little miss austin

The male protagonist, Edward, is devastated and is deeply in the pain of the sudden death of his beloved wife.

There is no doubt that they are in love, otherwise they would not have had so many children, but the terrible thing is that having children will be fatal.Edward was just 40 years old and became a widower with 10 children. It is almost impossible to get married again. There are very few women who have the courage to be the stepmother of 10 children.

Mrs. Austin took her eldest granddaughter Fanny to handle the housework.Fanny did not go to a lady’s house to study lady education like her aunt Alice and cousin Anna did. Elizabeth educated her at home. Fanny was still young, not yet 16 years old, and Elizabeth did not teach her much about housework. Skills, after all, she didn't expect that she would die at the age of 35, and she thought Fanny could learn it slowly.

Jane and Tom didn't come, and they took their two daughters back to Ireland to visit their grandparents, and they didn't expect to return until after Christmas.

After Francis arrived, he dealt with the funeral with Henry, called the priest of the local parish, and set the funeral time.

Cathy and Alice are primarily responsible for the care of the children.

The few children who are still young have nannies, but after all, nannies cannot compare with mothers, and there are too many children!After Little Henry came home, Elizabeth's 11 children were complete. The older children could still understand that their mother was gone, while the younger children couldn't understand what "death" was at all.

The newborn child is a boy and has not yet been named.

Thin and small, less than a week old, crying weakly.

Mrs. Austin was worried that the child would not be able to support her, so she hired a wet nurse and asked her to live in the manor with her child so that she could feed the child at any time.

A baby under the full moon needs at least two maids to take care of it day and night, plus Cousin Eliza.Mrs. Austen felt that Cathy had never had a baby and didn't know how to take care of a milk baby.

Cathy and Alice are mainly responsible for the 8 children below Fanny, plus little Henry, and 3-year-old little William is taken care of by Eliza herself.

Disciplining nine children ranging in age from 9½ to 14½ is a daunting task.The two sisters discussed it and divided the labor and cooperation. Alice disciplined the boys, and Cathy took care of the girls.

男孩子分别是14岁半的小爱德华、快到13岁的小乔治、11岁半的小亨利、10岁的小威廉——父母叫他威尔、5岁的小查尔斯。

The girls are Elizabeth, 8, Mariana, 7, Luisa, 4, and Cassandra Jane, 2½.

The girls are younger, and the boys are half adults at 14 and a half.

It wasn't too cold in early October. Taking the boys to play cricket on the lawn outside at noon every day was enough to consume their excess energy. The three big boys have already played cricket very well. Even Henry, who lives in London, has learned a lot of cricket skills from his adoptive uncle.

The boys played together quickly, though in a low spirit.Little Henry hadn't seen much with his brothers in recent years, but they soon became close again.

Little Edward was not familiar with Alice. After Alice showed high cricket skills, he convinced the young little aunt.

To say that they didn't have any deep feelings about their grandfather's death last year, the sudden death of their mother can be regarded as making them quickly realize the cruelty of the real world.The mother who accompanies them every day is the closest person to them, even more than their father. The death of their parents is the first life blow they face. The world reveals a cruel corner to them. From then on, they are children without a mother .

Five-year-old Charles didn't quite understand what "death" was, and no one explained it to him.The big boys understood it all of a sudden.

In the church, the children, in order of age, went up one by one to see their mother for the last time.

After the children, other relatives.

Alice looked at Elizabeth lying in the coffin. She was indeed beautiful. The men in the Austin family all liked the traditional English beauties, with small mouths, small noses and small faces, demure and soft.

What a pity, she thought, only 35 years old, lying in a coffin, leaving behind 11 children.

this is too scary.

She hadn't had time to say anything to her mother, and her mother was very busy all day long, so she didn't have time to talk to her.She only lamented this matter with Eliza and Cathy, thinking that having a baby is too uncontrollable. Even if you give birth to a baby, there are still unknown dangers waiting for you.

Cathy has never had children, and Eliza has only two, but both say it's true.Elizabeth regretted that the baby was born without a mother, and it was hard to say whether it would survive; Cathy believed that Elizabeth could have fewer children, so that they would not die prematurely, and the children did not have a mother , but not so good.

