The Sin of Ludwigs

I stuffed the pillow into the quilt to create the illusion that I was still sleeping, then held my breath and listened to the movement outside. After making sure that there was no maid outside, I opened the door of the living room lightly and walked through the reception room Found the inner stairs.

The internal staircase was originally designed for people who are inconvenient to enter through the formal staircase, so the servants would never go here unless necessary. I slipped out through it smoothly. The path explored around found a remote door near the stables, where a Koop carriage with corner lights was parked, but there was Baron Fred's family coat of arms on the body.

"Edmund!" Anne was already sitting in the carriage, and she cried out in surprise when she saw me, but she immediately lowered her voice for fear of being heard by the people at Frigou Manor.

The coachman was busy packing the luggage. He was a very strong old man who looked old, with messy hair. He stopped when he heard Annie's call, and looked at the shirt and trousers he was wearing. Not wearing a coat - the maids need to go to the dressing room to get the coat, so I naturally didn't take it - I just snorted and pulled out a thick winter livery coat with the Fred family crest from under the driver's seat Throw it to me.

"Put it on, lest you lose your life before you reach the town!" The old man said in a rough voice, then turned his head and focused on putting a few boxes on the entourage behind the car and tied them up. , without asking me a word about my identity.

I hurriedly put on the livery. This kind of coat has a row of very thick buttons, which need to be buttoned in a special way. It has been a while since I just reached out for the clothes and I didn't know how to deal with them at all. See Anne He hurriedly beckoned me to get on the carriage first: "Come up first, don't let others see!"

Anne is wearing an off-white Indian cotton British-style women's gown without panniers for easy movement today, and a Russian-style overcoat with a thin silk outer lining and a satin inner lining for warmth. After I boarded the carriage, she He deftly tidied up the skirt for me, and buttoned it up smoothly.

There was still room for Anne and I to sit in the Koop carriage, and I found that Anne had put a small cap and a small box on the seat.

"It's the money the baron gave us and the contract you gave me." Annie noticed my gaze, picked up the hat and put it aside, then opened the box, looking a little confused: "But I don't know how much, I... ...can't figure it out, I've only seen sixpence at most."

Anne's identity contract was handed over to me by the baron first. Considering that it was inconvenient for me to carry it, it was handed over to Anne. It is not surprising that it is put in the box.As for the money promised by the baron - I took the box and looked at it. There were new and slightly worn British guineas, a larger number of silver shillings, and more silver pennies in units ranging from halfpenny to penny There are gold louis worth twenty francs among them, five francs, one franc silver coins and the smallest unit of the franc - the sous, which are only less than the silver penny, and even some Spanish and Italian issues. silver and copper coins.In short, Baron Fred was considerate to a certain extent. He provided us with the pounds we needed in the New World and the francs we needed in the Old World. In front of a box of gold, silver and copper coins that can be described as complicated, let alone Anne who is illiterate, even I can't figure out how many there are in a short time!

Although it's a bit dumbfounding, but this money shows that the baron really wants us to leave. I estimated the total amount of guineas and louis d'Or in my heart, and after getting a rough figure, I decided to choose to believe it. The Baron would not cheat us by shortness of money, so he took a few silver sixpences from the box, pocketed it, and closed it.

Anne observed my expression a little uneasy, as if she was afraid that the money in the box was not enough, I comforted her easily: "Don't worry, if it is not enough, I will deduct it proportionally when I send the check to the baron, I think The baron would not do such a loss-making business."

I just wanted to make Annie laugh and put her at ease, but the girl got even more nervous.

She looked at the coachman who was still tying up the luggage outside, and said to me in a low voice: "If we can't get out of the manor and they find out, you can say that you just want to give me a ride, never say that Run away...Edmund, if that happens, we will wait for the next opportunity, I will wait for you, no matter what, there will definitely be a chance."

At the end, Anne's voice began to tremble, just thinking about the possible consequences of our failure makes people shudder, but even so she is willing to sacrifice herself to save me, even though she knows intellectually that her thoughts are too naive, emotionally But I couldn't help but be moved by this heart.

"Don't say such frustrating words, we will be able to leave smoothly." I shook her hand reassuringly, leaned out and asked the coachman: "Father, can't we go? If we drag it on, it will be dark soon." !"

