[Comprehensive classics] Darcy or Brandon

The resplendent ballroom is a scene of singing and dancing, and every corner of the magnificently decorated house is full of laughter. Even if Anne hides in the most hidden corner of the garden, she can’t stop the continuous laughter and cups. Collision sound.

"Oh! Dance, dance, dance, can't you give me peace!" Annie complained loudly and rushed to the stone bench in the corner. She turned around and wanted to sit down, but she stopped before touching the bench. He stood up and angrily took out the handkerchief tucked into his sleeve and wiped it vigorously on the stool a few times, then quickly tidied up the wrinkled almost new cotton skirt on his body, and then sat down on the stool angrily.

Annie took off her shoes, then crossed her legs and started rubbing her ankles in a shapeless way. Her feet were so sore. Even though she was wearing comfortable calfskin shoes, the heels were not at all. Gao, but dancing five consecutive dances is also a kind of torture for her.

Annie doesn't like dancing, in fact, she never even danced before she transmigrated to Miss Anne Steele.Anne has been a person with very poor physical coordination since she was a child. At the beginning, she did not even jump well in radio gymnastics from the first grade of elementary school to her graduation from high school.

Although Anne's current body is very good at dancing, she used to be able to dance the entire ball without showing her body.It's a pity that this body seems to have become clumsy after being occupied by her soul that is not good at dancing. Now it is absolutely impossible for her to dance the whole dance, dancing five-piece dance is her limit.

In fact, no one forced Annie to dance, it's just that Annie and her cheap sister Lucy are in a dependent situation.Their parents passed away a few years ago, leaving them only a small amount of property, which forced them to go to a few close relatives' homes to beg for a living.Now they live in the house of their uncle, Mr. Marvin Pratt. In order to please their uncle and aunt, Anne and Lucy will take the initiative to entertain those decent guests every time they dance.It is much better to take the initiative than to be passive. At least when dancing, they can choose a few men with good morals and good looks.And if the hospitality is good, my aunt will give them a good face in the next few days.

Just as Annie was thinking about these things, two brisk footsteps came quickly from the other side of the yard, and then a young girl's coquettish laughter sounded: "Charlie, don't you like that Lucy, why don't you go Date her?"

"I just danced with her one more time. Lily, I don't have the slightest thought of her." The young man named Charlie immediately assured.

Anne had already put on her shoes when she heard footsteps, and she had planned to leave quietly so as not to disturb the sweet tryst of the two young people.But when they mentioned Lucy, Annie stopped involuntarily, and hid in the rose bushes behind the stone bench.

Lily sneered, she was Mr. Pratt's third daughter, only half a month younger than Lucy.When I was a child, adults would often compare her with Lucy, because Lucy was prettier than her, and her personality was much smarter than her, so Lily was always the one who was overwhelmed by the two.Lily has always held a grudge against these childhood events. Now that Anne and Lucy have come to seek refuge with the Pratt family, Lily feels that she is the master and completely overwhelms them. .

At this time, Lily said with an unusually contemptuous tone: "Is there any reason? Charlie, you don't like her at all. Although Lucy looks passable, but I heard my mother say However, my two cousins ​​only have a dowry of five hundred pounds. Unless you are a rich young man, Charlie, you will do no good at all if you marry Lucy. Of course, a rich young man would not like two poor girls, probably those The dowries of maids in the young master’s house are more than Sister Steele’s.”

As soon as Lily finished speaking, the two of them seemed to have thought of something funny and laughed at the same time. Charlie smiled and said, "It seems that one of them thinks that he has found a rich young master, haha, but I listened to Edward Said, his mother told him that if he didn't marry a lady of the right kind to his mother's liking, he wouldn't be able to inherit the property."

"Oh, really? Then we just have to wait and see the good show." Lily said with a smile, her tone was full of schadenfreude.

"Yeah, we just have to watch the show," said Charlie.

After the brief conversation ended, the laughter of the two slowly subsided, replaced by the gradual sound of breathing, followed by ambiguous panting sounds and the slight sound of cloth rubbing against each other.

No need to think about it, Annie knew that across the rose bushes, the pair of wild mandarin ducks sitting on the stone bench must be hugging and kissing passionately, enjoying the excitement and pleasure brought by the tryst.But today they will definitely not be able to enjoy themselves to their heart's content. After listening to such an ill-intentioned conversation, Annie doesn't intend to make them comfortable.

Cautiously shrunk back into the rose bushes, Annie pinched her neck with one hand and took a few deep breaths, and then suddenly let out a shrill cat meow.

