Chapter 17: Welcome to chat, but please be careful when chatting.
He was definitely warned by this butler just now.
But staring at others is not a very polite thing to do.
Claude withdrew his gaze, pulled the reins and walked towards Anna.
"Sevier," Darien said.
"Master, I'm here." Sevier responded.
"Take away that creepy look on your face. I saw some snakeberries. Remember where they are and come dig them up in the middle of the night." Darien looked down.
Sewell followed his gaze and saw the small cluster of herbs with small red berries at the foot of the tree.
"Okay, master." As he finished speaking, a crow landed on the snakeberry bush and kept a close eye on it until the bush was dug up in the middle of the night.
Everyone was busy during this hunt. Darien was busy looking for free herbs scattered all over the ground, Seville was busy having crows keep watch, Elvira was busy getting closer to Anna, and Claude was busy separating them...
Only Catherine and several other gentlemen and ladies were focused on hunting. The most unexpected one among them was Kenneth. He and his horse, which had very poor coordination, stepped into a wild boar's den and were chased out by two big wild boars and many piglets.
"Ahhhhhh help me, ahhhhhhhhh!"
Kenneth held the horse's head and rocked back and forth. He felt like his butt was about to fly off the saddle!
"You, you, don't come over here!" Catherine turned around and saw Kenneth running wildly and the tusk-filled pig following closely behind him.
"Catherine! Come here!" Anna shouted at her.
The pack of hunting dogs rushed towards the wild boar, but they could only serve as an interceptor, as their teeth were not high enough to bite the wild boar's vital parts.
Darien stared at the wild boar rushing in front and moved his fingers hidden under his sleeves.
The wild boar's body stiffened for a moment, but soon recovered.
This amount of time is enough.
Anna blew the dog whistle to let the hunting dogs retreat. Elvira drew her bow and shot an arrow. The arrow hit the wild boar's eye socket. The severe pain made the wild boar go crazy and it began to rampage.
More arrows were shot out, turning the wild boars into hedgehogs.
"You're quite skilled," Claude said to Elvira.
“Thank you…” Avella almost said thank you, Dad out of habit, but fortunately she swallowed the second half of the sentence in time.
Darien pulled the horse a little further away. The smell of wild boar's blood was so stinking that it made him frown.
"My dear master, please use this." Seville took out a handkerchief embroidered with an orange flower in a corner from his pocket.
Darian covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, and a fresh sweet citrus scent lingered in his nose, quickly covering up the fishy smell of blood.
Well done. He gave Sewell an approving look.
Mr. Crow smiled reservedly, and always had a few fragrant handkerchiefs in his pocket, which was an essential quality of a good butler.
Catching a wild boar is a great harvest. The servants went over to tie up the wild boar, and there will be a few more pork dishes at tonight's dinner.
On the way back, they didn't encounter any prey, and Anna led them to a high wall soon.
The guards standing guard on the high wall saw them coming from afar, and the gate burst open as they approached.
"Send the wild boar to the kitchen and let Murphy make his specialty. We have new guests today." Anna instructed the servant.
Darien was behind Seville, covering half of his face with a handkerchief, his expression as if he was ready to die.
The wild boar had a terrible smell and the meat was extremely rough. He just hoped that there would be more than just pork on the table.
"Please follow us this way. Don't worry about your horses. They will be well taken care of in the stable," said Anna.
A quick-footed servant had already passed on the news that Miss Anna had brought several guests to Lord Hayden's ears. After listening to the servant's word-for-word retelling, he asked the male servant to find the unopened letters in the study and confirmed the identities of these guests.
A new gentleman who has just moved to the neighborhood really needs a thoughtful reception.
Sewell dismounted before Darien and walked straight past the servant standing beside the horse to greet Darien.
The Lyons family's butler was very perceptive and immediately stepped back a few steps to give his place to the master and servant.
Darien glanced at Seville, grabbed the reins, loosened the stirrups, and got off the horse neatly. There were inevitably a few small wrinkles on the back of his hunting suit from being pressed against the saddle.
Sewell took out a brush from his pocket and smoothed out the wrinkles on his clothes one by one.
Darien was not very happy. All he wanted now was to turn around and slap the brush on Sewell's face so that he wouldn't sweep his butt anymore!
Sewell was satisfied with the fruits of his labor: clothes without a single wrinkle, a round and elastic butt... ahem.
"Sir Ferrers, Miss Ferrers, I am the local lord Hayden. You are very welcome to visit our castle!" Lord Hayden came forward with his wife.
"I am also very happy to be invited." Darien bowed, then walked forward with a smile and shook hands with Lord Hayden.
"Oh sweetheart, you are so cute." The lord's wife kissed Elvira's cheek.
“Thank you for your compliment, Madam.” Elvira’s cheeks were a little red.
“Mom, let’s take Miss Elvira to visit the garden.” Anna said with a smile.
"My dear, take Miss Elvira to change her clothes first. You and Anna have similar figures, and she has a new skirt. Go and change into it." The lord's wife gently stroked Elvira's hunting suit.
Elvira was treated cordially by the ladies and left temporarily until dinner time. Darien stayed with Lord Hayden and began to exchange pleasantries.
Lord Hayden was gentle and not overly enthusiastic. He started the conversation by talking about the weather and then expressed his concern for the hardships they had experienced on their long journey. Darien appeared to be very easygoing and answered the progressive questions carefully.
It wasn't until Lord Hayden actually confirmed that he was a real noble that talking about talent really became easy.
