Love England

Mr. Thornton was alone in his study, studying the material which he had brought back from the fair concerning the latest looms produced in England.He has brought this material home for two days but has not read it all the time. It is not because the material is so long, because it is only a pamphlet of less than forty pages; it is not that this material is not important, Since he intends to order fifteen of these new looms for his factory, he urgently needs to know its detailed performance as soon as possible.Although this new type of textile machine is expensive, its work efficiency is 20.00% higher than that of the old type, which can greatly increase the productivity of his factory.The reason why Mr. Thornton didn't finish reading this material was because he was always distracted while reading this material. Whenever he read this material brought back from the World Expo, he always recalled meeting Cali at the Expo that moment.

When he saw Mr. Henry Lennox intimately with her at the Fair, a beast of unexplained unhappiness had overtaken him.Since Mr. Thornton knew this Mr. Henry, he had no good impression of this person. He didn't know why he disagreed with this person. Mr. Henry was the lawyer of Mr. Bell whom he respected, or Mr. Hale's family. He should have been closer to his friend, but since when did he dislike him?Was it when Mr. Henry first came to his house to dine and court his sister?Was it Mr. Henry's time to negotiate cunningly on Mr. Bell's behalf?Or is it when he's with Cali every time he shows up?It was the first time that the just Mr. Sander felt such inexplicable displeasure with a gentleman.

"Why is Cali always with him? Always so friendly to him, always so gentle to him. Does he know about Cali? When he knows the real situation of Cali, he will run like a coward like me Open it?" Mr. Thornton was thinking while fiddling with the materials from the exposition in his hand, flipped through a few pages aimlessly, and put them in the document basket on the desk. It seems that he didn't finish reading it this time. .

Since the last marriage proposal, Mr. Thornton became more gloomy. He didn't mention anything to Mrs. Thornton after returning home, but seeing his son's expression, Mrs. Thornton understood everything.Because she was concerned about her son's feelings, she didn't scold Miss Adams from the United States face to face, but she had deeper opinions on her in her heart.In order to express her disappointment and dissatisfaction, Mrs. Thornton did not visit her after hearing the news that Mrs. Hale was seriously ill, because the Hale family provided shelter for the uninterested American girl, and she was also very happy that her son did not. Visiting Hale's house again, but what she doesn't understand is why her son always sends Jack to deliver fruit to Halle's house again?She also expressly forbade Miss Thornton not to associate with Miss Adams in the future. Although Miss Thornton protested against her mother's practice, she reluctantly agreed to her mother's request when she saw her brother's depressed state.From that day on, Mrs. Thornton used all her diplomatic skills to introduce Mr. Thornton to some young ladies of good background and rich wealth.If Mrs. Thornton is particularly fond of some of these ladies, she will invite them to Thornton Mansion as guests, and even invite them to stay at home for a few days, hoping that her son can get rid of the "unremarkable" Adams as soon as possible. The young lady's attachment cheered up his son as soon as possible, and it would be best for his son to propose to a certain lady introduced by her, and achieve a very happy marriage in her opinion.However, Mrs. Thornton's plans don't go so well--the lovely Miss Jane, the banker's daughter, the gentle Miss Charlotte, the daughter of a London newspaper tycoon, and even the sensible Miss Latimer, the daughter of the steel magnate. , everyone returns in vain.Mr. Thornton seemed to turn a blind eye to these ladies. Every time he just greeted them respectfully and bowed, then his face was gloomy and silent, which made Mrs. Thornton secretly anxious.

In fact, Mr. Thornton is not turning a blind eye to these lovely ladies, but he can always see the shadow of Cali in these girls. Miss Jane has the same hair as Cali, and Miss Charlotte has the same figure as Cali. Somewhat similar, Miss Latimer's expression is the same as Cali's when she speaks—but they both seem to have some kind of lack, are they not "she", or should they be called "he"?Mr. Thornton has always been confused, how could such a perfect woman be called "he"?If she (or he) hadn't told herself those things, where would they be now?Or when the two of them were on their wedding night, and the man told him his secret, what would they be like? "...I can't lie to you. If the love words you just told me didn't lie to me, please do it, John! Otherwise, you will regret it, and I will regret it too!" That's what the man told him that day , that is the answer to those assumptions he just made.

