gentleman's manor

"Oh, he's so good-looking. I haven't seen such a handsome young man for many years." A fat lady murmured in a low voice: "I heard that she just became a pastor and has an income of 120 pounds a year. There is only one younger sister in the family." .”

A tall and thin lady next to her shook her fan lightly and said, "120 pounds is a little less. I heard that you can't inherit the land, and you don't have any inheritance."

"Is his surname Constantine? Could it be that Constantine?"

"That's right, that Constantine." The slender woman held her head high, with a look of disdain in her eyes. She was Baron Hall's wife.

"Tsk tsk, I think their brother and sister are both decent people, why is there such a shameless elder sister? After chasing a man to confess, the ordinary lady would have died of shame and anger, and even wanting to be your daughter-in-law is simply wishful thinking. " said the fat woman obsequiously.

The baroness covered her mouth with her fan and said in a low voice, "Isn't it? And she's an illegitimate daughter, born when her mother was a mistress."

"My God!" exclaimed the fat woman.

"The mother of the pastor's brother and sister is the daughter of a baron. She has noble blood. How can a dirty illegitimate daughter be compared?" The baroness said arrogantly: "Families like ours don't care about the amount of dowry, as long as they can get by. Yes, but you must recognize your identity, not any lowly woman can become a baroness."

The dance went on smoothly, and the guests gradually left until two o'clock in the middle of the night.

That night, the baron talked to me a lot about Indian politics, and finally he explained to me with a little hesitation.

"I should have invited you to be my guest earlier, but I have had some misunderstandings with your father recently." The baron said awkwardly, "Your illegitimate sister is a little...uh...too..."

"Shameless." I continued the baron's unspoken words.

There are customary rules in the upper class that women must be reserved and restrained, and can only wait for men to actively pursue them.Even if you want to hint to a man that she likes you, you can only convey your feelings with your eyes or fan, and you must not be too obvious, otherwise the reputation of debauchery will spread, and you will never want to marry a good man in the future. After all, there is no decent man A gentleman would want a woman with a bad reputation.And I was extremely embarrassed by Elizabeth's reckless actions at this time, because we both have the surname Constantine, and people who don't know will only classify us as one, but I don't care. What I fear most is that Anna's reputation will be affected.

The baron waved his hand and said: "If she is a decent lady, based on my friendship with your father and our considerable status, there is no problem in concluding a marriage contract. It's a pity that she doesn't understand the potential of our circle. According to the rules, I blindly expressed my love to my son, of course my son would not propose to her, but your father didn't understand me and wrote me a letter with fierce words."

"My father loves sister Elizabeth very much. I apologize to you on behalf of my father." I said with a flushed face.

"It's not your fault, nephew. Dean has gone too far these years. People of our status can just play with mistresses. How can we marry each other into the house? He also said that he would give your sister A dowry of three thousand pounds, as long as my son agrees to marry her, I have to say, is wishful thinking. How can an illegitimate daughter deserve the status of baroness? No matter how much he pays, we can't afford to lose face " said the baron quickly.

"I have already cut off contact with my father, and I am living outside with my younger sister. I am extremely ashamed for such a disrespectful incident at home. Please forgive me." I said embarrassingly.

"Don't worry, I won't blame you for your father's fault, I hope he will understand sooner." The baron patted me on the shoulder and said.

After the ball, I took Anna, who was drowsy, into the carriage.And John and Miss Daisy obviously have a good impression of each other after a night of getting along intimately, and their manners have become more and more intimate. I can only sigh helplessly.

The next morning, when the sun rose high, Anna had already started practicing the piano.

On the lilac tree outside the window, thousands of lilacs are competing to bloom. The fragrance of flowers blows into the window along with the breeze, blowing the white curtains, and the curtains are raised high, like a playful child in front of the piano.

