little miss austin

"Tell me, what else did you learn in Cambridge?" Alice didn't wear last night's men's clothes and trousers today. She wore a light green muslin skirt, a cornflower blue lapel coat, and a pair of Suede lambskin ankle boots.

"I learned—well, that's all."

"Did you have a good class?"

Byron smiled: Beckford just said that geniuses don't need to go to college.

I heard her say again: "A genius has to meet a good enough teacher. Don't listen to what Mr. Beckford said. It's because he has an excellent tutor. He has received the best education since he was a child. Smart enough to certainly not feel the need to go to college."

Byron's expression turned slightly gloomy: the hardships he had in his childhood were also memories of his life.Although the "difficulty" of their mother and son does not refer to lack of food and clothing, but he can live comfortably by relying on his mother's property, but the money that should be used to raise him was squandered by his father.

So he didn't talk about good education, so he met a very bad governess: the governess did unspeakable things to him when he was young, and beat him. It was a long time before Lady Catherine found out about it. , drove the governess away.

These things are his secret, he has never told anyone, even Mr. Gordon does not know.Uncle Gordon only knew that they didn't have a good time in Scotland. He often sent money to Catherine, and often picked him up during the summer vacation to live there for the whole summer.

Alice only knew that Mrs. Catherine's mental state was not stable, and she often broke out in hysterical states. Mr. Gordon didn't mention this cousin very much, and he never mentioned Catherine's unhappy husband.From the incident of Catherine Gordon, it can be concluded that it is better for women not to get married. If Catherine does not marry, she can live a life without worrying about food and clothing with her property. It is not an easy task in any era, and the only consolation is that she has given birth to a son who will bring her great honor. Perhaps this should be God's compensation for her.

Byron quickly changed the subject, "When will you return to London?"

"Soon, leave Cambridge and go to London."

"How about Faraday Manor?"

"Still the same, little has changed."

"Did Mrs. Gordon say anything?"

"No, what can she say?"

"Ivo said Christmas might be in London this year."

"Really? With Mr. and Mrs. Gordon? Or?"

"Of course I want to go to your house. You asked your father to invite him."

"—why didn't he tell me?"

"Perhaps he will write directly to Mr. Austin."

"Won't Mrs. Gordon be unhappy?"

Byron chuckled, "You don't care if she's happy or not, let Ivo find a way to appease her."

This is true.

"Can you lend me another two hundred pounds?" he asked again.

"No," Alice immediately refused, "You always spend money indiscriminately when you have money. I can only give you another 50 pounds. Don't spend all the money you get home."

He was a little embarrassed, "Mother will send a carriage to pick me up."

"Then go buy a thick cloak—" She was about to say something more, when someone called her name not far away, "Miss Austin!"

She turned to look: it was Oliver.

"I thought you graduated."

"I have graduated, and I can study for another year of master's degree." Oliver glanced at Byron, then saluted the Beckford father and daughter, "Mr. Beckford, Miss Beckford."

Beckford and his daughter returned the gift.

Several people continued to walk all the way. Susan was tired and said it was time to go back to the hotel.

The group returned to the King's Hotel, and Susan, who was clamoring to come back to rest, forced to stay, and went to the coffee room with Alice.Mr. Beckford went upstairs to rest.

"I've read your poetry collection, and I don't think it's your best work, and it's even a bit bad." Oliver said to Byron: "Poetry is certainly a form of expression to express your heart, but poetry should be elegant. , beautiful, you still have to choose carefully, it is best to pick out some of them."

Alice asked: "What collection of poems?"

Byron panicked, "No, it's nothing, you can't watch that." He gave Oliver a reproachful look.

Oliver smiled down.

"Did he write badly?"

"No, on the contrary, some of them are well written, but some of them are not suitable for a lady to read."

"Handwritten manuscript?"

"No, a printed copy."

"Is it publicly available?"

"No." Byron hurriedly replied, "Okay, don't mention it! I also realize now that 'this thing' shouldn't be printed. Oliver, you shouldn't talk about it!"

Alice couldn't imagine what "poetry" it was that would embarrass Byron so much that she dared not let her know it.

Susan is very interested in Oliver.They had met in Fengshan Manor a few years ago, but they were still teenagers at that time, and they had no special impression.I saw him again at Gordon's a few months ago, but I didn't say a few words.

Oliver dealt with Susan without being impatient and always gentle.

This is his shortcoming, he is very polite to everyone, maybe only he has a bad attitude towards Julian.That made him a popular young man, which meant he was one of those so-called "central air-conditioning" men who couldn't figure out how he treated other people differently than he treated you.

