[Titanic] I can't help myself

Carl's evaluation of Miss Elizabeth made me determined to stay away from him.I really can't imagine what I should do if one day he looks at me with disgust and contempt.I found a lot of things for myself to do, try not to stay in the mansion, and try to eliminate the possibility that Karl can accompany me when I go out to visit.

I still visit Miss Elizabeth in London from time to time, and Karl still sends people to follow me, but I don't bother to pay attention to it.For Miss Elizabeth, although the true identity of her lover is really unexpected.If other people knew that a girl had a relationship with her brother-in-law, I’m afraid they would definitely avoid it, but I somehow felt sympathy for Miss Elizabeth, and comforting her was like comforting myself. All the same, having someone in the same dire situation as me gave me a feeling as if I had company.

But Miss Elizabeth is indeed a friend worthy of being associated with. After chatting a few times, I found that she has her own unique views on many things. Her thoughts are profound and avant-garde, and she lacks a lot of fantasy about the world for girls of this age. , People are not as weak and helpless as they seemed at first.Sometimes I would speculate that maybe the image of the little woman before was deliberately created by Miss Elizabeth, but I don’t particularly mind it, after all, it is always easier for a woman who looks weak, miserable and innocent Men get help here.In any case, I can't turn a blind eye to a lady's request for help and do nothing.

After visiting Miss Elizabeth, I shall spend the rest of the time at White.At White I ran into the heir to the Earl of Grantham, Patrick Crawley, who looked much livelier without his father and uncle by his side.To my surprise, although he received a traditional aristocratic education, Patrick's vision for the development of the manor was very avant-garde.We talked a lot about the intensification reform of the farm. His understanding of theoretical knowledge is obviously much deeper than mine, and his ideas are endless. We stayed in White for a day, and by the time I realized it was time to go home, it was already late.

So I accepted James' invitation, spent the night in his mansion in London, had breakfast the next day, and excitedly came to White to find Patrick.

"You are so urgent that people think you are in love with him." James teased, "I only see the hairy boy who used to see the person he loves so impatiently."

"Come on." I smiled and thumped him. "You know I'm just happy to have a friend I can talk to. Besides, do you think I don't know he has a fiancée?"

"Hmph, I'd rather you like him than..." James muttered softly.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"Nothing, nothing." James' voice returned to normal, "Your potatoes are about to ripen, when will you go back and take a look? I remember that Titanic [-] is about to set sail, will you still have time to collect your potatoes?"

"I'm also worried about this matter." I sighed and said, "I plan to go back in the next few days. If the situation is not bad, I will give full power to the steward. At most, I will ask my tenants to help. If it doesn’t work, I won’t go to America.”

Patrick and I talked for another morning.He was very interested in starting factories and things like that, and he really encouraged me to start a food processing plant like a cannery.He was still talking about it until we left at noon.

"Henry!"

Surprised, I followed the voice and found that Carl was standing not far away looking at me: "Carl, why are you here?"

"Ruth asked me to pick you up."

"What happened?" I was so scared that my heart beat hard.Know that it is not my mother's style to send someone to come home just because of a little thing, unless there is a big or difficult problem that is difficult to solve.

"It's not a big deal. Let's talk about it after we get in the car." Carl turned sideways and motioned for me to follow him.

"Okay." His calm attitude calmed my mood a little. I was about to follow him into the car when I suddenly remembered that Patrick and Carl didn't know each other. Said: "Uh... Carl, this is the heir to the Earl of Grantham, Mr. Patrick Crawley. Patrick, this is, uh, my sister's future fiancé, the heir of the Hockley Enterprise, Mr. Cal Hockley .”

They shook hands briefly.

Patrick looked very disappointed: "Is it really urgent? I really want to invite you to my place for lunch and afternoon tea. It's a pleasure chatting with you. I still have a lot of information about the manor. I want to share my thoughts with you."

"Next time, I will definitely go back to Downton to visit you." We said goodbye by patting each other on the shoulder.

As soon as I followed Carl, I heard James say in a strange tone: "What is it that needs you to pick Henry up in person?"