It's okay for boys, but girls are likely to be picked on by their future husbands because they don't have a mother to teach them, and it is difficult to find a suitable husband.

The sisters are very realistic when considering issues.

Cathy knew that Alice was very afraid of this matter, and comforted her whenever she had the opportunity, don't think too much, she will help her persuade her mother, don't rush to get married.

Alice thought, that's all for now.As long as my mother doesn't urge her to get married, life can still be lived, but I still have to temporarily separate from her for a few years to enjoy the life without being nagged.

After the funeral, Mrs. Austen and Cathy stayed at Goldmusham to look after Edward and the children temporarily.

Henry and Eliza returned to London with their two sons, Alice; Francis returned to Southampton.

Mrs. Austen was not at home, and Alice was not busy packing up and moving out.Cathy made a deal with her and would help her tell her mother that she would move out, and her mother would inevitably get angry, but in the end she would compromise, after all Alice just moved to London and she could visit her daughter anytime .

Alice inspected the newly built cottage.

There are now five cottages near Austin's home, spread out within a 5-mile radius, within walking distance.Although the villa is small, it has all internal organs, and it has installed the best bathroom facilities that can be bought as much as possible.

The property rights of the family mansion and these 5 villas actually belong to her, as well as the land around the house. After doing the math, she is already a small landlord.

This made her very happy: think about it, in the future these lands will actually be in the urban area of ​​Greater London. The Austin family has so much land, but they are really rich families.As for the heir, it's good for her to be Austin. In the future, she can choose a boy from her brothers' children as the heir, leave the cash to him, and put the real estate in the family trust fund, so that the largest amount can be guaranteed. The land and property will not be ruined by any descendants of prodigal sons.

200 years is not a long time to say, but it is a long time for a family.The older brothers had many children, and the advantages were actually quite obvious, at least to ensure that the surname Austin lasted as long as possible.

Brother Henry said it doesn't matter whether she gets married or not. From the perspective of the family itself, it is actually in his best interest for Alice not to get married. In this way, Alice's property will stay in the Austin family and in the family trust fund instead of She took her to her husband's house.

He also bought some land in Hampshire and Kent, and the suburbs of London, mainly fields, because of the production, instead of just buying wasteland and homesteads like Alice. He agreed with Alice and believed that in the long run , the most stable investment in land.

After discussing with Henry, I feel that they can guarantee that after their death, the Austin family will continue for 50 years. By the beginning of the next century, the historical mission will be considered complete.After all, no matter how powerful it is, it cannot live for hundreds of years and take care of future generations endlessly.If the children and grandchildren don't live up to expectations, there's nothing they can do, just let him go.

At the speed of nearly one and a half years, Jane has gone from "Sense and Sensibility" in 1801, "Pride and Prejudice", "Mansfield Park", "Janet" after that, to "Nobleman" in 1808 this year. Sangjue Temple, has published 5 novels, and the sales are good. The cumulative sales volume of "Sense and Sensibility" has reached 5000 copies, "Pride and Prejudice" 6500 copies, "Mansfield Park" 4000 copies, and "Janet" Unexpectedly, it sold more than 9000 copies. Because "Northanger Abbey" has only been on the market for 2 months, it has just sold 1500 copies.

爱丽丝写的比简快，已经出版了《英格兰恐怖故事》4册合计10000本、《女巫季节》上下册合计5000本、《绑架恶龙的公主》3800本、《蔷薇之夏》4000本。

In contrast, Jane's writing subjects are single, all of which are English rural love stories, while Alice can write about gothic themes, fantasy themes, and realistic themes.

By the way, Alice found out that her sister earned more than herself, and she sighed that the love story was still selling well, and clamored that she also wanted to write a love story.

Henry teased her, "Have you ever been in a serious relationship?"

She was quite confident, "That doesn't prevent me from writing nonsense."

"I'll do whatever you want as long as you don't include Gordon and Bundfield in your book."

"How could that be! That's my privacy, I won't write about them."

"Or ask Kingsley to tell you a little bit about his 'brilliant feats.'"

"Forget it, his kind of young master—" Alice waved her hand, "Besides, if he dares to say it, Sally will die of anger. Sally is naive, let her remain naive."

"how about you?"

"What's wrong with me?"

"Aren't you an innocent girl?"

