little miss austin

In terms of economy, it is still very ideal. A rough calculation can cost more than 1 pounds, which is enough to build a house.Pastor George was a little uneasy, feeling that the children had to pay for it after all, and this should be his own business, and the children should not be asked to pay.

But Alice said: "I will live at home for several years. Besides, I have money now, but I have no place to spend it. Isn't it good to use it to build a house?" Although women have no property rights, including real estate rights, after the death of their father, Mom could keep her father's estate; if Mom died, Kathy could keep the house.The law is relatively advanced in protecting the property rights of widows. After all, rich people will want to arrange the future of their wives and children after their death-except for limited inheritance laws.

She also said: "The money you earn is used to spend it, and the money is used up, you can earn it again. The company's business is doing well now, and we will set up a family trust fund in the future so that George and Cathy don't have to worry about living expenses in the future. The problem."

The move was a big deal, and all the nearby family members, including Eliza, Tom, brother James, and sister-in-law Martha, were back for meetings.As a lawyer, Tom thinks it is very good to set up a family trust fund, so that George, who is the most concerned, can be arranged. As for Cathy, he thinks it is possible for Cathy to get married in the future; Eliza also thinks the family trust fund is very good, she The relationship with the cousins ​​is very good, but there is no reason to use her own money to fill it in. Now that Henry has a considerable annual income, she can accept a little money to put in the trust fund; Martha is even more No objection, James said frankly that he may not be able to spend much money to build the house, but he can put some money into the trust fund every year.

Henry said that he needs to discuss with Tom the beneficiaries and benefit methods of the trust fund. In the future, the children of brothers and sisters may be covered. It is best to ensure that boys can have money to receive higher education, and girls can have a dowry. It would be better not to be unable to get married because of money issues, and no one would object to this.

Pastor George said that they would put the living expenses they saved for George into it, and the trust fund would take care of George's death, and the same was true for Cathy, as long as the future of the two children was arranged, he would be at ease.

The specifics are left to be agreed later, and then the trust is set up and suitable co-trustees are found.

Now that the specific time for the move has been set, after the new year, Pastor George wrote a letter to Edward in Kent, saying that he will officially retire in early July, and the Diocese of Steventon will be handed over to James, who will first go to Bath for a year. Or one and a half years, depending on his physical condition, after which he will move to the suburbs of London to take care of himself.

Edward quickly wrote back, saying that he would follow his father's arrangements for the teaching position; if he went to Bath, the Maxwell Garden he rented last time was very good, small, comfortable and exquisite, and the location was suitable. A few minutes' walk away was a hot spring bath, and he could now Just write to book.

Jane and her mother had been to Maxwell Gardens, agreed that it was a good place, and hurriedly wrote back to let Edward write to make reservations.

The timeline enters the year 1800.

It doesn't seem to be any different from 17xx.

The countryside in England is still so slow, and it is still very cold in January. Alice doesn't go out often. If the weather is fine, she will play with brother George in the field behind the house.

Mother didn't want to let her go for a wild run, but always wanted her to learn how to do needlework at home. Now that Alice is a few years older, she should also learn how to be a female star. Girls must learn.Needless to say, Cathy, female celebrities are very good, even Jane, she is also very good at embroidery.Jane made Tom an embroidered pencil case, and Tom used it carefully.

Alice likes to do some small handicrafts, but she is not willing to learn embroidery, and always feels that it is a waste of time.She made herself a few small tweed bags, decorated with flowers made of cotton or silk cloth, or cut out petals from the cloth and nailed them to the tweed, which was also a lazy way.When going out to play, he carried a small tweed bag on his back, which contained a handkerchief, a small notebook, a pencil, and a few biscuits. George was responsible for carrying the water bottle, and the two brothers and sisters had fun in the fields.

My mother didn't hire a maid for Alice, but she hired a young girl from the village to accompany her. She was four years older than Alice, so she wasn't too young to take care of her.

But the dirt in the field is inherently uneven, and she is always running around, no matter how careful she is, she will inevitably get caught. What's more, she is not careful at all, and she fell into the pit after a few days in the wild and sprained her ankle.

At that time, the pain caused her to scream "Aw".

The accompanying girl didn't see the pit, but when she saw her step into the pit, she screamed and was startled, so she quickly pulled her up.

Alice, weeping with pain, told the girl to go and get George back.I sat down on the withered grass by the side of the road, lifted up my skirt, and took off my shoes and socks. My ankles were already swollen rapidly, and I couldn't touch them. They hurt like hell.