"That's enough, that's enough!" The coachman came over, closed the door of the carriage impatiently, and put away the steps of the carriage.

When he closed the door, I put a few silver sixpence coins into his hand nonchalantly: "Father, Miss Anne will have a headache when the wind blows, please be steady when driving the carriage!"

The coachman looked at me in surprise, his expression was like seeing a ferocious lion jumping through a flaming fire ring in a circus, but he didn't say anything, he just stuffed the silver coins into his pocket and turned away.

This time he moved a little faster. After harnessing the horse, he took a flint and lit the corner lamp hanging under the eaves of the carriage. I closed the curtains inside the carriage, and the interior of the carriage, which was not spacious, immediately fell into darkness. The external situation can only be known by hearing.

The carriage moved slowly, rolling across the path paved with stone slabs. I looked out through the gap in the curtains, and saw that the carriage gradually left behind the tall colonnades and arches carved with exquisite patterns, and circled out. A path that winds between two buildings, slowly, we can see the side of the magnificent castle in the beginning of twilight.

During this process, Annie and I sat in the dark, holding each other's hands tightly, and could only hear each other's heartbeats. During this suffocating long time, I couldn't help but start thinking wildly: Did Jane notice that I was no longer in the living room?If she only opened the door occasionally to take a look, she probably wouldn't have noticed, but she was afraid of accidents in everything. If she suddenly had a whim to tuck the quilt up for me, she would find that there was only one pillow under the quilt, and then what would happen?They may look for me everywhere, hoping she thinks I'm just going for a walk or playing a prank on them, Elvis and the others won't know so soon after being dragged by the banquet...

The carriage was driving unhurriedly, and I was so anxious that I wished I could take the driver's place and drive the carriage faster, and faster—the longer the delay, the more likely it would be discovered, of course, the faster the better!

With this kind of mentality, the distance from the castle to the gate of the manor seems extremely long—of course, there is also the reason that Frigou Manor is too big. I guess it was almost five o'clock when the carriage arrived at the gate of the manor Yes, the night in winter has gradually become thicker.

The sound of shouting came from outside the car, it should be the servants guarding the gate of the manor.

"Father Peter, it's so late, where are you going?"

"Hey, don't mention it!" our coachman replied very unhappy, "Our lord wants me to send one of his little girls to the town, saying that she is sick, so that the adults will not be happy if they find out, so I want to go for a while now." trip!"

The servants laughed.

"It's fine if you accept that little girl, so you don't have to run away, and your master doesn't have to worry about it!"

"That's right, if you take her in halfway, no one will know if you shout loudly, you are so lucky, old man!"

"Just don't just take off your pants when a robber stabs your balls!"

Then there were some unsavory vulgarities, and Anne was trembling with anger, but she didn't dare to say a word for fear of causing us trouble.

"Let me see what kind of girl she is, tsk tsk tsk, I have seen the blonde beauty next to the Earl before, her skin is really whiter than my wife's buttocks, let me see what kind of thing this is !"

Annie almost screamed when she heard this, so I quickly gestured "shh" to her to calm her down.

"Go, go, go, a bunch of guys who only know whose mother-in-law has a big butt, I'm still in a hurry, don't cause trouble for me." At the critical moment, those few silver coins probably played a role, the driver spat impatiently After taking a sip, the carriage started slowly again with a "wow".

I didn't let go of Anne's hand until the huge buildings of the Frigo Manor were slowly left behind, and found that the palm of my hand was already covered in cold sweat.

"We escaped!" Anne whispered to me in a voice that couldn't hide her joy. I couldn't say a word, but just nodded vigorously.

As the night slowly fell, the scenery around the carriage gradually changed from a wide field to thick bushes, and then to dense forests not far from both sides.In a dark night, only the light of the corner lamp of the carriage alone illuminates the dark and unknown road ahead. The trees and bushes cast hideous shadows on the ground, and beyond the corner lamp is the silhouette of the boundless and dark forest.

In the forest, there are always strange birds singing indescribably strange sounds. We can hear the sound of moths, bats and homing birds flying over the carriage, and even every bump of the carriage makes us feel anxious. He held his breath and listened for other hoofbeats—that meant either pursuers from the Frigou estate, or robbers who robbed houses, whichever it was would not be good news.