"Meow!!!!!"

"boom!"

"Oh, God!"

"Damn, oh, go!"

The two lovers who were completely immersed in the kiss were startled by the sudden scream, and fell off the stone bench in a panic, and they had no time to clean up amidst the louder and louder meowing. Ran away.

The imitation of the thin wild cat's scream made Annie's throat sore and itchy. She suffocated the feeling of coughing and slipped out quietly through the back door of the garden. After she was sure that no one would hear her voice again, Annie coughed Laughed out loud.

"Haha, deserve it."

Annie calmed down her breathing, straightened her skirt and hair again, and after making sure that there was nothing wrong, she went around the small woods to a hidden side door in the corner of the front yard, and walked in quietly.

During the short period of Anne's absence, the lively atmosphere in the hall did not change.Annie looked at the scene where the toasts were made, and consciously put on a decent smile and entered the ballroom.

Anne pretended that she had never left the ballroom, and of course no one ever noticed that she had.Although she had already guessed that this would be the result, Annie still felt a little unhappy in her heart. She lowered her head and curled her lips, then waved her fan and walked around the ballroom in a big circle without interest, waiting for many people to pay attention After she was in the ballroom, she followed the corridor into the lounge behind the ballroom.

There are only a few children who are tired from playing in the lounge, and they are playing with small toys together.Uncle Annie's youngest daughter, Aimee, was also here, holding a doll and singing nursery rhymes. When she saw Annie coming in, she immediately shouted happily: "Cousin Annie, are you here to rest too?"

Annie walked to the sofa and sat down, and said softly, "Of course, dancing is quite tiring work."

"I think it's pretty good, otherwise, Cousin Annie, you wouldn't have come to rest." Aimee smiled cutely and walked to Annie's side and sat down next to her, then hugged Annie's arm and shook it lightly. She said coquettishly, "Cousin Annie, tell us a story, we all like to hear your stories."

Aimee can be regarded as the person who welcomes the Steele sisters the most in the entire Pratt family. She is very close to them, and the Steele sisters also like this little angel-like girl very much.Aimee is the most favored child in the Pratt family and has a considerable right to speak, so the Steele sisters are also very happy to please her.Annie would always tell Aimee some stories and teach her some fun little games, while Lucy would make all kinds of beautiful little skirts for Aimee's dolls, and embroider some handkerchiefs and other small things for Aimee. thing.

Since Anne and Lucy always make the little girl happy, Aimee is very dependent on them. Every time they return to their home for more than a month, Aimee will pester Mr. Pratt to pick them up. Pratt Manor came to live for a while.In the past two years, because of Aimee, Anne and Lucy basically lived in Pratt Manor for three-fifths of the year, which saved them a lot of expenses every year.Although it was only more than 100 pounds, it was indeed a lot of money for these two unmarried girls without parents.

If you want to please a child, you can't follow her completely, because children are the least cherished. They love the new and dislike the old very quickly. The toys they hold in their arms today may be thrown into the corner tomorrow after they get their hands went.So Annie would refuse Aimee's request from time to time, letting her know that she also had the right not to tell her a story. If she wanted to hear a good story every time, Aimee had to please her.

Now Annie's throat was not very comfortable from the meowing a few minutes ago, so she didn't feel much about telling the story.But Aimee was not the only one in the lounge. Several of her children were also looking forward to hearing Annie tell a story. If Annie refused, it would definitely embarrass Aimee, and it would not be good for her.

So Annie glanced at Aimee, put on a hesitant expression for a while, and said, "Aimee, I really want to tell you a story, but I'm a little tired and my throat feels uncomfortable, so..."

Before Annie could finish her words, Annie's lovely smile collapsed, and her face was full of disappointment.

"So, if you can get the maid to make us all a pot of honey tea, maybe I can tell you a longer story after I moisten my throat."

"Really!" As soon as Aimee heard that there was still a story to listen to, she immediately ran to the door and shouted at a maid who was standing at the corner of the corridor peeking into the ballroom: "Becky, make me a pot of honey tea , I want to drink honey tea."

"But Miss Aimee, in order to make desserts for today's dance, we have almost used up all the honey. Madam just said that the little bit left over will be used for dipping muffins at afternoon tea tomorrow." Becky retracted Head ran to the door of the lounge and said.

"Mom will definitely not care. You can just go and soak in honey water. I will tell my mother tomorrow that I want to eat." Aimee said.