aristocratic engagement

Annie's breath was stagnant, and she immediately took a step back, hiding herself behind the curtain.

The man seemed to have told some joke, which made the girl lean forward and back with laughter, her face was exposed above the man's shoulders, Annie finally saw her face clearly, and she involuntarily grasped the thick curtain tightly.

That's Georgiana.

Georgiana smiled happily, took the rose from the man's hand, sniffed it gently under her nose, looked up at him shyly, and played with the rose on her chest.

Suddenly, the man put his hands on the railing behind her and lowered his head.

Anne's anger was ignited at once, and she was about to stop it loudly, but saw Georgiana covered his face with roses and blocked his lips.The man turned his head away, leaned his head on the fence beside her, and turned to look at her, but this time he also exposed his face to Annie's sight.

Wickham.

He leaned close to Georgiana's ear and continued talking.Georgiana, blushing, was tearing the rose petal by petal.Wickham took the rose petal from her hand, put it to his lips, and bit the petal between his teeth.

Annie was furious, and suddenly felt that Wickham was disgustingly greasy.

But Georgiana didn't think so, she turned her face away to look at Wickham, and seemed to say something, which made Wickham show a charming smile.

Annie didn't want to watch it any longer, and didn't want Wickham to do anything more extreme.Annie looked around, and her gaze stopped on Fenrir.

Annie squatted down, and Fenrir opened his eyes, staring at his master without blinking.

"Call out, Fenrir." Annie said in a low voice.

Fenrir blinked his eyes, yelped twice obediently, and then obediently rubbed his head against Anne's ankle.

A man and a woman panicked from downstairs, and Annie guessed that they had seen the window she had opened.Then there was a rustling sound.When the voice finally disappeared, Annie stood up and looked through the window, but the two of them had disappeared.

"Miss de Bourgh, is something wrong with Fenrir?" Du Li's voice sounded from outside the door.

"Perhaps he wants to sing," Anne replied.

"What do I think of Wickham? My dear, I don't like to gossip after others, but if you're asking me, I know everything - but please tell me why you're asking me What about him? Did he offend you?" Darcy asked.He was sitting in the study dealing with business, looking at Annie who opened the door, with a look of surprise on his face.

Annie frowned, hesitated for a moment, then turned around decisively and closed the door of the study.

She walked up to Darcy quickly, stared into his eyes, and said word by word: "My next words may make you angry."

"I'm not mad at you."

"No, no, not to me... Please keep calm no matter what you hear." Annie's fingers tightly gripped the tabletop, and she was extraordinarily serious.

Darcy dropped the pen in his hand and stood up.He came to Annie's side, pushed her shoulders and walked towards the small living room in the study.The dots of fire in the fireplace made Anne a little hot, she followed Darcy's strength, sat down on the sofa, and poured herself a cup of tea.

"Okay, it's comfortable. What is it that made you look so nervous? Wickham...could it be to you—"

"No, it's not me, it's Georgiana." Anne interrupted him, "You know, the two of them... No, you should tell me first, what is your evaluation and attitude towards Wickham?"

"What do you mean by Wickham's outrageous attitude towards Georgiana?"

"You know?" Annie opened her eyes wide, "Since you know, why didn't you take measures?"

"I think I should respect Georgiana's thoughts...My dear, you have been with her day and night for seven years and grew up together. Although you are not sisters, you are better than sisters. Although I am related to her by blood, but these years, I was absent from her life, and the strangeness and distance only made her misunderstand my words."

"Then you need more heart-to-heart communication! No, now is not the time to talk about this. I just... saw them behaving intimately in the garden! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I thought Georgiana just regarded him as a playmate!"

Darcy's face turned cold immediately, he got up immediately, and made a gesture to walk towards the door, but stopped again when he was about to open the door.

"Being intimate? Did they kiss? Or..."

"Although not, but... if you get a little closer..." Thinking of that scene, Annie blushed—ashamed, but more of annoyed.Georgiana is only 14 years old!

"I understand."

Darcy paced back and forth in front of the fireplace, frowning, thinking about countermeasures.

Anne always felt that Georgiana was someone she wanted to be but dared not to be.In the past, she was protected by Darcy under the wing. After arriving at Rosings Manor, Anne regarded her as her own sister, and isolated all malice and temptation from outside.Georgiana inherited innocent, lively and romantic nature from Mrs. Darcy. She is like a fire in the fireplace, beating and warming the people around her.

Anne wanted to go to Georgiana right away and ask her frankly what she thought—but, firstly, Georgiana might hide her true thoughts out of shame; Pushing further and further away; thirdly, if Georgiana really fell in love with Wickham, would she listen to them so easily?

Anne didn't want Georgiana to be Juliet.

"After I noticed Wickham's thoughts, I sent someone to collect information about his recent situation and the people he had contact with." Darcy's voice interrupted Annie's thoughts, "I'm going to urge you to hurry up. The progress of the investigation. If he was only lazy and greedy for money, Pemberley Park would not be unable to accommodate him; but once I found out, he--"

"His ambition is disgusting," said Anne, gnashing her teeth. "If I were you, Cousin Darcy, I'd throw him out at once! As far away from Georgiana as possible!"

"My sensibilities make me agree with all your views, my dear."

Darcy went back behind the desk, took out a pen and paper, and said, "However, my reason tells me that if I simply expel him, there will be a second Wickham in the future. Even Georgiana will expel him." Compare to Romeo."

"We all like Shakespeare." Darcy looked up at Anne.

Before going to bed, when Anne passed by the door of Georgiana's room, Anne stopped when she saw the candlelight passing through the crack of the door.

"Dong dong dong." Annie knocked on the door.

There was a riot inside.

