CH 24.2

“Reverend.” The gatekeeper awkwardly stood at the door.

Evan felt a little impatient in his heart, but he still had a smile that was like the spring breeze in his face, “What’s the matter, James, what is it?”

James, who was at a loss, walked into the bright and tidy room, “Um…..Reverend, here is your letter.”

“My letter?” Evan took the letter from James with some doubt. The person who delivered the letters this morning didn’t he had a letter. Besides, he didn’t have someone who would write letters to him.

“This letter was sent to the wrong address. It was delivered at noon today. It is an expedited letter.” James said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Evan frowned. He looked at the name on the envelope and had a bad feeling in his heart. It turned out to be a letter from Jimmy, John’s manservant.

Evan had asked someone to help him find Jimmy in London before but there had been no news. Now that there is news, Evan felt very nervous.

Evan couldn’t wait to open the letter. Although Jimmy had some education, the fonts used was very messy. Evan looked at the handwriting on the envelope. The letter was forwarded no less than three times before it got to him.

Evan opened the letter and as soon as he read the first few words, his eyebrows wrinkled into a sharp arc. He continued to read and he could not help but gasp.

Evan quickly stood up and asked James, “What is today’s date?”

James was a little confused, “Yes, it’s October 7th.” After speaking, he seemed to think of something and added, “Today is Mrs Lawrence’s trial, that horrible woman is finally going to be hanged.”

Evan jumped from behind the table and rushed to the tea room next door, where Mrs Sanders was sitting and knitting sweaters. When she saw Evan in such a hurry, she frowned, “Reverend Bruce, what’s the matter with you?”

Evan could hardly restrain his inner excitement. He held her hands and asked loudly, “Ma’am, whose child is John?”

There was a flash of embarrassment on Mrs Sanders’ surprised face. She took her hands from Evan’s grasp, turned and looked out the window, “Don’t you already know?”

Evan was in a hurry and quickly said, “It was a guess, I need you to tell me now.”

Mrs Sanders looked at Evan with some doubt, “What’s wrong with you?”

“It’s too late to say any more.” Evan anxiously shook the letter in his hand, “Just tell me, it’s very important.”

Mrs Sanders stared at Evan for a moment, seeing his state of urgency, she said, “John is my child.”

“He’s your child.” Evan stared at her, “Isn’t he Mr Lawrence’s child?”

Mrs Sanders blushed, as if she had been offended, “Why do think of me so! Mr Lawrence is a married man! How can I have anything to do with him!?”

Evan was stunned. He looked at Mrs Sanders as if he was looking at something strange, “John is not you and Mr Lawrence’s child?” He murmured.

“Of course not!” Mrs Sanders turned pale with anger.

“Then, how did he get to the Lawrence house?” Evan regained his sanity and immediately asked.

A look of guilt appeared on Mrs Sanders’ face, “After I gave birth to him, his father abandoned us. I couldn’t raise him and typhoid fever almost took the child’s life. I gave him away to be taken by Mrs Lawrence. I never had contact with him for so many years. I just wanted him to have a better life, but I didn’t want to….” Mrs Sanders burst into tears.

Evan stepped forward and supported Mrs Sanders’ shoulders but his eyes were shining brightly. John’s life experience turned out to be like this. All his doubts about the matter were explained in the letter from Jimmy. It was definitely not done by Mrs Lawrence, he was very sure now!

Evan gently patted Mrs Sanders’ back and gently said, “I have to leave now, Madam. Mrs Lawrence was framed.”

“What!” Mrs Sanders raised her head, “How is that possible? When I accused her at that time, she admitted to it herself.”

Evan looked down at Mrs Sanders and said warmly, “I have talked about the power of love many times. Mrs Sanders, what kind of person do you think Mrs Lawrence is?”

Mrs Sanders was confused, how could this matter have anything to do with love?

Evan picked up a glass of water from the table and handed it to her, “Like I’ve said before, love comes from nowhere without reason and sometimes, love makes us do the most incredible things. You must never underestimate the power of love. Your love for John brought you to the brink of death and it also brought you back to life. Mrs Sanders, the last thing you should ignore in this world is love.”

