aristocratic engagement

"Miss de Bourgh, you must read Shakespeare often, right?" The lady, dressed in a gorgeous purple dress, sat on the sofa, looking at the young lady in front of her, with a strange and critical tone.

"Occasionally, Mrs. Edgerton, I don't have much literary attainment." Anne replied neither humble nor humble, holding a cup of hot tea.

"So, what about music and painting? Catherine once told us sisters that she would definitely raise her children to be better than her. I believe that she must be a rather strict mother."

"Yes, mother is very strict with my studies. My governess Mrs. Blake is good at painting and piano, and I always have a hard time getting the highest praise from her. You know, governess is always like this. But mother used to Tell me plainly that she has never seen a better qualified governess than Mrs Blake."

"Oh...you girl, you are completely different from your mother. Catherine has never been as humble as you." The corners of Mrs. Edgerton's mouth curled up, with a half-smile, "Mrs. Showing off the limelight, her appearance and speech have always been regarded by the wives as the benchmark of a perfect lady, and it is hard not to feel envious."

"Thank you for your frankness, Mrs. Edgerton." Anne stopped her remaining words with one sentence.

At first, Anne only tactfully praised Mrs. Black's professional integrity to set off Mrs. Catherine's strict requirements.In fact, after some conversation, Anne had already noticed the faint hostility from the person in front of her.Her appreciation was insincere, more like irony and schadenfreude.

"Hehe." Mrs. Edgerton was blocked by Anne's words and smirked. "At that time, once she appeared at the ball, almost all the gentlemen present rushed to invite her as a dance partner. We all guessed that she would Which noble son from London to choose, but unexpectedly, he was taken away by a knight from Kent. They are indeed very right, but unfortunately, there is no one to inherit the title of knight..."

Mrs. Edgerton's voice gradually decreased, as if she was extremely sorry.

Annie felt a fire in her heart.Mrs. Edgerton in front of her is not someone she can easily offend. She is the future duchess, and Anne is just a little knight's daughter. A rumor unfavorable to Rossings began.

At this moment, there was a sound of running on the stairs, and a girl about Georgiana's age rushed into the living room, threw herself into Mrs. Edgerton's arms, and squinted at the guest on the opposite sofa.

Anne saw that her appearance was six to seven points similar to Mrs. Edgerton, so she thought she was Ellen's sister, Miss Edgerton.

Miss Edgerton murmured coquettishly at her mother.Suddenly, she stared at Annie's creamy white silk dress, and shouted: "This is it! This is it! Mom, I want a dress like this too! Mary also has one, and she said it was given to her by her brother. "

"Then let Lucy make one for you, Anne, this is not a rare style, and it's worth it?" Mrs. Edgerton pampered her face.

Anne raised her eyebrows, she didn't expect Mrs. Edgerton to name her daughter Anne.

"Lucy said she couldn't get the stuff!" cried Miss Edgerton angrily, rolling her eyes at Anne. "—Hey! Where did you get your dress? Tell me!"

"This is Miss Anne de Bourgh, little Anne, pay attention to your manners." Mrs. Edgerton said lightly.

"Damn! How can she be called Anne? How can she have the same name as me!" Miss Edgerton's eyes widened, and she cried out as if she had been glued with something dirty.

Anne said calmly: "Yes, Miss Edgerton, that's a really good question. I had the honor of taking the name 'Anne' a few years before you, but I think Mrs Edgerton must have given you the name She has her intentions." She paused, and saw that Mrs. Edgerton pursed her lips unnaturally, and continued, "Speaking of which, I quite like this name, which is easy to remember and pleasant to hear. If you don't If you are willing to use the same name as me, why not..."

"Lucy, what are you still doing at the door!" Mrs. Edgerton's angry scolding interrupted Anne's unfinished words, "You still haven't brought the lady back to the room? At this time, her class is about to start, right?"

Immediately Miss Edgerton began to moan and whine, now with a stomach ache, now with a headache.Mrs. Edgerton had nothing to do with her, and quickly vented her temper. Miss Edgerton whispered in her ear for a while, and glanced at Anne from time to time. Mrs. Edgerton frowned tightly, and could only look at her. He walked over to Annie and said, "Miss de Bourgh, the pattern on your skirt is very rare, my little Ann... my daughter likes it very much, do you see?"

"That won't work! Little Annie can't fit my clothes!" Annie waved her hands pretending to be frightened.

Lady Edgerton's face darkened.

"However, this piece of material is really rare, and what I have left is only enough to make a short shirt..." Annie changed the subject, picked up the teacup, and found that there was no water in it.

The maid Lucy immediately poured her a cup of black tea graciously.

"Since you have this material, you must know where to buy it, Miss de Bourgh." Mrs. Edgerton had to soften her attitude in the sparkling eyes of her little daughter, "Of course I won't I can still afford to pay for a piece of fabric if I want to win love with a knife.”

After Annie took two sips of tea in silence, she looked at the anxious Miss Egerton and smiled slightly, and said, "This is a new product from Felix Textile Factory, but it's different from the ones they sell outside, this special pattern is only available in clubs. Members can only buy it. When I saw Princess Russell at the party half a month ago, she had already put it on, and she was really radiant!"

"This club..."