"That man is right, why is that man always right!" Mr. Thornton said to himself with resentment, and he complained that the man had ruined the sweet moment he could experience prematurely, so that he had no choice but to Instead of facing reality, he blamed himself for being self-righteous and self-indulgent, and he blamed God for playing such a ridiculous joke on him.How sure he was that he loved that person before he went to propose, his feelings were so strong, he still remembered the feeling of holding that person in his arms, and the sweetness of kissing that person's lips, but Now he wasn't sure how he felt about that person. "That person", yes, this is Mr. Thornton's pronoun for Cali now, since he can't figure out whether to use "he" or "she" to refer to, so he racked his brains to use "that person" "To refer to Cali - this is the result of Mr. Thornton's research on Cali since the marriage proposal. Even he himself finds it funny, although the smile is mixed with bitterness.

In order to forget that person, Mr. Thornton put more energy into the factory, so that he could be like those tired workers, exhausted himself, and when he returned to the Thornton mansion, he just wanted to fall asleep, unable to think about other things .For more than a month, he spent it like this, until he went to London to participate in the World Expo and saw that person again, and all the troubles came back, and even worse.Mr. Henry Lennox's attitude was as if the man was his trophy, as if he was a winner, as if he was a defeated country bumpkin, and what was more annoying was that the man treated him as before, even a little more Tenderness and sympathy are like pitying his cowardice and paranoia.

"Tell Mr. Hale that Margaret and I will be going back to Milton tomorrow, and we'll have something new for him!" said the man as he left, though he hadn't made any verbal promises. He would definitely bring news to the Hale family, but the first thing he did when he came back from London was to write a text message to Mr. Hale for Jack to send, and bring that person's instructions and situation to the Hale family.Mr. Thornton told himself that he did it because it was his duty as a gentleman, not because of the man.

A dinner bell rang outside the door, and the servant sent by Mrs. Thornton informed Mr. Thornton that dinner was ready. He nodded and dismissed the servant, and went to the dining room after finishing his desk.His mother and sister had already taken their seats, and the servants first served them chicken consommé soup. Everyone was drinking the soup in silence, and the sound of tableware clashing from time to time played the same boring rhythm for the boring atmosphere of the dinner.

"I met Mr. Henry Lennox when I went shopping this morning!" Miss Thornton broke the silence first. What she couldn't stand the most was the atmosphere at the dinner recently, but she didn't know the name she just mentioned It was the last thing her brother wanted to hear. She didn't care if her mother and brother didn't talk to each other, and continued on her own: "Mr. Henry Lennox is going to send Mrs. Hale and her sister. I remember calling Mrs. Shaw, going to the train station—oh yes, and Miss Hale, Mr. Henry and Miss Hale are going to take them to London. Miss Hale said her mother is going to rest in London for a while. I see Mrs. Hale Her complexion is very good, she doesn't look like she has any disease, I really don't know what disease she has!"

"Dr. Donaldson performed the operation on her, so Mrs. Hale recovered soon. I introduced Dr. Donaldson to their family back then!" Mrs. Thornton explained to her daughter with some pride.

"Speaking of illness, Miss Hale told me that Miss Adams is really ill, and she has been unconscious for two days, and she fell ill after returning from London..." Miss Thornton's words made her brother Paying attention, he finally stopped drinking the soup, looked up at his sister, and waited for her to continue.

"It's not a serious illness. Yesterday afternoon, I heard from Dr. Donaldson that Miss Adams had scarlet fever—a disease that children get, and you all had it when you were young. I didn't expect her to be so weak!" Mrs. Thornton said with a blank expression. said.Hearing what his mother said, Mr. Thornton clearly remembered that when his father was in a wealthy family, his sister suffered from scarlet fever when he was only two years old. It took little Fanny three days and three nights to get her out of danger. This disease is not a simple one.Mrs. Thornton glanced at her son next to her. It seemed that she had to change the subject.

"This Miss Hale just came back from outside. I haven't seen her yet. I don't know how the daughter of the Hale family is. She has never paid us a formal visit. Of course, I don't want to have anything to do with the Hale family. Find out more, especially after that!" commented Mrs Thornton.

"Mother, so you already know that Miss Adams is ill?" Mr. Thornton didn't care about Miss Hale any more. Instead, he replied, "I've been wanting to ask you John, how long will it take you to send those Irish people away? It's been more than a month since the strike, but most of those Irish workers are still here. They can't openly He has to work in the factory and take care of them all the time—since many things cannot be achieved, they should be completed as soon as possible, and there should be no hesitation!" He has always considered the Irish workers raised by his mother, but now the workers in Milton Having returned to their original positions, it is impossible for the Irish workers to send them away in large numbers like he had invited in a large number before. This may only arouse the contradictions among the Milton workers again.Therefore, he chose to send Irish workers out of Milton by night train in batches of three to five people at a time. Because there were only two evening trains a week, the progress of more than 60 Irish workers leaving Milton was relatively slow.But Mr. Thornton heard that there was more than Irish labor in his mother's words.

