little miss austin
Chapter 62
Grant was a little ashamed.He pursed his lips, quite displeased, "Alice—" Just as he was about to say something, Francis came in from the outside and quickly walked through the porch to the living room, "Alice."
Grant immediately shut up, and then saluted Alice, "Then I'll go first."
Alice curtseyed back and said nothing.
Francis watched Grant leave the living room, then frowned and said, "Why do you seem unhappy? Where's Cathy? She should be with you."
"She went out with her mother."
Francis still frowned, feeling that this was not very good, and always felt that something was wrong.
"Do you know where Cathy's ledger is?"
"What do you want the ledger for?"
"Look how much money I have at home."
"I'll look for it." Alice went upstairs, found the ledger on the desk in Cathy's room, and took it down.
Francis looked through the ledger. Over the years, he sent back a lot of money and items, including 7000 pounds in cash, as well as a lot of fabrics, jewelry, antiques, etc. He took paper and pencils to count. Come and count.
"What are you counting?"
"I'm trying to figure out if I'm rich enough to get married."
Alice was pleasantly surprised, "Are you getting married?!"
"Not yet, we are planning to get engaged in Southampton next month." Francis smiled, "Father and mother will take you and Cathy to my engagement banquet."
"Who is your fiancee?"
"My officer's daughter, Mary Gibson." Francis is 31 and a half years old, and his birthday is in April. In February this year, he was transferred to the captain of the naval warship HMS Canopus, the flagship warship of Rear Admiral Thomas Lewis.
"Did Mom and Dad know?"
"Just found out yesterday."
"Are you going back to the warship soon?"
"Yeah. What? Want me to bring you something?"
Alice shook her head, "When will this war last? Mom is very worried about you and Charles."
"She doesn't have to worry all the time. Now our country's navy has no opponents at sea. Even Napoleon's navy can't compete with us. But it's a pity that I didn't catch up with the battle of Trafalgar." Francis was very sorry , He wholeheartedly wanted to have a head-to-head confrontation with the French Navy on the sea. This is a man's dream about war, to defeat an invincible fleet. In the Trafalgar naval battle on October 10, the British navy won a big victory. At that time, the Canopus happened to be replenishing in North Africa and stayed for 21 weeks. Unfortunately, it missed the entire naval battle.Francis was very frustrated.
The outbreak of this war between Britain and France began with the signing of the Peace of Amiens in March 1802.
This war is also closely related to the Austin family.
First of all, it was Eliza and Henry, who returned to France after the signing of the Peace Treaty of Amiens. Eliza tried to get back the confiscated property of the unlucky Earl Feud; Paris was peaceful at that time, and the whole summer and autumn , singing and dancing everywhere, prosperous and extravagant, Eliza and Henry stayed in Paris for the whole winter and the spring of the following year. After many twists and turns, they got back some properties and quickly found someone to sell them.
But no one could have imagined that the peace only lasted for one year. By May 1, the Paris talks broke down, and the British ambassador left Paris on May 1803.Immediately, French troops and police began seizing British ships in the port and detaining adult British citizens.Henry was almost arrested, and the couple spent a lot of money hiding everywhere, and finally hired a ship with a lot of money to send them out of the port and to a British warship on the Strait of Dover.
After returning, Henry wrote down the experience, and Eliza dictated to Alice the experience of those days, which really frightened them both.
Originally, Henry didn't agree with his wife going back to recover her ex-husband's property, but he couldn't really refuse Eliza.At that time, the situation was really dangerous, and he was scared to death. After he came back, he was very proud, thinking that although he had no chance to go to the battlefield, he had experienced one of the incidents.The warships on the Strait of Dover are also responsible for rescuing British citizens. The officers on board are Francis’s classmates at the Naval Academy. The couple were sent to the British port after a few days. It can be said that there was no danger.
With the exception of Henry, the ships of Francis and Charles were all involved in naval operations at the outset of the war.
The Austin brothers can be said to be promoted very quickly in the naval system. Francis's classmate is only a lieutenant, and Francis has already been able to independently command a warship.This also has a great relationship with Warren Hastings. Mr. Hastings used his relationship to ensure the smooth promotion of the Austin brothers in the naval system. Francis was not yet 31 when he was promoted to captain. Systematically speaking, he is a very young captain.
Charles is 5 years younger than Francis, and is now a captain. As long as he has a good performance in the Anglo-French war, he will be promoted to captain very quickly.
The Austin family has received a lot of favors from Mr. Hastings, not to mention the three brothers and sisters Alice, Francis, and Charles, even Jane, because Mr. Hastings promised to use his contacts to pave the way for Tom Lefroy, so that He entered the House of Commons as soon as possible, and Uncle Langlois was relieved to agree to the marriage of Tom and Jane.He had already favored a family for Tom, and the woman had an annuity of 3 pounds and some political connections, but in comparison, the conditions provided by the Austin family were slightly better.For Uncle Langlois, it is fine for Tom to marry anyone, as long as the other party can help Tom realize his wish. Only on this premise can Tom's love be taken care of.
In fact, it cannot be said that Uncle Langlois is too realistic, on the contrary, it is easier to be more realistic. As long as the Austin family can do better, there is no reason why this marriage should not be successful.Uncle Langlois was also concerned about his nephew's future. As for love, an old man who was single until he died of old age did not understand.
Brother Francis, who has become the captain, is finally getting engaged and will get married in the near future, and the Austin family will continue to add children.
Alice already has a lot of nephews and nieces: Anna, the eldest brother James, is 12 and a half years old; little James, who has just turned 7; Carolina, who has just been born;
Fanny of the third brother Edward's family is almost 13 years old; little Edward is 11 and a half years old; little George is 10 years old; little Henry is 8 and a half years old; little William is 7 years old; Elizabeth is 5 years old; Mariana is 4 years old; Little Charles, 2 years old; Luisa, 1 years old;
Little William of the fourth brother Henry's family, 2 months old;
Helena of Jane's family is almost 4 years old.
Reverend George and Mrs. Austin's favorite grandchildren by far are Anna and Helena.Anna lived in Steventon for more than a year when she was young, Helena came here often, and Edward’s children rarely saw their grandparents. Not close.
Now there is another little William.
Little Henry, who is 8 and a half years old, still lives in Uncle Henry's house.
Brother Henry has his own son, and the situation for little Henry is a bit embarrassing. He is willing to still raise little Henry as a son. As long as Edward and his wife are willing, they can formally go through the adoption procedures. Eliza also likes little Henry. .As for the family property, adopted children have the same inheritance rights as their own children. Henry plans to have one share for each child, as equal as possible, but if there are children in the future, he will have to modify the inheritance share.
Eliza's property legally belonged to Henry, but Henry did not take her money; the two had also agreed that her property would be given to William Jr. in the future, and her mother would leave the inheritance to her own son. But nothing to say.
