aristocratic engagement

George Bernard Shaw said that there are two tragedies in life, one is despair and the other is complacency.

Annie always felt that her life was about to turn from one tragedy to another, but she was not afraid of it.To be honest, she still somewhat enjoys such a stimulating change.

She wants to do a big job now - the premise is that she must first settle the matter in front of her. Rosings Manor is the first time to host such a large-scale social event after the death of the male owner, and it must be foolproof.And she, as Lady Catherine suggests, whatever her nature may be, at least outwardly, must be a lady—then she can think of her lucrative little careers.

Annie once thought of completely separating the two identities, but no matter which identity she is, she is her.She couldn't tear her soul apart, that's what a madman would do.

In order to prove that she is not a madman, Annie told herself that she must learn to balance.

Mrs. Catherine did not announce in front of the servants of the entire manor that Anne would be in charge of this social meeting, but everyone understood through the Pauli incident that Miss de Bauer had gradually begun to take over the "scepter" of Mrs. Catherine.Perhaps one day, Rosings Manor will return to its former prosperity.

Anne drafted the new rules of the manor overnight, and arranged a morning and evening shift replacement mode. Except for the master's personal servants, the rest of the maids and male servants were notified to reassign their working hours.At the same time, she also considered implementing a "responsibility system."Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng couldn't supervise dozens of servants in every detail by herself. If Baoli had a partner in the same group to supervise and compete, she might not take the assigned order as a deaf ear.

Such an arrangement stirred up an undercurrent, and the servants whispered to form a small group with their close "colleagues", perhaps simply wanting to work with acquaintances, or perhaps to protect each other.Annie saw it, and imitated the reward and punishment mechanism of different departments of the company-let them calculate each other by themselves.

"This kind of practice is really not conducive to the loyalty of the servants to the master's family! Miss de Bourgh! The servants should be united as one and work together in one direction, instead of...not fighting each other!" Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng felt that the lady was crazy Yes, such a management model subverted her cognition.

"It can't be worse, can it?" Mademoiselle de Bourgh wrote the last invitation, blowing gently to speed up the drying of the ink, "you see, at least the candlesticks on the walls are clean now, Not waiting for the candle tears to drip down on the floor and no one to clean it; there is no annoying thin ice on the floor; and the guest rooms have been cleaned-before my expected deadline!"

Annie glanced at the vase on the dining table. The fresh Bulgarian roses still exude a charming fragrance even in the middle of winter.It was the result of a conservatory she had erected in a run-down building she had bought in the village of Hansford, and it was a delightful achievement.

Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng was speechless, what Anne said was the truth.

"Okay, I'm going to Hunsford to post the letter now, and I'll talk about it when I have something to do." Annie stood up, and Du Li behind her cleverly collected the invitations and envelopes scattered on the table that had just dried. Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng wanted to say that the letter only needs to be sent by the deputy housekeeper, Mr. Wilson, when he goes shopping in the village, but seeing her planned appearance, she has to wait for her to go back to the room and change into a heavy dress that is convenient for traveling.

Anne had always regarded any opportunity for a long walk as exercise.

When Anne reached the gate, Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng looked at the distant sky and said, "Go in the carriage, Miss de Bourgh. I'm afraid the snow has already fallen before you have seen the cross of Hansford Church." gone."

Annie also looked at the sky, but could see nothing.

She nodded without rejecting the housekeeper's wife's kindness.Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng immediately sent someone to notify the stable. While waiting for the coachman Dawson, Du Li also changed her clothes, and slowly came down the stairs with a huge parchment bag, followed by a little tail behind her.

Georgiana smiled broadly when she caught Anne's gaze.

"I heard from Dolly that you are going to Hunsford Village to post letters, and I want to go too! I'm almost suffocated, and my brother is still writing letters and reading books in the study every day like he was at Pemberley Manor. Ah! He I went out today. I don’t know where he went. I don’t want to stay in the study. He always wants me to sit there and read a book, but I don’t even know the words! He wants to teach me how to read, but I almost listen to him. I don't understand his words..." Georgiana complained, Darcy is a talented person, but not a good teacher, "My leg is almost healed, it's just a sprain. Stuffed..."

Annie made a helpless expression: "Since you have said so, can I still lock you in the house? But let me say first, Hansford is not a fun place, and you may be disappointed." It just so happened that she planned to take the car today, otherwise she would never let Georgiana walk there with her.

Georgiana didn't care, and cheered, her little face blushed with excitement among the thick white down of the cloak.

At this time, Dawson hitched up the carriage and drove to a slow stop in front of the gate.He jumped out of the carriage, saluted the ladies, and opened the door of the carriage. A small black figure rushed out and ran straight towards Annie.

Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng screamed and backed away in fright.However, the moment the little black figure hit Annie, it slammed on the brakes, rolled on the ground, then wagged its tail, got up from the ground, rubbed around Annie's feet, flipping up from time to time. Soft belly.

"Fenrir!" cried Georgiana, crouching down—the cloak was too heavy—and grabbing him by the shaggy tail, trying to pick him up.Fenrir yelled, struggling at a loss, wanting to run, but afraid of kicking this stupid human cub.Georgiana just thought he was playing with her and giggled, but hugged him even tighter.

Annie rescued Fenrir with a funny face. He smelled the master's scent and felt the master's temperature, and quickly calmed down.Georgiana looked at him nestled in Annie's arms obediently, envious and yearning to reach out and touch his shiny black fur.Fenrir's eyes widened instantly, and he spun around in Anne's arms, pointing his butt towards Georgiana.

Georgiana was very disappointed, the dog was like a tsundere cat!

"Get in the car, it will be too late later, Christmas is approaching, and the post office closes earlier." Anne pretended not to see Georgiana's longing eyes, and asked Du Li to carry her into the carriage, and she herself Holding Fenrir, he got in.