"Mother, I can take care of this kind of thing. You have already done enough work. You don't need to intervene!" Mr. Thornton said with a slightly raised voice, with a resolute and accusatory attitude. Miss Thornton was aware of it. She didn't expect her brother to reject her mother so much. Even when the mother forced those ladies to her brother, John never had such a big reaction to this practice no matter how disgusted he was now.Mrs. Thornton was also surprised by her son's attitude, and looked at him with wide eyes, not knowing where her son got so angry.Fortunately, at this time, the servants pulled down the soup and brought the grilled mandarin fish to the master, so that everyone at the table would not be embarrassed by the silence.Mr. Thornton hastily ate two mouthfuls of delicious grilled mandarin fish, then excused himself that he was full and had work to do, and went back to his study.

In the study, Mr. Thornton could no longer read any materials on his desk. He was thinking about the illness of "that person": when he saw that person in London two days ago, he was still healthy , with flushed cheeks and restless eyes, how could he suddenly contract scarlet fever because of a certain shyness between him and Henry?How could Henry Lennox not have taken care of that man?How could he still swear that he was "more ruddy in London than in Milton"?

"How wonderful it would be if I never knew that person!" Mr. Thornton was so cranky that he didn't even sleep well all night and kept dreaming.He dreamed that he was standing in the middle of the churchyard, as if attending someone's funeral, but he didn't know whose funeral he was attending, only that it was the most important person in his life, and the only people attending the funeral were him and a A priest who prays for the dead.He vaguely felt that it was his father who died, but it didn't seem to be his father, his sister seemed to be not his sister, and his mother didn't seem to be his mother. The death-pale gravedigger filled the grave under the muffled reading. He felt lonely and hopeless. He tried to remember who the dead man was and why he was so sad. Then he realized the dead man. His tombstone was supposed to have his name engraved on it, but there was nothing but the words "that person" engraved on it.

Mr. Thornton woke up in a cold sweat, blaming himself for being cranky and not strong enough. He went out of the house early in the morning to inspect and inspect the factory, hoping that his factory would give him strength and courage to let the busy work wash away his mind.It was already past noon when he decided to take a rest. As soon as he walked out of the factory, he saw Dr. Donaldson coming out from the direction of the mansion. He hurried over to greet the doctor.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Thornton! Please don't worry about Miss Thornton. She is just a little frightened. Don't worry about the danger of scarlet fever." Dr. Donaldson said this, which surprised Mr. Thornton.

"You mean scarlet fever, doctor? Why should Fanny think she has scarlet fever?"

Dr. Donaldson replied with a smile: "I heard from Miss Thornton that she met Miss Adams in London two days ago—I think you must have heard about the scarlet fever that Miss Adams came back from London. Today, Miss Thornton If you feel a little headache, please ask me to take a look. But don’t worry, you can’t infect it just by meeting a patient who has not yet developed the disease. Besides, Mrs. Thornton told me that she had the disease when she was a child, so she already had antibodies in her body .”

"Miss Adams, how is she?" Mr. Thornton asked hesitantly. He didn't know if asking about that person's situation so bluntly would arouse Dr. Donaldson's suspicion.Dr. Donaldson sighed, restrained the smile just now, and said with a frowning face: "You are really a distressed girl. The high fever has not subsided. I have tried all the methods but there is no effect. If you continue like this I can't imagine what will happen to her!"

"Did Miss Adams catch it in London?" Mr. Thornton pursued.

"I heard from Ms. Hale that when Ms. Adams left Hale's house, she had been taking care of children who contracted scarlet fever in the orphanage. She must have contracted it at that time. The incubation period of this disease is usually three to five days after infection. It just broke out." At this point the doctor sighed again, "As an excellent nurse, Ms. Adams should be aware of the dangers of taking care of those children, but she is so kind! I really don't want this A kind-hearted, beautiful and lovely girl passed away so early, I really hope God can help me to cure her disease! In order to prevent other people from being infected, Miss Adams has been quarantined, and I have persuaded the recovering black Mrs. Hale followed her sister, Mrs. Shaw, to London to recuperate. I suggested that Mr. Hale also go to London, but he insisted on staying at home with Miss Adams. Since Mr. Hale has no antibodies, I had to invite him and others. People with scarlet fever should not approach the isolation area easily..."

