little miss austin

Edward handled the situation well, and the ancestors of the Austen family and the Leigh family had nothing to say. There were no famous libertines. The Leigh family and the Austen family became related by marriage. cousin.

There was nothing inappropriate about Mrs. Austen and Miss Austen. Mrs. Austen's father and uncle were both scholars at Oxford University, and she was literate, so she was not vulgar; It is not uncommon for the daughters of the gentry class and above to be single all their lives, but in the past such women would choose to enter a monastery to die, but now they choose to stay at home.

Baron Bundfield picked up his second son Julian, who had lived with his aunt for almost a year, in Southampton, and the three families boarded a ferry a few days later.

It took more than 2 hours just to carry the luggage. The servants of each family sent their master’s luggage to each cabin first. After finishing their work, they had to carry their own luggage, but compared with the luggage of the masters, the luggage of the servants was less too much.

Because of the large number of guests, several servants share one cabin, and two masters also share one cabin.

Oliver shared one room with his brother Julian, Ivo shared one with Byron, Alice shared one with Cathy, and Ivo's sisters shared two.

It is not far from Southampton to the Isle of Wight. The steam turbine steamboat will arrive there in more than an hour if it goes faster, and it will take only 1 hours if it is slower.Arrived at Cowes Wharf in the morning, the carriages of various families were waiting on the wharf, and there was another burst of excitement and crowding.

Lord Bundfield took his two sons first, then Warren Hastings and the Austin mother and daughter; Gordon had the most family and the most luggage before leaving the dock.

Before leaving, Ivo invited Oliver, Julian, and Alice to play in his family's seaside villa, and the children agreed.

Baron Bondfield's vacation villa is not on the seaside, but on the island. The Isle of Wight is not big. It took half an hour to drive by carriage to the villa.

After getting out of the carriage, it was busy again.The masters got out of the car first, and the servants unloaded their luggage and carried them into their rooms.The housekeeper of the villa has already prepared the rooms and directed the servants to put the luggage in each room.

Julian was one and a half years younger than Oliver, born in 1, only one month away from Evan Holmes, who was a cousin.Although they are all children born to the same mother, Julian doesn't look very much like Oliver, and he is not as good-looking as his brother, so he can be regarded as quite ordinary.

He has a very arrogant temper, not at all like a child of the Baron's family. When he is with Oliver, he always likes to pinch his teeth. He wants to walk ahead of his brother, and often ridicules him, but he has to fight against everything Oliver says.He even wants to grab the little friend his brother likes.

When she was still on the ferry, she said to Alice arrogantly that she was not allowed to play with Oliver in the future, but only with him.

When Alice heard what he said, she walked away without even wanting to roll her eyes.

Julian didn't start directly like Evan, but ran over to block her way, and reiterated the purpose of only playing with him.

Alice was very impatient: "Are you spoiled by your father or aunt? Do you think anyone will spoil you?"

"My father is a baron!" Julian blushed a little.

"So what? You're not a Baron."

"I—I will also be a baron in the future, and I will inherit my father's title."

Alice found it strange that Oliver was the eldest son. He was elegant and courteous, and he had no major faults. Even his father could not deprive him of his inheritance, not to mention that Baron Bondfield didn't look like a jerk father.

It is common for parents to favor their younger sons. Oliver doesn't look like the favored son, but Julian seems to be spoiled too much, right?

He is also the youngest son, and he is also very favored. William Kingsley is certainly not such a virtue.

When he arrived at the villa on the island, Julian also lived in the room next to his father, and Oliver lived in the bedroom a few rooms away instead.

Mr. Hastings lived in the room next to Oliver's, and the three of Austen's mother and daughter lived down the corridor.

Alice changed into men's riding clothes, told Mrs. Austin to ask her mother to help her pack, and then went to Oliver to ride.Seeing that she had changed into men's clothes again, her mother frowned and was about to say that she might as well have slipped away soon.

"Oliver." He asked the servant where Oliver's room was, and knocked on the door.

Oliver didn't know what he was dawdling in, and it took a while before he came to open the door.

"What's wrong with you?" Alice asked in surprise.

Oliver's eye circles were a little red, and he quickly raised his hand to pretend to rub his eyes, "There was sand in my eyes just now."

Only ghosts believe this kind of lie.

She closed the door behind her backhand, "Are you crying?"

