Guidebook for the Dark Duke Chapter 13 - Beginnings

Chapter 13 - Beginnings

“Please, wait.” Evan tried to suppress his emerging smile and put down the teacup, “Your uncle wants to visit Mrs Sanders?”
“Yes.” Sheriff Chandler looked a little awkward.
“Then, why are you telling me? I’m not in control of her private affairs.” Evan replied with amusement.
“No….it’s not what you think. Mrs Sanders is a tough person and my uncle doesn’t have the courage to face her directly. If….if you could tell him something about the church, I believe that Mrs Sanders would not reject my uncle’s kindness.” Sheriff Chandler touched the back of his head with a silly smile.
Rubbing his forehead, Evan sighed deeply, “Sheriff Chandler, you’re really giving me a problem. If Mrs Sanders finds out, she will definitely kill me.”
“My good Reverend, how could that happen?” Sheriff Chandler said with some excitement when he saw the drama, “Mrs Sanders has been single for so many years and it would be a good thing for a good man to take care of her, wouldn’t it?”
Evan thought about in his heart, “Mrs Sanders keeps a straight face all day which is not good for her. It would be a good idea if family could soften her.”
“Alright, since it’s your request, then I’ll make an exception. Mrs Sanders is a devout believer and she hasn’t prayed in the church for a week. So, let your uncle come to the church and take some holy water to Mrs Sanders.” Evan said with a troubled expression.
Sheriff Chandler became happy when he hard this, he gave Evan a vigorous pat on the shoulder, “That’s great, I knew you would have a lot of ideas. Now, I can get rid of the terrible atmosphere during Christmas every year.”
Evan’s lips twitched. Sheriff Chandler is really a frank person.
******************
That night, Evan and Sheriff Chandler laid in an ambush in the hallway of Sheriff Chandler’s house. Since the person could send an anonymous letter to expose Alia once, then the person won’t sit still and watch Alia escape.
They waited from nine o’clock till midnight. Evan was feeling too sleepy to keep his eyes open, he even thought that it was impossible for the person to come. But when the clock struck three times, suddenly there was a sound coming from the door of Sheriff Chandler’s house.
Under the moonlight, a snow white envelope slid in from underneath the door. At the same time, there was a pair of slender snow white hands, the person tuned out to be a woman. Sheriff Chandler was shocked and he jumped up almost immediately. When he opened the door of his house and saw the horrified woman, his eyes were filled with confusion.
“Amy, what are you doing here?”
Evan stood behind the sheriff and looked over his shoulder at the pale woman in front of him. It was the maid who had been crying in the kitchen the other day.
Horrified, Amy took a few steps back, turned and wanted to run away.
Sheriff Chandler stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder, “There are police officers surrounding here, Amy, I advise you to not act rashly.” His voice was low and solemn, completely unlike his usual tone.
Amy was so frightened that she trembled all over. She turned around and looked at Sheriff Chandler with eyes full of despair, “You….what do you want?”
Looking at her, the sheriff frowned and said solemnly, “Amy, I should be the one asking you. What the hell are you doing here so late?”
Amy shrank back as if she had been electrocuted. She didn’t dare to look at Sheriff Chandler and just kept staring at her feet as if there were a million pounds there.
“Send….to send a letter.” She replied with a flustered tone.
“What kind of letter? Amy, you’re my wife’s friend and I don’t want to read your letter in front of so many people.” Sheriff Chandler rubbed the envelope in his hand with a heavy expression.
Saying nothing, Alia lowered her head.
The scene froze for a moment.
Evan watched this scene from behind the sheriff, sighed softly and whispered, “Miss Amy, I saw you crying in the kitchen that day, did you lie to me?”
Shocked, Amy looked up at a loss. After she saw Evan, her eyes were filled with despair, “No, Reverend Bruce, everything I said was true.”
Evan slowly walked to her side, picked up an emerald green lace ribbon in her hair with his fingers and said softly, “Miss Amy, you know, I’ve seen this before.”
Amy’s whole body trembled suddenly and she looked at Evan with a very frightened look, as if he was about to use the devil’s whisper in the next sentence.
“I’ve seen the exact same lace ribbon in Miss Alia’s hair. Tell me, Amy, how did this unique hairband, that John brought back from London, appear in your hair?” Without sympathy, Evan said the words in his mouth clearly.
Amy’s body became soft and she fell. Sheriff Chandler quickly supported her up. He hadn’t forgotten his position at this time, “Reverend, is what you said true?”
With a hint of annoyance in eyes, Evan took out a bottle of smelling salts* from his pocket and placed it under Amy’s nose and he said with a calm tone, “I thought I was wrong before but when I saw Miss Alia again, it was the exact same one.”
