little miss austin

Julian asked Alice why she didn't write to Oliver. He didn't write to her, but she could write to him.

She felt that there was nothing wrong with what Julian said-who said that men must take the initiative?Girls can also take the initiative!There is no need to care about friends.

Oliver didn't know whether it was the pride of a man or the embarrassment of being rejected. In short, he was very awkward and impulsive.

She tried to analyze Oliver's train of thought, he either just wanted to make a big death, so he joined the army, and he also wanted to go to the battlefield, just to die quickly; or he wanted to use this to force himself-but for what?

He should know that if he dies, there will be no future with her, right?Does he understand this truth?

So, why exactly?

She added a few words to Julian's letter and wrote him a separate letter, but received no reply from Oliver.

Many of the respectable nobles in Lisbon ran away with the royal family, and those who stayed in Portugal were small and uninformed nobles, but this did not prevent them from having fun.

The French army confiscated all the properties of the fleeing nobles, took all valuables that could be taken, and sold some houses.Many Portuguese were traitors and hooked up with the French army. After the French army withdrew from Portugal, the cleverest of those people ran away early, and those who escaped before they had time were counterattacked. .

There are auctions in Lisbon from time to time. There are no real hidden gems, so I bought some decent landscape paintings and some knick-knacks.

Several people were learning Portuguese, and Byron was learning it relatively quickly, so he was very proud of it, and he never forgot to show off it when he wrote letters to other friends in the UK.

Alice also wrote a lot of letters back to London, and wrote another letter to Oliver, which was sent to Madeira with Julian's letter for forwarding.Julian received Oliver's letter in early August and has not heard from him since.

Oliver still hasn't written back to Alice.

At the end of July, General Wesley commanded 7 British troops, and Spanish General Cuesta commanded 2 Spanish troops. They fought a battle with 3 French troops at Talavera, southwest of Madrid.Although the Battle of Talavera lasted only two days, both sides suffered heavy losses. The 5 British army suffered more than 4 casualties, of which 6 were killed; the Spanish army suffered more than 2 casualties; More than 6200 people were killed, another 800 people were injured, and 1200 people were captured.

The proportion of combat attrition was quite large, and neither side was considered a victory. The French army quickly retreated from Talavera and ran very fast.

Another French force then began to advance south of Talavera, threatening to block the route of Wesley's force back to Portugal. Wesley's force quickly retreated to block it, abandoning the French artillery captured at Talavera. , Even most of the luggage and ammunition of the troops were given up in order to quickly withdraw from this area.There are two mountains around Talavera, and the British army is very unsuited to fighting in the mountains.

Moreover, General Wesley did not trust his Spanish allies. The British army had no means of transportation at all and walked on their legs; They also lacked supplies, and the Spanish army themselves did not have enough food to provide the British army with enough food and other supplies as promised in advance.

Alice received a letter from Francis in Sintra, he asked her to pay close attention to the battle on the peninsula, and if the French army returned to Portugal, she would flee quickly.The letter did not go through the Navy's communications system, so it was possible to write something that shouldn't have been written.He mentioned that in January, his St. Osborne took a trip to the port of Corunna to send the British troops withdrawn from the Spanish battlefield back to the mainland; after that, he went to Gibraltar and met Oliver, the tall and thin The boy grew up and became a soldier. Although he was still so thin, he looked really different from before.

"You might be surprised how much he has changed, he wants to experience real combat, not always transferred from outside the combat zone," Francis wrote.At present, his warships are traveling in the Mediterranean Sea. The main task is to block the French navy, and to support the British army on the Iberian Peninsula at any time.

Alice wrote back, "What the hell is he trying to do? Maybe you should knock him unconscious and send him back to England. I admire his courage in defending his country, but I don't want him to die in Iberia. If you see If you hear from him, ask him why he doesn't write to me, and why doesn't he answer my letter."

Charles Austin, who is not currently in the Mediterranean or the English Channel, was promoted to captain in October 1804 at the age of 10, the sloop Indian, a rather small, light clipper, small, with There are also fewer staff.The manufacturing site was in Bermuda. After launching into the sea, the Indians carried Captain Charles to the North American station of the Royal Navy to serve.

The Austinites in England are worried about the war on the Iberian Peninsula and feel that they should not stay in Lisbon.But the fact is that Lisbon is now considered the rear of the peninsula, and the Portuguese are saying that General Wesley will bring the British army back to Portugal to recuperate, treat the sick and wounded, and feed the soldiers.

