aristocratic engagement

As soon as these words came out, Annie didn't show it on the face, but she cried inwardly.

If Darcy said this in front of Lady Catherine and Earl Fitzwilliam, they would only agree and agree more, and list all kinds of evidence and even use the names of their ancestors to prove the authenticity of this view.

But to say this in front of the Bennet sisters who are friends of Miss Lucas...

Sure enough, Elizabeth showed an unbearable expression. Annie thought she was going to shoot the crime in the next second, but her face turned from white to blue, and then turned bloody again.This time she was not as quick to speak as before, her lips trembled slightly, and finally she said in a low voice, gnashing her teeth: "The nobility of a person lies in the soul, not the blood."

Then Darcy took a serious look at the little girl in front of him.

"Although I don't deny your point of view, Miss. But Anne is worthy of her identity, both in blood and soul, which is incomparable to Miss Lucas."

Jane looked at Liz, who was in a hurry, and Annie, who was unmoved, and came out to smooth things over and changed the topic.

Anne wasn't really unmoved, but she knew it was trying to find a place for her.

At first she also felt strange, how could such a moody gentleman as Darcy speak provocatively, embarrassing a lady was not in line with his usual style.

But thinking about it carefully, Darcy had already shown his impatience with the noisy family when he was in Phoenix. If you want to rate this relationship, the basic score is already extremely low.Unlike Anne, he was on good terms with the two Miss Bennets, and it so happened that the two conversations he had overheard were comparing Anne and Miss Lucas.

This made Darcy, who valued his family very much, immediately feel dissatisfied.

Anne also understands that Elizabeth does not mean to compare her with Miss Lucas; and Darcy defends her in order to maintain the reputation of the family-although both are jazz families, in the eyes of the world, there is There are so many rules and regulations!

In the past, everyone lived on the land, and the lords had an almost absolute right to speak in their territories.They are not only landlords, but also benchmarks of right and wrong and "judges" in the territory.Later, businessmen and factory owners like Sir Lucas made a lot of money from other lands. Some managed to get the title of lord, and some left everything in the north and returned to the south to buy land. became the new "landlord".

In fact, Anne had to look at it for herself, strictly speaking, the De Bourgh family was just the richer Lucas.

Despite the glory enjoyed by the ancestors, half of Rosings' land was bought by Sir Louis with a large sum of money by relying on superman's management methods.The reason for buying the land and giving up the business was also to have confidence in front of the deceased old earl, and to marry a famous noble lady in London back home.

Who is more "noble" than whom?

It wasn't until he left Mr. Gardner's jewelry store that Darcy led the horse, looked at Anne who was climbing into the carriage, and said, "If you don't want to be cold in the social circle, you should avoid making such friends, Anne."

"A friend like that? What kind? You mean Miss Bennet?"

"you know what I mean."

"Yes, I know. But Miss Bennet is also a gentleman's daughter, just like us, Darcy."

"How do you think we're 'the same' as they are? Mr. Bennet is only a country squire, and of that kind of relation—Mr. Gardner, yes. Don't look at me so surprised, my dear, I am I sincerely thank him for introducing me to a watchmaker, but he is a businessman, and this favor has already been settled in the transaction." Darcy shook his head disapprovingly, "If my aunt was here, she would definitely have the same experience as me. The idea that associating with country girls will do you no good but harm."

"I don't deny your speculation. Mom will definitely ask me to stay away from them." Anne sat down in the carriage, looked at Darcy outside the door, and said word by word, "But, I don't think you are like that." The rhetoric is correct. I think Liz is a smart and intelligent person. Such a person should not be underestimated because of her birth. What's more, she is the daughter of a country gentleman. Even if she is not so rich, she is related to ours. Identity doesn’t subvert the difference.”

"You should look higher," Darcy insisted.

"Then why would a more noble personage want to deal with someone who is 'lower' than me?"

Darcy was speechless.

"...Also, if Jane and Liz are the sons of squires, do you still think they are not worthy of 'deep friendship'?"

Anne felt uncomfortably that, from Darcy's manner, he simply looked down on girls--country girls.

Hearing this, Darcy frowned and shook his head: "You are making unreasonable words, Anne. If these two are not misses, but gentlemen, they can still bring new glory to the family when they become adults. But, Banner Where are the Misses?"

Now it was Anne's turn to be speechless.

When the Miss Bennets grow up, their only worry is how to marry a good family.It's not that they don't have enough vision, nor are they incompetent—on the contrary, their ingenuity is limited by external forces in marriage.It's hard to say if they think the same way, or if the buds of rebellion have been cut off long ago.

Annie didn't know them well enough to draw conclusions easily.

Maybe her temper with Darcy is just because her friend is not favored by her family?

Seeing that she was silent, Darcy thought that his words had convinced her, so he stopped arguing about it.He got on his horse, gestured to the coachman, turned the horse's head and walked towards the Earl's Mansion.

After Anne returned to Earl Fitzwilliam's mansion, she remained silent.Darcy has always been a person who cherishes words like gold, and will not easily initiate conversations with others.In the eyes of others, this is almost awkward.

