Chapter 233 Oxford (Part 2)
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He was talking, but His Excellency the Duke was very fast, and within a while, he came to the study.
The butler took a quick step, pulled away the cushioned chair, and helped the Duke to sit down.
Although the Duke is old, he still sits upright according to the etiquette of the nobility, and his whole person looks full of aristocratic style and elegance.
With a straight face, the Duke of Norfolk has always considered himself the guardian of the orthodox nobles, and has always adhered to the etiquette among nobles, even in private.
His Excellency the Duke has always been stubborn and stubborn, especially in his later years, he became more and more firm in his originally indifferent Catholic belief.
Moreover, he also felt a kind of shame from the bottom of his heart for cooperating with Henry VIII's blasphemy of Catholicism for the sake of rights when he was young. I am afraid that this is also the reason why he is near death. Anyone will have fear of death.
So, this is also the feeling he gained in the later period, after losing his son who was killed in the rebellion and being pushed out of the center of power in England.
For his own beliefs, he propped up his body in his seventies, committed to restoring the original traditions of England, so that he could return to the embrace of God after his death.
"Master, I think this Mister Russell will give me a little surprise!"
The silver-haired butler bent down, looked at the exquisite Bible in the Duke's hand, and said softly.
"I hope!" The Duke was expressionless, his eyes focused on the cover inlaid with rubies, his lips moved, and his voice was vague. If the butler wasn't relatively close, he really didn't know what he said.
Regarding this, the butler also held his breath, bent slightly, and stood aside, waiting for the Duke's order.
At this time, Jack had already stayed in the inn for a day.
Of course, as the leader of the caravan, Pym had already left the inn with a few strong guards to look for buyers and the purchased goods.
The consignment was nothing else than bibles and immaculate paper, a luxury favored by the upper echelons of Oxford.
The Palace Intelligence Office pretends to be a caravan, so at least it needs to be professional, so all the goods needed will be brought in from the inner court, and then the principal will be returned later. This can be regarded as earning income for the Palace Intelligence Office!
During the day, Pym took some of his so-called subordinates to do business, no, they went looking for business, while Jack and the others took a bag of silver coins, that is, shillings, to wander around the streets of Oxford .
Winter, this slack period, is always the time when all kinds of wine business in Oxford City is booming. Yomannon and craftsmen who have some spare money in their hands invite them together in groups of five or six, drinking and bragging, don't mention the days How beautiful.
So, even in the evening, there are a lot of alcoholics walking staggeringly on the street, arguing with red faces, and the pedestrians on the road have already seen the strange things, and are even commenting on who might be the winner.
At this time, a young man passed by in a hurry, and accidentally bumped into one of the drunkards, causing the man to yell, and all kinds of swear words came out of his mouth, even the pedestrians on the side of the road could hardly hear him. Bear.
Of course the young man couldn't bear it, he swung his fist and smashed it, the two wrestled into a ball immediately, but the others didn't have the slightest intention of persuading the fight, they formed a ball like watching a juggler, cheering loudly from time to time.
Jack also stood far away, arms crossed, watching with great interest.
At this time, a thin man in a black blouse was walking through the crowd step by step, his steps were slow and steady, as if he just wanted to change his position.
But the sharp-eyed Jack focused his eyes. He seemed to have discovered something, and a smile with a different meaning appeared on the corner of his mouth.
If you look carefully, you will find that every time the man takes a step, he will come near a person, shake his right hand, and take out a few shiny silver shillings or half-worn pennies from a pocket.
After picking out five or six people, the man with nimble legs quickly left the crowd, pretending to be indifferent, and left.
Jack leaned against the wall, watched the thief's movements with interest, and followed him casually when he left.
After following for a certain distance, the man seemed to have noticed that someone was behind him, and the movements of his feet accelerated even more.
Seeing this, Jack also speeded up to follow, turning several turns in a short time.
Looking at the blocked road ahead, he knew he had been fooled.
He lowered his head, his face was cloudy and uncertain, and he didn't know what to think about.
Here, as expected, footsteps came from the exit. Jack slowly raised his head, and saw the original thief man walking over with several men of the same size, grinning.
"Hey, buddy, do you know that you've gotten into trouble, and we, the Holmes Gang, won't show mercy to someone like you!"
The leading thief man shook his long taupe hair full of filth, said tuggingly, and looked at him with a playful face.
"Don't get me wrong, I just want to find your boss!" Jack calmed down, squeezed out a smile, and said.
"If I wanted to trouble you, I would have exposed you in the crowd!"
"Oh~" The thief man said with a smile to the people around him, "So you are still a Cockney!"
The thief man shook the big wooden stick in his hand, getting closer and closer to him, but he could only retreat step by step until it reached the wall.
"Seeing that you didn't do anything wrong just now, I will spare your life!"
The thief man stretched his head, showed a fierce smile, and said directly.
"Come with me! After meeting with our boss, I hope you can have a good explanation so that you can get away with it!"
After the thief man left a sentence, he turned around and led the way.
This made Jack, who was ready to fight back at any time, couldn't help but relax. He calmed down and followed.
The other two skinny men walked around behind him without saying anything, staring at him, as if if he did something that he shouldn't have done, he would beat him hard with the big wooden stick in his hand.
Going around seven times and eight rounds, after more than a dozen alleys, I came to an unremarkable courtyard, which is innumerable in the city of Oxford.
Before a broken door, a man who looked stronger than the others shook his head and watched them. After seeing them coming, he just gave Jack a strange look and stopped talking.
Jack followed the thief man to the back room, but this time there were two people watching in front of the door with expressionless faces.
"There is a Cockney guy who wants to see the boss, so go and report it!"
The thief man shook his long taupe hair, walked over, and said respectfully.
"Wait—" One of them glanced at Jack's muscular figure and nodded in agreement.
(end of this chapter)