I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

When Pei Xiang and Dr. Norton saw Mrs. Caroline, she was checking some accounts. The desk in the living room was full of thick account books, which recorded rows of support and income.

"Mr. Norton, please sit down. Doris, why are you looking for me at this hour?"

Seeing that there were only Mrs. Caroline and her personal maid, Mrs. Murray, in the living room, Pei Xiang coughed lightly and made a very serious expression, with the words "I have something important to announce" shining brightly in his eyes. .

Seeing this, Mrs. Caroline put down the pen and paper in her hand.

"Mom, I think we should urge Mr. Howard and Miss Winster to hold a wedding, and then change Anne's tutor."

These words made Mrs. Caroline slightly raise her eyebrows. She and Mrs. Murray exchanged a look, and then they both looked at Dr. Norton who was drinking tea.

Dr. Norton put down his teacup, feeling a little helpless in his heart. From such a trivial matter, it can be seen how unreliable Miss Doris is in Mrs. Caroline's mind.

The family doctor believes that since the eldest lady can put forward reasonable suggestions, it means that she has some success in her heart, and everyone should not always look at her with old eyes.He should have saved the opportunity to reverse the impression, and let Doris recount the whole thing to Lady Caroline, and advise herself.

In this way Miss Doris would certainly change Lady Caroline's mind.

However, before Mr. Norton could say anything, Pei Xiang urged:

"Mr. Norton, tell your mother what's going on. Oh, I've just talked to you so much, and I'm so tired and thirsty, and I don't want to repeat it all over again."

Seeing that Pei Xiang had finished speaking, Dr. Norton really began to concentrate on drinking tea and eating fruits, and couldn't help but shook his head.

"Mr. Norton?" the countess reminded softly.

"Yes, Lady Caroline, I will tell you what I have just discovered."

So, among the four people in the living room, three were seriously discussing the matter between Howard and Winster, while the fourth was drinking tea and eating leisurely, playing the role of a very qualified listener.

After Dr. Norton finished explaining how he and Pei Xiang discovered that Howard had deceived and misled the doctor, and how he had concealed Miss Winster's pregnancy, the old and stable family doctor did not forget to say a few words for Pei Xiangmei, repeating to Mrs. Caroline I accepted the young lady's previous suggestion.

"Ma'am, I think what Miss Doris said is very reasonable. The matter of Miss Winster's pregnancy must be properly resolved immediately. Otherwise, the reputation of our Gladstone Manor will be very bad, and there may be some rumors outside , in view of, ahem, I also made the mistake of being credulous and taking it for granted."

After hearing the ins and outs of the whole incident, Mrs. Caroline looked at Pei Xiang with a little surprise.

"Doris, at the very beginning, why didn't you come to tell me, but went to 'blackmail' Mr. Norton instead?"

Pei Xiang put down the food in his hands, wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief, and then argued slowly and confidently:

"I thought the two of them would hold a wedding soon, and Dr. Norton's cover was temporary. Maybe at Christmas, um, I could receive a wedding invitation. But who would have thought, that guy Howard Instead of confessing to Mr. Norton, he poured dirty water on his father. From this point of view, it seems that he has no intention of marrying Miss Winster immediately, how can this work? So, I decided to tell you."

Lady Caroline believed this explanation.But she couldn't help thinking that if the second daughter Jane found out about it first, it would definitely not be as simple as Doris thought, taking it for granted that Howard would marry Winster.

For, if the Secretary had really respected and cherished Miss Winster, he would have proposed and fixed a wedding date long ago, instead of talking about a secret love affair and covering it up in every possible way.

At the same time, Mrs. Caroline also has doubts about certain judgments made by her eldest daughter.She didn't feel that her daughter was lying, but felt that since that Miss Winster was able to do the scandalous thing of getting pregnant out of wedlock, who knows if Secretary Howard is the only one of her lover?

——The father of the child, maybe some man in the manor?Charles Gladstone is highly unlikely, but... tsk, man!

"Mrs. Murray, is the Earl in the study at the moment?"

"Ma'am, when I went out to serve tea just now, I heard from Butler Jason that His Excellency the Earl is in the billiard room at the moment."

"Are there any guests around?"

"No, Your Excellency is alone."

"You go and ask His Excellency the Earl to go to the study, and Mr. Norton and I will go there immediately. By the way, let people pay attention to Miss Winster and Mr. Howard."

"Yes, ma'am."

