Part 4 The Undead Chapter 10 Finalization
After a short silence, Klein picked up his black tea, took a sip, and smiled:
”It’s an option to consider, but Rossel the Great once said, never rush into a decision, only after repeated comparisons can you get the best answer.
”Is there another option?”
Walter, wearing white gloves, said with an expression that did not see the slightest abnormality:
”Pacefield Street can also meet your requirements, I remember that the house at No. 9 is seeking tenants, it is of the villa type, two floors, a dozen rooms with stables, servants’ rooms and a modest garden, the furniture and utensils are relatively old but decent, and the rent is 220 pounds per year.”
This was a reasonable price …… reasonable …… but 9 Pacefield Street meant that it was no more than 100 meters from St. Samuel’s Church, and although this fitted in well with the theory of the lights, there must have been quite a number of night-watchmen among the passers-by coming and going, and when I wanted to leave secretly and return, it is very inconvenient and prone to problems …… Klein, who originally had a rental budget of only one hundred and fifty or sixty pounds, after being baptized by the price of the garden building in front of him, suddenly felt that 220 pounds was not bad.
It made him wonder if the housekeeper Walter had deliberately said it was expensive in the first place.
Klein thought for a few seconds and said:
”Is there more?”
Without a hint of impatience, Walter replied:
”The house at 160 Birklund Street is also for rent, the same small three-story building with garden, stables, and servants’ rooms, with a dozen rooms in total, but the location is not as good as the one at No. 32, and the furnishings and arrangements, and furniture and utensils can only be described as decent, and the rent is 315 pounds per year.”
The rent price of £315 …… flashed through Klein’s mind slightly numbly, and he asked musingly:
”What do you propose?”
At this moment, his heart actually had an answer, but as an employer, he could not rush to state his position, because if there was any common sense slip-up in the decision, it would be easy to be looked down upon.
Walter said, after serious thought:
”The one at 160 Birklund Street.
”In comparison, the neighbors here would be more helpful to you in entering high society, while the house at number 32, is so extravagant that renting it outright would lead the surrounding neighbors to believe that you lack the necessary graces and are not decent enough.”
Simply put, renting a house of 1260 pounds per year when you first arrive is easy to be defined by the neighbors as a tycoon who is eager to show off …… For a rich man who is committed to entering the upper class, such a reputation is very bad …… Klein sipped a mouthful of black tea and asked with a smile:
”Then why did you bring up the option of 32 Birklund Street?”
Walter said with an unhurried salute:
”My dear sir, I am only a butler, it is not my duty to make decisions, but to show all suitable options and make certain recommendations for your consideration.
”Without knowing your specific preferences, I must give as comprehensive a picture as possible of the available targets.”
It’s very professional ah …… He should have the worry that Dawn Dantes is a thug who likes to show off, so the first to give the choice of 32 Birklund Street contains a certain degree of testing, in order to adjust the direction of the advice and management style later …… Klein smiled said with a laugh:
”Excluding the house at 32, we’ll take one of the two.
”I’m used to visiting the site before making a decision, we’ll leave after lunch.”
”Yes, sir.” Walter still had that serious, curmudgeonly look.
……
Bridge South, inside Harvest Church.
Emlyn White polished the silver candlesticks as he thought about the clue provided by Ms. Magician.
”A hidden gathering of extraordinary people …… That’s no clue, it’s going to be pretty hard to track down, and I won’t be able to join that gathering anytime soon ……” Emlyn scrutinized the surface of the silverware. the surface of the silverware, examined himself, and raised his hand to brush his hair.
Then, putting the rag away, he retired to the first row of chairs in the church and sat down, his eyes unfocused as he watched Bishop Utravski pray earnestly before the altar.
Thought after thought leaped out, now and then colliding with sparks, and Emlyn suddenly grasped a detail:
”Why would there happen to be a puppet that would be of extreme interest to the followers of the ‘primordial moon’?”
Moon Puppet, Moon Puppet …… This feels like fishing bait, is it, could it be a trap designed by Ruth Bathory and the others? Emlyn’s eyes lit up and he stood up in a huff.
Ruth Bartoli was one of the blood barons participating in the hunting competition, and was regarded by Emlyn as his strongest competitor.
The more Emlyn thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible, as he remembered that Bartoli was a lover of antiquities, and especially liked to collect strange and odd items from the southern continent!
After pacing back and forth for a few steps, the corner of his mouth hooked up a little bit, and with a hey, he muttered silently to himself:
”I can’t enter that Extraordinary One’s party to check the whereabouts of Windsor, the ‘Primal Moon’ believer, but I can monitor Ruth Bartoli and then grab the target before he does!
”Haha, I’m looking forward to what kind of look he’ll get.
