[Titanic] I can't help myself

Christmas came in a blink of an eye, and this time, out of selfishness, we once again invited Viscount Stewart.Robert also plans to come to Acton for Christmas. His parents are still in India. Christmas, which has lost the meaning of family reunion, is better for him to study and research.Our thesis had reached the part of theoretical calculations, and he was so fascinated by simple algorithms for deriving hyperstatically indeterminate structures that even I couldn't find an excuse to take a break.

Unexpectedly, one week before Christmas, I received a letter from Uncle Connery. After a flashy greeting, he unceremoniously proposed that he hoped to spend Christmas in Acton.

I don't mind that there are three more people on the Christmas guest list, but making such a direct request seems to be afraid that I will reject him because of his vague words. This kind of behavior is actually a bit rude, but I don't take it to heart , just told Robert as an anecdote.

Robert looked at me through thick glasses, and when I said that Uncle Connery was coming to visit, his face suddenly turned red, his ears and neck were also red as if they were about to burn, and then he lowered his head, It was as if he suddenly found some particularly valuable information in the book that attracted him.

I was taken aback by his expression, and immediately after that, another possibility popped up.

"Robert?" I asked tentatively, "Don't you want Nicholas to come over?"

"He is your guest, of course you have the final say." Robert buried his head deeply in the book, turning the pages twice as fast as usual.

"But if his presence makes you unhappy, so be it," I said. "After all, you are my guest, and Nicholas can only be regarded as an uninvited guest."

"I don't care. Of course you can invite him."

"But you look very reluctant." I moved my face closer, "Look, your face is flushed with anger."

"Because the fire in the house is too hot!" He turned around impatiently, and then flipped the pages of the book quickly.

"Then I'll write to him and tell him not to come, because you don't want to."

"Why don't I want to? I said I don't care!" he shouted, his face getting redder.

I was not in a hurry either, I leaned against the table with my arms folded and stared at him quietly.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, he finally couldn't take it anymore.Robert pushed the book, turned his head suddenly, looked at me pretending to be calm and said, "Okay, you win." He squinted at me, "What do you want to know?"

"I don't want to know anything." I said feigned surprise, "Do you have anything to tell me?"

Robert's face was so red that I suspected that the blood vessels on his face had burst, his lips were trembling, and then he suddenly yelled and rushed over to pinch my neck: "Henry! You are too much!"

I laughed and put my arms around him.He rushed forward relentlessly, ruffling my hair.We played around for a while before sitting on the sofa in the study while laughing.

"Your relationship..." I raised my eyebrows and said with a smirk.

"What's so strange about this." He straightened his glasses, straightened his back and straightened his hair, "Do you think I don't know about you and Mr. Hockley? The air between you is almost thick melted."

"When did this happen?" I ignored him joking about my relationship with Carl. "There was no sign at all. You guys really surprised me. This is, how did it happen?"

Robert blushed and stroked his hair pretending to be calm. It took a while before he said, "After last Christmas, Nick... I mean, Viscount Connery, he later invited me to his London As a guest at the mansion, later..." He stopped, showing a shy smile.

I was taken aback by his smile.His smile full of sweet feeling is so amazing that even thick glasses can't hide it.

"So you finally became the Viscountess Connery?" I joked.

"Why didn't he become the Countess of Branson!" He immediately glared at me and shouted sternly.

We sat on the couch and started laughing at each other to our heart's content.I joked that he looked like a little girl when he blushed, and he satirized that every time I was with Carl, I looked like a girl who was in love.

"Do your parents know?" I finally asked the question I wanted to ask the most in my heart, "Are you still planning to get married? You know, Nicholas already has an heir."

"Of course I want to get married, why not?" Robert looked at me strangely, "My parents have only one child, and I can only solve the heir issue."

"But..." I suddenly didn't know what to ask. Judging from the content of our chat just now, the relationship between Robert and Cousin Connery is absolutely very sincere, and it is not just a whim of pleasure. "Then... ..."

