[Titanic] I can't help myself

The next day was Sunday, and after breakfast, everyone went to church.The weather was fine, and the church was not far away, so people walked there in groups of twos and threes.

Rose looked as morose as she had been the night before, and I guessed Mother must have scolded her hard last night.Her face was haggard. Although the slightly blue skin and the shadows under her eyes had been subtly covered with powder, her slightly swollen eyes and her listless expression revealed her true mental state.She followed her mother and Aunt Edith silently alone.

A young gentleman approached her and tried to strike up a conversation with her, but she just curled up her lips politely, looking unhappy and not at all interested in conversation.

"Sorry, Carl, excuse me for a while." I said hastily, raising my legs to walk towards Rose.

Carl, who was talking with others, froze for a moment, and quickly grabbed my wrist: "Sit together later, okay? I'll save a seat for you."

I nodded, then walked quickly to Rose, and said to the man beside her, "Mr. Fellowes, can you lend Rose a few minutes for me?"

Mr. Phyllis shrugged: "Please."

"Thank you." After I finished speaking, I pulled Rose to slow down and staggered away from him.

Although there was a certain distance from the people in front and behind me, I still tried to lower my voice and asked, "Rose, are you okay?"

Rose turned her head to look at the woods in the distance, "Great, very good." She said coldly.

I pressed my forehead and sighed.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, "I'm sorry, Rose, it's all my fault for making you suffer like that yesterday."

Rose looked at me in surprise, her green eyes were as beautiful as emeralds under the bright and clean sunlight.I turned my eyes away from her.

We were silent for a while, and finally she said, "It's not your fault."

"Soon, no one will bully you anymore." I said, "Mr. Hockley and I have a very smooth talk about the steelmaking technology. I believe that in the near future, we will no longer need to worry about any debt problems." Already." I smiled, leaned close to her ear and whispered, "At that time, you can take revenge on Marguerite Béberon any way you want."

Rose burst out laughing: "Henry, I'm not that young lady, I only bully others with money and status."

The cloud over Rose's head seemed to have dissipated a bit, and she had regained some vitality after all, and I breathed a sigh of relief in my heart.

I tried to divert her attention by telling Rose what Carl had told me yesterday about the factory building.Sure enough, after a while, Rose was attracted, but her attention was all on the workers in the factory.

"You are all vampires." She snorted coldly, "Forcing them to do the hardest work, squeezing them to earn huge wealth, but making them unable to even afford food."

I listened quietly, and I felt a pang of relief at her tirade critical of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy, including myself, that her spirits were recovering.

The path ahead rounds a bend to Chatsworth Church, and we can now see the tall, thin cross jutting from the top of the tree.

"Rose," I said softly, "don't blame Mom."

The expression on Rose's face seemed to be erased instantly, and then she tightly pursed her mouth and turned her head away from me.

I continued, "She may have done a lot, but she loved you. She was always proud of you. There's no question about that."

"Of course, of course." She raised her chin, her voice almost whispering, "She still points to me to find a husband who is a glorious family."

"Don't be like this, my dear." I said softly, "She is over 40 years old, and the values ​​she has formed since she was a child tell her that a person should use his life to protect the honor of his nobility, and everyone thinks so, no People think there's nothing wrong with that. If she were in your position, she would definitely not hesitate to take the path she chose for you. But it doesn't mean she doesn't love you, she just thinks it's just yours A small rebellion is not a big problem."

At this time, the mother who was about to enter the church suddenly turned her head and motioned for us to follow.Rose sighed deeply, "Okay, I know, I will control myself." After speaking, she quickened her pace and walked to her mother.

After talking to my mother, I sat down next to Carl and put the Bible and hymn on my lap.The poems to be sung and chapters to be spoken today have been written on the blackboard next to the podium.

It was not yet time, and the church was filled with small whispers.I flipped through the Bible boringly.Although I have received 15 years of religious education in this Christian country, I am not a devout Christian, to be precise, I do not believe in God at all.

A few minutes later, the priest came out to signal everyone to be quiet, and the choir in white robes stepped forward and stood on the platform next to the piano.

"Stand up, please," said the priest.

Then came the silent time, everyone stood up, put their fingers crossed in front of them, lowered their heads and closed their eyes.

The members of the choir are all little boys from Chatsworth Town. The voices sung by their undeveloped voices are indistinguishable, clear and clear, and they are all dressed in white. The sun shines on them through the colorful windows behind them. , looks like a group of angels who fell into the world.

Next, everyone sang a hymn together, and after praying with the priest, they began to listen to Bishop Williams' lecture on the Gospel of Matthew.