"But who's looking after her?" asked Mr. Thornton anxiously, before the doctor had finished speaking.

"Miss Hale said that she had the disease when she was a child and was not afraid of being infected, so she has been taking care of Miss Adams, and Mr. Bell has been taking care of the Hale family. Well, Mr. Thornton, let's not talk any more. I should go, goodbye!" Doctor Donaldson looked at his pocket watch, shook hands with Mr. Thornton and walked out of the gate of the factory. A carriage was already waiting at the gate of the factory. Saw it.

Is that person dying?

For a split second, it seemed like all the resentment he had for that person dissipated - no, not "the one", but Cali - God! Cali!

Mr. Thornton recalled the dream he had had this morning, and thought of the lonely grave and the funeral attended by himself, and shuddered all over his body.He was afraid that his dream would really come true, and anyway he didn't want Cali to just disappear in his life without a sound, even though he had already parted ways with Cali's life.

Is this God's punishment for me?

The news from Dr. Donaldson had unsettled him, and not even his factory seemed to be able to shake him out of that bad feeling.How he spent the afternoon, how he spent the dinner, how he stayed alone in the study, he couldn't remember.He needs a breath of fresh air, he needs a walk outside.

Milton's early autumn night seemed to be a little fresher because of the lack of chimney smoke during the day, but the moon was still not visible in the night sky, and the moonlight could only squeeze in through the gaps left by the thick clouds. There is a weak light in the space, and the brightness provided by the sporadic street lamps on the new street is also insignificant compared with the natural light.Few pedestrians walk on such a dark night, and only occasionally encountering a patrolling policeman makes the street look a little lively on such a night, in stark contrast to the busy daytime.Mr. Thornton walked aimlessly along New Street, barely able to see the road ahead, but for him at this moment, he didn't care about the surrounding environment at all, and the oppressive feeling in his chest was lingering all the time .He felt tired but didn't want to stop, a gust of dusty wind blew by, making him shiver.At this moment, Mr. Thornton stopped and looked around to find out where he was. Through the night with a little moonlight, he recognized the long-lost house across the street not far away.

"I came to Hale's house without knowing it. I really don't know what I want to do..." Mr. Thornton said to himself. He stopped and didn't turn around to go back. A light was still on in one window - maybe that was Cali's room.Just then the door of that house opened, subconsciously he did not want to be found, he hid himself in the dark, and saw Mr. Hale and a young lady (Mr. Thornton remembered that she was Mr. Hale's daughter) Miss Margaret) escorted a man dressed as a workman out the door, his back turned so that he could not see his face clearly.Mr. Thornton faintly heard their farewell, and then the door closed again, leaving the man standing alone in the doorway, and as he had just been, he seemed to be hesitant to really leave.The man looked up at the lighted window of Hale's house for a while, and finally decided to leave. He walked slowly as if drunk, looking for the road he could barely see.Mr. Thornton stepped out of the shadows, and this man aroused his curiosity. Although he still couldn't see the man's face clearly, he somehow felt sympathetic to him.He watched him move forward in pain, watched him wandering in front of Hale's house, and vaguely felt that all of this might have something to do with Cali—maybe I could learn about Cali's situation from him, but how would I speak?As soon as I thought of this, I saw that heavy-footed man tripped over something on the road and fell heavily on the ground.

"Sir, are you okay?" Seeing this, Mr. Thornton hurried over to help him up, but the man slowly propped himself up from the ground, patted the dust on his clothes and replied, "I'm fine." , thank you for your concern, sir. It was too dark, I just tripped accidentally." Although Mr. Thornton was very close to the man now, the brim of the hat the man was wearing cast a shadow over his face. A shadow made him still unable to see the man's face clearly, the only thing he could see clearly was a pair of eyes reflecting the cloudy moonlight in the shadow—a pair of desperate and painful eyes.Mr. Thornton couldn't help asking: "You don't seem to be all right? What happened? Is there anything I can do to help? Of course, it may be a bit strange for me to ask, after all, I am a stranger stranger."

"Yes, you can't be of much help, good sir! My daughter died yesterday--my poor little Bessie, and I just learned today that another person whom I care so much about is suffering from a serious illness, Struggling on the verge of death, she was my daughter's best friend during her lifetime, which makes me more painful!"

"May God bless your daughter!" asked Mr. Thornton with a sigh. "Then what's wrong with your other friend? I know a very skilled doctor, Dr. Donaldson, who I can introduce to you."