Annie didn't allow herself to indulge in low emotions for too long. After she returned to the room, she was dragged to the huge wardrobe in the corner by the sneaky Du Li.

"What's wrong?" Annie was confused.

Du Li opened the door of the cabinet that was taller than a person, and said, "When I packed your clothes today, my hands inevitably touched the cabinet wall. Guess what? The sound was empty, like..." Du Li lowered her voice. He raised his voice and said pretending to be mysterious, "It's like a secret territory in Rosings' big study! I think there must be room inside!"

Anne remembered the words that the Earl said when he said goodbye to her last night: there are surprises where they cannot be seen!

Annie squatted down and tapped lightly on the cabinet wall, listening to the sound of returning.Sure enough, there was a space about half a meter high at the bottom, and the knocking sound was deep and muffled, giving a sense of space.

Annie continued to knock, as long as there was room, there must be a secret door that could be opened—the idea of ​​chiseling it open flashed in her mind, but she denied it.

Sure enough, after only touching it for a while, she felt a small bump.Annie's eyes lit up, she exchanged a glance with Du Li, and then decisively pressed down.

Only a "click" was heard, and some small mechanism was loosened in the invisible dark place.

Annie pushed at first, but didn't push.Du Li felt strange, and also crawled into the closet, trying to find something like a handle.But if there was, it would have been discovered long ago.Annie was feeling strange when she suddenly thought of the "sliding door" in her previous life. This kind of door is very common in the East, but Annie has never seen it here.

She tentatively pushed the door aside, and there was a slight shake.Du Li hurriedly pushed together, but tried all her strength but failed.

Annie was feeling strange and depressed when she suddenly remembered that button.

She reached out her hand and held it down.

As she gradually pressed hard and long, a sliding door slowly opened, and the smell of cold air and dust came from behind the door, making it look particularly gloomy.Du Li was taken aback by this scene, and as soon as she couldn't stand still, she slumped on the ground, her back tightly pressed against the cabinet wall.

Annie let out a "hiss—" and found it both funny and scary.

In fact, she was thinking what kind of kinetic energy was used to create such an "automatic" door?Electricity has not been widely used at this moment, and Annie took a long time to get used to the blinding and dim candles.

Soon the rattling stopped, and a narrow door was formed in front of her that could only be passed by a single person.Annie poked her head curiously, but was grabbed by Du Li.Annie turned her head and saw Du Li's eyes filled with tears in fear: "Miss de Bourgh, we... we should not go in, will something come out!?"

This idea only rolled in Annie's mind for a while before she denied it.

"This is the Earl's Mansion, Du Li, not a dragon's pond or a tiger's den. Ah! By the way, you don't know. My uncle told me that there are surprises in the invisible corner of this room. This should be what he meant. I don't think he will want to hurt me."

Despite saying this, Annie still didn't enter rashly.She returned to the room, first asked Du Li to light a candle, and dangle it in front of the door - in order to test the concentration of oxygen, then she took out a dagger from under the pillow and pinned it to her waist.After finishing these preparations, she took the candle in her hand under Du Li's worried gaze.

"You stay here, and if I don't come out in half an hour, you go to Darcy."

This is a narrow passage, and Anne can only move forward slowly while squatting.There are cold walls above the head, under the feet, and on both sides of the side, and there are spider webs hanging in some places.While walking, the sound of her footsteps and the rubbing of her clothes echoed faintly inside.

Annie suddenly had a big brain hole, remembering the drama she had seen before. There is a phantom living under the People's Opera House in Paris. What will be under the Earl's Palace in London?

The unchanging scene repeated for about 1 minute. Annie guessed that this passage was actually less than ten meters, and felt that this passage seemed to be spinning in a circle, and the circle was getting smaller and smaller.

Suddenly, the passage turned a right angle, and the passage stopped abruptly here.Annie was feeling strange when Du Li shouted from behind: "Miss! Are you okay!"

The sound whirled round and round in the channel.

"Are you okay, are you okay, are you okay..."

It's fine if she doesn't yell, but this yelling seems creepy and gloomy.

Annie answered her loudly: "Very good! It's just that this place seems to have come to an end. I'll do some research. There should be a way out!"

"The way out, the way out, the way out..." was another round of echoes.

Startled by her own voice, Annie picked up the candle in her hand dumbfounded, and groped on the wall at the end of the passage.

'There must be an organ!Be patient! ' she said to herself inwardly.

Annie's forehead was dripping with sweat, and she was about to wipe it off. Looking at her black hands, she turned her face and rubbed them with her sleeves.Unexpectedly, the clothes had already been made out of shape by cobwebs and dust.Although Annie couldn't see her face, she knew she must be in a mess.

She didn't think so much anymore, and continued to hold up the candle to examine carefully.

She has searched three times, the walls are empty and there is nothing.Annie thumped the wall angrily, and found that the wall beside her was a little loose.

Annie stretched out her hand to push, without using too much force, the wall was slowly pushed deeper, revealing a hole leading down.Annie passed the candle forward, and saw that it was a longer, straight-down staircase. Under the light of the candle, the picture of dust floating in the air was clearly displayed in front of her eyes.

TBC.