[Emma] Becoming Jane Fairfax

The dance was held as scheduled.

Thanks to Colonel Campbell's family, Wei Lai finally realized that he could attend a banquet at noon once.However, no business, no socializing, noon and night are no different except for an extra meal.

For the ball that day, Mrs. and Mrs. Lewis invited many people, many of whom had titles, but the status of Colonel Campbell was not enough in front of these people. When the ladies were chatting, Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Dixon were only For the sake of listening, Wei Lai had no choice but to pretend to be a wooden man.

Although waiting was boring, Wei Lai still heard some gossip from the ladies' chats.

Mr. Lewis' parents were cloth merchants, and his family was well-off. His first wife came from a family that ran real estate. After that, Mr. Lewis got involved in real estate. His second wife was an actor in a theater troupe, so he set foot in it again. In the entertainment industry, he owns three theater troupes in London. Both his first two wives passed away due to dystocia, and only the first wife left a son. By the time he married his third wife, he was almost 50 years old. More than 20 years older than the third lady.

A lady was very dismissive of this: "A young lady fell in love with a man who was more than 20 years older than herself. I think it takes courage, and it should be inseparable from Mr. Lewis's family wealth. Lewis Sir is a very generous man, Lord Conley and I have been friends with him for many years, know this, do you know how much he spent when he married this new Mrs. Lewis?"

The lady made a gesture, and the rest gasped in surprise.

"This is more than the cost of the marriage of the first two wives."

The lady put on airs and twitched the corners of her mouth in disdain: "After all, you are young. Mr. Lewis is not short of money at this age. If she can give birth to a child again, you see, this young lady will only be more expensive. Angry."

Just as he was talking, he saw the hostess in a gorgeous dress, holding a feather fan, swaying over.

Mrs. Dixon whispered to Wei Lai: "I remember that Mary was not very beautiful before. She hasn't changed at all."

The actual age of Mrs. Lewis is less than thirty, but judging from her appearance, some people believe that she is 40 years old. Her eyes swept away from the faces of old friends such as Mrs. Dixon, and she turned around and walked towards the ladies with a smile on her face. .

Those ladies who had looked down on her just now turned their faces and praised her in a manner. Mrs. Lewis accepted their praise from her heart, but she still wanted to give the greatest credit to Mr. Lewis for the dance.

Always, they are kind.

The other women in the room are not surprised by this.

Wei Lai yawned quietly behind Mrs. Dixon, and she was about to doze off if she sat down.She asked Mrs. Dixon in a low voice if she would like to take a walk in the garden.

As soon as the words were finished, Mrs. Lewis walked towards them.

"Alice! Jane! My dear old friend! It's great that you can come to my dance." Mrs. Lewis was quite enthusiastic, hugged Mrs. Dixon, and then pulled Wei Lai into her arms, hugging her tightly one time.

Before Wei Lai could react, he was rushed to the nose by the strong fragrance of roses on her body.

Mrs. Lewis took Mrs. Dixon's hand and said: "How long have we not seen each other? Let me think about it. It must be ten years. I heard that you married Mr. Dixon from Ireland. My God , Ireland, I can't believe you've left London, what a wonderful place it is. How are you doing in Ireland, dear?"

Mrs. Dixon was about to answer, and Mrs. Lewis turned to Jane again: "Jane! Let me see you, you are still so beautiful, are you feeling better now? I remember you were always sick before, but now I see you are healthy Too much. Oh, yes, Alice is married, and you? Is your husband here?"

Wei Lai said, "I didn't..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Mrs. Lewis' eyes. What was she looking at?

Mrs. Lewis touched Wei Lai's skirt lightly and exclaimed, "How exquisite."

"What? A skirt?"

She laughed: "Yes, this is Chinese silk. I like it very much. Because of Mr. Lewis, I am very interested in fabrics. Mr. Lewis knew that I like silk, so he left me the best silk in the store. , Jane, if you like it, I'll give you some."

Wei Lai hastily declined: "Thank you very much for your generosity, Mary, but I can't..."

"What did you just say? I remember what you said just now, but I didn't hear it." Wei Lai was interrupted again.Presumably this Mrs. Lewis hadn't even bothered to listen to her.

Wei Lai paused for a moment before slowly opening his mouth: "I said, I'm not married yet."

"Oh, my God." Mrs. Lewis covered her chest in shock, "Poor girl, Alice got married and went to Ireland. You must be very lonely. The two of you have been inseparable since childhood. I can understand how you feel. But , What else can a mature woman do without getting married? Jane, you can't delay any longer, you are too casual with your life. "

You and Lady Elton are sisters.

Wei Lai nodded, just smiled and stopped talking.Mrs. Dixon's face was not very good-looking either. Mrs. Lewis was probably the only one who was satisfied with the reunion of old friends.Before she left, she said to Wei Lai: "Jane, you must dance a few more times tonight. Maybe you can meet a reliable man. This is a good opportunity."

Time passed little by little, the night slowly fell, and finally it was night.

The room in which the Lewises held their balls was larger than the five Bates’s, with marble tiles, gold leaf on the walls and intricate paintings on the ceiling.As soon as it got dark, some well-known bands in London played music, and the guests entered the room one after another.

