Chetlow Manor

"They want me to go to school and study law." Moen explained, "But I'm really not interested in the profession of a lawyer. It's better for me to paint a few paintings for a living."

"If I remember correctly...you should inherit the family business." Hughden raised his eyebrows.

The second son of the Lanson family is actually the eldest son of the family, because they have been claiming to the outside world that the eldest son died shortly after birth, but in fact, no one in the upper class has ever seen the eldest son, which is a strange thing .But, then again, among those people in the upper class, there is no strange thing about them.

"My twin sister, Selena is a powerful woman. She will inherit Lanson's family business. I don't think my parents have much hope for an uneducated second son like me." Mo En said He shrugged, facing the title of viscount, he didn't have much interest.

"You ran out like this, won't Viscount Lanson send someone to look for you?"

"Of course I will. However, my third younger brother who is in the rebellious period should spend more energy on them. Besides, he has always grasped the attraction of his father and the privilege of the youngest child in the family."

Hughden looked at him with great interest, and fixed his charming eyes on Mo En, "Mo En, you are such a strange person. Apart from black hair and blue eyes, you are incompatible with the Lanson family, which has always pursued power. "

"Oh, my lord duke, please allow me to take this as a compliment." Moen frowned unhappily, "You are also a strange person, you clearly said you forgave my mistakes, but you keep taking my faults The family makes a fuss."

Hughden laughed when he heard this, Moen had to admit that the Duke's smile was extremely eye-catching, and he dared to say that no one could resist such a smile, even his own rising anger was suppressed.

"You are so cute, how can I not forgive you. I swear to God, I will never hurt your family because of your carelessness." Huden stood up while laughing, and grabbed Moen's wrist, "Let's go , I'll take you to the manor to have a look."

Moen didn't know how to refuse, so he had to tell him loudly: "Duke...Your Excellency, we haven't finished talking about the compensation. I am willing to write a letter to my family and ask the servant to send the money."

"That's not a good time. You can live here for a while during this period. It will be the social season in a few days. It's close to Paris. I think you will have a good time." Huden shook the bell inside his hand, "Maria, instruct the chef to prepare dinner and entertain my dear guests."

Thinking about it rationally, Moen thought it was a good idea, but he was a little uneasy in his heart, always thinking that the Duke was a little too hospitable, maybe, it was really for the sake of his mother?But why never heard his mother mention the Duke of Hudden?

"Is there any scenery that attracted you along the way?" Hughden turned his head and asked, "I hope it's not too far away, so we have to ask the driver to prepare the horse."

"To be honest, I'm actually very interested in that vineyard." Moen shook his head and explained, "It shouldn't be far away, right? I saw it from the window."

A few minutes later, the two appeared in the vineyard.It was hundreds of acres of land, and what Moen saw from the window was just the tip of the iceberg. It was midsummer, and all the vines were desperately growing upwards. The vines were hanging around on the wooden frame, and the grapes were getting fuller day by day. It becomes crystal clear under the reflection of sunlight.Too many gemstones have undergone thousands of years of qualitative changes before they have their brilliance, and this plant absorbs sunlight and becomes round and lustrous all by itself.

Grapes, Moen liked to draw them when he was drawing still lifes in his childhood. I can’t say why, maybe because of the softness of the branches, maybe because of the sweet and sour fruit, maybe because its growth is so close to nature.He can stare at a bunch of grapes in a daze for an afternoon, that is the mind of a little boy, without anyone to accompany him, he can make up stories for these grapes, anyway, they are all different, and some even have the same curve of scars beautiful.

Morn reached out and picked a grape, and put it on the palm of his hand.

"The grapes are still green and obviously they're not ready to be eaten," Hughden said.

"What does it matter? When they are purple, they have ripe beauty, and when they are green, they have green beauty." Morn held up the grapes to face the sun, let the sunlight pass through its translucent body, and squinted like observing a gem. One eye, "The Creator is so amazing, it is as beautiful as gems."

"That's because you have a soft spot for it."

"Of course, since I was a child, I hoped that there would be a small piece of vineyard in Lanson Manor, but my mother has always disagreed. I think she probably doesn't like grapes very much." Moen put down the grape and put the grape in the side shallow In the shallow canal, the grapes followed the water and flowed into the distance, "Its bluish-white color makes it look like your eyes, Your Excellency the Duke."

"Thank you for the compliment," Huden replied, "although your actions just now seem a bit bloody with these words, Your Excellency."

Morn knew he had made a slip of the tongue: "I was the one to be rude, Your Excellency the Duke."

