Chapter 11 I Just Need a Reading Companion
Mrs. Charles frowned habitually and started to criticize: "Look at what you did - um"
She lowered her head in surprise and turned slightly, her skirt blooming like a flower, without revealing a scratch or stain. Her dress was intact, as if it was new.
Several servants around her gasped quietly, their expressions showing surprise at Edith's achievement. The girl who was expected to be scolded not only did nothing wrong, but even made a contribution, which made people feel a little jealous.
"The Charles family has a very deep heritage." The red-haired noble lady expressed her praise at the right time. She curled her eyes and gently brushed her hair with her hands. "Any servant can do things so decently."
"Well, it's OK, barely up to standard." Mrs. Charles was obviously pleased with Hedda's words. She threw away her fan and hid her smile behind the paper. She raised her head and condescended to ask Edith's name, "What's your name? Which housekeeper do you work for? Not bad--"
"--Edith, Edith Griffin." Edith also put on a social smile, "I am Master Charles's companion, not belonging to any butler."
Mrs. Charles' smile suddenly froze on her face.
"Well, very good." Disgust flashed across her face, and the look in her eyes as she looked at Edith seemed to be poisoned, and her tone was also a little sarcastic, "I didn't know...Lin Qi's study partner was so good at serving people."
As scrutinizing gazes fell from above, Mrs. Charles kept silent, leaving the garden shrouded in depression.
She knew that her husband had accepted a tutor from a slum family as his son's tutor in order not to offend Gray, but he had promised to send the tutor away within a month. Unexpectedly, a month had passed and the tutor was still staying in his own manor.
No one knew what kind of magic potion this Edith had given her son. She proposed to Lynch to replace the person a while ago, but her son, who had always been well-behaved and sensible, actually refused her in front of the servants and even slammed the door and left. He hasn't come to apologize until today.
But as picky as she was, she had to admit that Edith had the qualities to be liked: her blonde hair was smooth, her skin was fair, her golden eyelashes swayed slightly when she looked down, and she was quiet and peaceful, without any sign of her being from the slums. In fact, in terms of temperament, Edith looked more like a noble lady than Hedda beside her.
This realization made her hate the person in front of her even more.
He was too bold and didn't show any fear in front of her; he didn't know etiquette and dared to walk around the manor; his appearance was not polite and his hair was unkempt and left loose; most importantly, because of her, Lin Qi dared to contradict him!
If her husband couldn't find a way to get her to leave peacefully, she would really drive him out of the manor herself.
"Forget it, let's not talk about her." Mrs. Charles squeezed out a muffled groan from the depths of her throat, tilted her head back and rolled her eyes. After she controlled the harshness on her face, she turned around and took Hedda's hand, and smiled again, "Let's continue to visit the garden - I'm so sorry that you were dirty by the rats in this slum."
She took out her handkerchief at the right time, wiped her eyes, and briefly introduced Edith's background to Hedda, who was showing curiosity. Then she said, "Don't worry, my husband and I will not let Lynch bring such a dirty thing that will bring down her status into the academy - nor will we let her stay in the manor."
"Or I can wait until you marry in and let you decide. I believe Lin Qi will be very happy with that."
"Thank you, you are such a generous lady." Hedda lifted her skirt and bowed slightly. Her every move seemed to be carved by a ruler, standard and elegant, which made Mrs. Charles more and more satisfied.
As expected, in terms of manners, a true noble lady is irreplaceable. Mrs. Charles glanced at Edith with a haughty look, snorted, and walked towards the swan pond in the center with Hedda.
Edith realized that she had nothing to do and tried to run away, but the red-haired noble lady turned around and winked at her. Before Edith could react to the other party's intention, Hedda took the initiative to say, "Dear Mrs. Charles, perhaps it would be a wise choice to let this lady go with us - so that we don't fall into the embarrassing predicament again."
She looked in the direction of the other person's skirt. Mrs. Charles looked up at the still narrow path ahead and showed a little hesitation.
Indeed, there was a high possibility that they would be trapped again on the road. Although she didn't want to take Edith with her, she had to admit that the other party's method just now was indeed satisfactory.
"Your kindness shines like the morning sun." She finally compromised, praised Hedda twice and concluded, allowing Edith to follow. Edith wanted to pretend that she didn't understand and leave, but Carmen grabbed her and numbly stuffed a gold coin into her pocket.
He knows how to use a little money to satisfy his master's orders, no wonder he can become Lynch's personal butler.
Edith stopped moving and followed meekly at the end of the team, watching the two nobles flatter each other.
Mrs. Charles held Hedda's hand, and the love in her eyes almost condensed into substance. With the Duke of the capital as her connection, her status in the circle around Oliver City would also be greatly improved.
Soon, according to the marriage contract, after February next year, when Lynch turns 16, the two will be able to get married. The only problem is schooling - it doesn't matter, as long as they go to the church to take the oath before entering Beaujolais College, and after receiving the church's blessing, this marriage will be recognized regardless of whether Lynch is at home or not, and she can take Hedda to various banquets to meet other people -
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Charles, I don't understand you."
Hedda's clear voice brought Mrs. Charles back to reality, and she vaguely realized that she had just said everything she was thinking unconsciously.
These words were a bit rude for a marquise, but fortunately Hedda was not an outsider. She immediately smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Lynch is my only child after all, and I'm looking forward to his wedding. Alas, it's easy to devote too much effort to children."
"You can have more children in the future. Lynch is a kind child. He will definitely be willing to play with the children. Then our manor will be lively."
"No, that's not what I meant." Hedda chuckled and shook her head.
