little miss austin

Chapter 3 Pride and Tsundere

She thought it was not surprising, almost all of Jane's knowledge was obtained from books, she was not old enough to experience the world, and she had not experienced any setbacks; An honest and kind man, smoothly engaged, sweetly waiting to be married, and has no idea of ​​the sinister heart.

The older sisters were relatively naive, but Henry, who had been at Oxford for several years, was not a naive baby, and neither was Tom.

Alice listened for a long time. Tom studied at Trinity College in Dublin, which is half an England plus a strait away from Oxford University. Both of them graduated two years ago. Then Tom went to London to join his uncle, MP Benjamin Langlois, Mr. Langlois sponsored him to study "barrister" courses in London.

Alice asked, "Isn't it a Lawyer?"

"No, that's different. Lawyer is a general term, but there are differences." Tom Lefroy explained to her the difference between "Barrister" and "Solicitor".

"Oh, I see," Alice summed up while listening to the terminology explanation, "Solicitor is more of a lawyer-to-client, and a client can be an individual, a family, or a company with an entity, such as Textile mills. Barrister is more about government affairs, such as revision and interpretation of legal provisions, legal research, and has the opportunity to become a justice in the future."

Tom was a little surprised that her understanding was almost completely correct, and nodded with a smile, "That's about it."

Alice pondered, this is probably the difference between private lawyers and district attorneys. Barristers are employed as government servants, famous and profitable. Of course, it is relatively difficult to obtain a practicing license; ordinary practicing lawyers can only have money.

Tom Lefroy was a likable fellow, and he was only 23 days younger than Jane Austen, which was almost negligible.His visit at the Austen's was a complete success, and everyone, except Jane, was very pleased with him.

Tom's gift to Alice is a pair of exquisite glass ponies, and the eyes of the ponies are a pair of small aquamarines.As a gift for a 6-year-old's first meeting, it is actually a bit too expensive.Alice wondered if this was a tactful apology to Jane?

The Austin family kept the guests for lunch before leaving, and the lunch was as decent as possible, using some ingredients brought back from the Goethe Musham estate.Tom may not have expected that the pastor's family in the country of Steventon could have very good food, and he said that it was all the food he liked very much, and the guests and hostess enjoyed it.

But the fly in the ointment was that Jane said she had a headache and didn't come down to eat.The mother was a little embarrassed, and quietly asked Alice to talk to the guests as much as possible-Cathy was already engaged, so it was not very good to talk to unmarried strange men.Only young little sisters are more suitable.

Alice asked him if there was any difference between London and Dublin, and if he liked London, and said that she was too young to have been to London.

Tom said naturally: "I want to stay in Ash until the end of January, and Henry will go back to London with me. If your parents allow, you can go with Henry."

Hey, that's a good idea!Alice's eyes lit up, and she looked at Henry first.

Henry nodded with a smile, "As long as my mother is willing to take you away from home, I can take you with me."

Mom was a little overwhelmed by the sudden development of the topic, "You're too young."

"In a few days, I will be 6 years old. Jane was just over 7 years old when she first traveled abroad, and I am not much younger than her at that time."

Mother had to look at her husband.

Pastor George was a little surprised at Tom's suggestion at first, but seeing how impressed his little daughter was, he thought it was a good suggestion.After all, Henry is here, and both London and Oxford have relatives, so it would be fine for Alice to live in relatives' homes.

"I think it's okay. Let Henry send her to Thomas's house in London. If you go to Oxford, you can let her stay at Lady Anna's house temporarily."

Alice couldn't help sighing secretly in her heart: the benefits of having more relatives in the family are really innumerable, and you can stay temporarily wherever you go.

So this question was so happily arranged.

Alice was happy in her heart, so she could use her energy to talk about the little princess.When talking, the important thing is to let the other party talk more, guide the topic appropriately, and say "and then" at the right time, so there is nothing that can't be talked about.

Tom felt that the proud girl had a fun and interesting little sister that day, and this family was really super interesting.To be able to raise a boy as interesting as Henry and a little girl as interesting as Alice.

Offended Jane Austen verbally that day, and Jane didn't even stay for dinner, and made an excuse to leave early.He regretted it before dinner time: it would be a bit harsh to say that he satirized a lovely-looking literary young woman, and no matter how much he despised country girls, Jane was ten times better than his cousin Lucy. doubled.

To say that Lucy, the uncle’s little cousin, is 15 years old, not as interesting as Alice, who is 6 years old. It can be seen that there are not necessarily boring girls with empty brains in the countryside, and well-educated parents may not be able to raise ladies. .He still respects his uncle and aunt, but his cousin Lucy makes him want to stay away from him.

