Chapter 2399 Water of Freedom (Part 2)

Money orders were the lifeblood of Britain's financial industry in the 19th century, the path through which countless Britons' deposits made their way to the real world. A shipyard that needs to build ocean-going cargo ships will usually issue paper invoices to buy the steel and lumber it needs. The steel seller, if he wanted, could hold the note and wait for the shipyard to pay it, or take the note to his banker, who would buy the note at a certain "discount", the difference being the banker's income.

But it was not the bill banker who approached Padma, but William Coke, the bill broker, whose office was in Lombard Street. His work is different from other bill brokers who intend to use leverage to move the earth. For example, a 1,000-pound note, the banker is eager to obtain funds after discounting it at 970 pounds, and wants to find a reasonable price to find the corresponding buyer. A broker will be found, a commission will be negotiated with him, and the broker will find a corresponding buyer. For example, someone is willing to pay 985 pounds for this note, of which 10 pounds will go to the previous banker and 5 pounds will go to the broker.

In addition, he was also engaged in money lending business. In 1788 he married Elizabeth Kent, the daughter of a grocer, also from Norfolk. They were very much in love, but Elizabeth died in childbirth, leaving behind a son. .

Elizabeth has a younger sister named Fanny (Fanny), she came to London to "gain knowledge", and it happened that Elizabeth was pregnant, so she lived in her sister's house to accompany her. Unexpectedly, Elizabeth passed away due to dystocia, and her brother-in-law fell into grief. Petunia chose to stay and take care of the baby, brother-in-law and the house.

Later, the two developed feelings, but because Elizabeth gave birth to a son for William, William and Fanny's marriage was prohibited by church law, so William left Fanny and went to Liverpool, intending to find a job to erase his "unfortunately addicted love". That feeling," meanwhile, Fonny began writing to William, against the objections of his family.

Compared with the quiet Elizabeth, Fanny is lively and full of enthusiasm. The same is true of her letter to William. Finally, William accepted Fanny again after 5 months. According to a will in favor of each other, the two moved from their original residence to a residence near the mayor's residence in London.

They lived peacefully for a while, but their landlord found out about their relationship somehow. One day when William and Fanny were attending mass in the church, William met Thomas the alcoholic, a well-known parish clerk in the area, who was willing to hold a wedding for William and Fanny if William would pay him 12 guineas.

William was not fooled, but Fanny gave it. However, Thomas was only a parish clerk, and he was not qualified to preside over the wedding. When Fanny knew about this and asked Thomas to pay back the money, Thomas ignored it. Later, William stepped forward. These 12 guineas became a loan, as long as Thomas repaid 1 guinea.

At the beginning, Thomas paid back the money on time. From the third month on, Thomas threatened that Fanny and William were not a legal couple, so he would not pay back the money at all, and drank all the money every month. At the same time, Mrs. Cork, as the neighbors said, Fanny was pregnant, and just a few months after she was pregnant, "strange things" appeared.

Those few days when William went to the countryside for business, he arranged for the maid Claire to share the bed with Fanny. This maid was called "Carrot Head" because of her red hair, but for some reason, it was the landlord's 11-year-old daughter Irene who ended up sleeping with her. , For several nights in a row, Fanny and Irene heard knocking and scratching sounds from unknown sources. At first, Fanny thought it might be made by a nearby shoemaker rushing to work at night, but Erin said it was impossible, since the neighborhood of the mayor's mansion is all rich people's communities, and no shoemaker would work in the middle of the night.

On Sunday, Fonny called Thomas over. After sprinkled with holy water, he asked Fonny for a few more pounds. William, who returned home, was furious and sued Thomas to court.

Everyone around felt that William was making a big fuss. After all, Thomas only owed William 3 guineas, which was just a small sum of money to him. However, William's life suddenly took a turn for the worse at this time. First, Fanny fell ill. After being diagnosed by the family doctor, he thought it was the early stage of exanthematous fever. The pharmacists came, and they all thought Fanny had smallpox.

Hearing the news, Fonny called in a lawyer to make sure that the will was still valid and William would inherit his estate.

Just a few days before Fonny was dying, James, the owner of a nearby hotel, claimed to see a ghost on the windowsill of William's house, and soon after, the landlord Richard also said he saw it. The three stayed vigil together that night and drank a lot of whiskey. Richard and James agreed that the ghost was the ghost of William's previous wife Elizabeth, who came to revenge because they were angry at her husband and sister's cohabitation.

After Fanny died, and the baby in her belly, William arranged for Fanny's funeral and buried her in the crypt of a nearby church. Fanny's family was also notified and came to London to attend the funeral.

But when Fanny's younger sister Ann found out about the terms of her sister's will, these brothers and sisters only got half a crown, and the rest was given to William, including 150 pounds from Elizabeth's inheritance and land in the countryside. The Kent family was very dissatisfied with this. .

