aristocratic engagement

Annie was awakened by the sound of running past the door of the room.

She was a little dazed at first, but was soon sobered up by the cold.Annie's hand reached under the pillow, and her fingertips felt a piece of ice cold.

The door of the room opened with a click, and with the flickering warm yellow candlelight pouring into the room, Du Li's figure appeared in the crack of the door.

Annie let out a breath, scaring herself awake.

"What's going on? What happened in the middle of the night? Can't it be solved tomorrow?" Annie asked angrily. She rubbed her eyes, feeling dry and uncomfortable, and her head was still hot.

Du Li turned into the room and lit another candlestick with the candlestick in her hand. She replied: "Just now someone knocked on the iron gate in front of the garden, and the gatekeeper immediately ran to tell Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng that he heard that It was a mother and son who brought a seriously injured man to the door for help. When Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng was ordering someone to call for a doctor, Master Darcy also woke up. He asked Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng not to disturb everyone, but I think you will not mind being disturbed..."

"Good job, Du Li." Annie squeezed her sore eyes, then lifted the quilt, "Help me change my clothes, let's go down and see what's going on."

Out of concern, Darcy didn't want to disturb everyone who was resting on Christmas Eve, but Anne, as the little master of Rosings Manor, couldn't leave this matter to others.

A seriously injured man?

Who would stay out of the house on Christmas Eve and instead wander around outside?He had better not be hunted down, Rosings Manor can't take risks!

Annie hurriedly changed her clothes, and with one arm supported by Du Li, she limped out of the room and walked towards the narrow stairs on the other side.

According to Du Li, Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng arranged these people in the room where the servants were on duty during the night watch, and did not let them approach the interior of the manor.

Annie moved down the dark and narrow stairs one step at a time, and she heard vague conversations at the corner.As she got closer and closer to the ground, the rustling conversation became louder and louder. Anne listened carefully and barely recognized Darcy's voice: "...have seen...a wolf...take him... "

Annie came to the door of the room, the door was ajar, and there was a slender yellow candlelight on the ground.Painful groans and sobs leaked from the crack in the door, and at the same time, there were two other strange voices whispering worriedly.

At this time, the side door was opened suddenly, and the doctor carried the box to the manor under Dawson's guidance.As soon as the two entered the door, they saw Annie standing at the door. They didn't react for a while, they were slightly taken aback, and then immediately saluted.

"Miss de Bourgh..."

"Don't worry about me, go in and see the patient." Annie interrupted him, seeing that they were still standing there, she stretched out her hand and opened the door of the room.

For a moment, all the people inside looked out the door. Darcy stood in front of the sofa, frowning slightly. He was about to order Annie to go back to the room to rest, when he saw the doctor coming to her side.

The doctor immediately carried the box, rushed to the sofa, and quickly took out tools from the box to examine the patient.The man was dying, squinting his eyes, panting heavily, and his painful neighing leaked from between his teeth.

Annie looked at the situation in the house the moment the door opened.I saw a young man in a decent gentleman's attire half lying on the sofa, his coat had been unbuttoned, a large bright red flower bloomed on the white shirt on his chest, his black trouser legs had been torn open by sawtooth, his flesh was almost gone Turned over, gurgling blood flowed out from the wound.The trousers were soaked in blood, and the blood on the leg of the trousers fell drop by drop on the brownish-yellow floor, forming black spots one by one.

A thick smell of blood filled the entire room.

Waiting for Annie to continue to observe, a tall figure stood in front of her.

"Don't look, go back to the room, and then you will have a nightmare." Darcy stretched out his hand, intending to cover her eyes.His hand was grabbed by Annie, he was slightly taken aback, and let himself be pushed away by Annie a little stiffly.

Annie used him as a crutch, grabbed hold of him tightly, and bounced into the room.

Her appearance made the mother and child standing by the fireplace feel awkward.

At Darcy's insistence, Anne was supported and sat on the armchair in front of the fireplace. She looked at the mother and child by the light of the fire—they were dressed in old but neat clothes. The woman had ordinary features, except for a pair of The eyes looked very shrewd.Her son was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a rough face and a strong figure.He buttoned his pants uneasily with his fingers, looking prim.

"What's your name?" Annie's voice carried a hint of cold arrogance, but her strange and indifferent tone made the woman heave a sigh of relief.

