Chapter 49 Return to London 11 Information Dealer
The next morning, after several days of clear weather, a biting cold wind began to blow again in London, but Heather got up on time, a rare occasion. She had already put the unpleasantness of the previous day behind her and was ready to pick up an important matter that had been delayed because of the salon.
Mary was surprised for a moment when she saw her aunt at the dining table. She thought her aunt would not get up earlier than 10 o'clock in such weather. Besides, her aunt stayed in the study until after 10 o'clock yesterday.
"Reina, please help me find a thicker cloak." Heather looked out the window, holding a bowl of steaming pumpkin soup. "Oh, by the way, Mary, I have to go to Mrs. Hurst's house today to look for Miss Bingley and her brother. Mr. Lancaster came over the day before yesterday and told me some news. I have to hurry and let Mr. Bingley know."
"Is it about the land?" Mary was still a little confused.
"That's right." Hazel frowned as she shoveled two bites of her boiled egg into her mouth and quickly scooped up a large spoonful of pumpkin soup. "You have to help me go to Gracechurch Street and bring back some of the hats and ribbons I bought last time. And ask Jane if she wants to come with us to visit Mrs. Hurst's house. When she sent the visiting card to the Hurst family yesterday, Mrs. Hurst specifically invited Jane to come along. If she wants to go, just take her to this address."
"Glovner Street?" Mary took the note. "Yes, I think Jane would be willing to go. See you later, aunt."
Mr. Hurst's house was located on Glover Street. The social season was over, and the Almack Ball and the race week were not held in late winter. However, as one of the centers of Mayfair, the street remained in good shape.
When Heather first received the address, she double-checked it several times. Mr. Hurst certainly didn't possess the airs of an aristocrat. While at Netherfield, he showed little interest in anything besides eating, drinking, and playing cards. His portly figure, always slouched in his chair, was a poor match for the sophisticated, shrewd-eyed Mrs. Hurst.
"Oh, Mrs. Lawrence, in such a difficult time, who else but you would take the initiative to run around for our family." Mrs. Hurst shook Heather's hand exaggeratedly.
Heather secretly winked at Miss Bentley behind her: "Caroline and I are friends. When encountering such a thing, of course I have to try my best to find out, but isn't Mr. Bentley at home now?" Heather handed in the visiting card yesterday. Logically, Mr. Bentley should not go out.
Mrs. Hurst sighed. "After word got out about the land, some of our old partners in London have become quite concerned. Last night, we learned that a batch of goods was out of stock, so Charles had to rush over early this morning to check on it. But he told us he'd be back soon."
Heather understood: "Then let's wait until Mr. Bingley and Jane arrive and talk together."
Mrs. Hurst's attitude towards Jane now took a complete turn from what it had been at the beginning: "Miss Bennett agreed to come? That's wonderful! Charles has always said that Miss Bennett has been a great comfort to him since the incident. It's a blessing that the two of them can face this difficult time together."
Caroline blushed at her sister's obvious change of attitude, so she interrupted her chatter: "Okay, sister, in this case, I will take Aunt Heather upstairs to take a look, and then come down when Charles comes back."
Mrs. Hurst immediately agreed, saying she would stay below and prepare a good lunch.
Caroline's room was not on the street side. It was quite large and the view from the window was beautiful, which showed that she enjoyed good treatment in the Hearst family.
"Mr. Hurst went to the gentlemen's club. He is not very clear about the specific situation. Neither his brother nor his sister told him the details of his current situation." Caroline seemed to be in good spirits, at least not as panicked as she was at the beginning.
"Don't worry too much." Heather walked to the single sofa by the window and sat down: "I came here this time to tell you that I have already found out about this matter, and it should be resolved soon." She briefly described what happened and the solution.
Caroline was silent for a long time after hearing this.
"I never thought that when we were really in trouble, it would be you, Aunt Heather, who would finally pull us out of the quagmire. After returning this time, several of the ladies I had tried hard to make friends with no longer actively invite me to tea parties or dances." Caroline's expression was complicated, and the ending of the word almost got stuck in her throat. She paused and continued, "Whether you believe it or not, at least I didn't do what I did in the back hills with the intention of pleasing you."
Heather smiled. "Of course I know. I still remember how you scolded me and my nieces after you came down the mountain."
Caroline blushed in embarrassment and said with her head down, "I'm so lucky to be your friend."
The fire in the fireplace flickered, casting their shadows on the vine pattern on the wallpaper, sometimes long, sometimes short. More than half an hour passed in this aimless chat, talking about random topics such as the weather and the party.
Heather curled up on the sofa, feeling drowsy by the warm fire. Her thoughts gradually extended endlessly in a state of half-awake and half-asleep.
It wasn't until a finger was waved in front of Heather's eyes that she regained consciousness.
