[Comprehensive classics] Darcy or Brandon

The quarrel subsided on the second day, and life seemed to return to its original state. Lucy was still the same as before, doing some work within her ability under Annie's urging every day, and then finding a chance to be lazy from time to time.But only Anne knew that the door she had opened for Lucy in her heart after several years of hard work had closed again, and it would be even more difficult to open this door next time.

The winter passed slowly in peace. When the temperature gradually rose and the fields were covered with green again, Anne and Lucy received a letter from Cleveland County, the sender was Mrs. Charlotte Palmer , the other party said in the letter that her mother, Mrs. Jennings, wanted to meet them very much after she knew about the two of them. Originally, she wanted to write a letter in person to invite the two to visit Barton Manor in Devonshire for a while, but Mrs. Palmer happened to pass through Kent on her way from Cleveland to Devon, so she asked Mrs. Janning to give her the letter-writing errand, and she invited the two sisters to go with them to Devon.

Of course, Anne has nothing to disagree with this proposal. If they go by themselves, they must bear the travel expenses themselves. If the Palmer couple invites them to go with them, the travel expenses will naturally be borne by Mr. Palmer. It's really a good thing.

Immediately, Anne wrote a reply letter, in which she sincerely thanked the Palmers and his wife for their kindness, and then said that she and Lucy would eagerly look forward to their arrival.

"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer are good people. When I first saw Mr. Palmer, I thought he was a rather indifferent person. Now his gentlemanly behavior completely dispelled my bad first impression. I decided to start liking him in the future." Lucy lay on the sofa, very happily flipping through the letter that Mrs. Palmer wrote on three pieces of stationery.

Annie was rummaging for a white ball of yarn in her wool box, and said without raising her head, "I advise you not to like Mr. Palmer too much, otherwise, wait until we travel with them." At that time, you will probably be disappointed soon.”

"Why?" Lucy asked very puzzled.

Annie stood up with the ball of wool she was looking for, went to the rocking chair by the fireplace and sat down, and said: "Because Mr. Palmer is a politician, no matter how innocent a politician is on the outside, they hide all the truth in their bodies. The cunning factor, and if they don't want to, then you never want to know what they're really thinking."

"But I think Mr. Palmer is a very direct person." Lucy said, she felt that Mr. Palmer was not at all the cunning person Anne said, because Mr. Palmer didn't seem to hide at all. His own emotions, last time at the dance he satirized his wife at least ten times, inside and out. If he is really a person who is good at hiding, then he should show that he has a close relationship with his wife in front of others. Look good.

"That's because this kind of sarcasm is his personal pleasure, and he doesn't need to hide this kind of trivial matter from us two insignificant country girls." Anne curled her lips and said, in fact, she felt Mr. Palmer's This sarcasm is actually a way for him to conceal his true emotions, and of course it seems to be a different kind of taste for the couple.

"Well, well, Anne, you are always right." Lucy said, throwing away the letter at hand, turned around and pulled an old collection of poems and put it in front of her to read aloud.

Anne still retains many of the habits of her previous life, so she feels that it is very kind of Mrs. Jennings to invite them to live in her home, and it would be too shameful if they went there empty-handed.According to Mrs. Palmer's description of Barton Manor and Mrs. Jennings's lifestyle, it can be known that this lady should be very rich, so the gift bought for a small price must not be appreciated by the other party, but a decent gift. She and Lucy She couldn't afford it, so Anne finally decided to weave a shawl that old ladies like before the Palmers and his wife arrived. It is always more innovative to do it by hand, and she will take it as a gift at that time.

Weaving a beautiful shawl with patterns is not that simple, and it takes a lot of time, so Anne may not have time to do other housework except cooking in the next few days.At this time, she saw that Lucy seemed to have no work at all, so she knocked on the coffee table with a wooden stick for weaving in her hand, and said, "Lucy, don't you have anything to do?"

"What?" Lucy asked, looking up.

"Why don't you go get your frock out and have it altered, since we're going to a rich old lady's house, and it's the spring when social season starts, so we're sure to go to a few balls and then Introduced to some gentlemen, don't you want to dance in an old-fashioned skirt at that time?" Anne said.

"But what am I supposed to do? Those dresses are just like that, unless we replace them with a piece of patterned fabric, but in that case we might as well just make two new dresses," said Lucy, but she got up and went upstairs anyway. Take off her dress skirt.

