Guidebook for the Dark Duke

Chapter 62 - Review Conference

Because of this incident, Evan didn’t sleep well that night. The strange expression on Ford’s face before he left made him restless.

Now it seems that Ford is like a lunatic, with unstable emotions and a little erratic in his actions. In order to appear innocent, he has completely pinned this matter on Duke Wilson. He is really worried as he thought, this time can things go the way I want?

The next morning, Evan got up very early. He dressed and organized everything by himself. He did not say hello to Mrs Haydn, who was making breakfast, and left the parsonage alone.

He walked towards the church. The review meeting at noon made him a little uneasy. At this time, praying was still very effective in calming his mind.

Evan knelt in front of the altar, his long career as a priest has made him more and more comfortable with praying, and at the same time, he doesn’t feel as repulsive to religion as he used to feel before.

After reading the Bible for a long time, Evan’s uneasy heart gradually calmed down. He looked straight at the statue of Jesus, thinking that after so many years of service, if there is really a God in this world, he should help him this time…

Evan has been staying at the Delanlier church, and soon after Mrs Sanders also came. She also knew about this review conference, it is obvious that the powerful Ford has already notified all the powerful figures in the town.

She looked at Evan with a worried look, and said warmly, “Reverend, the matter this time is okay, right?”

Evan nodded calmly, “Madam, I have always believed in the power of justice…”

Mrs Sanders was a little speechless about Evan’s nonchalant attitude, but she couldn’t do anything. She thought that, fortunately, there was the Duke as backup, which made her feel really relieved.

Evan worked very calmly in the church that day. Even though the people around him gave him searching or sympathetic looks, Evan’s expression did not change from beginning to end and he still dealt with the church affairs calmly and plainly.

At noon, all the deans of the church looked at Evan. Evan actually felt a little embarrassed. He was surrounded by so many people and they all looked at him with a look that made him shudder. Now that the time has finally come, he is relieved.

Evan stood up, nodded to the people around him, and said warmly, “Let’s just leave today’s affairs here, you don’t need to come over in the afternoon.”

These people all knew what was going to happen in the afternoon, so they didn’t discuss it. They were too worried to ask and they all nodded in response.

After all the deacons had left, Evan walked towards the central square.

On the way, he also met many townspeople who were also rushing there. Their pointing and searching eyes made Evan feel irritable. Coming out of the sea of ​​misery, these few days of life really made him fed up.

When Evan arrived at the central square, there was already a row of tables there and Ford had arrived long ago, and was sitting behind the table with a few very prestigious local squires sitting beside him. As they saw Evan coming, the expression on their faces was a little embarrassed.

On the other hand, Evan, at this time, also suppressed the restlessness in his heart, and his whole person calmed down. He knew that this kind of review would inevitably have a squire present to witness it, but Ford was quite capable since he could pull so many of them out at once. But what Evan noticed is that the seat in the middle is still vacant. If Evan is not wrong, it is probably the seat reserved for Duke Wilson.

“Mr Ford, gentlemen, good afternoon.” Evan greeted everyone politely like a real gentleman.

Although these squires are the witnesses this time, they have a very good opinion of Evan. Seeing that Evan is still so calm at this time, they look at him quite highly, and greet him with a nod.

Only Ford, who had decided to completely show just how he felt about Evan at this time, didn’t care about this false courtesy, and just sat coldly behind the table and looked at Evan.

Evan just pretended like he didn’t see Ford’s rude behavior, and stood there quite calmly without saying a word.

Whether it was Evan standing or the few squires sitting, or the townspeople standing around, they were all waiting for the town’s highest leader, Duke Wilson.

They didn’t wait long. Less than a quarter of an hour later, the sound of horse hooves hitting the gravel road came from a distance. Evan looked over there subconsciously. It was Duke Wilson’s carriage.

In a blink of an eye, the carriage came to a halt in front of the crowd. The door of the carriage was pushed open from the inside and Duke Wilson stepped out of the carriage.

Today, Duke Wilson is wearing a four-piece black suit with a coat over it, which makes his slender figure look even more straight. He takes off the hat on his head and his black hair looks very elegant in the sunlight. Glancing at Evan who was standing on the side, his black eyes flashed a little, but when they swept towards Ford, there was a bit of ridicule in his eyes. “Mr Ford.” The Duke’s tone was very cold, “This time, you went to great lengths to do something so earth-shattering, and you have invited so many people to watch it?”

Ford said, “Lord Duke, thank you for your honor. This time, the matter is about the reputation of the Delanlier church. According to Lord Bishop’s instructions, I have to make such a decision.”

