little miss austin

"You have to know that running a good school will be very tiring. You have to find teachers, find students, and you have to consider trivial things like accommodation and canteens. You may get bored halfway through."

"This is not a problem. I can find a manager to do the preliminary work, including finding teachers and handing out leaflets to find students. Moreover, I plan to set up a small school that only holds half-day classes in the urban area of ​​London to test. Liz said that she can teach And spelling, Cathy can teach drawing, Cousin Anna says she can teach maths."

Oliver just laughed, "If you just teach the girls spelling and some simple mathematics, they are capable enough, but if you want to run a good boarding school, you have to find better teachers."

She sighed, "Indeed, among the people I know, I am the only one who can teach any subject, but I am not very good at astronomy and geography. I hope to find a good teacher, but now I have knowledge and know how to teach." Those who attend the class are basically teachers in the university, or tutors for aristocratic young masters like you."

He smiled, "I can be a teacher, but I have to wait until I come back from Spain."

When this question was mentioned suddenly, Alice was a little hard to accept, "So, you still have to go back."

"If I can't see all the time, I will retire at the end of the year, but now, I still want to go back." His eyes don't need to be bandaged anymore. From the outside, he doesn't look like a person with vision problems at all.

She pursed her lips and said nothing.

"What's wrong? Are you unhappy?" He put his arm around her shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"I...I am very worried about you. After all, there are too many uncertainties in the battlefield." She was a little uneasy, "But I can't say that I won't let you go. Even if you obey my will now, you may blame me in the future Forcing you to change your mind."

He sighed softly in her ear, "I really can't lie to you, saying that there is no risk, the risk is always there, even if I stay at home, maybe I will encounter something unfortunate, or a disease, or a horse fall Come down. I can only promise you that I will try my best to survive and return to you."

"You must come back, no matter what you do, remember me."

"I will. It's hard for me to be with you. No one can separate us."

She also sighed softly, "Let's go on a trip, to the island of Malta, we can take Dr. Kerstace with us."

"it is good."

"I don't have anything to do now. As far as the school is concerned, the teaching building has not been built yet, and the London school will not start classes until next spring; the magazine is not in a hurry, I haven't found a suitable editor yet, I have selected some students, I will send them to further studies, this training program will last at least half a year, and it will not be until next spring." She leaned in his arms, her face pressed against his shoulder, "You and I...we haven't gone out to play specifically yet."

That's right, the last time he went to Madeira Island was to recuperate, he worried all day long that she might die, and it was not a comfortable trip at all.Many things happened on Madeira Island, which used to make him sad and hopeless, but now, everything he sees will be colorful and dazzling.

"Go to Malta, then. Jesse," he called Jesse, "go and book a boat ticket to Malta, see what suites they have, two first-class suites, take—how many people you need to take, add Miss Austen's servant, Dr. Kerstace's servant. By the way, you write a letter to Dr. Kerstace to go to Malta in a week."

Alice smiled and listened to his travel arrangements, still leaning against his chest without moving.Jessie was so used to it that he turned a blind eye to it.He said goodbye quickly.

"Come home with me tomorrow, you have to help me with the list, Julian will definitely fight with me, he always wants the best."

"You are an elder brother, don't allow him to compete with you."

"He has been like this since he was a child, and he will fight with me for everything. See, even marriage must be ahead of me."

"Well, yes, and children."

"Yes, there is still a child." He said calmly, "Look, if Maria gave birth to a son, he would definitely come and brag to me."

"Then leave him alone. You'll give him a house in Devon and tell him to go to Devon."

He said happily, "That's what I planned."

He held her left hand and intertwined his fingers, "Have you learned how to be a hostess?"

"It seems that I have learned it, and it is not difficult."

"How do you like it?"

"what do you like?"

"Stay with me, form a 'family' with me, be the hostess of the house."

"Okay."

"Little liar, you obviously like it very much. You like to be the hostess and let everyone obey your arrangements. You are the youngest child in the family, and your parents and siblings asked you to do this and that, so you are outside I always want to be a commander, and everyone else has yours." This was how they played together in their teenage years, and she always made the boys listen to her and circle around her.

Back at Newton Manor, everything seemed to be the same as before.

However, the room where Alice used to live was evacuated, and a lot of miscellaneous furniture was placed in it.