"No." The proud boy never admitted that he was crying.

"You miss your mother, don't you?"

Oliver didn't speak, and after a while, he nodded slightly, with a sad and ashamed expression on his face.

"Do you have a picture of her?"

He nodded, and took a silver photo frame from the drawer by the wall, "This is her, Lady Elizabeth."

In the photo frame is a small oil painting portrait. Mrs. Elizabeth is very beautiful, with a round face and big eyes. Oliver is more like his mother.

Alice felt even weirder. Normally, the baron should prefer the eldest son who looks like his dead wife.

"She's beautiful, you look like her." Putting the frame back in place, "Is it because of Julian?"

Oliver forced a smile, "No."

"I don't like him, he won't let me play with you. Why should he control me?"

Oliver smiled, "He is like this, because you play with me, so he doesn't want you to play with me. Don't pay attention to him, he is like this."

"He is jealous of you."

"Perhaps. But—well, never mind, let's not talk about him. You want to go out to ride? You go to the stables first, wait for me a few minutes, and I will go with you."

"Okay, hurry up. Do you know where the Gordon family's villa is? Let's ride there, and Ivo will be shocked!"

He laughed, "Yes, scare him!"

Alice went downstairs to the stables, and asked the groom to prepare her two horses, which she and Master Oliver were going to ride.

Julian and Oliver appeared at the stable door almost at the same time.

Julian shouted at her dissatisfied: "I told you not to play with Oliver!"

"Who do you think you are? Why do you care who I want to play with?" Alice rolled her eyes at him, "You are already 14 years old, you are not a child anymore, children will say 'You are not allowed to do this, you are not allowed to do this You like that'."

Julian was stunned by what she said, and didn't know how to refute for a while, so he could only watch her lead the horse out of the stable, and get on the horse with the help of the groom.

Alice got on the horse, didn't stop, just patted the horse and walked away.

Oliver also led the horse out of the stable, turned on the horse, and chased it out.

Julian watched the two horses galloping away, stomped his feet angrily, and asked the groom to prepare the horses for him.

Alice wasn't in the mood to take care of a spoiled boy. 14 years old is not considered a child in this era, but Charles went to the Naval Academy at the age of 12, and graduated at the age of 15 and became a junior officer on the ship. As a result, the 14-year-old Julian was still fighting with his brother, and he didn't know How did this kid grow up.

Oliver catches up with her and takes her to the Gordon family's beach house.Ivo didn't expect them to come out to ride horses, so he asked the family groom to prepare the horses quickly, and ran with them around the island with Byron.

Byron's legs were congenitally disabled, and one leg was slightly shorter, so he walked with a limp, so he ordered special shoes with different heel heights, so that he could barely walk normally.Playing cricket requires running, which is very difficult for his legs and feet, but riding a horse is no problem at all, so he likes horse riding very much.

Several people often go out for a walk together in Gloucestershire. Horse riding is a traditional sport, and it is very elegant. Boys with some family background have to learn to ride horses. They can play with Alice because she is not like her. Like other girls, they just stay at home and embroider.There are so few girls who can ride a horse, shoot a gun and play cricket!

The summer on the Isle of Wight is very lively, many dignitaries and dignitaries will come here to spend the summer, and there are dances every day. Mrs. Austin took Cathy to many dances. Alice sometimes goes with them, and sometimes stays in the villa.

When Oliver was old enough to participate in social balls, the baron would take him to some balls. Julian was very dissatisfied and kept muttering that he wanted to grow up to be old enough to attend balls earlier.

Alice tried to avoid staying at the villa at the same time as him.If unfortunately you really want to stay with him, you can also directly say that she is going back to the room and ask him not to harass her.

Fortunately, this kind of situation is rare, and no matter how spoiled Julian is, he will not really run into her room.

She also brought her typewriter, and insisted on typing 2 or 3 pages every day. Writing is a long-term job, and she has to write every day. Even if she writes about the Bundfields, she can write many pages.

Baron Bondfield's attitude towards his two sons, the death of Lady Elizabeth, and the legendary third son, just thinking about it can make up a family ethics movie.Ever since Oliver cried secretly that day, Alice had observed the way the father and son got along, and didn't feel anything unusual.The baron still attaches great importance to the eldest son, and basically takes Oliver with him wherever he goes, especially when visiting some knights or members of the royal family, he always takes the eldest son with him, but not the second son every time.