There was a sound of "bang--", which seemed to be the sound of a stool falling to the ground, and then, messy footsteps came, getting closer and closer to the door.The door was slammed open, and Georgiana appeared in front of Anne in a blanket.

"...I heard a loud noise just now, are you okay?" Annie asked.

"No, nothing, I got up too quickly and tripped over the stool." Georgiana stammered and explained.

Annie looked down, looked at her ankle and said, "Do you want to take a look for you? Hey, don't be so anxious to get up, how many times have I told you..."

Georgiana shrank her feet, shook her head and said, "It's all right! I was writing in my diary just now, and I was startled when the knock on the door interrupted me."

"Writing a diary? When did you have this hobby?" Annie pretended to be surprised and her eyes widened.

"Recently... I suddenly realized that there are so many wonderful and interesting things in my life that are worth remembering!"

"Okay, then I won't disturb your creation, go to bed early, don't make it too late." As she said, Anne glanced over Georgiana's shoulder, scanning the situation in the house calmly, "Before going to bed Remember to close the windows, leaving a gap is enough."

Annie pointed to the wide open window and said.

In the evening wind, the soft curtains swayed silently.

Georgiana nodded quickly, said good night to Annie, and closed the door.

Annie quickened her pace, returned to the room, opened the curtain of the bathroom and looked down.I saw a handkerchief lying quietly under the window of Georgiana's room—it was a gift from Anne to Georgiana at Christmas. She liked it very much and always carried it close to her body.

Georgiana was absent at breakfast, and the maid said that Miss Darcy forgot to close the window when she went to bed at night, and when she got up in the morning, she found that she had caught a cold and had a fever.

Darcy and Anne immediately put down their knives and forks and went to the room on the second floor to visit her. They saw Georgiana lying in the soft velvet quilt, her face flushed, and her hands stretched out above her head.Annie immediately asked the maid to bring another quilt to cover her, and stuffed her hands back into the quilt.

"I found some ice cubes—" Wickham's voice sounded at the door. Before he stepped into Georgiana's room, he was frightened by Darcy's gaze, and raised his hands ice cubes.

The ice was still dripping, and the drops made a dark mark on the carpet.

Anne withdrew her gaze, held back the disgust she almost showed, and turned her head to look at Georgiana on the bed with her eyes closed.

"When she sweats, the fever will go away." Anne told the maids to take good care of her, and then she and Darcy left Georgiana's room.As he was leaving, Darcy looked at Wickham with raised eyebrows, as if to say, 'Why aren't you leaving yet? Wickham had no choice but to follow the two of them down the stairs.

Wickham now took an errand to deliver the invitation letter for Darcy. Under Mrs. Reynolds' deliberate reminder, he finally remembered that he was not the owner of the manor, and rode away from the manor after taking the invitation letter.

Anne and Darcy were relatively silent, and when they returned to the restaurant, Lady Catherine arrived late.

Anne explained Georgiana's situation to her, and Madam Catherine shook her head again and again: "I really should write to ask Mrs. Black to come from Rosings Manor. Georgiana has been playing crazy recently."

"That's a good idea!" Anne's eyes lit up. With Mrs. Black to discipline, I'm afraid Georgiana doesn't have so much time and energy to spend with Wickham... "I'm going to write the letter now, and go to the nearby town after breakfast." Send it up."

"Let's eat first." Darcy pushed the plate in front of Annie, but he didn't object to their plan, "I shouldn't have delayed your breakfast, I'll write a letter later, and then..."

"—I'm going to post a letter. I haven't been to any of the surrounding villages since I came to Pemberley Park."

"I'll go with you, you don't know the way here."

"Come on, Mr. Darcy, you haven't been back for several years, don't you remember?"

Darcy smiled, but said nothing.While drinking tea, Mrs. Catherine observed the "flash and eye" between the two, and quietly showed a sly smile.

Just halfway through breakfast, suddenly there was a rush of footsteps outside the restaurant.Mrs. Reynolds strode in without knocking on the door.Holding up the letter in her hand, she delivered it in front of Darcy, and said out of breath, "Urgent letter from London, Mr. Darcy, the House of Earl Fitzwilliam in London has been burglarized!"

"What?!" Anne and Lady Catherine exclaimed in unison.

"My brother just passed away, who dares to be so bold..." Lady Catherine was very angry. She stared at Darcy who was reading the letter, hoping that he could tell her what happened.

"It says in the letter that nothing is missing from the Earl's Mansion." Darcy frowned, returned to the beginning of the letter, and read it carefully again, "A family near the Earl's Mansion happened to see the house on the top floor of the third floor of the Earl's Mansion. There was a figure passing by the window, and he knew that the Earl's family had already moved to the countryside, and no one lived there, so he immediately realized that it was a thief, and went to the security team."

The room on the third floor was once Anne's secret territory.

"Has it been caught?" asked Lady Catherine eagerly.

"I got it, but—" this but made Annie's heart sink.

Darcy frowned, and his voice became a little weird: "After the thief was caught, he committed suicide before he was interrogated by the security team."

"Suicide?!" Madam Catherine cried out in fright, "Ha! Does this man understand how much his guilt is too much? He even went to the Earl's Mansion to steal something! Could it be that he lost his mind because of the earl's ghost?"

Anne and Darcy looked at each other, and they understood each other, and both of them noticed something was wrong.

Annie pondered, slowly drank the tea in the cup, played with the teacup, and asked, "How did that man commit suicide?"

"He bit the poison in his mouth."

The author has something to say: *Recently, I have finally found the rhythm slowly, and the emotional and plot lines are going hand in hand!

*The Darcy brothers and sisters are all on the bar with Shakespeare, one compares himself to Juliet, and the other uses Shakespeare's love poems to tease his sister every day (bushi