little miss austin

But the question of money was not easy to ask. After thinking for several days, he tactfully proposed to Alice that he was willing to pay for her recuperation in Madeira Island, including the expenses of Mrs. Austin and the accompanying servants.

Alice first looked at him with wide eyes in surprise, which made him flustered, and then she laughed.

He hurriedly said, "I'm worried... Mrs. Austin doesn't have enough money."

She said softly: "Thank you for your kindness. Mother has brought the money order. When the money is used up, I will go to the bank to get it."

Oliver was embarrassed for a while, and pretended to be calm, "I'm afraid you will leave in a hurry before you fully recover because of money."

"Money is not comparable to a person's life. If there is hope for a cure, I will definitely not hesitate to spend all the money on the treatment. If the money is spent, you can earn it again. You only have one life. If you die, it will be gone."

"It's best if you think like this. In short, don't worry about money. In my heart, nothing is more important than you." He reached out and gently stroked her temple hair.

"I know."

Earlier, she knew that she had tuberculosis, and she was terrified, afraid that she would die young. After all, those tuberculosis patients who appeared in various novels basically did not end well. Writers in the 19th and 20th centuries especially liked to describe tuberculosis patients in their works. Firstly, it was because tuberculosis was common and high incidence.In fact, tuberculosis carriers are extremely common, and once the living conditions or eating conditions are not good, they are easy to get sick.

She also understood why she got sick. It was because of the depression caused by the death of her father, so that she was anorexic and couldn't sleep well at night, so that she would not want to go out during the day, always wanted to sleep, and stayed in the room all the time; plus she had the flu before, Immunity declines, so Mycobacterium tuberculosis takes the opportunity to attack.

If in later generations, tuberculosis is not a serious disease at all, it can be cured if it is discovered early, and the medicine is not expensive; but the problem now is that no one has discovered that tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, there is no specific drug, rich People can still go to places with clean air for recuperation, and poor people basically wait to die when they get tuberculosis.

The doctor said that she discovered it early, and now it is only the first stage, and the symptoms are not too serious. The reason why she lost so much weight all of a sudden is not because of tuberculosis, but because of anorexia, so she needs to eat well first.

Getting sick is not terrible, what comes next is what makes Alice realize human nature-friendship and love.

The Beckfords returned to Fengshan Manor after attending the funeral of Reverend George.Knowing that Alice was sick, Susan immediately sent 1 pounds, saying that it was all her private money, and asked her to use the money to go abroad for recuperation, and she also recommended Madeira Island immediately.Madeira Island was a Portuguese territory before. After Napoleon came to power, the British Navy took advantage of the chaos to actually occupy Madeira Island. Now there are British Army garrisons and military ports on Madeira Island. It is a relay station for Mediterranean ships to the United Kingdom and northern European coastal countries. Francis' warship was escorting a supply ship to Madeira, and Alice was waiting for her brother to send someone to pick her up.

Lucinda also came to the funeral of Pastor George and stayed at Austin's house for a few days. Alice also wrote to her in a responsible manner, asking her to go to the doctor for a checkup.Lucinda wrote back that she was fine, sent her 1000 pounds, and told her to go to recuperate immediately.

As for Wesley and William, they visited her respectively, but she also didn't see them.They both knew that Austin's family had enough money to send her abroad for recuperation. William helped her find several doctors for follow-up visits. The doctors were of different ages, but they all said that she was fine, just the first stage, recuperation in time, and the possibility of recovery. Wesley said he would accompany them to Madeira Island, but Mrs. Austen felt that he was neither a son-in-law nor a relative, so it was not easy to bother him, so she resolutely declined.

As for Ivo—it's okay to say how much she loves Ivo. Ivo probably treats her the same way. When he heard that she was seriously ill, he ran away in fright.She sent two letters to her Oxford halls and one each to Gordon House in Winchester and Faraday House in Gloucestershire, but received no reply.She thought about whether these letters would be hidden by Mr. Gordon or Mrs. Gordon to prevent Ivo from seeing them, but it was not like he didn't know that she was ill.If he couldn't receive her letter, why would he have to write and ask?

When she was still in London, she still had hope. Ivo was on vacation, so he should be able to visit her, right?But Oliver and Byron both came and he still did not come, much to her disappointment.

Sick people are always thinking about things because they have too much time to kill.

