[HP Doujin] 1943

Francis actually knew about the relationship between Laura and Jeffrey early on.He kept holding back, firstly because he was busy with a lot of things at hand, and secondly because this matter was really tricky, and he had to think about it before he could do it.

He never imagined that everything would happen so quickly.

After Laura died, he could feel Geoffrey's vague anger and hostility towards him.Of course Francis was also very angry, he didn't want to see Jeffrey at all.But he understood that Jeffrey had been working in Stuart Manor all his life.If he fired Jeffrey at this moment, he must have resentment towards him in his heart.Human resentment can lead to many unintended consequences.It does him no good.

After some thought, Francis called Geoffrey into his library, intending to have a talk with him.

Francis is still in mourning for Laura.He was wearing a black robe and a black satin tie.He sat behind the desk and glared at the man standing across from him.

Francis picked up his checkbook and quickly wrote a number.Then he looked at Geoffrey, cold in his gray-blue eyes. "This money," he said in a stern voice, "you can take it as a settlement between me and you."

"Mr. Stuart," said Geoffrey without moving, his voice tinged with rage, "do you think you can fix everything every time you write a check? It doesn't work that way...we're talking about Law Pull the life!"

Francis flicked his wand, and the check flew up and landed in Jeffrey's hand.Jeffrey picked up the check and glanced at it. He was taken aback by the number on it and stayed where he was.

"Is your mother okay?" Francis asked.

"She's still at St. Mungo's," Jeffrey replied subconsciously.

"Accept the money, change her to a single ward, and hire a senior therapist." Francis said lightly, "She is a good person."

Jeffrey looked at Francis, his lips trembling slightly, but he didn't speak.

"Do you know why I married Laura Greengrass in the first place, Jeffrey?" Francis chuckled suddenly, leaning back in the tall leather chair, looking at him with deep and sharp eyes, " Because my father made me marry her? She told you so, everybody told you so, didn't they?"

Jeffrey nodded, bewildered.

"Because if I don't marry Laura, her father will cut off the Stuart family's mining business all over Europe. You know what that means? It means that the value of our family business will drop by more than half. So my family Even putting a curse on Ellie—even putting a curse on a little girl who doesn't know anything—forced me to marry Laura. And why did Laura's father force my father like that? You have a simple mind like yours Have you thought about it?" Francis sneered coldly, "Because Laura insists on marrying me. If her father doesn't allow it, she will kill herself. Her father has no other choice. He loves his daughter very much. Can use her power to persecute me. Laura has always been a mentally unstable woman. For Merlin's sake, Geoffrey, have you never noticed so many wounds on her wrists and neck?"

Jeffrey took two steps back in shock, his mouth slightly opened, his face pale.

"My father told me when he was about to die. He said that he only did this one thing to be sorry for me in his life, but he swore to Merlin that what he did was for the Stuart family !"

Having said that, Francis stood up abruptly, resting his hands on the desk. "I've never been sorry to Laura Greengrass in my life! I've paid her what she wants, I haven't embarrassed her in public, I haven't touched her once, what the hell do you want What do you want from me? Love her?" He laughed loudly, the laughter was ridiculous, and his face was full of deep anger and sadness, "She has always been a selfish person, expecting the whole world to surround her A woman turned by herself! She always looks so perfect, she is almost an angel in everyone's eyes. But did you know that she is actually suicidal and always threatens me with it? You know that she almost died Did you mutilate the only girl I've ever loved in my life? You don't know anything fucking!"

Francis hung his head for a moment to catch his breath, calmed down, and then sat down with red eyes.

"I'll ask you again," Francis said coldly, "this money is considered as the settlement of our personal grievances, understand?"

Jeffrey's eyes were red, and his hands were trembling slightly.He looked at Francis with a look of panic, bowed respectfully, and said in a trembling voice: "I see, Mr. Stuart."

Jeffrey seemed to want to say something more.But after a while, he just stuffed the check into his pocket and stepped back to the door of the study.

As soon as he opened the study door, Francis' voice suddenly came from behind, with a hint of sarcasm: "You can't be worth this sum of gold to her after all."

Jeffrey paused, bowed his head, and remained silent.

"There is no one in this world whose feelings are more noble than others," Francis said. "Being self-righteous and inconsiderate will kill people in the end. Remember that."

"I remember, Mr. Stuart," said Geoffrey.

From the moment he stepped out of the study, he never mentioned the name "Laura" again.

He continued to perform his duties as the chief steward of the Stuart Manor, and he and Francis still chatted and laughed happily, but he had fully understood in his heart that they were just masters and servants.He knows where he is, and he won't cross the line a step further.