Kate was furious, "Miss Alice! Look, she took your room away!" Don't think about this kind of thing, the servants will definitely not be so diligent, it must be ordered by the hostess.

"What's all the fuss about? Isn't the room next to Oliver empty? I'll live in that bedroom."

But there is someone living next door to Oliver's room.

Oliver called the maid, "Who lives in this bedroom?"

"It's Madam's niece, Miss Mia."

Oliver frowned, "I've never heard of Miss Mia. Move her things away, Miss Alice wants to live here." Obviously there are other bedrooms on the second floor, why is it called Mia to live next door to him, it is simply bad intentions .

Alice added: "Move to the furthest guest room."

"I'm going to talk to my father."

"What did you tell him? He sure doesn't know about these little things. All she can do is these little things. We can't live here for a few days, so don't worry about it."

"I don't want you to be wronged."

"Wronged? Mrs. Austin hasn't let me be wronged yet. She's not my real mother. Why should I put up with her?"

"And that Mia may also make you feel wronged."

"You really underestimate me. When you used to play with me, none of you dared to make me angry."

He pursed his lips and smiled, "I don't dare, you can whip someone with a whip, Ivo...I'm afraid you can whip him."

Unexpectedly, Mia was a very slender and delicate girl, who somehow made the baron very happy. When eating dinner in the evening, Mia sat on the left side of the baron, where Alice used to be.

Julian and Maria were still living at Gordon's house, and Alice sat next to Oliver.

The Baron asked about Oliver's condition. He can see more than just a cloud of shadows. It can be said that he recovered very quickly. It is roughly equivalent to a person with 6 to 700 degrees of myopia without glasses. He can distinguish colors, distances, and men and women. , Eating is basically the same as normal people, no special care is needed.

The Baron was relieved.

But when Oliver said that he was still planning to return to the Spanish front, the baron became angry, "You almost lost your sight this time, isn't that enough? You want to be a general, but you must first save your life!"

Mia said softly: "Don't be so angry, MyLord, Master Oliver just wants to make a career. You see, he is very brave and lucky. After all, the battle in Badajoz was very cruel, and he came back alive." That's fine."

"It was that battle that terrified me, Oliver, you are the eldest son, you have to consider the family, you can't be willful."

"You still have Julian."

The baron slapped the table angrily: "Can it be the same?!"

Everyone put down their knives and forks.

"Julian will be very sad to hear you say that." Oliver was still very calm.

"You are responsible for this family, you can't do whatever you want."

"I want to be myself, father, we talked about it."

"You have practiced your ideals, now it is time to listen to your father," said Mrs. Caroline.

The baron stood up. "This is a conversation between me and my son."

Lady Caroline immediately shut her mouth tightly.

"Oliver."

Oliver stood up.

"Alice, you come too."

Alice had no choice but to stand up.

"I thought you would persuade him not to go to Spain again." The baron said to Alice reproachfully.

Wronged. "He can decide for himself what kind of life he wants, and no one can use love or family to force him to change his mind."

The baron glared at her angrily: "So you can watch him die?"

"Father! Why are you angry with Alice?"

"Oliver won't die, he promised me." Alice lowered her head.

"But that damned Wesley will let him continue to lead the charge! This damned guy! Why doesn't he charge up himself!" The baron began to curse the Earl of Wellington.

Think about it, two major generals were killed in the battle of the Iberian Peninsula, which is indeed extremely risky.If a man wants to gain military exploits, military ranks and titles, he has to fight with his life.What the baron couldn't understand was that Oliver was obviously the eldest son, and he would definitely have a title in the future. He didn't understand why his son had to go to the battlefield to fight his life.

"You have to wait until your eyesight is fully restored, right?" the baron cursed, but compromised with his son, "I hired a few mercenaries for you, and they will protect you. Don't think those officers don't bring mercenaries , Those guys who died are too unlucky, you can't be one of those unlucky ones."

He complained, "That guy Evelyn, who was transferred to Wesley for you, would fight with me every time we met, saying that I wasn't good enough for you, and drove you away in anger."

When Uncle Evelyn spoke of the Baron as a "fool", Alice would not be surprised if they met and quarreled or even fought.

This situation is mostly due to Mrs. Gemma's early death. Gemma's father has no son, so he must choose a nephew who has a good relationship with his only daughter to inherit the title. Maybe Evelyn grew up with Gemma, just like She and Oliver.