“Oh?” Duke Wilson turned to look at Ford, “The reputation of the Delanlier Church?” Then, he looked at Evan, “And Reverend Bruce is here. How can you intervene in the matters of the Delanlier church?” Duke Wilson asked knowingly.

Ford frowned slightly, now he can’t understand what the duke means. The matter about Evan has been abuzz in Delanlier. The duke, as the owner of this town, does he really not know?

“Lord Duke, this matter is about Reverend Bruce, so he cannot intervene. I am following the instructions of Lord Bishop to handle this matter.” Although Ford was puzzled, he still told the truth.

Duke Wilson sneered when he heard these words. He turned to look at Evan, and his tone was much softer, “Reverend Bruce, is this what it looks like?”

The moment Duke Wilson came out, in fact, Evan’s heart was already about to jump out of his throat, he was so afraid that there would be a loophole in his plan, but looking at the situation at this time, at least Duke Wilson was still on his side.

“Yes, according to what Mr Ford said to me, that’s true.” Evan lowered his eyebrows and one couldn’t see his expression clearly.

Evan’s ambiguity made Ford grit his teeth. This man is really cunning. He has come to this point and he is still trying to justify himself.

“Duke Wilson.” Ford interrupted the communication between Evan and the Duke, “People have already arrived, can this matter start?” Ford smiled respectfully.

Duke Wilson looked at Ford with a very cold expression. There was a deep chill in his eyes. If anyone saw it, he would be scared to death. Unfortunately, at this time, Ford had just turned his head to talk to the few squires present and did not notice the Duke’s expression.

Duke Wilson left where Evan was standing and walked towards the table. Several squires and Ford all stood up, waiting for the Duke to sit down in the middle seat before they sat down.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” After everyone sat down, Ford was the first to speak, “In response to the rumors about Reverend Bruce in the town these days, the church attaches great importance to this and has appointed me, Ford, according to the bishop’s order, to deal with this matter. First of all, to investigate this rumor.”

When he said this, Ford glanced at Evan calmly, and the maliciousness contained in that glance made Evan shiver.

“According to my investigation in the past few days, this matter was reported by Tang De, the night watchman of the Delanlier church.”

As soon as this sentence was said, there was an uproar around, everyone knew that Tang De was a wanderer before. In the end, because of Evan’s kindness, he became the night watchman of Delanlier church. They didn’t expect that Tang De would even betray his kindness.

“Bring Tang De up.” Ford’s expression at the uproar of the people around him remained unchanged. These people condemned Tang De’s hypocritical betrayal at this time, but after a while, their hatred for Evan will be deeper.

As soon as Ford’s words fell, a few strong young men came up with a thin middle-aged man. This middle-aged man looked a bit shrewd and looked very indecent, and he shrank his head. He was pushed to the front by those young people. When he saw Evan, he cringed.

“Tang De, do you know why you were summoned here?” There was a hint of disdain in Ford’s tone. If it wasn’t because he was new here and couldn’t find anyone else, he wouldn’t have found such a disgusting person, who could do such a thing to his own benefactor.

“I…I know.” Tang De said with a lack of confidence.

“It’s good if you know.” The more Ford looked at Tang De, the more he felt that he was an eyesore. He turned his head away from him, and said impatiently, “Tang De, you spread the news about Reverend Bruce in the town, do you know that spreading rumors to defame a gentleman is a very serious offense?”

Tang De seemed to be frightened by what Ford said, and the whole person was stunned: “I… I… Mr Ford, what I said is the truth, it’s not a rumor. Everything is true.” Tang De defended incoherently.

Ford glanced at Evan calmly and found that he still had no change on his face, and he was dissatisfied, and showed even more impatience with Tang De, “You said that what you said is true, but where is the evidence?”

As long as the evidence is presented, he would like to see if Evan can still maintain his calm appearance at that time.

“I…I…” Tang De gave Ford a hesitant look, “This is what a lady told me, but where she is now, I don’t know.”

This is what Ford taught him to say as his defense, although Tang De was very flustered at this time, he could only believe in Ford.

“A lady?” Ford looked at Tang De with some dissatisfaction, “Since you can’t let that lady come out to prove your words, how can we dare to believe that what you said is true? Tang De, you know, you are dealing with an upright priest.”

Tang De scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously, which was also his most straightforward response, because Ford did not tell him what would happen next.

But at this moment, a clear voice suddenly came from the crowd, “I can prove it!”

Evan frowned, the voice sounded familiar to him.