gentleman's manor

Heavy rain.

The damp smell filled the room with a musty smell, and the dark, damp air seemed to seep from the skin into the bone marrow, making people shiver with cold.Dickon rubbed his palms against the fire, but it was still bitterly cold.

This morning, the housekeeper asked him to fill all the vases in the room with hundreds of yellow roses in full bloom.Dickon felt tired after all this, but he was satisfied.Because these flowers did not wither because of the brilliance of the rain, but dedicated their blooming beauty to the owners of the manor, especially Dickon's sweetheart.

The cook came to the firewood room through the corridor, holding a torn apron in her hand, she squatted down on the stool tiredly, and then complained, "It's really terrible to choose such a day to get married, last year it was so bad. Plums, which are easy to store, were originally intended to be made into cakes, but who knows, they all got moldy."

"Has the lady lost her temper with you?" Dickon asked her.

"Oh, don't mention it soon, is there anything to keep Madam from losing her temper?" The cook rolled her eyes and said.

Bruce Manor held a wedding today. The groom is Mr. Bruce's eldest son, Alva, and his new wife is a lady with a rich dowry.As the future heir of the Bruce Manor, countless friends from far and near came to the wedding to congratulate the two couples on their happy marriage. People said that they were a match made in heaven.It's a pity that in the middle of the outdoor wedding ceremony, it started to rain heavily. The gentlemen and ladies were all watered by the rain, and the originally glamorous guests hung their heads lazily like wet flowers.

"Dickon! Come with me!" The door of the woodshed flung open, and the butler stood anxiously outside.

Startled, Dickon hurriedly took off his hat, and walked quickly to the butler: "Follow your orders, sir."

The butler didn't stop at all, and the fine sweat on his forehead wet his silver hair, and he said as he walked, "I'll give you a servant's coat later, and you follow me to the living room to serve you.

"What!" Dickon opened his eyes wide, and suddenly felt a little weak in his feet: "I...the living room..."

"There is not enough manpower. Many gentlemen have been caught in the rain and need to be taken care of by male servants." The butler said.

"Do you need me to take care of the gentlemen?" Dickon said nervously, "But...I can't, I don't know anything..."

"My God! It's up to you to tell me." The butler led Dickon to a bedroom, then threw him a suit of clothes and said, "Put them on quickly."

Seeing that Dickon was still hesitating, the butler propped his forehead and said, "What are you still doing in a daze? Hurry up! If it wasn't for the temporary lack of manpower, do you think I would let you come in front of the guests? What if the manor is lost? Decent, you can't afford to be whipped to death with a horsewhip."

Dickon hurriedly took off his clothes, and then put on the servant's suit.Unlike the dirty clothes I was wearing, the servants' clothes were clean and thick, and looked very decent.The shirt inside was washed white, and the sleeves were shaped like petunias, long and draped over the hands.The coat is a red wool overcoat with a silk-lined tuxedo.The lower body is black tights, and white socks are stretched tight on the calf.

Then the butler found a pair of white gloves and a white wig and said, "Take these to cover the dirt under your fingernails."

After getting dressed, the butler straightened Dickon's tie and said with a sigh, "It looks like that."

"Sir, am I really going to serve the guests in the lobby? I'll make a fool of myself." Dickon said worriedly.

"I can't control that much now. Listen to the child, you don't need to pay too much attention. When you go in later, only serve small snacks and don't touch the wine glass. Don't learn how others serve the plate with one hand, just hold it firmly with both hands, Don't enter the crowd, just stand outside and serve." The butler finally patted Dickon on the shoulder and said, "I know you are a steady and good boy, don't be afraid, you will definitely be able to do it."

Seeming to be too busy to take care of him, the butler only gave a few instructions and took Dickon to the hall, gave him a tray full of purple berry snacks, and left in a hurry.

The melodious music is playing, and countless beautiful and noble people are dancing.The shiny leather shoes collided with the marble floor to create a rhythmic chorus, the woman's skirt and hair fluttered up and down like waves, and the brilliance of the crystal chandelier shone on the expensive jewelry, reflecting a dazzling luster.

It's just another world here.

Dickon stared blankly.

In the past, he often heard his father talk about the balls of those noble gentlemen, and he also heard the proud bragging of the servants in the house. Dickon had never seen it and could only imagine it himself.So the lives of the nobles in Dickon's fantasies are as dreamlike as the white clouds in the sky, floating without bounds, and sometimes become very absurd.But when he actually saw it, Dickon had only one feeling in his heart, and that was panic, as if he was in another world of panic, so nervous that he didn't even know which foot to move.

There are many servants serving in the living room. They are strutting, humble but still polite. They can hold a tray full of a dozen glasses with only one hand, and lean on their backs with the other hand, bending over. When it is slightly tilted, the whole person is like an elegant lily.

Dickon didn't dare to imitate others, so he could only earnestly obey the butler's request, clutching the tray tightly with both hands, walking back and forth around the periphery of the ballroom.The guests didn't seem to notice that Dickon was any different from the other footmen, and just took refreshments from him at will.

At first, I was quite scared. After all, Dickon is just a young man who has never seen the world. He is only 19 years old this year, and he has only been a gardener in the manor for two years. He has not even served a cup of tea to the owner of the manor, let alone in The place where so many gentlemen and ladies gather has served.But after a few hours of the dance, the nervousness disappeared and was replaced by exhaustion. His hands were clutching the food tray tightly, sour as if he had pressed a big rock.

At this moment, a gentleman came down from the dance floor, just facing Dickon's direction.He took a glass of wine from a passing emissary, and sat down on a bench in the corner.

Dickon's back stiffened instantly, and his face turned red. He took a peek at the gentleman beside him, then quietly straightened his spine and tightened his legs.