Francis was very satisfied with his fiancée, and happily told his little sister how gentle, virtuous, soft and lovely Miss Gibson was.Alice couldn't help thinking that the men in the family seemed to like that kind of traditional woman, gentle and lovely, virtuous at home, and even Jane, a literary young woman, was good at housework and could do everything; on the other hand, she could make the maid Those who do it will never do it themselves, a purse has been embroidered for half a year and it is not finished, and I don’t like to pretend to be gentle and virtuous, and I don’t blame my mother for being anxious, thinking that no one wants her——ah, bah!Don't wait to be chosen!
The marriage market is a two-way choice. You pick on whether the other party is beautiful and docile enough, and the other party has to pick on whether you are handsome and rich.Human beings tend to be beautiful, and beauty can be divided, regardless of gender, otherwise why did Jane reject Wesley, who has better economic conditions, and choose Tom?There is a pleasing first impression before the in-depth understanding to determine whether the other party is your soul mate.Luckily for Jane, Tom can understand her intellectually; even luckier for Tom, his wife will be another treasure of England after Shakespeare.
Jane has balanced her family and career very well. While being a good wife and mother, she also takes care of her creation, and she has been unremitting for several years, which is amazing.
As for herself, she hasn't thought too much about it yet.
It would be nice to find a soul mate who would be in tune with her, but if not, it's okay to stay single like Cathy.Being in love can be troublesome, but now—Ivo's smile is so cute, once you see his smile, you forget about other things.
After returning to Winchester, Ivo wrote to her every day, eagerly looking forward to the next meeting.
Oliver didn't have many letters. He only received one letter before Christmas and the second letter the day after Christmas.
On December 1805, 12, both Ivo and Oliver rushed back to London, and Alice Austin's first social ball will be held on the evening of the 30st.
There was no particularly grand debut ceremony. Henry rented a large ballroom and invited relatives, friends, and business partners in London. Before the official start of the ball, Henry took Alice to greet the guests at the stairway on the second floor. They introduced his little sister, Alice Austin.
Alice wore a satin gown with a generous collar, revealing a white breast, and a gold necklace with a ruby pendant; she had thick hair, braided intricately behind her head, and wore gold leaves and pearls, small pieces of Gemstone hoops; skirt slightly looser than in previous years, still high-waisted, with a satin belt at the back, bow-knotted, pleated lace at the hem, and satin at the instep The toe of the dancing shoe.
The war between Britain and France was still going on, but it did not prevent the popular French style from being introduced to the UK. After Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor, he brought the luxurious style of the Paris court, and the style of women's skirts began to be complicated and excessive. Going in the direction of decoration, but not too exaggerated.
In the past, the boys only saw Alice in plain clothes, even wearing men's clothing when riding a horse, but now seeing her exquisitely dressed, they were all impressed.
Francis is a handsome and very young navy captain with a bright future. He took Alice to lead the dance. Some wives who have daughters who are waiting to be married are already busy asking how old he is and whether he is married. Hearing that he is about to get engaged After hearing the news, they all expressed regret, and then began to ask if the Austin family had any unmarried sons.
The wives with unmarried young men of the right age were also busy inquiring about Alice.
The significance of the social dance is to announce to outsiders that "my family has a daughter to marry", which means that the girl has entered the marriage market and started a two-way selection process.The smoothest would be like Edward's brother's wife, Elizabeth Bridges, who entered the social world at the age of 16, got engaged at the age of 17, and married at the age of 18.In the countryside, a girl who is not married at the age of 21 or 22 is considered an older young woman. In the city, the 2 or 3 age limit is slightly relaxed, and it is time to get married at the age of 25.It is not too late for a man to postpone his first marriage until he is 35, so many couples have an age difference of more than 10 years.
Just like Francis is 31 years old, Mary Gibson is only 23 years old, and the difference between the two is 8 years; Pastor George and Mrs. Austin are also 8 years apart, and Aunt Frieda Fia and her husband are even 19 years apart.
As soon as the song was over, Ivo hurried over to invite Alice to dance the second dance.
Alice agreed to dance a second dance with him.
Then came the third dance, and the fourth dance.
Ivo danced with Alice for the first time, the Coke broke and he kept smiling.
But this kind of social dance is a four-person dance, so the other couple is Grant and his sister Sally.Grant failed to invite Alice, but the rounding up would be the same as Alice being his dance partner, he comforted himself optimistically.
Since leaving Austin's house the day before Christmas, Grant hadn't seen Alice again. He went to Austin's house several times, but Alice didn't see him, which made him extremely depressed for a while, so he had to ask his brother-in-law William what to do in this situation.William said it was hopeless, you should give up.
Grant thought William was really boring.
It's really different to dance with the girl you like.Every time he touched Alice's little hand, his heart would beat wildly. The joy could not be described in words. There was only one thing in his mind, which was to hope that the music would never stop.
Her bulging breasts bounced slightly because of dancing and jumping. The breasts are not big, but they are the lovely and moderately full breasts of a girl. In his eyes, the ruby shines, just the right embellishment, bright gray-blue eyes, thick dark eyes The long golden brown hair and the bright red lips constitute a specific she, a specific girl.He would sing her praises with all the beautiful love poems he knew, just to make her smile.
As soon as he got back to Winchester's house, all his sisters saw that he was in love, and although he was too shy to say who he was in love with, they guessed it was Alice at once.Mrs. Gordon was too busy with Christmas to keep an eye on her son, and Ivo wasn't going to tell her now.
Mrs. Gordon didn't like Alice very much, and Ivo knew it, but in fact, if he wanted to propose to Alice, he didn't need his mother's consent, only his father's.Mr. Gordon dotes on his son very much, and has a good impression of Alice, so he will not object.
He has already figured it out, he still has 2 and a half years to graduate, but he can propose to Alice after Christmas next year, so that after he graduates, they can get married, after marriage, they will go to Europe for a honeymoon trip, a year later just came back.Alice has always wanted to travel to Europe, and he can take her wherever she wants.This is awesome!
Grant hadn't noticed any difference between the two of them, but Sally had already seen it, and whispered to her brother whether Alice liked Ivo.Grant stared at them with wide eyes in surprise: Sure enough!Alice didn't refuse Ivo to hold her hand, and kept smiling at him!
Grant was furious.
Alice danced 3 dances with Ivo in succession, which was an obvious signal to some people.
The ladies who were inquiring about Alice began to inquire again which family Ivo belonged to, and thought he was too young for marriage, and almost at once dismissed him from the ranks of rival sons or relatives.The Gordon family's family background is not bad, but there are many unmarried men with better family backgrounds in Great England. As long as Alice has an annuity of 2 to 3000 pounds a year, many people will look at her as a wife candidate.
As for Oliver, once he realized that Alice seemed to have chosen Ivo, he felt particularly uncomfortable: Obviously I knew Alice first.
Thinking about it this way, Ivo has become the villain who meddles and steals love.
After the three dances were over, Sally held Ivo to talk so that Grant could invite Alice.