"I don't seem to have permission to tell outsiders about Henry's private affairs, Earl of Cornwall." Carl smiled, only looked back at him, and then said to me, "Come on, Henry, let's go home."

At that moment, I felt that the two of them were extremely strange, perhaps because they had conflicts.But right now I can't handle that much anymore.

Carl said that he told me what happened when he got in the car, but in fact, even though I asked countless times, he didn't say a word, just drove the car very fast.I was extremely anxious at the beginning, gradually began to have some doubts, and finally started to faintly get angry.I have a hunch that I seem to be cheated.

Entering the hall, I finally yelled out uncontrollably: "What the hell happened! I'm so anxious to death, can't you explain clearly what mother is looking for me?"

Carl seemed to have just realized it. He stopped, turned his head slowly, and looked at me with the eyes of a child: "Ah. Did I tell you that Ruth has something to do with you? You must have misremembered."

At that moment, I thought he was extremely hateful, and I was so angry that I wanted to grab anything and throw it in his face: I almost had a heart attack, but it turned out it was just a joke?And he dared to speak nonsense with his eyes open?Thought I wouldn't be angry, did you?

"So it's just a joke? Oh God, you're so boring!"

I angrily left the hall, went upstairs to my room, and slammed the door hard.George came in quietly, stood aside, watched me lose my temper walking up and down the room, and came to change my clothes after I calmed down a little.

"It's really inexplicable!" I complained in a low voice, "George, I found that recently I have been arguing with Karl because of various inexplicable things, if this is not my hallucination."

"That's true, master." George folded the changed clothes and put them aside. "The relationship between you and Mr. Hockley has indeed been a bit awkward and tense recently."

I sighed, "That's fine, maybe I won't like him anymore if I quarrel. Speaking of it, I always feel a little tired getting along with him during this time."

"That's a good sign, sir," said George with a smile, unfolding a clean shirt for me to put my hands into the sleeves. "Would you like to open a bottle of champagne?"

I smiled helplessly: "Are you sure you're not gloating, George?"

"I just hope you don't get hurt any more." After saying this, George didn't continue the topic, but asked, "When are you planning to return to Acton? The steward of the manor sent a telegram today to inquire about this matter." something happened."

I pondered for a while: "Then let's set off after lunch tomorrow, and see what's going on first."

Riding on the horse, looking at the endless green fields, I feel a little bit at a loss.So this appearance is actually mature?

"Thanks to you, these early potatoes are growing well, master." The steward followed me, picked up a potato and handed it to me.

I nodded with a wooden face, looked at the gray lump in my hand, pretended to be profound and silent, so as not to expose my ignorance when I opened my mouth, then returned the potato to him, and looked at the other half of the road The workers in the field are bending over and digging potatoes vigorously in the field, as well as the fresh potatoes that have been dug out on the edge of the field and piled high on the ground.

"We expect to finish harvesting potatoes on the [-]th, and we can start sowing oats and beets after we reorganize the land." The steward said kindly.

I nodded, not saying a word.

"...This speed is already very fast, young master." The steward said, "Since we only have so many people..."

As if I looked at him calmly, he immediately stopped talking and changed the subject with a smug smile.

"...We have already negotiated with the buyer about the sale of this batch of potatoes. The price is not lower than the market price, but we have to be responsible for part of the transportation. If this is calculated, after the sale of this batch of potatoes, we can The net profit obtained is so much." The steward handed me a detailed list of the budget.

Looking at the numbers written in the column of net profit, I almost couldn't hold back my face.Acton's farm has been half-dead for as long as I can remember, and I had no idea the land could be so profitable.No wonder the luxury life of nobles was able to be supported by renting land in the past.

I returned the schedule to him and smiled slightly: "Thanks for your hard work."

Next, we went to see the situation of livestock and poultry as usual.The smell here is stronger than the last time I came back.The swineherd stood in front of the farmhouse and took off his hat to say hello to me. Beside him, a dog on a chain was barking at us frantically, bared its teeth, and rushed towards us fiercely. The rope was tightly stretched.

"My lord, this dog just came here, and it doesn't know you yet." The swineherd said loudly, "Don't worry, it's well chained."

As soon as he finished speaking, the dog suddenly broke the leash and rushed towards us quickly.

I was so frightened that my whole body became stiff. My riding skills have always been poor. When I encountered this situation, I only knew to hold the rein tightly, and I didn't know anything about the rest.Fortunately, my horse is an experienced horse. In this situation, I was not frightened. Instead, I calmly and quickly avoided the dog that attacked us.But George, who was following me, was not so lucky. His horse was so frightened that it raised its front legs and stood up. He fell off the horse directly, and immediately screamed in a low voice, unable to get up.

"George!" I screamed, my voice inflected.

It can only be said that the dog just bared its teeth to scare people around, and didn't really bite. The horse's hoof that was frightened was lucky not to step on George's body.The swineherd dragged the dog back in a panic, and the people next to him hurriedly helped George up, but he didn't know where he touched, and he cried out in pain again.

Everyone quickly carried him back to the castle and called the doctor.After a careful examination, the doctor told me that George had broken his collarbone, but fortunately the dislocation was not serious and he just needed to rest.

Hearing the result, George lay weakly on the bed, and said with guilt on his face, "I'm sorry, master, I can't accompany you to America."

"Oh, don't worry about that," I reassured. "It's only been a few weeks, and I think I can bear it. Ah, it just occurred to me that you stayed here just to keep an eye on the potato harvest and sale. And the next sowing of beets and oats. You know that the person I trust most is you, and I am most at ease in entrusting this matter to you."

George, who was originally very depressed, immediately cheered up after listening to the tasks I assigned, and repeatedly assured me that he would not let go of my trust.

I visited Acton for another two days, and on the [-]th, I set off for Southampton early in the morning. My mother, Carl and Rose would also depart from Bath on this day.On the [-]th, Titanic will set sail from the port of Southampton, pass through the port of Cherbourg in France and Queenston in Ireland, and then cross the Atlantic Ocean to New York, USA.

I met at Southampton the butler Carl's father had sent to fetch us, Mr. Laforger, and Mr. Hockley, old, did so out of respect for our group of distant visitors.Mr. Lai Fujie looks very serious, always frowning. Although he is not young and his hair is gray, he moves very nimbly and alertly.I seriously suspect that besides the butler, he also shoulders the duties of a personal bodyguard.

We spent an unnecessary rest day in our hotel in Southampton, but it seemed to be very important to the ladies, as my mother said, because she didn't want to carry a dusty and unseemly dress from a long journey. board the ship.

On the morning of the [-]th, we drove to the port to board the ship.The mother and Rose's luggage was terribly heavy. Dozens of large boxes filled the pickup trucks that the four hotels helped check luggage into, yet the mother and daughter thought they didn't have enough.If I had a camera, I really wanted to take a picture of this scene for Rose to see. She always felt that she was different from her mother, but at this time, the two had the same disgusted expression and similar complaining tone on their faces. , will know that they are mother and daughter.

The car gradually drove into the port. Through the car window, I saw the huge ship I had seen before lying quietly in the water, but this time, it was full of excited passengers. Stretching out half of my body, I excitedly waved goodbye to relatives and friends standing at the port, shouting all kinds of farewell words loudly.The port was also crowded with send-off people and passengers preparing to board the ship. It was bustling and bustling. It was almost impossible for our car to move here. It took a long time to safely stop at the boarding place for the first-class passengers.

Rose was the first to get out of the car, she gently raised the wide brim of her hat, her face was full of displeasure, and she looked critically at Titanic. He said in a disdainful tone: "I don't see what's so great about it. It doesn't look as big as the Mauritania."

I also looked at this ship, and I couldn't help laughing when I heard her say: "Rose, statistically speaking, this ship is indeed larger than the Mauritania. It is currently the largest cruise ship in the world, and this is an objective fact." , honey, you can't deny it."

"Henry is right." Carl also got out of the car, interjected. "Titanic is a hundred feet longer than Mauritania, more luxurious, and never sinks."

But Rose ignored him at all, and when Carl started talking, she just walked forward on her own.

Probably because of the imminent engagement, Rose's attitude towards Carl has become worse and worse recently.I smiled at Carl apologetically, but Carl just raised one eyebrow, said "woman" softly, shrugged, and reached out to help his mother get out of the car.