"Before you go to Spain, I want you to be engaged to Alice."

"Father, I'm not—not ready to get engaged."

"What do you mean?" The baron frowned puzzledly, "You have been with Alice for so long, if you don't get engaged to her, it will be bad for both of you. Get engaged first, and then get married after you come back from Spain." , so people don't gossip about her, and if you die in Spain, she'll be an unmarried woman."

This baron, there is no one to talk to.They didn't treat Alice as an "outsider". The three of them talked about their engagement strangely. None of the father and son felt that there was anything wrong with discussing the engagement in front of her.

"I'm going to Malta with Alice for vacation in a week, and we'll talk about it when we get back from vacation."

"After you two get engaged, choose a house by yourself. You can live anywhere you want. Alice wants to live in London, right? All right, the house in London will be given to you. There are also some lands, which will be handed over after you get engaged. Take care of Alice. I heard that you have a lot of land in your hands. You are a clever girl, and land is valuable at any time."

"It's too early to say, father, and don't frighten her."

"Okay, you guys go out first." The baron waved his hands, "Julian will come back tomorrow morning, you guys sort out Gemma's things, and take what you want to take to London. The jewels left by Gemma are kept in Old Tracy There, you can ask her for it." Old Tracy is Oliver's old nanny, a servant brought by Gemma from her natal family.

Oliver took Alice out of the study, but unexpectedly saw Mia waiting outside the study door. Seeing them coming out, he smiled and nodded at them, and then entered the study.

Alice was a little surprised, "This Mia—"

"She's a bit strange, you can ask Tracy later."

Trish, the old nanny, lived in a small two-story building next to the main house.

"Miss Mia," Tracy said with a bit of sarcasm about the word "Miss", "she came here a few days after you left, she knows how to be pleasing, and she is more pleasing than her 'aunt'. "

"You mean, they might not be aunts and nieces?" Alice asked sharply.

"That woman has lived here for several years, and her daughter was sent away, but a beautiful niece suddenly appeared, don't you think there is a problem?" Tracy said.

"There is indeed a problem. Ah, the baroness also let Mia live next to Oliver."

Tracy was quite disdainful, "That woman is so bad! There are many guest rooms on the second floor, but let Mia live in the room next to you, it's really shameless!"

Alice nodded, "If Oliver comes back alone and lives next door to Mia, I will be angry if I know; I will come back with Oliver and see her occupying the room next to Oliver, and I will still be angry. In short, whether I come back together Everyone will be angry.” It’s really disgusting!Just to annoy her.It seems that Mrs. Caroline felt that directly targeting Oliver was not effective, and she could not do anything to him, so she tried to disgust her, wanted her to retreat, or fell into the trap, mistakenly thinking that Oliver had slept with Mia, I ran away angrily.

Ah, damn it!

Old Trish was already talking about how much she liked having the servants move Mia's things to the farthest room.Alice is the next Mistress, and only she can take on the Baroness.Speaking of this, Alice suddenly felt that something was wrong: Mrs. Caroline didn't cry to the baron about Mia's moving room?

Old Tracy took out three carved wooden boxes from the safe, and placed them on the table one by one, "Here, take it, Miss Gemma said, I can give it to you after you get engaged. If you don't get married , then leave it to Master Julian. Julian is a little bastard, and I don't want to give it to him."

Oliver laughed, "Julian is also a mother's child."

"He is not good. He has been bad since he was a child. Only you, my baby, my young master, you are the most like Miss Gemma." Old Tracy began to wipe away tears.

"Nanny, thank you for being with my mother and me."

Three carved wooden boxes were placed on the table one by one. The lids of the boxes were opened, and there was a large candlestick next to it. The candlelight shone on the wooden boxes, and the jewels inside shone brightly.

A plain white cotton gauze was spread on the other side of the table. Alice was in a nightgown and was fiddling with jewelry in front of the table.

Mrs. Gemma probably brought all the jewels of her natal family, except for the ones that were in the warehouse before. There is another list for the jewels in Old Tracy's hand, and she is counting the jewels according to the list.

"Let's see tomorrow." Oliver couldn't understand why women love these shiny jewels, even Alice is not immune.

"Let me check if there is anything missing." At the bottom of the list is the seal of the Devereux family, and some pieces of jewelry are marked with who they were given to in beautiful fonts. "Is this Mrs. Gemma's handwriting?"

