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

The housekeeper, Demville, discovered that the unmarried couple in this family had never had an engagement ceremony!

He could see that Alec was a person who could do whatever he wanted, and he could understand that, but why would that noble lady just casually live in another man's house, and even conceived before marriage!

Demville had no intention of inquiring into the intentions of his employer*, but he did not allow himself to be slack and make mistakes in matters within the scope of his work.

So, when he made a suggestion to his employer with a straight face, Alec was stunned for a moment.

"A make-up engagement ceremony?"

It was rare for the empress, who was lazily leaning on the sofa, to focus on the new housekeeper in front of her.

Alec looked at the lady who was sitting next to her, "Honey, what do you think?"

Niangniang also knows her own situation. In the past, it was unmarried sex. These days, she reads books in the study of Alec's deceased father every day, and gradually understands some basic conditions of today's society.Since it is a social rule, she is of course willing to cooperate.

So, she lightly raised the corner of her mouth, and said seemingly docilely: "Honey, you just decide."

Alec knew what Tess meant when he heard that Tess didn't object, and he didn't need to worry about it anyway, so he said to the rigid housekeeper, "You can arrange the engagement ceremony."

The dutiful steward obeyed the order and went down.

In fact, the existence of the engagement ceremony is mainly to determine the attitude of the parents of both parties to the combination of the young man and woman, and to inform the relatives and friends around them that they are about to get married.In view of the crystallization of love between this ridiculous man and woman, and the wedding time has already been set, the housekeeper of Durmville had to keep everything simple, and only notified the Durbeyfield family, Mrs. Morris and sisters who were temporarily living in the manor. The old lady d'Urberville, who had never seen her face, attended the engagement dinner.

Their wedding rings were being made in a London jeweller's shop, so it was obviously unrealistic to make another engagement ring.

When Alec heard the request from the Demville housekeeper, he thought for a while, and then knocked on the door of his mother who stayed in the bedroom all the year round and would rather be with chickens than look at him.

After a while, when Alec came out, he had an aquamarine ring in his hand.

Of course, the old Mrs. d'Urberville would not talk to him, and Alec didn't waste his words, and directly explained his purpose, and went to look through her jewelry box while his mother half-closed her eyes as if she was dozing off, and took it. After the ring, he left directly.

The mother and son are so estranged!

Although Alec has been fooling around, as if he didn't take it seriously, only he knows that every time he sees his mother, he feels an indescribable sadness.Even if she scolds him, it's better than she completely ignores his existence.God knows how envious he is every time he sees Tess touching their child subconsciously!

The Durbeyfields felt at a loss as to what to do when they received from Mr. Groby the engraved satin paper rolled into a cylinder and bound with a lace ribbon.They had never touched anything so elegant yet so fragile!

Old Jack rubbed his hands on the hem of his clothes before carefully unrolling the ribbon, and cursive characters written in black ink jumped gracefully on the paper one by one.It was a notice, but old Jack, who hadn't gone to school for a few days, had to ask Lisa, who was studying in the elementary school set up by the Poor Education Promotion Association, to come and see it.

"...It means that the engagement dinner between my sister and Mr. Alec will be held tonight, and we are invited to have dinner." Lisa carefully identified the meanings of those distorted English letters one by one, and secretly squeezed I broke into a sweat.

Mr. Groby smiled and handed the individual hospitality cards in his hand to the Durbeyfields one by one. Although he thought it was unnecessary to do so, it was requested by the housekeeper.

After Abi and his children received it, they put it under their noses and smelled it curiously, and a faint floral scent penetrated their nostrils.

"Sister, it smells so good!" Susu exclaimed in surprise.

Lisa also smelled it, and sure enough, she smelled a faint scent of roses.

It's really extravagant, Lisa thought to herself, sure enough, marrying a rich man is something every woman of any age dreams of!Ma'am, please don't carelessly trap the rich second-generation Alec so that we can get lucky occasionally.She couldn't help thinking, her expression full of yearning.

"Excuse me, are we ready to go?" asked Mr. Groby.

"Of course!" Mrs. Durbeyfield replied excitedly, but immediately turned pale with fright. "Oh, no! I think I need a good wash, and I want to change into the new dress that Mr. Alec sent two days ago!"

"Actually..." Mr. Groby seemed to have something to say.

But Susu and Panpan, who love beauty, heard their mother's exclamation, and immediately looked at the old yellow dress on their body, which was said to be worn by their elder sister Tess, and then went to the dress without turning their heads. Attic ran.

Not to be outdone, Lisa stepped up the stairs behind her sisters and competed with them for the bedroom door.

Only Mr. Durbeyfield and his two sons were left in the stuffy downstairs.

Groby smiled, and then slowly added what he had just said: "...Young master has already ordered the clothes for the dinner to be prepared for you."

