Southern Rose [Gone with the Wind]

When considering marriage, of course children must also be considered. In order to seize the widow's family property, it is not uncommon for a man to send his stepson to a boarding school far away, which is called "well-cultivated".Victor is her eldest son, who will inherit Hastings' property in the future, and most of her personal property will also belong to him in the future, and she is responsible for his present and future.

It's not that Philip will treat Victor badly, but she wants to be sure that her future husband will treat Victor as his own.Even if she has other children in the future, Victor will be that special "FristBorn".

Philip told her Mrs. Talent's conviction.

"Dear Philip:

Everything is ready and waiting for your return.I desperately hope to see your Josephine sooner. "

He smiled at Josephine and read on, "I know she's going to be a pretty, sweet Southern lady, a woman worthy of your love. How excited I am! I've been looking forward to this day, I can't wait even now to start planning for your wedding!"

He took Josephine's hand and kissed the back of her hand.

The day of departure was chaotic.

Before dawn, Robillard's house began to be busy. The servants carried the suitcases up and down and put them on the wagon; the groom fed the horses with hay and bean cakes; Servants do things.

Josephine got up.

Lydia and Candice fetched water, washed her, and dressed her.

The skirts of this era use a corset to shape a woman's tight upper body and waist, and use a wide pannier to contrast the slender waist and plump chest. This is a strange aesthetic, and it serves the male aesthetic visually. , and physiologically, women only need to pay the price of physical deformity, and men only need to enjoy this "beauty" quietly.

It's not fair!

Josephine complained that the corset was too tight for her to breathe.

Lydia said hastily: "Don't say that, Mammy says you've been spoiled by us, and a noble lady shouldn't be like those poor women who don't even wear corsets."

What the black mother said was the golden words of this era. People cannot escape the era. If they want to live in a less difficult life, it is best to conform to the era.

The funny thing is that after the Civil War, black men in the United States gained the right to vote. In the first general election after the Civil War, northern politicians chartered the entire train and took groups of black men to vote everywhere.And it would take decades for white women to gain the right to vote.In terms of political rights, white men are at the top of the pyramid, and then black men; women of color are at the bottom of this pyramid, and among the most oppressed black women, there are black-skinned and white-hearted people like the black mother few.

"Nurse is getting old." Josephine commented without emotion, "Relax a little, it's all right, let it be."

Two maids lifted the dress, slipped it over her head, and adjusted the train.

The maid organized and packed the things she wanted to bring a few days ago, and today she did the final packing, packing the things she wanted to use in the morning into another wooden box.

Go downstairs to mother's room, see Victor just woke up, let the maid wash and dress him in a daze.

"Good morning, Mom." The little guy was very polite and said hello to his mother first.

"Hello, my baby." Josephine bowed her head and kissed his little face.

"Are you leaving today?"

"Yes. Did you sleep well last night?"

"sleep good."

"Liya, bring breakfast." A young maid responded.

Robillard's family has always had breakfast in the dining room, but after Josephine came back, she could have breakfast wherever she wanted. I don't know where the rules have been lost, and I cursed the colorful big dye vat in Paris for teaching the little mistress badly. In short, the lady is not wrong, and the fault is someone else.

The mother and son had breakfast in Emile's living room before going downstairs.

Philip has come and is talking to John in the living room.Seeing her bring Victor into the living room, she hurriedly greeted her with a smile, "Hello, Miss Robillard."

Seriously he was supposed to call her "Miss Robillard" and not call her by her Christian name until after they got engaged, but he used to call her by her Christian name a lot now.

"Hello, Philip." Josephine didn't mind calling him by his Christian name now.

"Hello, Mr. Talent." Victor greeted seriously.

"Are you ready?"

She stretched out her hand and gently shook his hand, then let it go quickly, "Leave now?"

John said: "Let's go now, mother is in the carriage. You and mother will go in a carriage, and Philip will be with me."

It seems that the father wants to have a "Dad Talk" with Philip, and the "jurisdiction" needs to be handed over between men.

John has been complaining about her secretly marrying, and they don't know about it at all across the ocean. He has never met Hastings, doesn't know what kind of person he is, and doesn't know if she is happy.