——Maybe Ivo didn't want to see her, maybe he fell ill after returning to Oxford, so he couldn't come?But it doesn't take much effort or time to write a letter.Therefore, the only explanation for this matter can only be that he was locked up by his parents and he was not allowed to come and see her.

A person who has lost his personal freedom will not be able to come to see her, not even to send a letter.

Thinking about it this way, she could barely accept it.

When parents want to control their disobedient children, the most common method is economic blockade; when economic blockade does not work, they will probably threaten to sever the relationship between father and son; the next step is to imprison the person.

Oh, poor Ivo!

He has always been a good baby of his parents, loved and loved, and has never faced a major choice. It is hard to say whether he will rebel against his parents. Maybe he will be easily persuaded: not giving money and severing the father-son relationship is enough to make 99 1% of young men are discouraged, and the remaining [-]% of young people who are passionate about love have a half chance of being taught to be a man by reality, and the other half of the chance will be locked up by their parents who vowed to be ruthless this time.

So no matter what situation Ivo encountered, the relationship between the two of them could no longer be maintained as it was.

She is a little sad.But from the point of view of the Gordons, they did nothing wrong. After all, responsible parents should protect their children from harm and not continue to associate with the dying girl.The relationship between a pair of lovers will be affected by countless external factors. If the other party's parents don't like you, then it's best not to force it.

Just let this teenage love die with the wind.

Illness changes a person.

Be it love or something else.

Recalling her previous life carefully, Alice thought that her life was too smooth.

"Is everything going well?" Oliver asked suspiciously.

"If I just want to be a lady, of course it's best not to have any troubles in my life. The biggest problem is to choose who will be my husband." She looked at him and smiled. "There are two most important things in a woman's life." , the first thing is to choose parents, in fact we can't choose, no one can choose, this is void; the second is to choose a husband, choosing a 'good' husband is very important. No, I was wrong, there are actually three things, the most important The third thing is that women have to choose who they are.”

"Aren't men the same? We can't choose our parents, but we can choose our wives and who we want to be."

"You're right." She held her skirt and walked in the grass above her knees, "Most girls in my class are walking a path that many people are taking, and it's what this society wants them to take." Lu: grow up, learn how to be a good wife and mother, get married at the right age, and have a lot of children. But I don’t know, is it the fate of a woman to have a lot of children and work hard all day long? ?"

"Last time—you didn't seem to say that last time." He followed her, stepping where she had walked.Where she walked in the grass, she fell over and bounced back slowly.Turning his head to look at the way he came from, the footprints are no longer obvious.

"What did I say last time?"

"You said, you are a woman who can make money by herself, so I don't want you to stay at home and be a good wife and mother."

She glanced at him: This man is also very good at climbing, obviously there is nothing wrong with him, okay?

"So, do you understand what I'm talking about?"

"Understood a little."

"I used to think that I was forever young and would never die at all-I was only 17 years old, how could I have to be 70 years old to face the problem of death?"

"Don't always think about dying, you won't be so young—" He lowered his eyes and looked at the grass on the ground, "You are still so young, you haven't been to the places you want to go, and you haven't finished your work." What you want to do, you won't die." He walked a few steps faster, side by side with her, holding her right hand with his left hand.

She smiled at him, "I don't always think about dying, I'm quite optimistic. What about you? Are you afraid?"

"There's nothing to be afraid of. I may have been infected a long time ago, but I haven't gotten sick, and maybe I won't get sick for the rest of my life. If I'm afraid, I'm just afraid of you—afraid that something will happen to you."

"What about your father? Does he know?"

"What does this have to do with him?" Oliver was surprised.

"Maybe he'll threaten to withhold your annuity, or disqualify you from being an heir."

He chuckled, "What kind of idiot do you think the baron is? You have tuberculosis, and there are only two follow-up situations: first, you are cured, so there is nothing to talk about; second, you...you died of illness , there is nothing to say. In his opinion, the worst case is that I marry you, and then you die, and I become a widower. However, you don't have to worry about this, even if I become a widower, I will find another suitable wife."

Alice agreed, "That's true." Analyzing it objectively, there is indeed nothing wrong with it.

"So he has nothing to worry about."

She half-jokingly said: "If the baron is willing to offer 2 to 3 pounds to buy me and leave you, I will definitely accept the money."

"Okay, you must accept it, and then we will each have half of the money."

She burst out laughing.

