Love England

Although Margaret and I were relieved that Frederick had left Milton safely, the sadness of parting from the Hale family did not dissipate.I didn't tell Margaret about meeting Henry and Miss Thornton at the station, because I couldn't imagine how Margaret would react if she knew that Henry would "elope" with Miss Thornton.I think she must be the same as me. I don’t understand why Henry would boldly do the most unpopular thing in the Victorian era, such as “elopement”. Henry is a very sophisticated, socially responsible person, and extremely rational Why would he be so impulsive and want to fly away with Miss Thornton? I can't even believe that Henry will really fall in love with Miss Thornton.Until I figure it out, I intend to keep this secret in my heart.

Three days after the incident, Miss Thornton visited the Hale house alone for the first time, and I knew she was coming to see me.Miss Thornton's face was haggard, and she lost the lively and proud expression I remembered. Although she greeted me politely and thoughtfully, she couldn't hide her preoccupied state.At that time, Margaret went to the market with Dixon to buy vegetables, so I had the opportunity to talk to Miss Thornton alone about what happened at the station that night, and how she and Henry fell in love with each other, how they loved each other, and how they were self-willed. How to impulsively agree to Mr. Watson's marriage proposal, and how to plan to elope with Henry.She took all the "running away" on herself, said she had done everything she could to persuade Henry to take her away from Milton, and said that all the ugly crimes were her own doing, and Henry had nothing to do with them.She begged me not to tell anyone about it, she didn't want Henry's name to be discredited by it, and said she would bear all the consequences herself, and she wept that she would marry Mr. In a marriage of love, she will alone bear the bitter fruit she has sown.Miss Thornton, who has always been selfish, took the initiative to take the blame for others. I didn't expect it. I could feel her love for Henry from the bottom of her heart, and promised Miss Thornton again that she would keep it a secret.It is not surprising that Miss Thornton fell in love with Henry, but I would like to know how Henry fell in love with Miss Thornton.Coincidentally, after Miss Thornton left, the postman brought Henry's letter from Oxford. I went to my bedroom and read this long letter seriously.

Dear Cali:

It is with guilt, shame and gratitude that I write to you to explain what happened that day at the station.I know how disgraceful it is for me and Miss Thornton to leave Milton together, I am ashamed even now, I know how disappointed you are in me, even Margaret, Edith and Lennox Captain Si will be extremely disappointed in me if he finds out about this, and my family will be ashamed because of it, but I have no regrets.

I loved Miss Thornton so much that I did everything I could to persuade her to elope with me, and to escape her marriage.I consider myself a principled person, and abide by all the rules and regulations in the society, just like every article written in the law, is like the truth, living a pedantic, or rigid life, Every day revolves around the provisions in black and white—maybe that's why Margaret didn't accept my marriage proposal at that time.I used to have feelings for Margaret, just like people say that we are matched, everyone around me wanted me to be with Margaret, and thought we were the best match, even I thought so at the time , the two of us should be together naturally.A lawyer marries a pastor's daughter. Isn't this the most suitable marriage recognized by society?And when Margaret rejected me, although I felt heartache, the heartache was more like the anger of a judge full of justice when he saw criminals who broke the law escape legal punishment.Although my anger faded over time, I never understood why Marguerite refused my marriage proposal.

When I followed Mr. Bell to Milton, when I met you, your boldness, your cleverness and your unknown attracted me-of course this attraction does not refer to love, but a kind of love that I have never seen before. Over the past, the spiritual encouragement of daring to break the routine: fighting with the gentlemen of the factory to put forward ideas that are beyond the routine and in line with the facts, etc., made me realize that I am narrow-minded.Of course, what really changed me was that I met Miss Fanny Thornton, and because of the opportunity to represent Mr. Bell, I spent more time with Miss Thornton, and made me know and love her more .She is not as stable as Margaret, not as smart as you, but she is lively, bold, and even her capriciousness and recklessness attract me.It was she who made me realize how pale my life was. Her appearance lit up the passion in my life, made me appreciate the happiness I never had before, and let me understand what true love is.