After Francis married again, he and other servants greeted the newlyweds in the hall of the manor.Fate is very strange, he never thought that Francis would be able to marry the woman he loved deeply many years ago in the end.He admired Francis' long-term love, but he also worried for him, because when he first saw the newlyweds, he saw that familiar and heartbreaking lonely melancholy in the bride's eyes.

But at least Francis loved her deeply.

"Merlin bless you," Jeffrey said silently in his heart, "I hope everything will be fine."

******

Many years have passed in a flash.

Geoffrey, preoccupied with the trivialities of the estate, gradually became more and more reticent.His hair and beard were beginning to show signs of age, and his eyes were becoming darker and sadder.People say that time can make people wise, but he felt that he was still as dull and stupid as when he was young.It's just that now he doesn't have the impulsiveness and passion of the past, and he understands how the world works better.This is not wisdom, it is just a person who slowly loses his initial vitality and gradually surrenders to the cruelty and grandeur of fate.

He didn't go to the house very often, so he didn't see the new Mrs. Stuart very often.He had long heard that Elizabeth was a famous beauty in London.There is a kind of willfulness and innocence that belongs to a child on her face, her frowns and smiles are always so vivid, and her eyes are shining with joy.Laura has always been a gentle and graceful woman, as if she came out of a classical painting.But Elizabeth looked so different.She was different from anyone else, and there was something unworldly about her that radiated and fascinated him—something that had once belonged to him too, and belonged to every unworldly, ambitious teenager.

When Mrs. Laura was there, no one in the house said that she raised her voice and said a word, and Elizabeth had only been married for more than a month, and he heard the servants in the mansion say something like this Words: "Merlin's beard! Lady Elizabeth lost her temper this morning and dropped a vase in the bedroom on Mr. Stuart's head! The vase is broken!"

"Merlin's underpants! Mrs. Elizabeth overturned the whole pot of fish soup when she disagreed with Mr. Stuart at the dinner table today! Mr. Stuart was almost scalded to death! Mrs. Elizabeth continued to growl at him It took half an hour!"

"Merlin's underpants! Mrs. Elizabeth kissed and hugged Mr. Stuart on the stairs in front of the housekeeper this afternoon! It's so unruly!"

He was a person who had stayed in the Stuart manor for decades, and this was the first time he felt a different kind of vitality in the whole manor.

But it didn't last long, as Elizabeth and Francis escalated and finally broke out, and she moved out.While she was ostensibly just on vacation, everyone knew they were officially separated.

Ever since Elizabeth left the Stuart Manor, a vague uneasiness has been lingering in Geoffrey's mind.Every time he ate or chatted with Francis, he tried to persuade him to take Elizabeth home.But he tried several times without opening his mouth. First, what happened last time had taught him enough lessons to let him know that he would not care about things that did not belong to him. Second, he was a little afraid of Francis.Francis has become more and more bad-tempered in recent years, who knows what will happen to his outspokenness.

Years and years passed, and Charles could walk.Gradually, Elizabeth and Francis became more polite again, and on the surface it seemed that the cold war was no longer there.Elizabeth had her own bedroom at Stuart Manor and at the house in London, and never shared a room with Francis.She was now able to perform Mrs Stuart's duties more and more well.She will no longer be willful absent from some important occasions, nor will she flinch at Francis in public.The servants in the house did not often see Elizabeth throwing things and yelling.She seemed much calmer, and spoke mostly in a gentle tone.

Once, Geoffrey went to the manor to attend a banquet.The dinner has not yet started, and everyone is drinking and chatting on the large terrace outside the living room.The terrace is decorated with elegant white camellias, some blown petals flying in the air.Elizabeth took Francis's arm and talked to the guests.She wore a crimson dress and her hair was adorned with expensive diamonds in her hair pulled back.

A strong sense of deja vu came oncoming.Many years ago, on such a summer night, Laura was also standing here wearing a bright red dress, holding Francis' arm with a smile, and dealing with the guests gracefully and calmly.Elizabeth was standing in Laura's place, doing the same movements, wearing the same smirk, and saying the same words.Nothing had changed, even the same guests around the couple, only the red roses on the terrace had turned into white camellias.

Suddenly, without warning, a tear fell from Jeffrey's eye.

He didn't understand why life was always so cruel, killing people who could have been beautiful and soft and losing their souls.But this topic is too grand for him, a northern man who faces the land every day.He couldn't think of an answer.He felt nothing but endless pain and sorrow.

Since then, he has seldom visited the estate for such social events.