little miss austin

Another company, Austin Industries, was added to Henry's name, specializing in steam presses.

He was really too busy, so he handed over the main operation of the typewriter company to his cousin Thomas.Since the disappearance of his second son, Thomas Jr., Thomas has given birth to a son named Walter, who is now 2 and a half years old.Thomas was promoted and his salary was higher, so the family could afford more servants. Cousin Mary took care of the two young children Alice and Walter very closely. I am almost 2 years old, and now I am almost 19 years old, and it is time to talk about marriage.

As for the eldest son Fleming, since he lost his brother, he has never been home.He is now serving on Francis' warship as a second lieutenant officer.

To her parents' surprise, April secretly fell in love with George Byron.

Cousin Mary thinks that Byron is very handsome, but his legs and feet are bad, which greatly reduces his points; and aristocrats like him must look down on April, who has not received any serious lady education, and her education level is not high. She is not pretty, and the dowry is not rich enough to make the baron bow down.Cousin Mary said that it is still necessary to talk about the right family, and the two parties must not like each other, so don't think too much about it.

April was very aggrieved, "Why can Alice choose whatever she wants? She already has Gordon!"

When Alice first arrived in London, she was just a poor relative in the country in her eyes. Unexpectedly, 10 years later, the little country girl became a rich lady.

"That's because of her competitive older brother!" Cousin Mary was furious at the thought of her eldest son, and she still resents Fleming for not taking good care of her younger brother. "Henry can give her a dowry so that she can marry the Gordon son."

That being said, April has nothing to say.She is jealous of Alice, but Alice's realm is obviously much higher than her, and even the young playmates are all excellent young people.

"Okay, don't look at Byron is very beautiful, I heard that he learned a lot of bad things at Cambridge and owed a lot of debts, do you think your father has such a sum of money to help him pay off his debts? If our family is as rich as the Beckfords, we can consider it. If you look at Miss Beckford, she doesn't like Byron. I think she will marry the Duke in the future."

The rank of Duke is too high for April, she can't imagine it. "Alice got to know Miss Beckford and never played with me again."

Cousin Mary frowned: This is indeed true. Alice didn't feel it when she was not at home, but when she returned to London, she rarely came to visit April. If April wanted to see her, she could only go to Austin's house.It was because of going to Austin's house that April saw Byron.

Girls like boys who are good-looking, this is a normal phenomenon, Cousin Mary will not blame her daughter for this, but she must explain to her clearly why she thinks they are not suitable for each other.If Byron had taken a fancy to April, he would naturally come to visit her, but unfortunately, he definitely didn't.

Alice has grown up, and compared to her childhood, she has become very beautiful, with a unique temperament and a particularly confident look, which is incomparable to April.Susan Beckford had that air of confidence too, and it was only natural that they should be friends.

And Lucinda, the merchant's daughter.Lucinda Gleeson would definitely go to find Alice when she came to London, and Lucinda, who was well educated as a lady, also had that very confident look.Cousin Mary thinks that girls still need to learn some lady education, since Si Yue has not received a good education, it is indeed difficult to find a suitable husband.Her family has some money now, but not enough money for the man to ignore April's upbringing.

Mary mentioned April's small thoughts to Thomas, and Thomas was surprised: "Byron is a baron! He won't take a fancy to April." He also felt sorry for his daughter, thinking that if April can find a priest to marry in the future, or a civil servant When a young officer of the Corps is the husband, it is considered a good marriage.Byron himself was beautiful, and he knew beautiful girls like Alice and Susan. He probably didn't remember what April looked like.

Byron really didn't notice April at all.

There are only two kinds of girls in his eyes: beautiful girls and passers-by.

The same goes for boys.

After the New Year, Ivo and Byron went back to school respectively.

Oliver went directly from Newton Park to Cambridge and never returned to London.

Grant came back from Kent and went to Austin's house once, but he came with William and Sally, pretending to be a good boy.

Alice began to sort out the travel notes, marking and numbering each one according to the route, searching for information, correcting mistakes, re-polishing, re-typing with a typewriter, binding them by hand, and putting them there.

When Pastor George saw this travel notebook, he began to look through it with great interest.

Pastor George was born in May 1731. He is now 5 and a half years old, and less than 75 years old. He was definitely considered a long-lived man in the early 76th century.He has always been in good health, seldom suffers from illness, worked hard for half his life, was able to take care of himself in his later years, and had many children and grandchildren, which is very comforting to his old age.