Because Ivo is well-loved at home, he has a very straightforward temper. If he likes you, he will stick to you all day long. If he doesn't like you, he doesn't even bother to deal with it. His attitude is very clear.Not to mention Byron, his hobbies are also very clear. The two cousins ​​can be said to have similar interests and similar temperaments, so they can play together.

The Beckford father and daughter did visit a lot of relatives and friends along the way, as well as candidates for son-in-law. They met dozens of tall, short, fat, thin, beautiful and ugly, but so far there is no satisfactory candidate. Alice feels that the pickiness of the father and daughter To a certain extent, Susan may really have to pick 24 or 5 years old to get married.In this day and age, 25 years old is basically the upper limit for women to marry. If they are older, most of them can only marry a 40-year-old widower with several children at home.

Oliver is also qualified to be Susan's husband candidate: he is young and beautiful, he will have a title in the future, and the family property is not bad. There is no need to spend money from his wife, and all of Susan's dowry can be left to their future children.

Come to think of it, it's really possible.The only problem might be that Beckford still thinks Oliver isn't smart enough.

After drinking two cups of coffee, Oliver and Byron said goodbye, and made an appointment to have dinner with them in the evening.

Susan said enthusiastically, "Oliver looks really good-looking now!"

"He was very beautiful before." Puberty did not develop crookedly, from handsome to adult.

"I forgot to ask how old he is!"

"He is less than two years older than you, born in September 2."

"I think he is very nice, with a gentle temper, smart, and a good age." Susan rolled on the bed, "I want to stay a few more days and talk to Oliver more."

"I thought you'd like a man a few years older."

"Who would like a half-old man! It's boring! I like young and beautiful men. It would be even better if he can make me happy, just like Ivo does to you."

"Then I'm afraid Oliver doesn't meet your requirements either."

"Maybe it's just because we don't know each other well. Tell me, what did you guys play together before?"

"Cricket, horseback riding, hunting, climbing trees to dig bird nests, fishing in rivers."

Susan was dumbfounded: "This is all played by boys!"

"Can't girls play? It's not difficult."

"That, that's not ladylike." Susan struggled, "I don't know what you said, I can barely ride a horse, but I have to sit sideways, and I can't use a men's saddle like you."

"Side riding saddle accidents are very common, and it is easy to fall off if you run a little faster." Alice shook her head, "Do you know why men invented side riding saddles for women?"

"I don't know. Huh? Is there any special reason? Isn't it because of such an elegant posture?" Susan frowned.

"Elegant posture? Then die?" Alice rolled her eyes in an unladylike way. "The reason for the appearance of side riding saddles is that if women use men's saddles, it is easy to tear the hymen."

Susan looked shocked: "What? Wait! How do you know?"

"Read more books."

"I mean, the hymen problem!"

"Read medical books."

"Damn it! That's what it is! But you—you've been using the men's saddle all the time."

"The hymen is just a membrane, don't care if it breaks or not."

"But," Susan bit her lower lip hesitantly, and whispered in her ear: "There will still be a lot of people—very many people care about this matter, have you heard? The Prince of Wales even All the nonsense about Princess Caroline losing her virginity before marriage."

Alice said disgustedly: "Yeah, I didn't talk about it when I got married, but now I just talk nonsense when I want to get a divorce. The character of the first heir to the throne is really not very good!"

Susan sighed: "Isn't it! Fortunately, Princess Charlotte looks a lot like her father, otherwise—" She frowned, thinking that such vulgar gossip should not be said by her.

She was sullen for a long time before she said, "I heard—the first time always hurts."

"Different people respond to pain differently, and some people feel particularly painful."

"I'm afraid of pain."

"Don't think so much. Didn't you say before that you want to enjoy the joy of being in love for a few years?"

"It's a joy to be in love, but you can't change people all the time."

Alice laughed, "Change it if you want, who can say anything about you?"

"Father--"

"Mr. Beckford will not prevent you from finding happiness."

"It's true!" Susan became happy again, "Let me be happy for a few years first, and think about other things later!"

If it is the daughter of an ordinary family, you really have to consider the issue of "reputation", but money can accommodate everything. Susan can really interpret what it means to be "rich and self-willed". Beckford should not care too much about his daughter's more love affairs .

Sure enough, Beckford agreed to stay a few more days.

The Christmas holiday was approaching, and the master's degree did not have many subject exams like undergraduate students. Oliver was still free, so he came to the King's Hotel every day to accompany Alice and Susan.

He soon realized that Susan had a good feeling for him between men and women, and kept a very vigilant distance: he didn't want Alice to have any bad misunderstandings about him.

