[Emma] Becoming Jane Fairfax

Wei Lai was sitting alone in the living room reading a book. Patty took the letter upstairs and said it was sent by Mr. Frank Churchill.Wei Lai's heart skipped a beat, and her intuition told her that something was wrong. She glanced at the bedroom with the closed door of Miss Bates and Mrs. Bates, and waited for Patty to go downstairs before she opened the letter.

The letter contained a few simple formulas, saying that Mrs. Weston was concerned about Miss Bates's leg injury, but because she was pregnant and unable to move, she asked Frank to visit on her behalf.

These few words seem normal, but when you think about it carefully, you feel that something is wrong.

The relationship between Mrs. Weston and the Bates family has always been indifferent. Only Miss Bates took the initiative to talk to Mrs. Weston. I have never seen Mrs. Weston take the initiative to come to the door. Could it be that pregnancy caused a personality change? ?

Wei Lai laughed at the thought.She read the letter several times, thinking of the Churchill couple who came to visit unexpectedly, she had an idea, did Frank tell the story of his private engagement with Jane?Or it was discovered by the Churchills!

Wei Lai was startled by this idea, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that he had guessed right, otherwise Frank would not have written a letter in a hurry saying that he would pay a visit at home. Hearing from Emma that Mrs. Churchill was very sick, Frank was by her side at all times, and it was certainly not such a trivial matter as visiting Miss Bates that would have caused him to leave his ailing aunt alone.

Since Frank didn't really want to visit the injured Miss Bates, Wei Lai threw the letter into the fireplace.

The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly, and Wei Lai's fair face was flushed by the light of the fire, but her hands and feet were cold.

She knew that paper could not contain fire, no matter how good the concealment was, there would be a day when the second boot fell off. She was very worried, but at the same time relieved.

Stretching her head and retracting her head is a knife, rather than waiting for others to come to her door, she might as well take the initiative to attack.

Wei Lai walked around the room twice, her heart beating wildly, and she made a bold decision—to take the initiative to find Mrs. Churchill.

This decision was risky, but she thought about it carefully, it can be said that she thought about it a long time ago.It was Jane who was secretly engaged to Frank, but she was the one who wanted to cancel the engagement. When she made this decision, she thought that no matter what difficulties she encountered and how many rumors she encountered, she could not just marry Frank casually.

When she went to see Mrs. Churchill, she might be scolded severely by her, but what she got was what she gave up. If she could take the opportunity to cancel the engagement, it would be nothing to be scolded.

Moreover, getting engaged in private is not a glorious thing, even if the Westons know about it, they will not make it public, so there is no need to worry about letting Mrs. and Miss Bates know.

After thinking about it, Wei Laisi felt that taking the initiative is the best way.

She went to bed early that night, so that she had enough energy to go to war tomorrow.

On one side, Wei Lai fell asleep peacefully, on the other side, Frank tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.He hasn't figured out what to say when he sees Jane tomorrow. Miss Bates and Mrs. Bates must be at home. How can he let Jane understand that his aunt has already guessed that he has a heart, although he hasn't guessed that the person is Jane. , but he had to get Jane ready in advance.

Frank threw off the quilt and got out of bed and sat by the window. Snow was falling outside the window, and his heart was in a mess.He is not yet ready for a showdown with his uncle and aunt. He knows very well that once his aunt finds out that he is engaged privately, he will definitely be furious. In a fit of anger, his source of income may be cut off, and his uncle may even help find him. The job is gone.

Then he would have nothing.

Frank was tossed around until dawn, but he didn't come up with a good solution. He didn't sleep well all night, and he didn't have a good rest after taking care of his aunt these days, so he got up dizzy and dizzy.

It snowed all night, and the snow stopped at dawn, and the outside of the house was white and covered with silver. Mr. Weston proposed to take Mr. Churchill out for a stroll. did not go out.The Westons dared not call Mrs. Churchill, and asked Frank to stay with her at home.

Frank could only wish for it. As long as Mrs. Churchill was asleep, he would have time to go to the Bates' house.

He kept good time, when he would eat, when he would send his aunt to bed, how long he would go to Bates' house, and when he would come back.

However, he didn't expect that Jane would come one hour before his planned lunch time.

Wei Lai had a good night's sleep and was full of energy. On the way here, she was so nervous that her legs were a little weak. After sitting in Landauer's living room, she was not afraid anymore.

Mrs. Churchill was resting in the guest room upstairs, and Frank entertained Wei Lai alone: ​​"Didn't I write a letter saying that I would visit Miss Bates this afternoon? Why are you here? Didn't you receive the letter?"

Wei Lai took a sip of tea and shook his head: "Got it, I read it, but my aunt didn't know that you were going to visit her at home, I didn't tell her, I burned the letter."

Frank frowned: "What are you going to do?"

"Don't do anything. Why are you so nervous? I'm not here to make trouble." Wei Lai smiled. "Is Mrs. Churchill there? Is she feeling better? I'm here to see her. Is it convenient for her?"

Frank opened his eyes wide and looked at her in disbelief for a while, as if to confirm whether she was crazy, "You... want to see aunt? Jane, are you serious? You don't know aunt..."