Speaking of dinner, it might be better to say that it is an ordinary family gathering.There are no gifts, no tall engagement cakes, the only difference from the past is that under the arrangement of the housekeeper of Demville, the servants decorated the manor with freshly picked flowers and bright ribbons, which finally brought some joy and festive atmosphere .

On the high crystal ceiling in the hall, burning candles illuminated the whole house.On the long dining table, clusters of bright roses are placed in the middle, and white napkins are neatly placed on the silver tableware illuminated by candlelight.

Since the Durbeyfields came in, their eyes looked around as if they couldn't see enough. After the servant led them to the corresponding seats and sat down, old Jack's eyes could no longer see anything else, only the tall man A dark red liquid in a heel cup.

He carefully pinched the high heels with both hands, and took a small sip tentatively. The aroma of grapes and the mellowness of the wine immediately spread from his tongue, his eyes lit up immediately, and he took a drink from the glass.

The servant standing behind him served him another cup.

Old Jack immediately drank it all again.

Lisa kept looking at the beautiful and classic European-style architectural layout around her, and when she noticed the cheap dad sitting next to him, he had already finished his fourth cup, and he quickly reached out to stop it.

"I'm sorry, we don't want any more wine." She politely refused the servant who wanted to add more wine, then stretched out her hand and secretly twisted Old Jack's arm, warning: "Let my sister see you later." Get drunk and see what you do!"

Old Jack let out a loud belch in fright when he thought of the eldest daughter who liked to take care of him since he was a child.

Suddenly, everyone at the table looked at him.

Jenny half covered her mouth with her fan, and whispered to her sister, Mrs. Morris: "Sister, I don't think Tess Durbeyfield is good enough for Mr. d'Urberville."

Mrs. Morris swayed the red wine gracefully, took a sip, and said nothing.

After hearing this, Chris cast a teasing look at Jenny. Jenny saw it, and felt a little guilty for some reason, but soon resumed her original posture and stopped whispering.

It's time to serve.

Servants holding plates with arc-shaped silver lids came in one by one from the door, put the plates in front of the guests, and then gently lifted the lids, revealing brightly colored potatoes with a strong fragrance Cheese Soup.

The hearts of the children present jumped wildly.But they all remembered Sister Lisa's instructions when they went out, not to be rude to Sister Tess, carefully and clumsily imitating the appearance of the three big sisters who were dressed in expensive clothes and graceful poses opposite, scooped with spoons and drank slowly Get up the soup.

Alec came out just as they were serving the first main course.For a moment, Mrs. Morris and the others took the initiative to put down the tableware in their hands, and the Durbeyfield family, who had been paying attention to them, also quickly put down, except of course, except for the old Jack who was a little drunk at the beginning.

He is very formally dressed tonight.He is tall and tall, and his close-fitting black tuxedo conceals his usual roughness. His hair is combed high from his temples, revealing his entire forehead. The black beard above his lips has been carefully trimmed, and his thick lips are rosy. Smooth, even slightly reflecting the light, the eyes that usually turn straight and look sluggish now have a trace of tension and solemnity, which makes him look a little less angry and more angry. Somewhat honest.

The beautiful bride-to-be appears with the help of a maid.

The empress wore a wrought white dress with a stand-up collar embellished with pink flowers, revealing her tall belly. Because she hated being messy, her hair did not hang down her face in small waves like Mrs. Morris and the others.She loosely tied a bun and fixed it with a branch of a red rose instead of a hairpin, which made her beautiful face even more charming. She looked both charming and dignified, which made Alec instantly infatuated. .

The butler, Demville, found that his employer hadn't moved for a long time, and noticed that he was in a daze, so he couldn't help coughing lightly behind him, and Alec finally came to his senses.

Holding the sapphire ring he picked out from his mother's jewelry box, he walked up to the woman, knelt down on one knee, and raised the sparkling ring to the empress.

"Miss Tess Durbeyfield, will you marry me?" Even though he knew the answer, Alec's heart was still hanging high at the moment.

"Of course, I would, Mr. Alec d'Urberville." The lady smiled and passed her hand.

Lisa covered her face, empress, you are too unreserved, at least you have to put on a show!

Alec couldn't deny that at the moment the empress agreed, his heart was completely let go, followed by ecstasy like a tide.Trembling, he slowly slipped the ring into the slender left middle finger of the empress, then took the back of her hand and kissed lightly.

"I love you, honey." He stood up and kissed the corner of her mouth and said.

"I love you too." The empress responded without hesitation.

Lisa stood up and took the lead in applauding. The children also applauded excitedly. The applause suddenly became enthusiastic. Mrs. Morris was stunned for a while, and finally smiled and applauded slowly.

Where no one could see, the door of the old lady's room was gently closed.