"I'm naive too, of course I'm a naive baby. But I'm not like Sally."

Henry sighed softly, "Mother is very angry with you this time."

"It's been 10 months, isn't she still angry?" Alice panicked.

"That's not true. But, she stopped talking about you, and it's time to talk about Cathy again. Bridges—" Henry smiled wryly.

My sister passed away, and Edward Bridges would definitely come to the funeral, and he would also stay at Goldmusham Manor to accompany his brother-in-law.So, that was meeting Cathy every day.

Cathy, who is unmarried and childless, looks 7 or 8 years younger than her actual age, so she can dress up even if she is only 25 years old.She herself has little property and is still in the childbearing age, so if the man doesn't mind her actual age, Cathy can be regarded as a very good wife candidate.

But Cathy had already made up her mind not to get married, so the second Bridges would still be rejected, and her mother still couldn't realize her wish to marry a daughter.

I don't know if my mother will have a big explosion after she realizes that neither Cathy nor Alice wants to get married.

Alice decided to go to work.

It's not the kind of work from eight to six, but once a week, and the place of work is the editorial office of the "London Morning Post".

Henry objected to her for the first time, "You don't have to go to work. If people know that my sister goes to work in a newspaper, they will laugh at me."

"can you?"

"You have to understand that in a family like ours, boys can come out to work and start companies. That's fine. Many families similar to ours are similar. Even if they are nobles, there are quite a few companies with shares in their families. But girls can't Come out to work." He shook his head: "This means that the family can't provide you with a suitable life, and you have to come out to make money. Although I won't even pay you a salary, in the eyes of others, I may go bankrupt."

"This is too much!" Alice exclaimed angrily, "I generally understand that there are no jobs suitable for girls of my class outside now, and in another 10 years, I can teach at home like Mrs. Becker. Ladies' education for young girls, but being a governess at a manor isn't for me, unless it's a member of the royal family, is it?"

"Yes. Even if the other party is the Duke, if you don't like it, he can't force you. In fact, only His Majesty the King, His Majesty the Queen, and the Prince of Wales can force you to do something you don't like. But in fact, if you really don't want to , they have no need to force you."

She thought for a while, and felt that there was really no way.There are very few occupations that women can engage in these days, most of them are service occupations, even tutors are also service occupations in this era; there are also female typists, shop assistants, maids, housekeepers, oh, of course, And then there's the professional mistress, the professional escort girl, that's another aspect of society.

There are also female writers. Most female writers have to use pen names, and they are ashamed to let outsiders know that they make money by writing novels. This is true for those female writers who write novels about passion and love. It is the popular love story like Jane There is no way for a female writer to really use her real name to sign it.

She was a little sad, "But I want to try to do something."

"You don't really have to go to work. If you want to do something, go directly to discuss it with Wesley." Henry didn't take this matter to heart, thinking that she probably thought there would be something new to go to work, and also thought that she really If you want to persist, let her try the real eight-to-six work system, or she will quit within a week.

Of the 4 companies under Henry's name, only Alice, the newspaper office, has no shares. If Henry disagrees with her going to work, she has to listen to him.Fortunately, what she wanted to do didn't need to go to work at all. This little struggle failed because of her infirmity.

So I went to Wesley for several meetings, and put forward several proposals seriously.

Wesley has been very experienced in being the editor-in-chief of a newspaper in the past few years. His nature is to be serious and meticulous. It is not suitable for him to make drastic innovations, but it is within his ability to manage a newspaper carefully.

He almost vetoed all the proposals proposed by Alice. The reason was basically safety issues. In the end, he only reluctantly agreed to one of the proposals, thinking that it was still within the control range.

The planning project was approved quickly, the budget was approved, and then the informant was searched for, and various matters were arranged. It was expected that the work would officially start after the Christmas holiday.

Cathy was back in London two weeks before Christmas.

"Where's Mom? Why didn't you come back with you?" Alice asked strangely.

Cathy looked tired and tired, "Mom needs to stay for a while."

"She didn't drive you away in a fit of anger, did she?"

Cathy couldn't help but smiled wryly, "It's almost the same."

"Did you turn down another Bridges?"

Cathy didn't answer, but her expression said it all.

"It's no wonder that mother is going to be angry." Alice said with a smile.