"Miss Collins, my name is Maria Collins, and this is my son, William." The woman replied with a low eyebrow. She patted her son's back and signaled him to salute.

Annie raised her eyebrows. She didn't expect that the first time she met them was Rosings Manor, not Old Jones' vicarage.

"I know you, Old Jones mentioned your names in front of me." Anne pointed to the person on the sofa, "But who is this? Old Jones didn't say that Old Mr. Collins had two sons..."

Annie deliberately misinterpreted the identity of that person, and said tentatively.

"No! He's not! Miss de Bourgh, my son and I rescued him from the side of the forest road. Yes, William and I drove the carriage to Mr. Jones, but the horse stopped halfway. Your Majesty, the gentleman was badly wounded, and begged us to take him away—you know, the woods are terrible at night, and the poor fellow must have been caught by a wolf. William always followed the teachings of the saints, no Have the heart to throw him in the forest, or he will die there the next day." Mrs. Collins explained clearly, and little Collins nodded repeatedly.

Annie now began to find this mother and son very interesting.In a few words the woman cleared away any doubts that might befall them, explained her cause, and, knowing that she had known old Jones, hinted that her son was kind and compassionate by nature--the most important quality of a clergyman. one.

Annie didn't show her face, she just nodded without saying a word, and turned her gaze to the sofa.

The weak man had passed out completely, and instead of using smelling salts to wake him up, the doctor took the opportunity to examine him carefully without worrying about struggling—his clothes were torn, but they were very decent, with cuff buttons on Glittering under the firelight, it looks like a rich kid.

The doctor took out a pair of scissors from the box and cut open the man's blood-soaked shirt. The man's handsome face turned blue from the blood loss, and the dirty blood made the bare skin on his chest more transparent pale.

Annie's eyes suddenly darkened, she stretched her neck, and the man moved, firmly blocking her sight.

Darcy turned his back to the fire, and the expression on his face was indistinct in the darkness.

"Now, go back to your room immediately to rest, this is not what you should look at." His tone was blunt, and then he coughed awkwardly, his voice changed to a gentle and stiff tone,

"Leave it to me here."

Early the next morning, when the family gathered for breakfast, Darcy was late, his eyes were full of tired blue and black, and he greeted everyone and sat next to Anne. next to the seat.The servant immediately served him breakfast, and Anne picked up the teapot on the table, poured him a cup of strong black tea, and handed him sugar and milk.

Annie watched him take a few mouthfuls of fried eggs, and after slowing down his eating speed, she asked amidst everyone's puzzled whispers, "How is that man? Is he awake?"

"I didn't wake up. The doctor said that he was seriously injured. There were signs of being bitten by wolves on his chest and thighs. He lost a lot of blood. In addition, there were several fractures in his thighs. It may take a while to wake up. And... "

The count frowned. He was always impatient with others playing riddles in front of him: "Who are you talking about? Who is injured?"

Darcy told them exactly what happened last night.His description was very simple and dry. Anne added a few words, describing the tragedy of the man so vividly that Lady Catherine, Lady Fitzwilliam and Georgiana shouted the name of God in shock.

"...he didn't wake up before the doctor left, and Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng put away all the clothes he changed." Darcy finally finished his sentence and took a sip of tea.He hesitated for a moment, and finally took out something from his pocket and handed it to the count.

The count took the object and was slightly taken aback.Then he got up and went to the window, observing carefully through the sunlight outside the window—it was a silver cufflink, with a detailed family crest depicted on it, and a griffin supported by tangled rose vines.The Griffin's eyes are especially sharp under the light, exuding an inviolable arrogance.

The muscles on the earl's face twitched. He looked out the window, rubbed his fingers on the cuff buttons, seemed to be thinking about something, and did not speak for a long time.

Lady Catherine coughed unnaturally, awakening Earl Fitzwilliam who was in deep thought.He turned his head and looked at Anne with a relaxed expression: "You are really lucky, my dear. When you were dozing off, someone handed you a pillow. I'm afraid your troubles and troubles will be solved quickly and smoothly. "

His words made Annie frowned suspiciously.Madam Catherine turned a few corners unconsciously, and gave Anne a look of understanding and approval—Anne scratched her head inexplicably.

At the same time, the cup in Darcy's hand fell heavily on the saucer, making a crisp sound.

TBC.