Harry Potter’s Morning Light

   Chapter 2399 Water of Freedom (Part 2)

The    bill of exchange was the lifeblood of the British financial industry in the 19th century, and it was the path through which countless British deposits led to entities. A shipyard that needs to build ocean-going cargo ships usually issues paper notes to buy the steel and lumber he needs. The steel seller, if he wishes, can hold the note and wait for the shipyard to pay, or take the note to his banker, who will buy the note at a "discount", the difference being the banker's income.

   But the man who approached Padma was not the bill banker, but the bill broker William Kirk, whose office was on Lombard Street. His work is different from other bill brokers who intend to use leverage to move the earth. For example, a £1,000 bill is discounted by £970. Bankers are eager to obtain funds and want to find a reasonable price to find a corresponding buyer. A broker will be found, a commission will be negotiated with it, and the broker will find a corresponding buyer, say someone willing to pay £985 for the note, £10 of which goes to the former banker and £5 to the broker.

In addition to this he was in the money-lending business, and in 1788 he married Elizabeth Kent, the daughter of a grocer, also from Norfolk, and they were very in love, but Elizabeth died in childbirth, leaving behind a son .

   Elizabeth has a younger sister named Fanny, who came to London for "long experience", and it happened that Elizabeth was pregnant, so she stayed at her sister's house to accompany her. Unexpectedly, Elizabeth passed away due to dystocia, and her brother-in-law fell into grief. Penny chose to stay to take care of the baby and take care of her brother-in-law and the house.

The two later fell in love, but because Elizabeth had a son for William and William and Ruud was banned by canon law, William left Ruud and went to Liverpool, intending to find a job to erase his "unfortunate obsession" That feeling", meanwhile, Fanny began writing to William despite the objections of his family.

Compared with the quiet Elizabeth, Fanny is lively and full of enthusiasm, and the same is true of her letters to William. In the end, William accepted Fanny again after 5 months. The two decided to live as husband and wife and established a relationship. In order to benefit each other's will, the two moved from their original residence to a residence near the mayor's residence in London.

   They lived peacefully for a while, but their landlord somehow found out about their relationship. One day when William and Fanny were attending mass in church, William met Thomas, a well-known parish clerk in the area, the drunkard. If William was willing to pay him 12 guineas, he was willing to marry William and Fanny.

William was not fooled, but Fanny gave it. However, Thomas was only a parish clerk, and he was not qualified to officiate the wedding. When Fanny knew about this and asked Thomas to pay back the money, Thomas ignored it. Later, William came forward, The 12 guineas became a loan, and it was enough for Thomas to repay 1 guinea.

At the beginning, Thomas paid back the money on time. From the third month, Thomas threatened to use Ruud van Nistelrooy and Willian as an excuse that they were not legal couples. At the beginning, at the same time, Mrs. Fanny Coker, who was described by the neighbors, became pregnant, and just a few months after her pregnancy, "strange things" appeared.

In those days when William had something to do in the country, he arranged for the maid Claire to share the bed with Fanny. The maid was called "Radish Head" because of her red hair, but for some reason, the landlady's 11-year-old daughter Irene was the one who slept with her in the end. , for several nights in a row, both Fanny and Irene heard knocking and scratching sounds of unknown origin. At first, Fanny thought it might have been made by a nearby shoemaker rushing to work at night, but Irene said it was impossible. The neighborhood of the mayor's residence is full of wealthy communities, and there would be no shoemaker working in the middle of the night.

   On Sunday, Fanny called Thomas. After pouring some holy water, he asked Fanny for a few pounds. When William returned home, he was furious and took Thomas to court.

Everyone around    felt that William was making a fuss. After all, Thomas only owed William 3 guineas, which was just a small sum of money for him. However, William's life suddenly took a turn for the worse. First of all, Fanny fell ill. After being diagnosed by the family doctor, he believed that this was the early stage of rash and fever. After taking medicine and cooling down, there was no improvement. When the pharmacists came, they all thought Van Nieuss had smallpox.

   Hearing this news, Fanny hired a lawyer to ensure that the will is still valid and that his property will be inherited by William.

  On the days when Fanny was dying, James, the owner of a nearby hotel, claimed to have seen a ghost on the windowsill of William's house, and soon after, the landlord Richard also said he saw it. The three of them kept vigil that night and drank a lot of whiskey, and Richard and James agreed that the ghost was the ghost of William's previous wife, Elizabeth, who was angry at the cohabitation of her husband and sister, so she took revenge.

   After Fanny died, and the baby in her womb, William arranged for Fanny's funeral and buried her in the crypt of a nearby church. Fanny's family was also notified and came to London to attend the funeral.

But when Fanny's sister Ann learned about the terms of her sister's will and found out that these siblings only got half a crown, the rest were given to William, including 150 pounds from Elizabeth's estate and land in the country, the Kents were very dissatisfied. .

This amount of money is not a large amount for William as a stockbroker, but William still chose to file a lawsuit with the Kent family, and the Kent family also filed a lawsuit against William. They suspected that William murdered for the inheritance of the two sisters. took them.