This amount of money was not a large amount for William as a securities broker, but William still chose to sue the Kent family, and the Kent family also filed a lawsuit against William. They suspected that William murdered for the inheritance of the two sisters. lost them.

"What?" Georgiana couldn't help exclaiming when she heard the story.

"The Kent family accused William of hiring Thomas to put a curse on Fonny. William said it was nonsense. He had a lawsuit with Thomas, but it was soon pointed out that Thomas had disappeared, and it may have been taken by William. A lot of money, and later the court got an 'expert' to confirm it," Padma said.

"What... what expert? What happened?" Georgiana asked in disbelief.

"They arranged a seance meeting and asked the victim whether he died of murder." Philier said aside, "Also, is the murderer William?"

Georgiana couldn't make a sound.

"The first séance turned out badly for William, and the ghost replied that she was Fanny's sister Elizabeth, who herself had been murdered, and had appeared to warn her sister, and Fanny's sister Ann said the coffin was closed , unable to see her sister's remains, they suspected that Fanny did not die of smallpox at all, and when they went to the crypt where Fanny was buried, Fanny's body was gone, and the accusations were getting worse and worse for William, so he wanted to find us Help, if you agree to his conditions, he will provide us with useful information." Padma said.

"What information?" Georgiana asked.

"Unless you want to see him," Phil said.

"Where is he?" Georgiana asked.

"It's downstairs, do you want to call him up?" Ferrier asked.

Georgiana glanced at Padma, she shrugged indifferently.

"Let him come up," Georgiana said.

So Phil left.

"How did you do it?" Padma asked immediately after Ferrier left.

"What?"

"How did you calm down Napoleon, Magic?" Padma asked.

"No!" cried Georgiana. "It's illegal to use magic on Muggles."

"But he's no ordinary Muggle," Padma said.

Georgiana was momentarily at a loss for words.

"He has been dead for 200 years. You told me that people in this world are neither really alive nor really dead," Padma said.

"It's not what you think it is." Georgiana shook her head.

"Then how did you do it? Professor." Padma asked enthusiastically, as if she really wanted to learn from her.

"What exactly do you want?" Bonaparte asked her the same question just now where Padma was sitting.

"I don't want anything in particular," she said quietly.

He held her hand with the fire opal ring.

"If possible, please don't always think about the war." Before he thought about it, she said, "Take a moment to think about me."

He looked up at her.

"I will write to you, remember the task I gave you?"

"Remember."

"Repeat."

"Building a postal system," she replied.

"Will you answer every letter I write to you?"

She was just about to answer.

"Ma'am." Phillier came in, followed by a man, and Georgiana was shocked to see him.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Severl," said the man, taking off his hat, revealing the same bald head as her downstairs neighbor in South Kensington.

Or that they look exactly alike except for being slightly haggard.

"What information can you give us?" Padma asked.

William Coke clutched his hat for a moment before speaking.

"I can tell you inside information about the Louisiana Takeover that has nothing to do with William Pitt, Jr.," said William Coker.

"Who does that concern?" Padma asked.

"You promise to help me," said William Coke. "I am innocent."

"How do you want us to help you?" Georgiana asked.

"Prove it for me." William Coke gritted his teeth and said, "If the case is established, not only will my reputation be damaged, but I will also face two murder charges. I also have a son who I cannot hand over to those Terrible relative."

Georgian could use Legilimency on him so she wouldn't have to agree to William's bloody request.

But she glanced at Padma.

"Okay." Georgiana said generously, "Do I need to make a contract?"

William Coke breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his brow, and continued.

"It's Addington," said William Coke, looking her in the eye. "On the 19th of June Sir Baring asked him to meet him in Richmond Park and asked him if he would agree to the takeover. He said he thought the country paid One million pounds, it would be wise to transfer Louisiana from France to America."

"One million pounds? Not eighty million francs?" asked Ferrier.

"In fact, the asking price for the first administration was 100 million at the beginning." William said.

"How do you know?" Georgiana asked.

"I took my son to the park and saw them." William Coker said, "Sometimes the stock market is very noisy, and you don't know what the other party is talking about, so you can only judge from the other party's mouth."

Georgiana was too shocked to express.

"He also said that Louisiana in French hands would give us better exports for our manufacturing and companies..."

"Are you sure it's a million?" Padma asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," said William Coke. "I can't possibly be wrong about the numbers."

"Send the guests out." Georgiana said to Phil, and then covered her forehead.

"Bribe?" Padma asked after the sound of closing the door.

"It's just one side's story, and this kind of scandal can have a bad effect, especially in this place where you are now." Georgiana said wearily. "The news leaked, and it will spread throughout Europe within 48 hours."

"You believe it to be true?" Padma asked.

Georgiana smiled wryly.

"So what if I can't believe it?"

Padma looked at her without speaking.

Georgiana laughed more and more, but it was a pity she couldn't laugh like Bella's maniac, because it was too terrible.