The Happy Life of a Duchess

Seeing that the scorching heat of summer is approaching, the Clara family could not stay longer in order to facilitate travel.

Originally, the group of people only planned to stay for about ten days, but Adele and the others tried to persuade them to stay, and the hard-won trip of Clara and other children happened to coincide with Adele's engagement. They never expected that there would be so many opportunities, nor did they expect to meet other relatives and friends in their hometown, such as Alvin's cousin...

After so many times, Clara and his party only stayed for about a week longer.

But they still plan to go to other towns and villages in France later, taking advantage of the fact that Clara's leg is still in good condition, so it's not easy to stay any longer, and if it happens to be the hot summer time, go back , is the real toss.

Clara's legs were caused by psychological reasons. She was originally a healthy and lovely girl. After her mother died, she was greatly stimulated and lost the ability to move.

But even if she originally had a good physical foundation, after a long period of inactivity, it is impossible to say how healthy she must be, and there are really no problems with her legs and feet.

Although she regularly massages and checks her calves, Clara's physical condition--she is not in a very healthy body, naturally, there are inevitably big and small problems, and her physical health is not optimistic, so she was naturally detained. She wanted to recuperate at home, and she was not good at walking, so it was even more inconvenient for her to go out.

Usually by this time, Clara was already at home in Frankfurt preparing for the long, hot summer.

Because of the inconvenient travel and Mr. Sethman's negligence in taking care of the children, she didn't even have a chance to be taken to other places for the summer, and she often spent time in that house with the housekeeper, tutor, and maid. The boring everyday life.

But it's better now, with Heidi as her little playmate to accompany her, and now it happens to be in France.

Now that they have already gone out, the doctor has seen her physical condition and thinks that she is fine. She will not relapse for the time being, and she has no other discomforts. The elders also planned to take Clara and Heidi to other places for a stroll and play.

As for whether to spend the summer vacation in other places, or to return to Frankfurt before the hottest time of summer, it is still under consideration.

Clara and the others were about to leave, and Adele took Jenny and Mary together to prepare their parting gifts and related things.

Alvin and cousin Stan had something to leave early, but Countess Stan seemed to have planned to stay in Paris for the whole summer.

The Duke's father seems to be discussing going to the seaside with her for a summer vacation, such as Normandy, or the Mediterranean. In short, there are many options.

Adele hasn't decided whether to go with her. In theory, she can go along with her, but in fact, she feels that she has been very busy recently, not only about the magazine, but also about the workshop. edge problem.

A wave of cotton seeds has been advanced first, and summer is coming. Whether it can survive until autumn is still a huge problem.

Coupled with the problem of small-scale disasters before, Adele is not very confident about the harvest.

Then there is Adele's marriage. Although the content of the big trouble is basically with Mr. Duval, such as the residence after marriage or something, but according to the habits of the people at that time, it is impossible for the woman and her family to Don't pay for the marriage.

Adele herself guessed that Countess Stan stayed, maybe she didn't have the idea of ​​marrying for her, and she probably wanted to take care of her as an elder woman.

But she can't throw all the burdens on an old lady who is only ten years younger than her old father, and she still has to deal with it herself.

It was also a small thought that Adele did not want to distance herself from Mr. Duvall.

If she went to the seaside for vacation, it would take a long time for the two of them to write letters back and forth. If they hadn't seen each other for such a long time, just thinking about it would make her feel a little lost.

"Miss, can you wrap it in this pink flannel?"

Jenny's words brought her back to her thoughts, and she looked back at what she was holding.

The two hats are packed in exquisite paper boxes. Because of the travel, they need to be wrapped in other things to prevent damage. Another point is that this is a gift for hand, and it cannot be packed too much Knocked.

Because Clara and the others will not go back immediately, they should send back part of the salute first, including these gifts and special products, and they will not travel around with them.

"No, this summer, there is no use of flannelette, this cashmere looks very thick, it's too hot!"

Adele shook her head, and Mary found a piece of unused lace fabric that turned out to be light yellow.

"Use this?" Mary shook the things in her hands, "This little fabric can't do much, and even the hemming of the skirt seems too small and inappropriate, so let's use this ribbon to wrap the box a little bit. It looks better when you take it out."

"Then I will trouble you." Adele understood Mary's meaning, and Mary nodded with a smile.

Unlike Jenny, who is rough in needlework, Mary is also somewhat skilled in sewing. Although she is not considered an elite, she is quick and careful. It is because of her body that she is not suitable for sewing all the time.