Mrs. Murray took the order to go, and Mrs. Caroline closed the account book on the table, and then scolded her eldest daughter:

"You sit here honestly. Of course, you can also read a book quietly for a while. Mr. Norton and I will go to your father to discuss this matter. You wait for me to come back, and then we will talk about the various potions you want to use things."

Pei Xiang immediately sat up straight and looked at Lady Caroline bitterly, but the countess was unmoved, and turned to talk to Dr. Norton.

After a while Mrs. Murray returned, and said that the Earl had returned to his study.

So Mrs. Caroline left with Dr. Norton, leaving Mrs. Murray to watch Pei Xiang.

Pei Xiang pretended to stare irritably at the books the countess suggested she read, but was actually thinking about the way Mrs. Caroline handled the matter.

——I thought that she would have Howard invited to the living room, ask the truth in private, and then promote Howard and Winster's marriage.In this way, Howard's gratitude can be obtained without even disturbing the earl, or in other words, he has a handle on Secretary Howard.

——Of course, if Howard is willing to marry, then everyone will be happy. If he refuses to shirk, it will not be too late for the countess to go to the count to explain the matter.

——She didn't need to make it clear so early, and she didn't even ask the person involved.Although there are testimonies from Dr. Norton and me, there is indeed a very small possibility that the Earl was also involved. That child...

Pei Xiang thought silently in his heart. Seeing that Mrs. Caroline hurried to find the earl, she wanted to beat Secretary Howard to death at once, and she had no intention of hiding it for the other party.

——If Miss Winster had no affair with the Earl and the child belonged to Howard, then it was Howard who "falsely preached the edict" to deceive Dr. Norton, ruin the atmosphere of Gladstone Manor, and pretend to be a tiger with a flawed character.

——If Miss Winster really hooked up with the earl, then the intimate relationship between her and Howard would also annoy the earl, feel that he lost face, and thus detest Secretary Howard.

——So, Madam Caroline is using this matter to transfer Howard away from the earl, she hates him!He hates it so much that he doesn't even want to win people over to him with both grace and power.

No, the word "hate" cannot be used. When Mrs. Caroline mentioned Secretary Howard, she did not show any personal hatred. Does this mean that her hostility towards Howard is purely related to interests?

—Interest...Lady Caroline's interest...

Pei Xiang put down the book in his hand and looked up at Mrs. Murray.

After a while, she looked up at the other party again.

When she raised her head for the third time, Mrs. Murray couldn't help saying: "Miss Doris, you must concentrate on reading."

Hearing the other party speak, Pei Xiangliao immediately showed a sweet smile:

"Mrs. Murray, let me ask you something. Do you know Mrs. Aurora that Mr. Norton mentioned? She and father..."

"Miss Doris, Ma'am wouldn't like to hear that you're interested in that kind of person."

"Oh, that's to say—you know that Mrs. Aurora." Pei Xiang's tone suddenly became lighter, and his emerald eyes sparkled.

When talking about gossip and gossip, the young lady always had an extraordinary sensitivity, and she immediately caught Mrs. Murray's subtle emotions.

Mrs. Morrie nodded helplessly: "Yes, Miss Doris, I know that lady, but I won't talk about her with you much."

"Don't be so serious," Pei Xiangfang softened his voice and sincerely bewitched, "I'm worried about my mother, Mrs. Murray. Dr. Norton said that Mrs. Aurora was pregnant with a child. Do you know how old the child is? Yes Boy or girl? Also, why does everyone call her Mrs. Aurora instead of her last name? It makes her so special, I hate it, I just want to call her Miss So-and-so, and she's not married , Hmph, she is not worthy of the title Madam."

Because of this full of aggrieved tone, Mrs. Murray, who was focused on Mrs. Caroline, slowed down her face. She thought that Miss Doris was about to get married, and there were some things that she should tell her.

"Miss Doris, that Mrs. Aurora was married before. Her husband was an Irish lawyer. Later, he fell ill and died. It is said that he was beaten to death due to debt. Anyway, for her Mrs. Aurora has never talked about her ex-husband, so no one knows her husband’s family name. However, her maiden’s surname is easy to look up, Miss Doris, you will feel very familiar, Mrs. Aurora Before she got married, her surname was Howard."

Pei Xiang immediately showed an expression of disbelief.

"Howard? Is it the Howard of Howard's secretary? Are they relatives?"

Mrs. Murray curled her lips in disdain: "Isn't it? That Mr. Howard is Mrs. Aurora's younger brother. He was able to go to college, and it was funded by His Excellency the Earl. But what if he has the opportunity to receive a college education? Graduation After that, he ran into walls everywhere. In the end, he relied on his sister's pillow wind and became the Earl's personal secretary."