The Robillard family reserved four first-class boxes, one for John, Josephine, and Philip, and one for Emile and Victor.

The speed of the train is not fast, it takes more than three days to get to New York, and you have to stay on the train for three nights.Victor likes to ride the train very much. The rhythmic shaking of the train is loved by children. He ran up and down the corridor of the first-class carriage with his little follower Damian, who is already a Free people, Josephine promised his parents that Damian would go to school with Victor, and if Damian did well in the future, she could always pay Damian's tuition.

John spent most of his time in the dining car, and the first-class dining car was like an upper-class club, only unisex.The precocious and lovely Victor is unanimously loved by the ladies, and Emile is very proud, doting on and even doting on his little grandson.

Josephine began to worry that her mother doting too much on Victor would have a bad influence on his character development.She thought that she should be able to find a suitable tutor in New York, because the lower south does not pay as much attention to education as the north, and there is a shortage of qualified tutors.

There are many things to do in New York.

"Have you thought about how to arrange Victor's studies?" Philip asked.

"Teach at home by tutors first, go to grammar school at the age of 10, receive more systematic and comprehensive learning, and then... go to college, Harvard or Yale." Southern boys also follow this route, but many boys are unwilling Honestly, I stayed in college for four years.

"Have you got a governess?"

"Not yet. Hope to find someone suitable in New York."

"Don't worry, when I get to New York, I'll send someone to advertise in the newspaper. A good tutor can't be found in an employment agency."

This kind of machismo's big bag is also very cute and very real.

After arriving in New York, he stayed in a hotel for a few days, went to see several properties under Philip's name, picked a three-story building in the old pier near Wall Street, and moved in.

Then I went to the newspapers to recruit tutors; John took Charles to visit some people, and Philip took Robillard and his son to visit some people.It took one month to settle down in New York, during which time he found a satisfactory tutor. Philip limited the gender of tutors to women, and taught English, literature, and basic mathematics.That's enough for the time being. When he starts to learn a little deeper knowledge at the age of 1 or 7, he can find another male teacher.Female teachers are limited to not being able to receive higher education, and usually have a limited level of knowledge; those who can really learn by themselves or acquire high levels of knowledge under the guidance of tutors are unlikely to become tutors.

When life settled down, Mrs. Talent came from Boston to visit the Robillards.

Mrs. Tarent just turned 50 years old and gave birth to 7 children. Philip was the eldest son; the next two daughters died within 100 days after birth; She grew up peacefully and is now studying at Harvard University—Harvard University is in Cambridge, near Boston; and then there are two daughters who have been carefully raised and grown up smoothly. Annabelle is 15 years old and Margaret is 12 years old. .

There are a little more siblings, but the family has money and does not need to rely on elder brother and sister-in-law for support, so it is not a drag.After the old Tarent passed away, most of the family property was left to the eldest son. The two daughters arranged the dowry property, and the two younger sons each left the real estate and stocks.

The two wives talked very happily and were very satisfied with each other.That night, Philip proposed to Josephine.

Philip sent a small 4-carat diamond ring as an engagement ring, and Josephine wore the diamond ring downstairs for breakfast the next day.

Charles whistled, slightly disgusted, "The diamond is too small."

Emile cast a reproachful glance at her son, "What's the use of having such a big diamond? It makes people laugh."

Of course, the bigger the gems, the better, but too big gems are actually not for wearing, but for showing off, and nouveau riche will use huge diamonds to show off their wealth.

The style of the ring is not bad, it is the latest style, the ring is a bit wide, the diamond is oval, brilliant cut, and three small diamonds are slightly inlaid on the two ends of the gemstone as decoration.

After the engagement, there are many trivial matters. For example, an engagement banquet needs to be held. In a family like Talent with many relatives and friends, it is impossible for the current parents to get engaged quietly.

Mrs. Tarrant single-handedly organized the engagement banquet, striving to be "low-key and gorgeous", spending money like water, using several truckloads of flowers alone.She also chose a set of pearl jewelry from the jewelry left by the old Tarent to her future daughter-in-law. Among them was a pearl brooch with an elegant design, which Josephine liked very much. She would wear this pearl brooch every time she went out in Boston.