gentleman's manor

"Anna, can you let me in?" I stood in the corridor and knocked on the door lightly.

The door opened, Anna looked at me wronged, I walked in with a smile.

There was a fireplace in Anna's room, which was very warm, and the light from the flames sprinkled on the bed, turning the white sheets orange.There is a sense of life here, with a pot of wild chrysanthemums and a stuffed doll on the window sill, an unfinished cushion on the carpet, and a pair of embroidery on the bedside table.

Anna was wearing a plain white cotton gauze dress, with her hands behind her back, her head lowered and her eyes on the floor, her mouth tightly closed.

I bent down to look into her eyes, and teased her, "Look, how pitiful my young lady is, she's about to cry."

After being coaxed by me, Anna immediately felt aggrieved, threw herself into my arms, and burst into tears.

"I don't want to get married at all..." She cried and said, "Marriage is not good, woo...I don't want to leave you..."

I wrapped my arms around her slender back, patted her tenderly and said, "Don't be afraid, even if you get married, you are still my dearest lady, and this will never change. And there will be one more man to love you You, this is a good thing."

Anna looked at me with a teary face and said, "But I'm scared."

I fondly brushed the broken hair around her ears, feeling sad for a while.She encountered too many bad things when she was a child, was bullied by her stepmother, ignored by her father, and I was unable to take care of her. There is also a reason for her fear of marriage.

"Not every girl will be in the same situation as our mother. You have to have more confidence in life. Having a heavy dowry is also a means of protecting your rights and interests. Your future husband will value you more, and you will be more confident at home. There will be more status," I said.

"My mother also has a lot of dowry, but my father doesn't love her." Anna said, "I do love Mr. Carlos, but I also know that I am not worthy of him. He never put me in his eyes."

"He just doesn't understand you. My sister is so gentle and kind. If he understands you, he will love you like me and take care of you for the rest of his life." Our father's situation. Since you like him and he is a suitable husband, why don't we fight for it? Don't feel inferior or feel that you are not worthy of him. You are a legitimate lady of Quint Manor, Born in a famous family, well-bred, beautiful and gentle, you are no worse than Miss Bonnie or other ladies."

"Even so, I don't want my brother to be in debt for me. Although our surname is Constantine, we don't have the status and wealth to match it. Why do we have to support this kind of appearance? What does this have to do with greed and vanity? Separate? I will never be such a vain woman who asks my brother to borrow money to marry me to Mr. Carlos!"

"But...if there is no matching dowry..." I said hesitantly.

Anna said: "My brother also understands. If there is no matching dowry, Mr. Carlos may not even look at me, so what's the point of me marrying him? Isn't it like a mother? Just because of infatuation A man, let my dear brother make such a big sacrifice? I will never forgive myself if I do that."

"Anna..." I looked at the girl in front of me who seemed to have grown up suddenly, and felt sour in my heart. If I didn't have the strength to give her a dowry that matched her status, she wouldn't be in the entanglement she is today.

"So... are you just giving up on Mr. Carlos?" I asked.

Anna smiled and shook her head: "Mr. Carlos is too good. If he can notice me, then I will be very happy; if he doesn't pay attention to me, I won't force it."

"Do you want to think about it again?" I finally asked her.

"No, I've already made up my mind, you don't need to persuade me anymore." Anna said.

After that, I kissed her forehead and left the room.

I met Edward at the foot of the stairs, and he gave me an indication of how I was doing with his eyes.

"She doesn't agree." I said regretfully.

"Really? This is really regrettable news." Edward frowned, showing a more regretful look than me, and then he whispered in my ear: "I still look forward to when Mr. Adam has no money , use other methods to repay the interest, such as..."

He lightly drew a circle on my chest with his finger.

I immediately put on a straight face in anger. I don't like when I talk about serious things with him, he always jokes, or this kind of dirty joke.

"Oh, like... a kiss or something," he said quickly.

"You..." I smiled and shook my head.

Edward accompanied me to the study on the first floor, and then poured me a glass of wine: "Actually, this is also very good. In my opinion, although Mr. Carlos is very good, he is not suitable for Miss Anna."

I looked at him: "how to say?"

"Baron Hall is decent on the surface, decent, and kind to others. His children are also well-educated, with perfect manners and knowledge. But he is a noble family after all. The title of baroness may be bright and beautiful, but there are many heavy burdens behind it. Things, I don't think a gentle woman like Miss Anna can bear it." Edward said some specious things.

I pondered over his words for a long time, wondering if my original decision was too hasty. I only considered that Mr. Carlos is a very good man, and Anna likes him, but ignored other deeper things.Edward was born as a true nobleman, and perhaps he understands the private affairs of the nobles better than we do.

Half a month later, we packed up a carriage and headed for London.