Pei Xiang now fully understood why Mrs. Caroline couldn't wait to find the Earl as soon as she caught Secretary Howard's handle, because there was really no need to win over that person.

Regardless of whether he is willing to marry Winster or not, and whether he is willing to reconcile privately, for Mrs. Caroline, driving a mistress' brother away from the earl is the most important thing.

—Private secretary, this position is very important.

Wanting to understand this, Pei Xiang even wondered, did the countess really not notice that Miss Winster was pregnant?Has she been waiting for this opportunity?

"Ah, so that's the case. No wonder Dr. Norton said that when Mrs. Aurora was pregnant, Howard handled all kinds of trivial matters in person. They turned out to be siblings. By the way, later Mrs. Aurora was born How many children did you have?"

"There's only one, and it's a boy."

"Does father like him?"

"Miss Doris, that's just an illegitimate child, even if he is favored again, so what?"

Pei Xiang raised his eyebrows slightly. What he said meant that the boy was favored, at least, he received more love and care than the girls at home.

"Indeed, it's just an illegitimate child." Pei Xiang snorted haughtily, obviously not thinking much about it.

Mrs. Murray was a little disappointed when she saw the young lady's deceitful look. However, she remembered what Dr. Norton said today, and her heart moved slightly. She always felt that the young lady still had room for growth.

However, just as she was considering whether to advise Mrs. Caroline and arrange some courses for the eldest lady, this "progressive" girl threw away the unturned book in her hand, and moved lightly from the chair. Jump up, and then a few steps to the door.

"Mrs. Murray, I suddenly have a stomachache and I need to take a rest. Tell my mother for me..."

Before Mrs. Murray could react and stop her, Pei Xiang was no longer in the living room, only the half-open door was swinging, and her crisp voice was still echoing in the air.

Pei Xiang "escaped" from Mrs. Caroline's living room, and suddenly felt that the sky was bluer and the air was fresher. She walked in the long corridor and couldn't help humming a beautiful tune.

To Mycroft Holmes this blissful innocence was like an oil painting worth stopping to admire.

He had to admit that some were beautiful enough to appeal to human aesthetic pleasure.However, this kind of beauty has nothing to do with wisdom. It is only short-lived, fragile, and fleeting, just like the bubbles in the sun.

"Good day, Miss Gladstone."

"Good day, Mr. Holmes. Are you going out?"

"Yes, after resting in the room for a while, I plan to go for a walk outside, enjoy the scenery of Gladstone Manor, and then talk to someone."

"Ah, this time," Pei Xiang turned his head to look at the sky outside the window, and suggested enthusiastically and sincerely, "Let's go to the greenhouse, the temperature is just right, the light is just right, and the scenery along the way is beautiful."

Mycroft nodded his thanks, and when the two passed by, he suddenly asked:

"Miss Gladstone, have you been to the doctor before? Someone in the house is sick?"

"Yes, I only parted from Dr. Norton not long ago. The family is very well, except for the governess who is lying in bed. Thank you, Mr. Holmes, for your concern."

Pei Xiang stopped with a smile, turned around and looked at Mycroft, waiting for him to continue talking.

Mycroft paused, and found that Pei Xiang didn't ask him why he knew she had contacted the doctor, but gave the answer directly following his question, swallowed the simple explanation he had prepared, and continued:

"It's good that everyone in the family is healthy. I ran into Miss Liya before, and chatted with her for a while, and found that the burn on the back of her hand was serious, and it looked like there was a danger of scarring, so I kept it in mind. I just went out I suddenly remembered a classic case of treating scalds, which I saw in a medical journal by chance, but unfortunately, I can’t remember the specific details. I just wanted to take a walk If there is an opportunity, stop by and have a chat with Dr. Norton at the mansion, and see if he has any impression."

Pei Xiang rolled her eyes in her heart, she didn't believe that a classic case that Holmes would forget about.

Of course, while complaining secretly, she also learned the power of Sherlock Holmes.It was only five or six hours since he noticed Leah's unusualness, and he locked on Dr. Norton.

——It is false to talk about treatment plans, but it is true to hear about certain things.

Since the two are on the same front, Pei Xiang decided to talk to him more:

"Mr. Holmes, thank you for your concern for Leah. However, if you plan to go to Mr. Norton now, you will probably fail. He and my mother have gone to my father's study and have something to discuss."

"Well," said Holmes with a regretful expression, "then I can only look forward to seeing Mr. Norton at the dinner party. I hope he will not find my topic boring."