There is no fighting in Portugal, so it is very peaceful. People are busy farming and resuming production. After all, everyone has to eat. The French army is not burning, killing and looting everywhere. Only Lisbon and a few larger ones are deeply affected. Cities, small towns and villages were largely unaffected, and agricultural production, as well as normal commerce, soon resumed.

Compared with the "optimism" of the Portuguese who "can live a day", Alice and her traveling companions feel that the situation is very good: Alice is because she knows that Napoleon I will eventually be killed by the Anti-French Alliance, and the Battle of Waterloo is only a few years away Hobhouse believes that the French front is stretched too long, and the Iberian Peninsula drags nearly 10 French troops. In the north, France is also at war with Russia, Austria, Prussia and other countries at the same time. Too much will eventually cause Napoleon I to lose sight of one thing and lose another, and will eventually fail.

"The Times" As the mail ship was sent to Lisbon in time, some people in the UK began to complain about why the government sent so many British soldiers to fight abroad. The reduction in the number of troops in the army was huge. The number of recruits in the UK increased every year, and they had to train for several months before they could participate. Fighting, this is a heavy pressure on the country's finances, burning tens of thousands of pounds every day, and the current situation is that it only needs to block the English Channel and the Dover Channel with the naval fleet, wouldn't everything be fine?

There is nothing wrong with it!Alice is going to give a thumbs up to the person who proposed to block the strait!

Living by the sea, going for a swim every day is a must.The Iberian Peninsula was at war, which did not prevent the Portuguese from going to the seaside to spend the summer. Throughout August, the seaside of Sintra was full of people.

Both Ivo and Byron like swimming, and can spend most of the day at the beach every day. Just looking at the lively scene on the beach, you can never imagine that a cruel war is going on on the other side of the peninsula.

Women's bathing suits in the early 19th century were bulky woolen skirts that reached to the ankle so that the thighs were not exposed and were not close to the body.Basically, don’t expect to swim in this kind of swimsuit. The wool skirt after absorbing water is very heavy. You can only soak in shallow water, and you can’t go to far waters, so as not to be drowned by the heavy swimsuit.

So Alice put swimming time in the evening.She usually goes to bed after dark, wakes up at 2 o'clock in the middle of the night, puts on a homemade swimsuit: a muslin vest-style corset, and muslin hip-wrapping shorts, and swims in the water for more than an hour.

The first night she went swimming, she was discovered by Ivo.

He came out in pajama pants, and a silk pajamas, which were left open to reveal his chest.

Alice was swimming in the water when someone swam up to her suddenly, she was startled and stopped quickly.

"It's me, don't be afraid." Ivo said with a low smile.

Oliver and the others taught her how to swim. There is a small river near Newton Manor. Except for the extremely cold winter, the boys sweat profusely from playing in spring, summer and autumn. .It wasn't until Alice arrived that they learned not to take off their clothes and taught her to swim.

She glanced at him, stepped on the water, and swam away.

"You didn't say you were going to swim in the middle of the night. I'll accompany you tomorrow night."

"No." She said a word quickly while taking a breath.

"It's better that I'm with you."

She stopped again, "You forgot what I said, I want you to stay away from me."

"That's impossible. We live together, eat together, and sleep in the same house every night. How can I stay away from you?"

"I shouldn't have promised George to let you live here." She was annoyed.Theoretically, she is really taking care of Ivo and Byron, brothers and sisters, so she said she wanted to move out, and they shamelessly moved here with her.

Ivo raised his eyebrows proudly, "I'm with you, how nice it is! It's boring to swim alone, I will swim and talk with you."

"What are you talking about? Haven't you talked enough to George every day?" The boys didn't know how to talk so much when they were together, and the two brothers could chatter for a long time about anything serious.

"George is no match for you, of course."

"I'll tell George later that you despise him."

"Don't," Ivo said hastily, "then he will complain to me for a long time again."

She stepped on the water and swam away again.

The night wind was cool, there was water on my body, and when I got out of the water, it was still a bit cold when the sea breeze blew.

Alice shook her head violently a few times, splashing the water from her hair everywhere.

Ivo yelled, "Don't shake your head—why is it still the same as when you were a child? Dry your hair with a towel, don't shake your head, or you will cry for a headache again in a while."

