hosted by Dukes or Earls [high-ranking members of the British aristocracy].

These social events usually took place between April and June when the weather was getting warmer, and they were recognized as a great opportunity for young aristocratic men who were thinking about marriage, so many aristocrats flocked from London and the surrounding areas.

In the end, the fact that they came to Theo without actively seeking such officially recognized opportunities meant that there was likely a problem with Baron Murray’s son.

“I don’t understand why a guy who has traveled all over Europe, received higher education, and even learned social dancing is so unassertive.”

Baron Murray, who had been silent, began to pour out his dissatisfaction with his son as the topic of social season and marriage came up in the conversation.

“Isn’t that because he takes after you? He’s not good at talking and reluctant to step forward, so he doesn’t have the proactive mindset to meet a good woman and get married.”

The Baron ignored his wife’s words and continued to criticize his son.

“I don’t know what Mr. Sanderson thinks, but I believe that if a man has money and honor, he can be confident in front of any woman.

But our son stood pathetically in front of a woman introduced through a matchmaker and ended up getting her stolen by another guy. Of course, since it was introduced by my wife, there was a high probability that she was a strange girl.”

His wife flared up at his words.

“What are you talking about now? The last time with Miss Marguerite Moore happened because a swindler-like matchmaker was weighing the money that was going back and forth, but Miss Moore herself had no flaws at all!

Ah, I’m so upset. If we had connected with Miss Moore at that time, our family’s prestige would have greatly increased.”

According to the Baroness, Miss Marguerite Moore was the daughter of a famous Earl’s family.

Although the family fortune had declined slightly, the title of a well-known Earl made other aristocratic families drool, and the matchmaker who was mediating introduced the Earl’s daughter to the eldest son of another family who promised more brokerage fees, as if he would connect her with Baron Murray’s son.

“Ah, I’m so frustrated! Mr. Sanderson, you must connect our son with the daughter of a really good family to make the Moore Earl’s family’s nose flat [to humiliate them]. Definitely? Got it?”

“······.”

*

As a result of talking for a while, Baron and Baroness Murray were not properly exchanging close emotions with each other.

The child’s appearance is generally drawn from the parents’ appearance.

An overbearing and stubborn father who only emphasizes masculinity, and a mother who is focused entirely on external things and absorbed in her appearance to others.

And a son who grew up between these loveless people.

‘It wouldn’t have been easy for the son to have proper emotional growth.’

Theo suddenly felt sorry for the Baron’s son, whom he would see tomorrow.

Usually, under these parents, the child would likely have grown up without receiving true love.

If he had been physically abused as a child, there was no need to mention it, but even when he experienced mental abuse due to discord or insults between his parents, it could have a serious impact on him for the rest of his life, depending on the person.

If he had an introverted personality, his self-esteem would definitely be low, and he might even have depression.

‘If he is a person with severe personality flaws, I can’t connect him with anyone.’

No matter how much money they give, Theo’s own rule that he has kept until now is that he will never connect a client if there is a problem with their personality and their tendencies do not match.

This principle had to be observed even for the sake of the child who would be born between them, as marriage was not simply a matter between two people.

‘Hmm… this is going to be a bit of a headache.’

Since coming to the 18th century, he had been lucky enough to connect men and women with good tendencies, but this time it didn’t seem easy.

However, Theo soon changed his mind.

‘Yes. Even if they are a couple mired in discord, they must have affection if they come this far for counseling for their son’s marriage. There wouldn’t have been any severe insults or physical abuse.’

Perhaps the Baron’s son is just a little shy, but he might be a young man who has grown up wonderfully.

Theo decided not to make hasty judgments until he met him in person.

“Then we will send our son here tomorrow.”

“Yes, I understand.”

◈ The next day, Theo’s reception room.

Baron Murray’s son came to see Theo at the appointed time.

“I’m Gavin Murray.”

“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Theo Sanderson.”

Gavin Murray, the son of Baron Murray, was different from his parents in appearance.

He had a small, frail build and an unattractive appearance.

He clearly resembled the Baron and his wife in every corner, but he had an impression that seemed to have only picked out the disadvantages.

