He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 64

64. The Story So Far (1)

“No, what… what are you saying? Mr. Osborne is… dead?”

Too shocked, Tae-oh even stuttered.

Sir Walter Ricardo continued in a subdued voice.

“I only found out the day before yesterday when I received a letter from the butler, Blake. It was an accident that happened two months ago. He was transferring to a ship at Liverpool harbor when disaster struck.”

In 18th century England, goods were mainly transported along canals and rivers.

Mr. Osborne, needing to transport a large quantity of textiles back to Bristol, took the Bridgewater Canal and then transferred to a ship at Liverpool harbor to head to Bristol, where the tragedy occurred.

“If it was two months ago, wouldn’t that be the end of August?”

“Yes, the letter said the accident happened just before September.”

Tae-oh had been looking for Mr. Osborne regarding the Colin Peterson issue around mid-August.

That meant the accident happened not long after their meeting.

“But why was Mr. Osborne on a ship? He always said he regretted not being able to ride a ship anymore because he was getting old.”

“According to the letter, there seems to have been a major problem with the textiles woven at the factory at the end of August. It was an urgent situation requiring Mr. Osborne’s personal attention, so he canceled Miss Catherine’s engagement ceremony scheduled for early September, decided to hold the engagement ceremony as soon as he returned a month later, and left immediately.

But not long after leaving Liverpool harbor, the ship sprung a leak, tilted sharply, and quickly sank into the sea. Only 3-4 of the crew members on board barely survived and were able to deliver the news.”

“Ah… that’s terrible.”

He had promised his daughter that he wouldn’t ride a ship anymore, but it seemed like the matter was so urgent that he broke that promise.

Sir Ricardo sighed.

“How shocked and scared young Catherine must have been, not knowing anything? Mr. Osborne is all alone, with no close relatives to help, and she’s at an age where she doesn’t know anything about the world yet…”

Sir Ricardo said he had known Mr. Osborne for many years.

In particular, he said he had known Catherine since she was born, so she was like his own daughter, and he would go to Manchester within a few days.

Tae-oh, who had been contemplating for a while, opened his mouth.

“Sir Ricardo, can I go with you?”

“Yes? Sir Sanderson, too? Well… I’d be happy to have you along, but you must have a lot of work. Would you be able to get away?”

“I’ll finish my current work in about two days. And I don’t have any special plans for the next month or so, so I’ll have time.”

“Still, it’ll take several days just to get there. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“After helping choose a son-in-law for Mr. Osborne’s daughter last time, I received a reward that was excessively large. Miss Osborne treated me very well throughout my stay in Manchester. I’m very concerned about everything, so I want to go with you.”

“Ah… yes. Then let’s do that.”

The gratitude from the warm letter that Mr. Osborne gave him along with a generous reward had not yet faded.

But to pass away so tragically like this.

If Mr. Osborne were looking down on this situation from heaven, how upset would he be?

And how difficult and scary would it be for Catherine, who is facing such a heavy misfortune at a young age?

Realizing that he rushed his only daughter’s marriage because he perhaps foresaw something like this happening, Tae-oh felt a lump in his chest.

◈ 8 days later, at Paul Osborne’s mansion.

Tae-oh, who finished the remaining work as quickly as possible, rode in a carriage with Sir Ricardo day and night to Manchester.

It usually took more than a week, but they were able to arrive at Mr. Osborne’s house around noon in less than six days.

Tung-tung-tung-

Tae-oh knocked on the door with the knocker, and the butler, John Blake, opened the door and came out.

Thump-

His eyes widened when he saw Sir Ricardo and Tae-oh standing in front of the door.

“Oh, Sir Ricardo and Mr. Sanderson? Ah… I’m sorry, you’re Sir Sanderson now, right?”

Blake, the butler, always maintained a serious demeanor and refrained from expressing emotions beyond what was necessary.

But he couldn’t hide his joy at seeing them after so long.

It seemed like he had been eagerly waiting for Sir Ricardo.

“I sent a letter to tell you the situation, but I don’t know how to thank you for coming in person.”

