Chapter 10 chapter Ten

The offices of Egerton, Forbes and Willborough are in Bloomsbury, one of the many imposing, dignified squares that have not changed much.Their bronze plates are suitably rusted to the point where it's hard to make out what's written on them.This company has existed for more than a hundred years, and a considerable proportion of England's landed nobles are their customers.There were no Forbes or Wilburroughs in the company anymore, but the Atkins and his sons, a Welshman Lloyd and a Scotchman McAllister.However, there is also an Egerton, a descendant of the original Egerton.This Egerton was now fifty-two years old, and several of his counselors had been counseled by his grandfather, uncle, and father in their respective years.

At this moment, in his second-floor office, he was sitting behind a large mahogany desk, talking earnestly and firmly with a frustrated client.Richard Egerton was a handsome man, tall, with black hair that was graying at the temples, and shrewd gray eyes.His advice was always uneasy advice, but he never beat around the bush. "Frankly, you don't have a good excuse, Freddie," he was saying, "because you wrote those letters." "You don't think..." Freddy muttered dejectedly. "No," Egerton said, "the only hope is out of court. If there is a trial, you may even face criminal charges."

"Oh, look at you, Richard, that's a little too much, isn't it?" There was a slight hum of moderate length on Egerton's desk.Frowning, he picked up the handset of the phone. "I think I said, I don't want to be bothered." The person on the other end of the phone said something softly.Egerton said, "Oh. All right - all right, I see. Tell her to wait." He put the phone down and turned again to his sad-faced client. "You know, Freddie," he said, "I know the law and you don't. You're in serious trouble. I'll do my best to get you out, but it'll cost you some money. I think They may not do it for less than 12,000 yuan."

"Twelve thousand!" said poor Freddie, stunned. "Oh, dear! I don't have that much, Richard." "Well, then you'll have to try to raise it. There's always a way. If she's willing to settle for twelve thousand, you're lucky; if you want to fight the lawsuit, you're going to spend a lot more. " "You lawyers!" said Freddie. "Sharks, you all!" He stood up. "Then," he said, "help me as best you can, old Richard." He walked away, shaking his head sadly.Richard Egerton put Freddie and him out of his mind and thought about his next client.He said softly to himself: "Dear Miss Elvira Black. I don't know what she looks like..." He picked up the receiver, "Mr. Freddie has gone, please take Miss Black Come."

While waiting, he was doing simple calculations on his desk pad.How many years have passed...?She must be fifteen?Seventeen?Maybe bigger.time flies. "Coniston's daughter," he thought, "is also Beth's daughter. Wonder which of the two she looks like?" The door opened, the secretary announced Miss Elvira Black, and the girl entered the room.Egerton got up from his chair and went to meet him.Outwardly, he thought, she looked like neither of her parents.Tall figure, fair skin, flaxen hair - with Beth's complexion but not Beth's vigor, with an old-fashioned air about him.But that was also hard to be sure, because she was wearing a fashionable striped bodysuit at this time.

"Gee," he said, shaking her hand, "what a surprise. The last time I saw you, you were eleven. Come, sit here." He pulled a chair for her to sit down . "I think," Elvira said hesitantly. "I should have written first. Write to make an appointment. But I made up my mind suddenly, because I was in London, and it seemed like an opportunity." "What are you doing in London?" "Look at my teeth." "Teeth is a nasty thing," said Egerton, "and has troubled us from the cradle to the grave. But I'm grateful for the tooth, because it gave me the opportunity to see you. Let me see." , you stayed in Italy, didn't you, to finish your education in a place where many girls go now?"

"Yes," said Elvira, "at Contessa Martinelli. But I've left there for good. I'm staying at the Melfords in Kent until I decide if there's anything I want to do." work." "Well, I hope you find something satisfying to do. You haven't thought about going to college or anything?" "No," Elvira said, "I don't think I'm smart enough." She paused, then went on, "I think you'd agree to anything if I really wanted to do it?" Egerton's sharp eyes suddenly focused. "I am one of your guardians, and a trustee of your father's will, yes," said he, "so you have every reason to come to me at any time."