"Dr. Donaldson has seen her, and there is nothing he can do. She has scarlet fever. My wife died of scarlet fever, too, from my youngest daughter. I know too well the severity of the disease. The end result is my My little daughter survived by luck, but my wife died—I really don’t want to go through this scene again, maybe this is God’s punishment for me!” The man’s voice was deep, and Mr. Thornton could feel his depression .

"Why do you say that, sir?" asked Mr. Thornton again.

"Seeing that you are a kind gentleman at heart, it is all right to tell you such a stranger - because I have feelings for this friend beyond the scope of friends, I am not worthy of him at all, and I dare not expect to have Reward——she is so upright, kind, compassionate, and enthusiastic to help everyone in need. She has incomparable tolerance and tolerance, but I still have sinful emotions in my heart, which become more and more enthusiastic every day. This is what God gave My punishment made me feel the pain of losing my wife again, and even this time he took my daughter away..." The man couldn't continue.At this time, Mr. Thornton was shocked when he heard the man's answer. He was sure that the "sick friend" in this population was Cali. If he knew what kind of person Cali was like himself, he would still have such a feeling. Feelings?A tinge of jealousy hit Mr. Thornton's tongue, and he blurted out, "Perhaps your friend is not what you know him to be at all."

"Sir!" The man's tone was full of strong reproach, "If I didn't know your kindness, I would definitely fight you when I heard this! Thank you for listening to my nagging and sympathizing with me, but I will never You are not allowed to slander my friend!" Mr. Thornton was ashamed, thankful that the night was so dark that the other party could not see his face clearly, and he regretted saying that, just like the remorse he got after being tempted by the devil.He felt that he was much weaker than this man dressed as a worker, and the word "weakness" had never appeared in his dictionary before.

"I'm sorry for what I just said!"

"You should indeed, sir! I think it's time for us to say goodbye now!" The man ignored the stranger and continued on in the darkness, Mr. Thornton watching his back disappear into the night.He looked up at the lighted window for the last time. The man just said something right, everything was "God's punishment for him"!I returned home with a more melancholy mood than when I came here.As Mr. Thornton passed the living room on his way to his bedroom, he noticed that there was still a light in the living room.

"John, is that you?" Mrs. Thornton's voice floated from the living room.

"Yes, mother." He walked into the room helplessly, "I didn't expect you to be asleep yet."

"Don't you want to tell me where you've been?" asked Mrs. Thornton, seemingly nonchalantly.

"I just went for a walk."

"Did you go to Hale's house?" Mrs. Thornton's question hit the nail on the head.

"I did walk by there, but I didn't visit Hale's." He didn't want to deceive his mother, but the scene at this moment made him feel familiar. He remembered that it was the night before he wanted to propose to Cali. There have been conversations like this.

"Oh! John!" Mrs. Thornton called affectionately, then looked at her son's face, and said, "Will you still propose to that American girl?"

"She's dying, mother! Such matters are no longer important!" Mr. Thornton did not expect to speak so calmly.

"What if she recovers? Will you propose to her again?"

"I don't know, Mom, I don't know..." The question never occurred to him.

"John?" Mrs. Thornton chased after him. She wanted an answer, and she needed to know the final answer.It was a question she had been worrying about over dinner, from her son's reaction to the news that Miss Adams was dying.Now his son is so hesitant and answers so vaguely, which makes her very unwilling.

"If you want a definite answer from me, I will tell you that I will not propose to her again, mother, if such an answer will please you!" said Mr. Thornton at last impatiently.

"John!" Mrs. Thornton's call was filled with a kind of heart-satisfied gratitude. She really wanted to hug him, but there was a certain sense of distance in her son at this time that she felt that he was daunting.

"I'm tired today, Mom! Good night!" Mr. Thornton didn't want to say anything more. He politely kissed his mother's hand lightly as farewell, and then returned to the bedroom.

He was exhausted by the burden of thinking, and although it had been a dreamless night, he awoke dizzy in the morning.After washing his face with cold water, he managed to pull himself together. This morning, he had to attend a meeting held by the factory owners about updating equipment.The meeting place was held in the gentlemen's club of the Milton Bucks Hotel. When Mr. Thornton walked into the meeting room of the club, the factory owners Hamper, Little Slickson and the Slater brothers he knew had already arrived. He simply said Greeted them and joined their conversation.Several people first talked a few words about Mr. Thornton's experience at the London Exposition, and then talked about the deportation of Irish workers from their own factories.