Oliver was very gentle most of the time, and Alice almost never saw him lose his temper. Even if Evan bullied her before, he only dealt with Evan behind his back, and she never saw him lose his temper.He had that dry, well-educated British sense of humor that she often couldn't get enough of.

She used to think that Ivo was similar in temperament to hers, and they got along better, so Oliver felt a little dull, but——

"What are you thinking again?"

"I'm thinking—when will Francis arrive? I want to go to Madeira Island as soon as possible. William and Wesley have been to Madeira Island and said that it is not bad. There are docks, a military port, and many trading companies. , a lot of goods shipped to the UK are trans-shipped there, maybe there will be a lot of fresh foreign food there."

"I've heard that there's been a vineyard planted there, and the grapes are very good."

"For brewing?"

"Yes, there are also large grapes, the kind that are eaten as fruit."

She stopped, and he stopped immediately.

She looked at him for a while, hesitated to speak, and finally said: "Let's walk a little longer."

Francis sent a boat to fetch Mrs. Austen and Alice a week later than expected.He sent someone to bring a team of sailors, and rented a small fishing boat to pick him up at the pier.

It was Fleming from Thomas's cousin's house. The young man was tanned at sea and looked very strong.He was twenty-four and a half years old, seven years older than Alice and one and a half years older than Oliver. Fleming had just gone to the Naval Academy when Alice and Henry went to London.

Mrs. Austen brought Fleming letters from Thomas to him, letters from her sister April and little Alice, and some clothes for him.Fleming flipped through the letters and found that there was still no letter from his mother Mary.He concealed the disappointment in his heart, and pretended to be relaxed, saying that the captain had already prepared the cabin for them, and the servants could take them all there, so there was no need to worry.

More than an hour later, they boarded the Canopus warship.

The situation on the sea between Britain and France is close to stability. The French fleet basically avoided the British warships. The route from the Isle of Wight to Madeira Island is unimpeded. Escort of warship.

The eating habits on the warship are the same as those on land, they eat dinner in the afternoon, but the lunch on the warship is better.Half of the dishes are seafood such as fish and shrimp, and there are also a lot of fruits, vegetables, and meat. It can be said that the food is quite good, or at least the officers eat quite well.

Francis invited his mother and Oliver to dinner with him, along with other senior officers.Fleming was not eligible to be seated, and he took the servants of Austin's family to deliver dinner to Alice.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"I'll go to the restaurant to eat with other officers later."

"You don't eat like Francis?"

Fleming smiled, "It's just that there are a few dishes missing, the difference is not big."

"There are so many dishes, I can't finish them all by myself, let's sit down and eat together."

Most of the furniture in the cabin was fixed to the floor, but some chairs could be moved, and Sidney brought one over.

Although they are relatives, they actually met for the first time today.

When she said she hadn't seen him before, Fleming smiled and shook his head: "I saw you when you were a child, you were about 4 years old."

"I was too young at that time to remember."

"You grow up so fast!"

"I'm 17 years old."

"Well, you are two years younger than April. April...how is she?"

"She's fine. A Mr. Jenkins has been visiting her a lot lately. Mary said—well, Mary said April might be engaged by the end of the year." Cousin Thomas's family is financially well-off now, so find a suitable fiancé for April Still no problem.In order to avoid falling in love with the wrong man again in April, Cousin Mary hurriedly took her to dances and other social activities, and the effect was remarkable.

"—Does my mother still hate me?" He lowered his eyes, not daring to look at her.

"She barely mentions you, and she doesn't mention Thomas Jr."

Fleming unconsciously picked up a fish with a fork and sliced ​​the meat into pieces, "Mother will never forgive me."

"She will always forgive you. She has already lost a child and cannot lose another."

"Father said he was still looking for Thomas and he wouldn't give up."

Alice nodded.Cousin Mary was actually the one who gave up first, giving her youngest son Walter her love and all her attention, never mentioning little Thomas who was lost, or Fleming who never came home again.

That is to say, divorce is not easy in this era, and they have another child. Otherwise, even if divorce is impossible, they will separate.The first year after the accidental death or disappearance of a child is the most likely to cause couples to divorce or break up. Most couples will fall into mutual blame. For example, Mary blames Thomas for not being able to go home every day, Thomas blames Mary for not bringing Fleming and Little Thomas went to the theater together.

Considering that she told Oliver just a few days ago that her life was going too smoothly, compared to Fleming, she was really happy.So now God finally couldn't see it, and wanted to make her suffer from a serious illness?