Elvira said "thank you" politely.Egerton asked: "Is there anything disturbing you?" "No. It's nothing. But you see, I don't know anything. No one ever tells me anything. People are too shy to ask questions." He looked at her with concern. "You mean about yourself?" "Yes," Elvira said, "it's very kind of you to understand. Uncle Derek..." She hesitated. "You mean Derek Luscombe?" "Yes. I've always called him Uncle." "I see." "He has a good heart," Elvira said, "but he's not the type to tell you everything. He just arranges things and looks a little worried that I might not like them. Of course, He listened to a lot of people—I mean, women—and they told him a lot of things. Like Contessa Martinelli. He put me in school or places where I was taught etiquette."

"Haven't they been where you wanted to go?" "No, I didn't mean that. They're all very satisfying. I mean, they've been more or less where everyone else has been." "I see." "But I don't know anything about myself. I mean, what kind of money I have, how much, and what I can do with it if I want to." "Actually," said Egerton, smiling, "you want to talk about business. Is that so? Well, I think you're right. Let me see, how old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen?" "I'm almost twenty." "Oh my God. I don't know a thing."

"You know," Elvira explained, "I always feel like I'm protected. It's nice in a way, but it can also be very painful." "That's an outdated perception," agrees Egerton, "but it's clear to me that it still has an appeal to Derek Luscombe." "He's a lovely guy," Elvira said, "but somehow it's hard to have a serious conversation with him." "Yes, I can understand that that might be the case. Well, what do you know about yourself, Elvira? About your home environment?" "I know my father died when I was five and my mother left him for someone else when I was about two and I don't remember her at all. All I remember is my father. He was very old with one leg on chair. He used to swear. I was scared of him. After he died I lived with my father's aunt or cousin or something until she died, and after that I lived with Uncle Derek and his sister. Then she too died. I went to Italy. Uncle Derek arranged for me. Now I live with his cousins, the Melforts, who are warm, kind people and have two daughters about my own age."