”Well, Miss ‘Magician’ this clue is indeed worth 100 pounds.”
Just as Emlyn was unusually excited, Father Utravski ended his prayers, walked over, looked down at him, and said gently:
”Our piety is not in words, but in every detail, and you are not attentive enough today.
”Wipe the candlestick again.”
”Okay, okay.” Emlyn responded with a sudden sense of shame.
He waited until the priest turned toward the confessional before he snapped out of it and whispered with amusement and irritation:
”I’m not pious at all, and I don’t need to embody piety!”
……
Rows of straight Intis sycamore trees stood on either side, giving the street a secluded and tranquil appearance, and Krynn walked slowly out of the house at number 160, carrying his gold-inlaid cane.
He took a silent breath and turned his head sideways to his butler, Walter:
”You tell the owner of this place that I am satisfied.
”Let’s just rent it for a year for now, and then we might move to a better place, like Queens.”
His words implied his ambition to obtain a knighthood, as Queens was a place where nobles gathered.
As for why he didn’t just rent it for half a year to save money, it was because these types of high-class houses only accepted long term contracts, and one year was the shortest term.
Frankly speaking, if he was not worried about money, Klein still liked this house, its lawn was clean, the garden was beautiful, the house was well furnished with exquisite wares, there were numerous bedrooms with sufficient furniture, each floor contained multiple lavatories, and the side and rear stables and servants’ rooms did not cut corners, it was the best residence Klein could have imagined before.
Walter responded instantly:
”I’ll get a solicitor for the affairs in a moment.
”Sir, what specific requirements do you have for the servants?”
Klein strolled under the Indis sycamore tree and smiled:
”I would like to hear your advice first.”
Walter thought for a moment and said:
”Sir, no matter what, you still need a housekeeper.”
During the previous interview, Klein had mentioned that Dawn Dantes was unmarried and childless, and did not have a lover in Berkland, so he did not need a personal maid.
Seeing that Dawn Dantes just nodded gently and didn’t make a statement, Walter went down the list:
”Her duties are to manage the maids and household financial expenses, sir, you can’t leave everything to me, to the same person, checks and balances, is the art of politics, and a good way to manage the family internally, Rossel the Great said that absolute power leads to absolute corruption.
”I have confidence in myself when it comes to money, but it stops at confidence.”
Well, very frank …… a housekeeper is still necessary, the annual salary is about thirty or forty pounds it …… Klein nodded:
”Good.”
At this point, Walter walked pensively behind Klein’s flank and reached out to help him stop a hired carriage.
Getting into the carriage, he continued:
”For the housekeeper, I will have the ‘Association for the Help of Household Servants’ give a list of names, and you will select them yourself; I will not offer advice.
”With the present occupancy of the house, you will also need a keeper of the household property, who may be either male or female, a valet, two first-rate maids for the bedrooms, two second-rate maids for the parlor-sitting-room, two valets for the reception of guests, a pantry maid, a kitchen maid, two washing maids, and two menials for men’s work in the rough.
”To these will be added a cook, two gardeners, two coachmen, or a coachman, a coachman’s assistant, and, if necessary, a valet, a journeyman, a house nurse, and an assistant to the cook.
”You have no carriage as yet, and must have two afterward, a four-wheeled sedan, about £300, and a two-wheeled, roughly £100 ……”
Listening to the butler detailing the servants needed, Klein’s mind boggled and he kind of didn’t want to calculate how much this was going to cost him, it was all paid monthly and weekly anyway, he didn’t have to give it all at once for a year.
Not counting the valets, the menials, the household nurses, and the cook’s assistants, there are ten or eleven male servants, and nine or ten female servants plus the housekeeper …… almost double what I expected before, and the weekly outlay will have to be more than ten pounds …… This can only be determined when all have been hired, and the salaries negotiated. Salary, to be sure …… and the carriage …… Klein watched Walter s mouth move, and his thoughts could not help but drift away.
Walter saw the calm and elegant and extremely graceful Mr. Dawn Dantes nod frequently, and subconsciously expanded the topic a little:
”You will also need to rent an estate in the countryside afterward and entertain some friends to spend a pleasant weekend there, there is no need to rush this, it can wait until after you have held a few balls and dinners at 160 ……
”Sir, you should not mention handyman maids in front of your neighbors on this block, only families who earn less than 500 pounds a year and can’t hire enough maids to do different things hire handyman maids ……
”……”
Klein listened numbly, putting on a gentle smile by reflex.
Returning to the inn, he watched Walter the butler go out before he sat down and lost all expression.
Waiting until two-forty, Klein rubbed the corner of his forehead and rose slowly, entering his bedroom and preparing to convene this week’s tarot session.