aristocratic engagement

"...It was cut." Annie finished speaking the last few words, her eyes widened.

She screamed and called the doctor when she didn't see any blood—that was too stupid, the wound would have healed when the doctor arrived—Annie just took the pocket watch from his hand and put it aside, and let Du Li took some alcohol and clean gauze for simple disinfection.

Darcy is an adult and a young man who is about to travel and face greater challenges. It would be strange if Anne would make a big fuss over such a small injury and shed tears—he is not Georgiana!

Darcy breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

He was really afraid that Annie, like Georgiana, would scream when she saw such a small injury, which was really unbearable.

But Annie's calmness made him a little unaccustomed and uncomfortable.

Darcy twisted his fingers and felt a slight tingle.During the rubbing, the light red wetted the fingertips.

Annie slapped his hand, and said angrily, "This can be played? Are you not afraid of infection?" After speaking, she opened the medicine box Du Li brought, opened an alcohol bottle, and moistened some with gauze. After that, he wiped it lightly a few times.

Darcy didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he was treated like a child.

Annie saw that the wound was not deep, but it would not heal for a while, so she asked Du Li to bandage his fingers a little.Then, he himself sat on the sofa and put the pocket watch on his lap.

She dipped some alcohol in a cotton ball with tweezers, and wiped the front and back of the glass.While Darcy hesitated to speak, Anne didn't directly start like him, but used tweezers to hold a small piece of glass, and gently placed it on the back of the pocket watch, covering the small portrait of Mrs. Anne.

With a slight adjustment, with a barely audible "click", the glass piece is tightly covered.

Lady Anne Darcy's miniature was spotless, as if newly finished.

Du Li also wrapped up Darcy's fingers at this time, and tidied up the scattered alcohol bottles, cotton and tweezers on the table.Annie closed the pocket watch and handed it to Darcy: "That day, you still taught me not to pay attention to safety?" Her ending sound rose upwards, teasing.

A blush of embarrassment appeared on Darcy's cheeks.

Annie pursed her lips and pointed to his wound: "The gauze can be removed after the wound heals in a while, just be careful not to break it. You are about to go on a long journey, have all the medicines ready? I I know that there are always people around you to serve you, but you have to pay more attention to yourself... After all, you are not at home."

Darcy shook his head in a daze.

Annie sighed, it seemed that she was really unprepared.So he immediately asked Du Li to go to the housekeeper of the Earl's Mansion to prepare a box of commonly used medicines, tools and other items.

In this era of underdeveloped medical care, first aid for trauma is always the same.Annie knew that bezoar in traditional Chinese medicine has the effect of detoxification, so she asked Du Li to prepare some wraps—it was better than bloodletting every now and then.

"You don't think that everything will be as convenient as at home in England when you go out? Although you don't have language difficulties, your servants do. If it's convenient, you might as well hire some local servants to travel for you after landing Do things. Of course, don't listen to those glib servants..."

Annie babbled, the more she talked, the more worried she became, and the more she talked, the more anxious she became.

Although Darcy has always been steady and reliable, he... To put it bluntly, he is also a "scholar", and it is not a coincidence to meet unreasonable, cunning and treacherous thieves.It's not easy to be cheated out of some money. I'm afraid that he will participate in things that he shouldn't be involved in and put himself in the swamp.

Darcy smiled helplessly, but didn't interrupt her words, just listened patiently to those hints.

This feeling of being taught by a junior is particularly novel. Even the Earl and Countess rarely regard him as a young man who is not at ease. Darcy has lived in Earl Fitzwilliam's residence for more than a month, and they have never told him anything. , His reliability reassured the Earl and his wife.

And Lady Catherine, who may be offended, has a very good heart, but has always cared only about how he ate and dressed, and she has always lived in a high cabinet, and she is still some distance from the earth.

When was the last time you were nagged like this?

Darcy rubbed the pocket watch with gauze-wrapped fingers, and Anne had already hung it around his neck for him.The tentacles were warm, and the person in front of him had the same name as the person in the pocket watch, which reminded him of the warmth of Pemberley Manor.

"...In short, take good care of yourself, cousin. I believe you have a ruler in your heart, and you will master it well." Annie let out a sigh of relief, ending this one-sided conversation.

Darcy nodded, opened the neckline, and stuffed the pocket watch in.After finishing this action, he glanced sideways at the standing clock, and it was almost dinner time.

"Drink some water, Annie, after talking so much, your throat is almost at risk." He leaned over and poured a cup of tea for Annie, "I will seriously refer to your suggestion, and at the same time, you should have some confidence and trust in me. Those publications are indeed very tempting, and I can accidentally pull my brain into their camp, but at the same time, I will not forget my identity and status. I am not just a person, and I have responsibilities on my shoulders. Pemberley, Georgiana, you..."

He cleared his throat, "I still have the honor of Fitzwilliam in my name."

He got up and patted the dust that didn't exist on his body: "It's you, you should also firmly remember what you just said. I know that your heart is different from ordinary ladies. But please also be sure to grasp it. That 'ruler' - I can't imagine what kind of Annie I will face when I come back."

It must have changed so much that he couldn't even recognize it.

"I'm going to prepare for the dinner, and you should tidy up. See you in the restaurant later." After speaking, Darcy nodded at her, turned and left.