Did he come to Mr. Alva's wedding too?I thought he wouldn't come, thought Dickon.

His name was Louis Constantine, he was the youngest son of a viscount, and a good friend of today's bridegroom, Monsieur Alva.They have known each other since childhood, went to school together, and graduated together, and their relationship is extremely close.Mr. Louis often comes to visit Bruce Manor, sometimes staying for half a month.

Two years ago, the first time Deacon met Mr. Louis was in early summer. In the blooming rose garden of the Bruce Manor, he picked a red rose and sniffed it lightly, and then put the flower in a This thick book.In the early morning, in the slightly hazy morning mist, his blond hair swayed gently like glittering water, his fair skin showed a sickly paleness against the gorgeous fiery red roses, and his tall and slender nose bridge made his entire body People look more handsome.

Dickon looked at him from a distance, as if he was crazy.He had never seen such a handsome and elegant gentleman, his every move was as beautiful as a painting.He just stared at him blankly, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated, his ears rumbled with the sound of the heartbeat, and all the sounds in the world seemed to disappear instantly.

However, Mr. Alva suddenly came out of the house and yelled at Mr. Louis from a distance.Mr. Louis put the rose in the book, and a smile appeared on the corner of his thin mouth. He strode towards Alva with a happy and excited expression on his face.

From that moment on, Dickon's heart fell into this rose garden, sweet and sour like wine brewed from cherries in early autumn.

Like all teenagers who are in love, he thinks about him during the day and dreams about him at night. For his sake, he waits outside the garden every day, hoping when he will come out of the house.

Dickon falls in love with Bruce Manor because there is someone he misses day and night.He felt that he was in love, fell in love with an elegant and decent gentleman, that kind of joyful and beautiful feelings hit his weak heart, and he smirked in one direction when he had nothing to do.His mother shook her head helplessly every time she saw it, and then quietly discussed with his father, which girl did the son fall in love with? He was not smart at first, but now he looks even more stupid.

Deacon never expects Mr. Lewis to know his love affair, he doesn't even want him to know, because even he himself thinks his love affair is ridiculous.He is a gardener who works with mud all day long, his family is poor, and the other party is a high-ranking nobleman, there is a complete distance between them.

Even so, he still misses him every day, and he can't control his heart.

After Mr. Alva, the heir of the Bruce Manor, heard the news that he was about to get married, Dickon felt a little pain in his heart, for Mr. Louis.For two years, he watched him every day, and he knew the obsession in Mr. Louis' heart.Whenever he looked at Mr. Alva, the happiness in his eyes could literally flow.That kind of love was so obvious, so deep and heavy, that Dickon often felt that it was too heavy. Could someone as slender as Mr. Lewis bear it?

The love between men is too shocking, and it violates the law and the existence of Christianity.

When he was a child, Dickon also followed his brother to the back alley of the brothel to peek.In the dark and narrow alley, a dim yellow street lamp hangs on a somewhat sloping stone wall. Many bare-chested women stand in a row by the wall. They fiddle with their plump breasts and lift their skirts to reveal their lower bodies, seductively. Men passing by.Some men fell in love with a woman, and they went up to negotiate a good price with her, and then the two entered the stone house, and after half an hour, the man and the woman came out again, and the man left or found the next woman, while the woman waited. next man.

At that time, my ten-year-old brother was so excited that he could wet his pants just by looking at those women.After he passed the time and was able to make money by himself, he would come to find those women by himself, and hang out with them all day long.But Dickon never had the urge to do anything with these women. On the contrary, when he occasionally played in the river, he was more excited when he looked at the men's bodies.

But Dickon never told anyone about it, and he knew it was a secret not to be told, not even to God.He had vaguely heard a story that there were two men in the town, one was a blacksmith and the other was a tramp.They often meet in the cemetery late at night and do some shady things. Once their affairs were discovered by someone who was drunk in the cemetery.The man notified the sheriff, and the two were arrested and imprisoned together. Later, one man was hanged, and the other was beaten with dozens of lashes and sent to the ship to the southern mainland.The man who survived survived because he said he was seduced and forced by another man.

Unspoken feelings are a kind of torture, and now the beloved is still married.Deacon looked at Mr. Louis, and felt an urge to step forward to comfort him. Of course, he was just thinking about it. Mr. Louis didn't even know who he was.

"Go get me a drink."

When Dickon was thinking wildly, he suddenly heard a displeased scolding: "What are you doing? Didn't you hear my order!"

Dickon came back to his senses suddenly, and saw Mr. Lewis who was looking at him with his head tilted. His long green eyes were staring at him, his brows were slightly wrinkled, and the glass in his hand was already empty.

"Yes, yes, sir." Dickon hastily put down the food tray, ran to the table behind where the food was placed, walked over with a glass of wine in both hands, and handed it to him.

Mr. Louis took the wine, drank it in two gulps, and said in a sharp tone: "You don't know how to serve the plate or something. If you want to get the wine, you only know how to serve a glass, and then bring it to me."

"Yes, sir." Dickon ran back in a hurry, and carefully picked up a large tray. The wine in the tray was wobbly. He was a little unsteady, so he had to step over step by step, and put it on the one beside Mr. Louis. On the coffee table.

Louis picked up the wine glass without saying a word, one after another.With his eyes firmly fixed on one direction on the dance floor, Dickon followed his gaze and found that the groom, Mr. Alva, was dancing with the bride.And Mr. Louis' eyes became more and more painful, and he almost suppressed the trembling of his arms and drank another large glass of wine.

Sitting in a corner and the dance was very lively, hardly anyone noticed Mr. Lewis drinking.Dickon wanted to persuade him, but he couldn't speak. He could only look at him worriedly.

Soon, Mr. Louis blushed from drinking, his eyes were blank, and he couldn't stop muttering: "Alva...Alva..."