[Tess of the D'Urbervilles] Concubine Wan Gui counterattacks the doormat

"White dress?" Wan Zhen'er raised her arms and raised her eyebrows.

Mrs. Bronte, a slightly older seamstress, stretched out the tape measure to measure her size, "Yes, my dear lady, the white wedding dress is the most fashionable wedding dress nowadays, and our respected Her Majesty the Queen is also wearing a pure and beautiful white dress." wedding dress to marry the handsome Prince Albert."

How experienced is Mrs. Bronte? Although she knows that the other party is just a country girl who has never seen the world, her elegant temperament and long-standing aura make her unconsciously dare not underestimate the person in front of her. A young woman who seems to be in disorder, even if she is now pregnant, it does not detract from her deterrence to others.

Wan Zhen'er didn't speak again, and Mrs. Bronte didn't dare to speak again. She silently measured each size, and then lowered her voice to let the little apprentice standing next to her take notes.

After finishing the stay, Mrs. Morris came over and helped Wan Zhen'er to sit down on the sofa.

Mrs. Morris was the niece-in-law of the old lady d'Urberville.

The old lady d'Urberville came from a noble ducal family, but she couldn't avoid the fate of gradual decline.In order to continue to maintain an idle and expensive lifestyle, the old Duke Maurice let his son marry the daughter of a rich man, and married his daughter to Stoke, who was shrewd and capable and tried his best to be associated with the aristocratic class. Upstart in Bayville.It was the turn of the nephew of the old lady d'Urberville to marry, and he obeyed his father's arrangement to marry a lady from a rich family.Fortunately, this lady grew up in a lady's education since she was a child. If no one deliberately mentioned it, people would almost think that the new Duchess Maurice was born in a noble family, not just the daughter of a commoner wealthy businessman .

That's why Alec invited his cousin over to stay, he thought Tess needed a good example before the wedding.Of course, if he really wants to find out the reason, deep down in his heart he still has a little affection and fantasies for this beautiful but not rigid cousin, but anyway, so far, he has concealed it very well Of course, apart from his beautiful fiancée who has maintained a half-smile attitude since Mrs. Morris appeared.

"My lady, the afternoon tea is ready." I have to say a word of admiration, even if the aristocrats are declining, there is still a gap between the nobles and the rich squires, at least it can be reflected in the presence of a maid who advances and retreats properly.

Mrs. Morris nodded lightly to the maid she brought, and then turned to smile at her mother: "Can I invite you to come and taste our afternoon tea, dear Tess?"

The empress smiled lightly, covered her right cheek with a delicate fan, and agreed.

Mrs. Morris understood, and she also raised her right hand to hold the fan, and gently fanned it in front of her face, meaning 'please follow me. '

"Dear Tess, please allow me to support you." She said sincerely.

The empress looked up at her, "Thank you very much."

"Oh, I'd love to."

Mrs. Morris took the fan back as she said, and took the initiative to help the empress, carefully taking care of her footsteps, and walked slowly towards the garden outside the house.

It was noon now, and the blue sky was dotted with a few small white clouds. The sun's dazzling white light shone through the sparse clouds and shone on the ground, scorching the ground so that it was about to burn.The bugs in the grass seemed to be unbearable from the heat, and they called out rhythmically "squeak-squeak".

Under the thick and huge metasequoia tree in the manor, the lush leaves covered the sunlight above the head layer by layer, leaving a shade like a giant umbrella under the tree.Afternoon tea is placed under the big tree.

Mrs. Morris's two younger sisters were already sitting on the high-backed chairs beside the round table. When they saw their elder sister and the future mistress of the family coming together, they stood up one after another, waiting for them to come over.

After the empress was seated, she noticed the arrangement of the afternoon tea.

A white lace tablecloth was spread on the round table, and a high-heeled long-necked glass bottle was placed in the middle. There was a bunch of pink roses in the bottle, and the crystal water droplets sprinkled on it were reflected in the mottled sunlight. The multicolored light exudes under the light, which makes the rose more pink and delicate.Next to the rose is a three-tier snack shelf, on which small plates are filled with cakes, cookies and various biscuits baked into small animals.The empress glanced over the rattle, the sugar bowl, the milk jug, and stopped on the teacup.

Mrs. Morris's little sister, Jenny, was very proud when she saw her eyes fixed on the teacup she brought, and introduced: "Miss Durbeyfield, this set is a blue and white porcelain tea set from Eastern China, even if you don't need it Pour milk in advance to cool down, pour boiling hot tea directly, and it will not burst due to uneven heat transfer."

