When Evan followed Duke Wilson into Edward's room, Edward was sitting by the window, a small person, curled up on the windowsill, his curly hair looked very soft in the sunlight.
He heard some coming in, but he didn't look up, but his arms shook slightly, and he continued to bury his head in his arms.
"Edward?" the Duke called to him.
Little Edward raised his head, with a trace of confusion in his eyes.
Duke Wilson couldn't help but sighed: "Pastor Bruce came to see you, won't you say hello to him?"
Edward turned his attention to Evan and looked at her with a look that didn't seem to recognize him. Evan felt a little embarrassed for a while.
"Hello, Lord Edward." Evan nodded slightly.
Edward nodded coldly, but did not speak.
Duke Wilson's face suddenly turned a little bad: "Edward, how can you be so rude, did you treat him like this when Pastor Bruce rescued you last time?"
Edward heard this sentence, and then turned to look at Evan, with a little warmth in his eyes: "Hello." His voice was very weak.
Evan just smiled: "The Duke is serious, I'm just doing my hand, you keep saying this, I feel very ashamed."
Duke Wilson's face brightened a little: "Mr. Reverend, you are the bravest person I have ever seen. Edward is suffering from a mental blow these days. I hope you can teach him well with your fearless heart, so that He got stronger."
When Duke Wilson said these words, Evan had been observing Edward's reaction. Although he had been looking out of the window with some indifference, when Wilson said the question of bravery, he obviously saw Edward tremble. , like a sensitive little rabbit, trembling slightly.
Evan's heart suddenly became clear.
Duke Wilson left the room after receiving Evan's affirmation. He looked at Evan with obvious gratitude, which also made Evan sure that his decision was not wrong.
After the Duke went out, Evan cautiously approached Edward, but Edward shrank even tighter, almost shrinking himself into a ball.
Evan walked to his side, knelt down halfway, stroked the top of his head, and said softly, "Lord, are you cold?"
Edward's arms were gently separated, and he glanced at Evan: "I'm not cold." There was a hint of curiosity in his eyes, but he tried to look indifferent.
Evan couldn't help but smile: "It's a little dangerous here, you'd better come over and sit on the chair first." He stretched out his hand and made an inviting gesture.
Edward gave Evan a determined look, and finally stretched out his hand.
Evan helped Edward down from the window sill, and let him sit on the sofa again, and then said again: "I heard from the Duke, you are a little unhappy recently?"
Edward pursed his lips, a stubborn look on his face.
Evan stroked the top of his hair lightly, and said warmly: "I know that Mr. Lawrence's death is a huge blow to you, but the way you are now makes the Duke very worried."
Edward lowered his head, his two small hands clenched into fists: "I don't like John!" His voice was not high, but it was unusually firm.
Evan looked at Edward in surprise: "You don't like him? But I heard that you have a very close relationship with him..."
Edward didn't respond to Evan's question at all, still lowered his head and said nothing, but his shoulders trembled slightly, as if he was holding back something.
Evan felt that something was wrong, and hurriedly asked again: "Lord, what's the matter with you?"
As soon as Evan finished speaking, he saw big drops of tears falling on little Edward's shirt.
"The servants all say that John's is not good." Edward's tone was a little choked: "But my father has never been there, and I have only John with me. He always exaggerates, saying how much my father likes him, but I am my father's child, he Why don't you like me! Is it because I'm not brave enough?" Edward suddenly raised his head to look at Evan, his big eyes filled with crystal tears, a kind of innocence unique to a child.
"Pastor Bruce, your father praised you as a brave person, can you tell me how to become a brave person?" At this time, he finally held Evan's cuff tightly like a child.
Evan was at a loss for words for a while. When he looked at this truly innocent child, he realized that all his previous despicable calculations were useless at this moment.
Evan stretched out his hand, gently wiped the tears from his cheeks, and finally stripped off the pretense of mildness in his words, and whispered: "You are a good boy, the Duke is really concerned. You, he's just not good at expressing it, you have to believe in his love for you, Mr. John's death is a tragedy, both for you and his family, you say you don't like him, but in my opinion, you It's just a prank, no matter what is wrong with him, but he has been with you for so long, and there is a moment of softness in the heart of the stone, but even so, you can't be depressed like this."
Evan gently raised Edward's chin and looked straight at the little Edward who had been crying for a long time: "You are the son of the duke, a noble lord, you want to be an example for the entire Derainier, not Crying alone in a corner, because there are more people out there living a life a hundred times more painful than you, as a nobleman, you have no right to choose weakness, please remember this!"
Evan's expression was not as gentle and forgiving as usual. He looked at little Edward almost sternly, with a low and dignified tone. Edward was stunned for a while, he almost forgot to cry, and looked at Evan blankly. .
Seeing him, Evan couldn't help but smiled bitterly: "It's my fault, you are still young, you will definitely not understand these things, well, Lord Edward, you have to be strong as soon as possible, things have already happened, they have already happened, No matter what we do, it is impossible to go against God's will, this is the test of the Lord's life, and when you grow under the glory of the Lord, you don't have to be afraid of these troubles."
Evan gently hugged Edward into his arms and patted his back lightly.
After a long time, he heard Edward whisper: "I understand, I will definitely remember your teaching."
Evan laughed silently. He glanced at the door that was closed again from the corner of his eyes, with a secret pleasure in his heart. Such a selfless and fraternal speech just hit the itch in the Duke's heart. His plan is being realized step by step.
After Evan finished comforting Edward, he read another passage of the Bible for Edward. The previous relationship made Edward's attitude towards Evan obviously a lot closer. He almost always snuggled up to Evan's side and listened to him with a submissive face. The Bible is full of attachment.
Evan actually sighed in his heart. This child lost his mother at the age of three, and Duke Wilson was not a very good father, so he had an almost sensitive obsession with foreign friendliness.
After he finally finished reading the Bible, Duke Wilson warmly invited him to stay for dinner. Edward also looked at him expectantly. Evan had no other choice but to stay.
The dinner at the Duke's Mansion is very rich. Although Mrs. Haydn is good at craftsmanship, she lacks this exquisiteness. Evan lamented in his heart while eating, when will he be able to live such a life, God is so unfair.
After finishing dinner, he rejected the Duke's offer to invite him to stay overnight, and left Cornwall Manor very resolutely. Some things were too much. If he was too eager, he would be inferior. In other words, being away is the best way to get along.
Evan didn't go back to the pastor's cottage, but went to Delan Lier Church. Mrs. Sanders was sick and asked for leave in the past few days, and he was the only one who was busy with everything up and down the church.
In fact, it was a coincidence that Mrs. Sanders fainted at home on the afternoon of John's death. After the diagnosis, Dr. Hester prescribed a lot of medicine to her, and told her to rest in bed. It is said that It was a syncope caused by overwork, and because of this, Evan also received a lot of condemnation from Dr. Hester, as if it was all his fault.
Evan had no way to defend himself, so he had to manage the church more attentively. At the same time, he also asked someone to inquire about Jimmy's news in London. He had a strange premonition that this must have something to do with Jimmy's departure.
During this period, John's murder began to ferment again. The police station was surrounded by reporters every day. Everyone wanted to get first-hand information, and the Lawrences also began to frequent Sheriff Chandler's. At home, I hope to get the slightest news.
Sheriff Chandler was in the center of the storm, no one was around, and he was complaining on both sides. He sometimes came back to Evan to complain, and Evan also wanted to hear some useful news, but unfortunately, he It's all clichés, the police didn't find any useful clues, and Evan was very disappointed.
This afternoon, Evan was sorting out the church's ledger. It had been two weeks since the problem was found out, but he didn't have time to check it. Now the entire town of Delan Lier has been seized by John's Murder was swept away, but this one came a long way behind.
But at this moment, Dr. Hester suddenly came, and Evan felt a little strange. Dr. Hester was not a particularly devout believer. He had never seen him at all except when he appeared during worship. Dr. Hester will appear in the church.
"Pastor Bruce, something happened." Dr. Hester said anxiously.
Evan's heart suddenly raised: "What's wrong?"
"Sheriff Chandler has Arya arrested." Dr. Hester nearly cried.
"What?" Evan was shocked. Although he didn't like this maverick heroine, he also understood very well that Arya had absolutely no guts to kill.
"They said that Arya went to John that night, and they had an argument, and they found Arya's handkerchief in John's house, so now they've identified Arya as the suspect, and they also To interrogate her, oh! Oh my God! How can my little Arya bear such humiliation." Dr. Hester said almost in pain.
Evan frowned tightly. He knew the fact that Arya didn't want to marry John, but it would be too absurd to kill for this.
"Why did Arya go to John that night?" Evan asked in a deep voice.
Hester suddenly felt a little ashamed: "Yes... what did she tell me... She, she didn't want to be engaged to John, so she went to John to negotiate..."
These words were too difficult for Dr. Hester to say, so when he had finished speaking, almost his entire face was flushed.
And Evan looked at Dr. Hester's performance, but he had a little doubt about his judgment in his heart. It seems that this era is more closed than he thought.
"If that's the case, then what's the use of you coming to me? I'm neither a policeman nor a detective. You tell me this, and I can't do anything." Evan sighed softly and said, "Sheriff Chandler is A shrewd detective, if Arya is not at fault, he will find out, don't worry."
After hearing this, Dr. Hester looked anxious: "It was Arya who asked me to come to you. She told me that you could prove her innocence, and she didn't mean to kill John."
Evan frowned slightly: "To tell you the truth, Arya did talk to me about her and John's marriage before, she hopes I can talk to you, it's better to cancel this mismatched marriage, but this It doesn't prove that he didn't do something horrible like this."
A look of disappointment suddenly appeared on Dr. Hester's face. He seemed to be a few years older for a while. He sat down on the church chair and buried his face in the palm of his hand.
"It's all my fault. It's my fault that I did this without asking Arya's opinion before, so she did this kind of thing." Dr. Hester's tone was filled with sadness.
Evan couldn't help frowning: "Don't blame yourself, now Sheriff Chandler has no concrete evidence to prove Alia's guilt, even if she went to John that night, she couldn't be sure. She was the one who killed John."
Dr. Hester was more distressed at this time: "The evidence is enough for the court. John's death was in the middle of the fireworks display. At that time, almost the whole town went, only Arya and John didn't go, they... they're sure Arya did it now."
Evan was slightly surprised: "Why didn't Arya go?"