The carriage slowly drove away from Rosings Manor, and Anne suddenly felt something. Looking back, there seemed to be a figure standing there at the window of the small study.

Hunsford's trip was not as interesting as Georgiana imagined.The group was delayed at the post office for a long time. There were too many letters to be sent this time. She had to check with the boss one by one to avoid the mess of sending the wrong letters.

This is also the reason why Annie is worried about entrusting this task to Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson is old and has great prestige, but he has a habit of gambling.Annie saw him blushing in the back room of the casino once when she was "cross-dressing", smashing the cards in her hand and losing his mind. At that time, Mrs. Catherine asked him to retrieve the letters and throw them randomly on the card table. .

Georgiana held a cup of hot tea from the boss, and sat at the counter and drank it without a sip—she always liked to put a lot of milk and sugar in her tea, but Anne was worried about letting her eat these outside.

When leaving, the boss stopped her.

"Miss de Bauer, here is a letter addressed to your mother." As he spoke, he took out a wooden box from the counter. After opening it, there was a letter inside, and the envelope was full of postmarks. It can be seen that it has traveled across the ocean and forwarded countless times.

Anne raised her eyebrows in surprise, and asked, "Since it was a letter addressed to my mother, why didn't it arrive at the manor?" Rosings Manor has a very high status in Kent County, and in the past there were commissioners who delivered letters to the gate of.

"If the addressee was Mrs. Catherine de Bourgh, I must have delivered it early, Miss de Bourgh." The boss's words made Anne puzzled.

She took the letter, turned it over, and found that it was addressed to Miss Catherine Fitzwilliam.

But the problem is that Lady Catherine's name had been registered as Catherine Fitzwilliam de Bauer 20 years ago.The sender actually still uses the address they used more than [-] years ago...

"It took me a while to confirm that there was only one Catherine Fitzwilliam in Hansford," the boss explained graciously.

Anne didn't express the twists and turns in her heart, she thanked politely, and put the letter in the skirt pocket in the cloak.Du Li asked the boss about the cost of receiving the letter, and Anne turned around and told Georgiana that their shopping time had begun.

Georgiana had been waiting for this sentence for a long time, put the cup on the bar counter, and was about to jump off the stool when Annie hugged her.Her leg injury is just right, so don't be careless.

After Du Li paid the money, she whispered the amount in Annie's ear, and Annie made a heartbroken expression in surprise.

Sure enough, it was snowing outside.

Georgiana's eyes were shining brightly, and she stretched out her hand to catch the snowflakes, but before the snow fell on her hands, it turned into a small mist, leaving only a little sign of dampness.

They wear cloaks that cover the top of their heads and their entire bodies.Like Annie's previous vaccinations, it wasn't a fun experience.The people of Hansford village showed various expressions when they saw their fur cloaks and the family coat of arms on the carriage.

The young women and girls passing by either looked at them with envy or awe; the older women sat at the door of the house, knitting sweaters together in twos and threes wrapped in thick but shabby clothes, looking into their eyes There is both pity and jealousy.On the contrary, two beggars boldly approached and begged from Georgiana, who was full of curiosity. Georgiana was so frightened by the black hands and face that she couldn't speak, and held Anne tightly. hands.

Fenrir roared loudly, Annie's cold face and indifferent attitude scared away the malicious people, Du Li tacitly turned around and sent them away with some change.

After untold hardships, they finally passed through the unfriendly residential area and came to the "Commercial Street". Georgiana immediately took Anne into the first store, regardless of what the store was selling.

"Welcome, look for what you need, I'm not responsible for finding it for you." A lazy voice came from the fireplace, Anne raised her eyebrows with interest, and said, "I'm here to pick up the reserved book, Rommel gentlemen."

The person who came to smoke suddenly stopped, and burst into a violent cough as if he was frightened. After a while, he stood up and turned around, his pale face turned red from coughing.

"Oh! It's you!" Rommel narrowed his eyes, suddenly strode forward, bent down, and looked at Annie's face carefully.Georgiana was terrified, and somehow found great courage, and kicked the visitor's knee.

Rommel didn't realize it for a moment, but was kicked by her and staggered a few steps.

"Ah! Very good! This strength is really great! I dare say, Miss Darcy will not be bullied by those brats in the future! I am honored to serve you." Rommel said again in a gentlemanly manner. Li, not angry at all, with a happy smile on his face.Georgiana looked at his face, speechless for a moment.

Annie rolled his eyes at him, and said angrily: "Don't play tricks, I asked you to book a book, you won't forget it, right?"

"Of course...no!" Rommel paused for a while, and after glancing at Georgiana, he said to Annie, "Please follow me to the warehouse in the back room to get them, Miss de Bauer, I won't put those books in conspicuous place."

Georgiana looked at the two people, and suddenly said, "So you are acquaintances."

"Yes, acquaintance." Rommel said with a smile.

Georgiana seemed to understand something, nodded in understanding, and the original expression appeared on her chubby face.Anne couldn't help laughing, and ordered Du Li to accompany Miss Darcy to sit at the table next to the window of the bookstore and wait for a while.Rommel took out a freshly baked biscuit and a pot of hot tea from behind the counter as if by magic, and placed them on the table.Then, Annie followed the weird bookstore manager into the dark back room.

When Georgiana finished eating the third biscuit, she heard a knocking sound from the window next to her.

"Brother!" Georgiana shouted in surprise, and Darcy made a calm movement, and soon passed the window and came in through the door of the bookstore.

At this moment, Anne happened to be holding a pile of books, and she walked out of the back room while talking to store manager Rommel.

When the two saw each other, they were both taken aback.

TBC.