William and Gallis smiled tacitly for a moment. Both of them knew that this meeting was for their own purposes, but they only had common interests in this matter and had no conflicts.
As for M's safety, neither of them cared at all. Gallis might even be hoping that something would happen to M so that he could vacate his position as the boss of the Special Task Force. Even if he didn't take over, he could take the opportunity to push someone from noble birth or close to nobility to take over. It wasn't like there was no chance.
After chatting for a while, a servant came to report that lunch was ready and they could take their seats.
They had French food for lunch. The plate presentation was very beautiful, and William only thought that the taste was okay. However, his mother, Lena, and Gallis were full of praise as they ate. The chef was so happy that he smiled and said that it was an honor.
After eating happily, Lena suggested that they open a branch of Ramsey's restaurant next to Stamford Stadium with Gordon Ramsey, which would focus on low-end dishes.
William thought that this idea was good. With the flow of people at the stadium, low-end dishes would definitely be popular with the fans and residents near the stadium as long as the taste did not change.
For Gordon Ramsay, who only had one restaurant, this was the best thing that could happen. After thinking about it for a while, he verbally agreed to find a time to discuss opening a branch with Lina.
After lunch, William took Gallis to the reception room. Felix of the Swiss National Bank had been waiting for more than an hour. Shortly after William and Gallis started eating, he came to the castle with his men.
After hearing Sunday's report from the servant, William did not call Felix to the dining room for lunch. Instead, he ordered the chef to send him and his men lunch and left them alone.
After lunch, of course, he had to see what good things Felix had brought over and show them off to Gallis.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Devonshire." Felix quickly stood up and greeted William as soon as he saw him.
"Good afternoon, Felix. You've worked hard. How was your lunch?" William looked at the boxes on the table happily.
"You're too kind. It's our honor to serve you. The lunch was great. Gordon Ramsay is indeed a three-star Michelin chef. Sir, let me introduce you to the handmade shotgun I brought this time," Felix said in a relaxed manner.
"No need, I've found an expert." After waiting for a while, a servant came in with a middle-aged man. As the host, William stepped forward and shook hands with the somewhat shy middle-aged man. "Good afternoon, sir. I'm William from Devonshire. Welcome to Castle Devonshire as a guest."
The middle-aged man hurriedly grasped William's hand and nervously said, "Thank you, Mr. Devonshire. My name is Spencer, and I'm the fifth-generation gunsmith of Brother William's handmade shotgun. It's my honor to be able to meet you at Devonshire Castle. This time, I'm here to measure your hand size and give you a gift."
Spencer pointed at the gift box that the servant had placed on the table. "Speaking of which, this gift actually belongs to your family."
The box on the table was rectangular and looked similar to the box that Felix had brought. William understood that the box contained an antique shotgun that was 60 years old.
Walking to the table, William gently opened the box and saw that it really was a handmade shotgun. The Devonshire family's deer head emblem and Devonshire's "D" were engraved on the butt of the shotgun.
"How much is it?" William asked without turning around. He definitely wouldn't let go of this shotgun.
"Well," Spencer hesitated a few times. "Mr. Devonshire, there's something I need to tell you first. This shotgun was custom-made by your great-grandfather in our workshop. The old Mr. Devonshire paid 210 pounds as a deposit, but the shotgun wasn't ready yet and he died for his country.
My grandfather once told Mr. Henry Devonshire about this shotgun. He told Henry that he only needed to pay the remaining 390 pounds to take the shotgun, but Henry didn't respond.
So after my grandfather passed away, this shotgun was forgotten in our family's warehouse. It wasn't until today, 60 years later, when you called us and we were looking for a suitable gift, we found it in the warehouse. It finally had a chance to see the light of day again. You only need to pay the remaining 390 pounds according to the original agreement, and it's yours. "
"Okay." Spencer's words shocked everyone present. They didn't expect that this shotgun had such a bizarre story. At the same time, they also admired the Spencer family's reputation. For the past 60 years, they had been waiting for the owner of the shotgun to come and claim it. They didn't raise the price or secretly swallow it.
William sighed and stroked the shotgun. He understood why his grandfather, Henry, didn't respond to Spencer's grandfather. 60 years ago, Henry didn't have the money to pay at all. At that time, Henry was at his poorest. He almost couldn't even inherit his title, so he didn't have the money to buy a shotgun.
Now, the deal that was 60 years late was finally going to be completed. Money wasn't a problem for William at all. However, William shamelessly paid the 390 pounds from 60 years ago. He couldn't afford to lose face like this. 60 years ago, when the gold standard was still around, one pound was worth 7.322 grams of gold. 390 pounds was almost 2.856 kilograms of gold.
With the current gold price, it was almost 80,000 pounds, not to mention the years of currency and friendship. So William shook his head and said to Garris, "Buddy, you're an expert in this field. Help me estimate the value."
Garris smiled and said, "No problem, but can I take a look at this shotgun?"
"Up to you." William nodded. A shotgun wasn't fragile.
Gallis picked up the shotgun and examined every part carefully. He then assembled the shotgun with his bare hands. After a while, he said to everyone's expectant eyes, "It's really a good gun. I didn't expect it to be preserved so well. Looking at the rifling in the barrel, it's possible that this gun has not been used in the past 60 years except for when it was used for testing.
William, I have to say that you're really lucky. It's very difficult to find such a well-preserved shotgun on the market. "
"Haha, thank you." William was secretly happy. He liked the shotgun very much after Garris assembled it. There were many irises and emblems engraved on the steel part of the gun body. There were also three deer heads on the barrel. After Garris finished looking at it, he passed it to William. William liked it even more after looking at the gun body. There was even a secret code of the Devonshire family on the barrel.
Since the time was not right, William didn't look at the secret code. He didn't look surprised either. He just smiled faintly like before and waited for Garris to speak.
Garris thought for a moment and said, "If this shotgun didn't have the Devonshire family emblem and initials, it would be worth at least 400,000 to 600,000 pounds on the market. But with the emblem and initials, it's hard to say how much it would be worth."
After saying that, Garris looked at William with a strange smile.
William laughed and said, "It's okay, Garris. I know what you want to say. The Devonshire family has declined, and the emblem doesn't mean anything to others. If this shotgun is auctioned, the price will be normal if I don't participate. But if a sucker like me participates, the price will be sky-high. Is that what you mean?"
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