William Bolton said, “Not knowing does not mean there is no connection. First of all, Charles Bennett used marriage as a pretext to swindle money…”

Before he could finish, Charles Bennett immediately cried out in grievance, “I am wronged! I truly intended to marry my niece to Henry Walker at that time, with no intention to deceive, and I also returned the betrothal gifts from the 韦 family early on.”

Edward Foster nodded, then said to William Bolton, “Regarding what Charles Bennett said, I have already investigated this matter before, and he had no intent to commit fraud.”

William Bolton asked Charles Bennett, “When you came to propose the marriage, you claimed your niece was kind, beautiful, gentle, and virtuous. Is that true?”

Charles Bennett replied, “That’s right, I did say such things, but I was not lying. If you don’t believe me, you can ask around my village whether my John is as I described.”

He didn’t seem foolish, and quickly added, “I also don’t know why that child suddenly took up a knife and killed someone. If I had known beforehand, I would certainly have stopped it.”

William Bolton said, “That’s just your side of the story. The fact is, John’s actions have nothing to do with being gentle and virtuous.”

At this, Robert Clark suddenly said, “But Charles Bennett did not lie either, so this can’t be called swindling money through marriage.”

William Bolton cupped his hands and said, “May I ask, Mr. Clark, if a relative of mine is gravely ill, and a doctor comes to say he has medicine that can cure the illness, but after taking it, the patient dies—should the doctor be held responsible?”

Robert Clark hesitated for a moment, then nodded, “If the death was indeed caused by the medicine, then of course the doctor should be held responsible.”

William Bolton continued, “But what if the doctor says his medicine has cured many people and is well-known, and he had no intention to harm—can he be exonerated because of that?”

Robert Clark said, “Even so, he must still be held responsible. However, these two cases are not entirely the same. That is medicine, this is a person. Medicine must be administered by someone, but a person can act on their own. Now that John has confessed and accepted punishment, it can be considered as justice for Henry Walker.”

“John is John, and cannot represent Charles Bennett. To use the previous example of selling medicine: if the doctor took money but did not give the medicine to the patient, that is certainly a kind of fraud. At the same time, if the doctor’s medicine did not work and even made the patient’s condition worse, that is also a kind of fraud. I completely believe that Charles Bennett sincerely intended to marry his niece to Henry Walker. However…”

William Bolton changed his tone and said, “It was Charles Bennett who took the initiative to visit and tell Henry Walker that his niece was gentle, virtuous, kind, and beautiful, enticing Henry Walker to exchange his ancestral land for this marriage. This is not a good deed, as it involves personal interests. But the reality is the exact opposite—his niece is by no means a good person, which directly caused both physical and mental suffering to Henry Walker, and this already constitutes the crime of swindling money through marriage.”

A mismatch between what was promised and what was delivered is also a kind of fraud.

Robert Clark said, “If there was truly a misunderstanding in the communication between Charles Bennett and Henry Walker, the authorities will take that into consideration. But what you are accusing is Charles Bennett of the crime of causing injury.”

William Bolton said, “May I ask, Mr. Clark, if Charles Bennett had not deceived Henry Walker, would Henry Walker have suffered such harm?”

Robert Clark shook his head.

William Bolton said, “In other words, Henry Walker was injured all because of Charles Bennett’s deception. But since it was an unintentional mistake, and he has always actively cooperated with the authorities’ investigation, he is eligible for exemption from the crime caused by this, that is, exemption from the crime of fraud, but he should still be held accountable for the crime of causing injury.”

Edward Foster’s eyes lit up, holding back a laugh.

Applying this law here is at least much more reasonable than applying it to John!

Speaking of this exemption from the crime caused by circumstances, Robert Clark became even more indignant and immediately retorted, “I only said the authorities would consider the circumstances, not that he has already been found guilty of fraud. After all, Charles Bennett marrying his niece to Henry Walker is what elders do, and as far as I know, many parents and matchmakers exaggerate when matchmaking. If we convict people for this, I’m afraid many would come here to file complaints.”

He was experienced and understood that although William Bolton was accusing Charles Bennett of causing injury, the key was whether it constituted fraud.

If it did not constitute fraud, then the exemption from the crime caused by circumstances could not be applied, and the crime of causing injury would not stand.

Gentle, virtuous, kind, and beautiful—even if not true, whether it constitutes fraud is still debatable. On this point, Robert Clark could cite many examples to prove it does not constitute fraud.

Because everyone says such things when matchmaking; it’s almost a cliché. Even in later laws, it would be hard to make a judgment based on this.

William Bolton calmly said, “Mr. Clark, you are mistaken. Fraud is a common occurrence among people; otherwise, it would not succeed. Why does everyone say such things, yet this kind of incident rarely happens? It’s all because Charles Bennett was too greedy, too eager to obtain the 韦 family’s land, disregarding John’s feelings and not truthfully informing Henry Walker of John’s thoughts, which led to this tragedy. Although he did not intend to harm, he did intend to gain wealth. His purpose was not to help others, but to seek profit through lies, and that is enough to constitute the crime of fraud.”