Through contact with the Thornton family, I also felt more and more Mrs. Thornton’s and Mr. Thornton’s prejudice against lawyers. What’s more, I am not a wealthy lawyer, but a lawyer who works hard with my own hands, which made me further express to Miss Thornton. Feelings stay away from action.Besides, I couldn't fathom Miss Thornton's hot and cold feelings for me, and I couldn't bear her attentions to Watson.In the end, cowardice made me leave Milton, and because of it, Miss Thornton became someone else's fiancée.When I was with you at the clothing store that day and saw her with Mr. Watson and learned that they were engaged, I felt as if I had fallen into an abyss, and it was difficult to hide my feelings.Seeing Miss Thornton go away, seeing her looking at me with that lost look, I really wanted to take her hand at once and let her get rid of that Mr. Watson. At that time, I thought everything was irreparable.

Later, I followed Mr. Bell to Thornton's house for dinner. I couldn't express in words what kind of mood I had when I stepped in there, and what kind of mood I was seeing Miss Thornton sitting beside me. I could only get by with the mask of a lawyer I'd honed over the years.On the night I left Thornton's house and went back to the hotel, my emotions went over my head. It was the first time in my life that I lost control. I wrote all my emotions into a letter and found Thornton early the next morning. Miss Thornton's valet, and gave her some money to smuggle my letter into Miss Thornton's hands.That night, when Mr. Bell and I had dinner at Thornton's house and returned to the hotel, Miss Thornton stuffed a reply letter in my pocket at some point.When I finished reading the letter in one breath, I felt that I was the happiest person in the world. She actually loved me all the time, and explained that she had been so indifferent to me before because he thought I liked Miss Watson or you and wanted to Made me jealous, and she got engaged to Watson because I left without saying anything, she made it on the spur of the moment.She asked for my forgiveness in the letter, but I know that I am the one who needs to be forgiven and should repent.Both Captain Lennox and Edith have warned me that my treatment of ladies can be easily misunderstood, but now it seems that I really did it to myself and let the people I really love cause irreparable damage by my indecency. ending.With an emotional outlet of regret and a desire to salvage everything, I finally made a pact with Miss Thornton that we would leave Milton together.The convenience of her maid, and the correspondence which we both kept up, finally got the chance to leave on the evening when we met you.

That's all I have to confess. Cali, you must look down on me now!When things calmed down, I really realized that thanks to you, Miss Thornton and I didn't do anything worse. Thank you for everything you have done for us.I should have the courage to confess everything to Mrs. Thornton and Mr. Thornton, and let Fanny marry me properly, which is the way out for both of us.Of course, they will definitely object to Fanny giving up her marriage contract with Mr. Watson, let alone marrying an annoying lawyer, but I have to learn to be optimistic now, after all, we both have experienced the worst things.

your faithful friend

This letter gave me a new understanding of Henry, and my sincere sympathy for his love affair with Miss Thornton made me reconsider how to help them.

In addition, there is another thing that makes me nervous, that is, whether the drunk man died as written in the novel.I didn't know what to do when Dixon came running in a panic to inform me that the police were coming for me.If I tell the police everything I have experienced, the matter of Miss Thornton and Henry will be made public, and the impact of this matter will be a disaster, so I decided to deal with it according to the method in the novel—— Denying everything is the only thing I can do for Miss Thornton and Henry now, which is good for everyone, even if I may have to face Mr. Thornton's investigation and accusations in the end.

The police officer named Mason left with a dissatisfied face when he said goodbye, "I will visit again, miss!", but the gloom he brought was not taken away with him.Margaret hurriedly came to me to ask me what happened, whether her brother's affairs had been leaked, so the police came to ask.I told her it wasn't Frederick's business, and I took her to my bedroom, and showed her the letter from Henry that I had received yesterday, and now that I could no longer hide from Marguerite about the incident at the railway station. Things that happened.When Marguerite read the letter and heard my explanation, her reaction was as I expected, surprising and sympathetic.

