[Comprehensive classics] Darcy or Brandon

In order to avoid suspicion, Anne deliberately avoided contact with Colonel Brandon for the next two days, which made Sir John very anxious, so when he was having lunch at noon on the fourth day, Sir John deliberately brought the topic to the dance party to be held in the evening above, and mentions the question of dancing.

Jennings was so happy to talk about the subject that she would have brought it up if Sir John hadn't, and said, "We needn't worry about not having enough ladies this time, we've got four ladies, and now gentlemen You just need to worry about how you should be courteous."

"Yes, yes, there are always more young gentlemen in Barton than young ladies. Usually, there is a problem that the gentlemen can't invite the young ladies to dance. This time we don't have to worry about the guests so much." Mrs. Palmer answered. "Oh, Miss Steele, do you and Miss Lucy like to dance? I'm very fond of dancing, and it's a real pleasure."

"I like dancing very much, but Anne doesn't like it very much. She prefers to sit in the corner and hide." Lucy said with a smile, looking at Colonel Brandon, who is the only single gentleman here Lucy felt that Colonel Brandon should invite her and Anne out of courtesy.

"Really, Miss Steele?" Sir John looked at Anne inquiringly.

Annie nodded and said: "My feet are not very strong, and they will swell after dancing too much, so I try to reduce the number of dances as much as possible."

"Oh, that's such a pity. It's really sad that a young lady couldn't dance the whole ball because of her feet." Sir John looked at Anne regretfully, Then he turned to Colonel Brandon and said, "Christopher, it seems that you must invite Miss Steele to the opening dance, because if you miss the timing, you may not be able to invite Miss Steele for the whole dance." gone."

Such a request is a bit inappropriate, because gentlemen always only invite the ladies they intend to pursue to dance the opening dance, otherwise they will choose close friends or complete strangers.

Mrs. Jennings said at once: "Colonel Brandon, I thought you were going to ask Miss Marianne for the opening dance, didn't you?"

Colonel Brandon, who was chopping beef, was about to balk at Sir John's words, but Mrs. Jennings' words made him swallow the words that were on his lips.

To be honest, Colonel Brandon really didn't think about the opening dance, but now he had to make a choice.From the bottom of his heart, Colonel Brandon hoped to invite Marianne to the opening dance, because now he still prefers Marianne, even though he also knows that Marianne is unlikely to agree, after all, Marianne doesn't like his emotional performance is so obvious.But at this moment, considering Anne's face, Colonel Brandon hesitated and said: "I very much hope to invite Miss Steele to dance with me."

"Thank you, Colonel Brandon, I am very happy." Anne thanked her sincerely. She knew that Colonel Brandon said this to avoid embarrassing her. Mrs. Jennings said that just now, it was too embarrassing for her Well, even if Colonel Brandon really doesn't want to invite her, he should let Colonel Brandon himself refuse, although as a gentleman, it is almost impossible for Colonel Brandon to refuse.

After lunch, the two sisters went back to the room. Lucy threw off the shawl and said angrily, "Mrs. Jennings is really disgusting, and Marianne Dasherwood is not her daughter. She needs it so much." To defend her? Isn't it just an opening dance, wouldn't you pester Colonel Brandon to invite you?"

"Lucy, what Mrs. Jennings did is really inappropriate. You don't have to be angry about it. She likes Miss Marianne better." Anne said, people are always partial, and it's normal for Mrs. Jennings to do so. .

"I just hate that Marianne. Last time she looked at us like she was looking at a poor creature. How is she doing well now? The income of a family of four is only five hundred pounds a year, which is much worse than ours. "

"I think she just didn't understand her identity. She thought she was a high-ranking young lady. I also hate her very much. But Lucy, you really can't compare to her in some aspects. She has a very elegant temperament and a very ladylike gesture. It's not all about putting on airs. And it's kind of contrived when you're doing the same thing when you're standing with her, so I think next time we see her you can act a little more naturally, and you have to be more confident in yourself, In this way, you will look more temperamental." Annie said.

"I don't have a special etiquette teacher to teach me how to do it. Of course, it's not as good as her former eldest lady. Annie, to be honest, I always don't understand why your self-confidence is always so strong. You stand in those A real rich lady never shows timidity in front of a princess, I believe you will not show a little timidity even in front of a princess." Lucy lay down on the bed, looked at Annie and said.

That was of course because Annie was a real rich person before time travel, and for a long time she was in the upper class, so she naturally didn't care if she saw a lot.But Annie definitely couldn't tell Lucy about this, so she had no choice but to say: "Only those who have confidence in themselves can do what they want to do."

"Annie, you are so right. I also have to have more confidence in myself. I must let myself marry a rich man!" Lucy said, and made a gesture to encourage herself.

In the evening, the ball was held as scheduled, and the invited guests came one after another. The Dasherwood family also came shortly after the ball began, and they also came with a young and handsome gentleman, and this gentleman was George . Willoughby.

