Chapter 4: 4

Of course, John wouldn’t know his end and he was busy talking to the duke about his work.

As a duke’s secretary, even graduating from Cambridge is a great honour.

“Edward likes John very much. Mr Lawrence, you have a good son.” The smile on the duke’s face was a little fake.

Edward is the only son of Duke Wilson. The Duchess died three years ago, leaving a son who is six years old this year.

Mr Lawrence was very excited and immediately said, “It is a great honour to be favoured by Lord Edward.”

Duke Wilson nodded lightly but his eyes did not waver at all.

Evan stood on the side with a bit of interest in his eyes. He had read in the original book that the duke valued his only son very much and the heroine also used the child to get close to the duke.

Evan glanced at Alia who was seated in the corner. She was not involved with the duke yet. Evan twitched his lips slightly, and she would never be involved with the duke again.

“Lord Duke.” Just when Duke Wilson was getting impatient and was about to leave, Evan said, “I just read the accounts of the donations to the church. Thank you very much for your generous donations to the church. I wonder if you have time recently. Please, allow me to come and pay my greetings for your generosity.”

Duke Wilson looked at Evan with surprise. In his opinion, Evan, an overly young priest, was like all the priests he had previously met, quiet, calm and peaceful. He found that he was surprisingly a little uncomfortable with Evan’s sudden speech.

“I’m a believer of the Lord and these are things I should do. Reverend Bruce overrated me. But if Mr. Priest wants to visit, Cornwall Manor will always open its doors to the servant of the Lord and Reverend Bruce is welcome to visit at anytime.” The hesitation in Duke Wilson’s eyes was fleeting and he soon turned into the well-bred nobleman from before.

Evan slightly hooked the corners of his lips and nodded.

Duke Wilson finally left the banquet ahead of schedule. With his status, he doesn’t have to stay in this kind of place too long. It’s God’s blessing for him to show his face.

The Lawrence couple sent the duke out as though they were sending off their king. When they came back, the smiles on their faces didn’t lessen. They were like butterflies among flowers leading John, who stayed behind, around to talk to the figures of status in town.

Evan was also fortunate enough to have a few words with them. As a priest, he was considered a gentleman in this small town.

From Evan’s point of view, Mr Lawrence and his wife really doted on John, especially Mrs Lawrence, who praised John to the skies and beyond. Her words were so full of pride and intimacy that Evan had goosebumps, but she felt proud to tell Evan about John’s glorious history. In the end, Mr Lawrence couldn’t take it any more and quickly stopped his wife’s exaggerated remarks.

“Okay dear, I don’t think Reverend Bruce has eaten yet,” Mr Lawrence said with a smile.

Only then did Mrs Lawrence realise her gaffe, smiled and led John to other people to continue bragging about him.

The protagonist of the matter, John, was indifferent from beginning to the end. Even in front of Evan, he raised his head arrogantly.

Evan just sneered looking at his back. Such a person is only worthy of being a cannon fodder. Evan has no intention of saving him from the disaster. He feels that there is no need to do that, and even if it is necessary, he has no time to. The only thing he can think about is how to survive in this chaotic world or at least, make his survival a little more comfortable.

It was very late by the time the banquet ended. Sheriff Chandler had too much to drink and was already a little drunk. Evan’s parsonage was in the same direction as the sheriff’s house. The sheriff’s wife was a weak woman, she could not move the tall and big sheriff at all, so Evan, as a good priest, had to take on the heavy responsibility of sending the sheriff home.

Fortunately, no one miscalculated the weight of the drunk sheriff, who was six feet three inches tall ad weighed more than two hundred pounds. The Lawrence couple sent one of their servants to help Evan in sending the sheriff home.

This servant happened to be John’s manservant. Evan’s impatient heart calmed down and he began to calculate quickly in his heart.

John is the secretary of the duke. The one who knows a lot of information about the duke is probably this secretary and as the servant of the secretary, he should also know a lot.

Evan and the manservant helped the sheriff into the carriage, the worried Mrs Chandler drove in front while Evan and the servant sat in the back.

Evan has a very captivating face, coupled with respected profession, he takes advantage of this when he wants to get closer to someone.

Evan was just saying a few words of nonsense from the New Testament of the Bible and this devout Protestant took Evan’s words to heart.

“Reverend Bruce, I want to confess to you.” The servant suddenly said, after they had sent the sheriff home.

Evan looked at the dark night around him and couldn’t help but hesitate. “At this time, the door of the confession room would have been locked. Come over to the church tomorrow.” Even though Evan would immediately like to listen to what the servant had to say, he could not break the rules at this time.

With a sad face, the servant shook his head,” Reverend, please don’t mind this, I want to make my confession to you here. You’re right, God created us and his mercy is enough to forgive us for all our mistakes.”

Evan was a little surprised, he couldn’t stop the devil in his heart and he nodded, “Since you asked for this, then I’ll make an exception for you.”