“You can change the sleeves of these dresses and make them into buds, and then you can add a layer of lace to the neckline, tulle to the hem, or a bow in the back, etc. As for those lace, tulle, and ribbons, you can go to the town to buy some right away, a few days ago, Brother Tian sent us a hundred pounds for this year, so our hands are at least a little looser." Annie said.

"Since we have a hundred pounds, why don't we each buy a new skirt, as long as the ordinary cotton fabric is enough." Lucy said, looking at the several skirts in her hand, they have all been washed a certain number of times, so look They look half new and not old, and one even looks a little faded.

"No, because when the weather is warmer, I plan to ask someone to renovate the roof of this house. In winter, I found that the roof of the room I lived in and the study house at home have some water seepage. I don't want to repair it." Otherwise, our house will be flooded when it rains a lot in summer." Annie raised her eyelids and said.

Lucy sighed. Since those rooms were vacant, she hardly ever went in except for simple cleaning every half a month, so naturally she would not notice the change of the roof. "Then I'm going to town now, Anne, and give me some money, I've only got a few pennies left in my purse."

Lucy stood up and took out her purse from the small box on the fireplace, where they put the pocket money they usually needed, took ten shillings and put it in Lucy's purse, and then Said: "You also buy me a copy, the color of the gauze and ribbon, remember to match my skirt. By the way, you remember to buy some sugar cubes, our sugar cubes have long been gone, I have to use Greet the Palmers when you arrive."

"Good Annie, you are always so thoughtful." Lucy said, she took the purse and put on a cloak and hurried out. She rarely went to the town this winter, and now she really wanted to play.

Mrs. Palmer was an impatient person. As soon as she received Anne's reply, she hurriedly asked the servants to pack their luggage that night, and took Mr. Palmer into the carriage early the next morning.Although Mr. Palmer didn't want to leave early, he didn't bother arguing with his wife. He sat opposite Mrs. Palmer with the morning newspaper in his hand. Willing to choose silence.Mrs. Palmer knew that her husband was not very willing to talk to her, but she didn't care much about it, she still looked out the window and talked to herself.Mr. Palmer glanced at her helplessly, and then spread out the entire newspaper to cover his face. He was going to use his slowest speed to read the news on this newspaper, although he wanted to rely on this newspaper. It may seem difficult to get through the whole day's journey, but he will try his best.

Due to Mrs. Palmer's constant urging, the Palmer couple arrived in Ramsgate two days earlier than Anne expected. Fortunately, Anne had already woven the shawl that was going to be given to Mrs. Jennings in advance. All right.Originally, Annie planned to knit the whole shawl with patterns, but once when Lucy was playing with some kittens, she accidentally knocked over the coffee cup, and some coffee was spilled on Annie's thread, and the white wool was stained. After the coffee was served, there was no way to wash it clean, so Anne had to cut the top length of wool, but the remaining wool was not enough for Anne to weave a whole shawl with intricate patterns, so she had to knit patterns on both ends of the shawl, and the middle Just knit with a normal needle.

The Palmers, who lived in a hotel in town, started visiting friends in Ramsgate as soon as they had packed up their things, but the two had such disagreements about friends who needed a first visit that they ended up splitting Each visits their own friends.Mr. Palmer naturally chose Robert's house, while Mrs. Palmer came to Steele's house with her little parasol.

"Oh, I'm so glad, Miss Steele, you and your sister are looking more and more beautiful through the whole winter." Mrs. Palmer smiled and said kindly when she saw Anne and Lucy. Her personality has always been so optimistic, she always has words of praise on her lips, and of course there is no shortage of gossip, so she said in the second sentence: "Tell me if you met a handsome man at the winter dance Where is sir?"

On the contrary, Annie got to know Mr. Bull, whom she thought was good at first, but Anne hadn't seen him since that time when he and Anthony visited Steele's house together. Later, Anthony came to visit once, which also showed that Mr. Bull left without saying goodbye because of an emergency in the family factory, but Anne still decided to completely erase this gentleman from her memory.Annie could understand that Mr. Bull was in a hurry to go back to the factory and not visit them to explain why, but she thought that Mr. Bull could at least take a few minutes to write her an apology note, but he just chose to ask Anthony to take the time to explain. This proves that this gentleman does not seriously want to develop a relationship with her. You must know that she does not believe that Mr. Bull, as a shrewd businessman, will not know how slight this behavior will make people feel.