"I really don't believe that Henry can do such an outrageous thing. Of course, this is not out of accusation against him, but because I can't believe that this is a serious Henry. Although Henry and Miss Thornton fell in love, it is logical. , The two people also have very complementary personalities. Cali, what should we do now? Someone has died, although it is not certain that it was caused by Henry fighting with that person when he was protecting Miss Thornton, but it is indeed related to this, even It is also related to your sending Frederick, everything is connected, and one thing will involve another!" Margaret frowned, she had no choice but to ask me questions.

"I can only deny everything now, but this is the only way - don't worry, Margaret, it won't involve Frederick, he will leave England without incident. And the police visit It would be best not to initiate the conversation with Mr Hale, fortunately Mr Bell invited him to tea today."

"Can't you tell Mr. Bell too? I know he has always been our ally!"

"I think Mr. Bell will not easily agree with his own lawyer's approach. Besides, Mr. Bell has helped us with many things, so we can't trouble him anymore. And this matter has involved the police. If Mr. Bell intervenes, it may be against him have a bad reputation.”

"Okay, Cali. I can't bear you to always bear everything alone. Is there no other way?"

"Don't worry about me, Margaret, I'm just an outsider. I can quit this era at any time. It may be the best choice to direct all the troubles to me. No one will be hurt." Hearing this sentence Then, Margaret gave me a hug and expressed her gratitude to me.

"This is your era, Cali, you are more suitable than me here, please don't disappear from here easily, you don't know how important you are to us in this era, to everyone. We should also go downstairs and tell Dick It’s not about Frederick’s business, so she can rest easy.” Then we both went to the kitchen and explained to Dixon what we could reveal to Dixon, and the maid’s nerves were tense. relax.

I have always remembered what Officer Mason said when he left, and I don't know what will happen next time he shows up.After two days, everything was calm, just like the calm of a storm. Mr. Hale even announced after dinner that he would resume teaching students at home, and that his favorite student, Mr. Thornton, would come in three days.Even Mr. Bell who was sitting on the side didn't know about this plan. Margaret glanced at me and was very concerned about my attitude, but I just covered it up with a smile to show my support for Mr. Hale.Mr. Thornton will definitely meet me again if he continues to study here-of course, the two of us have nothing to do with each other.

"Perhaps I can suggest to Dad that classes come later?" Margaret whispered to me as we said good night at the bedroom door.I shook my head against her, thinking that Mr. Thornton's presence would provide him with the opportunity to further his relationship with Margaret and put their story on the right track, which is a good thing.

In fact, the news of Mr. Thornton's coming to teach here affected me more than I could have imagined.I kept thinking about how awkward and uncomfortable it would be to meet Mr. Thornton, but it made me forget my fear when I saw Officer Mason again two days later.

"Sorry I haven't been able to visit you, Miss Addams!" Sergeant Mason said politely when I saw him, bowing slightly to me. "I was delayed by something, otherwise I should have come a day earlier. I Just wanted to tell you, miss, that the Leonards case is closed."

"That means there will be no further investigations?"

Officer Mason looked at me meaningfully, then took out a letter and handed it to me, and said, "I brought you a letter from Mr. Thornton."

"Mr Thornton?"

"That's right! He is the prosecutor of this case and also my friend. I told him that the case is in trouble." Officer Mason said gently.

I quickly took the letter and opened it, and the first thing that caught my eye was a few beautiful and powerful words—"No interrogation is required." I read it in a low voice with some excitement: "Lack of sufficient medical evidence, this case It ends here, and I take full responsibility." The letter concluded with John Thornton's autograph.

"Thank you for the news, Officer Mason." I shook hands with the officer as calmly as possible, but couldn't help but ask again: "Mr. Thornton, he...does he believe that I am not there? Not at that station?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry that I doubted you, Ms. Addams. The witness was so convincing at the time, and now he admits that he has identified the wrong person. I hope I didn't offend you." Officer Mason got up and left after answering.Margaret and I escorted him out the door, and watched the officer go away, thinking how much Mr. Thornton had influenced the matter.It was he who made the case stop and the police stopped pursuing it too much, just like the result in Mrs. Gaskell's novel.In the novel, Mr. Thornton closed the case because of his love for Margaret, but in the current situation, did he close the case because he knew his sister was involved?I have no idea.

