Chapter 2
****
"But if you're looking to borrow money for this, the amount available drops considerably. Hmm, maybe three crowns."
"..................That's it? even if I’m just leaving it with you?"
The man then showed her the loan deed. At the very bottom of the deed with the shop's name on it, it said it was notarized by the Imperial Bank.
"All the safe pawnshops are like this; if there's a place that takes this and lends more, they're not going to sign this notarized document."
Louise had already ridden an hour in a shared carriage. The other pawnbrokers were too far away for her to travel to.
Louise stared at the pearl for a moment.
A real pearl, albeit a baroque pearl.
What made her mother keep this pearl so secret? She wondered how she had managed to protect the pearl during all those days of confusion.
What were the last words her mother had left unfinished?
"When the crown prince is crowned, you must take this................"
How much truth was there in those words, or were they just a wandering memory of the past, meaningless?
But an immediate funeral was more important than an unfinished will.
Louise bit her lower lip.
The money she had saved so far amounts to just over a crown.
She had spent the money on medicine for her mother , and last month she had had to dip into her emergency fund to get her mother the Sacrament of the Sick.
Still, she was glad that she let her receive the sacraments out of the goodness of her heart. Otherwise, she'd be wallowing in a much deeper pool of guilt by now.
Anyway, with the money she borrowed by entrusting the pearl and the money Mrs. Smith gave her, it was closer to five crowns. She only needed to find five more crowns.
If she was lucky, she would be able to beg Viscount Engel, who she had tutored for years, for an advance on her weekly salary.
Three months' worth, enough to pay for her mother's funeral in the church. The Viscount was a generous man, so he may be sympathetic to Louise's desire to keep the memento.
"I'll borrow three crowns."
At last she answered.
The owner looked disappointed and muttered to himself.
"Interest is three percent a year."
Until now, she's been spending all her money on medicine, but now she would be able to save her weekly wage.
There was no point in even calculating the annual interest, since she would pay back the three crowns in two months' wages and have her pearl back.
Nodding firmly, the man traced the shape and size of the pearl on three pieces of paper, one after the other.
"The borrowing certificate will be kept by the young lady, one here, and the other at the Imperial Bank."
Next, Louise was given a quill pen.
She let out a small sigh and grabbed a pen. A notarized document means she had to write her real name.
Louise Henriette Ermoli.
Her heart sank at the sight of her name written down for the first time in front of others. Her name was unfamiliar, written side by side on two documents, a lender's deed and a borrower's deed.
The man scribbled close to her name.
The pawnbroker paused for a moment, as if recognizing Ermoli's name, but asked no questions. The name of the exterminated nobleman of the Tetrarchy would mean nothing to him.
However, he put his signature next to Louise's name and smiled wistfully.
Louise was inwardly relieved. By the way he looked so happy, she knew he had underpaid her.
After receiving the three crowns and the borrower's certificate, the man placed the pearl in a drawer and locked it with a key. Louise glanced at it, then bowed.
"I'll pay you back soon, and then I'll get the pearl."
The shopkeeper nodded dryly, and then, as if he had an urgent matter on his mind, he gestured to an errand boy outside the shop.
Louise was out the door before she knew it, but she didn't need to know anymore.
***
In the end, she pawned the pearl her mother had asked her to cherish as her own.
Instead of pearls, Louise clutched the loan note to her chest. She had to save up 3 crowns quickly and went to retrieve the pearl.
Somehow, her mindset had changed from the time she thought the pearl might be fake. Perhaps the pearl was so important that her mother kept it hidden.
She was stared at for carrying something so precious.
Of course, no one would truly take notice of a shabby woman like her. It would seem impossible to steal them.
She didn’t have to listen to her mother criticize her gait or the way she dressed anymore.
She trudged along, but she felt sad.
When she arrived at the Viscount’s house, someone was waiting for her. Viscount Engel's errand boy.
The child beamed and held out the stiff envelope in his hand.
"Miss Louise, I've been waiting because my master told me to deliver it to you in person, and he said to bring it to you as soon as you come, so will you read it now?"
She didn't want to be cold to the child, but this was important. Louise simply nodded and entered the house.
As she read the letter, her eyes widened in surprise, and then she burst into tears.
Viscount Engel has heard of Louise's plight and would pay her half a year's salary in advance. The weekly wage for half a year was twelve crowns.
Five crowns in advance would be enough to bring her mother to heaven, where she would meet her father, free of disease and pain.
She didn't dare refuse the Viscount's kind offer.
Louise quickly found a pen and wrote a grateful reply. She repeated twice, three times, that she was so grateful, that the advance would be enough for three months, and that she would be there the next day.
Tears fell from her eyes and smeared the ink on the paper, but she was too impatient to rewrite. She folded the letter and handed it to the errand boy.
"Please tell the Viscount thank you."
Then she went to Mrs. Smith and told her, and she was as glad as if it had been her own work. She said she would gather the ladies in the neighborhood and arrange for prayers and flowers.
The day before, when she had been so adamant that they should skip the formal burial, it seemed to have been a lie. In the end, she was so concerned for her life behind that she insisted on the next best thing.
Next, Louise went to the priest and asked for her mother's burial. She said she could pay for it tomorrow.
When she returned home, she found another letter. This time it was from Viscount Engel.
The Viscount was kind enough to say that he had ordered a coffin for her mother, and he would send it along with money for a carriageman to help with the burial early the next day.
Her heart was filled with gratitude. Louise vowed to be more diligent in teaching the Viscount's sisters and to bring them up to excellence.
When she entered her house, she saw her mother lying in bed, draped in cheesecloth.
Although it was fall, her mother had been dead for three days. She didn't dare to open the cloth any further.
She knelt down on both knees at the bedside, just as she had done when her mother was ill.
"I'm sorry, Mother. I'll get the pearl back.”
For the first time in two days, she spoke to her.
"So, Mother, follow the priest's lead and go to heaven. There, where no one will speak ill of you, meet father and be healthy and happy."
She swallowed hard and added the last word.
"I'll take care of myself."
***
That same evening, at Burg.
Tony Zimmerman, the pawnbroker of Helden, fell flat on his face at the feet of Caius, the young Prince, and begged.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I only wanted to take the goods in case I couldn't get them, I never meant anything else!”
Caius remained expressionless, as if he had not heard the desperate plea. A strong hand slowly turned a goblet, the reddish-brown liquid in it sloshing inexorably.
The older man, who appeared to be an amputee, took the lit cigar and offered it with both hands.
It was a simple gesture, yet strangely blind, like a hound wagging its tail.
Caius took the cigar in his hand and took several short puffs. The thick stub of his cigar began to burn bright red.
A long, white smoke billowed rapidly over the pawnbroker's head. Only then did Tony hear Caius's voice.
"I said I’d pay for the fakes if you could get it.”
His low, bass voice overpowered his opponent without effort. His piercing golden eyes glared like beasts of the night.
"And you come in with the real thing, along with the deed of loan, with no other intentions?"
***
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