Sidney quickly put on a bath towel for her, and also handed a bath towel to Ivo.

"Didn't you only bring one bath towel? You ran back to get another one for him?"

"Master Ivo can't be frozen." Sidney wiped her hair with a dry towel.

"He's not cold, boys are not afraid of cold. Isn't it?" Turning to ask him.

"Well, I'm not afraid of the cold." He wiped the sea water off his body with a bath towel, and wrapped the bath towel around his waist casually.

This was the first time Alice saw his naked upper body after he went to college.

It was common for him to take off his shirt when he was a teenager, but at that time he was a skinny boy in his teens, once so thin that his ribs could be seen. On the contrary, Byron was actually a little fat man when he was a child, and he lost weight only after he grew up.

The two cousins ​​are about the same height and weight, and Ivo is a little thinner, but looking at them now, they also have a lot of pectoral and abdominal muscles, and they look very strong.

Alice couldn't help but look at it a few more times, thinking it was probably because of boxing.Byron practiced boxing because he wanted to exercise more and control his weight. He couldn't run, so he didn't have many ways to exercise; Ivo probably had the same consideration, but he wanted to grow more flesh. The goals of the two brothers were different. Same.

Ivo noticed that she was looking at his chest, and he blushed a little. For a moment, he didn't know whether he wanted her to look at it more or didn't want her to look at it.But I was very happy in my heart, even a little bit excited: Men always understand that their bodies are healthy and beautiful, which is a bit——

There seems to be something wrong.

Her body is also beautiful. Her breasts are a little bigger than a few years ago, but they are not too big. They are hidden under the very fitting vest-style corset, which clearly outlines the curves of her body.After the secondary sexual characteristics start to develop, the boys will notice the girl's increasingly protruding breasts, and begin to have sexual awareness, knowing that the girl and them are definitely two species.Women's breasts are a symbol of sex, and men's eyes are always on the breasts for the first time.

Then came the snow-white waist, and the snow-white legs.

She casually draped the towel over her back, exposing her long legs.

The tight shorts revealed her slender calves and plump thighs. This was the first time he had seen her legs as an adult. When she was a child, she was a girl as thin as a tree branch. Her legs were long but thin. At that time, he I don't think there is much difference between her and them - these are a pair of female legs, plump, healthy and fair.

He stared at her legs in dismay for a long moment before realizing she had left the beach.

He came back to his senses and hurried to catch up a few steps, "Alice!"

It would be lying to say that he had no such or such thoughts about Alice.Although he has never done those things between men and women, he already understands everything.Byron laughed at him for being a virgin in his 20s. It was a joke. He taught him all the theoretical knowledge between men and women, but it was only theoretical knowledge. The only woman he wanted to practice was Alice. Can't make him feel impulsive.

Back in the room, took off the pajama pants, hastily took a shower with cold water to wash off the sea water on his body, then fell down on the bed depressed, and tossed and turned for a long time to calm himself down.

Soon, Byron also found that Alice got up to swim in the middle of the night, so he also got up to swim with her in the middle of the night.

Ivo really wanted to tell his cousin to fuck off.

Alice is obviously more relaxed with Byron, and she doesn't feel awkward.A few days later, Ivo was surprised to find that his cousin stayed with Alice more and more often.

They went out for a walk together in the morning, discussing literary works and social status. Although Ivo also walked and discussed with them, their thoughts turned so fast that he couldn't keep up.

Byron is extremely smart, which Ivo has known for a long time; Alice is also very smart, which he has also known for a long time, but he has always mistakenly believed that Alice is not as smart as Byron, but now, he realizes that he is wrong .

Alice may not be as spiritual as Byron, but she makes up for her spiritual deficiency by reading too much.Hastings taught her to see things holistically, Beckford taught her to see things from where others can't see, and she saw everything in the world from a comprehensive and alternative perspective.

Both of them criticize war, but they also believe that war is necessary for a country. "A weak country has no diplomacy." Only a rich and powerful country can ensure that its citizens can be freer and richer. They live in Portugal. The Portuguese welcome the British very much now, and they are very enthusiastic wherever they go. This is because of the benefits brought by Wesley’s army. Live comfortably, which is an obvious benefit.

It also discusses the vigorous guerrilla warfare that is currently being waged throughout Spain.The spontaneous guerrillas of the people made great contributions to the attack on the French army, which was also the beginning of the guerrilla warfare that was praised in various wars in later generations.The guerrillas greatly blocked the speed of the French army, and played an excellent role in the frontal battle of the regular army. Army's combat pace.