Regarding the question of religion, I have to say that this is entirely due to fate.I have seen devout believers who were moved to tears in the church, could kneel in front of the cross and repent all day long, and would cheer with joy when listening to the pastor's prayer.And I've never had the gospel of God, and I don't feel anything about it.

Moreover, since I was three years old and went to church with my parents, I have never been awake, and this time is no exception. The pastor spoke for less than 3 minutes, and I began to fall asleep.I leaned against the back of the chair, opened the Bible and spread it on my lap, closed my eyes and lowered my head, and fell asleep.Fortunately, I didn't sit next to my mother. Every time my mother found me dozing off, she would pinch my thigh vigorously to wake me up.

I heard the gentle and kind voice of Mr. Bishop, and I fell into a half-asleep state. The picture of the Chatsworth dining room flashed in front of my eyes, and I immediately jumped into the garden of Acton. What did my mother say to me, Rose Standing on the fountain in the garden and bouncing on tiptoe.I looked at all this blankly, and suddenly felt weightless for a moment, and was frightened awake immediately.

In front, Bishop Williams was still preaching in his lukewarm voice, and there was a snicker behind him.My seat is next to the aisle, and I almost slipped out of the chair, but it wasn't Karl who pulled me back in time, and I guess I fell to the ground by now.

I was frightened into a cold sweat, and my limbs felt weak for a while.My mother and Rose sat in the front, two rows away from me, and didn't notice my embarrassing behavior just now.

"Thank you!" I whispered to Carl. "If I did fall, Mom would kill me."

Carl's mouth curved: "Didn't sleep well yesterday?"

"No." I lowered my head and pressed a corner of the cover with my fingertips, and smiled awkwardly, "It's just a little..."

"Oh, I see." Carl smiled knowingly and whispered, "It's really boring. Sometimes I really admire those religious fanatics."

Just when I was about to fall asleep again under the hypnosis of the Bishop, Carl said: "In the morning, my lawyer sent me a telegram telling me that he will arrive tomorrow with the preliminary contract. If it is convenient, he will bring you The lawyer also called to discuss it together.”

I blinked my eyes, and my sanity gradually returned.

"Oh, yes..." I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Okay, no problem. I'll send a telegram to Anderson after the church. His office is in London and he can come over tomorrow."

"This process won't be too complicated." Carl whispered to me, "Generally, the terms are drawn up according to the existing practice, and there will be no major problems. Of course, if you have any other requirements, feel free to bring them up for discussion. "

I nodded: "Thank you, I didn't expect it to be so fast."

Carl said again: "My father and I have telegraphed. He means that the UK is testing the water now. If the feasibility of these two technologies can be proved, then a factory will be built in the United States for production."

"Your father is cautious," I said.

Suddenly, I felt like a pinprick. I raised my head and found that William, who was across the row of seats, was staring at Carl and me.He didn't have much expression on his face, and when he saw me looking at him, he quickly turned his head away.

I retracted my gaze, turned my head and continued to talk to Carl in a low voice.

The next day Carl's solicitor and I checked into Chatsworth, and Aunt Edith called her and William's solicitor to help.

The law is a field that I can't control at all. I seem to know every word of those dense legal provisions, but I can't do anything when they are combined, let alone find out any traps and loopholes. I can only ask a lawyer with full authority.

Mother and William also got involved.Although my mother is a woman, she has managed the affairs of the manor for many years, and is completely better at handling these legal issues than I am. To her, I am still a child who doesn't understand anything, so such a big matter naturally requires her to handle it.As for William, I was so embarrassed by the non-quarrel that night that I had barely spoken to him since then, but he insisted on having a hand in drafting the terms of the contract.William University is studying law at Lincoln's Law School, and we are relatives, so although I feel that this is not good, I can't find a reason to refuse him to do so.

William put what he had learned into practice, contrary to the forbearance and restraint of speech and behavior cultivated by ordinary aristocratic education, he was aggressive and unyielding, and discussed with Karl and several lawyers one by one.Instead, my mother and I became idle spectators.

"You have to remember everything that William has done for you." Mother said softly, "We owe the Wyatt family a lot."

I nodded: "It's natural."

The mother sighed: "Look at William, I don't know when you will be able to be alone like him and become my reliance."

"Mom," I said with a smile, "can't I let you rely on me a little now?"

"You?" Mother snorted, "Stop putting gold on your face."

The matter of the contract cannot be resolved in a day or two, and there are more important matters right now, which is the fox hunting season starting in November.