Sheriff Chandler listened to this and sighed deeply. He took the smelling salt from Evan and spoke to the police officer who came over, “Send this lady back to the police station. She will be interrogated in the morning.”
The police officers quickly carried Amy into the carriage and headed to the police station.
Sheriff Chandler stood there and sighed, “Reverend Bruce, do you know that she used to be my eldest daughter’s nanny but when the Lawrence family were recruiting, she left. I had always thought that she was a reliable girl but I didn’t expect that she would do such a thing, including having an affair with John. God, this is really scary.”
“Like I said, loves comes from nothing even. Even if it is an humble maid or a noble lady, none can escape it.” Evan sighed.
The sheriff deeply nodded and then, glanced at Evan with a grateful look, “Reverend, thank you very much for this time. If it weren’t for you, some matters about this case wouldn’t have come to light so quickly.”
Evan couldn’t help but smile, “My dear sheriff, I’m afraid this matter is not so simple. You will understand after the interrogation in the morning. I will not waste your time now. I have to go back to rest, otherwise Mrs Haydn will directly serve raw fish on the table.”
Sheriff Chandler laughed, “Mrs Haydn’s cooking skills are very famous in Delanlier, just like her bad temper is. You’re really a gentle person, Reverend Bruce.”
Evan smiled and waved his hand before turning and leaving Sheriff Chandler’s house.
***********
Sheriff Chandler started Amy’s interrogation early the next morning and he had also invited Evan to join him. Evan got up early the next morning and he received a lot of scorn and complaints from Mrs Haydn. In order to get out of that predicament, he quickly agreed to everything she said.
By the time Evan got to the police station, the interrogation had been going on for a while, but it was clear that it hadn’t paid off because Amy didn’t say a word from the beginning to the end. She just had her head down, her pale hands held tightly across her abdomen.
Evan looked at her with a gloomy expression.
Sheriff Chandler saw Evan come in and warmly invited him to have a seat.
“Reverend Bruce, you’re finally here. We started the interrogation very early but we haven’t been able to pry her mouth open. I’m still considering whether to impose some punishment.” There was an obvious look of disgust on Sheriff Chandler’s face when he spoke about the punishment.
Raising the corners of his mouth, Evan gave Amy a meaningful look, “Sheriff, the punishment is not necessary. If Amy stays here for one more night, I’m afraid that there will be worries about a life.”
When Evan said this, Amy started shaking.
Sheriff Chandler looked blankly, “What are you talking about? The prisoners here won’t be abused, if that’s what you want to ask.”
Evan smiled lightly but didn’t answer the sheriff’s question. He just looked straight at Amy and said warmly, “You did those things to frame Miss Alia. Don’t you have anything to say about it?”
Suddenly, Amy raised her head with hatred in her eyes, “I……I didn’t frame her. It was her! She was the one who killed master John.”
Seeing Amy finally speaking, Sheriff Chandler looked relieved but the words that came out of his mouth became more severe, “Nonsense, Miss Alia is a young lady. How could she kill John?”
Amy burst into tears, with big drops of tears wetting her clothes. She wiped her wet cheeks, “She doesn’t deserve to a young lady at all! Master John loved her like that, he even rejected a better lady for her, and she just stepped on his heart with the sole of her feet. Poor master John, it broke his heart. It’s all because of her! It’s all because of her!”
Sheriff Chandler instantly frowned, stared closely at Amy and asked her sharply, “Rejection? Break? What did John do?”
Amy shut her mouth like a frightened rabbit, her face full of annoyance.
Sheriff Chandler didn’t care about this. He looked at Amy with a sneer and said solemnly, “You tell me clearly. If you can’t explain clearly, you will stay here for the rest of your life!”
Amy protested loudly, “It’s not fair! I can’t stay in this place! Why don’t you go and arrest Alia! I saw come out of Woolwich Manor with my own eyes!”
Sheriff Chandler sneered, “Since it was you who saw her with your own eyes, then you were there. Aren’t you suspicious as well?”
“Me?” Amy looked stunned for a moment, and then began to cry, “How could I kill master John? I’m pregnant with his child.” (Wow, major twist haha)
As soon as those words came out of her mouth, the entire interrogation room fell silent.1 *Smelling salts are made of a chemical, usually ammonia, that has a very strong smell. When the smelling salts are put under the nose of someone who has fainted, the sharp smell causes them to wake up again. The fumes from smelling salts are harsh (think of the acrid smell of bleach when you clean something).
1 *Smelling salts are made of a chemical, usually ammonia, that has a very strong smell. When the smelling salts are put under the nose of someone who has fainted, the sharp smell causes them to wake up again. The fumes from smelling salts are harsh (think of the acrid smell of bleach when you clean something).