Pei Xiang nodded very frankly: "For me, it's really boring to talk about those boring things at the dinner party, but maybe Mr. Norton likes it. Mr. Holmes, since Mr. Norton is not in the consulting room, you are still planning to go Do you want to go around the flower room?"

"Miss Gladstone has already recommended the scenery near the greenhouse, so I'm going to enjoy it."

"So, may I have the honor to introduce you to the scenery along the way?"

Mycroft smiled and nodded: "My pleasure, Miss Gladstone."

The two walked side by side on the tree-lined road, and Pei Xiang would occasionally introduce the origin and meaning of a certain sculpture to Mycroft.Although she tried her best to be polite and thoughtful, people around her still clearly felt that Miss Gladstone was not in high spirits.

"Miss Gladstone, but what troubles you?"

"Mr. Holmes, am I being so obvious?" Pei Xiang touched the corner of his mouth, his eyes full of doubts.

Mycroft thought to himself, it was very obvious, she almost had "I have something on my mind" written on her face, without any reasoning and observation, ordinary people could see her absent-mindedness at a glance.

"Hey, you are so smart, Mr. Holmes." Pei Xiang admired sincerely.

However, Mycroft was not proud.

"Can I share your worries, Miss Gladstone? Of course, it's okay if you don't want to say it. We can enjoy a quiet and leisurely time. I believe that troubles, especially your troubles, will disappear inadvertently."

Pei Xiang pinched his fingers, always feeling that he was being lightly mocked.

She was quiet for a while, and then said: "That's right, Mr. Holmes, I recently discovered a secret. Just now, I told the secret to my mother. My mother attaches great importance to it. I will discuss it with my father right away. Now I am very curious about the result of their discussion, so I am a little absent-minded."

"Since it's a secret, it's really inconvenient for me to ask."

Pei Xiang didn't say much, and just said that maybe at the dinner tonight, there will be a couple of young men and women who will announce their marriage.It's just that they don't know where they will choose to hold their wedding, whether it's in a church near here or somewhere else.

After pondering for a moment, Mycroft guessed who the young man and woman Pei Xiang was talking about.

The marriage will alarm Dr. Norton, the Earl, and Lady Caroline.From Pei Xiang's "unintentional" disclosure of details, the newlyweds are obviously not members of the Gladstone family, otherwise, the eldest lady would not be able to determine the church where they held their wedding, and there was not much congratulation in her eyes, On the contrary, there is a sense of relaxation of getting rid of the burden.

——From this point of view, it should be the capable subordinate of the sick Miss Winster and Your Excellency the Earl.

——Not only that, this marriage should be dishonorable, otherwise, it would not have been announced so hastily on the premise that Miss Winster was still ill.

——A competent subordinate, age, and identity...it should be that Mr. Howard.

Before Mycroft arrived at Gladstone Manor, he already had a general understanding of the Earl of Gladstone and the people around him, and knew the background information of the private secretary Howard by heart.

Thinking of Mr. Howard's sister and nephew who lived in London, Mycroft paused and gave Pei Xiang a meaningful look.

There was a trace of doubt in his heart, was the words that this young lady said to him really unintentional?

Sometimes, too many coincidences are not coincidences.

Pei Xiang didn't seem to notice it. Her troubles always came and went quickly. Just now she was distracted because of a secret, and now she was smiling and introducing nearby delicacies to the guests.

As soon as her interest returned, she began to become talkative.

While talking, she talked about the nightmare she had two days ago, and mentioned how a heroic masked knight in a red and green plaid vest rescued her from the terrifying dream.

"I told Leah that the hero in my dream must be real, because when I woke up in the morning, I felt a warm feeling in the room. Really, it was much warmer than usual. I don't know if it was mine. Illusion, I always feel that there is still residual heat in the fireplace, and there is still soot on the carpet. Mr. Holmes, what kind of mysterious person likes the combination of red and green?"

Mycroft began to doubt his suspicion, but felt that the other party's words were quite meaningful. He never thought that he would be torn between reason and intuition.

——There is absolutely no need for her to pretend to be crazy, it is not logical.

Wonder Girl is still babbling:

"Haha, I guess a serious gentleman like you would never have thought of it. I have been thinking hard for the past few days and finally figured out what my knight identity is. You said, is he a worshiper of Santa Claus? That's why he wears red and green plaid He climbed into the fireplace through the chimney, and walked out of the fireplace, silently guarding me when I had a nightmare, what a romantic and magical Christmas gift.”

Mycroft thought he shouldn't look at everyone with suspicion.

Logic is everywhere and can explain most things in this world, but there are always some special cases.