It was a sorry thing to say, but I felt like I could see why he wasn’t popular in social circles.

After exchanging greetings, Theo habitually examined the other person’s facial expressions first.

‘···?’

But it was strange.

No emotion could be read from his appearance.

When with someone in a new environment or someone to ask or evaluate, it is normal for the sympathetic nervous system to be stimulated by tension, and the heart rate to rise to about 80-90 [beats per minute].

But there was no such thing to be seen from him at all.

‘Why… isn’t there any tension? Gavin Murray is definitely here for the first time, right?’

No matter how sociable they are, people who visit for the first time tend to express a unique sense of tension due to the unfamiliarity of the unfamiliar place.

They look around and stare at new objects, showing quite a lot of emotional changes.

However, Gavin Murray, who was sitting in his seat, did not show any emotional characteristics.

Instead of the basic emotions that a human should show while exchanging greetings and conversations, only an unidentified eerie coldness was felt.

Like an unpleasant sensation felt when touching a very foreign object, the energy emanating from him gave off a subtly unpleasant feeling.

‘Hmm, I’m sure I’ve felt something similar to this before. Who was it…’

When I was in modern society, I seemed to have had this feeling sometime, but it was not clear when and who it was.

Knock knock-

While observing the very unique him, the maid Lucy came in and placed tea and cookies on the table.

Tak. Tak.

As the red black tea and cookies were placed on the desk, a small emotion was caught for the first time in his eyes, which had been expressionless until now.

But that emotion was a very subtle change that came from curiosity.

A minor interest, as if a child who was so bored and had no thoughts had found a toy that piqued his interest.

Theo was happy with the emotional reaction and offered him a cookie and started talking.

“This cookie was a gift from Italy, and it has a very unique taste. Try it with tea.”

“······.”

But the spark of his emotion soon went out.

At Theo’s suggestion, he simply nodded his head with an indifferent face, without saying anything or drinking tea.

The awkward silence kept getting longer.

However, he didn’t seem to be particularly uncomfortable with this atmosphere.

Boredom.

The physical signals of his pupils and gestures, which are visible in his subconscious, can only be explained by this one emotion.

‘What the heck is this guy? I’m sitting with me, whom I’m seeing for the first time in an unfamiliar place, and I don’t feel any tension at all. He’s just very bored.’

It was so different from the son’s appearance that I was worried about when I met Baron and Baroness Murray yesterday.

I thought he would be introverted, cautious, and hesitant because he grew up suppressed under a strict father.

However, unlike the introverted appearance felt in his appearance, no fear could be found in his eyes.

Rather, because of his bored eyes, he even gave the impression that he was brazenly confident.

‘It’s a confidence that doesn’t fit the situation at all. It’s a very foreign look. I can never see it as a normal spirit.’

A person who does not feel the depth of the emotional valley in his heart.

It was not because it was too deep, but because the emotion itself was not detected in the first place.

Giving this kind of person a time of silence on purpose to wait for emotions to boil up can be a waste of time.

This is because emotions may be closed because they are extremely poor at expressing emotions due to severe parental indifference.

Perhaps his heart was frozen because of his parents who were forcing him into a marriage he didn’t want, and that’s why his emotions weren’t being expressed.

Theo decided to stimulate his inner thoughts.

“Do you happen to have a special someone you have good feelings for without your parents knowing? I’ll keep it a secret. Haha.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“Then, do you have any ideal style you are thinking of separately?”

At that moment, the corner of his lips curled up slightly.

But a mechanical smile with no movement elsewhere except the lips. Still, it was just a cynical movement with no emotion.

“Anything but someone like my mother.”

“···!”

For the first time, an emotional word came out of his mouth.

It was also a very hostile word towards his mother that popped out.

In addition, looking at the changes in his lips and facial microexpressions, it was close to hatred or contempt.

But even while saying those words, he seemed comfortable without any emotional agitation.

‘It seems clear that he has hostile feelings towards his mother and spat out the words, so even if it’s very subtle, the sympathetic nervous system should be stimulated and the heart rate should rise, and there should be some emotional change. But how can he maintain such a calm state as it is?’

Theo was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the consultation with Gavin Murray.