The lively night has begun.

Coming to this world, Wei Lai attended two dinner parties and one dance, none of which was more difficult than this day.Both Mrs. Dixon and Mrs. Campbell have their own social life. Wei Lai heard from Mrs. Dixon that Jane was originally a relatively introverted character. She had lived in London for many years and had no other friends except Mrs. Dixon. What friend.

The band started to play the first dance music, and Wei Lai sat in the corner, watching men and women in fancy dress stepping onto the dance floor, she suddenly missed the dance in Highbury, that night there were Miss Bates, Harriet, Emma, ​​Knightley...

I miss Highbury so much.

Wei Lai entered a fugue state after watching.

A voice woke her up: "Miss Fairfax!?"

Wei Lai opened his eyes wide and looked at the person coming for a while: "Mr. Amedeo."

Lance did not expect to meet Jane Fairfax here. He heard Knightley talk about Fairfax's life experience and knew that she was taken to live in London by his father's friends when she was a child, but he never I thought I would meet her on such an occasion.

He had thought that even in London, her living conditions were not necessarily better than those in Highbury.

When Wei Lai saw Lance, she thought of the rumor turmoil. Although the person in front of her didn't know about it, she was still uncomfortable.

The two looked at each other and smiled, both wanting to say something.

"Miss Fairfax came alone?" asked Lance.

"No, I came with my friends, Colonel Campbell and Mrs. Dixon and Mrs. Dixon. I was brought up by Colonel Campbell's parents."

"Is that the dignified gentleman?" Lance pointed back.

"Yes, that's Colonel Campbell. Where's Mr. Amedeo? Alone?"

Lance said: "And my sister and mother. They went to the restaurant for dinner. I hope I can introduce you later when I have time."

"Of course, I'd love to."

After exchanging greetings here, the two of them fell silent.

On weekdays in the business field, Lance can make witty remarks, but he still has a hard time chatting with a young and strange lady.Just when it was awkward, the first dance was over and the second dance was about to begin.

After thinking for a while, Lance stretched out his hand: "Miss Fairfax, can I ask you to dance?"

Wei Lai has never heard the second dance song, and of course he doesn't know how to dance, but do you want to reject him in front of so many people?It's too embarrassing.

She unconsciously took half a step back as she thought about it.

Lance laughed at himself, and whispered to her: "Miss Fairfax, in fact, what the lady said that day was correct. If a man's request to dance is rejected in public, it will spread in social occasions." , no man will invite you again in the future. I'm not threatening you, I'm just thinking of you, if you want to continue living in London, the ball is indispensable, even if you don't want to, I can only wrong you first. "

Wei Lai thought for a while before realizing that he was talking about Mrs. Elton, and then realized that Lance had misunderstood, and hurriedly explained: "Mr. Amedeo, you misunderstood. It's not that I don't want to, but... Speaking of it I'm ashamed, I don't know how to dance."

Lance was taken aback for a moment, never expecting this to be the reason, but he had already been invited, and with so many eyes watching, there was no room for regret.

"It's okay, this dance is not difficult, just follow me."

"Huh?" Learn now!

Wei Lai was stunned, and when he came back to his senses, Lance had already led him onto the dance floor.

When Mrs. Amedeo and Miss Amedeo came back from dinner, they were surprised to see that Lance was dancing with a lady. Did they agree to dance?

Mrs. Amedeo asked her daughter, "Whose lady is that?"

This dance requires a change of partner. Miss Amedeo watched for a while before confirming who Lance's partner is. Before saying anything, Miss Kingsley walked over angrily: "Mrs. Miss Mideo, what does Mr. Lance Amedeo mean? You agreed to invite me to the first dance, why did you dance with someone else?"

When Lance Amedeo came in, he attracted the attention of many ladies. Miss Kingsley even boasted to Mrs. Lewis that Lance would be the first to invite her to dance based on her relationship with the Amedeo family. , As a result, he turned around and asked others to dance!

"Miss Kingsley, don't be angry..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Miss Kingsley's expression changed again: "Isn't that...not, the one who snatched my skirt yesterday?"

Mrs. Amedeo frowned when she heard this. She already had two deep nasolabial folds on her face. Looking at it this way, she became even more fierce: "What grabbing the skirt? Whose daughter is that?"

Miss Kingsley said: "I don't know her, but I think her background is very ordinary. I have seen many educated ladies, even princesses. I can tell from her behavior. Look, she It's ridiculous that I can't do such a simple dance. I don't think I will go to the dance often. Miss Amedeo, I hope I can dance with Mr. Amedeo in the next dance, Mrs. Lewis Still waiting for me over there, I'll go first."

As soon as she left, Mrs. Amedeo put on a straight face: "Is that the temper she has?"

Miss Amedeo also didn't like Miss Kingsley's domineering temper. In addition, yesterday she insisted on grabbing the dress that others saw first, which made the impression even worse.

"I heard that the five children of the Earl's family have similar tempers, but fortunately, her father is an Earl, so no one can do anything to her if he has a bigger temper."

Mrs. Amedeo sneered when she heard this: "The bankrupt earl."