"I didn't expect that Miss Adams to answer all the questions of the Irish workers. She is such an extraordinary woman!" Brother Slater's younger brother suddenly said something, which made Mr. Thornton's heart tremble, and then the old man Petit There was news that Miss Adams, who had returned from London, was seriously ill, but this was exactly what Mr. Thornton did not want to mention.

"What a beauty!" sighed the other of the Slater brothers.

"My father is also very concerned about Miss Adams, and entrusted me to visit Hale's house with flowers yesterday morning, but Mr. Hale didn't let me in because he was afraid that the scarlet fever would infect me. I heard Mr. Hale say that Miss Adams Really very ill." Mr. Slixson also shook his head.

"What a beautiful girl, she is not only a beauty, but also versatile, and even inherited a farm. Unfortunately, she is dying soon! I wanted my little Hanpo to marry her, but it seems that is not possible now!" Old Hanpo said to himself He muttered to himself, but his words were heard by several other gentlemen, and they couldn't help but glance at him, although the other gentlemen seemed to have this kind of thought.Old Hamper turned his head to Mr. Thornton and asked: "I said John, you have always been very close to the Hale family. You must know more about Miss Adams' condition than the rest of us, right? This lady is really as everyone said. Will she die? Is there any chance of her recovering?"

This is a question that several gentlemen are concerned about, and they all cast their eyes on Mr. Thornton.What do these fame-seeking factory owners think of Cali?Mr. Thornton said perfunctorily with a blank face: "I'm sorry, I have been busy with the factory affairs, and I didn't visit Hale's house in person. I don't know more about the specific situation than you." The Lord is satisfied. When Mr. Slixson wanted to continue to ask questions, someone reminded everyone that the meeting could be held.

This meeting was about Mr. Thornton's recent concern about upgrading the factory machinery and equipment, but he couldn't listen to it, thinking about how many men Cali would fall for her here, and those men were as good as he used to be. She has no idea what kind of person she is, and is only confused by her appearance.

"But she's going to die! She won't fall into the arms of any man, including mine!" His heart was full of remorse and reluctance, jealousy mixed with resentment grabbed his heart again, he didn't want Cali to die, he even He wanted to die for her, but he couldn't let go of Cali's secrets, they were like moths slowly gnawing at him, making him miserable.The meeting ended in a trance, and for the first time he felt that such a meeting was so lengthy and meaningless.After the meeting, the factory owners often chatted with each other in the lounge of the club for a while, but in order to prevent Old Hamper from asking him about Miss Adams' condition again, Mr. Thornton directly said goodbye and returned to the factory, even preparing for the factory owners after the meeting. Didn't even eat lunch.

Walking into the office of the factory, the assistant Jack reported to him the situation of the factory in the morning, and gave him the letter received this morning. The assistant specifically mentioned a letter from Mr. Bell, a note to be exact.The assistant explained: "The person who sent the note this morning said it was very important, Mr. Thornton. The person sent a message saying that Mr. Bell should have come to have an interview with you earlier, but he couldn't leave because of something urgent recently, so he sent it first." Here is a note for you." Mr. Thornton opened the note sent by Mr. Bell. On the note, Mr. Bell simply wrote that the investment was related to the future development of the factory, and he hoped to entrust his attorney, Mr. Henry Lennox I can come to discuss this matter in person.

It's Mr. Henry Lennox again!

Mr. Thornton could not refuse Mr. Bell's good intentions for the development of his factory, and he really wanted to know what kind of plan Mr. Bell, the lessor of his factory, would bring. Then he wrote two notes to his assistant and said: "Jack, you send this note to Mr Bell, saying that I would like to invite Mr Henry Lennox to dinner at Thornton House tonight for a detailed discussion; and another note to Mrs Thornton to invite her tonight Prepare it at home."

"Okay, sir." Jack took the two notes and went out.

Fortunately, a batch of orders were shipped in the afternoon. Mr. Thornton spent the whole afternoon dealing with this matter, and personally arranged a new production plan. He was busy until the factory whistle sounded, and he remembered Mr. Bell's announcement tonight. The agent was going to be a guest at home, so he reluctantly left his office and returned to Thornton Mansion.When Mrs. Thornton saw her son come back, she hurriedly urged him to go upstairs to change clothes and wait for the arrival of the guests, and said that she had arranged for the cook to cook a few more dishes.

"Mr. Henry Lennox alone." Mr. Thornton wondered at the excitement of his mother's dinner.Mrs. Thornton said disapprovingly: "Of course it's not just the lawyer from London.