Alice believes that this represents the power of the people that cannot be ignored. Byron basically agrees, but feels that the guerrillas lack formal training and may suffer too many casualties. This is not advisable. The best guerrillas should be experienced Veterans, or overseas mercenaries, in short, it is not advisable to let a simple farmer put down his hoe and pick up a rifle.

Alice has not received systematic higher education, but she has read a lot of books. Hastings is more political, and Beckford is more literary and artistic. Her reading is so large that only Byron can compare with her. There is no way to compare with her, after all, Byron did not like to read books on politics and military affairs before.

Fortunately, Alice was not very interested in philosophy and did not read too much, so Byron finally had something to be proud of.

They spent more and more time together during the day, and Byron didn't even go out on dates much anymore—he had met the daughter of a minor Portuguese nobleman in Sintra, and he had been going out for secret trysts a while ago.

Alice remembered this and asked him, "Where is that Miss Mathilde?"

Byron was stunned for a moment, "Who?"

"That very young Portuguese girl. How old is she? Fifteen?"

"Oh—you're talking about that Mathilde." He suddenly realized.

"Don't you know many Mathildes?"

"Not much, just—oh, you don't really want to know. Why?" He raised his eyebrows, "Why do you suddenly think of Mathilde?"

"Aren't you going to see her?"

He rubbed his nose, "Didn't you say she was too young last time? You should know that she has reached the age where she can get married."

Alice was surprised, "Is the marriage age so young in Portugal?"

"Girls in Portugal can marry at 12, and so do the UK."

"Wait a minute! Why is the legal marriage age for British women so young?"

Byron was surprised, "Haven't you read these legal provisions?"

She looked at him suspiciously, "The question is, I don't know, isn't it strange, why do you know?"

"This is based on the previous provisions of the Catholic Church Law. Boys are 14 years old and girls are 12 years old. They are considered to have entered puberty, so they can marry without parental consent. But in fact, this is not the case. The United Kingdom is because of the "1753" The Year Marriage Act stipulates that marriages in England and Wales must be concluded through a church or a marriage certificate issued by the municipal government to be considered legal and valid, and the minimum age is raised to 21. But in fact, if your parents agree, you are 12 years old. can get married."

"You're not English, are you?"

"I'm half Scottish. But because the barony is in England, I'm English now."

"It's not because you want to elope with some lady, so you went to check it?"

Byron rubbed his nose again, "You guessed it right."

"Mary Chaworth?"

He sighed.

The love of youth is passionate and impulsive, which is understandable.

The love of 21-year-old George Byron came and went quickly, as can be seen from Mathilde.

This may also be a common problem among men, who feel that once they "get" a woman, they are no longer interested in her.The butler of Newstead Manor wrote a letter, saying that he had sent away the servant with questionable character that he didn't like according to his previous instructions, and then asked him what to do with the young maid named Lucy, Lucy is due to give birth next month.

Byron wrote back and asked the housekeeper to ask Mrs. Catherine, if the child was born to live, let Mrs. Catherine dispose of it as she likes, whether it is to stay and raise, or to be raised by others, whatever you want.Lucy's disposal is also casual, but it's best not to drive her away.

After writing the reply, Byron thought for a while and asked Alice who was reading a book, "Do you think it's appropriate for me to write this?"

"What is appropriate?" Alice looked up, and took the butler's letter and Byron's reply.

After reading the letter, she said, "Don't you think the child's mother should be asked about the child's disposal? Lucy, right? How old is she?"

"17 years old? Or should it be 18 years old?" Byron said uncertainly.

Alice counted the time, "When will you go back for Christmas?"

"Yes."

"Newstead Manor should be able to leave a maid and a child, right? Although it is your illegitimate child, it may be a lovely child. Does Lady Catherine know about this?"

"she knows."

"Since she didn't drive away Lucy, leave Lucy and the child behind. Otherwise, if you drive them away, what can she do as a servant with no other ability to survive? She will probably become a prostitute."

The author has something to say:

*Byron's first child, a boy named LucyMonk (the name is so strange), was born in September 1809, born to his maid Lucy.

*Yes, I didn't expect the age of marriage to be so low in Britain and Europe at that time!Girls can generally get married at the age of 12 to 14, and boys at the age of 14 to 16.