"What I mean is - I have also received an admission invitation from Beaujolais College. In order to prepare for the entrance exam, I am afraid I cannot get married before September."
Mrs. Charles' smile gradually faded from her face.
"When Duke Turner came to discuss the engagement, he clearly stated that girls from his family would only be educated by tutors." Her voice suddenly turned cold. "Are you going to break the engagement?"
She had always been a conservative who opposed girls going to school, and one of the main reasons she liked Hedda was that she was well-behaved - if she really intended to show up in public like a man and go to the academy to learn some dangerous magic and swordsmanship, from the perspective of the family's reputation, Hedda would no longer be a qualified hostess.
"I'm not against girls going to school. If you and Lynch have a daughter in the future, I'll also support sending her to see the world." Mrs. Charles had a blank expression. "But, with the five-year curriculum of Beaujolais College, you will all be 21 years old when you graduate."
"The Charles family can't wait five years."
What a joke! They were eager to marry Duke Turner just to take advantage of the turmoil in the capital in recent years to push their family to a higher position. Five years, who knows what the political situation will be like in five years?
If we really wait for five years, the only one who will suffer is the upwardly mobile Charles family!
"Then let's keep the wedding simple. You can go to the church to take the oath first, and then go to college together." Mrs. Charles still couldn't let go of Hedda, the best solution at the moment. After thinking for a long time, she saw that she didn't want to explain anything, so she could only come up with a solution herself, "Spend Christmas and the summer vacation at Charles Manor, and then hold a wedding after you graduate."
The smile on her face no longer had the sincerity it had just now, and it seemed very forced. In sharp contrast to her sad face was Hedda's smile as before.
The red-haired lady was not in a hurry and was obviously well prepared: "I'm sorry, Mrs. Charles, you still don't understand what I mean."
"How could you think that what I said was that I wanted Lynch to wait for me for five years?" She raised her hands, covering her mouth with her white lace gloves, looking very surprised. "This is so rude! I won't make such a choice."
Mrs. Charles breathed a sigh of relief, and her tense shoulders dropped. Fortunately, Hedda was still as considerate as she remembered.
"——I want to cancel the engagement immediately."
Heda said calmly.
......
This was the strange scene that Marquis Charles saw when he arrived.
His wife was sitting at the table, drinking tea from a cup in silence, but the water level didn't go down at all for a long time; Lynch's fiancée was sitting opposite him, sitting upright, with her hands folded between her knees, a smile on her lips, just admiring the scenery outside the window; a group of servants were crowded in a corner three meters away, shivering, not daring to make a sound; one meter away from the servants stood a girl alone, her eyes blank, and she seemed to be the only person in the entire living room who was not in a good state of mind.
He frowned - he knew her, the civilian companion Gray had sent. He thought she was an honest person, but he didn't expect that she could get into such a private reception room.
Common people are common people, and they will never understand the word etiquette in their entire lives.
But now he had no time to dwell on Edith's problem. He walked quickly to the table and sat down opposite Hedda, to the right of his wife. "I'm sorry, I had too many letters to deal with and didn't see the letter from Duke Turner." He apologized, breaking the weird atmosphere, "I didn't realize Miss Turner's intention at the first time, so I neglected it."
"It's okay." Hedda smiled and lowered her head, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I heard that Mrs. Charles didn't mean to blame me, so I guessed that there was a problem in the communication between my father and you."
"Now that the cause and effect are clear, I will leave first."
"Wait." Mrs. Charles spoke at this time. She kept holding the cup and slowly raised her head. "What is your purpose?"
"Marquis Turner's eldest son just celebrated his sixth birthday, and it was found that he did not have enough magical reserves to become a wizard." Marquis Charles said lightly, "I'm sorry."
Heda shook her head. "This has nothing to do with you. It is a fait accompli that my brother has no magic power. I believe that my father will not be angry if you tell the truth."
"But what does this have to do with breaking off the engagement?" Mrs. Charles was even reluctant to say the word "breaking off the engagement", which made her feel inferior. "The Charles family is willing to help the Turner family and will not look down on them just because the heir is not a mage."
"You still don't understand what I mean." The smile on Heda's face did not change at all. "The Turner family will not be inherited by non-magic descendants."
"I have the talent to become a wizard, so now I am the heir of the family."
She raised her head, and the corners of her mouth curled up a little more than before, obviously beyond the scope of aristocratic etiquette. "I will stay in the Turner family, in the name of Hedda Turner, not Hedda Charles."
"Of course, if you are willing to let Lynch change his last name to Turner, I am also willing to continue the engagement."
......
Marquis Charles was still a respectable man after all. With him in control of the situation, half an hour later, Mrs. Charles accepted the outcome of her "broken engagement."
She was so angry that her face turned pale. She sat in the corner without saying a word, and was unwilling to even glance at Hedda, with whom she had been holding hands and kissing affectionately not long ago.
Marquis Charles was also unhappy, but after all, the Turner family was of higher status than them. If there were sufficient reasons, it would be better to cancel the engagement peacefully than to break up.
"I hope the friendship between our two families will last forever." He politely ordered them to leave, and added a few polite words, "I'm sorry that this engagement has brought you a bad experience. I hope the Charles family will have a chance to compensate you and the Turner family in the future."
"No need for the future, just make up for it now."
"?"
Marquis Charles even doubted his hearing for a moment.
He turned his head in confusion and looked at Hedda, who had a calm face and was not at all timid in front of a marquis. The red-haired lady slightly raised her eyelids, revealing her bright red eyes.
"I decided to go to school at the last minute, and I just happened to need a study partner."
She turned her head, stretched out her hand, and pointed at Edith who was out of state without hesitation.
"Give her to me."
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