But Grant was one step too late, and Alice had already agreed to Oliver's invitation.
Grant stamped his foot angrily.
Oliver didn't speak much to Alice during the dance.
It was also the first time he danced with her.
He knew that Alice had already learned to dance when she was a teenager studying at Mrs. Becker's house. She danced very well and knew many kinds of social dances with light dance moves. He had been looking forward to dancing with her one day. .
This is the first time Alice sees him as an "adult".
To her, it may be nothing new, but to him, it is very new.
According to the routines of dating between men and women that he knows, it is generally to meet each other at a social dance, flirt, and after you have a good impression of each other, you can visit the girl's house and communicate under the supervision of the family. They can discuss other than going to bed. Almost any topic.He can meet multiple girls at the same time, and girls can also receive other suitors at the same time. Both parties can choose a more suitable candidate until they confirm their hearts, and then they will soon proceed to the stage of marriage proposal.The process from meeting for the first time to proposing can take years, if not longer.
After proposing, you must be loyal to the other party, and you can no longer flirt and communicate with other people, otherwise, both men and women will be considered frivolous.
Since he already knew Alice, it was a bit overwhelming for him without the first surprise and later flirting steps.Ordinary routines are no longer suitable for their communication, and he has no sister or mother to consult, and he doesn't know how to face Alice.
At the end of the song, Oliver took Alice away before the last dance was over, "It's too boring here, I'll find a room for you to rest."
It was indeed very hot in the crowded dance hall. Alice had been dancing, and the tip of her nose was already covered with sweat.
He said "find a room", but he didn't take Alice to any lounge, but took her up to the second floor, walked all the way from the corridor to the balcony on the second floor, and opened a French window slightly , into a cool breeze.
He carefully asked Alice to stand in a cool place that would not be directly blown by the cold wind.
She took out a cotton embroidered handkerchief from the silk handbag on her wrist and wiped the sweat from the tip of her nose and forehead.After wiping off his sweat, he was about to put it back into his handbag when Oliver reached out, took the handkerchief away, and put it in his own coat pocket.
Alice couldn't help but froze for a moment.
Then he took out a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his coat and handed it to her, with two small letters embroidered on it: O·B.
"I want my own handkerchief." Alice didn't answer.
"Use my handkerchief."
"No."
"Alice." He didn't take back the handkerchief, but kept pinching it in his hand, "You and Ivo...do you like him?"
"Like, he's fine."
"Does he like you too?"
"of course."
"What about me? You never thought about me who has always liked you?"
Alice looked up at him in surprise, "How would I know if you didn't tell me?"
"I think..." He bit his lower lip angrily, "That's because I wanted to wait until you turned 16. Am I late? Am I? But——I know you first. "Suddenly something sank in his heart, and he felt a kind of empty pain, not too painful, but there was always a little bit of empty blankness and a slight stabbing pain, which made him flustered and upset. .
Alice didn't want to say anything at first, but after thinking about it, she still said: "I've known you both for the same long time, Ivo will make me happy, you—you are different from him."
He lowered his eyes: Ivo is much more cheerful than him, although sometimes he can't help but dislike him for talking too much, but he is that kind of sunny boy, he is also an heir, Ivo's life is happier than him.so.It doesn't seem surprising that Alice would like a happy boy who is always in the sun.
He sighed softly in his heart.
Alice said before, "Character determines fate", and also said "Details determine success or failure", so he was doomed to fail from the time when he didn't know Alice, right?
He is not a very competitive person. At home, even if Julian is always against him, his usual way of dealing with it is to avoid him and ignore him. He thinks his brother is too childish. He got married and moved out of the mansion, so naturally he didn't have to face him all the time, so the annoying younger brother was not a problem for him, and there was no reason why he had to be tidied up;
In Eton College, he is not one of the top-notch ones, and he has never been a senior, but he is very independent and can protect himself from being bullied by the seniors.This is due to his character, and his family situation does not require him to compete with others all the time. His father dotes on Julian, but his position as heir is still very stable. If he does not make a big mistake, his father cannot cancel his position as heir , he didn't have to fight for anything.
but now--
For the first time, he realized that his attitude towards things might not be very good. He was about to face the first major failure in his life, and he couldn't think of any way to save it.
Ivo can't find Alice in the dance hall.
He hurriedly searched for her figure in several lounges on the first floor. Brother Francis said that Alice had gone upstairs, so he hurried up to the second floor.
She was standing by the French window of the balcony, with Oliver in front of her.Suddenly a serious sense of uneasiness rolled in his heart: Oliver was taller than him, handsomer than him, richer than him, and knew Alice before him, Oliver had always liked her, he had already noticed it, From then on, he treated Oliver as a rival in love.It's been less than two weeks since he confessed his love to Alice, and he hasn't had a chance to consolidate their relationship. If Alice wavers and thinks that Oliver is also very good, what will he do? !
He can absolutely not allow this to happen.
He walked over quickly, and he was still some distance away from her, so he started calling her name, "Alice!"
She turned her head and saw him, and walked towards him, "Ivo."
He stretched out his hand towards her, and once he held her hand, he felt a little more at ease in his heart.
Looking up again, Oliver was no longer by the window. He must have opened the floor-to-ceiling windows and went to the balcony.
Wesley was talking to William about the boys around Alice.
William lamented that his brother-in-law Grant was an overly spoiled boy. Alice definitely didn't like his attitude and would not take him seriously. Alice hadn't smoked to death until now, he must be looking at Wesley's face.
Wesley asked strangely: "What does it have to do with me?"
William said with a smile: "Grant is my brother-in-law, and I am your friend." This logical relationship seems to make sense, but it seems too ridiculous.
"Alice has been a very independent girl since she was a child. I think she will like Oliver." He also likes Oliver more, and feels that Oliver's character is a bit like his own, both are more reserved and kind-hearted.
William shook his head, "You're wrong, she must prefer the Gordon boy."
Wesley didn't understand.
"She is still a child, and she will like whoever can play with her the most. Besides, Gordon is very cute." William is proud that he has seen countless people, so he must be very accurate.Then he sighed again, "Oh! The little girl back then has grown up, how can we not be old?" Pretending to touch the beard on his chin that didn't exist.He is one year younger than Wesley, and he will be 1 years old this year, and occasionally he will pretend to lament his age.
Regarding the topic of whether Ivo Gordon is cute, the two friends had no objection, and Wesley also accepted William's guess.Originally, it was obvious that the two of them danced together for three consecutive dances. When they came down from the second floor holding hands, it went without saying that Alice liked Ivo better.
Wesley is still a shareholder of the Austin Typewriter Company and the Austin Publishing House. He knows that Alice also has shares in these two companies. The exact number of shares is not clear, but it will definitely make her eligible to go to the heir of Baron Bundfield. And the heir to the Gordon family talks about marriage.
