Now that the topic of "old maid" was brought up, the thin old man looked at Miss Winslet again:
"Flora, didn't your mother send you another letter to urge you? Didn't she talk to you about this topic at the end of last year? If I remember correctly, you and my second daughter were born in the same year, and they are still the same now."
"Ahem."
Flora Winslet successfully interrupted the other party's attempt to tell her age with a cough, and then looked at Shade.
"Madame Bovary, I have a male companion today."
So the elderly lady stared at Shade again, her expression obviously dissatisfied:
"You are indeed pretty good-looking, but it's a pity that you are from the north. Don't be like Countess Belindel from Moon Bay some time ago and find a northerner as your lover. Today's girls really don't consider your age and can't ask for anything.
so many."
The gray-black haired lady looked a little ugly, but the people around her smiled kindly. Obviously everyone knew Madame Bovary's tradition of "discriminating against northerners". Such people are not uncommon in both countries, especially young people.
There are more among the older groups. After all, the two countries were not so peaceful when they grew up.
And after hearing "Belindl" and "Northern Lover", the smart witch girl's heart suddenly suddenly thought of Shade:
"Could it be"
But she immediately denied this conjecture. After all, during the Moon Bay incident, Carina did not rush to Moon Bay until the end to participate in the war. She had no reason to ask her lover to go to Moon Bay to accompany Bella...
Belindel.
After all, the Duchess doesn't seem like someone with that kind of special hobby.
In short, the conversation with these artists with many titles was still very pleasant. After achieving the purpose of "reasonably attending the banquet", Miss Winslet winked at Shade, so the two temporarily stopped talking.
They left the crowd and came to the window of the banquet hall with their wine glasses in hand.
Because the manor is not big, there is no garden scenery outside the window, only some stacked wooden boxes can be seen. The two glasses collided with each other, and then the witch approached Shade with a blush on her face, until she and Xia De
De hugged each other.
Shade's figure obscured her vision, and she took the opportunity to put on Miss Danister's monocle.
"In fact, you can block your sight without hugging."
Xia De thought to himself, but also agreed that this method is safer.
Not long after, Miss Winslet gave her reply:
"The Bennet family is fine. The relationship between the four members of their family is normal. You can chat with them later and determine whether they are infected with the curse."
"OK."
Shade held her and gently swayed his body, as if the two were swaying and dancing in front of the window:
"Where's the Cummings?"
"Wait a moment, I didn't see Baron Cumming."
She concentrated on looking at the family. Baron Cumming and Mrs. Cumming were chatting and laughing with two other local nobles. Their young son and his fiancée were chatting with the young people:
"Baron Cumming and Mrs. Cumming are the relationship between grandmother and grandson, okay. After all, little Cumming is Baron Cumming's father and one generation older than him. Oh, little Cumming is indeed Mrs. Cumming's son. This is also true.
question.
So Mrs. Cumming is both little Cumming’s biological mother and his daughter-in-law. Don’t move for a moment while I confirm again. Guess what I saw again?”
She pinched Shade's wrist with some force, and there was some excitement in her deliberately lowered voice:
"This relationship is so complicated! Mrs. Bennet! Mrs. Bennet is related to Baron Cumming's family!"
Shade turned his back to the banquet hall and looked at the window:
"Don't tell me that Mrs. Bennet is also little Cumming's daughter. In this case, her daughter is not little Cumming's."
"Of course not, what are you thinking? I mean, Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Cumming are actually sisters!"
Shade was silent for a moment, not because he was shocked, but because he added another thread to this complicated network of relationships in his heart:
"So James Cumming and Jane Bennet, who are already engaged, are actually cousins? What does this mean, lovers eventually become brothers and sisters?"
"What weird things are you saying?"
The lady with long gray-black hair asked, her low voice still filled with confusion and excitement. Shade understood her mood at the moment, because he was also curious about the relationship between the two families.
The witch continued to lower her voice and said:
"Although Baron Cumming is a noble from Willendale, I seem to have heard someone say that Mrs. Cumming is from Ximu Town. The old Baron Cumming brought his son to Ximu Town to handle business matters.
That’s why the current Baron Cumming met the current Baroness, but I haven’t heard of the relative relationship between Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Cumming.”
"Don't worry about exploring this. Let's solve it one by one. Moreover, Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Cumming are about forty years apart in age. This matter may not involve time, but just extramarital affairs and human trafficking.