"Of course, it's an invitation-only one. Don't you know Phoenix Club? I thought all the aristocratic wives in London were... sorry, I was abrupt." Annie opened her mouth and looked at her pretending to be surprised.

In fact, this is a new pattern that Anne came up with on the spur of the moment.The director of the textile factory has already delivered new products to some noble ladies, but Mrs. Edgerton in front of him doesn't know... It seems that this lady is not really recognized by the noble ladies.

Anne knew very little about London, but she knew the twists and turns from the manner of the mill director.

A little embarrassment crossed Mrs. Edgerton's face uncomfortably, and she blushed slightly.

As if Anne hadn't seen her, she said casually, "It's a coincidence, I just haven't sent out an invitation letter..." Before she finished speaking, Miss Edgerton, who was listening, jumped up and looked forward to it. looking at her mother.

Mrs. Edgerton's throat rolled, and finally a voice was squeezed out of her throat: "Miss de Bourgh, that invitation letter...you can put forward any conditions, as long as I can meet them."

Allen was sent back to the room, and his father, Earl Fitzwilliam, and Darcy thanked him again and again when they came out of the study, with a sincere attitude.Anne heard the sound of them getting closer, she decisively ended the conversation with Mrs. Edgerton, and stood up.

"This is my niece Anne de Bour." Earl Fitzwilliam introduced to Mr. Edgerton, "Instead of thanking me and Darcy, you should thank her and Rosings Manor."

"Miss de Bauer, thank you very much..." Mr. Edgerton immediately looked at Anne, as if to give a gentleman's salute.

"Mr. Edgerton, you don't have to be so polite." Anne made a standard curtsy to him. "Anyone with conscience would not let a gentleman who was seriously injured be left alone. On Christmas Eve, on God's Under the instructions, I just did my duty as a human being."

Mr. Edgerton praised Anne's pace of advance and retreat, and said that she had inherited the integrity and kindness of her father.Anne had heard these words countless times at the pre-Christmas banquet, skillfully playing Tai Chi with him and flattering each other.Mr. Edgerton laughed heartily, but he did not notice his wife's strange expression.

Anne looked at Earl Fitzwilliam, only to see him shake his head slightly at herself, and swallowed to ask Alan why he appeared in Kent inexplicably.

After some conversation, Anne timely mentioned that she was very interested in the streets of London. Earl Fitzwilliam answered, saying that he had promised his nephew and niece to show them the style of London.

Mr. Edgerton ended the conversation tactfully, and escorted them to the gate.

Anne was sitting in the carriage, turning her head around the corner of the street, and You saw Mr. Edgerton standing there watching their backs as they left.

Lord Fitzwilliam said it was only a pretense to show them around the streets of London.As soon as he arrived at the central street, he left behind the two juniors, threw a purse to Annie, and walked into the bank in style.

Anne and Darcy looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

"...Let me take you shopping in the street to buy something, since my uncle kindly left you pocket money." Darcy turned over and got off the horse, handed the horse and the carriage to the coachman, and let him not far away Find a place to wait.

Annie didn't wait for him to reach out to help, and jumped out of the carriage with her skirt in hand.

This is a narrow street, a branch of Central Avenue.Annie was walking on the side of the road, counting the numbers on the street signs.Exaggerated cartoon characters are posted on the walls, most of which are portraits of British warriors holding up swords and defending against foreign enemies.Anne couldn't help but feel a little emotional. When Rosings Manor was isolated from the world, the atmosphere of war only stayed on the books that almost no one read.And here, it seems that you can feel the undercurrent surging under the comics all over the wall.

When she counted to store No. 28, she looked up and saw "Phoenix" written in cursive characters on the huge sign.

Darcy stretched out his hand behind her, pushed open the door, and a crisp bell rang.

"Welcome, miss." A warm greeting sounded from behind the counter, and a shrewd businessman's face slowly lifted up, squinting his eyes and looking at the door. Gloss is reflected in dull interiors.

There are other customers in the store, and they linger in front of another counter, listening to the introduction of the clerk.

The store manager came out from behind the counter quickly, and greeted the customer graciously—Annie, who was dressed in exquisite ladylike attire.

Anne listened carefully to his introduction of the new fabrics on the counter one by one, while Darcy stood aside critically and did not speak, only staring at the owner's words and deeds.

"With all due respect, sir. I don't like these fabrics." Annie directly denied his sales.

"Of course, of course!" The store manager immediately turned around and took out a box from the cabinet under the counter, "You must not look down on the fabrics displayed in the store when you wear such clothes. Miss, I can assure you that you will would be interested in those."

"Oh my God! What a wonderful flower weaving!" An exclamation sounded from behind Annie.

Annie looked back, and saw a large family in front of another counter came behind her at some point.This family was very eye-catching, a couple of squires brought five daughters, all of them were beautiful, and the youngest was still held in his arms, just like a doll.

"Jane! Look, how this tea-red material matches your golden hair!" The girl who was about the same age as Anne had big bright eyes, and her eyes were glued to the rags in the wooden box.And her mother had already screamed excitedly, reaching out her hand to flip through the samples in the box.

"Liz! Mom!" Jane glanced shyly at Anne who was looking at her. "This fabric is the lady's first choice. We..." As soon as she finished speaking, her sister stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. Take a step back.

Darcy frowned, leaning on the counter and watching the uninvited family coldly.

TBC.