After handing over the problem of handling luggage to Mr. Lai Fujie, we boarded the ship through the channel dedicated to first-class passengers.Rose took my arm and followed me slowly into the boat. The morning sun slanted on her face, and I saw her expression become more and more serious as we got closer to the cabin door. Twist and pain.I had no choice but to pat her hand on my arm to show comfort.

At exactly eleven o'clock, the boiler of the cruise ship started to fire and thick white steam came out of the chimney. At twelve o'clock exactly, the Titanic finally left the port slowly, pulled by the tugboat.At that moment, the atmosphere was extremely enthusiastic, and the cheers could even be heard clearly in the first-class cabin.

Part of the salute has been moved to our room. Mother and Rose are busy directing the maids to take out their dozens of large boxes and tidy them up, while the rest of the luggage is still coming in continuously. A lot of flowers were ordered for the ladies to decorate the room, and the servants who delivered the flowers and decorated the room kept coming in and out, and the room seemed overcrowded.Carl and I had to back out first.

The waiter on the cruise took us to visit our room again. After putting all the furniture, decorations and flowers and plants, its gorgeousness once again refreshed my perception.

"The balconies of the two rooms can actually be connected, sir." The waiter introduced the spacious balcony, where there are comfortable wooden reclining chairs, and the walls are decorated with obliquely intersecting wooden grids, filled with flowers. Covered with vines, it looks like a flower wall. "Of course, if you don't need it, this door can be locked from the inside, which is very safe."

Carl was holding a wine glass in his hand, and when he heard a casual wave here, he signaled the waiter to leave, then turned and looked at me: "I picked these flowers for you, do you like them?"

I nodded, smiled and said, "Thank you, it's very beautiful."

Carl seemed to be in a very good mood, he had lost a lot of the inexplicable irritability he had experienced some time ago, and he had returned to the person I was familiar with who was able to handle everything with ease and with a graceful demeanor.

"So, are you going to lock that door?" Carl pointed to the door, "I thought maybe I could get an invitation to have a meal here in the morning."

"Of course, I'd love to invite you to breakfast, Karl." I laughed. "Let's go and see how the ladies are doing."

Rose was arranging her distinctive paintings in the room, and after the frantic buying spurred by Carl, she often participated in various art exhibitions and bought a lot, and she originally planned to put all I packed them all up and took them away. Finally, under my persuasion, I only brought her favorite part.

"We need to add some color to this room." When I entered the room, she was holding the painting and muttering, picking out a place with good lighting to put the painting in her hand.

"Oh, my God, Rose." I was a little dizzy looking at the oil paintings all over the room, "Don't you think there are too many colors in this room?"

She didn't even look at me, and continued with her work: "This is the difference between us, Henry, what I need is not those vulgar resplendent, those colors are suffocating. Eye-catching, distinctive, and full of talented colors."

After finishing speaking, she put away a painting, took two steps back, and exclaimed in a low voice with admiration: "Oh, what a genius... like a dream, real but illogical."

I didn't follow what she said. Regarding the issue of art, I knew I was not talented enough, and I couldn't discuss Rose. I was bored watching her busy up and down, but couldn't help me, so I had to leave the room again, and Carl Go to the deck to blow the air, and then return to the room after the changing number for lunch is blown.

At [-] o'clock in the evening, Titanic picked up a new group of guests in the port of Cherbourg, France. Among them was a lady named Molly Brown. She was a fat and kind woman with a very hearty and enthusiastic personality. I like her too much, but I like her very much.She makes me feel a kind of relaxed warmth.

As the wife of a nouveau riche, Mrs. Molly Brown sat in front of us aristocrats wrapped in elegant manners and a standard Oxford accent, without the slightest stage fright, and like ordinary people, trying to imitate every move of the aristocrats to blend in, she Speak loudly, make American jokes, and appear very confident.She has mastered the rules of our game, but she will not be bound and restrained by it. I admire her very much at this point.

The next afternoon, after Queenston loaded its last guests, Titanic sailed west from Ireland and into the Atlantic Ocean.