little miss austin

In the evening they would sit on the terrace for a while. The temperature in December in Sicily is 12 to 10 degrees, and it is a bit cold at night, so they cannot stay outside for too long.They would set up a brass brazier with smokeless charcoal on the patio.But the activity of sitting on the terrace was thwarted on the second day: Alice's skirt fell into the brazier, lit, and she jumped up screaming, Oliver hurriedly took off his coat and slapped her burning skirt .

She was so frightened that she froze.

He carried her into the room, put her on the bed, lifted her skirt to check, "Does it hurt anywhere?"

The hem of the skirt was scorched black, and the lambskin indoor slippers were also burnt.I took off my slippers, but fortunately, my feet were not burned.Looking at the skirt again, the outer skirt and petticoat were burned, and there were drawers inside, and the drawers were blackened.He checked her feet and calves carefully to make sure there were no burns, so he was relieved.

"Okay, it's okay, only the skirt is burning. Take off the skirt." Unbutton the front button of the skirt for her.

She seemed to react suddenly, hugged him and sobbed, "Scared me to death!"

"Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. You're really not careful enough, though."

"I forgot the brazier."

"I forgot too."

"it was all your fault."

"Okay, it's all my fault." He patted her on the back, "Don't be afraid."

She has been hugging him all night, as if she was really frightened and vulnerable.

After receiving the custom-made glasses, Alice stayed in Sicily for another week. At the beginning of January 1813, Alice returned to Malta with Oliver and Dr. Kerstace.

As soon as they returned to the villa, the servant who stayed behind delivered Ivo's letter to Alice.

After opening the letter and reading it quickly, he said to Oliver, "Ivo has returned to England. Mr. Gordon is seriously ill."

Thinking about the underdeveloped medicine in this era, once you get seriously ill, you may have to wait for death.Ivo is the youngest child. Mr. Gordon is 70 years old this year, which is considered a long life in this era.

She went upstairs and wrote to Ivo, asking him how Mr. Gordon was doing.

Ivo's reply came from Winchester, saying that his father was seriously ill and that he might die soon.The reply letter was very brief, and finally asked her when she would return to China, and wrote to him before returning to China.

A second letter arrived soon after, saying that Mrs. Gordon had fallen down the stairs the other day and had broken her leg.He and his two sisters take turns taking care of their parents. Although there are servants on shift, they are still physically and mentally exhausted.

Both Alice and Oliver wrote to comfort him.

The Gordons did a terrible job of detaining Ivo, but they were pretty good "other people's parents" at other times, and they were also generous, like how Julian brought Maria to Faraday Manor. She lived there for several months, and did not go back to Newton Manor until Maria was about to give birth.

Maria gave birth to a boy in early January, and Newton Manor celebrated the birth of the young master. Baron Bondfield, who was promoted to grandfather, named the eldest grandson Isaac.Sure enough, Julian wrote a letter to announce the good news to his brother in a mean way, with a very aggressive tone.

Mrs. Austen wrote to say that Tom Lefroy's cousin, Benjamin Lefroy, who lived in the parish of Ash, had been visiting Anna Austen recently at Steventon parish.Benjamin is one and a half years younger than Alice. He is 1 years old this year, and less than two years older than Anna. He is of the right age and looks very handsome.His mother, Mrs. Lefroy, used to be Jane Austen's year-end friend. Mrs. Lefroy died in a carriage accident 21 years ago, and his father, George Lefroy, also died of illness 2 years ago. Now Ash's Lefroy The home was headed by Benjamin's eldest brother, John Henry George Lefroy.

Benjamin and Anna are also childhood sweethearts and grew up together.

Mrs. Austen had nothing against Benjamin, but if they were married, would Anna be called Aunt Jane, or cousin?Although this relationship is not a big deal, Tom and Benjamin are cousins ​​from the same grandfather, so the blood relationship is too close; Anna is the daughter of Jane's eldest brother, and the blood relationship is too close.

Alice received the letter and tried to remember what Lucy Lefroy's brother looked like.The members of the Lefroy family were all good-looking, handsome men and beautiful girls, and Benjamin was also a beautiful little boy, but she didn't like playing with children, so she didn't have a deep impression of Benjamin.

She wrote later to her mother and to her niece separately, and said to Mrs. Austen that, as long as Benjamin was faithful, she saw no need to hinder the two young men.

As for Anna, she asked her that she must be sure that she loves Benjamin before she can consider marriage. Marriage without love is terrible. As long as she and Benjamin truly love each other, little aunt will support her.

Anna wrote back happily and sadly, saying that Benjamin was the youngest son and had no family property. He had to save money for marriage, so he couldn't propose soon.

Alice wrote back, saying that Benjamin could go to London to find Tom and ask Tom what kind of occupation he thought would be better for him.Austin's family's company has a lot of business, and he doesn't have to worry about annual salary even if he is an ordinary salesman.Tom also has connections in the legal profession. If Benjamin is willing to study law, Alice can provide him with an interest-free student loan.At the end of the letter, she was asked not to reply any more, as she was about to return to China.

On the last day of February, Alice and Oliver boarded the passenger ship and returned to England.

Mrs. Austin was really frightened when she saw Simba, the African lion.

"You don't want to keep this lion here?" Mrs. Austin worried.

"Leave it for a few days for now. The house I live in is too small and there is no room for Simba. Don't worry, someone will take care of him. He needs to go for a walk, just put on a chain."

Mrs. Austin took the opportunity to say: "Then why don't you move back home. Didn't you reserve a small villa for yourself? You live in a small villa by yourself. If you want to come, you can come here anytime."

She shook her head, "I'm going to work in a few months, at least 4 days a week, it's too inconvenient to live at home."