   "What?" Georgiana couldn't help exclaiming when she heard the story.

"The Kents allege that William hired Thomas and made him curse Fanny. William said it was nonsense and he had a lawsuit with Thomas, but it was quickly pointed out that Thomas was missing, possibly for William. A lot of money, and the court found an 'expert' to confirm it," Padma said.

   "What... what expert? What happened?" Georgiana asked in disbelief.

   "They arranged a seance to ask the murdered deceased whether he died of murder." Ferrier said on the side, "Also, is the murderer William."

  Georgianna was speechless.

"The result of the first seance was very unfavorable for William, and the ghost replied that she was Fanny's sister Elizabeth, who had died of murder herself, and appeared to warn her sister, and Fanny's sister Ann said the coffin was closed. , unable to see her sister's remains, they suspected that Fanny didn't die of smallpox at all, and by the time they went to the crypt where Fanny was buried, Fanny's body was gone, the charges were getting worse and worse for William, so he wanted to find us Help, if we agree to his terms, he will provide us with useful information," Padma said.

   "What intelligence?" asked Georgiana.

   "Unless you want to see him," said Ferrier.

   "Where is he?" asked Georgiana.

   "It's downstairs, do you want him to come up?" Ferrier asked.

  Georgianna glanced at Padma, who shrugged indifferently.

   "Let him come up," said Georgiana.

   So Ferrier left.

   "How did you do it?" Padma asked immediately after Ferrier left.

"what?"

   "How did you calm Napoleon, magic?" Padma asked.

   "No!" cried Georgiana. "It is against the law to use magic on Muggles."

   "But he's no ordinary Muggle," said Padma.

  Georgianna was at a loss for words.

   "He has been dead for 200 years. You told me that people in this world are neither really alive nor really dead." Padma said.

   "It's not what you think." Georgiana shook her head.

   "Then how did you do it? Professor." Padma asked excitedly, as if he really wanted to learn from her.

   "What do you want?" Bonaparte had asked her the same question just now, where Padma was sitting.

   "I don't want anything in particular," she said calmly.

   He grabbed her hand with the fire opal ring.

   "If possible, please don't always think about the war." Before he thought about it, she said, "Take a moment to think about me."

   He looked up at her.

   "I will write to you, remember the task I gave you?"

"Remember."

   "Repeat."

   "Create a postal system," she replied.

   "Do you answer every letter I write to you?"

   She was about to answer.

   "Madame." Ferrier came in, followed by a man who, Georgiana was shocked to see him.

   "Good afternoon, Mrs Sever," the man said after taking off his hat, revealing the same bald head as her neighbor downstairs in the South Kensington house.

   Or they look exactly the same except for being a little haggard.

   "What information can you give us?" Padma asked.

  William Kirk grabbed his hat and took a long time to speak.

   "I can tell you the inside story about the Louisiana acquisition, which has nothing to do with William Pitt Jr.," said William Kirk.

   "Who's that about?" Padma asked.

   "You will promise to help me," said William Kirk. "I am innocent."

   "How do you want us to help you?" asked Georgiana.

"Prove it for me." William Kirk gritted his teeth. "If the case is true, I will not only have a damaged reputation, but also face two murder charges, and I have a son, and I can't hand him over to those Terrible relatives."

  Georgian could use Legilimency on him, so she wouldn't have to agree to William's **** request.

   But she glanced at Padma.

   "Okay." Georgiana said generously, "Do you need me to make a contract?"

  William Kirk breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and continued.

"It's Addington," said William Corker, looking her in the eyes. "On June 19th, Sir Baring asked him to meet at Richmond Park and asked him if he would agree to the takeover, and he said he thought the country paid A million pounds, it would be wise to transfer Louisiana from France to the United States."

   "A million pounds? Not eighty million francs?" Ferrier asked.

   "In fact, the first government asked for one hundred million yuan at the beginning." William said.

   "How did you know?" asked Georgiana.

   "I took my son to the park to play and saw them." William Kirk said, "Sometimes the stock market is so noisy that you don't know what the other party is talking about, so you can only judge by the mouth shape of the other party."

  Georgianna was shocked beyond words.

   "He also said that Louisiana in French hands will allow our manufacturing and companies to have better exports..."

   "Are you sure it's a million?" Padma asked.

   "Yes, I'm sure." William Kirk said. "I can't be wrong about numbers."

   "Send the guests out." Georgiana said to Ferrier, then covered her forehead.

   "Bribery?" Padma asked after the door closed.

   "It's just one side's word, and this kind of scandal can have a bad impact, especially where you are right now." Georgiana said wearily. "The news leaks, and within 48 hours it will spread all over Europe."

   "You believe it to be true?" Padma asked.

  Georgianna smiled wryly.

   "What if I can't believe it?"

  Padma looked at her without speaking.

  Georgianna laughed the happier she was, but unfortunately she wouldn't let out the crazy laughter that Bella did, because it was so scary.

   (end of this chapter)