The journey by sea was very fast, and we arrived at Madeira Island unimpeded all the way.

The supply ships and warships all docked at the military pier. Francis hired a carriage on the pier and sent Mrs. Austin, Alice, and Oliver to Funchal, where the British lived. He rented a villa in Funchal, but he didn’t know There would be an extra Oliver, and he wouldn't be fit to live in the same villa as Alice.

Oliver went to live in a hotel.

The construction of Funchal is good. The local aborigines have been relocated long ago, and most of the Portuguese immigrants were also deported back to the mainland. Now Funchal is basically British. Except for the architectural style or the Portuguese colonial style, the others are It's no different from a small British city. Wherever you go, you will see British people and hear British accents.

Madeira Island in July is not too hot, because it is located in the sea, there is a lot of rain, it is extremely cool in the morning and evening, and it is slightly hot at noon, and it rarely exceeds 7 degrees. It has quickly become the favorite overseas resort for wealthy British people.

The products are very rich. Bananas, grapes, passion fruit, figs, papayas, pineapples, citrus, tomatoes, and sugar cane have long been planted. The key economic crops are grapes and sugar cane, sugar cane for sugar production, and grape wine for wine.

Almost no one grows wheat, and all rely on the UK to transport flour, and then transport all kinds of fruits, sugar, and wine back, and the business is booming.

Also because of the abundance of fruit, local bakeries especially like to make fruit bread and jam bread, which are soft and delicious.

Oliver came over at 7 o'clock every morning and went out for a walk with Alice. When he came back, he bought some bread for breakfast at the bakery on the side of the road.Alice likes to drink juice, and Kate uses a squeeze-type manual juicer to make a few glasses of juice every morning, noon and night, mixing grapes with passion fruit, papaya with pineapple, citrus with pineapple, sugarcane with papaya, and other mixes.

Figs are not easy to squeeze juice, and they are mainly eaten fresh, because Madeira has a lot of precipitation, so it is not too sweet, and the sweetness can be said to be just right.

After breakfast, Alice was not in a hurry to go back to the villa. Instead, she randomly picked one of the only bookstores in Funchal and bought a book almost every day. I don't want to read any serious reading all day long, novels are the best, suitable for killing time.

Almost all the novels of Austin Press are on the bookshelves, Oliver is quite surprised, how come Austin Press distributes all the novels to Madeira Island?

In addition to J. Austen's "Sense and Sensibility", "Pride and Prejudice", and this year's new "Janet", there are also LadyChristiana's "England Horror Stories", Books [-], [-] and [-], AliceLeigh "The Season of the Witch" Volume [-] and "The Princess Who Kidnapped the Dragon".

Alice is interested in some travel notes.In this era, Europeans like to write and read travel notes. Many well-known writers have written travel notes about traveling in countries other than their own.Some people write interestingly, and some write in detail. Even if you have been to that country and city, it is still interesting to see others describe it in words.

"Which country do you want to go to? If you are only allowed to choose 3 countries." Alice asked casually with a Middle East travel book in her hand.

"Italy, Ottoman, China."

She was surprised, "China? Why?"

"Probably because it's far away and mysterious." He asked back, "What about you? Which country do you want to go to?"

"Russia, Egypt, America."

"It's easy to handle. When you recover, we can travel together. I will accompany you to the United States, and you can accompany me to China."

When women travel abroad, they rarely go out by themselves. Servants cannot be regarded as official companions. They must travel with their fathers, brothers, and husbands.Of course, she could still be a widow.

Alice has no father, and although there are many brothers, no one can travel with her, and Oliver is not her husband-oh!He turned the corner again and said "in the future".

This man is really reserved!

"It will take a long time, at least a year, if not, it will take two or three years."

"It doesn't matter a few years." There were no other customers in the bookstore at the moment, he brushed her forehead hair carefully, and then gently stroked her face with his fingers.Because she was still ill, the contact between them was at most holding hands and touching her face, and he had never kissed her.

The author has something to say:

* The pronunciation of Ivor Ivor should be Ai Fu, but just like the transliteration of Asa into Asa, it belongs to the transliteration of fans.

*What happened to Ivo?Let's break it down after listening.

* Madeira Island is Ronaldo's hometown, and there is a Ronaldo Museum.Churchill vacationed in Madeira.Princess Sissi went to Madeira Island to recuperate when she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, but she didn't like Madeira Island very much.