Every once in a while, I leaned out and looked at the pocket watch I brought out when I escaped by the light of the corner lamp-although I didn't want to take anything from the Frigu Manor, but a watch that can tell the time is impossible What's missing, I can only decide to include the value of the check when I send it to Baron Fred - watching the time go by and guessing whether people in the manor have noticed the fact that I have disappeared.

Six o'clock—Jane may be directing the maid to prepare dinner for me, she probably won't knock on the living room door yet, but just open a small crack to observe;

Seven o'clock--must have discovered I was not really in the living-room;

07:30——The banquet where Elvis and Earl Ian entertained the guests should be a happy event, even if I knew it, I couldn’t be sure if I was teasing them or where I went, after all, I didn’t leave any letters when I left;

Eight o'clock--they may be looking for me all over the estate;

Nine o'clock - I think we're safe now, even if Elvis finds out the truth and wants to send someone to arrest us, others will dissuade him - it's always dangerous to travel at night, Hagrid The people of the Si family should not just watch their masters take risks for an outsider, and even if they leave the manor immediately at this point, the knights will not be able to catch up with us.

Even though I thought so, an increasingly obvious anxiety began to linger in my heart. I couldn't find out where this anxiety came from, but I felt that my intuition was warning me.

"Father, how long until we arrive in town?" In order to get rid of this uneasiness, I opened the window of the carriage and asked Father Peter loudly.

A dazed moth came into our carriage through the window like a pebble and slammed into the carriage, almost hitting Anne in the face. She screamed in terror, grabbed her hat and slapped it.

Father Peter's voice came in from outside: "There are still three hours, we have to stop and let the horse rest!"

"Where is there a station here!"

"It's ahead!"

The bushes on both sides of the road were getting closer and closer to us, and even the branches and leaves started to brush the car window, and I realized that this was not the main road from the Frigou estate-damn it!The coachman got off the path when we didn't know it!

What does he want to do!

I grabbed the small box containing the coins, which can still hurt people when it is thrown out-I decided to protect Anne no matter what, and when I realized that our lives might be in danger, I couldn't help but regret it It's too dangerous to travel at night, we have no power to resist when we encounter bad people, maybe we should think about it in the long run!

Annie also felt that something was wrong, panicked, and looked at me helplessly.

"Don't panic, if there is anything, you can run to the forest." I took out the contract and stuffed it into her hand, and whispered to her: "Have you played in the forest before? If you encounter Robber, just go to the forest and leave me alone, what am I afraid of as a man... destroy this thing, and you will no longer be a slave, go to the town, or wherever you want, and live."

"I, I don't." After all, it was just a girl who had never seen a big scene, and panicked when encountering such a thing, "I am with you, and we will die together if we die."

"I can get away only if you run away, otherwise we won't be able to leave." I fumbled and took out a few coins that seemed to be gold coins and stuffed them into her hand, "If I get caught, the worst thing is that I will be betrayed." If I become a slave, then you will have to take the money to buy me, so you must go first, you know?"

Before I'm sure that Papa Peter has malicious intentions towards us, I can only secretly pray that Baron Fred's vision won't be so unreliable and find someone in collusion with robbers to be a coachman.Jumping is out of the question, a fall will only make it worse, I can only hope there is a post ahead, he really just wants to stop and give the horse a rest.

The coachman seemed to be ignorant of our precautions. The wheels ran over the dry and hard dirt road because it hadn't rained for many days, and the road was bumpy because of the bad road conditions. Gradually, the two sides of the carriage opened up again, and I saw the front of us. There was a silhouette of a two-story building and a faint red light, as if someone was waiting with a lantern.

Is there really a station in this kind of place?But where can there be a post station built to the height of a two-story building?

When I felt something was wrong, the carriage had already driven past a wooden fence entwined with vines, and stopped in front of the small building. Someone was standing silently under the corridor with a lantern, as if waiting for our arrival.

When I saw clearly who was walking over with the lamp, I felt that the blood in my whole body was congealed, and an extremely cold chill swept over my nerves.

—It was George, Elvis' squire.

Annie didn't recognize George, but she already sensed something was wrong and clutched my arm tightly.

Papa Peter opened the carriage door and lowered the carriage steps. George brought the lantern close to the carriage door so that the light of the candle could illuminate the steps down, and then looked at me in the carriage.

"Mr. Edmund," he said, "you are a little slow. Master has been waiting for you for a long time."

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super long chapter