Guidebook for the Dark Duke

Sheriff Chandler felt like he was celebrating Christmas. He had everything he wanted. He sent Laura away excitedly and pretended to call in a few more people for questioning before leaving Woolwich Manor happily.

Mrs Lawrence stared at the elated Sheriff’s back and there was a thoughtful haze in her eyes. She looked back at Laura, whose face was as white as a quail, with anger in her eyes.

***********

Sheriff Chandler went straight to the church as soon as he left Woolwich Manor. He wanted to give Evan the good news but he didn’t expect to be told by deacon George that Evan went to the duke’s house.

Evan was picked up by a carriage sent by Duke Wilson and the reason for the invitation was that Lord Edward wanted to see Reverend Bruce.

Evan sat in the carriage thinking about this extraordinary invitation. He felt very unsure. The last incident had drawn a gulf between him and Duke Wilson. This sudden invitation left him feeling even more clueless.

The person who came to invite Evan was Butler Chris. He sat across from Evan with a stern and expressionless face and said nothing.

Evan watched him and attempted to strike up a conversation before he finally gave up. You must know that, at this time, the butler is very loyal to his master’s feelings, especially a person like Butler Chris whose family have served the Krist family for generations.

They finally arrived at Cornwall Manor, which was still as gorgeous and elegant as the first time Evan was there. Butler Chris opened the door for Evan and welcomed him into the manor. (t/n : I’m not sure if it should be Cornwall Manor or Castle)

Once again, Evan stepped into the hall of Cornwall Manor again, which was surrounded by delicate and bright, off-white European-style spiral staircases, with a faint and soft light from the setting sun.

Duke Wilson walked down the stairs. He was wearing casual clothes today, his white shirt was slightly rumpled and his usually smooth black hair was now a little messy. He was holding a book in his hand. When he saw Evan, he was surprised.

Evan couldn’t help squinting his eyes. He had never realised so clearly that the man in front of him was so charming, with a flawless and delicate appearance. He was so handsome that he looked like he came out of a painting, but anyone who saw the coldness in his light brown eyes would find them daunting. But Evan was not one of those people.

“Lord Duke.” Evan bowed respectfully, as if the moment he was in a daze just now didn’t happen at all.

“Reverend Bruce, why are you here?” Duke Wilson asked in a strange tone.

Surprised, Evan looked at the duke, “Didn’t you send Butler Chris to invite me here? I heard that Lord Edward wanted to see me.”

Just as he finished speaking, Butler Chris came in.

“Chris, what the hell is going on here?” Duke Wilson frowned.

“I’m sorry, Lord Duke.” Butler Chris was still expressionless, “Lord Edward’s has been in low spirits these days. I heard that it was because he really wanted to see Reverend Bruce, so I invited Reverend Bruce over on my own initiative.”

Evan found it unbelievable that the well-behaved Butler Chris would do something deceitful, it would not be a surprise if the duke got angry.

“You….why didn’t you tell me earlier? Duke Wilson was still frowning, “Take Reverend Bruce upstairs.”

Evan was very surprised. He glanced at the duke and found that, although the duke’s eyebrows were wrinkled, there was no sign of displeasure in his eyes.

Evan pursed his lips and the corners lifted up in an arc. Now, he understands the duke.

Evan walked into Edward’s room, which still looked the same as before, clean and spacious. Edward was sitting on the carpet playing with a small wooden horse. He raised his head when he heard someone come in. When he saw that it was Evan, his eyes lit up and he quickly stood up.

“Reverend Bruce!” He ran to Evan, his small hand pulled gently on the hem of Evan’s robe, with a clear smile in his eyes, “Why are you here?”

Evan looked at the pair of bright eyes and he felt very comfortable. It would seem that his previous actions were not in vain.

Evan lowered his body, squatted in front of Edward and said with a smile, “I’ve come to see you, Lord Edward.”

“Don’t call me Lord, you can just call me Edward.” Edward said with a shy look on his face.

Evan smiled, “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

Edward was happy when he heard this and he took Evan’s hand to play with him on the wooden horse. Smiling, Evan played with Edward, while thinking that Edward was much more cheerful than he was the last time.

Evan is not a child, so of course, he wasn’t interested in playing with small wooden horses so he got tired after playing for a while. At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

Edward was still playing with the wooden horse on the carpet but he quickly stood up when he heard the knock and ran to the door. Surprised, Evan also stood up.

