little miss austin

After dinner, Henry and Jane went home.

Jane was obviously in a much better mood, and a little smug.She came back with two books for Alice, both gothic adventure novels, not about romance.

Mother Cassandra and eldest sister Cathy were checking their prom dresses after dinner in the evening. In the afternoon, Lefroy's family sent invitations to the prom, and the time was set for the night after tomorrow.

Beautiful skirts are one of the eternal topics of women. The Austin sisters always attend more than a dozen balls a year, but they can’t be like rich girls. They have new dance skirts to wear every time, probably two or three in spring. , two or three in autumn, the number depends on the prices of cotton, satin and lace in that year.These few skirts are not enough, but the wisdom of the masses is infinite.

Now Mommy is removing the lace from the dress, picking out new lace that will fit, and choosing the right trim.For example, a two-color satin bow can be nailed to the front waist, which will be very playful and draw people's attention to the bow, forgetting that this skirt has been worn at the previous ball.

There are also some small jewelry that the fifth brother Francis brought back home last time.Francis is 21 years old this year. He went to the Naval Academy at the age of 12 and is now a lieutenant officer on a certain naval ship.At the beginning of this year, his warship just carried out the task of escorting Princess Caroline to the UK.Princess Caroline is the fiancée of George, Prince of Wales, and married Prince George shortly after arriving in London.Francis received a reward for this, and some small presents from the princess.

He came home briefly in the spring to deposit allowances and rewards with his parents, and small presents for his sisters, and even little sister Alice was given a dainty pearl necklace.

Alice is not quite sure how much allowance a naval officer can get, but judging from what her mother occasionally leaked, it is still quite a lot, and there may be some gray income.Pastor George will help him save this money so that he can have money to marry a lady with a dowry in the future.

Alice thought to herself, you have considered the future marriage for your son. Have you considered that Jane may not be able to get married without enough dowry?

Cathy is already engaged, and the other party is a pastor. As long as you get a good parish, you can support your wife and children, so don't worry about her.

Jane, obviously, has a learning that a country girl should not have, and an overly lively disposition, and she may not be content with the quiet life of a country parson's wife like Cathy.

As for herself, well, she didn't think about her marriage at all.It's too early, isn't it?

Francis is a very lively young man, very smart. Except for the older brother James and the older sister Cathy who are a little mediocre, the children of the Austin family are all very smart and lively children (George is not smart but very lively).Francis' nickname is "Fly", which sounds like a very lively boy.

During the short week at home, Francis spent a lot of time with the little sister who was born after he left home, because it was spring, took her to play in the fields around Steventon, taught her French, He also told her a lot about sea voyages, of course, all of which were interesting things.

Mum and her sisters were sewing new lace for the ball dress, and Alice asked if she could come so she could stay with Lucy.

Mother didn't want her to go, but Jane said, what was she doing home alone?The maid was going home at night, she didn't live in Austin's house, and she would be afraid if there was no one at home.In the old days, when the whole family went out for a visit or a ball, it was usual for Alice to go to the maid's house for a few hours, and then bring her home when they came back.But the maid's house is very boring. To save money, it is impossible to light candles for her all the time. The black lights are out of order. Should she be forced to listen to the maid and her husband all the time?

A few months ago, she seemed to be ignorant and told her mother about the strange voice at the maid's house. After that, Pastor George stopped letting her stay at the maid's house at night.

Cathy also said that Alice could go with Lucy, she should have some female companions of the right age.

Jane snickered immediately.

15-year-old Lucy is a big kid, which Alice already knew in the usual correspondence.

For example, Lucy first wrote to tell her that Henry and Tom Lefroy were good friends.

In Lucy's letters, there were three sentences about Cousin Tom, and she thought he was very handsome, funny and personable, which made her feel like a deer in her heart.Of course, Lucy would not directly say to Alice, I like Tom very much, but the intention between the lines is almost ready to come out.

It is probably a kind of girlish feeling for a young girl who just knows what "love" is for a handsome young man of the same age, and Alice can completely understand it.

In England, there is no rule of "no marriage with the same surname", and it doesn't matter if the seniority is different, as long as both parties are willing or unwilling, as long as the family background is similar.

Mr. Lefroy is not very rich, but he can earn about 800 pounds a year. In Ash parish, he is considered a land rich man. Alice heard her mother say that if Lucy is going to get married, An annuity of about 300 pounds a year can be obtained. If the man can have a similar annuity of 400 to 600 pounds, it will be very generous for a young couple.