"Cali, are you all right now?" Margaret asked.

"Yes, the case is closed."

I showed Mr. Thornton's letter to Margaret, and she let out a sigh of relief after reading it, "Fortunately, my father went to work as a tutor when Officer Mason visited this time, so he didn't let him go through all this, and the matter is completely over, I'm relieved too."

"Yeah!" Somehow, a strong sense of loss fell on me, and tomorrow I will face Mr. Thornton from worse to worse.The next day was the day when Mr. Thornton came to study. I really wanted to find an excuse to hide in the bedroom and not come out to see anyone. Fear filled my body. The thought of meeting Mr. Thornton made me Worse than seeing the police.But I knew that not being able to avoid people would worry Margaret and Mr. Hale, so I gave up my original idea and only found courage from fear.

I wanted to go to the market with Dixon to buy vegetables and avoid Mr. Thornton's visit as much as possible, but Margaret and Dixon saw that I looked ugly and said nothing to let me go. I couldn't screw them (mainly Dixon) had to stay at home. Although Margaret knew me and promised that she and Dixon would try to come back before the time agreed by Mr. Thornton, I was still worried.I sat on pins and needles in the living room, looking forward to Dixon and Margaret's early return from the market.In order not to let my thoughts run wild, I tried my best to calm down and do housework. I ironed the handkerchief for Dixon, brought black tea to Mr. Hale who was waiting for the students in the study, and listened to the ringing of the doorbell involuntarily. Margaret's arrival opens the door.The doorbell rang in less than an hour, and I hurried out to open the door for the return of the two saviors, but there was Mr. Thornton standing at the door with a book in his hand.

The two of us looked at each other for three seconds, I really think it's been a long time since I saw him, his body is more straight and stiff than before, his face is still full of seriousness, like a beautiful and cold sculpture.At this time, I lowered my head and stepped aside, let him in, then cleared my throat and said. "Mr. Hale is waiting for you in the study." He walked straight into the house without saying a word, as if he didn't care about me.

"Mr. Thornton!" I couldn't help calling him, and he stopped without turning around, and I continued, "I want to thank you for..."

"No! Don't thank me, I didn't do anything!" He interrupted my conversation, turned to look at me sideways, that questioning gaze pierced my whole body like a sharp sword, "Did you Realized how risky your sloppiness would be? At the station that night, just after the train for London had left, I saw you with someone at the station - you were very concerned about that night No explanation? Can you imagine what I would think?" His voice was not loud, but his expression was as severe as his expression. I really wanted to run away, but where could I go now?So he saw me at the station with Henry that night?He knew all along that I was lying to the police?

"Mr. Thornton! I know what you're going to think of me, I know what it's going to look like...but...but...it's about other people's privacy, and it's not good for all of us if I speak out." I Looking up at him, hoping to let him know my difficulties from my eyes, I can't explain to him the matter of Henry and Miss Thornton, even if it makes him misunderstand, I can't easily betray to a sheriff why I went to The reason for the station, because it may expose Frederick's affairs, and bring the Hale family to the crime of "harboring fugitives".

"Is that John? Come up!" Mr. Hale heard the bell and the opening of the door, and his voice came from upstairs.

"I have no interest in prying into other people's secrets, only as a friend of the Hale family. I hope you understand that I am no longer foolishly in love with you, and I want to focus on the future, which is our final end !" He walked up the stairs without looking back, "I'm sorry Mr. Hale, I came early today because of the first day of class!"

Every word Mr. Thornton said was like a dagger, piercing my heart. I think this is what he didn't say to me after he ran away with the marriage proposal that day.My tears had already dried up, and I ran into the kitchen, only heartache made me laugh out loud.