Love England

I've been living at Hale's for nearly a week, and I've been going to the attic door almost every day to check if it's going to open again, hoping that Margaret will hear me, but it's been a disappointment— — the door was sealed and motionless, and there was no response from the other side of the door.Fortunately, I gradually integrated into the Hale family, and I got along very well with the Higgins family. Bessie and I became friends who talked about everything. I also introduced Mary to Dixon and asked her to become a servant of the Hale family. .Although Mary is not deeply involved in the world, she has a flexible mind and a gentle personality. She is also more diligent than she appears on the surface, and she is very concerned about Dixon, who has always been critical.Although the Hale family didn't pay her much, it was already a great help to the Higgins family.Rather than working in a factory like her sister Bessie, Higgins also hopes that his youngest daughter can work in a good environment, at least not suffering from incurable diseases in that era like her sister in the extremely harsh working environment of the factory. lung disease.

Bessie's lung disease is more serious than what I read in the book. Every time she coughs, it is as violent as a storm. Every time she coughs, her face is whiter than paper. Besides, she still insists on going to work in the factory, weak Her body and heavy labor made her haggard day by day.Since I first got acquainted with the Higgins family, I visited them the next day, and then met Bessie almost every day. I know that it is difficult for the Higgins family to afford a doctor. So I hope to use the nursing skills I have learned to help Bessie relieve her pain as much as possible.

At the same time, I have been watching Mrs. Hale's health. She seems to have been depressed in spirit, but there are no signs of physical abnormality.I have always been worried about the ending of her death in the novel, so on the one hand, I pay attention to find out if there is any good doctor nearby who can check Mrs. Hale as soon as possible to discover her condition in time; on the other hand, I also assist Dixon to take care of her more carefully she.Mrs. Hale also trusted me more and more, treating me like her daughter, often letting me be by her side, chatting with me softly, and even guiding me to be a female celebrity.

After breakfast today, Mr. Hale went to the students' homes to teach as usual. Dixon took in several letters just delivered by the postman, one of which was from Italy by Margaret's cousin Edith , this is the second letter from Edith since I came to the Hale house.After reading Edith's letter, Mrs. Hale said to me: "Cali, my child, this is the second time for Edith to write to me. I think you know her from Margaret." Dis's situation, "Margaret always wrote back to Edith before, my eyesight is not very good, because Margaret went to your place, so I didn't reply to her last letter, these days I received a second letter from her, and it would be rude not to reply, can you write a reply to Edith for me? Her two letters are actually inviting Marguerite to Italy, you can Can you explain to Edith why Margaret can't go, Cali?"

I was honored to take this job, and Mrs. Hale said that as long as I write clearly what she just said, I can write other things as I like.In the afternoon, I went to the small writing desk diagonally opposite the rocking chair where Mrs. Hale used to sit, found a pen and letter paper from it, and began to write a letter to Edith.

Dear Edith:

May I call you that, Mrs. Lennox?Although we have never met, and you may not have even heard of me, I have known you for a long time and I have a deep affection for you.Margaret is my close friend, she often mentions your affairs to me, and I have already regarded you as my good friend.By the way, please forgive my faux pas, I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Calpernia Addams, from the United States, and I have been Margaret's pen pal.Your letter from Italy has been received by Mrs. Hale, and therefore I give you Mrs. Hale's commission to write this letter to thank you for inviting Marguerite to Italy, and also regretting that she is unable to go at present. Apologies for getting together with you.

As for the reason why Margaret can't go to your place, let me explain: I came to England to visit Margaret, but she and I missed it by accident-she went to my visit and I came to Milton, and she had some plans of living alone with my family for a while, so I remained with her as a matter of course.You must think that our affairs are very strange and ridiculous, right?You may also feel that Margaret is wrong for not telling you about her plans in advance, but please don't blame her.If anyone is to blame, please blame me, for I wanted to surprise everyone by keeping Marguerite from telling the story, and I didn't have time to write to you about it.Forgive me for being capricious, but I know you are understanding by nature, and you will forgive us both, won't you?

If you don't mind, I also want to be a pen pal with you, and I also want to continue to communicate with you in the future, just like you and I used to communicate with Margaret, I hope I can become your good friend...

"Cali, my child, come and have a look!" Before I finished writing my letter, Mrs. Hale stood by the window and hurriedly called to me.I temporarily stopped writing and went to her side, looked out the window in the direction of her finger, and saw a beautiful cab parked in front of Hale's house, a lady dressed in black with a serious face was being helped by the driver. Stepping out of the carriage, a brightly dressed young lady walked out of the carriage. Her outfit looked so abrupt against the surrounding gray and black background, even a little out of place.

"Who are they?" Mrs. Hale couldn't help asking, but I saw from her eyes that she had the answer as I did. It must be Mr. Thornton's mother and daughter visiting.Seeing this unexpected distinguished guest, Mrs. Hale hurriedly asked Dixon to open the door for the guests, while I put away the unfinished letters and simply arranged some scattered things in the living room. Mrs. Al told me to sit beside her to embolden her to be ready for the guests.

Three minutes later, Mrs. Thornton and Miss Thornton sat across from Mrs. Hale and me in style. After the old-fashioned mutual introductions and trite politeness, everyone seemed so uncomfortable. Tea is served, and this awkward atmosphere can be replaced by drinking tea.In my opinion, Mrs. Thornton is a hundred times more serious than Mr. Thornton. She looked around every corner of Hale's house with that high-spirited expression, although she didn't say that the house is really small. But her expression gave her away.Mrs. Hale, who was sitting next to me, had been drinking tea. She didn't dare to look into Mrs. Thornton's stern eyes, but just stared at the lace on her collar, and finally said, "What a delicate lace, I haven't seen it in years Such delicate workmanship!" The words were addressed to Mrs. Thornton, but Mrs. Hale's timid eyes seemed to be addressed to me and Dixon standing behind me.Despite this, upon hearing such praise, Mrs. Thornton replied proudly and proudly: "Our Milton's technology is very top-notch, Mrs. Hale!" There was another silence.Hoping to find something to say to make it easier for us all, I took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Miss Hale—a lady I disliked just as much as I had read in the book.

"Your dress is beautiful, brighter against the gray Milton sky. You must have quite a number of servants looking after it, Miss Hale?"

"Yes, the four maids ironed this dress for me this morning. I like it very much." Miss Hale was very happy to hear my compliment on her dress, but she didn't catch the irony in my words, and then she Pointing to my hair, he asked, "Your hair is beautiful too, Miss Addams, did your maid do it for you?"

"It's what I do in my hair salon and it's called boho curls."

"You mean the salon? That's the hair done in Paris? So it's the latest hair style in Paris?" Miss Hale was interested. "But I haven't even been to London, let alone Paris." Oh! London and the Alhambra are the two places I am most looking forward to, and of course fashionable Paris!" It seems that Miss Hale has completely misunderstood me, I have never been to Paris at all, although this The hair was indeed done in a salon run by a Parisian stylist in Campbell, where I live, but I didn't want to explain that much to her.Miss Hale glanced at her mother, leaned closer to me and complained in a low voice, "But my mother has never been to London, and she can't understand how I yearn for it. She is very proud of Milton—a smoky place, That's all, I can't wait to get out of here."

I glanced at the mother's reaction. She had obviously heard her daughter's words and glared at her. