[HP Doujin] 1943

In the autumn of 1947, after our brief wedding tour, Francis took me back to Stuart Manor for the first time officially.All the servants were lined up in neat rows under the Regency gates and awaited our arrival.On both sides of the long driveway are planted impenetrable rose hedges. The car passed through, turned a corner, and stopped on the gravel road at the gate. The butler in black uniform and white gloves pulled us away. The car door bowed respectfully, and politely said some words that had been rehearsed long ago: "Good evening, Mr. Stuart, Mrs. Stuart, on behalf of all the servants of the manor, I welcome you."

"Thank you, Mr. Cloud." Francis got out of the car and patted him on the shoulder happily.

A robin flew across the deep blue sky, the tall and magnificent castle against the valley and mountains at dusk, and the air was filled with the fragrance of camellias and violets.When I got out of the car, Francis put his hand on my waist, turned his head and kissed the hair on my forehead, and said calmly, "We're going home."

I smiled at him, my eyes gleaming with the afterglow of the setting sun.

He picked me up [2], walked up the steps of the gate of the old manor, and walked into the oak gate that had witnessed the marriage of brides for generations.

Some of the footmen followed us through the door with my luggage.Several maidservants followed, elbowing each other and giggling from time to time.I was a little embarrassed, so I raised my head and said to Francis, "I've already entered the door, you can let me down."

He smiled and made no objection.

"Mrs. Stuart, I'm Becca, your maid." A happy-looking black-haired girl ran up to me and saluted. smile.

I fell in love with this girl immediately.

"Nice to meet you," I said, taking off my gloves and handing them to her. "Just call me Lizzie."

From the look on Becca's face, she seemed taken aback by the thought.Francis took off my coat and handed it to Becca, and said with a smile, "You just need to get used to it, Lizzie is an easy-going person."

Becca grinned at me: "Madam, according to Mr.'s instructions, your bedroom has been cleaned and replaced with new sheets and bedspreads. The wedding gift Mr. gave you has also been placed on the dresser. Would you like to Go and have a look?"

"And a wedding present?" I turned to Francis, a little surprised.

"Of course, you fool," he said with a smile, holding me by his side, "you think the wedding ring I bought for you is too shabby, not even a single diamond, if I don't buy you some jewelry, You may soon regret marrying me."

"No way—" I muttered.

At this time, there was a sound of hoofbeats, and two men in black robes got off their horses at the gate and strode in.

"Good evening, Mr. Stuart!" one of the tall, somewhat bald men exclaimed cheerfully, "How was the wedding trip? Ah, is this the bride? See you at last!"

He came up and shook my hand warmly.

"This is Geoffrey Clifford, the Steward of Stuart Manor," Francis introduced to me, smiling, "He's a rough man, since Hogg He never voluntarily opened a book after Watts quit."

"I met Mrs. Elizabeth for the first time, how can you slander me like this?" Jeffrey took off his hat, wiped the sweat from his forehead, fanned himself with the brim of the hat, and said carelessly, "Mrs. Elizabeth Don't listen to Mr. Stuart's nonsense, these days, people who can do great things don't like reading!"

Seeing Becca and Geoffrey, two extremely cheerful people in succession, my mood also increased. We stood in the foyer and talked, not noticing that everyone deliberately made me the center of the conversation.After five or six minutes, Francis said to me: "Honey, I haven't been back to the manor for a long time, and now I have a lot of business to deal with. I have to go to the management office with Jeffrey first, and Becca will take you back to the manor. Rest in the room, see you later for dinner."

"Okay, no problem," I said.

Becca led me up the high main staircase, while happily introducing me to the various rooms in the manor and the long history of the oil paintings and tapestries on the walls.Francis and I had a bedroom on the lawn facing the rose garden, with thick cashmere carpets and a huge four-poster bed hung with pale gold silk draperies richly embroidered with marigolds.The bedroom is connected to a dressing room and a bathroom. The dressing room has a very spacious wardrobe, a dark red leather sofa for resting, and a mahogany dressing table.A set of diamond jewelry wrapped in black velvet has been placed on the dressing table.

"Madam, Mr. Stuart is so kind to you." Becca said cheerfully beside me, "These jewelry are all custom-made for you, and there is no second lady with the same style in the whole country. Later Will you wear this necklace when you dine with Monsieur?"

The moment I stood in front of the dressing table, I completely showed the state of mind of a schoolgirl who has never seen the world: I believe with all my heart that Francis likes me, and I believe that our future life will be smooth sailing and happy .Seeing the whole set of sparkling diamond jewelry on the table, I couldn't hold back my excitement any longer, so I turned to Becca and said, "Choose me a dress for dinner, I have to start Dressed up."

I changed into a crimson crepe dress and Becca put my hair up, earrings, necklace and bracelet.When I sprayed my favorite jasmine-scented perfume on my ears and wrists, I suddenly remembered that he always liked to kiss my ears, and my face turned red all of a sudden.

I put my hand on my slightly raised belly, lowered my head, and showed a sweet smile.

The schedule at Stuart Manor is rigid and has not changed for decades. Dinner is at seven o'clock and the butler rings the bell at 06:30, when we are supposed to go downstairs The living room is waiting for a seat.But when I came downstairs at 06:30, I saw Francis hurried up the main staircase.Geoffrey and Mr. Crowder, the butler of the estate, were standing in the hall below whispering, looking grave and worried.Two or three footmen followed Francis, who was giving them orders so quickly that he didn't even notice me standing on the landing.

"Go and pack a suitcase for me, I have to leave in ten minutes," he said, "send a letter to the office in Paris, and immediately take five thousand galleons to franc galleons and send them to 10 avenue Saint-Antoine , don't delay for a minute!"

"Francis?" I called his name hesitantly, took a step forward, and looked at him palely, "What happened? Where are you going?"

"Ah, Lizzie," he frowned, and came up to me. "I have something urgent to do. I must go to Paris now, and I'll be back in a few days."

"Can't you come tomorrow?" My voice was clearly annoyed. "You promised to have dinner with me."

"Honey," he kissed me on the forehead, "our honeymoon is over, I'm busy with work, so I won't spend so much time with you, do you mind?"

I shook my head slowly and said nothing.

I ate dinner alone that evening, my first night at the Manor as Mrs. Stuart.In Nuoda’s restaurant, I sat alone at one end of the long dining table, and the butler brought three or four servants to serve me food one by one. No one said a word.There was no sound in the dining room except the clanging of knives and forks, and although the food was delicious, I had no appetite at all, and after some custard and venison I put down my napkin and said: " I'm done eating, and there's no need to serve the next dishes."

"Yes, Mrs. Stuart." Mr. Claude put down the wine bottle in his hand, walked towards me, and opened the chair for me.

"Are you going to rest in the library, the living room, or the drawing room?" he asked politely. "I'll go and light the fireplace."

"No, I'm very tired today, I'm going back to my room to rest." I said.

"Good night, Mrs Stuart."

"Good night."

Back in my bedroom, I took off all the jewelry and threw it on the dresser, took a shower and went to bed.It was raining, and the patter of rain was beating on the bedroom windows, and the huge house fell into boundless darkness and silence like an empty cave.Loneliness surrounded me like a huge void. I curled up in the soft velvet pillow and suddenly missed the night rain on Leicester Street.

******

After two months passed, I have gradually gotten used to the life in Stuart Manor.I began to understand why Melinda had such a bad temper-if I had been locked up in this lonely castle since I was a child, without playmates and friends, I would also be unreasonable.

Although we live in the same house, I hardly ever see Melinda except at mealtimes.Her nurse, nurse, and governess accompanied her through the day's activities, and I was completely out of my way.Besides, there was no trust in the way she looked at me.I've never been one to deal with young children, so I didn't try to get close to her.Francis and I met less and less often. He was very busy with his work. He often went to the office when I got up in the morning, and he hadn’t come back when I went to bed at night.Sometimes when he worked overtime or socialized very late, he would send someone to tell me that he lived in London.

With the advent of Halloween, London's winter social season kicked off, and the dead Stuart Manor began to prepare for the annual hunting event, and it was considered to have some vitality.The guest list was arranged by Francis, but he also called me into the study, let me go over the list, and asked me to write the invitation.

"These things will be your responsibility, and you need to practice first," he told me, sitting behind his spacious mahogany desk. "Next year's hunt will be yours from beginning to end."

"Could it be that the reason I married you is to do odd jobs for you?" I said angrily, went behind the desk, picked up a list from the desk, and looked at it.

"No," he put down the quill in his hand, rubbed his temples, and said in a deep voice, "I'm looking for the mistress of Stuart Manor."

"The Malfoy family, the Greengrass family, the Randall family..." I read down the list, "Your assistants, the Minister of Magic family... who is George Hart?"

"Head of the Auror Office," Francis said, "he's a jerk, remember to keep him as far away from me as possible when you arrange the dinner table."

"The Black family..." I frowned, "Sylvia Black? Are you kidding me?"

"Miss Black is invited every year. Why, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing," I said sullenly. "The hunting is over and I'm going to London."

"why?"

"This place is driving me crazy," I said, and turned to leave.

That night, Francis took me to Jeffrey's for dinner.Geoffrey lived in a small three-story house at the end of the estate, with only two servants and a cook, but as a bachelor his quarters were comfortable and warm.After dinner the two men smoked a few cigars together while Becca and I sat in front of the fire, flipping through our winter shopping guide and a boring copy of Witch Weekly.

At about eight o'clock in the evening, heavy snow fell from the low clouds, and the wind became stronger and stronger.We drove back to the manor in the snow. Mr. Crowder and another servant took umbrellas and led us into the gate in the snow.

"Lizzie," Mr. Cloud called to me as we entered the library and waited for us to be served a jug of hot milk and butter cookies.I glanced back at him, continued to sit down on the sofa, picked up a copy of the "Daily Prophet" that I threw on the cushion this morning, and read it.

"What's wrong?" I asked casually while flipping through the newspaper.

He sat down behind me, hugged me from behind, and took the newspaper from my hand.

I sighed, closed my eyes, and stayed quietly in his arms without moving.His palm slowly touched my chin and cheek, turned my face around, and kissed me lightly.

"I don't think you've been having a good time lately," he said.

"You finally noticed?" I said slightly sarcastically. "Ever since you left me alone for dinner the first day I came here, you should have noticed that I was unhappy."

"Lizzie, it's impossible for my life to be centered on you alone." There was a hint of exhaustion in his voice, "I have a lot of helplessness."

"You men always have your own set of rhetoric." I said coldly, pushed him away, got up and walked away.

【2】Western customs, the groom will carry the bride into the gate of the new home.