It was a difficult night for the Viscount's family.
Women took off colorful silk clothes, put on black gauze skirts, covered with a black veil.
They gathered round the warm fireplace and wept bitterly.
The Viscountess cried bitterly all night, and cursed her daughter-in-law: "You are a useless woman! You didn't give Willem a son, and I'm sorry I made him marry you! '
Helena smiled contemptuously: "Why don't you say I'm useless when you use my dowry? Your son only married me for money. As for money, I have not wronged you all these years. You have eaten with my dowry, and if it were not for me, your estate would have been in debt.
'What do you mean by such talk!’
'I'm a widow now, and I have no children and no title of viscountess. What am I doing here? To go home with my dowry, of course."
"You! You have no right to do this!"
"Right? Of course I have that right, and it's a right given to me by law."
Helena smiled and stood up. "It's getting late, everybody," she said. "Go to bed early.
When Helena left the room, the Viscountess cried loudly, "What a slut, a vile woman! She can't take our property! She can't! '
"Calm down, mother." Miss Catherine sat beside Lady Baronet, consoling her and gently fanning her with a folding fan to ease the Lady Baronet's labored breathing.'
Catherine was a rare beauty. She liked to wear a blonde wig to complement her pale skin and pale green eyes. Although she is only 16 years old, she is already thriving.
"What is to be done?" cried the Viscountess. ’What do you say? We'll be broke, we'll have no heirs, and your father's title will go to some wild boy from the outside. One day your father will die, and we will be driven out of here! '
Viscount Bruce said, 'Not so pessimistic. Let him marry Margaret or Catherine, as usual, and let our daughter be mistress of Mormont Hall. As far as I know, he is very good at management. He must be rich."
"No! Dad, I'm not marrying him! That ugly hunchback!" Miss Margaretwas ,Catherine's sister,the first to jump up and protest vehemently: "I want to choose my own husband!"
Compared with Catherine, Margaret was more handsome, but not as sedate in character. She was very proud and always ordered.
Viscount Bruce said: 'You want to choose your own husband? If the rich and powerful nobles will marry you, I will marry you at once. But I am sorry, as your rich sister-in-law is going away, and I am afraid I cannot afford even a thousand pounds for your dowry. Do you think any nobleman will marry you under such circumstances?"
"Oh! Oh my God! Good heavens!" 'screamed Margaret.
'I'll write to him at once.' "Get everything ready for him," said the Viscount.
...
The first snow of winter fell last night.
Late at night, I lay in bed, the cold air around me, so it was difficult to fall asleep.
My feet were cold all the time, unable to feel warm, which reminded me of the hiding days in memory...
I woke up in the morning to the sound of the bell and began my day's work again.
At the orders of Aaron, the steward, I went to the stable to inform the stablemen: "The Viccount is going out in a moment. Prepare the carriage at once."
There are very strong stables built on Maumont Estate, where more than a dozen fine horses from the Eastern steppe are kept for walking or hunting. It is also home to a flock of purebred beagles, who bark and bark before I enter the stable.
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Some grooms greeted me, saying that it might rain later, and that they would inspect the carriage carefully.
Instead of the servants who served inside the castle, there were more than a dozen other servants, such as groomsmen, gardeners, woodkeepers, and night watchmen, who were not entitled to enter the castle but lived in a row of cabins near the wood. A valet is a servant inferior to a subordinate servant, and sometimes I can order them to do things.
"The Viscount's valet will have his cloak and umbrella ready. You need not worry." I said.
"Owen, I heard you came home some time ago." 'asked old stableman John.
"Yes, on the very day that Willem's misfortune happened, it was terrible." I said.
"How's your family?"
"They're healthy."
"I'm driving into town to do some shopping in a few days. Can I pick anything up for you?" Uncle John asked me.
"Oh, no, my wages are all for mother, and I have nothing left to buy." I said with a smile.
"You must be clever, young man, and keep some money for yourself." "My niece Betty has come to the farm today as a cook," said John. "She is a silly girl. Give her a lift when you get a chance."