Mrs Sanders looked at Evan, thought of something, covered her face and sobbed.

Evan looked at Mrs Sanders and gently patted her on the back. Actually, this matter is very simple but because of the inclusion of so many incidents and secrets, the matter became very complicated and blindfolded the people involved.

“Reverend, now…. What should we do?” Mrs Sanders asked, looking up at Evan.

Evan looked at the sad look in her eyes, “Ma’am, God arranged a way for me to figure this out, then I must report this to Sheriff Chandler. Today is the day that Mrs Lawrence will be put on trial. I don’t want an innocent person to be sentenced to death.”

With a pale face, Mrs Sanders leaned back on the chair and looked out of the window, “If that’s the case, then you must go quickly. I don’t want John’s death to end in an unclear manner.”

Evan sighed and gave Mrs Sanders another gentle pat on her shoulder. No wonder Mrs Sanders was so sad. Her own child was murdered but she could not do anything in the mother’s name.

Evan couldn’t delay too long, the matter was too urgent. He comforted Mrs Sanders and ran out in hurry. He jumped into a rental carriage and told the driver to hurry to the county’s courthouse.

Evan was very anxious but God didn’t give him face. He had just left Delanlier when there was a problem with the carriage he was riding in. The wheels were completely deformed and it could not move at all. And there were no people around, so he could not quickly get another carriage.

Evan stood beside the carriage with a frown and thought whether this was fate. He wondered whether Mrs Lawrence’s sacrifice and the looming truth could really be revealed to the world. This now depends on the carriage, which is really ridiculous.

Suddenly, Evan heard the sound of a carriage. Shocked, he turned to look, sure enough there was a carriage coming towards him.

As the carriage got closer, Evan looked a little excited, it turned out to be Duke Wilson’s carriage.

The carriage stopped beside Evan. The coachman recognised Evan and he spoke to him, “Reverend Bruce?”

As soon as the coachman said his name, the door of the carriage was opened from the inside and Duke Wilson’s cold and fair face appeared in Evan’s eyes.

“Lord Duke.” Evan nodded slightly.

“Reverend, why are you here?” Duke Wilson looked at Evan in surprise.

With a bitter smile on his face, Evan bowed his head, “I was on my way to the county courthouse, but the carriage broke down.”

Looking at the guilt-ridden look on the face of the coachman standing beside Evan, Duke Wilson frowned, “Are you going to Mrs Lawrence’s trial? It’s getting late, come up quickly, come on.”

Evan didn’t refuse and he got into the duke’s carriage. Before he got into the carriage, he didn’t forget to give the coachman his money. The coachman profusely thanked Evan, he didn’t expect that the priest would be so kind.

When Evan got into the carriage, Duke Wilson looked at him and spoke in a soft voice, “Are you going to pray for Mrs Lawrence?”

Evan sighed, “To be honest with you, I’m going there to stop the trial.”

There was an instant look of surprise on Duke Wilson’s face, “Why is this?”

Evan repeated the conclusions he made and the duke sighed, “If it’s not Mrs Lawrence, do you have any other person you suspect?”

Evan smiled and said in a low voice, “Lord Duke, I overlooked a lot of things before but now things are very clear to me. To answer your question, I indeed already have a suspect in my heart.”

Duke Wilson looked at Evan’s gentle smile and for some reason, his heart skipped a beat. He quickly pretended to calmly look out of the window, and after a while, he seemingly spoke unintentionally, “Since you know what you have in mind, it’s good.”

Evan had a panoramic view of the duke’s reaction and he felt joyful in his heart. It looks like the duke’s senses of him were getting better.

Both of them spent the rest of the journey in silence. Evan sat in a corner of the carriage and meditated on a Bible passage. Although he was not a real priest, he still had to maintain a professional facade.

The trial was about to begin by the time they finally arrived at the county courthouse.

Evan rushed out of the carriage and rushed into the courthouse.