Chapter 849: Modified: Chapter 1 The Mysterious Sir Hastings
The sunlight filtered through the thin mist, gradually illuminating the mansion district near Hyde Park.
Among them was a red-bricked, white-bordered Georgian mansion—spacious and elegant, its front yard was a ticulously manicured garden. The neighbors knew that this serene oasis belonged to Sir Arthur Hastings. Even though he had moved here a long ti ago, it was only recently that he had beco familiar with the neighbors.
He was a young gentleman with a gentle smile often adorning his face. Although the neighbors occasionally lanted his infrequent participation in the clubs and salons hosted by the area residents, nearly everyone acknowledged that Sir Arthur Hastings was truly the foremost philanthropist of Bayswater, London.
This gentleman was not only remarkably elegant and restrained in his speech and behavior, but he also actively participated in various official and unofficial charitable donation activities within the local parish. The parish priest unreservedly stated in his sermon that the largest social donation received by the Bayswater Poorhouse this year ca from Sir Arthur Hastings, totaling around 300 pounds’ worth of food, clothing, and other relief materials.
A young, wealthy aristocrat like this naturally becos the subject of conversation during social gatherings. However, it was unfortunate that the residents knew very little about the gentleman’s life experiences. The young lord was very secretive about his professional background, vaguely telling everyone that he worked in the publishing industry.
According to a few gentlen working in the Financial City, they saw Sir Arthur Hastings in the Financial City every now and then. This emblem of high society seed to be a frequent guest of the Rothschild Family. Once, they even saw Alexander Baring, the head of Barings Bank, taking the initiative to greet the lord.
How did such a young man connect with so many influential figures?
Where did his seemingly endless wealth co from?
So say that this lord might have originated from a fallen noble family and was not valued within the family. However, he eventually hit the jackpot and inherited the estate of a childless uncle, which is why he could be so rich.
Such speculation indeed seed reasonable. Everyone knew how picky the nobility could be about marriage. They would rather stay unmarried and childless than lower themselves to find a mismatched marriage partner.
Thus, even in the most prominent aristocratic families, there were plenty of old bachelors and spinsters in their thirties and forties. When they finally found a suitable partner, it was often too late for childbearing.
Even worse, this upper-class ntality seed to be subtly influencing the public’s views on marriage. At least, in the middle class, there were already quite a few ‘single nobility’ erging.
Of course, not being married didn’t an that nobles were virtuous, especially for male nobles who often had many lovers and possibly several illegitimate children. Unfortunately, these illegitimate children did not enjoy legal protection, aning they had no right to inherit their father’s property.
Thus, it was common in those ancient families to see young nephews suddenly beco wealthy overnight upon the death of their uncles.
Everyone believed that Sir Arthur Hastings was certainly one of these lucky ones.
However, not everyone held this belief; so had another opinion about the Hastings family’s wealth.
They noticed that the lord seed to be single at the mont. As a gentleman who greatly attracted the opposite sex with his eloquent speech, broad knowledge, and strong physique, this era’s ladies were always chard by such traits.
Thus, so suspected that Sir Arthur Hastings’s wealth might co from the widow of a rich rchant. Marrying a wealthy widow and swallowing her vast dowry in one gulp was also a recognized path to overnight fortune.
Based on various strange tales circulating around London, there appeared to be a specific group of people specializing in marrying rich widows, choosing older targets, and imdiately seeking the next one after sending off the previous wife.
This young lord might be currently in between sending off his previous wife and seeking the next target.
Whenever ladies gathered and discussed the young man’s various speculations, they couldn’t help but exclaim repeatedly, clutching their chests and praying to God that they wouldn’t be targeted by him.
Occasionally, gentlen would co over and jest, “Dear, you don’t have to worry about this because your husband is still alive.”
Arthur, who was deeply entangled in rumors about marrying widows, was not entirely unaware of his neighbors’ outrageous speculations, but he was too lazy to argue. Based on his understanding of these gentlen and ladies’ nature, attempting to explain would only heighten their suspicions, and marrying a widow to beco rich was evidently a more intriguing topic than striving for success.
Moreover, he found that after these rumors spread, those neighbors who liked to chat with him from morning till noon deliberately kept a certain distance from him. Especially the ladies, whom he couldn’t refuse according to social etiquette, now blushed and quickly bid farewell when he rely took off his hat and greeted, “Good morning, madam.”
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