Susan also quickly understood that Oliver still loved Alice.

After dinner in the evening, and after Oliver and Byron had left, Susan took Alice upstairs to her room.

"Why didn't you tell me that Oliver still likes you?!" she asked angrily.

"What did he tell you?"

"He didn't say it, but I saw the way he looked at you. He always looks at you."

"I can't keep him from looking at me."

"You are such a bad girl!" Susan laughed, "You have Ivo and Oliver, tell me, who else secretly likes you?"

"Then I don't know."

"You're still a little girl," Susan pinched her face, "When you grow up a bit, more people will love you."

"Aren't you too? There are so many people who love you that they must be numbered so that Mr. Beckford can figure out who is who."

Susan laughed, "You know why they love me. It's not me. At least most of the reasons are not because of me, but because of my dowry."

"Then they will at least be loyal to the gold coins."

"But what about love?"

"Love is not necessary."

"You're weird, you're really the weirdest girl I've ever seen." Susan cupped her thick hair with both hands, "You are in love with Ivo, but you say that love is not necessary, I have a hunch, you will Break his heart."

"Not always."

The carriage sent by Lady Catherine failed to take George Byron back to Newstead Manor, and Byron went to London with the Beckford father and daughter after the holiday.

The four young people rode in the same carriage, and Byron spent the morning on the road, reading Alice's new book "The Princess Who Kidnapped the Dragon".

The story has a traditional fairy-tale beginning. A few years ago, the dragon kidnapped Princess Louise of the Black Forest Kingdom. The king issued a high reward, hoping that a warrior could rescue the princess. The warrior who rescued the princess would get a big reward For a bounty, people have been going to the dragon's lair for several years, but no one can save the princess; the dragon continues to wreak havoc around and snatch princesses from other countries. To these poor princesses;

The dragon slaying knight convened a team, and some thieves came. The real knights were unwilling to participate in this deadly action because too many warriors died in the past few years. The dragon slaying knight encountered various situations along the way. People were constantly injured, the team went from more than 20 people at the beginning until only one young guy was left;

Finally, when the dragon slaying knight came to the dragon's lair, he was surprised to find that the kidnapped princesses were playing around in beautiful dresses, while the poor dragon was locked in a cage, and the cage was full of evil people. The gold, silver and jewels looted by the dragon; and his companion, that handsome young man is Princess Louise;

The sympathetic evil dragon told the dragon slaying knight that Princess Louise was tired of those fools who came to propose marriage, so he hired the evil dragon to "kidnap" her, and those princesses were also employers; the dragon slaying knight was surprised and said, you are a dragon , how can a magic dragon succumb to a woman?Come on let me save you!

Without further ado, the evil dragon immediately reported the inmate to Princess Louise. The princess held the long sword in her hand, raised the sword and dropped it, and chopped off the head of the dragon slayer knight in one fell swoop.

This is an anti-traditional fairy tale. There is no such tacky routine as "the knight saved the princess and finally married the princess and became the king to reach the pinnacle of life".

The princesses in fairy tales have finally changed from paper people with blurred and uniform faces to vivid "people", with their own thoughts and neat methods. The ending is very controversial. Most readers think that a How could a princess kill someone?Moreover, how could the princess beat the Dragon Slayer Knight?I also feel that the evil dragon is too stupid, why doesn't it want to escape?

Even Byron felt a little illogical.

"You changed the princess for a prince," said Alice.

If it were a prince, it would seem that there would be no problem killing the Dragon Slayer Knight—wait a minute!Then why would the dragon be willing to help the prince?The prince doesn't need to worry about marriage, does he?

After much deliberation, Byron felt that this story really couldn't be read by gender.

"It's really a strange story, but the strange thing is that I actually like it." Byron said: "Oliver, have you read it?"

"seen it already."

"Do you like it too?"

"I like it very much." Oliver pondered, this is also a story full of metaphors.Combined with her idea of ​​not wanting to get married, this book semi-openly supports women’s non-marriage, and lists the benefits of not marrying. If she directly stated like Mary Wollstonecraft, “I support women’s not "Married" will definitely be met with huge controversy and various offensive comments, but she expresses it in the form of a novel, which is relatively milder. People who don't understand the deep metaphor will only think this is a novel story.

Byron didn't understand because he didn't know Alice's idea of ​​not getting married.

When they got back to London, Alice stayed at home all day, not wanting to go anywhere.

Ivo, Byron, Oliver still visit her often.

Jane gave birth to her second daughter, Diana, in early September.