Speaking of these three days, a lot of things really happened in Da Sherwood's family. Margaret finally recovered from her illness for several days. To celebrate Eleanor and Marianne, she went to town with her pocket money. I bought some ingredients that I don't usually eat on the Internet, and I plan to ask the maid to make a big dinner.Compared with Eleanor, Marianne is really not a person who is suitable for learning housework. At the market, Eleanor bought a live fish and put it in a basket for Marianne to carry, but Marianne was not careful. The fish jumped to the ground. Although she immediately planned to catch it back to the basket, she really didn't know how to catch the fish. Instead of catching it, she was stabbed by the fin on her finger, and some blood came out.That's when Willoughby appeared, caught the fish back in Marianne's basket before it slid further afield, and took his own handkerchief to bandage Marianne's fish-smelling hands.

Marianne fell in love with the gentle and handsome gentleman at once, and Willoughby fell in love with the beautiful Marianne.So it was logical that the two exchanged names, and then Willoughby visited the Dasherwood family the next day, and then they became friends. Of course, from the perspective of the Dasherwood family, Willoughby and Marianne are definitely in love up.

"Oh, who is that little boy?" Mrs. Jennings was surprised when she saw Willoughby walking in with Marianne, "I didn't know that Miss Marianne had a new suitor."

"Mom, of course we don't know, because when we went to visit Margaret yesterday, Mrs. Dasherwood didn't tell us anything. Mom, this lady's mouth is too strict. I always feel that She doesn't seem very willing to chat with us," Mrs. Palmer said aside.

But Mrs. Palmer's intuition is really accurate. Although Mrs. Dasherwood is grateful for Mrs. Jennings and Sir John's help, she doesn't think much of them in her heart. She always thinks they are very rude people. Because their jokes always embarrass the family.Had Mrs. Dasherwood been mistress of Norland Park, she would never have made friends with such a disgrace.It's a pity that now forced by life, she can only force herself to associate with them.

Mrs. Dasherwood and Eleanor soon came over to talk to Mrs. Jennings. Mrs. Jennings immediately asked Mrs. Dasherwood: "Who is that gentleman who is inseparable from Marian? Why didn't I listen to you?" Talked about him?"

"That's Mr. Willoughby who lives in Allenham Manor. After you left yesterday, he came to invite Marianne to the ball today. Marianne feels very honored." Mrs. Dasherwood said, she looked at Willoughby The expression is very satisfied.

It is true that Colonel Brandon is a bit worse than Willer, although in terms of property, Colonel Brandon may win.But Willoughby is impeccable in terms of age, appearance and character. He is young and handsome, humorous, and likes to read Shakespeare's poems as much as Marianne. Mrs. Dasherwood thinks that they are a perfect match.

Marianne, who was chatting happily with Willoughby not far away, noticed that Mrs. Jennings was looking at her. After thinking about it, she dragged Willoughby over. matter, so intending to let the lady know that Willoughby was her favorite, Colonel Brandon had absolutely no chance.

But as soon as she walked over, before she could say anything to show her heart, Mrs. Palmer pointed to her skirt and said: "Miss Marianne is not as beautiful as Miss Steele in this dress, and Miss Steele is quiet." The temperament is just able to suppress this pale gold color."

Only then did everyone realize that the dress on Marianne and the dress on Anne who had been standing beside them were made of the same pale gold fabric, and the styles of the skirts were also very similar, and they looked exactly the same.

In fact, Annie found out about this when Marian came in, and she felt a little unhappy because she had accidentally bumped into the dress, because it was obvious that she was not as beautiful as Marian in this dress, but she couldn't go back to the room to change it for no reason. , so Anne can only stand aside to reduce her sense of existence.

However, Anne thought that no one would mention this matter, because although it is not common at balls, it is not unusual. After all, there are not many fabric styles in this era, and the styles of skirts are also similar, and ladies often encounter People who wear skirts similar to their own will not be pointed out.But who knew that Mrs. Palmer said it out, and praised Anne who was obviously not as beautiful as Marianne.

Sure enough, the smile on Marianne's face disappeared immediately. She glanced at Anne very unhappy, then turned her head and pulled Willoughby away.

Mrs. Palmer hadn't realized that she had offended someone, so she asked suspiciously, "What's wrong with Marianne?"

Just as Mr. Palmer came over and saw what happened, he said, "There are always some ladies who only like to hear compliments from others, so Mrs. Palmer, sometimes even if it is the truth, you'd better not say it."

At this moment, the expressions of Mrs. Dasherwood and Eleanor also changed, but none of the Palmers paid attention to it. Mr. Palmer even winked at Annie.

Annie smiled back, then lowered her head to hide the anger in her eyes. The disdain and disgust in Marianne's look just now were too obvious, which made Annie feel very uncomfortable.Annie touched the hem of her skirt, thinking that sooner or later she would take revenge for this one glance.