Oliver came over and looked at the list, "Yes, it's her handwriting."

"She gave old Trish two rings."

"That's as it should be."

She picked out a pearl brooch from the wooden box, "You give this to her tomorrow."

"No, you give it to her."

She smiled at him, "OK."

She placed all the jewelry in the three wooden boxes on the cotton gauze, picked some and put them in a wooden box, "Give these to Julian."

Oliver couldn't see what was there, so he said, "Keep the best, and just give him a few of them."

"He'll ask to see the list."

"Don't worry about him, he will make a fuss no matter what you give him. If that's the case, there's no need to share it with him."

"Let's do this for now, and I'll have a look at it tomorrow." She yawned.

"Go to bed." He pulled her to the bed.

She quickly got into bed and got under the covers.

He lay beside her, hugged her, and sighed contentedly, "I really hope that every day from now on, I can hug you to sleep like this."

Julian rode back the next morning. When he saw Olis first teased Mia for living in the room next to him, he laughed non-stop when he learned that Alice had ordered Mia's things to be removed.

"I knew you wouldn't tolerate this kind of thing."

"Why should I put up with it? If you annoy me, I don't have to put up with you."

Julian feigned fear, "I dare not make you angry." He took the dinner plate, took some food, and sat down to breakfast. "Well, where's the Baroness?"

"Take Mia out for a walk." Alice replied.

"Where's father? Riding a horse?"

"Seems to be."

"Are you here as a permanent resident? By the way, Oliver, are your eyes getting better?"

"It's about to heal, and it will be cured in about a month. I'm looking for you to come back. Alice and I will live in London in the future. We should take an inventory of mother's property and relics."

Julian was slightly taken aback, and then said, "It's time to take stock."

It is said that it is divided into inheritance, most of which are book property.Gemma brought an income of 4000 pounds a year from the house and land, half of which had been given to the brothers after they turned 18. This time, Oliver took the land near Wokingham , the real estate was not wanted, and it was all given to Julian;

Two sets of silver cutlery, one for each person;

Some antique ornaments, both of them picked some at random;

Some consumable properties, such as the carriages, horses, porcelain tableware, furniture, etc. brought in, are already incalculable and cannot be divided from the manor, so forget them;

4 pounds in cash, this is simple, just divide it equally;

Finally, there was jewelry, and Julian muttered that there were too few, and he had to look at the list.

Alice showed him Kate's re-copied list, and he asked to see the original list.

"No, it's been decades, where's the original list?"

"I don't believe it." Julian curled his lips. "Father said that mother has a lot of jewelry. What about the set of sapphire jewelry on her portrait?"

"I stayed."

"Maria wants that too," he yelled.

"Don't think about it. I gave you a set of ruby ​​jewellery. Rubies are more suitable for Maria. I will give you a necklace and a bracelet, and you can't ask for more."

"Greedy man!" Julian stared.

"If Maria gives birth to a girl, I will give her two more jewelry. If she gives birth to a boy, I'm sorry, but I won't give any of them."

Julian glared at her again.

After the distribution was over, Julian asked the servants to move the things he had distributed to his storeroom. He took the jewelry with him, and hurried back to Gordon's house without lunch.

In the afternoon, Ivo Gordon came to visit Oliver and Alice.

Alice was surprised, "Ivo! When did you come back?"

"It's been half a month." He smiled, "Oliver, Julian said your eyes are almost healed."

"Yes. Are you here to congratulate me?"

"That's it."

"I will hold a dance on the weekend. Alice and I are engaged. You are welcome to come to our engagement dance."

Alice hadn't heard of this and looked at him in surprise.

Ivo glanced at her, "Alice, is this true?"

She hesitated, then nodded.

Ivo's face turned pale all of a sudden, "Then this is another thing worthy of congratulations." He left in a hurry and galloped away on horseback.

As soon as he got on the horse, he couldn't hold back his tears. He whipped his whip hard and galloped away.

This area is where they played wildly since they were young, and they have been left in almost every wood and every lawn.In the summer, there are many wild flowers in the fields, as well as alfalfa.He once kissed her in the woods and fields, and he clearly remembered what her lips tasted like, what she smelled like, those beautiful memories were the most precious memories in his life, and now, she belonged to another man.