"Hello, does Ms. Maria Michaela Quirino live here?" asked the Arican lawyer in English. Seeing no reaction from the lady in front of him, he repeated it in French.
"Oh, that's ," nodded Lady Paul, "but now it's Maria Michaela Paoli, I'm married. May I ask who you are?"
The man hurriedly handed over his business card, "My na is Jas Danton. I am a lawyer for your aunt by marriage."
"My aunt by marriage?"
The lawyer nodded, "Yes, Lady Giovanna Massimo. Do you rember her?"
Lady Paul shook her head, "I'm sorry, I don't recall. Oh, please co in and take a seat."
Lawyer Danton entered the house and politely said, "First, I need to confirm that you are from the Quirino family of Ajaccio, Padano Town?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Then you should be the heir to Madam Massimo's estate," the lawyer extracted a stack of docunts from his briefcase, "She is your grandmother's sister's second son's cousin's..."
The lawyer listed a long string of familial relations, "Upon her death, you are her only living relative, set to inherit her estate valued over ten thousand US Dollars."
Upon hearing this number, Lady Paul's mind suddenly brightened with sunny skies and the chirping of birds, and even the smiling face of Aunt Giovanna seed to appear.
Ten thousand US Dollars, that's fifty thousand Leva—enough to buy a sizable estate in Corsica!
She imdiately nodded, then suddenly her face exhibited sorrow, "Aunt, when did she pass away? Oh, Jesus, such a good person, how could she..."
"Lady Massimo passed away due to illness three months ago," Lawyer Danton responded, "She ntioned she knew you were in London many years ago from correspondence; fortunately, you haven't moved."
Lady Paul strained to recall corresponding with relatives in the United States. After Corsica was occupied by France, indeed many of her relatives had moved to the United States to make a living.
And that ten thousand US Dollars quickly helped her piece together a whole set of mories.
"Oh, yes, I believe I did write to my aunt."
"Then, please travel to the bank in Amsterdam as soon as possible to collect the inheritance. Of course, you could also go to Philadelphia, where I would be more pleased to assist you."
Upon hearing the commotion, Paul, who was directing servants in cleaning up after a fire on the second floor, ca downstairs to the hall. After his wife told him about the inheritance, he frowned slightly, "Amsterdam? Can't we handle it in London?"
After all, he was involved in activities against France, and there were people who wanted him dead everywhere—he had to remain vigilant at all tis.
"I'm very sorry, sir. Lady Massimo's assets are all in the United States, and as you know, there are no current banking transactions between the US and England; the nearest currency exchange bank is in Holland."
After verifying Lady Paul's identity, Lawyer Danton handed over the will and other docunts to her, scheduled the processing of the inheritance, and took his leave.
Paul looked at the docunts skeptically and asked his wife, "Do you really rember this aunt?"
"Yes, dear, I rember her taking to town when I was very young."
In fact, Lady Massimo did not exist at all.
Fouche had people investigate Lady Paul's relatives in the United States and then fabricated this character.
No one would doubt an inheritance in pure gold and silver, and Lady Paul soon convinced herself through self-suggestion, pressing the vague mories onto the identity of her "aunt by marriage" and fully believing that she had such a relative.
"So, you really want to go to the Netherlands?" Paul asked as he looked at the docunts, "This might be a scam."
The woman nodded, "Mr. Peter Lorre and I are going together, there will be no problem. At worst, we'll just treat it as a trip to the Netherlands, which I've wanted to visit for quite so ti."
She knew that Paul would definitely not leave the United Kingdom—leaving would expose him to possible assassination by the French people. However, she had never been involved in politics and was sure there would be no danger.
After much deliberation, Paul finally agreed, as $10,000 was no small sum.
Less than half a month after his wife traveled to the Netherlands with the company of a butler, Paul received a letter from her.
The letter was full of excitent, informing him that the inheritance was real and she had received the $10,000 US Dollar draft from the United States, which had already been cashed. Besides the cash, the inheritance from the aunt included nurous properties and lands, though the exact value was still unclear, and it might require a trip to the United States in the future.
Paul was also very happy. Since joining the Restoration organization, all his inco ca from donations, and his life was not too wealthy. Now with his wife's inheritance, at least the renovation costs for the second floor were no longer a worry.
Shortly after Lady Paul received the inheritance from her "aunt by marriage," a secret high-level eting of the Restoration organization was convened again in Ajaccio, Corsica.
The details of an uprising to take place next month in Cargèse were quickly finalized and the plan was submitted to the leader, Paul.
During the noon recess, Girolamo casually ntioned his wife's encounter with Lady Paul in Amsterdam.
"What was Lady Paul doing in the Netherlands?" Giuseppe asked casually as he sipped his coffee.
"It seems she was there to inherit an inheritance," Girolamo said. "She ntioned to my wife that she has a distant relative in the United States who left her a large sum of money."
Seeing that no one was particularly interested, he continued, "It could be several tens of thousands of dollars, plus real estate and such; truly a windfall."
Of course, Lady Paul had never t his wife, nor could she have said anything. But the director of the intelligence bureau had personally instructed him to say so. As for whether it was true or not, nobody would go all the way to London to ask Lady Paul if she had told Mrs. Girolamo about the inheritance.
Yes, Girolamo had been turned by the French Governnt long ago. But since he didn't hold a high position in the organization, he was only useful for providing peripheral intelligence.
He deliberately emphasized "a large sum of money," "a windfall,"—finally making Bartoloo frown: "This is a bit too coincidental. The money funded by Mr. Chalrs was just burned, and Lady Paul received a large inheritance?"
"What are you saying?" Giuseppe imdiately rebuked, "Are you doubting Mr. Paul?"
"Oh, no, I was just joking."
Girolamo quickly waved his hand but exchanged glances with the other two who had gone to London with him.
After the eting, the three imdiately went to Girolamo's ho.
"Do you suspect that the 25,000 British Pounds weren't actually burned?"
"Yes, it could have been just waste paper. I don't want to suspect Mr. Paul, but with such a large amount of money, it's hard for anyone not to be tempted."
What he didn't say was that the money was originally ant to be distributed among them, so no one else should get any ideas!
"So what do you plan to do?"
"Send people to the Netherlands and the United States to check it out!"
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