Julian didn't seem to care that his father took his brother out to socialize and visit more often.

He played well with Ivo and Byron, and Alice guessed that he wouldn't tell Ivo and Byron not to allow them to play with Oliver.It's okay to say that Ivo's temperament is relatively easy-going, but Byron is smart and arrogant, and he can't stand this kind of bossy tone at all.

Therefore, Julian is also watching people order dishes.He knew that there was a difference in their social class, but he didn't think that Alice would ignore him at all, and he actually had nothing to do with Alice.

There are many teenagers on the island, and they can pull out several cricket teams. Alice has never played cricket on the island, and she doesn't like to play with unfamiliar people.She was dressed up beautifully, wearing a satin headband and a lace parasol, and sat on the side of the court in a gentle manner to watch them play.

Mrs. Austen finally felt like a lady, and was very satisfied.

Bundfield also gave several dances and invited many guests.When the ball is held, Alice can wear beautiful clothes to watch the ball.Children who are not old enough to participate in the dance have their own lounge, and the servants will prepare drinks, fruits, and snacks for them.

There will also be a very formal banquet.Baron Bondfield would always sincerely invite Mr. Hastings, mother and daughter Austin to the banquet.Alice was always having trouble remembering the names of her guests, but Mum was fine with such occasions.

After dinner, the male guests followed the host to the smoking room, where the gentlemen puffed and pointed out the current problems, and the female guests also wanted to chat and gossip.Alice sometimes went with her mother to gossip with the ladies, and sometimes to play with the other children.

Once, a lady mentioned that she had met the late Mary Wollstonecraft's husband, William Godwin, in London not long ago, and heard that he was planning to marry again, and the new wife had two children, Heard it was very vulgar.The wives lamented that Mary Wollstonecraft died only four years ago, and the youngest daughter left behind had to have a stepmother when she was only four years old.

Another lady said: "I remember Mr. Godwin's financial situation is not very good, he has two little girls, and he is going to marry a woman who has no income. God! Those two little girls are going to be in a vulgar The woman under his command is begging for a living!"

The ladies then wandered upstairs, talking about the poor girls they knew who lived with their stepmothers.

However, the amount of information in the gossip of the wives is really huge.

Mary Wollstonecraft was one of those rare feminists of this era, and it would be fair to call her a "feminist pioneer."She was born in a family of squires and landowners, but after her father failed to invest, she became an alcoholic domestic violence man. Growing up in such a family, Mary became a brave woman. After she was 19, she went out to make a living. At 25, she opened a school and recruited Women go to school because she believes that women should receive education in order to learn to think about problems and life.

At the age of 33, Mary published her most famous book "A Vindication of the Rights of Women: A Criticism of the Rights of Woman: with Stricture on Political and Moral Subjects", which attacked educational restrictions that kept women in a state of "ignorance and slavish attachment" and portrayed marriage as For "legal prostitution", he especially dislikes women willingly sinking into a state of dependence or even slavery, and believes that the rights of men and women are one and the same. To achieve social equality, the church must be eliminated, the military rank system must be abolished absolute monarchy.

These radical ideas caused widespread controversy and widespread resentment. Men suddenly discovered that this kind of thinking was extremely dangerous and tried their best to discredit this book and its author.

At this time, Mary Wollstonecraft unwisely fell into several disreputable relationships, first with a married man, then with a cunning liar from America, Unmarried gave birth to daughter Fanny, but this handsome liar soon abandoned Mary mother and daughter.

Desperate, Mary attempted suicide several times, and then married philosopher and political scientist William Godwin. After giving birth to her next daughter, Mary Godwin, she died of puerperal fever at the age of 38.

Thus, a radical feminist leaves an illegitimate and a legitimate daughter with her unfinished business to her grave.

In the year after her death, in 1798, William Godwin published The Life of the Apologist for Women, which mentioned several of her disgraceful relationships, a folly which caused Mary's reputation to be greatly damaged. The belittling of Godwin is no good, people think that Mary is dead, and a husband should not expose the privacy of his dead wife to others.

And Godwin is about to get married again, this time his wife is even worse, with two children born out of wedlock, Godwin was once again accused and alienated by friends, those who didn't like Mary back then, now think that Godwin actually thinks It was an absurd thing that this woman could replace Mary—Mary Wollstonecraft had at last gained the approval of her husband's friends years after his death, though, of course, she probably didn't mind being recognized by them at all.

