[Sense and Sensibility] Fascinated by you

Colonel Brandon absentmindedly crossed the path, walked through the flowery garden, and returned to Butler Manor. Just as he was about to return to his room, he met Mr. Tony, the housekeeper of Rockfield Manor, at the door.

This is an old man in his 60s, wearing a crisp black uniform, a black tie on a snow-white shirt, and a white wig on his head. Although he is old, he is still mentally abnormal.

Butler Tony stood at Colonel Brandon's door with his back straight.Seeing him coming, he gave him a slight salute.

"Colonel Brandon, Master Andrew asked me to inform you that he will not have breakfast with you this morning because yesterday's ball was too late. And it is likely that none of the other guests will be up for dinner. Are you going to Eat at the restaurant or do I have food delivered to my room?"

"Thank you, I see. Please send it to the room." Colonel Brandon rubbed his forehead with a headache. He originally wanted to ask Andrew about the cabin in the woods at breakfast, but now he doesn't have a headache Why did you speak.

Although there was only one person eating, Butler Manor did not neglect the guests. A maid brought in a tray in less than 5 minutes. The manor prepared a very rich breakfast, a glass of milk, a glass of vegetable juice, lettuce and fruit salad , bacon omelette, grilled sausages, toast, bacon slices, fried potatoes.

Colonel Brandon decided to write a letter to little Elisa after barely finishing his breakfast. Years of military career made him not know how to get along with Elisa. He sent her to boarding school since she was a child. He has been stationed in the East Indies all year round because of the embarrassment of not having a mistress at home, but he still maintains the frequency of writing a letter to little Elisa every week.

Little Elisa is the illegitimate daughter of his cousin Elisa. Here I have to talk about Colonel Brandon and his cousin Elisa.They were childhood sweethearts, and Colonel Brandon loved her deeply, and she returned the same affection, but unfortunately, Eliza later married Colonel Brandon's brother.Of course if Eliza is happy then that's the end of it, Colonel Brandon may suffer for a few months and then try to convince himself to bless the two, but unfortunately his brother has no feelings for her At first, she could resign herself to such a miserable situation, but she had such a husband who was not dedicated to teasing her, and she had no relatives and friends to enlighten her, so she fell down.At this time, Colonel Brandon had gone to the East Indies sadly, and he did not return to England for several years in order to stay away from his lover.By the time Colonel Brandon got the news, she was already divorced. As soon as he returned to England, he looked for her anxiously, but there was no news after searching. It was also at this time that Colonel Brandon met Andrew. In the pain caused by the same incident, it is not difficult to understand why the two became acquainted so quickly. With the help of Andrew, he finally saw her in the detention center, but she was already in the late stage of tuberculosis, At that time she was still carrying the child she had with the first illegal man, about three years old, and he visited her every day for some time before her death, and finally she entrusted her daughter, little Eliza, to the Colonel Brandon looked after.

Colonel Brandon always feels indebted to his first love, he always thinks that if he is capable enough, then Elisa will not marry his brother, then she will not have such a tragic fate, and Or he could come back earlier and save her life, but the fact is that all of this happened, so he can only take good care of Elisa's daughter, give her the best life, let her go to a noble girls' school, Let her marry a decent gentleman in the future, that is the only thing he can do for his cousin.

Colonel Brandon took a lot of thought to write this letter. Because he was always distracted, he repeated 7 or 8 sheets before finishing the letter. He carefully sealed the envelope with red wax, and he took the letter out. The door looked for someone to post the letter, and a cheerful conversation was heard outside the living room on the first floor.

There are quite a lot of people in the living room, 10 people sitting or standing are talking cordially. Mr. Wallace is sitting on the sofa facing the door. laughter.

A difference of character can be discerned in a man's laughter, and the five ladies present showed their differences.

Miss Bogue has always thought highly of herself, and even when she talks and laughs, she always has an air of arrogance. When she relaxes and laughs, she is as high-pitched and shrill as a duck quacking, probably because she has long known that her laughter is not flattering. , so she immediately stopped laughing out loud, if she laughed outright, no one would laugh at her, but now she looks like a duck with its neck choked, making herself extremely ridiculous.

Her younger sister, Miss Winnes, is completely different from her, perhaps because she is not as shy as she was yesterday when she was familiar with everyone. When she smiled, her eyes narrowed, and the two dimples on her lips were faintly visible, giving out a crisp laugh. , looks so cute like a kitten.

Ms. Hoffman may be too concerned about her image to be able to smile happily. She sat dignifiedly and covered her mouth with a fan and smiled reservedly, looking at the opposite side with a pair of shy eyes intently.

Miss Marshall was the gayest of all, and she was not easy to stop laughing, and though she was not very polite, she was very pleasant to the joker.

Colonel Brandon had already seen the first four ladies at yesterday's ball, and he focused his attention on the last lady.From his point of view, only the back of her golden head can be seen, but her laughter is highly recognizable. She laughs neither reserved nor restrained, nor overly flamboyant. Her laughter is as crisp as the spring water of Dingdong It's sweet, and the listeners can't help being happy with her.