The first snowfall in early winter was not heavy, and the snow on the roads melted quickly, but the vast fields were white.The trees are extraordinarily enchanting decorated with white snow, and the maple trees beside the road are like sculptures in fairy tales, dazzling and shining in the morning sun.

Anna and the maid Martha were in the carriage, Hughes drove and I rode all the way.My horse hadn't been out for a long time, so it was a little jubilant, wagging its tail and neighing.Anna opened the car window and looked out at the beautiful snow scene with a smile.

"The air is really fresh." She breathed out and sighed.

"Miss, it's so cold outside, it will freeze the skin on your face, close it quickly." Martha rubbed her hands and said.

Anna closed the car curtain with a smile: "If we don't move, it will get colder and colder. It will be a while before we arrive in London."

In order for Anna to socialize, I hired an extra maid before winter, and asked Martha to be Anna's personal maid.The number of maids is also a measure of whether a woman is rich. Many women like to enrich their maid team after marriage to show their husband's financial strength.The pre-marital lady has a maid, which is intended to show that the lady has someone to take care of her at home, and she never needs to do anything by herself, which is the dignity of a gentleman's daughter.

After running for a whole morning, the carriage finally arrived in London. I rented a small house in the North End of London. It was two stories high and had three master bedrooms.The house is a bit old, but there are fireplaces in the living room and bedrooms. The bedroom on the second floor faces the sun with large windows, and the sunlight makes the room warm.The house is tidied up in advance, just pack the clothes you carry with you.I still have some entertainment in London, so I told Anna and rode out.

When I came to a high-end club, the gatekeeper welcomed me in.

"Mr. Mike Burns, are they upstairs?" I asked the servant, handing my cloak and hat.

"Yes, sir, do you want me to show you the way?"

"No need, I can find them by myself." I took a step forward and strode up the stairs covered with red carpets. On the way, I met two pairs of men and women holding arms with each other. Cui, with complicated skirts and ornaments, looks like a woman of high society.This clubhouse is often visited by high-level socialites, and gentlemen of high status like to come here to play cards, drink, and have fun.

My former classmates are now all successful and famous, and have become gentlemen, and the meeting place has changed from the small living room of the school to this kind of high-end club.After I knocked on the door, a tall young man gave an excited 'hey' and cheered inside: "Look who's here!" Then he gave me a big hug.

I walked into the door with a smile and hugged my old friends one by one.

Edward had already arrived. He was playing cards at the poker table, and he only gave me a look when he saw me come in.We agreed to keep a certain distance after coming to London and not to be too intimate.

"My dear friend, I'm so glad to see you back safe and sound." Mike winked at me with a look of relief.Mike and I were classmates in the university seminary for three years, and our friendship was particularly strong.Before going to India, he even specially came to see me off, and we have not stopped our correspondence over the years.

Young people tend to be noisy when they get together. A dozen of our old classmates who have a good relationship met in London, and each of us had a lot to talk about. The ice and snow outside could not stop our fiery hearts.

I scanned the room and didn't see John, so I asked Mike in a low voice, "Is John still here?"

"Is John also in London?" Mike asked in surprise.

"Of course, he got married in London in the spring and rented a house in the North End. I thought I would meet him today," I said.

"John has been in trouble recently, but he didn't tell you?" Pete suddenly interrupted.

Peter was also one of the members who bullied John back then, but later became friends with us.I remember he and John both went to law school in college and became lawyers together after graduation.

Under our questioning eyes, Pete shrugged and said, "I gotta say, poor John, he's out of a job."

"What's going on? How could you lose your job?" I frowned.

"He offended a well-known lawyer." Pete said simply: "He went around looking for trouble with him. John always loses his lawsuits and encounters a lot of bad things."

Hearing this, I fell silent, thinking of Mr. Martin's experienced eyes, maybe he did something behind his back.

We stayed in the clubhouse very late that day, and in the end the whole room was choked with cigar smoke, and we drank several bottles of wine, and several people were even helped to leave drunk.

Edward and I shook hands in front of the clubhouse, he got into the carriage, and I rode on the horse, saying good-bye to each other like very ordinary friends.In the clubhouse today, I didn't even take the initiative to say a word to him, maybe I was guilty or something, I hope I didn't act too deliberately.

The author has something to say: The information I searched is very messy. Some say that the social season is spring, some say summer and autumn, and some say winter. I finally arranged it in winter, because I think there is no busy farming in winter, and everyone is free. Yes, so go to the dance.

Today's content is a bit empty, so I will post two chapters.

In fact, in the real European history, this period was not beautiful at all. There were many strange laws and bad habits, and it was not as glamorous as in the movies. I beautified this article.

After all, the novel is not three-dimensional, O(n_n)O, assuming that we are all living in the "Pride and Prejudice" movie.I also recommend the bbc series "Fugui Floating Clouds", in which the husband of the second sister is so handsome and cry.