At six o'clock the next morning, Tom, Evan's servant, knocked on the door and woke him up. Tom just graduated from the servant school last year. He had been serving in the former pastor's house. Later, the former pastor left because he didn't want to. Left home and stayed.
Tom looks ordinary and doesn't look very smart, but he is a diligent young man. He woke up the sleepy Evan early, and helped him change into the priest's clothes, and then whispered: "Pastor Bruce , Mrs. Haydn has made breakfast, do you want to go downstairs for dinner?"
Evan took Tom's hot towel and wiped his face: "I'll go downstairs for dinner, by the way, Tom, go to the post office today to order some newspapers for me, a local newspaper, the Times, and a church's one. newspaper."
Tom handed over the toothbrush and the toothbrush and asked respectfully, "There are two kinds of local newspapers, the Daily News and the Daily News. Which one do you need?"
Evan thought about it for a while, except that he had probably read the book, he didn't know anything about this place in Delan Lier, or it was better to be more secure.
"Both newspapers."
"Yes, sir." Tom bowed and stepped out.
When Evan came downstairs, Mrs. Haydn had already brought breakfast to the table. Mrs. Haydn was a grumpy middle-aged woman. He and Aiden the gardener were husband and wife, and Billy, the errand boy, was theirs. Youngest son, they used to be tenants under the duke's name, but because of the flood, the family's land was submerged, so they had to go out to work.
Mrs. Haydn's cooking skills are very good, and Evan is very satisfied with eating. He also suppressed the idea of re-changing people. It seems that although this Mrs. Sanders has a strict personality, she does things very well. Measured.
Evan took the Bible and walked along the gravel road towards the church. The pastor's hut was not far from the church. Evan walked for five minutes and arrived there. He saw Mrs. Sanders from a distance, standing there Waiting at the door.
Evan stepped forward with a gentle smile on his face: "Mrs. Sanders, I'm so sorry, I'm late."
Mrs. Sanders bent the corners of her mouth stiffly: "No, Pastor Bruce, you are here at the right time. In a quarter of an hour, the parishioners will arrive."
Hearing him say this, Evan felt a little nervous for a while. Although he had helped the pastor to preach countless times before, this was the first time as an official pastor.
Evan pursed his lips and stood quietly beside Mrs. Sanders waiting.
Sure enough, after a quarter of an hour, the disciples came one after another. When they faced Evan, they all showed great curiosity.
Miss Blair, who lives by the pine forest, spoke first. Miss Blair is in her forties this year. She is an old lady. She owns a single-family house and a storefront. Wealthy.
She looked a little funny today in a goose-yellow dress and a pink velvet hat.
"Pastor Bruce, are you from London?" She deliberately squeezed her throat, making a harsh voice like a little girl.
But Evan still looked gentle and polite, and his expression did not change in the slightest, just like a real gentleman: "Yes, I used to serve in a small church in the suburbs of London."
His tone was warm and peaceful, and his natural good looks made the unmarried ladies around him even more excited.
Major Mel is a figure who has been on the battlefield and is also very prestigious in Delan Lier, and he is also very curious about this too young priest at this time, and now listening to him say this, he can't help but interject: "Pastor Bruce Which church did I serve, I worked in London before I retired, and maybe I went to this church."
Evan nodded lightly: "That's just a small church, and Major Mel should not know."
He didn't want to talk about his past stories, because it was like the life of a stranger, and he really had nothing to talk about.
Major Meyer was a wise man, so he stopped asking.
When everyone was almost there, Evan walked up to the altar and started preaching. He had already prepared his sermons, so the process was considered to be a near miss, but Evan's heart was not like that. His face was so peaceful.
Duke Wilson did not come.
The faithful believer in God, as Mrs. Sanders said, did not show up at Evan's crusade on the premise that almost the whole town had come.
But everyone looks as they should, no one asks questions, and no one talks to each other. This is a phenomenon that is incomprehensible to a group of loyal Protestants. Evan is very aware of the influence of religion on people in this era. , and an alternative existence like Duke Wilson made him realize that this world is not as simple as he imagined.
After the sermon was over, the Mrs. Lawrence walked up to Evan. Mrs. Lawrence was very thin and not very beautiful. Her thin lips and high cheekbones made her look a bit mean, and her She also carried an indescribable restraint in her actions. She raised her chin gently, and there was a hint of pride in her eyes.
"Pastor Bruce, please allow me to sincerely invite you to hold a welcome dinner for you at my home, Woodwich Cottage, at seven o'clock tonight. Please be sure to appreciate it."
She gently stroked the satchel in her hand, and Evan's sharp eyes saw that it was the most popular new style in London this year.
"I am very honored to have this opportunity, and I will definitely go." Evan said warmly, appearing to be modest but not too lowly, and to be just right.
Mrs. Lawrence nodded with satisfaction, and left Mr. Lawrence, who looked a little tired.
After that, Evan dealt with a few ladies with spring eyes one after another, but fortunately they were all traditional British ladies. Although they were very eager to Evan, they couldn't make a rude move. In the end, Evan responded appropriately. Next, they all left.
People in other small towns are polite and reserved, well suited to the reaction to a stranger.
After Evan sent off the last parishioner, he returned to the church again, and Mrs. Sanders was kneeling in front of the Virgin Mary and praying.
Evan walked slowly to her and looked at the merciful Virgin in front of him, but there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.
"Have the parishioners gone?" Mrs. Sanders said suddenly.
Evan subconsciously changed into a gentle look, and said warmly: "They have already left." After speaking, his eyes changed and he said: "However, I didn't see the Duke today."
Mrs. Sanders ended her prayer by reciting the Blessed Virgin Mary.
"The Duke does not usually come to church except for weekend services, Pastor Bruce, you will find out later." Mrs. Sanders stood up and looked straight into Evan's eyes with a cold light in them. .
Evan suddenly smiled, and the bright sunlight shone on him through the glittering windows of the church, making his whole person glow with a holy light.
"That's it, thank you for your suggestion."
Mrs. Sanders nodded stiffly, and withdrew with the corners of her skirt.
Evan stayed in the church all day to deal with the accounts left by the previous pastor. Delan Lier is a prosperous town, so the church's donations are also very abundant, especially Duke Wilson, who is indeed like Sander What Mrs. S said was very generous.
Because there are many donations, it is very complicated to deal with. Evan has been checking the ledger with the deacon who controls the church finances all morning. It was only in the afternoon that Evan figured out this pile of work, but at this time it was already After six o'clock, it was time for Mrs. Lawrence's dinner.
Evan looked at his pocket watch, shook his head at the dean, and said, "Sorry, it's getting late, let's be here today."
The deacon members breathed a sigh of relief, said goodbye to Evan one by one, and left the church.
Evan was the last to leave. He sorted out all the ledgers and put them away, checked the church to see if there were people, and then left the church.
Evan returned to the parsonage, where Tom the valet was waiting at the door.
"Pastor Bruce, Mrs. Lawrence called an hour ago."
Evan stopped: "Did she say something?" Evan turned to look at Tom.
Tom nodded slightly and said, "Mrs. Lawrence said that you must be in formal attire for tonight's dinner, and the Duke is likely to appear."
Evan's whole body was tense. He looked at Tom in surprise. It took him a long time to find his voice: "Mr. Duke is coming?" Evan's voice was a little hoarse.
Tom gave Evan a strange look and nodded: "Yes, Mr. Duke doesn't often appear on such occasions, but Mr. Lawrence is a town councillor and has a good relationship with the Duke, so..."
Evan hardly heard what Tom said, and he was immersed in the excitement of seeing the Duke soon.
This duke, who is almost omnipotent in the book, has an extreme personality and three views, but even so, he is the real protagonist in this book. Whether it is the heroine like White Lotus or other cannon fodder passers-by, he can't stop him. His brilliance.
Evan was excited when he read this book, but when he actually entered the book, he panicked, because this is not a reasonable world, and all the axioms and justice do not make sense in this place , the only thing you can rely on is power and money.
There was a smile in the corner of Evan's eyes. In this world, the only way to gain power is to approach this duke, the duke who lacks personality but is emotionally blank.