He also lamented that time flies so fast, 10 years have passed in a blink of an eye, and Alice has grown from a 6-year-old little girl to a beautiful big girl, who is an adult and can fall in love.
He thought of him holding her little hand, accidentally watching his sweetheart kissing others, when little Alice tried to comfort him, what a long memory that was!But it still seems like it happened yesterday.
The little Alice in his memory overlapped with the face of the young Alice now. On this day, this night, he seemed to suddenly realize that Alice had really grown up.
After New Years, the calendar flipped to 1806.
First, the Austin family all went to Southampton to attend Francis' engagement banquet.The Henrys and Janes also went.
Alice meets the future sister-in-law Mary Gibson.Mary is indeed, as Francis said, a gentle and traditional English beauty, and the Austin family is very satisfied with Mary.
Once engaged, Francis boarded the ship and headed to the English Channel to board his warship Canopus.Alice insisted on visiting her brother's warship, but Francis could not refuse her, so he let her board the warship, took her around in a hurry, had dinner on board, and then sent her off to return to the South. upton.
It’s cool to have an older brother who is the captain. The officers on the ship are very kind to her and call her “Miss Austin”; ".There are no female sailors on the warship, even the kitchen is full of men, and there is no woman. It is said that it is because women will encounter disasters on board, which is unlucky, but of course it is no problem just to visit. Warships occasionally have senior naval officers If the female relatives of the family are on board, noble women will automatically hide their inauspicious attributes.
Henry and Tom returned to London first, Eliza took little William and little Henry, Jane took Helena, followed the Austin couple to live in Southampton for another two weeks, and then returned to London.
A few days after returning to London, Tom sent a letter to Austin's house, saying that Jane was pregnant.
Mrs. Austin was overjoyed, and made an exception and gave double tips to the servant who came to deliver the letter, and wrote a reply to send the servant back quickly.
Alice is happy for Jane, but also a little worried.But Jane has already given birth to a child, and it will be smoother to give birth again than the first time.
She usually pays attention to keeping in good health. The land in her new home is big enough. Except for pigs, she thinks it smells bad and won’t allow them to be kept. Others such as chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, quails, and turkeys are raised, as well as dairy cows and dairy sheep.The Lefroy family has no place to raise animals, and the Austin family sends her various vegetables and poultry eggs every week.
Alice insisted that Jane eat one pigeon a week. The cook of Jane’s family knew at least 8 cooking methods of pigeons, and they ate them in exchange. With Helena, Helena also ate them. One pigeon a week increased to three in two weeks Pigeon.For other kinds of food, as long as Alice thinks that Jane should eat a little tonic, she will send them to her.
Jane has gained more weight than before marriage, but she is also beautiful even if she is a little fatter. It can be said that she is a leader in the fat world.Tom has always maintained a relatively thin figure because he likes boxing.As for little Helena, she is now a chubby little girl who is overweight. Every time Alice sees her, she seems to be gaining weight again.
Alice started to write a new novel, and she still worked in the study every morning. After taking a nap in the afternoon, she spent more than an hour with her mother and sister in the housekeeping room. She finally embroidered the money bag from last year and started to embroider another money bag. bag.
Ivo went to Oxford with Alice's repainted portrait of him, and wrote to her every day, with endless words.Alice's reply to him also increased from one letter a week to three letters a week.
Oliver still wrote to Alice, too, but of course there was no such thing as a "blue-eyed oriole" anymore.
Grant didn't know why, he had stopped writing to Alice a lot in the past few months.
Invitations to invite Alice to the prom are sent to Austin’s house every week. Mrs. Austin or Cathy takes Alice out to the prom every weekend. She meets many young men, some are handsome and some are rich. , she spends a lot of time talking to these potential suitors.She was not an adult before, and if she watched from the sidelines, the angle was too narrow, and many things could not be seen or understood directly. Now, she has become an adult who can discuss more in-depth issues with men, so she found that many men in this era can only use "Boring" two words to describe.
They were appalled that women wanted to talk about the Anglo-French war, and if Alice insisted on talking, they would get very anxious and try to change the subject; a considerable number of men didn't even care about the war, and just thought about where they were going to take part in today Prom, which lady to visit tomorrow, playing poker all day the day after tomorrow, where to go for vacation in summer, where to go hunting in autumn, where to nest in winter, the level of life and the level of thinking are not much higher than that of housewives.
As for the suffering of the people at the bottom, they can't see it.They only care about the price of textiles, boasting how many pounds worth of gifts they gave to famous actors in the West End of London. They don't know that sugar is squeezed from sugar cane, and they don't know that cotton has to be deseed before it is sent to the cotton gin. A woman who can't bear children is worthless, and no matter how much dowry she has, she is not a complete woman.
The more she listened, the more Alice despaired of the times.
Within a few months, she lost interest in such social dances.
The author has something to say:
*The social dance in this article refers to the dance in "Becoming Jane", facing the circle and jumping briskly, it is quite beautiful.Kazumi and Annie both danced beautifully.
* The Austin family is now considered a bourgeois upstart, and their social status has improved.Because the Austin family and the Li family are still well-established, they are not considered "upstarts".
*In real history, Francis was indeed promoted to the captain of a warship at the age of 30. This is also a very fast promotion speed in modern times. Hastings helped him open the way. This is what the wiki said, and it should be there, otherwise a young man from an ordinary family It is unlikely that an officer will be promoted so quickly, and his own abilities should also be outstanding.Francis finally became an admiral and was awarded the GCB Bath Grand Cross. He can be called "Sir", Sir Austin.Charles finally became a rear admiral and was awarded the CB Bath Military Medal, which is two levels lower than Francis' medal and cannot be called "Sir".
So the social class of the Austin family is really much higher than that of the Bronte family.
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*Alice is 16, Oliver is 21½, Julian is almost 20, Evan is almost 20, Ivo is 19, Byron is almost 18 and Grant is 18.Jane was 30, Tom was almost 30, and Wesley was 30 and a half.
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*Don’t always think that Alice is time-traveling, time-traveling is just for the convenience of readers to substitute in, and cheating. I didn’t mention much about her previous life, just trying to downplay the background of time-traveling. In fact, she can be regarded as an aboriginal.If you always think that she has a 16-year-old body and a 36-year-old mind, this book will be impossible to read.
*Age is not necessarily directly proportional to experience and ideological realm.
* Boys and girls, wouldn't it be nice to have a nice little relationship?
*Attention, you must pay attention, "Only fall in love and not get married" is what the author himself said. Alice never said that she would only fall in love and not get married. She only thought about it because she would face problems of childbirth and property rights after getting married. Don't get married. At present, she has not firmly decided not to marry, but just wants to have the right to choose and make decisions.
*Who Alice chooses does not affect the plot of this article at all. Boys who can't keep up with her thinking will be eliminated. Alice is constantly growing, and boys will also grow. No one is static.Alice's goal is to pursue herself and improve herself. The emotional line is only auxiliary, important, but not necessary.