After speaking, Jenny expected the other party to show envy.But the empress just slanted the corners of her mouth, and cast her eyes on Mrs. Morris's face.Seeing that her show off was ignored by the other party, Jenny's face was embarrassed, with a trace of embarrassment and embarrassment.

Mrs. Morris secretly sighed in her heart that her sister was still too immature, she could easily get carried away, and forgot to put on her elegant airs.

Mrs. Morris thought, smiled at the empress, picked up the small rattle, and shook it lightly.

The two maids immediately stepped forward and put the cups on the saucers, the teaspoons, the saucers for the teaspoons, the forks for eating the cake, the dessert plates, the tea knives for spreading cream and jam, and placed them in front of the ladies.

A maid gently put the tea bag into the sterling silver teapot, poured boiling water, gently closed the lid, waited for a while, then held the pot ears again, and slowly poured tea into the teacups in front of everyone .Another maid took the small plate containing the snacks from the snack rack and placed them gently on the table.

Mrs. Morris waited until they were finished, then slowly reached out to pick up the small silver tongs in front of her, raised her ring finger and little finger, and controlled the tongs with only three fingers to take a square cake, and put it gracefully on her dessert on the plate.She smiled at the empress, put down the pliers, picked up the tweezers to hold the sugar cube, and moved it to her teacup to loosen it. The white sugar cube was slowly soaked by the black tea and gradually settled down.Pick up the teaspoon on the saucer and stir gently in the teacup two to three times, then take out the teaspoon and put it next to the saucer, without making any harsh sound during the whole process.

Wan Zhen'er glanced at her, knowing that she was specially teaching her afternoon tea etiquette, so she didn't feel disgusted, but she didn't intend to drink this cup of black tea either.When she was pregnant with the emperor's son in her previous life, she paid great attention to child rearing, and knew that tea and so on were taboos.So she looked up at the maid standing beside her.

"Is there anything I can do for you? Dear Miss Durbeyfield." The maid understood, and immediately stepped forward and asked respectfully.

"Change to a glass of boiling water."

The maid did not question the request, and immediately replied: "Yes, miss."

She replaced Wan Zhen'er with a clean new teacup, and lifted a delicate silver pot to pour boiling water for her.

Mrs. Morris didn't question this, she smiled decently at the face of her mother, and took a small sip from her teacup.

Real ladies should not whisper to each other at afternoon tea, so even though they were complaining in their hearts, the two girls did not open their mouths, and both lowered their heads and slowly tasted the black tea in their hands.

The time for afternoon tea passed quietly.

After dinner, Mrs. Morris's other sister, Chrissy, suggested a game of cards.Jenny excitedly seconded, Mrs. Morris still showed a smile, and the empress fanned her, but there was no objection.Thus, the game officially began.

In Niangniang's opinion, this card game is similar to the previous leaf play, and it is basically not difficult to get started.Alec was attracted by the voices of these girls, and sat on the edge of the empress sofa, sometimes watching her deal the cards, and sometimes smiling and lowering his head to whisper something in her ear. How about it, but the two little girls who didn't come out of the cabinet were already blushing with embarrassment.

Mrs. Morris didn't seem to notice Alec's outrageous behavior, and looked at them without evasion.When it was her turn to play a card, she drew out a card and just put it on the round table, but when she withdrew her hand, her ruffled sleeve swiped, and the adjacent cards were swept down. , sprinkled on the brown-red carpet.

"I'm sorry." She said and bent down to pick up the cards, but Alec's actions were the same as hers. Of course, there may be Alec's deliberate elements, and their hands touched together without accident.

Mrs. Morris bowed her head, but quickly moved her hand away.

Alec apologized kindly: "I'm sorry." Then his subordinates quickly picked up the few cards and put them on the round table.

Empress Xin sneered.

Alec looked up and saw the expressionless face of the empress, and his heart skipped a beat when he was proud of taking advantage.

"I remembered that there is still something I haven't done, so I'm sorry." He said apologetically, "Ladies, please continue to play."

He hesitated for a moment, leaned over and kissed the empress on the cheek lightly, seeing that she didn't dodge, he was completely relieved.

"Wait for me to come back at night, my dear." He lowered his voice in her ear and said flatteringly, before she could respond, he walked away from the living room as if fleeing.

Why do I feel her eyes are terrible?

As he walked, Alec was puzzled.