The British don't like grandparents to bring their grandchildren, but sons and daughters live so close that they can walk there in less than 10 minutes, which is really close.

Parents say they are not partial, but in reality they are partial.Among the six sons, the two youngest sons, Francis and Charles, both went to the Naval Academy at the age of 12. Although they felt sorry for them leaving home at a young age, speaking of it, the time spent with their parents was not too long;

The eldest son James is dull, the second son George lacks intelligence, and the third son Edward went to the distant relative Knight's house at the age of 12. Therefore, the favorite of Pastor George and Mrs. Austin will naturally be the beautiful, sweet-mouthed, and lively fourth son Henry. ;

Among the three daughters, when Alice was not born, the parents preferred Jane; after Alice was born, Pastor George loved the youngest daughter the most; although Mrs. Austin felt that Alice was a bit redundant and should not have her, but who She didn't care about her own baby. As soon as she heard that Alice was sick in London, she immediately dropped everything and rushed to London overnight, guarding her little daughter day and night.

The sisters also think that it is normal for parents to prefer the youngest child. Alice was naughty when she was young, but it was not annoying. She was cute and naughty, and her brothers and sisters loved her.

Alice is also very generous after making money. She always prepares a lot of gifts for her nephews and nieces at Christmas, one for each, and no one can miss it.My mother felt that she was still a child, so there was no need to give gifts to her nephews and nieces, so she said, oh, don’t spoil my happiness of shopping, what a joy it is to spend money!

Mom can't explain her crooked reasoning.

In February 1807, Alice went out with Pastor George to visit patients in the church ward in a nearby church, and she started to have a fever that night when she returned.

She herself is very careful, because she knows that medicine is not very developed in this era, so she has always been cautious.Even when I went to the ward this time, I insisted that both my father and her wear cotton gauze masks and not touch any patients, no matter what disease they had; Wipe the whole body with alcohol on a cotton ball, and asked my father to do the same.

She had also been to the church ward with Pastor George before, and they followed the same procedure without any problems.Pastor George is retired, but he still cares about the poor. He always visits the church ward once a month and donates some money. It can be said that he is kind and enthusiastic about public welfare.

But things often have such a "just in case".

Alice didn't know why she had a fever, and the priests and nuns in the church ward would not let Pastor George and Alice really touch the patient.Mother saw that Alice had a fever, and was so anxious that she asked Jacob to call for a doctor that night.

When the doctor came, there was no way to know what the disease was, so I decided to do bloodletting first to see if her fever would subside.

The principle of bloodletting is based on the medical belief that fever is a disease that causes excess blood in the body, and bloodletting can take away the bacteria that cause the disease. Leeuwenhoek was born in 1632. At this time, British doctors had already used microscopes, but It has only reached the stage of "the reason why, but I don't know why".

Alice was in a daze with a fever, and when she saw the doctor take out a small brass cube from the medicine box, she hoarsely said to Sidney that she must first sterilize the bloodletting knife if she asked the doctor.

The doctor looked puzzled, what did you mean by "disinfection"?Grandparents have used it this way for generations, and I have never heard of the need for disinfection.

Sidney asked Kate to bring a clean porcelain bowl, poured a bowl of distilled high-concentration alcohol, soaked the bloodletting knife in the alcohol, looked at her watch, and soaked for 30 minutes before letting the doctor take the bloodletting knife away.

The brass bloodletting knife is a small piece close to a cube, sticking to the skin of the arm, it is cold and comfortable.

The doctor pressed the button, and four blades popped out from the side close to the skin, cutting four incisions on Alice's arm.

The bloodletting knife was taken away, and dark red blood was gurgling from the wound on his arm.

Kate took a brass washbasin and put it under her arm, and the blood dripped into the washbasin continuously.

Alice didn't even feel the pain.

Although bloodletting therapy is unscientific, there is no more scientific method now, so I had to be bloodletted.Whether it is useful or not, at least it can make mother feel at ease.

Mom stayed up half the night and stayed by her bedside.

Kate had been changing the towel on her forehead, dampening it with lukewarm water; for this the maid rose in the middle of the night to boil water, poured it into a thermos, and took it to Alice's bedroom.

In the morning of the next day, Alice's body temperature dropped by one degree, her spirits improved, and she complained that she was hungry, but when the food came, she said with a bitter face that she couldn't eat and had no appetite.