*Alice's current state of mind is close to the real Jane Austen, who would rather be single all her life without love and soul mate.
Grant immediately shut up, and then saluted Alice, "Then I'll go first."
Alice curtseyed back and said nothing.
Francis watched Grant leave the living room, then frowned and said, "Why do you seem unhappy? Where's Cathy? She should be with you."
"She went out with her mother."
Francis still frowned, feeling that this was not very good, and always felt that something was wrong.
"Do you know where Cathy's ledger is?"
"What do you want the ledger for?"
"Look how much money I have at home."
"I'll look for it." Alice went upstairs, found the ledger on the desk in Cathy's room, and took it down.
Francis looked through the ledger. Over the years, he sent back a lot of money and items, including 7000 pounds in cash, as well as a lot of fabrics, jewelry, antiques, etc. He took paper and pencils to count. Come and count.
"What are you counting?"
"I'm trying to figure out if I'm rich enough to get married."
Alice was pleasantly surprised, "Are you getting married?!"
"Not yet, we are planning to get engaged in Southampton next month." Francis smiled, "Father and mother will take you and Cathy to my engagement banquet."
"Who is your fiancee?"
"My officer's daughter, Mary Gibson." Francis is 31 and a half years old, and his birthday is in April. In February this year, he was transferred to the captain of the naval warship HMS Canopus, the flagship warship of Rear Admiral Thomas Lewis.
"Did Mom and Dad know?"
"Just found out yesterday."
"Are you going back to the warship soon?"
"Yeah. What? Want me to bring you something?"
Alice shook her head, "When will this war last? Mom is very worried about you and Charles."
"She doesn't have to worry all the time. Now our country's navy has no opponents at sea. Even Napoleon's navy can't compete with us. But it's a pity that I didn't catch up with the battle of Trafalgar." Francis was very sorry , He wholeheartedly wanted to have a head-to-head confrontation with the French Navy on the sea. This is a man's dream about war, to defeat an invincible fleet. In the Trafalgar naval battle on October 10, the British navy won a big victory. At that time, the Canopus happened to be replenishing in North Africa and stayed for 21 weeks. Unfortunately, it missed the entire naval battle.Francis was very frustrated.
The outbreak of this war between Britain and France began with the signing of the Peace of Amiens in March 1802.
This war is also closely related to the Austin family.
First of all, it was Eliza and Henry, who returned to France after the signing of the Peace Treaty of Amiens. Eliza tried to get back the confiscated property of the unlucky Earl Feud; Paris was peaceful at that time, and the whole summer and autumn , singing and dancing everywhere, prosperous and extravagant, Eliza and Henry stayed in Paris for the whole winter and the spring of the following year. After many twists and turns, they got back some properties and quickly found someone to sell them.
But no one could have imagined that the peace only lasted for one year. By May 1, the Paris talks broke down, and the British ambassador left Paris on May 1803.Immediately, French troops and police began seizing British ships in the port and detaining adult British citizens.Henry was almost arrested, and the couple spent a lot of money hiding everywhere, and finally hired a ship with a lot of money to send them out of the port and to a British warship on the Strait of Dover.
After returning, Henry wrote down the experience, and Eliza dictated to Alice the experience of those days, which really frightened them both.
Originally, Henry didn't agree with his wife going back to recover her ex-husband's property, but he couldn't really refuse Eliza.At that time, the situation was really dangerous, and he was scared to death. After he came back, he was very proud, thinking that although he had no chance to go to the battlefield, he had experienced one of the incidents.The warships on the Strait of Dover are also responsible for rescuing British citizens. The officers on board are Francis’s classmates at the Naval Academy. The couple were sent to the British port after a few days. It can be said that there was no danger.
With the exception of Henry, the ships of Francis and Charles were all involved in naval operations at the outset of the war.
The Austin brothers can be said to be promoted very quickly in the naval system. Francis's classmate is only a lieutenant, and Francis has already been able to independently command a warship.This also has a great relationship with Warren Hastings. Mr. Hastings used his relationship to ensure the smooth promotion of the Austin brothers in the naval system. Francis was not yet 31 when he was promoted to captain. Systematically speaking, he is a very young captain.
Charles is 5 years younger than Francis, and is now a captain. As long as he has a good performance in the Anglo-French war, he will be promoted to captain very quickly.
The Austin family has received a lot of favors from Mr. Hastings, not to mention the three brothers and sisters Alice, Francis, and Charles, even Jane, because Mr. Hastings promised to use his contacts to pave the way for Tom Lefroy, so that He entered the House of Commons as soon as possible, and Uncle Langlois was relieved to agree to the marriage of Tom and Jane.He had already favored a family for Tom, and the woman had an annuity of 3 pounds and some political connections, but in comparison, the conditions provided by the Austin family were slightly better.For Uncle Langlois, it is fine for Tom to marry anyone, as long as the other party can help Tom realize his wish. Only on this premise can Tom's love be taken care of.
In fact, it cannot be said that Uncle Langlois is too realistic, on the contrary, it is easier to be more realistic. As long as the Austin family can do better, there is no reason why this marriage should not be successful.Uncle Langlois was also concerned about his nephew's future. As for love, an old man who was single until he died of old age did not understand.
Brother Francis, who has become the captain, is finally getting engaged and will get married in the near future, and the Austin family will continue to add children.
Alice already has a lot of nephews and nieces: Anna, the eldest brother James, is 12 and a half years old; little James, who has just turned 7; Carolina, who has just been born;
Fanny of the third brother Edward's family is almost 13 years old; little Edward is 11 and a half years old; little George is 10 years old; little Henry is 8 and a half years old; little William is 7 years old; Elizabeth is 5 years old; Mariana is 4 years old; Little Charles, 2 years old; Luisa, 1 years old;
Little William of the fourth brother Henry's family, 2 months old;
Helena of Jane's family is almost 4 years old.
Reverend George and Mrs. Austin's favorite grandchildren by far are Anna and Helena.Anna lived in Steventon for more than a year when she was young, Helena came here often, and Edward’s children rarely saw their grandparents. Not close.
Now there is another little William.
Little Henry, who is 8 and a half years old, still lives in Uncle Henry's house.
Brother Henry has his own son, and the situation for little Henry is a bit embarrassing. He is willing to still raise little Henry as a son. As long as Edward and his wife are willing, they can formally go through the adoption procedures. Eliza also likes little Henry. .As for the family property, adopted children have the same inheritance rights as their own children. Henry plans to have one share for each child, as equal as possible, but if there are children in the future, he will have to modify the inheritance share.
Eliza's property legally belonged to Henry, but Henry did not take her money; the two had also agreed that her property would be given to William Jr. in the future, and her mother would leave the inheritance to her own son. But nothing to say.