"Are you happy there?" "I don't know yet. I've been there not long ago. They're all very dull. I really want to know how much money I have." "So what you really want is the financial situation?" "Yes," said Elvira, "I have some money. Is it a lot?" At this moment Egerton became serious. "Yes," he said, "you have a lot of money. Your father was a very rich man. You are his only descendant. When he died, the title and real estate went to a cousin. He didn't like the cousin. , so he left all his personal fortune, a considerable sum, to his daughter—to you, Elvira. You are a very rich woman, or will be, when you are twenty-one When I was old." "You mean I'm not rich now?" "No," said Egerton, "you're rich now. But it's not at your disposal until you're twenty-one or married. Until then, it's in the hands of your trustees. Ruth Com, me, and one other person." He smiled at her, "We didn't embezzle the money. They're still there. In fact, we've increased your assets considerably by investing." "How much money will I have?" "As soon as you turn twenty-one or when you get married, you will inherit an inheritance that may be as high as six or seven million pounds, according to rough estimates." "That's a lot," said Elvira, who was impressed. "Yes, it's a lot. It's probably because it's so big that people don't talk to you much about it." He watched her as she pondered the question.Very interesting girl, he thought.Seems like an unbelievably innocent lady, but she's not like that.Far from that.He smiled slightly mockingly, and said: "Are you satisfied?" She suddenly smiled at him. "It should, shouldn't it?" "Much better than winning the football lottery," he said. She nodded, but her mind was not on this point.Then she popped up a question: "If I die, who will get it?" "As it stands, it will belong to your next of kin." "I mean... I can't make a will now, can I? Until I'm twenty-one. That's what I've been told." "They were quite right." "That's really upsetting. If I get married and die, I think my husband will get the money?" "right." "If I hadn't married, my mother would have gotten it as my next of kin. I really don't seem to have any relatives—I don't even know my mother. What does she look like?" "She's a very remarkable woman," Egerton said briefly, "that's what people say." "Doesn't she want to see me?" "She's probably already met you...I think she's probably already seen you. But because she's messed up her life - messed up in some ways, she probably thinks you're growing up away from her Adults are better for you." "Do you really know that she thinks so?" "No. I don't know anything about it." Elvira stood up. "Thank you," she said, "that is very kind of you to tell me so much." "I thought maybe I should have told you more before," Egerton said. "It's a shame not to know," Elvira said. "Uncle Derek must have thought I was a kid." "Well, he's not a young man himself. He and I, you know, are old and old. You should take that into account, we look at things from our age's point of view." Elvira stood looking at him for a moment. "But you don't really think I'm a kid, do you?" she said shrewdly, and then went on, "I think you know a lot more about girls than Uncle Derek does. He just Lived with her sister." Then she held out her hand and said very sweetly, "Thank you very much. I hope I didn't interrupt your important work." And she walked out. Egerton stood looking at the door which closed after she had gone out.He pursed his lips, whistled for a while, shook his head, then sat down again, picked up a pen, and tapped his desk thoughtfully.He pulled some papers towards him, then shove them back, and picked up the phone. "Miss Cordell, put me through to Colonel Luscombe, will you? Try his club first. Then try Shropshire's address." He put the microphone back, pulled the papers to him again, and began to read, but his attention was not on what he was doing.Soon, the buzzer rang again. "Colonel Luscombe is on the line, Mr. Egerton." "Very well. Take him here. Hello, Derek. I'm Richard Egerton. How are you? A man you know called just now. Your ward." "Elvira?" said Derek Luscombe in great surprise. "right." "But why . . . what . "No, I don't think so. On the contrary, she looks quite—well, happy. She wants to know all about her financial status." "I hope you haven't told her?" said Colonel Luscombe alertly. "Why not? What's the secret?" "Well, I've always had the feeling that it's kind of unwise for a girl to know she's going to inherit such a large sum of money." "If we don't tell her, others will tell her. You know, she should be prepared. Money is responsibility." "Yes, but she is far from grown up." "Are you sure?" "What do you mean? Of course she's a child." "I wouldn't describe her that way. Who's the boyfriend?" "What did you say?" "I said who is that boyfriend? She will have a boyfriend soon, right?" "Certainly not. No such thing. How the hell did you come up with that?" "She didn't actually say anything like that. But you know, I've got some experience. I think you'll find out there's a boyfriend." "Well, I can assure you, you're dead wrong. I mean, she was brought up very carefully, she went to a very strict school, she went to a very selective I should have known about it if anything of that sort had happened. I think she'd run into a funny young lad or two, but certainly nothing of the kind you're talking about." "Well, my diagnosis is a boyfriend—and probably not a good fit." "But why, Richard, why? What do you know about little girls?" "A lot," said Egerton dryly, "I had three clients last year, two of whom became court protectors and the third managed to threaten their parents into agreeing to a marriage that was almost certainly disastrous. Now The girls are not cared for the way they used to be. The current situation makes caring for them very difficult—” "But don't worry, Elvira is being looked after with the utmost care." "These types of young women, they're smarter than you can imagine! Keep an eye on her, Derek. Find out what bad things she's up to." "Nonsense. She's just a sweet, innocent little girl." "What you don't know about a sweet, innocent little girl could make a slow record! Her mother eloped and caused a scandal—remember?—she was not as old as Elvira is now. And old And Coniston, one of England's most notorious libertines." "You disturb me, Richard. You disturb me very much." "You should also be vigilant. What I don't like much is her other question. Why is she so eager to know who will inherit her money if she dies?" "It's strange that you say that, because she asked me the same question." "Really? Why did her brain think of dying early? By the way, she also asked me about her mother." Colonel Luscomb said, sounding worried, "I hope Bess will make contact with the girl." "Have you talked to her about it—I mean Bess?" "Well, yes . "What did she say?" Egerton asked curiously. "Bluntly refused. She probably also said that she is a dangerous person and it is not suitable for this girl to know." "In a way, I think she's like that too," Egerton said. "She's kind of related to that racer, right?" "I've heard the rumors." "Yes, I've heard that too. I don't know if it's true. I think it might be. She might feel that way because of it. Beth's friends are reckless! But she's What kind of woman, er, Derek? A wonderful woman." "Always her own worst enemy," said Derek Luscombe gruffly. "Very nice traditional comment," Egerton said. "Okay, sorry to bother you, Derek, and watch out for bad actors in the shadows. Don't say no one told you." He put down the microphone, and once again pulled the documents on the desk to him.This time he was finally able to give his full attention to what he was doing.