This post was last edited by Ersu at 2018-2-1422 54:[-]

Hughden was noncommittal, he walked forward unhurriedly, inspecting the grape racks on both sides: "This vineyard was planted by my mother, and it used to be her favorite place when she was alive, but obviously it wasn't All women like grapes, Morne, and that's a pity."

Huden's family history has always been the favorite object of gossip in the upper class, but since Huden's father's generation, the Huden family has become very low-key, and there is almost no gossip about O'Hallis Huden.Moen only knows that his mother died when he was a child, and his father also died when he was 16 years old, leaving only O'Hallis as an only child, supporting the entire Huwden family.

Some people assert that Ohalis alone, even with the support of the king's cousin, cannot support the entire Huwden family. After all, he was only a 16-and-a-half-year-old child at the time, but who knows what happened to him? What it did, not only maintained the Huwden family's property, but also annexed many handicraft factories.In recent years, with the growth of the bourgeoisie and the rise of overseas trade, compared with the wealth of the big businessmen, some down-and-out nobles seem to be stretched.When Oharis Hutton decided to take over the handicraft workshop, many people laughed at his decision behind his back, but now it seems that there is no doubt that the Duke has a vision.

"I'm sorry, I reminded you of something sad." Moen apologized to Hughden on the way back. He grew up in the Viscount's mansion. Although he has a powerful older sister, he has a younger brother who knows how to please people. , so that he lacked the company of many parents in his childhood, but in comparison, he didn't need to take care of everything at home at least at the age of 16, and he didn't need to worry about taking over such a huge manor, let alone those tenant farmers and residents .

"Don't feel sorry for me, it's nothing," Hughden gave him a deep look, and when he wasn't paying attention, a sneer twitched at the corner of his mouth, "It will all pass."

The dinner was indeed very sumptuous, but Moen still felt a little uneasy when he thought about spending the night in this completely unfamiliar castle. He tried his best to eat politely. Even so, he still accidentally used the knife and fork several times It made a sound.Hughden didn't look up, he concentrated on cutting the foie gras on the bread, his movements were smooth and elegant, which eased Moen's embarrassment a little.

At night, housekeeper Maria sent him back to his room and disappeared at the end of the corridor, leaving behind the maid who helped him change during the day.

"what's your name?"

"Anna, I'm Mrs. Maria's niece. I'm here to help you at the manor. I'll be in charge of your food and daily life for the next few days."

"Are you British?"

"Yes, my lord." She looked carefully at Moen's reaction.

Fortunately, Mo En just nodded and said nothing.

After everything was taken care of, Anna blew out the candles: "I wish you a sweet dream, my lord."

As the door closed, Moen still had something to worry about—he still couldn't fall asleep.This is not because the Duke's Mansion is not comfortable enough. On the contrary, the soft quilt and mattress may be stuffed with goose down or something. In short, Moen felt that it was extremely soft, and his whole body was sunken in the bed, as if lying in Cotton, or clouds, make people have to lament the beauty of being rich.

However, this old castle is too big and too empty, and the little movement from the breeze passing through the hall is infinitely magnified, hitting his eardrums and fragile nerves.

Oh, what a rough night, he thought drowsily, unable to fall asleep.

While half asleep and half awake, Mo En vaguely heard some intermittent singing, is it singing?Or is someone talking?He turned over and sat up, carefully identified, and suddenly found that the window seemed not to be closed properly, leaving a small gap, the singing came from downstairs, probably drifting in through the window.

Moen groped out of bed, put on a blanket, and lit the candle oil lamp Anna left in the room.

He pushed open the creaking door and asked carefully, "Is anyone there?"

No one answered him.

He walked out of the room, closed the door, and went downstairs.He didn't know what time it was, maybe it was past midnight, maybe it wasn't.Suddenly, several figures flashed in the corridor, and he hurriedly turned sideways and hid in the corner.

"...the new pears in the farm are good."

"I hope you didn't make it too sweet this time, the Duke doesn't like too sweet jam."

"I was not careful last time..."

The voice gradually faded away. It turned out that the people in the back kitchen had just finished their work. Mo En breathed a sigh of relief and continued to grope towards the basement.

In the old castle for living, the basement is mostly sundries and personal belongings of past owners, but my intuition tells Moen that the singing may come from the end of the basement.

As he expected, when he got closer and closer to the end, he could hear the singing voice again, and the voice was getting louder and louder. It was the voice of a man humming, but the voice was hoarse and rough, reminiscent of Chunks of gravel.

"Lord Moen, why are you here?"