Francis was very satisfied with his fiancée, and happily told his little sister how gentle, virtuous, soft and lovely Miss Gibson was.Alice couldn't help thinking that the men in the family seemed to like that kind of traditional woman, gentle and lovely, virtuous at home, and even Jane, a literary young woman, was good at housework and could do everything; on the other hand, she could make the maid Those who do it will never do it themselves, a purse has been embroidered for half a year and it is not finished, and I don’t like to pretend to be gentle and virtuous, and I don’t blame my mother for being anxious, thinking that no one wants her——ah, bah!Don't wait to be chosen!
The marriage market is a two-way choice. You pick on whether the other party is beautiful and docile enough, and the other party has to pick on whether you are handsome and rich.Human beings tend to be beautiful, and beauty can be divided, regardless of gender, otherwise why did Jane reject Wesley, who has better economic conditions, and choose Tom?There is a pleasing first impression before the in-depth understanding to determine whether the other party is your soul mate.Luckily for Jane, Tom can understand her intellectually; even luckier for Tom, his wife will be another treasure of England after Shakespeare.
Jane has balanced her family and career very well. While being a good wife and mother, she also takes care of her creation, and she has been unremitting for several years, which is amazing.
As for herself, she hasn't thought too much about it yet.
It would be nice to find a soul mate who would be in tune with her, but if not, it's okay to stay single like Cathy.Being in love can be troublesome, but now—Ivo's smile is so cute, once you see his smile, you forget about other things.
After returning to Winchester, Ivo wrote to her every day, eagerly looking forward to the next meeting.
Oliver didn't have many letters. He only received one letter before Christmas and the second letter the day after Christmas.
On December 1805, 12, both Ivo and Oliver rushed back to London, and Alice Austin's first social ball will be held on the evening of the 30st.
There was no particularly grand debut ceremony. Henry rented a large ballroom and invited relatives, friends, and business partners in London. Before the official start of the ball, Henry took Alice to greet the guests at the stairway on the second floor. They introduced his little sister, Alice Austin.
Alice wore a satin gown with a generous collar, revealing a white breast, and a gold necklace with a ruby pendant; she had thick hair, braided intricately behind her head, and wore gold leaves and pearls, small pieces of Gemstone hoops; skirt slightly looser than in previous years, still high-waisted, with a satin belt at the back, bow-knotted, pleated lace at the hem, and satin at the instep The toe of the dancing shoe.
The war between Britain and France was still going on, but it did not prevent the popular French style from being introduced to the UK. After Napoleon Bonaparte became emperor, he brought the luxurious style of the Paris court, and the style of women's skirts began to be complicated and excessive. Going in the direction of decoration, but not too exaggerated.
In the past, the boys only saw Alice in plain clothes, even wearing men's clothing when riding a horse, but now seeing her exquisitely dressed, they were all impressed.
Francis is a handsome and very young navy captain with a bright future. He took Alice to lead the dance. Some wives who have daughters who are waiting to be married are already busy asking how old he is and whether he is married. Hearing that he is about to get engaged After hearing the news, they all expressed regret, and then began to ask if the Austin family had any unmarried sons.
The wives with unmarried young men of the right age were also busy inquiring about Alice.
The significance of the social dance is to announce to outsiders that "my family has a daughter to marry", which means that the girl has entered the marriage market and started a two-way selection process.The smoothest would be like Edward's brother's wife, Elizabeth Bridges, who entered the social world at the age of 16, got engaged at the age of 17, and married at the age of 18.In the countryside, a girl who is not married at the age of 21 or 22 is considered an older young woman. In the city, the 2 or 3 age limit is slightly relaxed, and it is time to get married at the age of 25.It is not too late for a man to postpone his first marriage until he is 35, so many couples have an age difference of more than 10 years.
Just like Francis is 31 years old, Mary Gibson is only 23 years old, and the difference between the two is 8 years; Pastor George and Mrs. Austin are also 8 years apart, and Aunt Frieda Fia and her husband are even 19 years apart.
As soon as the song was over, Ivo hurried over to invite Alice to dance the second dance.
Alice agreed to dance a second dance with him.
Then came the third dance, and the fourth dance.
Ivo danced with Alice for the first time, the Coke broke and he kept smiling.
But this kind of social dance is a four-person dance, so the other couple is Grant and his sister Sally.Grant failed to invite Alice, but the rounding up would be the same as Alice being his dance partner, he comforted himself optimistically.
Since leaving Austin's house the day before Christmas, Grant hadn't seen Alice again. He went to Austin's house several times, but Alice didn't see him, which made him extremely depressed for a while, so he had to ask his brother-in-law William what to do in this situation.William said it was hopeless, you should give up.
Grant thought William was really boring.
It's really different to dance with the girl you like.Every time he touched Alice's little hand, his heart would beat wildly. The joy could not be described in words. There was only one thing in his mind, which was to hope that the music would never stop.
Her bulging breasts bounced slightly because of dancing and jumping. The breasts are not big, but they are the lovely and moderately full breasts of a girl. In his eyes, the ruby shines, just the right embellishment, bright gray-blue eyes, thick dark eyes The long golden brown hair and the bright red lips constitute a specific she, a specific girl.He would sing her praises with all the beautiful love poems he knew, just to make her smile.
As soon as he got back to Winchester's house, all his sisters saw that he was in love, and although he was too shy to say who he was in love with, they guessed it was Alice at once.Mrs. Gordon was too busy with Christmas to keep an eye on her son, and Ivo wasn't going to tell her now.
Mrs. Gordon didn't like Alice very much, and Ivo knew it, but in fact, if he wanted to propose to Alice, he didn't need his mother's consent, only his father's.Mr. Gordon dotes on his son very much, and has a good impression of Alice, so he will not object.
He has already figured it out, he still has 2 and a half years to graduate, but he can propose to Alice after Christmas next year, so that after he graduates, they can get married, after marriage, they will go to Europe for a honeymoon trip, a year later just came back.Alice has always wanted to travel to Europe, and he can take her wherever she wants.This is awesome!
Grant hadn't noticed any difference between the two of them, but Sally had already seen it, and whispered to her brother whether Alice liked Ivo.Grant stared at them with wide eyes in surprise: Sure enough!Alice didn't refuse Ivo to hold her hand, and kept smiling at him!
Grant was furious.
Alice danced 3 dances with Ivo in succession, which was an obvious signal to some people.
The ladies who were inquiring about Alice began to inquire again which family Ivo belonged to, and thought he was too young for marriage, and almost at once dismissed him from the ranks of rival sons or relatives.The Gordon family's family background is not bad, but there are many unmarried men with better family backgrounds in Great England. As long as Alice has an annuity of 2 to 3000 pounds a year, many people will look at her as a wife candidate.
As for Oliver, once he realized that Alice seemed to have chosen Ivo, he felt particularly uncomfortable: Obviously I knew Alice first.
Thinking about it this way, Ivo has become the villain who meddles and steals love.
After the three dances were over, Sally held Ivo to talk so that Grant could invite Alice.
But Grant was one step too late, and Alice had already agreed to Oliver's invitation.