The girl retrieves George, and Alice asks him to carry her on his back and take her home.

Seeing that George was carrying her back, her mother first scolded her for running around for nothing, and then hurriedly asked George to put her on the sofa in the living room, lift her legs, and put her on the wooden bench.

Alice was screaming and hurting, and Cathy went to the cellar to get some ice cubes, wrapped them in sackcloth, and gave her a cold compress.

Mother nagging, "See if you still go out and run around in the future!"

"It's all because of that pit! Why did you stop where I was going!"

Cathy was overjoyed, "Yes, that pit is bad!"

Jane and Tom had returned to London, and Henry and Eliza had gone to London together, and now Charles was the only one in the family, so they took the family carriage to Basingstoke, and a doctor came back the next day to look at her leg. .The doctor confirmed that there was no fracture, applied a layer of herbal paste on her ankle, wrapped it in a bandage, and told her not to go down to the ground, and stay safe for two weeks, and he will come back for a checkup in two weeks.

Alice suffered a natural disaster and was forced to be honest at home for at least two weeks, so she obediently picked up a needle and thread and learned to do some needlework.

Wesley and William came to visit her when they learned that she had sprained her ankle.

"Oh! You are actually embroidering!" William said in a fuss.

"Yeah, I'm a lady, of course I can embroider." Alice sat there in a gentle manner, fiddling with fabrics, needles and threads in her hands.

"Let me see, what have you embroidered?" William stretched his neck.

"Don't show it." Alice casually inserted the needle into the fabric and put it in the sewing basket.

William muttered, "How petty!" But he didn't really want to read it, and a few seconds later he said cheerfully: "I know you can't go out, so I brought you some books, you-you don't do it. While sewing, you can read a book for entertainment. Or, shall we play cards? Can you play whist, Shuanglu?"

So the four of them—with Charles—played whist for two hours. First, William and Wesley were in a team, and the Austin brothers and sisters were in a team. After two rounds, the guards and Charles changed and became Alice and Wesley. One group, William and Charles.William and Alice are at the same level, belonging to the high-level group. Wesley and Charles are actually at the same level, slightly lower, but not too far behind. There is not much difference between the two groups.

After two more games, William wanted to play with Alice, but Charles overruled it.

"If you two are playing outside, I'll let you two be a team, and you will definitely beat most people, but now, no." Charles was surprised that Alice played well, wondering what she had learned in London .There are quite a few ladies who can play whist, but most of them are of average level, even if they play well, they usually don't play whist with men.

Men are competitive and want to win at poker, and William always wants to win, he always wants to be the best, especially when it comes to having fun.The reason why Wesley was replaced was to find out that he was secretly releasing water to let Alice win.Charles would not deliberately give in to his little sister, but he didn't cooperate well with William, so he won one game and lost another.

William had no choice but to say with some regret: "Forget it, or, when there is a chance, you and I go to my brother's house, and we can try to get some money from Benny."

This is to partner with his brother's money.

"Do you gamble?"

"What's the point of not gambling? Don't worry, he is very rich and loves to play cards. I always think he is very smart and plays cards very well."

Alice raised a finger to her lips, "Shhh—"

William understood immediately: Pastor George was an upstanding church official and would not approve of gambling.

He immediately changed the subject with a smile, showed her the book, and told her about some of the scenery written in the book from time to time, saying that he had to see it with his own eyes. He also talked about a heroine in the novel. Although a girl's beauty is the focus of the first impression, if she doesn't have the wisdom to match her beauty, it's useless.

"Your requirements for women are too high!" Alice exclaimed.

"Is the requirement high? Indeed, a lady needs to study music, art, singing, female celebrity, literature, and it is best to know some historical allusions. I don't want to be proficient, but at least I have to know a little bit, and I can't say what I mentioned. , but she can't understand it at all, so no matter how beautiful your face is, it won't make me more interested."

"I thought it was enough for a girl to be beautiful, for you."

"You really underestimate me!" William was very unconvinced. "Beautiful girls are everywhere, but interesting girls are hard to find. Originally, Jane can be said to be—" He stopped suddenly: Jane Already married, it was inappropriate for him to mention Jane in front of her younger siblings.

A little embarrassing, "In short, what I mean is that a 'real' lady should be both beautiful and intelligent, so that she can be a good companion in life. In fact, men are also very hard. You see, we have to learn a lot when we are young. Knowledge and skills, regardless of whether these things are useful or not. We also have to bear the responsibility of supporting our wives and children. If I don’t have enough annuity, I will not consider getting married. Why let a beautiful and intelligent girl live with me? How about a life of poverty without a dozen servants?"