Alice listened to these gossips silently, and felt that Mary Wollstonecraft's life was really colorful, unfortunate, difficult, and still unable to escape the tragic fate of women.

William Godwin was not a good man, but he didn't seem to have much fault. It is said that his original intention was to let people understand Mary's life. He thought that biography should describe a person's life truthfully, but he didn't think about it, so he Be that stupid husband who made public the "scandal" of his dead wife.

It's not a fault, but such a man is definitely not a smart person.

On the next day, she had a long discussion with Oliver, Ivo, and Byron on this issue.

Byron thought that Godwin was not really a smart person, and he should wait at least 20 years before publishing Mary's biography. Mary Wollstonecraft's ideas were too advanced and radical, and people's ability to accept them was limited. Most people wouldn't understand, let alone accept, her ideas, and would think she was a damned troubled woman who read too much.

In Ivo's opinion, Godwin was not a gentleman.

Oliver felt that Godwin's idea was not a big mistake, but if he had thought about it, he should have chosen not to publish Mary's biography.

"It might be because of the money. After all, people still want to know about Wollstonecraft's life: what kind of person she was, what happened to her that made her so 'extreme'," Alice said. The "quotation mark" gesture, Ivo interrupted and asked her what she meant by this gesture, and the two diverged for a minute to explain this gesture.

Byron kicked Ivo lightly impatiently, only then made him stop.

Alice smiled, and continued: "If you don't have money, you can't do it. You should all know that money is very important. Godwin needs money to raise two young children. Besides, from his point of view, Not necessarily any love for Wollstonecraft."

Byron agrees, "If you really love her, you don't want to expose everything about her to other people, and that's terrible."

Ivo sighed, "Who knows what love is?"

"I think some of Wollstonecraft's words are right. Abolish the monarchy. Forget it. This is not a good thing for us. Abolishing the monarchy also means abolishing the aristocracy." Oliver glanced at Byron, "As for her saying that women should be educated, I think it's pretty good."

"The education she is talking about is not the 'lady's education' that girls receive now, but the same education as boys, and women should be able to go to college." Alice said.

"Hmm..." Oliver seemed to be thinking about this question for the first time, "You mean, the girl also lives in the university and attends classes in the same classroom as us? It seems... unimaginable."

He thought of Alice, the education she received was actually not inferior to university higher education, but she still couldn't really enter the university to study.The daughters of noble families actually need to be educated, but most of them are educated by ladies. Like Alice, there are very few women who learn everything, but they don’t learn the necessary skills for girls. Beckford’s Daughter, also cannot learn as much knowledge as Alice.

On the one hand, the family does not allow it, and on the other hand, the girl herself does not have that awareness.

Learning is hard, boring, and boring. How can learning to play the piano, draw, sing, and dance be interesting? Only embroidery is too time-consuming and not very fun.

Will Alice be a second Mary Wollstonecraft?She doesn't seem to be that radical, and her growing environment is much better than that of Wollstonecraft, so she doesn't have such a fierce way of thinking to confront the whole world, which should be considered a good thing.

Once Oliver figured this out, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Byron is discussing Mary's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman with Alice.He thinks that what Wollstonecraft described will come true someday, maybe 100 years, maybe 200 years.There's nothing wrong with that, but they can't see it anymore.

Ivo didn't want to talk about this, and shouted: "What does this have to do with you and me? Just like Alice, if she wants to learn anything, as long as she has money and can afford a teacher, she can learn anything. Money matters."

Alice didn't have any idea about Ivo's simplicity and rudeness.Ivo's temperament is completely different from that of his cousin, he feels that he should enjoy himself in time, and he doesn't want to think about all the things that bother him.It's not that he's not smart enough, but he thinks he should seize all the time to have fun until he gets married.

As long as Mr. Gordon manages well and does not go bankrupt, Ivo, as the heir, really has nothing to worry about. He just needs to have fun and play happily. After graduating from university, he will help his father manage the business and be a decent gentleman. , Many rich second generations came here like this.

The author has something to say:

*A paragraph in "Defense of Women's Rights", partially excerpted from Baidu Encyclopedia.

*Mary Wollstonecraft's daughter Mary Godwin, later Mary Shelley.