Alice really wanted Jane to have a son.It's not that she doesn't like girls, it's just that Tom probably wants to continue to have children; and girls are more restricted in this era, and they are not as easy to be happy and happy as boys.

Little Diana now looks more like Jane, a healthy and lively baby who just turned 100 days, crying loudly.Jane recovered well after giving birth, and Alice was finally relieved: the healthy genes of Austin's family are still good.

She asked Jane if she was still planning to have another child, and Jane smiled bitterly: "Rebirth? Like mother or Elizabeth, one child in one and a half years or two years?" She shook her head, "No one can guarantee that the next one will be a boy, I don't want to have any more children. Perhaps Tom and I are destined to have no sons. Fortunately, we don't have to have a boy to inherit the land like Edward did."

This is true.Since there is no restriction on inheritance, it means that boys and girls are the same.

Jane still lived in the cottage, and Tom came over every other day for the night, and returned to London by car early in the morning.But now it's the Christmas holiday, and the House of Commons has been closed, so he moved here completely.

Alice felt that Tom seemed to like little Diana very much. When the weather was fine, he would take her out to bask in the sun at noon.It is not necessary to have physical knowledge of ultraviolet rays. People in this era also know that more exposure to the sun is better for physical development of infants and young children.

"Have you reached an agreement with Tom? No more children."

"He agreed. We will leave the property to our two daughters in the future, so that they can have more choices, whether they get married or not, they can do whatever they want." Jane looked a little tired, "This time you go on a trip, just for fun. are you happy?"

"I'm so happy!" Alice's eyebrows were beaming immediately, "I still need to go to some places to gain more experience. I like traveling very much, but it's just too tiring. I can fall asleep quickly in the carriage now, as long as it doesn't If it's too bumpy."

She told Jane how knowledgeable and enlightened Mr. Beckford was. It was a loss to the country that someone like him was framed and could not enter the House of Commons.

"Mr. Beckford does have some 'problems' in his personal morality, mainly because he does not conform to the doctrine." Jane considered this issue from the aspect of religion.

"Mr. Beckford didn't hurt anyone. Uncle Courtney Jr.'s testimony is unbelievable. I think it makes sense that Beckford has a platonic love for Courtney Jr.."

"This is not what we can know. Mr. Beckford has given up his defense now, right?"

"Probably gave up. He fled the country because he might be stoned to death. In fact, many people don't remember what happened back then. After all, our country has new stories to spread every day."

"I take it you mean the Prince of Wales."

In addition to the divorce, the Prince of Wales has always had mistresses, most of whom are actresses or noble ladies whose husbands have titles.

It is common for a lady to become the mistress of a king or a prince in British history. It is a traditional scandal. It is rare for a king like the current King George III who has almost no scandals and no mistresses.

Alice shrugged.

"Who did you learn this shrug of your shoulders from? I really can't understand it."

"Grant. They're all Americans. Shrugging means 'whocare'."

"Oh, Grant! He sent you several letters in your drawer."

"I'll see when I get back." Alice teased Diana in the cradle, scratching her little chin, and Xiaoroutuantuan grinned.

Ivo is dating Alice, and this matter must be conveyed to Grant, who is also in Oxford, in time.Grant did not write to Alice for several months, and he began to write to her again when she was away for the second half of the year.

The very aggrieved complaint in the first letter, she and Ivo suddenly became a pair of lovers, which made him sad.Although Ivo is good, but he is better, he thought she liked him.

The author has something to say:

*Byron's parents are very sad. His father is a typical libertine. He spent a lot of money and owed a lot of debt. He died in France at the age of 35. Byron should have hated his father. Later, he told people that his father wiped his neck and hanged himself Yes, but it seems that he died of tuberculosis.The death rate from tuberculosis was very high at that time, because there was no medicine to treat it; his mother was mentally unstable, sometimes extremely gentle and sometimes very violent.

At about the age of 9, Byron's governess seduced the young pupil (no doubt pedophile), influencing Byron's preference for and ambivalence towards women.After Byron inherited his uncle's title and manor, he could finally live a better life and had money to correct his clubfoot. It is said that he found a good doctor in London and ordered a foot brace.After entering Harrow, I became interested in friendships between men.He should be doing well at Harrow, his lameness is not obvious, and he has played cricket for Harrow.

At the age of 15, Byron failed to court his distant cousin Mary Chaworth, so he began to write poetry. The current timeline of this article is the end of 1806. Byron has published his first collection of poems "Hours of Idleness" anonymously in November, but it seems to be private It was printed, but few copies were printed, and the poems did not seem to be very good. It is said that there were many dirty poems in it. Later, Byron took back this collection of poems and began to revise it.