Anna was playing the waltz. She had no talent for playing the piano. Miss Daisy took great pains to teach her, but it turned out to be very ingenious. I have to admit that we are both incapable of art.I'm a man, so it's fine if I don't know how to play the piano and sing, but my sister needs to rely on these things to gain word of mouth so that she can marry in the future, and now Quint's surname Constantine has been stigmatized by Elizabeth, so I can only Trying to save some dowry before she officially enters the society.

Anna finished talking about a piece of music and looked up at me with a smile.

"It's really good." I praised against my will.

"Let's go to church together tomorrow morning for worship. I promised the nuns there to make some cushions and send them there tomorrow." Anna said with a smile.

"Listen, honey." I sat next to her and said, "I have something important to tell you."

Anna saw that I was serious, so she turned to me and asked worriedly, "What happened?"

"I applied for a missionary position in India, where I will be stationed for two years," I said.

Anna's face turned pale, her voice trembling slightly: "India? When..."

"Leave tomorrow." I said.

She lowered her head in panic, stared at the piano and said, "It's so urgent...India is so far away...I'm half a world away, and there's such a big ocean..."

"I just went away for two years and I'm back in the blink of an eye, and I'll write to you," I explained.

"Isn't it good to stay in China? Could it be that my brother can't find a job in China, so he can only venture out to sea?" Anna asked anxiously.

"I went for a reason, please forgive my decision."

"No, don't go brother, I feel terrified when I think of the sea, I beg you not to go, you don't go, if you want to go, take me with you." Anna cried softly.

"I'll be fine, I swear to you," I said, taking her in my arms.

Anna cried by my side for the whole morning, and in the afternoon she pulled herself together to help me pack my luggage.

The next day, with my sister's reluctance, I got into the carriage and left home.

……

I never thought I'd get seasick, and after two days of throwing up and thinking I was going to die on board, I finally got over the physical ordeal and was able to take a walk on deck.The wind at sea is very strong, even in clear weather, but seagulls can take advantage of the wind and fly obliquely over the ship.

This is a very large sailing ship. It is said that it has a draft of thousands of tons. It is one of the largest ships in the world today. There are cannons wrapped in the cabin to prevent pirates at sea.

The deck was full of busy sailors, shirtless and tanned.The body is very flexible, drilling around in the towering mast.When I stood on the side of the boat, they would come to me with a smile, begging me to pray for them, and I couldn't stand the enthusiasm.

As a priest, besides the captain, I have the highest status on board.I met a businessman on the boat named Evan Franks. He was in his 30s and lived in India all year round. This time he returned to England to send his son to study.I was indebted to him for looking after me during my illness, and he sent me one of his valets, as I was in such a hurry that I had no time to hire a valet.

Aiwen is also the youngest son of a squire. Because he has no inheritance rights and cannot read well, he went out with a few hundred pounds when he was a teenager. Although he gave up his status as a gentleman, he became an outstanding businessman.

He was surprised that I went to sea alone, but he also praised him sincerely: "The ocean is the cradle for men to realize their ambitions. Those men who hide on the land and never face the sea are cowards. A bold man like you is just right for me. Appetite, I can't believe you are such a frail monk."

I'm actually not that bold, and the sea is a scary place for me too.The vast sea is boundless, and there are only years of lonely days. This kind of loneliness will drive people crazy, and they also have to face storms that may appear at any time. Maybe once they go to sea, they may never be able to set foot on land again.

A great part of my reason for wanting to go to India was to find Edward, whom I had had the opportunity to save from a miserable fate, but which I neglected through negligence.Although according to the memory of his previous life, he will return safely and be rich again, but I really want to confirm for myself whether he is really safe and sound. As long as I see with my own eyes that he is still alive, I will be relieved, otherwise I will not be able to bear the pain in my heart. The condemnation and pain, the remorse will accompany me for the rest of my life.

So I said to Ai Wen: "Actually, I have no choice but to go to sea, otherwise I would not dare to board the boat."