Alice did some calculations, which means that the combined annual income of the two of them is 1000 pounds, and they can live well in small towns and villages, but in London, they will be relatively tight; but if they have real estate in London, 1000 pounds It's okay to live on a pound, and it can be regarded as the middle class.

So about 1000 pounds is a watershed.

Alice was wondering how she could save up to £1000.As for the reason for saving enough 1000 pounds, she thinks that maybe she can live a more comfortable life.

A few years ago, my mother received a small amount of inheritance from a deceased natal uncle. This inheritance is a fixed amount of money. Alice doesn't know the exact amount. 3 daughters, gifted to them when they got married.According to Cathy, it must be at least 200 pounds.Alice thought, this is probably the mother's dowry. If there is a daughter, it will be left to the daughter, and if there is no daughter, it will be left to the son. 200 pounds is not a lot, it is the income of Pastor George for a year.

The new lace was half made, and the mother sent the girls to bed, and the rest of the work would be done tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Henry was going out early.

Alice called her brother to go with him.

Henry was a little embarrassed, "Tom and I are going to visit Countess Foyd."

Alice's eyes widened, "Eliza is my cousin, you can go, why can't I go?"

There was nothing wrong with it, so Henry had to take Alice out together.

The Austin family has a box carriage, and the horse that pulls the carriage needs to go to the field when it is not pulling the carriage, but it is winter now, and the horses have no work to do, so Henry always goes around in the carriage. They are lazy.

He has nothing to do at home, so his mother just let him run around freely, and the horse can also go to other people's houses to graze, and the family can save a little forage.Alice thought her mother was a very frugal housewife.

This is also forced by life. After all, most of the time, the Austin family needs to support 8 children at the same time.

Countess Eliza Foyd lives in nearby Lagrange Gardens.

Her mother was the elder sister of Reverend George, who later married a Frenchman, so she was half-English and half-English.She was married to a French count, but that poor Count Feud, a staunch royalist, lost his head in the great French Revolution.

Eliza returned to the UK long before her husband's arrest, when she was pregnant with her son, Hastings Louise de Fouyde, who was born in London and is nine years old, three years older than Alice.

Eliza liked her little cousin very much, and thought she was smart and cute.Hastings is also very fond of this too young aunt, every time she comes, he is willing to take her to play.

So, Eliza had a good time with Henry and Tom, and Alice had a good time with Hastings.

Hastings could speak French fluently, and he wanted to impress his little aunt, so he had to teach her.He can also play the piano. There is a very good grand piano in the living room of Lagrange Garden, and a teacher is specially invited to teach him.

"You should learn to play the piano," said the 9-year-old boy in a tone that is good at teaching. "Ladies in the upper class can play the piano, so that they will be more elegant."

Alice didn't want to pay attention to this little kid's theory, "My family has no money to buy a piano, and I don't have money to hire a piano teacher." In fact, there is an upright piano at home, but it has been a few years old, and I bought it when Cathy was very young. of.

"You can come to my house to learn and learn with me. I asked my mother, and it won't cost a lot of money." Hastings completely forgot that Austin had a piano at home.

"I still have to go to class with my father. Classes are more important."

Hastings thought for a while, "Mom may send me to your house to study next year, and then we can be together every day."

This is quite possible.Pastor George's teaching quality is very good, and Eliza will rest assured that her uncle will educate her children.

"Dad is very strict in class. If you can't answer your questions, Dad will slap your palm." She threatened Hastings.

The boy is very confident, "Mr. Hastings said that I have learned very well, and I know more than those 11 or 2-year-old children. By the way, after Christmas, you will go to Mr. Hastings' house?"

"Where does Mr. Hastings live?"

Henry Austin on the side replied: "In Gloucestershire, Daylesford, just next to Oxfordshire. When you go to Oxfordshire with me, I can take you to visit Mr. Hastings."

The author has something to say:

*However, in BecomingJane, the Austin family’s economy is a bit wrong. The Austin family is definitely not poor. Don’t forget, it’s all said in the movie. Jane often attends the neighbor’s dance. It was the same dress for the last ball, although I haven’t found the price in 20, but at that time the Jenny loom was out, and the price of cotton textiles began to fall. Jane and Cassandra made a few home skirts for dancing a year The skirt is definitely still affordable.

*Pastor George’s annual income in those years was 200 pounds, including parish income and teachers’ income. Around 1750, 840 pounds was equivalent to about 2005 pounds in 10, and 200 pounds was equivalent to more than 2 pounds now. Chickens and pigs were raised in the countryside I am self-sufficient in growing vegetables, and I can live comfortably with 200 pounds.At that time, all the boys in the family except George had jobs, and they only needed to raise one son and two daughters. How could they be considered poor?