When the treasurer's servant, loyal to Baron and Mrs. Walton, opened the four ordinary treasure chests marked by Isabel, the expressions of everyone present were the same as those of Mrs. Walton, as if they had seen Jesus Christ who had come to the world. However, Mrs. Walton, who was calm and composed, glanced at the servant who was standing there dumbfounded, "Treasurer, what are you waiting for?" ”

The treasurer hurriedly returned to the hall where he was in the hall where he flew, and immediately nodded to Mrs. Walton, "I'm sorry, ma'am. I think the cashier and the accountant should be called in to count the numbers together so that they can be checked. ”

Mrs. Walton nodded, then turned her gaze to the butler on her left, "Bruce, go and call these two servants." ”

At this time, she recalled what she had promised her daughter just now, and said to the treasurer unhurriedly, "Treasurer, after you and the others have counted the coins in these four boxes, you can record in the account book how much money Miss Isabel has in her name. Do you understand? ”

The treasurer, who had long since regained his senses, replied with a salute to Mrs. Walton. At this time, Baron Walton called his daughter to his side, and asked the valet to bring her a bench and a glass of wine. Isabel sat down with a glass of wine in her hand, crossed one leg and glanced at her father casually.

Baron Walton quietly stretched out his left index finger and pointed to his right side, and said in a very deep voice, "Daughter, your mother is here." ”

"Father, I see." Isabel smiled lightly, lowered her crossed leg and asked Baron Walton in a loud voice, "Father, what do you want to know?" ”

This time, Baron Walton instead used three fingers to support his right cheek, looked at the coins in the four treasure chests opened in front of him, and said leisurely, "My daughter, I want to know what kind of goods you sold to the Spaniards, and the Spaniards will pay you so much money?" ”

While the cashier and accountant who worked for the family had not yet arrived in the hall, Mrs. Walton also turned her face and looked at Isabel with a smile, "Daughter, I think you must have sold the wool produced in the north or the south to the Spaniards at a high price, is that so?" ”

Gazing at her mother, who had become unusually kind, Isabel giggled, and even the two valets standing on the side couldn't help but smile quietly. At this time, Isabel saw the butler leading two strange servants into the hall, and shook her head at her mother again and again, "No, mother, what the Spaniards want most in the Americas and the Caribbean is a farmer who works for them. ”

"Farmer...?" Baron Walton suddenly sensed that his daughter's words sounded eerie, and thought to himself, "What does this mean?" Could it be that the daughter transported many farmers overseas by boat, and the Spaniards paid her exorbitant transportation costs? ”

"Good day, sir."

"Good day, ma'am."

"Good day, miss." The cashier, dressed in slightly better attire than the average farmer, and the accountant respectfully saluted and greeted the three people on the throne. Mrs. Walton hurriedly commanded reservedly, "Okay, you and the treasurer will count the money in these four open boxes, and you must count them clearly." ”

"Yes, ma'am. Well, what about the other boxes? The accountant replied and asked.

"You don't have to count. No one can touch those sealed boxes without the orders of the young lady. ”

"Yes, ma'am, I see."

Three hours later, when Baron and Mrs. Walton returned to the hall, the treasurer, cashier, and accountant had already counted the coins in the four chests. The three exchanged a few words with their eyes, and the accountant stood in front of the lord with an account book in his hand and reported aloud to the lord and the lord's wife: "My lord, my wife, the total amount of cash in the name of the lady is 41,000 pounds. ”

Baron Walton glanced at the lady beside him, then at the three of them and asked calmly, "Have you checked it clearly?" ”

"Yes, my lord, we have checked it three times, and the number is not wrong."

Baron Walton looked at his daughter on his left again, "Daughter, are they right?" ”

Isabel nodded, and Baron Walton immediately ordered the accountant and the other three to seal the treasure chest, and asked the butler to lead the manservant to send all the treasure chests back to the treasury for strict supervision. When only the Baron's family and two valet were left in the hall, Mrs. Walton looked at Isabel with meaningful eyes, "My daughter, do you know how much your father earns in a year?" ”

Isabel recalled some of the things the Duke of Richmond had told her in casual conversation, and looked at Mrs. Walton with a serious expression, "Mother, you are referring to the annual honorarium that my father received for holding an official position during the year, as well as the various rewards of His Majesty, including land, cash, annuities, and concessions. ”

Mrs. Walton nodded heavily, "Of course, this does not include income from the rent of cultivated land and pastures, as well as income from the sale of agricultural products and timber. Daughter, add up all those incomes mentioned above, and your father can earn £2,075 a year. ”

"Mother, you want to tell me that in these 6 months I have earned the sum of what it would take my father nearly 20 years to make?" Isabel deliberately spoke slowly, slowly, so slowly that words came out of her mouth word by word.

"Daughter, you're right. Now, I'd like to know what you think. Mrs. Walton looked at her daughter and said. In fact, she also didn't know what the huge sum of money could be used for other than to buy land.

The mother and daughter's respective valet stood quietly two or three paces away, staggered by the numbers they heard. In their opinion, the lord's income for a year is almost impossible to earn in a lifetime. And the lord's daughter earned enough money to scare them to death.

At the moment, Isabel has not planned what the money will be used for. However, since her mother wanted to hear her opinion, she could only pick up a few things that she was familiar with to tell her mother in a hurry. Tilting his head, he stood up with a serious expression and walked to the middle of his parents, and said solemnly: "First, build a church school in my father's domain, so that all the young civilians in my domain can receive basic education. ”

Mrs. Walton had a smile on her face, "It won't cost a lot of money to build a school, and then what?" ”

Isabel glanced to the upper right and recalled, "When my brother came back from Scotland, he bought some properties in the city of London in my brother's name to earn rent. ”

She added, "In addition, more alms are distributed to the poor during religious holidays." ”