[Sense and Sensibility] Fascinated by you

When Hathaway woke up, it was already dark, and she slept very soundly this time, forgetting all those worries.She rubbed her eyes, her cheeks still flushed with sleep, but when she turned her head, Colonel Brandon was still sitting in the chair beside her bed.

Colonel Brandon got up and sorted out the pile of documents beside the bed, leaned over and pecked on Hathaway's lips, it was no longer difficult for him to do such an action, or should he do it again?Seeing Hathaway's wide-eyed and dull expression, he did kiss again, "Get up and wash up first, then come down and let's go for a walk, we can have dinner soon." Then he picked up those File, turned around and added: "By the way, you don't need to read these tonight, I've finished handling them for you. You don't need to deal with these in the future, ladies don't need to worry about this, just leave it to the men."

So Colonel Brandon spent the afternoon reading the papers by her bedside?Hathaway sat dumbfounded for a while, then jumped up and called Abby to come in and help her comb her hair.

In the next few days, although Hathaway was able to leave everything to Colonel Brandon with peace of mind, her worries became deeper and deeper. More and more families entered the city ahead of time, and she had to put as a signal.

On the second weekend of November, Andrew came back, and Elena went to the city with him, but this time she didn't bring Hannah, she left her in Rockfield Manor, which was indeed more important to her. a little better.

Elena didn't seem too worried. From her point of view, Philip often went out to deal with business, and it was common for him not to go back for a few months, but this time the time was longer.Hathaway simply didn't know how Andrew persuaded her to go to the city early. Could it be that there were some new dress designs in London?

In Hathaway's view, Elena is simply unreasonable. She doesn't care about the so-called workers' strike. She neither understands nor wants to understand. In her opinion, that is not what she needs to understand, what she needs to do It is to maintain the dignity of the Butler family, communicate with the nobles, and manage the house well.She didn't even approve of Philip starting a factory, which seemed to her a disgrace to the aristocracy.

She didn't express any opinion on Colonel Brandon and Andrew living in Butler's house. After all, it was more reassuring to have a man in the family at this time.

They finished their lunch together that day, and Colonel Brandon accompanied Hathaway for a walk in the garden, which was a new habit for the two of them. After the walk, Hathaway would go back to the room for a nap, while the colonel went to work. Now he not only has to deal with the affairs of the Brandon family, but also with the Butler family, which makes his time a lot tighter.

The two came back from a walk and found that the carriage was parked at the door. It seemed that someone was about to go out. Soon Elena changed into her out clothes and came out. Hathaway looked at her in surprise, "Eileen, where are you going?" where?"

Elena adjusted the wide-brimmed hat on top of her head, and hurriedly replied: "The boutique on St. James Street has a new batch of French skirts, I have to go there early, lest the good-looking ones be picked up by others. , do you want to go to see it together? It’s the store I took you to last time. Oh, Hathaway, I’m not talking about you. Although you’re engaged, as a lady, how can you not have What about the new dresses? After a while, there will be balls in London again, but you haven’t started making skirts this year, so don’t think I’ll help you this time!”

Hathaway only felt a surge of anger rising, she took a deep breath, lowered her head and said, "No, no, thank you, you can go by yourself."

"Oh, I have to leave quickly, I can't delay any longer." As she spoke, she boarded the carriage gracefully, and quickly disappeared in front of Hathaway and Colonel Brandon.

Colonel Brandon accompanied Hathaway upstairs, and she sat on the edge of the bed angrily, with an ugly expression on her face.

Colonel Brandon is sitting in his old seat as usual, he will not stay in Hathaway's room for a long time recently because of Elena's relationship, but then he will wait until she falls asleep before going out," Elena said That's right, you haven't made skirts this year, do you want me to take you out for a stroll tomorrow?"

Hathaway turned her head and glared at the colonel, she frowned, her dark green eyes were almost ignited, "What? Dress? Philip has no news at all now, and you are still thinking about the skirt to use for the ball, I My God! Don't you all care about Philip's safety?"

Colonel Brandon put down the collection of poems in his hand and started to feel a little headache, "No, Hathaway, I didn't mean that, Philip's safety is of course very important, but if you don't have a new dress when you go to the ball, it's true It's a nuisance."

Hathaway stood up, anger occupying her mind, she yelled: "Go to the ball? Go to the ball? How can I be in the mood to go to the ball at this time, I won't go to any ball without getting the exact news from Philip, no way."