Mrs. Austin was shocked, "Are you going out to work?! Is Henry's company bankrupt?! Are you out of money?"

"Mom, don't be so loud, I haven't told Oliver how much money I have." Oliver was in the next room, and Cathy was talking with him.

Mrs. Austin was shocked again, "Why didn't you tell him?"

She asked back: "Why should I tell him? He knows that I have an income of at least 2000 pounds a year, and that I have money to buy a house and land. He knows that I am rich, but he doesn't know the specific amount."

Mrs. Austin breathed a sigh of relief, "Has Master Oliver proposed to you?"

Alice held out her left hand to show her the ring on it.

Mrs. Austen immediately felt peaceful and joyful, "Great! I'm really worried that you're in trouble again and won't accept the marriage proposal. Okay, okay, I know, I won't urge you to get married, and you and Oliver can discuss the marriage by yourself. Even if you don't get married until you're 30, I won't urge you."

She said happily, "When Oliver inherits the title, then you will be the Baroness."

Alice felt that it was better not to break her mother's dream.

But she thought about work again, "Are you really going to work?"

"It's just downstairs from Henry's publishing house. Henry rented an office for me. I'll try it out for a year. If I don't make any money, forget it."

Mrs. Austin was relieved, "Don't be too tired, you are not in good health, so don't be tired."

"I know, Mom." She replied obediently.Mom is right to worry, no matter what you do, your body is the most important thing.She eats, drinks and sleeps well now, taking care of her body very carefully.

Stayed at home for one night and returned to Victoria Street in London the next day.

Cousin Anna has returned home to Oxfordshire with her adopted daughter Claire.Claire turned 16, old enough to enter the social circle.Cousin Anna doesn't want her adopted daughter to marry too far away, and her requirements are not high. The youngest son of a squire's family or a young parish priest can be fine. Claire will have a small dowry, enough for the young couple to live comfortably.

When Cousin Anna left, she kept the house clean and tidy, leaving almost no trace of their mother and daughter living here.

Oliver and Alice lived in Victoria Street for a few days, and then they moved to a house in Baker Street not far from the publishing house.

The house on Baker Street started to be refurbished before they left London. Basically, except for the outer walls and floors, the inner walls were demolished and rebuilt, all new wallpapers were installed, glass wall lamps were reinstalled in the bedrooms, and the beds and cabinets were all replaced. It was newly made to order and cost a few hundred pounds inside and out.

The advantage of being rich is that you don’t have to move things around. Except for manuscripts, materials, the typewriter you are used to, and pets, Alice took almost nothing from the house on Victoria Street.

The two spent a few days shopping around, buying a lot of clothes, shoes and hats.After that, Oliver went to report to the military department, and the military department asked him to go to the designated hospital for a physical examination to make sure that he was really healthy.

On this day, Oliver was busy until the evening before returning home.

The servants of the two are now combined, and in addition to their personal servants, there is also a cook, a kitchen maid, a kitchen handyman, two cleaning maids, two menservants doing chores, and a messenger who runs errands13 , 4-year-old boy, plus Jacob.The servants are divided into full-time and part-time work systems. The servants in the kitchen can leave work after finishing the dinner, and the cleaning maids leave work one hour later. The male servants live in the servant’s room on the first floor in turn at night, mainly guarding the door; the servants sleep under the stairs. Alice found that a growing boy could only sleep in such a small room, and told him to sleep upstairs in the attic.

They have two carriages, a box carriage and a four-wheeled single-side open carriage, which are parked on the street outside the door. The horses are pulled to the stable in the backyard to rest at night, and the coachman goes home at night and comes to work at 7 am.

The servants called the mistress confusingly, Jacob, Kate and Jessie called her "Miss Alice", and the other servants didn't know why they called her "Mrs. Bundfield". Neighbors explaining why the hostess and hostess live together and the hostess is still "Miss" instead of "Mrs" is so annoying.

Sidney was now her housekeeper, and she came to work during the day and returned to the flat in Victoria Street at night.

Jimmy, Oliver's former personal servant and orderly, has been living in Bundfield's London villa for the past few months. He is planning to start a small business.Jimmy quickly proposed to Kate, and quickly negotiated a wedding time, ready to get married next summer.Kate is 21 years old and will be 22 next year. This age is neither too early nor too late to get married, which is very appropriate.

Alice gave Kate the gift of 300 pounds that Kate had promised her, but asked her to keep the money well and not spend it lightly.

Kate has saved 50 pounds by herself, and she is already very good at saving money.

As for Sidney, 25, and Jacob, 27, there is no sign of getting married yet.

Alice doesn't like being a matchmaker for servants. She never thought of it, and she doesn't have that time. She just said the same thing to the three Jacob brothers and sisters. They can only consider getting married if they are sure that they really love each other. As long as they are engaged, she will give They were a gift, and she was not a stingy host.

Jacob is very popular among the several families who are acquainted with the Austin family. Many young maids like this young man who is strong in handling affairs, has a lot of savings, and is tall and strong, but Jacob can also be said to have accepted it. Well educated, he didn't want to look for a wife from maids of generally low culture.

The author has something to say: *The relationship between the Lefroy family, in fact, the uncle Langlois in the movie "Becoming Jane" should be the uncle. Tom Lefroy's grandmother is named Langlois, and Tom's Mother's last name is Gardner.Tom's father Anthony is the elder brother, and Benjamin's father George is the younger brother.Benjamin's mother, Anne, was born Bridges, so it is possible that Anne was related to Jane's mother's grandmother, Bridges.Tom and Benjamin are cousins ​​from the same grandfather.

Although Jane did not marry Tom Lefroy in real history, her niece Anna married Tom's cousin Benjamin, and Anna's eldest daughter Jemima married Tom's younger brother Anthony's son Thomas, and they still have a very close relationship .