“Of course I had to come. But why did you wait two months to contact me?”

“That’s… I was too busy with things in the house. I’m sorry.”

Sir Ricardo looked closely at Blake’s face and asked.

“No, but what happened to your face?”

Now that he mentioned it, his left cheekbone was swollen with a visible wound.

Butler Blake replied with a grim expression.

“There’s been a lot going on. Shall we go inside? I’ll explain everything in detail.”

“……..”

Sir Ricardo didn’t ask any more questions and silently followed him.

Just by looking at Butler Blake’s expression, he could sense that something unusual had happened in this house.

*

“No… this is…”

As they passed through the entrance hall and entered the house, they saw it was in complete disarray.

Everywhere was disheveled, as if someone had been rummaging through it.

With heavy hearts, Tae-oh and Sir Ricardo sat on the sofa, and Butler Blake sat next to them.

Tae-oh, sitting down, glanced around.

Antiques that Mr. Osborne had collected for decades were missing, and large wooden storage cabinets, walls, and floors were unsightlyly pierced or broken in places.

“What is all this? Why is the house like this?”

“……..”

“By the way, where is Catherine?”

“Miss has just fallen asleep.”

“It’s almost lunchtime, but she just fell asleep?”

“Actually, Miss has been suffering from severe anxiety lately and can’t sleep at all. So she only manages to fall asleep for a short time in the late morning.”

“Hmm…”

Knock knock.

Thump-

Mrs. Marie, the housekeeper in black clothes, entered the living room with tea.

Sir Ricardo said to Mrs. Marie, who put down the teacup and greeted them.

“Sit here for a moment.”

“…Yes.”

Mrs. Marie took a seat next to Butler Blake.

“Tell me what happened in the meantime. What on earth has been going on in this house?”

Butler Blake, gathering his emotions, closed his eyes tightly, then slowly opened them and began to speak.

“The man Master [Mr. Osborne] initially intended as his fiancé, Sir Colin Peterson, was dismissed, and Sir Alec Parker was newly appointed as her fiancé.”

Around the time Colin Peterson’s parents visited Tae-oh a few months ago, Mr. Osborne seemed to have already decided on Alec Parker as his new fiancé.

“Miss was very upset about how things ended with Sir Peterson and spent every night crying. But she couldn’t dare to disobey Master’s orders. So she was scheduled to hold an engagement ceremony with Sir Alec Parker in early September.”

“……..”

“But around the end of August, an urgent message arrived stating that there was a serious problem with the textiles produced at the factory. The situation was so dire that Master had to go himself.”

In the end, the engagement ceremony, which was scheduled to be held a few weeks later, had to be postponed, with the understanding that it would be held as soon as Mr. Osborne returned.

After that, Mr. Osborne hurriedly took a ship, but less than a day after leaving Liverpool harbor, he suffered a terrible accident.

“Fortunately, there was a passing ship, so a few sailors who were holding onto a raft were barely rescued and returned. According to those sailors, Master completely lost his mind and… sank deep into the sea.”

Tears welled up in Mrs. Marie’s swollen eyes at the last part of Mr. Osborne’s story.

Catherine fainted on the spot as soon as she heard the news of her father, and she fainted several more times even after waking up.

“Miss has not been in her right mind since hearing the news of the accident. She was so deeply saddened that she didn’t eat or sleep, and spent all day lying in bed.”

Tae-oh was concerned that Catherine might have developed acute depression.

In many cases, acute depression occurs when a trusted and relied-upon family member suddenly passes away, and considering the relationship between Catherine and Mr. Osborne, that was a definite possibility.

In the case of acute depression, the body feels heavy and completely loses motivation, to the point where even small movements are burdensome.

The patient is trapped in a prison where they can’t do anything, and they fall deeply into a helpless state where they can’t move.

“Sir Alec Parker was the first to rush over when he heard this news. And he seemed to sincerely comfort Catherine, who was in despair.”

Alec Parker was not yet legally her husband, but he began to look after the affairs of the family, claiming that he would soon be engaged.

