Wickham asked William Edward to drive the carriage back to the inn, and then he and Bert had a casual lunch at a restaurant near the shipping company, which was the first small meeting after leaving the fleet.

After eating, the two took a carriage bearing the Chelsea family crest to the London district of Sismail, where the Chelsea family's apartment was located.

Unlike other affluent districts in London, Sismail is one of London's oldest neighbourhoods, and most of the buildings here were built during the 16th century.

Because of this, most of the old aristocrats, who disdain to mingle with newmoney, choose to buy property in Sismail as a place to stay when they come to London. It can be said that the wealthy businessmen of London dreamed of buying a property here as a way to improve their social status.

But as long as it is not to the point of selling the ancestral property, no one or the nobles are willing to sell the property here. The fact that the Chelsea family, as a new business family, was able to own a property in the area is a testament to the Chelsea family's deep pockets and good relationships with the upper echelons.

The carriage came to a halt in front of a three-storey stone villa, and Wickham jumped out of the carriage and looked at the house that the Chelsea family had paid for with great interest.

Wickham is sure that the building is more than 100 years old, as you can tell from the thick and quaint oak doors. Because land is scarce in Sismail, the Chelsea house, like the other villas on this street, does not have a separate yard and does not occupy a large area. Of course, the small footprint is only relative.

The porter who opened the door was a thin old man, and when he saw someone coming, he grinned and said, "Young master, are you back?" You'd better go upstairs quietly, don't let the master find out that you don't work at the shipping company, or the master will be angry again. ”

Although the old man is a subordinate, he has served the Chelsea family for more than 40 years, so he speaks in a casual tone, like a conversation between relatives.

Bert was obviously a little lacking in confidence, but he still said stiffly: "West, I'm a Marine officer in the United Kingdom now, so I don't need to worry about any shipping companies, anyway, my vacation will end in a few days." By the way, this is my boss in the army, Captain Wickham, and I'm here to discuss some business matters with my father. ”

"Welcome, Captain Wickham." West took Wickham's top hat and hung it aside, then politely led the way ahead. As soon as the two entered the living room, a silver cane flew over. Wickham was taken aback, and hurriedly pulled Bert, who reacted a little slowly, and Bert avoided the end of his head.

Just when Wickham was puzzled who dared to openly attack the heirs of the Chelsea family in the Chelsea family's home, an old but neutral voice roared: "Stinky boy, why don't you stay in the shipping company and take care of the business, why do you come back?" Tell you, don't do that broken officer, I'll go find a friend tomorrow and let you retire and go home!" ”

Wickham fixed his eyes on an old man with white hair and legless gold-rimmed glasses staring at Bert with a thunderous eye. Bert picked up the cane in some embarrassment, and said angrily: "Old man, sometimes I really doubt that I am still your own son, and this cane will break if it hits the head!" What's there to do with your broken shipping company, anyway, when the vacation is over, I'll go to the Marine Corps to report and see who you throw with your cane! ”

Bert looked like a dead pig who was not afraid of boiling water, and made the old man jump to his feet with anger.

A few days ago, Bert had just come home and was almost not locked up in the small dark room by his father. Two years ago, Bert left to join the army, and when the fleet to China departed, the Chelsea family found out which unit the heir of the family served, but at that time they could only sigh.

For the past two years, Mr. Chelsea Sr. has been worried because Bert is the only legal heir to the Chelsea family, and if he has an accident, the huge family fortune of the Chelsea family will have to be inherited by Bert's cousin. Now that the old Chelsea wants his son to inherit the family business, how can he continue to let his son stay in the Marine Corps, who are ready to go to the European theater at any time?

"Stinky boy, you dare to talk back to me. If you run back to the army to report, I will disqualify you as an heir!" The old man blew his beard and glared at his son, and his white beard trembled with it.

Bert didn't take the old man's words to heart at all, and said, "You can do whatever you like, anyway, I can make money myself." But it wouldn't be my fault if my dear cousin kicked my mother out of the Chelsea house after you had gone to God, old man. ”

Bert's words were not alarmist, at this time British women had no inheritance and property rights at all, and the only money at their disposal was their own dowry. But this dowry is also nominally the property of her husband, and it is only after her husband's death that the dowry can be decided by herself.

If you don't have a son to inherit the real estate after the death of your husband, whether you can continue to live in your own home depends on the mood of the new heir. Jane Austen describes this in detail in the book Sense and Sensibility, in which the heroine Mary, her mother, and two sisters are kicked out of the estate by their half-brother. What Bert meant was that without his care, the future heir to the Chelsea family would not be so good at talking to Mrs. Chelsea.

