Chapter 2399 Water of Freedom (Part 2)

Bills of exchange were the lifeblood of 19th-century British finance, the path to physical savings for countless British people. A shipyard that needed to build an ocean-going cargo ship would often issue paper notes to buy the steel and lumber it needed. Steel sellers could, if they wished,

One can hold the note and wait for payment from the shipyard, or one can take the note to his banker, who will buy the note at a certain "discount" and the difference is the banker's income.

But the man who approached Padma was not a bill banker, but bill broker William Coker, whose office was on Lombard Street. His work was similar to that of other bill brokers who were trying to use leverage to move the earth.

Different, for example, a banker discounts a 1,000 pound note at 970 pounds and is eager to obtain funds. If they want to find a corresponding buyer at a reasonable price, they will find a broker, negotiate a commission with them, and the broker will find the corresponding buyer.

For example, someone is willing to buy this note for 985 pounds, of which 10 pounds goes to the previous banker and 5 pounds goes to the broker.

In addition, he was also engaged in the money lending business. In 1788, he married Elizabeth Kent, the daughter of a grocer who also came from Norfolk. They were very much in love, but Elizabeth died in childbirth, leaving behind a son.

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Elizabeth had a younger sister named Fanny. She came to London to "gain some knowledge", and Elizabeth happened to be 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

In grief, Penny chose to stay to take care of the baby, her brother-in-law, and the house.

Later, the two fell in love, but because Elizabeth gave birth to a son for William, William and Fanny's marriage was prohibited by canon law, so William left Fanny and went to Liverpool, intending to find a job to erase his "unfortunate addiction"

That feeling." At the same time, Fanny began to write to William despite the objections of his family.

Compared with the quiet Elizabeth, Fanny was lively and full of enthusiasm, and the same was true in the letters she wrote to William. Finally, five months later, William accepted Fanny again, and the two decided to live as husband and wife and made an agreement.

After obtaining a will in favor of the other party, the two moved from their original residence to a residence in London close to the mayor's official residence.

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 the church, William met the alcoholic Thomas, a well-known parish clerk in the area. If William was willing to pay

For 12 guineas, he was willing to hold the wedding of William and Fanny.

William was not fooled, but Fanny did. However, Thomas was just a parish clerk and he was not qualified to officiate weddings. When Fanny found out about this and asked Thomas to pay back the money, Thomas ignored it. Later, William came forward.

The 12 guineas became a loan, and Thomas only had to repay 1 guinea.

At first, Thomas paid back the money on time. From the third month onwards, Thomas threatened to stop paying back the money on the pretext that Fanny and William were not a legal couple, and drank up the money every month. The grudge between the two parties was caused by

At the same time, Mrs. Fanny of Cork, whom the neighbors said was pregnant, just a few months into her pregnancy, "strange things" happened.

In those days, William went to the countryside for business, so he arranged for the maid Claire to sleep with Fanny. This maid was called "Carrot Head" because of her red hair, but for some reason, it was the landlord's 11-year-old daughter Irene who ended up sleeping with him.

, for several nights in a row, Fanny and Irene heard knocking and scratching sounds from unknown sources. Fanny initially thought it might be caused by a nearby shoemaker working late at night, but Irene said it was impossible. The mayor

There are wealthy communities near the official residence, so there won't be any shoemakers working in the middle of the night.

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

People around him felt that William was making a fuss. After all, Thomas only owed William three guineas, which was just a small sum of money to him. However, William's life suddenly took a turn for the worse. First, Fanny fell ill. After being diagnosed by the family doctor

Finally, he thought it was the early stage of exanthematous fever and prescribed medicine, but it did not improve after cooling down the temperature. Then the next day William called the pharmacist. They all thought that Fannie had smallpox.

After hearing the news, Fanny hired a lawyer to ensure that the will was still valid and that his property would be inherited by William.

In the days when Fanny was about to die, James, the owner of a nearby hotel, claimed to have seen a ghost figure on the window sill of William's house. Soon after, the landlord Richard also said he saw it. That night, the three of them stayed vigil together and drank a lot of whiskey.

Richard and James agreed that the ghostly figure was the ghost of William's last wife, Elizabeth, who was angry at her husband for living with his sister and came to seek revenge.

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

But when Fanny's sister Ann learned about the terms of her sister's will, she found that her brothers and sisters only received half a crown, and the rest was given to William, including 150 pounds from Elizabeth's inheritance and land in the countryside. The Kent family was very dissatisfied.

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This amount of money was not a large amount for William as a securities broker, but William still chose to litigate with the Kent family, and the Kent family also filed a lawsuit against William. They suspected that William murdered the two sisters for their inheritance.

Got them.

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

"The Kent family accused William of hiring Thomas to put a curse on Fanny. William said this was nonsense. He and Thomas had a lawsuit. However, someone soon pointed out that Thomas had disappeared, possibly because he had taken one of William's

A lot of money, and later the court found an 'expert' to confirm it," Padma said.

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

"They arranged a séance to ask the deceased whether they died of murder." Feryl said at the side, "Also, whether the murderer was William."

Georgiana could not speak.

"The result of the first seance was very unfavorable to William. The ghost replied that she was Fanny's sister Elizabeth. She herself died of murder. The reason why she appeared was to warn her sister. Fanny's sister Ann said that the coffin was tightly closed.

, unable to see their sister's body, they suspected that Fanny had not died of smallpox at all. When they went to bury Fanny in the underground crypt, Fanny's body had disappeared. The accusations were becoming more and more unfavorable to William, so he wanted to find us.

Help, if you agree to his conditions, he will provide us with very useful information." Padma said.

"What information?" Georgiana asked.

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

"Where is he?" asked Georgiana.

"It's right downstairs. Do you want to ask him to come up?" Feryl asked.

Georgiana glanced at Padma, who shrugged indifferently.

"Let him come up," said Georgiana.

So Philyl left.

"How did you do that?" Padma asked immediately after Feryl left.

"What?"

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

"No!" Georgiana shouted. "It is illegal to use magic on Muggles."

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

Georgiana was speechless for a moment.

"He has been dead for 200 years. As you told me, 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 enthusiastically, as if she really wanted to learn something from her.

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

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

He held her hand wearing the fire opal ring.

"If possible, please don't think about the war all the time." Before he could think about it, she said, "Take some time to think about me."

He looked up at her.

"I will write to you. Do you remember the task I gave you?"

"Remember."

"Repeat that."

"Establish a postal system," she answered.

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

She was about to answer.

"Madam." Ferrell came in, and a man walked in behind her. Georgiana was extremely shocked to see him.

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

In other words, except for being slightly haggard, they look exactly the same.

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

William Coke clutched his hat and waited a while before speaking.

"I can tell you inside information about the Louisiana Purchase, and it has nothing to do with William Pitt Jr.," said William Coke.

"Who does that have to do with?" Padma asked.

"You must agree to help me." William Coker said, "I am innocent."

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

"Help me prove it." William Coker gritted his teeth and said, "If the case is established, not only will my reputation be damaged, but I will also face charges of two murders. I also have a son. I can't hand him over to those people."

Terrible relatives."

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

But she glanced at Padma.

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

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

"It's Addington." William Coke looked into her eyes and said, "On June 19th, Lord Baring asked him to meet at Richmond Park and asked him if he agreed to the acquisition. He said he thought the country would pay

For a million pounds, it would be wise to transfer Louisiana from France to American hands."

"One million pounds? Not eighty million francs?" asked Philyl.
To be continued...