"Don't underestimate yourself, Mr. Pastor, but as a senior, I should remind you of some things." Ivan blinked at me and said, "When we anchor in Serbia, you can buy some goods and bring them to the ship. , cloth, and even medicines, you can at least triple the amount of money you take with you when you arrive in India for unloading."

"Really? This is really..." I said in surprise.

"It's best to be able to carry firearms, those things are the most valuable, but be careful of being treated as a smuggler." Ivan said with a smile.

In Serbia, Spain, the fleet stopped overnight. I followed Ivan's advice and bought all the 150 pounds out of the 100 pounds I carried with me into wine and medicines. There were not many things, which just filled my room.So that when I set off again, I could only survive in a small space.

Life at sea is very difficult. There are only crew members and sailors on board. A few businessmen and I have some common topics, so we often get together to drink and play cards.

These merchants shipped a large amount of goods from the UK and sold them all over the world, and at the same time shipped goods back to China from all over the world to earn the difference in profits.

"During my father's generation, I often traveled to the East. The largest country there was called Qing, and she was extremely rich. My father said that there was a dense population and fertile soil, and even ordinary people lived in prosperity. My father used their silk, porcelain and tea for It’s a pity that they can no longer trade with them since their emperor issued an order to block the port more than ten years ago,” said a businessman.

"The most profitable thing now is the black trade." Another businessman said: "Selling a black man to the New World or the Southern Continent can earn 5 pounds, plus the benefits they bring from working on large estates, the government earns a lot of money , Unfortunately, smuggling is not allowed."

"Recently a lot of people have come out against the black trade, thinking it's immoral." I said, "I support the idea that everyone is equal before God and that black people are human beings. I don't think it will be long before the black trade is banned." .”

"Your thinking is too simple, Mr. Pastor, those big manor owners in the New World will not agree with such a point of view."

"I have been on those ships that traded blacks." Mr. Ivan said: "They are very poor. The slave traders beat them with whips at every turn, and even beat them to death like this. There was a lack of food and water on the ships, and a large group of people were tied in In the dark cabin, it was stuffy and smelly, they had no water or food in it, and the dead bodies were thrown directly into the sea, and even schools of fish followed the ship all the way to eat the bodies that fell into the water."

"Oh my God, that's terrible." I said in horror.

One of the sharp businessmen dismissed our point of view. He mocked us and said: "I can't agree with your point of view. Those black people are not human at all. They are just a kind of beast, and they are lazy and stupid by nature. Without us They brought out the barren land, and they are still living in ignorance. Being driven by us to work, they can also create some survival value, otherwise there is no need for them to exist.”

Most of us don't pay much attention to this businessman's sharp tongue, but he always likes to talk.

"You know that they live in a place with a warm climate, where there is no winter, and there is a lot of food all year round. Just reach out and get the fruit of the branches. Unlike people living in the north, if you don't work hard to store food and firewood in the warm season, winter You can only starve to death and freeze to death, so the worse the living environment, the more industrious and intelligent people are, and the more comfortable the living environment, the lazy and stupid people will be." The businessman said.

There seemed to be some truth to his conclusions, but then he added: "My point of view confirming that they are still beasts is that they are still like animals, men and women mating casually, there is no sense of shame. The men run off after they vent, and the women alone Is it human to raise a child without knowing who its father is?"

The businessman's remarks were ugly, but someone nodded in agreement.

I sighed and said, "I don't know how to judge our actions today, but one day in the future, we will definitely regret what we did today. If God gave blacks a rich land, we are not qualified to fight for it." They use their strength to snatch the treasures that God gave them, and they are not qualified to take them away from their hometown. There must be consequences for this, but we can’t see it today, so people still continue to behave horribly. I hope there will be no punishment from God in the future.”

The author has something to say: I seem to have seen such a plot in "Uncle Tom's Cabin", but I don't remember it.

The cruel black slave trade is unacceptable, and now those Westerners are already paying the price for it.

What surprised me is that the earliest black slave trade in the world was actually in China, and it existed in the Tang Dynasty, and there were a lot of them ==