But her sweater knitting skills are really good, she can hook a pair of gloves in two or three strokes, and she can knit a lot of patterns, and the things she knits are very popular, even if her personality is not pleasing, but this ability Above, every autumn and winter, there are still many maids who will go to her for help.

Mary took the discarded goose-yellow lace to the two hat boxes to measure the size and length, then carefully examined the pattern of the lace and the rest of the pattern, and then used scissors to cut directly on the fabric. Minus a small opening as a marker.

Seeing that Mary had entered the working state, Jenny stopped talking nonsense and turned to packing and counting other things.

Mrs. Lude deliberately trained two people, and gave some management work to them.

After learning about Jenny's choice, she was a little surprised, but seeing Adele's expression of approval, since the young lady is satisfied, she will not say more, left and right are just training another person, Lu De The wife has also seen many maids come in and out in rotation. Although she has some feelings for Jenny, it will not affect her too much. Besides, she knows that Jenny is asking for favors and wants to earn a decent life for her family. Just choose to do it yourself.

Mrs. Lude went to help Clara and the others pack up and salute. It would be too hard for a group of people with only Miss Rodenmeyer in charge.

The old Mrs. Sessman, Clara, and Heidi may have a lot of things to pack, so it is only natural that the host here will help.

While Jenny was still proofreading the list and the actual objects, Mary had already threaded the needle, started sewing all the raw edges in, and then folded the lace in half to make it look stronger and thicker.

"Wow, you move so fast..."

Jenny was distracted and sighed.

"It's getting more and more proficient." Adele laughed, and then joked, "Mrs. Daumier didn't take you as a little follower?"

"Miss, don't laugh at me." Mary laughed, and pointed to the copy paper on Adele's desk, "I can't do such delicate work, and I feel a little headache when I look at those big characters. If I find someone in the future, Miss wants to find someone who can read and is willing to read, preferably someone who is as capable as Jenny and willing to endure hardships, so I can send her."

"can."

Adele nodded solemnly with a smile. Mary was joking, but she was even more pleasantly surprised that she could get one or two points of approval.

This basically means that after Jenny leaves, she will be the one who manages people and is the biggest. Although the newcomer takes over Jenny's class, they cannot be equal to her.

"Mary doesn't like this all the time, but this relieves the burden." Jenny also wished from the bottom of her heart when she heard it. She knew that Mary had some scruples about this matter, and she was more sensitive, but Jenny was not easy to speak. Say more about it.

"Mrs. Daumier is suitable for a more clever little assistant, but I can't." Mary's words are absolutely modest, no matter how a servant has her level, it is definitely okay.

"Besides, I am not interested in this."

The second half of the sentence was actually Mary's heartfelt voice. Except for covering it up for a while at the beginning, she got acquainted with Adele and understood the temperament of Jenny, a colleague, so she didn't hide it much.

Adele knew this, and Jenny knew it, and Mary was more calm.

She is self-confident and conceited, and she doesn't look down on being a small follower for Mrs. Daumier. If it weren't for this skill that would help her to be a lady's maid, just like her ability to comb her hair and make up has always been well practiced, she would be I don't like to learn.

In a way, she is indeed a very sober girl—

Although she sometimes shows some delicate traits, compared with other people in the manor, she does have her own advantages, and she also has advantages that make Adele feel deeply.

"Hey, is this thing like this?"

Jenny was not sure, pointing to a few blue-colored fabrics at hand and frowned.

She will look at the fabric for a while, and then look at the description on the list. This is one of the things that Clara and the others will bring back. It is a fabric bought directly from the Suss store, not a ready-made garment. The pattern on the fabric They are all chrysanthemums and roses.

Jenny can distinguish the pattern, but it is the same style, only the color is different, and she can't tell the difference between similar fabrics. She is only afraid that she has picked up the wrong fabric. She chose a similar one but didn't ask to give it away.

"The sticky note was removed?"

Adele realized that the ones she bought naturally didn't have any trademarks, because they were delivered directly to the door, so there was only a slip of paper, explaining what was delivered.

Since it is used as a gift, it is even more impossible to leave a note like a checklist and give it to others.

"Is this the new cloth?"

"Why do I feel that the color is a little different?"

Jenny frowned even more.

In the middle of sewing, Mary glanced up, nodded yes, and then bit off the end of the thread.

"Yes, this is it. These pieces of fabric are very similar in color."