"I know." It was at this time, and he still wanted to drag it down, and Wei Lai felt that he was in the right place, "I know Mrs. Churchill guessed that you fell in love with a certain girl, maybe she still I don’t know if it’s me, but she will know sooner or later, instead of Mrs. Churchill or Mr. Weston coming to the door, it’s better for me to stand up first, and sooner or later I will be scolded, so don’t hurt others.”

The other people she was talking about were Miss Bates and Mrs. Bates. Frank knew very well that she had more scruples and thoughts than he did, and he had no words to refute.

"My aunt is not in good health. She is resting upstairs. Otherwise, you can go back first. Let me handle this matter. I will handle it. Don't worry." Jane came to the door suddenly and wanted to see her aunt, Frank I was already dizzy, but now my head hurts even more. I can't think of a good way for the time being, so I can only comfort Jane first.

After he finished speaking, he didn't hear Jane's reply for a long time. When he raised his head and was about to call her, he saw her sideways looking at the entrance of the living room. He followed her line of sight, and then let out a dull cough.

Mrs. Churchill was standing at the door supported by the maid she brought. She didn't know how long she had been here and how much she had heard.

Frank's face turned pale, he stood up immediately, and strode over: "Auntie, why did you get out of bed? Dr. Perry told you to rest and rest, so don't move around." His hands were trembling as he went to help Mrs. Churchill.

Mrs. Churchill glanced at him. Although there was no expression on her face, she would not be happy after all.She brushed off Frank's hand, asked the maid to help her sit down, and looked at Wei Lai unabashedly.

She was very beautiful, prettier than most of the girls I saw at the party that day, and she was dressed in a very ordinary way, the skirt was just ordinary muslin, and there was no pair of leather gloves with rabbit fur inside in the cold weather, and the shoes and the hem of the skirt They were all covered with mud, they didn't come by car, and their family circumstances should be poor.

Mrs. Churchill looked at Wei Lai, and Wei Lai was also watching her secretly.

I heard that she is very thin, but I didn't expect her to be so thin that it is unbearable to look at her. She must be in poor health. After walking a few steps, she gasped heavily. Her eyes seemed to fall out of their sockets. It's a bit infiltrating.

Mrs. Churchill reminded her of Lance's mother, Mrs. Amedeo. Both of them had a serious face with a serious face, giving people a feeling of losing their temper when they disagreed.

Wei Lai took a deep breath, pinched the skirt to calm himself down, and then said hello to Mrs. Churchill.

Mrs. Churchill twitched the corners of her mouth slightly, as a response, and turned her head to see Frank still standing by the door with a worried look on her face, frowning, and let him go out angrily.

Frank certainly disagreed.

Mrs. Churchill lowered her face, and suddenly, without warning, she slapped the armrest of the sofa with a "snap": "Get out!" Immediately afterwards, she coughed violently.

Frank is neither advancing nor retreating.

"Aunt, I..."

"go out!"

Mrs. Churchill was so angry that she yelled, and it seemed that her voice was broken. Frank had to back out and close the door. Just as he was about to eavesdrop by the door, the maid came out and slammed the door.

The living room was very quiet.

Wei Lai could hear Mrs. Churchill's heavy breathing and his own heartbeat.

"Mrs. Churchill, my name is Jane Fairfax. I met Mr. Frank Churchill in Weymouth." This sentence is not long, and Wei Lai did not catch her breath. She thought of many kinds of opening remarks yesterday, and it really arrived. At this moment, none of them are needed, and she can say whatever comes to her mind.

Mrs. Churchill's eyes suddenly became sharp, and she looked at her for a long time, and said in a cold voice, "It's you." She thought that the girl who fascinated Frank was so good, except for being beautiful, she couldn't tell There are other advantages.

"Yes, it's me." Wei Lai clasped his hands tightly and looked at her with a smile. "Mrs. Churchill, I don't know if Frank told you that we were secretly engaged in Weymouth."

"What!" Mrs. Churchill was shocked, "You are engaged? How dare you!"

"Sorry, we did something wrong." Wei Lai hurriedly poured a cup of tea and handed it over.

Mrs. Churchill blushed, waved her left hand, and the teacup rolled to the ground, spilling tea all over the floor: "Is it okay if you just apologize for doing this kind of thing? You reckless young people! Who do you think you are?" , if you take the initiative to come to see me, will I agree to your marriage? Go ahead and dream! Frank is going to marry a lady from a famous family, not a shameless girl like you can get high! I don’t know you What kind of education did your parents give you to teach you such a shameless woman!"

Even though Wei Lai was mentally prepared to be scolded, she still felt uncomfortable after being scolded, and she was not willing to get engaged to Frank.

"Mrs. Churchill, the matter has already happened, and the engagement has been made. It's useless if you get angry and scold me again. Why don't you calm down and listen to me, can you?"

"What can you say? Don't you just want to persuade me to agree to your marriage? You don't even think about it." Mrs. Churchill took a deep breath, showing a haughty look, "Miss, please leave You are not welcome here, Landauer."

Wei Lai bit his lip: "Mrs. Churchill..."

"go out!"

"Mrs. Churchill! I have come to call off the engagement!"