Darien cooperated very well and understood Lord Hayden's temptation. After all, there were indeed many scammers who made a living by pretending to be nobles. Stealing property and even bloody murders were worthy of vigilance.
While they were chatting, Sewell and Kenneth were invited to the servants' lounge.
Before coming, Kenneth had memorized the answers to the questions he would encounter many times, and was waiting confidently for someone to interrogate him. However, the servants of the Lyons family were very well-behaved and were not curious at all about the sudden appearance of Sir Ferrers.
After drinking some tea and eating a biscuit, Sewell walked around the room and began to talk to the servants.
"Hello, do you know where the kitchen is? If allowed, can I go to the kitchen to take a look at tonight's menu? No offense, my master is not in good health and some food cannot be eaten." His warm smile and gentle tone quickly won the other party's favor.
"I'll ask Mr. Wharton for you. He'll tell the lord that after getting permission, a butler will take you to Chef Murphy." said the servant.
The servants reported the matter up the chain of command, and finally the news reached the ears of Mr. Wharton, the castle steward. Now he was going to ask Lord Hayden.
Lord Hayden was showing Darien the forest where they were going to hunt today when Mr. Wharton walked into the room.
He did not interrupt their conversation until the topic was over, then he stepped forward to convey Seville's request.
"Of course." Lord Hayden nodded and agreed to the request.
"Thank you for your generosity in allowing Sewell into the castle's kitchen." This was the happiest moment for Darien since he stepped into the castle.
The fishy and smelly wild boar meat is really unpalatable. Few people can handle such wild ingredients well. He thought for a long time how to politely refuse to eat wild boar meat.
Soon someone brought Seville into the kitchen, where a cook introduced to him tonight's menu out of reach of the food.
"Chef Murphy's signature dishes are honey-glazed roast ribs, pork cartilage stewed with cabbage, and apple stewed meat..."
The guests tonight include not only Darian and Elvira, but also Miss Anna's fiancé and some relatives and friends who have come from afar. The kitchen has to prepare more than a dozen dishes, including the guests' preferences and taboos, and the variety is particularly rich.
The kitchen, so large it was impossible to sweep it all at once, was bustling with activity. Servants were constantly coming in and out, moving ingredients around. Each dish required a collaborative effort. Side dishes were being cut on the chopping board, dough was being kneaded on the clean wooden table, and a pot of soup was boiling in the fireplace...
Seville observed everything here, the tempting aroma of food penetrated his nostrils, and he found the head chef Murphy in the crowd.
Murphy is tasting the sauce.
The little wild boar was wailing in the yard. The big wild boar had died long ago. The arrows on its body were removed and placed aside. The thick pig skin was peeled off in one piece, and blood flowed all over the yard. The wild boar meat was soaked in spice water prepared in advance to remove the fishy smell before being fished out for the next step.
The blood outside the yard was washed away, and the entire kitchen was filled with the tempting aroma of food. Chef Murphy really had an amazing ability to make every food smell delicious.
Sewell felt it necessary to observe and learn from the scene to enrich the tower's menu. However, he couldn't stay here for long, as it was not polite to oversee someone else's kitchen.
On the way back to the lounge, he instructed two crows to keep a close eye on the dishes and record the ingredients and steps for cooking. Combined with tasting, he was confident that he could replicate the menu.
Darien was suffering in the reception room. Lord Hayden's enthusiasm was getting more and more intense, which made him feel a little overwhelmed. He had to make up many experiences to fool Lord Hayden and make him believe that he was a nobleman with rich experience.
If he were still in the shop, he would definitely charge Lord Hayden three times, no, five times the chatting fee!
In comparison, Elvira is much happier.
She was brought back to the room by Anna in a daze, and she opened the wardrobe and picked out a soft silk dress.
It's my mom's clothes...it smells like my mom's...
Elvira couldn't help but rub the clothes on her face, her nose greedily sniffing the scent on it.
Ana was a little hesitant to speak, watching Elvira rubbing against her clothes, she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't speak.
It took Avella a while to realize that Ana was still beside her and quickly turned her head to explain. Ana reacted faster and lowered her head to fiddle with the perfume beside the dressing table, pretending not to see it.
After changing clothes, Anna tidied Elvira's hair, then took her hand and took her for a stroll in the garden.
The garden had beautiful flowers, low shrubs and flowers trimmed into various shapes, lovely green hedges and a small pond.
But Elvira's attention was not on the garden at all.
She felt like she was stepping on soft marshmallows. Every step was sweet and dizzy, as if she was going to faint on Anna in the next moment.
Ana felt that this Miss Elvira seemed a little silly. No matter what she said, she would look at her with admiration, and no matter where she was taken, she would follow her obediently, as if she were the big doll she had always wanted when she was a child.
Moreover, Miss Elvira looks a little familiar, as if I have seen her somewhere before?
Ana couldn’t think of anything for a moment, and when she turned her head, she was stared at by big, bright eyes. She was like being bewitched by a siren, and reached out and gently touched Avra’s cheek.
Soft.
“Sister Anna.” Elvira said sweetly.
Mmm, so cute. Much cuter than Catherine.
"Your hair is on your cheek." Anna hurriedly made an excuse and reached out to gently stroke the hair on her cheek.
Mom is so gentle.
Elvira wanted to throw herself into Ana’s arms and rub against her.
This is in stark contrast to Darien's predicament.
Just when Darien was about to run out of ideas, the dinner bell finally rang.
It’s finally time to eat. Lord Hayden won’t talk so much if he has food in his mouth, right?
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