Evan took the servant to the church and the night watchman had already fallen asleep. Evan took him to the living room at the back of the church, poured him a glass of brandy, gave a sign of the cross and said in a low voice, “Okay, lost lamb, you can start your confession.”

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“I…….My name is Jimmy, and the last time I went for confession was……six months ago.” Jimmy stammered, obviously nervous.

“Jimmy, what have you done?” Evan looked calm.

Jimmy raised his hand and rubbed his face, with a little panic in his eyes, “I…I’m guilty of lying.”

Evan felt a little dejected for a while. This was too innocent. If cheating was a sin, he should have gone to hell a long time ago.

“Jimmy, the Lord will forgive your guilt.” Although Evan was disappointed in his heart, he still had a kind expression on his face. Under the dim lights, it seemed like his blue eyes had the power to see into a person’s heart.

Jimmy trembled for a while, he shook the glass of brandy in his hand, lowered his head and muttered, “You see, Mr Reverend, it’s like this. I’m more than guilty. My master, Master John, he smokes opium. He told me to hide this from Mr Lawrence and steal money from Mr Lawrence. I…really don’t know what to do, Mr Reverend.”

Evan’s eyes suddenly widened. He didn’t expect to dig up such exciting news. John Lawrence smokes opium. Evan’s eyes flashed. No wonder he became cannon fodder in the end.

“Jimmy,” Evan reached out and took Jimmy’s trembling hands, “The merciful Lord will seize every opportunity to bring back His lost lamb. You’re guilty of lying but as long as you are ready to repent, the Lord will forgive you and your soul can be saved.” Evan looked at Jimmy with sincerity, but his heart was stirring. This matter wasn’t mentioned in the original book. If he reveals this, he really doesn’t know what the scene would look like.

Jimmy looked at Evan with fear in his eyes and quickly took his hands out of Evan’s hands, “No……I can’t do this. If I reveal this to the master, Master John would dismiss me. I have an old man and children at home, I can’t lose this job.”

Evan curved his mouth slightly, “Jimmy, don’t worry, John is a sensible child. He will know that you’re doing this for his own good and he won’t blame you. Even if he asks you to quit, the church needs a night watchman, you can come anytime.”

When he heard this, Jimmy’s eyes had an excited look. Everyone knows that church’s night watchman is a very profitable job, at least better than being a servant and provides more money.

” But, Reverend Bruce, ” Jimmy licked his dry lips with some hesitation, “is what you said true?”

Evan slightly hooked the corners of his mouth. He knew in his heart that the matter had reached a decision.

“I’m a servant of the Lord, how can I lie?”

Jimmy heaved a sigh of relief. The clergy of this period of time were still very credible.

Evan sent out the worried Jimmy and returned to the church. But when he passed the prayer hall, he found Mrs Sanders kneeling and weeping in front of the Virgin Mary.

Evan quietly stopped but Mrs Sanders discovered his presence first, she wiped her face quickly and coldly said, “Reverend Bruce, why are you still in the church this late?”

There were still tears on her face. The normally serious look seemed a bit desolate this time. She was still in her long dinner gown. The dark purple dress was just like herself, monotonous and rigid without the slightest attraction.

Evan came out of the shadows with an amiable smile on his face, and whispered, “Mrs Sanders.”

At tonight’s dinner, he had also paid attention to the whereabouts of Mrs Sanders. She didn’t seem to be close to the people of the town. All night, she stood alone in a corner, coldly watching everything, without the slightest intention of speaking to anyone.

“I just sent away a repentant believer.” Evan replied with a smile.

Mrs Sanders had completely recovered her usual cold appearance. She sternly looked at Evan and solemnly said, “The confession room is locked. How can Reverend Bruce behave in such a foolish way?”

Evan smiled bitterly, “I can’t refuse a lost lamb because the confession room is locked. I’m so sorry, Mrs Sanders.”

Looking at Evan’s sincere eyes, Mrs Sanders couldn’t help but be moved, softening her cold expression. She sighed softly and said in a low voice, “Reverend Bruce, let’s not do this again.”

Evan smiled calmly but there was suddenly a bit of interest in his heart. He thought that he might have finally found the weakness of the rigid Mrs Sanders. There were only two reasons for a woman to cry in front of the Virgin Mary, either because of the gospel or because of her child.

A person like Mrs Sanders is obviously not the kind of person who can be touched by the gospel, which means that she once had children. The reason he says ‘had’ is because the current Mrs Sanders doesn’t have children and her husband has been dead for over twenty years and they didn’t have children.

It’s really interesting that Mrs Sanders, who is almost comparable to Joan of Arc, has an illegitimate child. Today is like Christmas for Evan. The dark side of the town is finally slowly unfolding in front of Evan.

 

 

 

 

1 The number of times the corners of the mouth and lips hook up slightly is just too much seriously. 1 The number of times the corners of the mouth and lips hook up slightly is just too much seriously.

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