The incision of the bloodletting last night was very thin, and the location of the bloodletting was also specified, so that the large blood vessels on the arm would not be cut. After bleeding for a while, the wound condensed and closed.Sidney also followed Alice's instructions to disinfect her arm with an alcohol cotton ball before the bloodletting knife cut her arm. After the wound was closed, quickly wipe the wound with an alcohol cotton ball, and then wipe it with clean gauze.

In the middle of the night, Alice's temperature rose again, reaching 40 degrees.

So the doctor was called again in the middle of the night, and the other arm was replaced for bloodletting.

Her illness came and went, and she had a fever for a week. The temperature dropped slightly during the day and rose again at night. Alice was very worried about whether she had meningitis or something, and she might become a fool with a fever. She was so worried.

Another round of bloodletting was done on both arms, and she didn't want to do any more bloodletting. It didn't seem like a good thing that she turned into a mummy before her illness was cured.

When she finally got rid of the fever, Pastor George also fell ill for some reason.

Also, the body temperature dropped slightly during the day and rose again at night.Bloodletting was also used, but after all, Pastor George was old and frail, not as good as Alice who was still young and in good health.

Alice gradually got better, didn't eat much when she had a fever, lost a few pounds, and gradually gained them back.

But Pastor George kept having a fever. His body temperature hovered between 38 and 39 or 40 degrees. He gradually lost weight and couldn't get out of bed.

Henry was so anxious that he almost invited all the famous doctors in London home to see his father, but the fever couldn't subside, obviously the situation was not good.

The two eldest daughters take turns to look after their father, and Mrs. Austin wipes his body with warm water every day; Eliza originally said that she would move back to London in the spring, but now she can’t move back, and she comes to take over Cathy and Jane every day, becoming The three looked after Reverend George.

Mrs. Austen refused to let Alice take care of Pastor George, saying that she hadn't recovered yet and was weak, so don't get sick again, for fear that she would be infected again.

Alice was bored in her room, and her mother didn't let her go out. Only when the weather was fine, she could take a walk on the lawn outside at noon and bask in the sun. She was not even allowed to ride a horse.She wrote to Ivo depressedly, saying that she fell ill once, her father also fell ill, and her mother would not let her go out.

Ivo didn't know she was ill until after she recovered, and she should have told him in time when she wrote to complain, so that he could come from Oxford to see her.

In the end, I came here at the end of March and stayed for a week.

When I came to Austin’s house, I went to visit Pastor George first. I was surprised that Pastor George was so old, skinny, and in a very bad spirit after not seeing him for several months.

He was very sad, and it didn't take a lot of medical common sense to see that Pastor George's health was failing and he was going to die soon.

Pastor George was mentally ill, but he wasn't so sick and confused. When he saw that it was Ivo, he forced a smile, "Youngman, do you have something to say to me?"

He moved his fingers, motioning for Cathy, who was guarding the bed, to leave.

Cathy also knew that Pastor George was going to talk to Ivo alone at this time, so she left quickly.

Ivo sat down on the chair Cathy vacated.

"Mr. Austin—" he lowered his head sadly, "I wanted to come back to ask for your permission in two years, Alice...Alice hopes to stay by your side for a few more years."

"Alice...you have to make sure she really likes you."

"I'm sure." He said hurriedly, "I'm also sure that I like her very much, no, I love her very much."

"Then you have to know that love means responsibility. You have to swear to take care of her and love her for the rest of your life, and you must never break the vow you made on the wedding altar."

"I swear, sir, that I will take care of her, love her, and never betray her. I ask your permission, sir, to propose to your daughter Alice."

"You can propose to Alice, Ivo, you are a lovely child, I really hope to see the scene where you marry my baby, but you know that Alice is a girl with too many ideas, she—" Pastor George Stopped and coughed for a while.

Ivo hurriedly poured a glass of warm water from the small table next to him and handed it to him.

Cathy came in, fed Pastor George a drink of water, and said in a low voice, "Don't talk so much, Ivo will stay here, if you have anything to say, we'll talk about it tomorrow."

Pastor George closed his eyes wearily.

During the daytime the next day, Eliza came to pick up Cathy's shift. Cathy went back to her room and slept for a long time. When she got up at noon, she found Alice on the lawn outside.

Ivo was basking in the sun with her, she was lying on the couch with her eyes closed, and they were talking in a low voice.

Seeing Cathy approaching, he suddenly became nervous, "Mr. Austin—"

Alice also sat up all of a sudden, staring around with wide eyes.

Cathy hurriedly said, "No, I'm here to find Alice."

Ivo took Alice's hand and kissed the back of her hand, "I'll walk away first."