When I heard the name Betty, I froze for a moment. I had forgotten about her for so long...
At noon, I saw the little girl in front of the oven. It was Betty. She was so humiliated by the older cooks that I saw she was on the verge of tears.
I put down my tray and went over to reassure her. 'You're old John's niece, aren't you? I'm Owen. He asked me to look after you. Don't be so nervous. They'll scold you if you do something wrong, but they won't beat you or send you home, won't they?"
Betty's face brightened and she smiled at me. Perhaps it was difficult to look up at me, for I was so tall, and she soon lowered her eyes and twisted her hands around her apron.
"Now, lad, leave my girls alone." A fat cook pulled Betty rudely out of my sight.
Simon came up to me and winked at me and said, "You have a lot of charm. Look at that girl. I doubt if you look at her again, she will be ashamed to the ground."
I smiled awkwardly: "You are nonsense, she is just very introverted."
"Well," said Simon, "if I had your pretty face, I should have stopped being a footman and perhaps become the lover of some lady."
I ignored him, picked up the tray and walked out of the kitchen.
I didn't contradict him because, once upon a time, I was so self-righteous.
My mother inherited me a good look. I have a tall and straight body, golden curly hair, a tall and straight nose, deep eye sockets, blue eyes, angular face is very handsome in everyone's eyes. I remember when I was just 14 years old, an unscrupulous woman in my village seduced me and tried to have sex with me. She even offered me money for it. I said yes. We kissed each other in the haystack, tore off each other's clothes, but when I saw her fat body, I ran in a hurry. The woman's body was so dense with red spots that I felt sick. This year I'm 18, I'm more mature, I'm more beautiful, and women like me more. They were always whispering about me and giggling. Their eyes followed me everywhere,which gave me blind confidence that all women would fall in love with me...
Selena, the housekeeper, told me to bring coffee and dessert to the small living room.
After professional training, male servants need to have elegant etiquette, especially when serving things. When holding a tray, you must stand upright with your head up and eyes straight. The small tray can only be held firmly with one hand below, and the other hand must be placed on the back of the waist. Step steadily and neither too slow nor too fast. It's both graceful and balanced, and it's hard for ordinary people to do without long-term training. So when Aaron found that I could almost start immediately, he was surprised and praised that I am a born-excellent male servant. I couldn't tell him that in the last life I had been practicing like this every day, walking back and forth with a book on my head, standing against the wall for a whole day.
Today, we have visitors at Mormont Manor.
The eldest lady, Judith, and her little daughter, Dolores, arrived in a carriage from Wickerton, a little late, for Master William's funeral was over.
Miss Judith was crying out of breath and looked very sad.
Whether she was as sad as she looked, of course, we don't know. Because she had beautiful hair, and all kinds of expensive and gorgeous jewelry, but unlike usual, she was dressed in a black dress.
At this time, she was angry to the Viscountess said: "That slut has gone!"
The Viscountess shook her fan so hard, her girdle so tight that she could not breathe, that she said in a hurried voice, "As soon as the funeral was over, she went away in her mother's carriage."
"Oh, mother, you have suffered, to suffer the wrath of such an inferior woman. We should not have let the merchant's daughter into our house for a little dowry." Judith said haughtily.
"Now is not the time to talk about that woman." "Whispered the Viscountess.
Judith put down her folding fan with a thoughtful look. "Will he come, then?"
"I don't know. We had a bad relationship..." "the Viscountess said anxiously.
I heard all the chatter, but I had to pretend that I was invisible. My job was to bring in the food, give it to the senior footman, and then stand by the wall, like a fresco, waiting for orders.
The senior footmen, who serve tea and refreshments to ladies and ladies, are attentive, graceful, and walk with a light footstep as a cat.
Miss Margaret was whispering to Jason, the footman.Miss Catherine was much more solemn, and though she smiled gently at the servants, she never bothered to say a word to us. I suppose she despised our kind from the bottom of her heart, but I was lost in the swamp of her beautiful smile, and I never saw it. I even thought she loved me...