Grant stamped his foot angrily.
Oliver didn't speak much to Alice during the dance.
It was also the first time he danced with her.
He knew that Alice had already learned to dance when she was a teenager studying at Mrs. Becker's house. She danced very well and knew many kinds of social dances with light dance moves. He had been looking forward to dancing with her one day. .
This is the first time Alice sees him as an "adult".
To her, it may be nothing new, but to him, it is very new.
According to the routines of dating between men and women that he knows, it is generally to meet each other at a social dance, flirt, and after you have a good impression of each other, you can visit the girl's house and communicate under the supervision of the family. They can discuss other than going to bed. Almost any topic.He can meet multiple girls at the same time, and girls can also receive other suitors at the same time. Both parties can choose a more suitable candidate until they confirm their hearts, and then they will soon proceed to the stage of marriage proposal.The process from meeting for the first time to proposing can take years, if not longer.
After proposing, you must be loyal to the other party, and you can no longer flirt and communicate with other people, otherwise, both men and women will be considered frivolous.
Since he already knew Alice, it was a bit overwhelming for him without the first surprise and later flirting steps.Ordinary routines are no longer suitable for their communication, and he has no sister or mother to consult, and he doesn't know how to face Alice.
At the end of the song, Oliver took Alice away before the last dance was over, "It's too boring here, I'll find a room for you to rest."
It was indeed very hot in the crowded dance hall. Alice had been dancing, and the tip of her nose was already covered with sweat.
He said "find a room", but he didn't take Alice to any lounge, but took her up to the second floor, walked all the way from the corridor to the balcony on the second floor, and opened a French window slightly , into a cool breeze.
He carefully asked Alice to stand in a cool place that would not be directly blown by the cold wind.
She took out a cotton embroidered handkerchief from the silk handbag on her wrist and wiped the sweat from the tip of her nose and forehead.After wiping off his sweat, he was about to put it back into his handbag when Oliver reached out, took the handkerchief away, and put it in his own coat pocket.
Alice couldn't help but froze for a moment.
Then he took out a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his coat and handed it to her, with two small letters embroidered on it: O·B.
"I want my own handkerchief." Alice didn't answer.
"Use my handkerchief."
"No."
"Alice." He didn't take back the handkerchief, but kept pinching it in his hand, "You and Ivo...do you like him?"
"Like, he's fine."
"Does he like you too?"
"of course."
"What about me? You never thought about me who has always liked you?"
Alice looked up at him in surprise, "How would I know if you didn't tell me?"
"I think..." He bit his lower lip angrily, "That's because I wanted to wait until you turned 16. Am I late? Am I? But——I know you first. "Suddenly something sank in his heart, and he felt a kind of empty pain, not too painful, but there was always a little bit of empty blankness and a slight stabbing pain, which made him flustered and upset. .
Alice didn't want to say anything at first, but after thinking about it, she still said: "I've known you both for the same long time, Ivo will make me happy, you—you are different from him."
He lowered his eyes: Ivo is much more cheerful than him, although sometimes he can't help but dislike him for talking too much, but he is that kind of sunny boy, he is also an heir, Ivo's life is happier than him.so.It doesn't seem surprising that Alice would like a happy boy who is always in the sun.
He sighed softly in his heart.
Alice said before, "Character determines fate", and also said "Details determine success or failure", so he was doomed to fail from the time when he didn't know Alice, right?
He is not a very competitive person. At home, even if Julian is always against him, his usual way of dealing with it is to avoid him and ignore him. He thinks his brother is too childish. He got married and moved out of the mansion, so naturally he didn't have to face him all the time, so the annoying younger brother was not a problem for him, and there was no reason why he had to be tidied up;
In Eton College, he is not one of the top-notch ones, and he has never been a senior, but he is very independent and can protect himself from being bullied by the seniors.This is due to his character, and his family situation does not require him to compete with others all the time. His father dotes on Julian, but his position as heir is still very stable. If he does not make a big mistake, his father cannot cancel his position as heir , he didn't have to fight for anything.
but now--
For the first time, he realized that his attitude towards things might not be very good. He was about to face the first major failure in his life, and he couldn't think of any way to save it.
Ivo can't find Alice in the dance hall.
He hurriedly searched for her figure in several lounges on the first floor. Brother Francis said that Alice had gone upstairs, so he hurried up to the second floor.
She was standing by the French window of the balcony, with Oliver in front of her.Suddenly a serious sense of uneasiness rolled in his heart: Oliver was taller than him, handsomer than him, richer than him, and knew Alice before him, Oliver had always liked her, he had already noticed it, From then on, he treated Oliver as a rival in love.It's been less than two weeks since he confessed his love to Alice, and he hasn't had a chance to consolidate their relationship. If Alice wavers and thinks that Oliver is also very good, what will he do? !
He can absolutely not allow this to happen.
He walked over quickly, and he was still some distance away from her, so he started calling her name, "Alice!"
She turned her head and saw him, and walked towards him, "Ivo."
He stretched out his hand towards her, and once he held her hand, he felt a little more at ease in his heart.
Looking up again, Oliver was no longer by the window. He must have opened the floor-to-ceiling windows and went to the balcony.
Wesley was talking to William about the boys around Alice.
William lamented that his brother-in-law Grant was an overly spoiled boy. Alice definitely didn't like his attitude and would not take him seriously. Alice hadn't smoked to death until now, he must be looking at Wesley's face.
Wesley asked strangely: "What does it have to do with me?"
William said with a smile: "Grant is my brother-in-law, and I am your friend." This logical relationship seems to make sense, but it seems too ridiculous.
"Alice has been a very independent girl since she was a child. I think she will like Oliver." He also likes Oliver more, and feels that Oliver's character is a bit like his own, both are more reserved and kind-hearted.
William shook his head, "You're wrong, she must prefer the Gordon boy."
Wesley didn't understand.
"She is still a child, and she will like whoever can play with her the most. Besides, Gordon is very cute." William is proud that he has seen countless people, so he must be very accurate.Then he sighed again, "Oh! The little girl back then has grown up, how can we not be old?" Pretending to touch the beard on his chin that didn't exist.He is one year younger than Wesley, and he will be 1 years old this year, and occasionally he will pretend to lament his age.
Regarding the topic of whether Ivo Gordon is cute, the two friends had no objection, and Wesley also accepted William's guess.Originally, it was obvious that the two of them danced together for three consecutive dances. When they came down from the second floor holding hands, it went without saying that Alice liked Ivo better.
Wesley is still a shareholder of the Austin Typewriter Company and the Austin Publishing House. He knows that Alice also has shares in these two companies. The exact number of shares is not clear, but it will definitely make her eligible to go to the heir of Baron Bundfield. And the heir to the Gordon family talks about marriage.
He also lamented that time flies so fast, 10 years have passed in a blink of an eye, and Alice has grown from a 6-year-old little girl to a beautiful big girl, who is an adult and can fall in love.