Edward quickly opened the door and threw himself into the arms of the person at the door, shouting, “Alia! You’re finally here!”

Evan’s heart sank to the bottom of the sea.

The person at the door was indeed Alia. She was wearing a long light blue dress today. Her curly brown hair was tied up with a long beige ribbon, adding a hint of playfulness to her. Smiling, she carried Edward into the room. She was obviously startled when she saw Evan, then she smiled again, “Reverend Bruce, why are you here?”

Evan was madly wary of the woman in front of him, wishing he could snatch Edward from her arms, but he still had a gentle look on his face, “Butler Chris invited me over.”

Edward broke free from Alia’s arms, walked to Evan’s side, pulled the corner of his robe and said to Alia, “Reverend came to see me. I’ve been wanting to see him these days but I didn’t expect to see him today.”

Poor little Edward has never enjoyed a gentle fatherly love and Evan filled the gap in his wounded heart.

When Alia heard this, a soft smile appeared on her face, “Reverend Bruce is a noble person. You will definitely learn a lot from him.”

These words seemed to come from the bottom of her heart but Evan was sneering in his heart, he really couldn’t get rid of this Miss Alia.

“Miss Alia flatters me. I came to visit Edward today but I didn’t expect to meet Miss Alia.” The look in Evan’s eyes was a little cold.

Alia didn’t notice it at all, she smiled shyly, “I did something very terrible to Lord Edward before, so I came here this time to apologise and ask for Lord Edward’s forgiveness.”

Edward looked at Alia with some doubt, “What did you do, Alia? Why don’t I know?”

Alia felt ashamed, “When you fell into the lake, it was because I didn’t take good care of you. I’m really sorry.”

Edward smiled, “I insisted on going to the lake, it had nothing to do with Miss Alia.”

Looking at Edward, Alia was very moved, “You are really a kind person, I’m ashamed of what I’ve done.” (I really don’t like this woman)

Evan’s eyes became hazy with thought, it seems that the relationship Edward has with Alia is much better than he imagined, and what she did with his life was so easily resolved. The duke said before that he didn’t want to see Alia again, it looks like that is now invalid.

Evan was unwilling to stay there any longer. He needs to think of a way to completely cut off the relationship between these two people. Only by doing this would he be able to completely expel Alia from the picture.

Evan nodded, “Lord Edward, since Miss Alia is here, I’ll leave first. There are still many things to do in the church.”

When he heard this, Edward felt reluctant and he gently tugged at the corner of Evan’s robe, “Can’t you stay a little longer? I want to hear you read the Bible to me.”

Edward’s behaviour of attachment made Evan feel better. Smiling, he stroked Edward’s hair and said warmly, “I’ll read to you next time. Mrs Sanders is away these days and the matters of the church are complicated.”

Edward is a reasonable child so he stopped his entanglement and nodded seriously, “Okay, but you must come over next time.”

Evan nodded with a smile, turned and walked out.

Evan went down the stairs only to find Duke Wilson and Dr. Hester sitting downstairs, talking. Duke Wilson was surprised when he saw Evan coming down the stairs.

“Reverend Bruce, are you leaving?”

Evan gave a reserved smile, “It’s getting late, I should leave.”

“But Edward….” Duke Wilson gave Evan a complicated look.

Evan, however, just smiled, “With Miss Alia here, I think the Lord will recover quickly.”

Speaking of Alia, Duke Wilson’s expression was uncomfortable for a moment and he said, “Alia and Edward have always had a good relationship. This can indeed help a lot.”

The smile in Evan’s eyes turned cold, it seemed like the duke had changed his thoughts about Alia.

Evan gave the duke a slight nod and was about to leave when Dr. Hester suddenly stopped Evan.

“Reverend Bruce.” Dr. Hester had a strange smile on his face. “Why are you leaving in such a hurry? Alia has suffered a lot of mental torment these days, you’re a priest so I would like to ask you to help Alia out of her slump.”

The smile on Evan’s face stagnated for a moment. He was asked to help Alia? Why didn’t he just kill him? Evan was about to agree in order to maintain the image of a good priest but Duke Wilson spoke before he could.

“Reverend Bruce still has a lot of matters to attend to in the church. We should let this venerable priest serve God.”

(Ha, the duke is getting jelly lol)

Duke Wilson’s tone was stiff. The smile on Evan’s face froze. What did the duke mean?