Alice nodded.

Cathy watched Ivo go away, and then sat down, "Alice—"

She sighed, "Father... I'm afraid it won't be a few days." As she spoke, her eyes turned red, "I'm so sad, I wish I could die instead of my father."

"Cathy—" She originally wanted to say that life and death are fate, and that everyone is mortal, but that person is a father who loves them, and such words that are too rational and close to cold can't be said at all.

"Father is worried about you. He always tells me, don't...don't be too stubborn. I didn't even see Tom for the last time because he died in a foreign country. You are different, whether it is Gordon or Bye Ren, Bundfield, or that reckless Temple, you can choose the one you like best. Father wants you to spend your life with someone who loves you very much and knows how to take care of you. Or It’s not one of them, and when you meet a better boy or man, choose one, so that father, mother, me, Jane, and your brothers will all be at ease.”

"But I don't think there is any need to get married. I already have tens of thousands of pounds in deposits, and British inflation is not very strong. This money is enough for the day when I go to see God, and I can live alone. It’s good, there’s no need to get married and have kids.”

Cathy touched her chin, "Are you afraid of getting married, or are you afraid of having children?"

"There may be nothing to be afraid of getting married. I am afraid that after marriage, I will keep having children. If the husband wants children, the wife cannot always refuse, unless-but if it ends up going to the court to apply for legal separation Why do you need to get married in the first place? Many people live together for a lifetime without getting married. If they get along, they will come and if they don’t, it’s much simpler."

Cathy shook her head, "Are you trying to piss your father off? Father can accept that you don't get married, but if you don't get married and become someone's mistress, father won't rest in peace."

"Oh! Where are you going!" Alice was a little anxious, "What I mean is, in order to avoid the inevitable quarrel over whether to have children and separate in the future, it is better not to think about marriage in the first place. Every time Jane gives birth I am terribly afraid of the child, because she will lose her life because of having a child. I like Tom, but if he insists on letting Jane continue to have children until they are boys, then I will hate him! Jane exists The value is not to give him children all the time!"

"Yeah," sighed Cathy, "it's not Jane's worth having children. But—"

She was also a little worried, "I can accept that you don't get married, but my mother definitely can't accept it. She always complains that I have set a bad example for you. The family can tolerate one daughter who is not married for life, and will not tolerate another daughter. Not getting married either. What's more, my little sister is so beautiful and cute."

She smiled sadly, "But what about Ivo? He must have asked his father's permission yesterday, and his father will definitely allow him to propose to you. If he proposes and you don't agree, mother will definitely beat you up." It's scolding."

Alice couldn't help frowning in thought.

"Don't you like Ivo?"

"No, I like him very much, he can make me happy."

"And do you like Oliver or George or Grant as well?"

"Grant will be an explorer in the future. He won't live in England permanently. I can't stop him from becoming a world-famous explorer."

"What about George? Do you dislike his disability?"

"How come? George is good-looking, and I can ignore his foot deformity just because of that. He doesn't like me, I mean, the 'like' between men and women, he likes older women , and also like boys, Dad probably doesn't know that."

With a look of shock on her face, Cathy eliminated George Byron immediately.

"Oliver doesn't like boys, does he?"

Alice couldn't help laughing, "He's not."

"He likes you very much, I can see that. In fact, my mother and I always thought that Oliver would be the first to woo you."

"Mum likes Oliver better, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, he's good-looking, and he's the heir to the baronet. If our family was still in Steventon, you and Oliver might not be well matched, but now, you have a considerable dowry, and it's impossible to marry the heir to the baron not a problem."

"Mom is really real."

"Life is a reality. Well, you have to think about it carefully. If Ivo proposes to you, whether you want to agree or not. The consequence of not agreeing will be Ivo's heartbreak and mother's anger. You have to Think about it carefully."

But to Alice's surprise, Ivo stayed for a week without proposing to her.

She thought, maybe he suddenly discovered that he was still very young, he just turned 20 years old, and it was too early to think about getting married. In another 10 years, it would not be too late to get married when he was 30 years old. He hasn't had the pleasure of being a grown man yet, and getting married might really freak him out.

If he didn't open his mouth, she optimistically believed that this issue would not need to be considered in a few years.

The author has something to say:

*UK at this time may be a mixture of Fahrenheit and Celsius.The temperature measurement unit in our country uses degrees Celsius, so degrees Celsius is also used in this article, which is convenient for understanding.

*In the 21st century, only the United States still uses Fahrenheit.