Ordinary events like that.”
"That's true, but it still makes the relationship between the two families very complicated. Now the question is: How are James Cumming and Jane Bennet related?"
She gave up and continued to look, but looked up with a smile and asked Xiade. It only took Shade a second to give up thinking about such a complicated question. He thought of another thing:
"Does the law of Kasenlik prohibit marriage between cousins?"
"Of course not, why should we ban it?"
Miss Winslet asked curiously:
"And as far as I know, your Delarian laws don't seem to prohibit it, right? Is this a strange question?" (Note)
The foreigner opened his mouth but said nothing. He just sighed in his heart that everything was indeed different.
After determining this complicated genetic relationship, the next step is to determine which of the two families has the "time curse".
Mrs. Cumming was the only one left in the Cumming family. Fortunately, the middle-aged woman soon went to the bathroom alone. Miss Winslet immediately pulled Shade to follow, passing her in the corridor.
For a moment, the gold-rimmed glasses worn by the witch hypnotized the other party.
Shade quickly put his hand on her forehead and took half a minute to shake his head:
"There is no curse, but it is just a rough perception, not 100% sure."
"Okay, next one."
Four people from the Bennet family came. Among them, the eldest daughter's side was not easy to get close to, but the remaining three people stood together.
So Miss Winslet took Shade directly to greet them:
"Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, it's been a long time no see."
The witch said enthusiastically. The couple who heard the voice turned around and recognized each other, so they both showed expressions of surprise:
"Miss Winslet, good evening. Are you staying at our hotel again? I'm so sorry that I haven't had time to say hello yet."
Mr Bennet said:
"I'll have someone send you a nice bottle of red wine tomorrow. It was given to me by my friend in Willondale."
"Mr. Bennet, you are very kind."
Even though she was disgusted in her heart, the witch still answered with a smile on her face:
"It's the eve of the Moon Dance Festival. You must be very busy. I also want to thank you for the room you gave me. Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This gentleman is my distant cousin. He is coming to Vista with me this year.
City to participate in the Moon Dance Festival concert.”
She did not say Shade's name, but the couple still greeted Shade warmly.
Thomas Bennet was indeed the kind of humble and prudent country squire that Shade knew. Although he no longer had a noble title, he could still feel the difference between him and ordinary "rich people".
This does not mean that he is arrogant, but that he maintains a certain kind of "respectability" that is difficult to describe. Shade does not hate this, but his first impression of him is not bad, after all, he is very polite to himself.
As for Mrs. Bennet, I don’t know if it’s because I heard a lot of negative comments when I got to know her through other channels. This woman in her forties, whose wrinkles cannot be covered by makeup because of her age, does seem to have some concerns about warmth.
Miss Slater is too flattering.
According to what others have said, she probably cares more about Flora Winslet's "Winslet family" origins rather than her identity as an artist.
Of course, this may also be because Shade himself "wears colored glasses" to see people.
As for Philly Bennet, who has always been with her parents, she is the second daughter of the four sisters. She is twenty years old this year and can be considered an unmarried girl. The unmarried girl is said to have inherited her mother's appearance when she was young, so besides
Apart from some freckles, she looks pretty.
But when she was talking to Miss Winslet, she kept using honorifics, which made it seem like Miss Winslet and her parents were of the same generation. Shade could tell that this made "Miss Owl" vaguely unhappy.
"So, is it possible that Miss Winslet is slightly older than Carina?"
After shaking hands with Thomas Bennet and standing side by side for a while, Shade confirmed that there was no curse on him; then Shade found an opportunity to contact Mrs. Bennet and Miss Philly Bennet alone, and also found no trace of the curse.
.
As for the last remaining Jane Bennet, during the dance before the end of the banquet, when Shade was dancing with Miss Winslet, he took the opportunity to get close to the unmarried couple who were also dancing, and used illusions to hide his hands in public
, quietly came into contact with the twenty-one-year-old lady amidst the music of the ball.
This move was quite risky, but fortunately no one discovered it, and the [Red Butterfly Illusion] was still very trustworthy. And Shade came to the conclusion that there was no time curse on Jane Bennet either.
At this point, only Baron Cumming and Junior Cumming, the "conjugated father and son", have carried the time curse, and the subsequent investigation will also focus on them.
PS: To this day, British law still allows cousins to marry, even more so in the Victorian era, so this is not an intended exaggeration.