The port is full of people, full of English, French, and Germanic languages ​​with various accents... The small vendors are proficient in various languages, hooking up/hooking up foreigners passing by.

Anne swayed in the carriage.On the opposite side, Darcy looked at the scene outside the window, and still introduced to her the ships moored on the shore.

"I've heard people say that the principle of a 'steam lifter' can be applied to many machines, so why not ships?" Darcy sighed, watching the crew set up their sails in the sun under the strong wind, "London In the clubs in the city, people often discuss whether installing such a power machine on a ship will add more bargaining chips to the sea routes of the empire on which the sun never sets? But now, the shipyards still mainly focus on production and refinement Existing sailing ships - why should a large sum of pounds be invested in a black hole with no return?"

"In anything, the first step is always the hardest." Annie echoed, but there was a little care in her heart.

"Everyone wants to take the second step after the pioneer, so who will take the first step?"

Darcy's words inspired Anne suddenly.

Just as she was about to say something, she felt that the carriage was slowly following the exclusive passage for the nobles and the rich, and came to a stop on the shore.Darcy nodded at her, pushed open the door, and jumped out of the car.

Annie followed closely behind, and Du Li hurriedly jumped off the seat beside the driver, and put a big wide-brimmed hat on Annie's head.The sea wind howled, and the hat almost flew up, causing Du Li to scream again and again.

Annie simply took off her hat, but she didn't expect that her waist-length curly long hair lost the cover of the wide-brimmed hat, flew up in the sea breeze, and slapped her face indiscriminately, causing pain.

Annie hurriedly put on her hat, and pressed her hands firmly on the brim.Du Li also stretched out her hand in a panic, and held down the flying hair and skirt for her.

"You'd better get in the car." Darcy's voice could not help but smile, "It's enough to send it here, today's wind is strong, it seems that after we set off, we can reach the destination faster than expected gone."

"Where is it so exaggerated? I hope the sea breeze will be quieter and nothing will happen." Annie waved her hand without any scruples.But she couldn't resist Darcy's insistence, and she still sat in the carriage, but her lower body stepped on the pedal, facing the outside of the carriage.

Darcy kept urging Anne to go back quickly: "You don't have to wait here until I get on the ship, the port is too messy." Without gentlemen around to protect her, a weak lady like her may be targeted by people with malicious intentions at any time .

Annie was the only person who came to see him off today.Both George Wickham and Lance had gone to their respective boarding schools, Lawrence represented his father at a club, and the Earl was a "feelingly weak" man who couldn't stand sticky sex. In the farewell scene, the Countess was not required to go out to see her off, and after giving instructions at the entrance of the Earl's Mansion, she returned to the study.

Anne insisted on seeing him aboard, and the two bickered back and forth, citing scriptures.

"Mr. Darcy! I didn't expect to see you here! You...you want to go to Europe by ship?" A warm greeting sounded from behind Darcy, and Anne turned slightly to see Mr. Gardner Standing there in a well-dressed manner, at his feet are two large suitcases, which seem to be passengers too.

Darcy turned and nodded at him.

Mr. Gardiner was accustomed to the indifference of nobles, and this did not affect his mood in the slightest.He looked across Darcy's figure and met Anne's eyes.Annie just nodded at him as a greeting.

Before Gardner could continue to approach her, Anne heard the noisy voice of the big family not far away.She leaned out her upper body, and saw the Bennets, their two eldest daughters and Mrs. Gardner standing in the line of people seeing them off, pointing and talking.

When the Misses Bennet saw Anne's face, they excitedly waved the silk scarves in their hands to greet her.

"Did you see my family too? I'm about to take the [-]:[-] noon boat to France. You know, there has always been a country of jewelry and new fashions, and it's a place I often go to learn. It's not easy, even if I just opened a small jewelry store, I still have to keep learning..."

Anne thought to herself, this Mr. Gardner really deserves to be a successful businessman, he never forgets to sell his shop no matter when and where.

Darcy still just nodded indifferently, and Anne looked at his unchanging face, which was completely different from the mild and slightly joking attitude just now.I don't know if he is unhappy?Or is it simply an attitude towards outsiders?

The mate and sailors passed on the deck, and long steps were let down from the ship.Mr. Gardner finally returned to his family and kissed them goodbye one by one.

The servants carried Darcy's large and small suitcases up the stairs first, and after greeting the ticket-checking crew, a separate servant led them onto the ship.

"Then, Cousin Darcy, I wish you the best of luck." Anne jumped out of the carriage, raised her hand, and hugged him.

Darcy was silent for a while, bent down, and said softly: "Is a hug too perfunctory?"

Anne looked up suspiciously, and Darcy's face brushed hers.

This is a standard and restrained face-to-face ceremony.

Annie's hands touched the cold cuff buttons, but her face was a little hot, and she told herself that this was just a gentleman's farewell with the highest etiquette.

"Goodbye, dear—" Darcy let go of her, stepped back to a polite distance, and patted her hat.

"Goodbye."

The author has something to say: *It's really just a pure brother-sister relationship, trust me. [serious face]

Kissing and hugging among relatives and friends of Westerners is normal (%*￥#)

*You may not believe me, tonight is because I have been looking for information on steam engines and ships... It’s really fun to look at HowNet!Charge 300 yuan and spend half of Orz every minute

*Holiday means visiting relatives at home at any time... Alas, pain and happiness (.)