"You can come over next afternoon. You look like you're about to fall asleep." Caroline stretched unladylike and got down from the windowsill. "I saw my brother's carriage. Miss Bennett and Mary just arrived at the door. My sister will probably send someone to call us."
Heather retorted subconsciously, "I wasn't sleeping. I was just thinking about where I could build a small, sophisticated distiller for making essential oils. I asked someone, but the Blacksmiths' Guild won't accept these 'boudoir gadgets' and requires them to be registered and their intended use disclosed. I don't want everyone in London to be able to copy them the next day."
Caroline didn't quite understand what a distiller was, but she didn't ask. "If you're looking to contact some underground craftsmen through informal channels, I know a capable information dealer. Perhaps we could ask him."
"Information dealer?" Heather hadn't expected Caroline, a strict and well-behaved young lady, to utter such a term. But before they could discuss it, there was a knock on the door. It was Mrs. Hurst, the maid, calling them down.
Before going downstairs, Caroline promised to take Hazel to find the man later in the afternoon.
"Mrs. Laurence!" Mr. Bingley was already standing at the stairs waiting for them, and everyone sitting in the drawing room looked over.
After Heather walked over and sat down next to Mary and Jane, she briefly greeted them and then directly repeated all the information provided by Lancaster.
"That's the thing, Mr. Bentley. You'd better make a decision quickly. Otherwise, if you delay for too long and something unexpected happens, it will be troublesome."
Jane said in embarrassment, "Is there really no other way? Mr. Bentley obviously didn't do anything, and now not only has a lot of time been wasted, but no matter which plan we choose, we will lose a lot of money for nothing."
Mr. Bentley accepted this well. He knew that this was the best outcome and that he would not get a better option no matter who he asked for help.
"Mrs. Lawrence must have put in a lot of effort to achieve this result. I've been working on this for so long and haven't seen any progress at all. It's obvious that this is not an easy task."
Mrs. Hurst had also put in a lot of effort in private recently. She pondered for a moment and said, "This is indeed good news. I wonder if Mrs. Lawrence would prefer money or land?"
Heather understood that she was worried that if she chose the land, it might be taken back in the future under some pretext. "Don't worry, Mrs. Hurst. As far as I know, no one will ever link the Thompson incident to this land again."
Mrs. Hurst looked at her gratefully. "That's great. I think we should choose a more suitable piece of land. We don't know if there will be any problems if we look at the land again. It's better to lose some money to the bank than to buy land all over again. Right, Charles?"
Mr. Bingley agreed with his sister.
The problem was solved. Later, Mr. Bentley only had to go to the bank with the title deed, and then go to the land department to make a record with the certificate issued by the bank.
Once this matter was resolved, the atmosphere relaxed. Mrs. Hurst hurriedly asked the servants to serve the meal quickly and insisted that Heather sit at the head table. Heather couldn't refuse, but after thinking that perhaps she was indeed the most senior, she gave up the struggle.
At the dinner table, Mrs. Hurst kept thanking Hazel and said that she always felt that Jane and her aunt were very similar, both being well-educated and kind people. She also found opportunities to hint that Mr. Bingley had been missing Jane very much during this period, and that he left without saying goodbye only because the situation was urgent and he did not dare to face the disappointment of familiar people.
Heather did not comment on this. Although she felt that Bingley was not as capable as Darcy, let alone Lancaster, she always believed in the philosophy of life of not meddling in other people's affairs, so she just smiled and tried to smooth things over, and did not interfere in Jane's affairs.
Jane didn't care about Mrs. Hurst's inconsistency at all. She was immersed in the joy of her lover getting out of trouble. From time to time, she shyly looked at Mr. Bingley, and then turned around to ask Mary about her recent situation in an attempt to cover up her mistake. Mary could only pretend to be deaf and dumb to cover up for her sister.
In the afternoon, Mrs. Hurst strongly invited them to stay for dinner before going back, and tempted Mary with the rich collection of books passed down from the Hurst family. Jane did not need to be tempted. She looked at Heather with her big doe-like eyes, obviously wanting to stay and talk to Mr. Bingley.
Heather agreed. She decided to ask Caroline to take her to find the so-called intelligence dealer in the afternoon, and then go home after dinner.
"But I'm really curious, how did you get to know such a person? And the place we are going to now is actually a tavern?!" Heather got on the carriage and finally found a chance to ask.
"Ah, this is a long story..." Caroline's expression turned indescribable. "Anyway, the source is that during that difficult time in the past, the best solution I could think of was to find a powerful fiancé, someone more powerful than Mr. Darcy. And then, as luck would have it, at a party I shamelessly attended, I happened to meet a suitable candidate, and he seemed to fall in love with me at first sight."
"Ahhh?" Heather was shocked. "So you found yourself a fiancé so soon?"
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