Colonel Brandon rubbed his temples. It took him a lot of effort to deal with official documents recently, and Hathaway was always worried. He had to take care of her physical health and her mental health, all of which made him extremely tired "Hathaway, calm down. It is because there is no news about him that you have to calm down even more. You must go to the ball, otherwise rumors about Philip's disappearance will soon spread in London."

"Do you think the reputation of the family is more important than Philip? Or do you think these things are not my concern at all, and it is enough for me to be the miss of the Butler family?" Hathaway still stood motionless. There, it seemed difficult to calm down anytime soon.

Colonel Brandon opened his mouth, "I didn't mean that, I..." Finally he sighed and stood up, "Calm yourself first, I'll deal with the official documents."

Hathaway was sulking alone in the room, and only felt that the colonel was as unreasonable as Elena, but the degree of unreasonableness was different. For her, the safety of the family was always higher than the reputation of the family. She still went to have fun calmly and as usual, she didn't have that kind of mood, she just didn't expect the Colonel to be like Elena.

During dinner, Hathaway forced herself to eat something with a straight face. Colonel Brandon didn't persuade her to eat more this time, because he didn't eat much himself. After dinner, he hurried to the study again, He even ignored Andrew's invitation to go to the billiard room to relax for a while.In the end, Elena played with Andrew, and their hobbies were indeed very similar.

When everyone was having breakfast the next day, the butler came in with an urgent letter from Greater Manchester, and Colonel Brandon took it immediately. He opened the envelope and looked at ten lines at a glance. Everyone stopped After dinner, wait for him to read the letter.

Hathaway felt what she just ate was stirring in her stomach, and her head was throbbing with pain. She had a night of nightmares yesterday, each of which was about Philip.

Colonel Brandon finally put down the letter, but his expression did not soften, but became more serious. Hathaway's heart sank, "It's a letter from Colonel Morrison," he glanced at Hathaway, and then Continued: "It's the news about Manchester. In August, the workers demanded a wage increase, but the factory owners did not agree. The workers organized a trade union and united. On the second Friday of September, the workers in Manchester collectively Strike. Within a month after that, none of the factories could start work, because there were no workers, and the factory owners had to pay a large amount of liquidated damages for the breach of contract. At first, they mobilized a large number of workers from Ireland to replace the original workers, but the arrival of the Irish also intensified the conflict between the workers and the textile factory owners. Finally, at the end of October, the workers and the factory owners had a conflict conflict."

The colonel paused when he read this, because the following were all Eric's curses. He said that after those investors went, they didn't make things easier. Because of their arrogance, they rashly mobilized workers from Ireland, but they unexpectedly It is foolish to think that the irascible workers will accept it obediently, and they are not prepared for the riots. "Many people died, Irish and Manchester workers."

Speaking of this, Colonel Brandon felt that everyone seemed to be relieved, but the bad news was still below, so he had no choice but to continue: "The factory owners and investors invited the army to quell the riot, but the people who died at that time were really There were too many, and the workers were dazed with blood, so when they got together for a meeting, the angry workers broke in, and five factory owners died, and some investors died, and how many others All hurt."

Andrew's face became ugly, he knew that the colonel still had the most important point to say.

Elena's face turned white, but soon she opened her mouth and cried out excitedly, "Oh my God! This is simply too terrible, so terrible! Those lowly people, are they crazy! They committed such a crime! This kind of crime! It's simply ungrateful, have they forgotten who gave them a bite of food?" She cursed ramblingly, repeatedly saying that the workers were ungrateful and even killed their employers, it was simply inhumane.

Hathaway interrupted her endless cursing impatiently. Her face was blue, but she could still maintain her composure. She asked in an unsteady voice, "Who is the dead person? Is there a list?"

Colonel Brandon shook his head, "No, Manchester is very chaotic now. Both the sheriff and the district attorney died in the riots, so the specific list has not been announced, but Colonel Morrison will continue to inquire. He will write a letter immediately." He stared at Hathaway without blinking, she looked shaky, as if she was about to faint.

Hathaway was indeed very bad. She sat there weakly, as if she was a little exhausted. She was afraid to hear the list, but she had to ask. She was afraid that there would be Philip's name in it. Maybe the list would never appear. better.She supported the dining table with her hands and stood up, dragging the chair under her body to make a harsh sound, "I'll go upstairs to rest first, don't call me at lunch." She left the restaurant, calling Shaked.

Colonel Brandon couldn't bear it anymore, he quickly got up and followed, and helped Hathaway back to the room.