He thought of him holding her little hand, accidentally watching his sweetheart kissing others, when little Alice tried to comfort him, what a long memory that was!But it still seems like it happened yesterday.
The little Alice in his memory overlapped with the face of the young Alice now. On this day, this night, he seemed to suddenly realize that Alice had really grown up.
After New Years, the calendar flipped to 1806.
First, the Austin family all went to Southampton to attend Francis' engagement banquet.The Henrys and Janes also went.
Alice meets the future sister-in-law Mary Gibson.Mary is indeed, as Francis said, a gentle and traditional English beauty, and the Austin family is very satisfied with Mary.
Once engaged, Francis boarded the ship and headed to the English Channel to board his warship Canopus.Alice insisted on visiting her brother's warship, but Francis could not refuse her, so he let her board the warship, took her around in a hurry, had dinner on board, and then sent her off to return to the South. upton.
It’s cool to have an older brother who is the captain. The officers on the ship are very kind to her and call her “Miss Austin”; ".There are no female sailors on the warship, even the kitchen is full of men, and there is no woman. It is said that it is because women will encounter disasters on board, which is unlucky, but of course it is no problem just to visit. Warships occasionally have senior naval officers If the female relatives of the family are on board, noble women will automatically hide their inauspicious attributes.
Henry and Tom returned to London first, Eliza took little William and little Henry, Jane took Helena, followed the Austin couple to live in Southampton for another two weeks, and then returned to London.
A few days after returning to London, Tom sent a letter to Austin's house, saying that Jane was pregnant.
Mrs. Austin was overjoyed, and made an exception and gave double tips to the servant who came to deliver the letter, and wrote a reply to send the servant back quickly.
Alice is happy for Jane, but also a little worried.But Jane has already given birth to a child, and it will be smoother to give birth again than the first time.
She usually pays attention to keeping in good health. The land in her new home is big enough. Except for pigs, she thinks it smells bad and won’t allow them to be kept. Others such as chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, quails, and turkeys are raised, as well as dairy cows and dairy sheep.The Lefroy family has no place to raise animals, and the Austin family sends her various vegetables and poultry eggs every week.
Alice insisted that Jane eat one pigeon a week. The cook of Jane’s family knew at least 8 cooking methods of pigeons, and they ate them in exchange. With Helena, Helena also ate them. One pigeon a week increased to three in two weeks Pigeon.For other kinds of food, as long as Alice thinks that Jane should eat a little tonic, she will send them to her.
Jane has gained more weight than before marriage, but she is also beautiful even if she is a little fatter. It can be said that she is a leader in the fat world.Tom has always maintained a relatively thin figure because he likes boxing.As for little Helena, she is now a chubby little girl who is overweight. Every time Alice sees her, she seems to be gaining weight again.
Alice started to write a new novel, and she still worked in the study every morning. After taking a nap in the afternoon, she spent more than an hour with her mother and sister in the housekeeping room. She finally embroidered the money bag from last year and started to embroider another money bag. bag.
Ivo went to Oxford with Alice's repainted portrait of him, and wrote to her every day, with endless words.Alice's reply to him also increased from one letter a week to three letters a week.
Oliver still wrote to Alice, too, but of course there was no such thing as a "blue-eyed oriole" anymore.
Grant didn't know why, he had stopped writing to Alice a lot in the past few months.
Invitations to invite Alice to the prom are sent to Austin’s house every week. Mrs. Austin or Cathy takes Alice out to the prom every weekend. She meets many young men, some are handsome and some are rich. , she spends a lot of time talking to these potential suitors.She was not an adult before, and if she watched from the sidelines, the angle was too narrow, and many things could not be seen or understood directly. Now, she has become an adult who can discuss more in-depth issues with men, so she found that many men in this era can only use "Boring" two words to describe.
They were appalled that women wanted to talk about the Anglo-French war, and if Alice insisted on talking, they would get very anxious and try to change the subject; a considerable number of men didn't even care about the war, and just thought about where they were going to take part in today Prom, which lady to visit tomorrow, playing poker all day the day after tomorrow, where to go for vacation in summer, where to go hunting in autumn, where to nest in winter, the level of life and the level of thinking are not much higher than that of housewives.
As for the suffering of the people at the bottom, they can't see it.They only care about the price of textiles, boasting how many pounds worth of gifts they gave to famous actors in the West End of London. They don't know that sugar is squeezed from sugar cane, and they don't know that cotton has to be deseed before it is sent to the cotton gin. A woman who can't bear children is worthless, and no matter how much dowry she has, she is not a complete woman.
The more she listened, the more Alice despaired of the times.
Within a few months, she lost interest in such social dances.
The author has something to say:
*The social dance in this article refers to the dance in "Becoming Jane", facing the circle and jumping briskly, it is quite beautiful.Kazumi and Annie both danced beautifully.
* The Austin family is now considered a bourgeois upstart, and their social status has improved.Because the Austin family and the Li family are still well-established, they are not considered "upstarts".
*In real history, Francis was indeed promoted to the captain of a warship at the age of 30. This is also a very fast promotion speed in modern times. Hastings helped him open the way. This is what the wiki said, and it should be there, otherwise a young man from an ordinary family It is unlikely that an officer will be promoted so quickly, and his own abilities should also be outstanding.Francis finally became an admiral and was awarded the GCB Bath Grand Cross. He can be called "Sir", Sir Austin.Charles finally became a rear admiral and was awarded the CB Bath Military Medal, which is two levels lower than Francis' medal and cannot be called "Sir".
So the social class of the Austin family is really much higher than that of the Bronte family.
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*Alice is 16, Oliver is 21½, Julian is almost 20, Evan is almost 20, Ivo is 19, Byron is almost 18 and Grant is 18.Jane was 30, Tom was almost 30, and Wesley was 30 and a half.
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*Don’t always think that Alice is time-traveling, time-traveling is just for the convenience of readers to substitute in, and cheating. I didn’t mention much about her previous life, just trying to downplay the background of time-traveling. In fact, she can be regarded as an aboriginal.If you always think that she has a 16-year-old body and a 36-year-old mind, this book will be impossible to read.
*Age is not necessarily directly proportional to experience and ideological realm.
* Boys and girls, wouldn't it be nice to have a nice little relationship?
*Attention, you must pay attention, "Only fall in love and not get married" is what the author himself said. Alice never said that she would only fall in love and not get married. She only thought about it because she would face problems of childbirth and property rights after getting married. Don't get married. At present, she has not firmly decided not to marry, but just wants to have the right to choose and make decisions.
*Who Alice chooses does not affect the plot of this article at all. Boys who can't keep up with her thinking will be eliminated. Alice is constantly growing, and boys will also grow. No one is static.Alice's goal is to pursue herself and improve herself. The emotional line is only auxiliary, important, but not necessary.
*Alice's current state of mind is close to the real Jane Austen, who would rather be single all her life without love and soul mate.
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