"Of course we will always be together." Robert took off his glasses and wiped them. "I love Nick, but getting married and giving birth to an heir are also my unshirkable responsibilities. The two are actually not contradictory. I can give My future wife has the status of a noble Viscountess and a rich life, and she can tolerate her small indulgences without hindering the family's honor. The only thing I can't give her is my heart , but I don't think she needs it either."

"but……"

"Henry, I'm actually very surprised why you don't want to get married." Robert said seriously, "Marriage won't stop you from continuing to be with Carl. Not all women desire pure love like Juliet, the status of a countess and luxury. Life is enough for them to forget all their troubles, and there is only one heir left, and life is perfect. They don't care whether you are with a man or a woman. You will know when you are married, and you are the closest to her The time is when outsiders are present."

"Speak as if you were married," I said.

"But I have seen other people's marriages." Robert shrugged indifferently, "You have stayed in Eaton for a few years anyway, don't you know who will be in the beds of those future elites?"

I looked at him speechlessly, and couldn't help thinking that when I was still in school, I would often find someone sneaking into my room at night, and some classmates would pretend to be affectionate and put their arms around my shoulders, but they were actually looking for opportunities kiss Me.

But I thought of my mother again, her tired and numb face, even before my father's investment failed, she had always lacked the vitality of a young woman, as if all the enthusiasm for life had disappeared.

What caused all this might not only be that she finally saw her father's true face clearly, but also the relationship between her father and Viscount Stuart.A hopeless marriage is such a blow to a woman.Parents with such feelings, the unfamiliar and cold atmosphere between them cannot be concealed with a few polite smiles. If it is a real child, when he feels all this, how much will it affect him? Influence?

I can't do something like this.Maybe for Robert, for Cousin Connery, a man's marriage and love are two different things, but for me, living here for another 50 years, I will not be able to do this.

I rubbed my eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Henry." Robert pushed me on the shoulder, "You don't really want to stay out of marriage for Mr. Hockley, do you?"

I smiled. "I just don't think I can ignore the mother of my child."

He stared at me for a while, finally sighed loudly, and patted my shoulder: "Maybe you won't think so in a few years."

I think my mother thinks the same way. After a few years, when our relationship cools down a bit, maybe I can think about marriage and love as rationally and worldly as Robert, and after I get married, my longing for family will be different. Slowly alienate the relationship between Carl and me.I can only feel that my mother is really very patient.

Cousin Connery quickly arrived in Acton with his two children, and Thomas held Robert's hand as soon as he saw him.The unusual atmosphere between Robert and Cousin Connery was too strong to be ignored, one stared at him with application, the other blushed as if he had a fever, neither of them knew how to restrain themselves.

This made me suddenly feel that it was a wrong decision to invite Cousin Connery.All five of the castle's men now liked men, and one was still obsessed with my father, which was a great thrill to her.I saw her eyes linger between Robert and Cousin Connery, her expression stiffened, and finally she simply moved away, out of sight.

Viscount Stewart found out about Karl and I without my confession.Unexpectedly, he also opposed my idea of ​​not getting married. He agreed with Robert that marriage and love do not conflict.

"It's extremely irresponsible for you to do this." He said sternly, "You have to understand that everything you own is not your own. To put it bluntly, you are just its custodian, not its owner. Could it be You'd have the heart to ruin everything that the ancestors of your family did at the hands of a guy who came out of nowhere and probably had no education at all."

"It's too extreme for you to say that." I turned my head a little annoyed, "The heirs of the Earl of Grantham all died in Titanic, and their new heirs are not bad, although they were a little uncomfortable with the life in the manor at first. , but it has become more and more qualified.”

"But don't forget, Acton can have today, and your mother's painstaking efforts, how can her efforts fall into the hands of others for no reason?" Viscount Stewart snapped, "You have no right to let her put her Give what you deserve to an outsider!"

The author has something to say: my perfect attendance award. . . .Why can't time turn back. . .