"Brandon, you're finally here. If you don't come down, I'll find someone to call you down. West came early in the morning, and of course his two sisters." Andrew was talking to Mr. Marshall Chess, seeing Colonel Brandon immediately pushed the board aside.

"Oh! I'm about to win!" grumbled Mr. Marshall.

"Good morning, Mr. Borg, Miss Borg, and Miss Winnes." Colonel Brandon greeted the three of them politely.

"Ah! Brandon, I should have introduced you to this one long ago, my beautiful sister, Hathaway, I dare say you have never seen a more beautiful girl than her." An attitude of watching the show, waiting to see Colonel Brandon make a fool of himself.

"Andrew! Hello, Colonel Brandon." Hathaway first called her brother angrily, then turned around and curtseyed dignifiedly.

Colonel Brandon was annoyed. He should have thought of it a long time ago. The small steeple building is not far from Rockfield, and the land obviously belongs to Rockfield Manor, and Andrew told him how charming and lovely his sister looks. , but he knew that Andrew often exaggerated the facts when he spoke, and he could always say an ordinary thing amazingly, so he naturally discounted his words, and he was completely overwhelmed as soon as he saw her. How can I think of those things if I have lost the ability to think rationally.

Miss Rapunzel was standing in front of him, so he could take a look at her confidently.She was even more beautiful than he had peeked at earlier, her hair looked so soft and smooth that he wanted to touch it to see if it looked that good, she had emerald green almond eyes, look She doesn't look coquettish, but the thick indelible green is so soft that people can't take their eyes off her. Her skin is white and delicate, with almost no pores. It is as smooth and delicate as an egg that has been peeled off its shell. Her face There is still the sweet and childishness unique to girls on the face, but the demeanor is gentle and quiet.

The early autumn sun was lazily shining on her body, her snow-white face was shining brightly, her green eyes that were as bright as water were looking at him intently, her long golden hair was loosely braided and hung on her chest, a pair of pale pink hair The headband was braided into her hair and floated around with her movements, making people feel itchy in their hearts.

Hathaway looked at Colonel Brandon in confusion. She had known for a long time that she had a face that was disastrous to the country and the people. Even she often looked at herself in the mirror and was fascinated, so she was very nervous when they first met. Those who watched dumbfounded had already been mentally prepared, and the gentlemen and ladies she met just now did not exceed her expectations, but did the one in front of her stay for a long time, and he seemed to be walking too close? ?Hey, it's just to say hello, don't you want to be so oppressive!

Colonel Brandon walked all the way in front of Hathaway, if there was not a sofa between them, she really doubted that he would kneel down and kiss her hand.

"Good day, Miss Butler." His voice was clear and magnetic, as deep and charming as a cello. Hathaway didn't know that she was a voice controller before, but she was indeed electrified by this extremely masculine voice.Moreover, compared to Mr. Wallace's embarrassing compliment just now, she still appreciates this reserved and polite way of greeting. Of course, it would be better if he is not so close and his eyes are not so hot.

"Hehe." Mr. Borg next to him smiled understandingly, "Colonel Brandon, you are not the first person to be dumbfounded. We made a fool of ourselves when Andrew introduced us just now, Wallace. Mr. Sir is almost going to recite sonnets on the spot." Mr. Borg is really a kind person, and he immediately explained Colonel Brandon's behavior when he saw others making a fool of himself.

At this time, Colonel Brandon came back to his senses. He first took two steps back, then frowned, said sorry, and walked aside.

On the contrary, Ms. Boger felt that she was bored with all this. She first snorted coldly, and then said, "Now that everyone is finally here, can we have dinner?"

"Of course, Miss Borg, I'll ask Tony to prepare lunch." Although Andrew has always been a person who ignores etiquette, he has always been a polite gentleman to the lady.

Although the real owner of the manor, Viscount Philip, was not there, the old butler Tony did not neglect the guests. This lunch prepared 3 major dishes and several drinks to cater for different tastes.Of course, Miss Hathaway's meals are custom made, which is already the custom of the manor.

They dine in the small restaurant on the first floor. The light yellow wallpaper of the restaurant is printed with elegant small flowers, and the four corners of the high ceiling are carved with ivy. The large floor-to-ceiling windows in the restaurant are facing the garden. It is the end of September, and the garden The grand blooming flowers and tall and straight trees are inlaid in the floor-to-ceiling windows like a natural oil painting, making everyone who enters the restaurant feel happy.

The warm sunshine fell on the room, and the fireplace in the corner was burning hot. The high temperature in the room made the guests who just came in uncomfortable. "It's too hot in the room, and it's not even October yet. Mr. Andrew, Rockfield Do you always light the fireplace so early?" Miss Marshall complained first, and although Miss Hoffman didn't say anything, she shook the feather fan more diligently.

Hathaway smiled apologetically, and summoned the maid to extinguish the fire in the fireplace.Because of her poor health and low resistance, except for summer, the fires were lit all year round in Rockfield and Spire House.

During lunch, all the men were discussing to go hunting in good weather in the next few days. Miss Marshall was the first to respond and begged Andrew to take her with her. She proudly said that her riding skills were very good, and the men all laughed kindly. However, the other ladies thought it would be nice to have a picnic while the men were hunting, and spent a happy lunch amidst the noise of the crowd.