Alice almost burst out: life without more than a dozen servants is a life of poverty!This person's standards are really different.According to his standards, the Austin family is poor, because there are only three servants and maids, and the mother and sisters have to do some housework by themselves.

Wesley has been talking to Charles, and they have known each other since they were teenagers. Charles is now a naval officer, and he is well-informed. Wesley asked him about things on the warship and the customs of some countries.Charles believes that most of Asia is a barren land, which is incomparable with Europe and England in the civilized world, and there is nowhere better than England.However, some places in Asia are really rich in products. The British East India Company relied on import and export trade, but it started with millions of pounds a year.

When it comes to going to North America, it is best to go there with a merchant ship. Usually several merchant ships set sail together, and sometimes there will be escort warships. Safety is guaranteed, and they will have the power to fight back when encountering pirates.There is no way to predict the possible danger of sea storms in advance, but man-made disasters can be avoided as much as possible.

Seeing that they had been staying for a long time, Cathy came to ask Alice to go upstairs to rest, and Wesley and William got up to leave.

William and Wesley visited Alice a few more times, each time showing her a book.When Alice could finally walk, they went back to Oxford University.

Charles also left home in early February, boarded a ship from the Naval Port in Southampton, and went to sea again.

Pastor George started busy moving, took Alice to London several times, found a real estate agent to find a suitable house or land, and finally saw a piece of land at the end of April, about an hour away from the Austin factory by carriage. Here it is, not far away.

The land is quite large, with a large piece of wasteland and a small piece of woods. There used to be a small house, but the original owner was too lazy to take care of it, so the small house collapsed and looked dilapidated.

After signing the land purchase contract and completing the formalities, the total cost was less than 2500 pounds, which is considered very cheap.

After I bought the land, I quickly hired workers to start work. I completely knocked down the small house, cleared the stones, and sorted out the land where the house was planned to be built. At the same time, I hired an architect to design the house. During the period of one month, Alice asked someone to use wooden stakes to mark the boundary of the land, and went to the city hall to check which properties were around. Some of the land was owned, and some were unowned. Alice spent very little With some money, those unowned lands were also bought.

Pastor George thinks that the land is enough, but it is quite tiring to organize the wasteland into fields, and he is not sure whether the land is suitable for growing crops.

"There is no land that is not suitable for planting. Potatoes, corn, and peanuts are not too picky. They are all easy to grow." Alice pointed on the map, "This will be our new home, and there will be If there is a garden, there is no need for a garden. This side is a stable and tool room, and this side is a servant’s room. A few vegetable fields can be opened a little farther away. It’s good to hire people to plant vegetable fields, and it doesn’t need to be there all day In the vegetable field. Also, a swimming pool can be built in the backyard, and you can swim in summer.”

Now that we have such a large land, it is impossible not to build an outdoor swimming pool. If my mother didn't think the indoor swimming pool was too weird, she would still want an indoor swimming pool.

Jane also looked at the land together, and Tom found a familiar lawyer to complete the land purchase procedures.

Pastor George has been very busy these past few months. The church in Steventon Diocese originally had some fields, and he rented out 200 acres of land from Mr. Knight. Most of the income of the diocese comes from this way. When the year is good, they charge more land rent, and when the year is not good, they collect less land rent. He is kind and generous, and sometimes lends money to the villagers who cannot afford the medical expenses. The annual income of the family is not bad, but it is just a well-off, not well-off.

Now that he is about to resign, he is also planning to give up part of the land to his eldest son, James, who is about to take over, so he has to discuss with James how many acres to give him and how much to keep for himself, and then it will involve the issue of re-signing the lease. Busy until the end of April to finish this piece.

Edward has already rented the small garden in Bath and paid the deposit.The landlord wrote letters to Edward and Pastor George respectively, asking Pastor George to arrive on the agreed date. If the rent is not available, please notify at least 4 weeks in advance so that he can re-list the small garden for rent.

Pastor George wrote back and said he would arrive on time.