After lunch, Pastor George, Henry and Tom played whist for more than an hour.

Alice went upstairs to take a nap, but before she reached her room, she was dragged away by Jane.

"Has that guy left yet?!" Jane was a little fierce.

"Who?" Alice asked deliberately.

"That Tom."

"Oh, he's playing cards with Papa and Henry."

Jane stomped her feet anxiously, "When will he--will he leave?"

"Leave when it's time to go. Oh, yes, he gave me a present. I think he might want to give it to you and apologize to you." Alice took out the box containing the glass pony from the room "Look, isn't it beautiful? It must be more than a pound. When I go to London, I'll have to ask how much it's worth."

Jian Yi pointed her finger on her forehead, "Little money fan! You know money all day long!"

He picked up the glass pony and looked at it, then put it back again, "Huh! He is so arrogant that he won't apologize to me. Besides, if he apologizes, I won't forgive him unless he apologizes to me personally!"

Alice closed the lid of the box, she was really curious, "What did he say about you? You have been angry for several days."

Jane avoided answering, but instead asked her, "Are you going to London? Does mother allow you to travel far away?"

"Father agreed and said I could stay at Cousin Thomas's in London. Tom won't be back in London until the end of January, and Henry will take me and go with him."

Jane stomped her feet angrily again, "What? This annoying guy actually wants to stay until the end of January! Then I can't go to Mrs. Lefroy's house anymore."

Alice thought it was very strange, "If he upsets you, you should appear in front of him more often: You look down on me, but I just dangle in front of you when I have nothing to do, I like to see you dislike me the most, But I have to see my small appearance, and I will piss you off!"

Jane was taken aback, then laughed loudly, "You're right! Alice, you are really my cutest little sister!" As she said that, she bent down and gave her a "slap" kiss on the face.

Alice muttered: "It seems that you have many sisters, don't you have only one sister?"

Jane smiled and took two coins from the room and gave them to her, "Take it, my little money-lovers sister."

Alice happily accepted two 1 shilling coins.

When Alice got up and went downstairs after her afternoon nap, Tom, Henry, and Jane were not at home.

"Cathy, where are Jane and Henry?" She yawned and rubbed her eyes, asking Cathy who was ironing.

The iron at this time was an iron bowl with a wooden handle, and charcoal was put in it. Be careful when ironing clothes, as cotton cloth is easy to burn.

Cathy carefully moved the iron away, "They're going to Ash."

When it came to Ash, it was Mrs. Lefroy's.

"Jane didn't say she was going to Ash. I hope she remembers to bring me some books." Since she can't go out by herself, she usually either goes out with Jane, or asks Jane to bring some books for herself when she goes out to visit. look.

"She won't forget."

Alice asked anxiously: "Hasn't she been angry with Tom all the time? Why, can they stay in the same carriage with Tom? Will they still reach Ash safely?"

Cathy smiled and ruffled her hair, "You really know how to talk nonsense. Come on, let me comb your hair again." She took out a wooden comb from her apron pocket and let Alice sit on the wooden stool by the table , carefully recombed her hair and braided it.

"When is the Lefroy's ball?" Alice asked.

"It's just two days, it's almost Christmas, and there must be a dance before Christmas."

"I want to go too."

"You? You're not old enough to go to the ball. Besides, who are you going to dance with?" Cathy laughed.

"I haven't seen what a prom looks like, and I'm 6 years old!"

"You're only six years old in a week."

Alice pouted dissatisfied: I'm too young to be hurt!Can't do anything.

Austin’s house was too small, and there was no ballroom that could hold a ball. Only people with money to live in a big house could hold a ball. At the end of the 18th century, when entertainment was severely lacking, the ball was the most important social occasion for women.

Girls are strictly 16 years old to be eligible for social balls, so even Lucy Lefroy is now watching instead of dancing.Alice calculated that she still has 10 full years before she can formally participate in social activities, which is frighteningly long!

It's not that she wants to dance so much, it's just that country life is really boring!

When Jane was young, she played with many brothers and sisters. Cricket is a national sport in England. Except for George, all the boys in the Austin family are good cricket players. Cathy is gentle and quiet by nature and doesn’t like to play cricket. Lively Jane was a frequent visitor to the cricket field, and the Austin children and the Reverend George's students often organized cricket matches in the spring and summer.

When Alice arrived, her youngest brother, Charles, also went to the Naval Academy 3 years ago, and Henry was on duty in the Oxfordshire Militia all year round. No one at home taught her to play cricket, so there was no entertainment for no reason.

The author has something to say:

* There are differences between lawyers and barristers in Hong Kong dramas, but it is still slightly different from the British legal system.

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