“When Miss was bedridden, Sir Alec Parker took over the important tasks of the family on behalf of Miss and handled them one by one. Miss was also so mentally exhausted that she told him to do so.

On the day he left, Master repeatedly told me and Marie to listen to Sir Alec Parker, so everyone in the family followed him.”

Mr. Osborne asked everyone to treat Alec Parker as Catherine’s fiancé, so everyone had no choice but to follow him as if they were serving their master.

At first, he stayed by Catherine’s side with a gentle and considerate manner, and in the midst of great sorrow, Catherine relied on him and entrusted him with family affairs.

However, as time went by, strange things began to appear in Alec Parker.

“Sir Alec Parker tried to rush the death report of Master, putting Miss, who was out of her mind, ahead.”

Even though the body was not found, if the ship was wrecked at sea and statements from several surviving witnesses were secured, it was possible to report the missing person as dead immediately, not as a missing person.

In the case of missing persons due to shipwrecks, unlike today, where a minimum period of one year is required after reporting, it was possible to report the death quickly.

“Miss said that Master could come back alive and asked to wait a few more months, but Sir Alec Parker threatened Miss, saying that if she didn’t deal with the operation of the factory and various debt problems quickly, she might lose the factory. But Miss refused to report the death until the end.”

However, Catherine, who was so deeply saddened that she could barely move, left all the family and factory work to Alec Parker.

Alec Parker was from a fallen noble family, but he was the eldest son of a Count’s family, and no one in the family could check his actions because he was going to be Catherine’s husband.

“Parker began to ask me about not only family matters but also the factory’s situation and other assets. Since he was scheduled to be engaged and Osborne repeatedly asked me to cooperate with Alec Parker in everything when he left, I had no choice but to tell him.”

At first, he treated the family members with a very polite and courteous attitude, so everyone thought he was truly worried about Miss Catherine and was doing his best to help.

Then, after a few weeks, there was a need to open the safe in Mr. Osborne’s room.

“One afternoon, Hester Walker, the general manager of the factory, came to visit. She said that she needed money to pay weekly wages and factory operating expenses. Master had been taking care of it every week, but it had been delayed for almost a month. And a few days later, the bank also urged her to repay the debt.”

When this situation arose, Alec Parker insisted to Catherine that she had to open the safe in Mr. Osborne’s study.

“Miss was the only one in the house who knew where the safe key was. The factory manager even came to her and said that she needed money urgently, and the bank was urging her to pay the debt, so Miss eventually took out the hidden key and opened the safe. It was the first time Miss had opened the safe.”

“……..”

When she opened the safe, it contained about 120,000 pounds, several bundles of foreign currency, and debt-related documents.

Mr. Osborne, who was obsessed with money and suspicious, did not trust anyone and thoroughly managed his money alone.

Even at this time, large companies had financial managers like today’s certified public accountants [professionals who manage financial records and ensure accuracy], but Mr. Osborne, who could not trust anyone when it came to money, put money in the safe and managed it without anyone else knowing.

“Parker said he was going to take the money from the safe to pay off the debt and pay the factory workers’ salaries, so I asked him to go with me. Then, he readily agreed and told me to go with him the next morning.”

“……..”

“I foolishly fell for that. I was relieved that I could go with him in the morning, and as soon as I woke up in the morning, I looked for Parker… but he was gone.”

Surprised, Butler Blake ran to the study and checked the safe first.

“When Miss found the key, I think Parker peeked at where she hid it. So he secretly took the key in the early morning, opened the safe, and was able to take the money.

But because he locked the safe again at the time and even took the key, I was only burning inside because I couldn’t confirm whether Parker had taken the money from the safe on the day he disappeared.”

Sir Alec Parker, who left the house, did not return for a week.

In the meantime, he tried to open the safe by calling a professional locksmith, but he failed every time.

The safe was made of thick steel and had a double-acting locking device specially designed by Mr. Osborne, so it could not be opened at all.

In the end, although he had strong suspicions, he could not report it immediately because he could not confirm whether Parker had really taken the money.

“Sir Alec Parker, who had disappeared like that, broke into the house again late at night a week later, completely drunk.”