"I just now feel that Jane is really lucky to have met someone she loves." Cathy sighed deeply, "Robert is very good, and Edward is also very good, but I just can't like them. Mom said me," she smiled wryly, "She said I can't even remember what Foer looked like, and I should have forgotten him. But it has nothing to do with Foer, I just... can't love anymore."

She wasn't upset, she just stated the facts calmly.

Alice nodded, expressing her support clearly, "Anyway, I will support you in whatever decision you make, as long as it is your own wish."

But still worried, "Mom didn't scold me, did she?"

"You're not by her side, why is she scolding you?" Cathy looked at her amusedly, "But I can't guarantee that she won't trouble you when she comes back."

"I have things to do, it's better not to live at home these few years."

"Do something? What do you do?"

"Maybe sometimes I'll go out of London, but I can't tell you now."

"Mom is worried about this. She promised you that you can move to the city, but you must ask Cousin Anna to live with you, otherwise she won't be at ease. Cousin Anna has experience living alone, so she won't cause you any trouble." Cathy brushed her hair lightly, "Speaking of which you are almost 19 years old, think of Elizabeth, when she was your age, she was already pregnant - Fanny had a child before, but it was just a few days old dead, or Fanny should have had a sister."

It was the first time she knew about it.

Thinking about if she was married and pregnant now - when she thought about it, she suddenly shuddered, feeling so terrible, so terrible!

One day in April 1809, the weather was fine.

George Byron and his good friend John Edelston went back to the small dormitory building with a smile. His leg was wearing a brace to make him walk as normal as possible. If you don’t look at his leg Without a brace, he hardly felt any abnormality in his walking.

He is nearing graduation and these are his final months at Cambridge.

After four years of spending money and drinking, he no longer has any nostalgia for his college life, and he only wants to graduate as soon as possible so that he can fly to the sky.

He didn't have to go to college, but going to college was his only chance to escape his mother's tight grip, and four years of college not only taught him how to spend money—and was deeply in debt—but also made him realize that It is possible to leave the mother.

He was talking to John about their trip to Europe after graduation.

"Didn't you agree to invite me to go with you?"

Someone suddenly answered.

Byron turned his head and looked over, "Alice!"

He was puzzled and surprised: "What about you—what happened to your hair?!" With a heartbroken face, "Your hair is so beautiful! What are you—how are you willing to cut off such beautiful hair?!"

Her hair is very thick, once waist-length, cut short a few years ago, and now cut to the same length as a man's hairstyle, just below the ears.

Wearing a men's short coat, men's trousers, and holding a riding whip in his hand.

Byron looked her thoroughly from top to bottom, "You're wearing a man's clothes, but you're not a man, oops, I can't say it!"

"Doesn't it look good?"

"It looks good, but you have to know that most people will think that you are out of your mind when they see you dressed like this."

She laughed heartily, "Are you trying to say that my clothes are a bit nondescript?"

"I don't think so, but I think you look good in such a dress." He smiled and put his arms around her shoulders, "If you weren't so pretty, maybe I would regard you as a new student."

Alice slapped his horsewhip across his chest, "Let go!"

Byron had no choice but to let go, "Why did you cut your hair short? It's a pity, I really like your long hair. If I want to have a sister, she should have beautiful thick long hair like you."

"It's not difficult. You wear a long wig and you can see your sister in the mirror."

John Edelston laughed sharply and nodded.

"Come in," Byron pushed John, "don't let those boring people see her, they might say she's another one of mine—" He stopped suddenly and didn't continue.

John Edelston looked a little unnatural, and then snorted, "Don't pay attention to them, you're about to graduate anyway, if anyone talks nonsense, beat him up!"

Byron laughed. "Yes! Hit him hard!"

What they said was ambiguous, and Alice also figured it out. The degree of intimacy between them is remarkable even in Cambridge University, which is still an all-boys school.Byron was not a low-key child. Normal schoolmate friendship and male-male friendship with indescribable physical relationship are definitely two different things. They will be discussed behind the scenes, but there should be no clear evidence, so it is just a behind-the-scenes criticism to an extent.

It is said that in the boys' dormitory, 20% of the boys will try to have sex with men, and in the current environment of an all-boys school, the proportion will be even higher.