Mom is about to start busy packing things at home.All the furniture is left for the future hostess to dispose of; all the tableware is taken away, some of the commonly used tableware is taken to Bath, and the other part is packed into wooden crates and stored in the warehouse of the Austin factory; Good old clothes can be given to the villagers. After all, children grow up fast, and a piece of clothing will actually become small after wearing it for a few months. A considerable part of the clothes are still 8% new;

I don’t make much bacon this year, and it will be eaten in spring, so it won’t be wasted; I can’t take the chickens and pigeons I raised, so I ate a lot of extra meals in the past few months, and I even gave it to Jane in London a cage of pigeons; and Eliza got a cage of pigeons; there were no pigs this spring, and if Alice wanted a suckling pig, she bought one from the villagers;

The horses are needed, the farm horses are sold, the cart horses stay, and Alice’s Ramses also stays, but now it has been reduced to a cart horse;

There are also things left by the children at home, all packed and sent to the factory warehouse.The three girls have the most things and a lot of clothes and skirts, especially Alice. The new skirts made every year are not worn very much, so they are too small. Her skirts alone have packed at least 3 boxes, and the fabrics of her skirts are very Well, I couldn't give it to the villagers, so I picked a few for James' eldest daughter, Anna.

It's not that the mother is reluctant to leave it to her granddaughter, but her way of thinking is like this, "You should keep these skirts and save them for your children to wear in the future."

Alice was startled: Mom is thinking too far ahead!

"It's still early. Anna is only 3 years younger than me. She can definitely wear my skirt from 3 years ago."

"I want you to leave it for Cathy's daughter, but unfortunately, I won't be able to see Cathy's child." The mother glanced at the eldest daughter as she spoke.

Cathy pretended not to hear, and packed her things by herself.

When the mother is old, she desperately wants to give birth.Henry and Eliza still had no children, but she was very worried; Jane and Tom had been married for nine months, and Jane showed no signs of pregnancy, and mother was even more worried.

Jane was okay, she didn't really feel her mother's worry, and Henry and Eliza were almost suffering from anxiety attacks.

Alice accidentally saw Eliza's "recipe", which contained a lot of strange things, such as Spanish flies, oysters, pepper essential oil, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, pomegranate juice, and ordinary eggs and cream. Both internal and external use.When Alice realized that she was looking at a manuscript such as a encyclopedia of aphrodisiac drugs, she immediately put down the book and pretended that she hadn't read anything.

As for Cathy, her mother could accept her decision not to marry a few years ago, but Jane is already married at a young age, so my mother can't stand that Cathy has not changed her mind.She always wanted to take Cathy out to meet potential husband candidates, especially now that the family had some money, so she hoped that Cathy could also get married.Even if you can't find an unmarried man of the right age, it is not difficult to find an older widower with a small fortune.

My mother almost filtered all the possible men around Basingstoke, and she really asked her to pick out a few possible husband candidates. There was a retired major who was particularly favored by her. She was not too old, older than Cathy He is 6 years older and 32 years old this year. He is a cousin of Edward's wife Elizabeth. His surname is Bridges, and he is also related to the Lee family. He is a descendant of the Bridges family of his mother's great-grandmother.

Major Bridges' name was Robert. He was married once, but his wife died of dystocia during childbirth, and even his daughter didn't survive. Robert was saddened by the death of his wife and child, and once drank too much.

My mother is very satisfied with Robert. Apart from a little blood relationship with her, he also has an annuity of 1000 pounds, which is neither too much nor too little. Although he was married, fortunately he has no children, which is no different from being unmarried He is not tall, but he looks good. The only downside is that his hairline is a bit precarious, but this does not affect his masculinity.

Cathy had met Major Bridges a few times and had a good impression of him, but that was about it.

Alice has also met Major Bridges, and thinks it would be good for him to be the eldest brother-in-law, but Cathy is not interested in him, and she is not interested.Anyway, there are no men. In the future, when the family has money, there will be many men with good conditions who want to meet Cathy, so my mother doesn't have to be so anxious.

There was another child in the Goethe Musham Manor, and the third sister-in-law Elizabeth gave birth to her sixth child, her second daughter, also named Elizabeth.After receiving a letter from Edward, the mother's dissatisfaction reached its peak: Elizabeth is only a few months younger than Cathy, and she has already given birth to 6 children!

The author has something to say:

* Reverend George retired in May 1801 and took Mrs. Austen, Cathy and Jane to Bath.

*Brother Henry resigned from the Oxford militia in January 1801 and went to London to start a private bank with a few friends.

*Jane's needlework is very good, and Jane's former residence museum seems to have finished embroidery work done by her.

*For information about spice aphrodisiacs and increased chances of pregnancy, see "Spice Legend: A History Derived from Seduction".