Old Chelsea had no grace and threw a plaster head at his son like a child, but was avoided by the guarded Burt.

With a bang, the white plaster seemed to crack on the brown oak floor, and white plaster shards splattered everywhere.

Wickham felt that his head was not enough, and he did not expect that the little old man in front of him, who was Bert's father and the famous shipping tycoon John Chelsea in London, would lose his temper with his son like a child.

There is a father and there is a son, and it seems that Bert's fiery temper is inherited from the Mr. John Chelsea in front of him.

After losing his temper, the calm old Mr. Chelsea realized that there was an embarrassed young man standing on one side of the parlor, while his son gloated at his father's misdemeanor.

"Please forgive me for losing control of my emotions, sir. God, is this how young people today treat their elders? Oh, by the way, who are you? Old Chelsea glared at Bert, and then resumed his usual manners, as if he were not the one who threw the cane and the thing just now.

Wickham bent down slightly and introduced himself: "Mr. Chelsea, I am Captain George Wickham, Bert's colleague in the army. ”

"Oh, it's Mr. Wickham, what just happened made you laugh. Mr. Wickham, the living room is too chaotic right now, so let's go to the study and talk. When the elder Chelsea realized that the young man in front of him was the owner of the Chinese consignment, his attitude quickly became kind.

"West, have the maid come over and clean up the living room, it's a mess here." The old man muttered a few words, and then led Wickham to the study on the second floor.

The study in the Chelsea house is very tall, about two stories high, and the walls around it are inlaid with rows of neat and quaint bookshelves, which are densely packed with all kinds of books.

In order to make it easier for users to access the books with higher shelves, a wooden staircase is specially set up on the left side of the study room, leading to a four-meter-high sky passage. Directly in front of the study was a large desk with stacks of documents waiting to be signed, as well as a few books that had not yet been read. It can be seen that these books in the study are not just decorations, the owner of the study has been reading these books all the time.

Wickham complimented: "Mr. Chelsea, your collection of books is truly impressive. I'm willing to bet that the Chelsea family has the largest collection of books in all of London, apart from the British Library. ”

Wickham silently estimated in his mind that there were definitely more than 10,000 books in this study! This was a very large number in the eighteenth century, and many aristocratic families collected it for generations, which was about the same amount. But it can't be ignored that the Chelsea family is just an emerging newmoney family, and the heritage of those old-school families is by no means comparable.

Mr. Chelsea was very impressed by Wickham's admiration, and squinted his eyes and said, "Young man, you are right, there is no family in London that has more books than our Chelsea family, except in the Jacoes' Palace and the Filtzwilliam family library. Mr. Francis Bacon said in his Meditations that knowledge is power. It's a pity that Bert, the stinky boy, doesn't like to read much, and he's read one percent of these books, which is good, alas......"

At the mention of his son, Mr. Chelsea Sr. couldn't help but sigh, his son has liked to raise the bar with him since he was a child, and there is no time to stop.

Sure enough, before Old Chelsea could finish speaking, Bert began to raise the bar with his father: "Mr. Francis Bacon's words are not necessarily right, if knowledge is power, then how can you lose your ancestral property by transferring this mansion to Viscount Verunan with so many books?" ”

The Viscount Verunan in Bert's mouth is the former owner of this house and these books, and he is a well-known landing aristocrat in the south of England, but things are not people, and now the Verunan family has declined, and even the ancestral property has fallen into the hands of newmoney like the Chelsea family.

The old man was so angry by Bert's words that he didn't say anything for a long time, so he glared at Bert so fiercely. Wickham's head is almost big, where is this father and son, it is clearly a pair of enemies who pinch each other when they meet.

Wickham was afraid that the father and son would quarrel again, so he hurriedly said a round: "Mr. Chelsea is right, knowledge is power." Had Mr. James Watt not mastered the knowledge of steam power, he would not have made a fortune by refining the steam engine, which was more powerful and coal-efficient. It is estimated that Viscount Verunan has no books but no knowledge, so he has lost his ancestral property. ”

Old Mr. Chelsea felt that it was not good to have outsiders arguing with his son, so he walked down the steps given by Wickham and said: "Forget it, I won't worry about you today." Mr. Wickham, let's talk about the cargo in the Navy Dock hold, we at Chelsea are very sincere. ”

Seeing that old Chelsea finally got down to business, Wickham secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "As you wish, Mr. Chelsea." ”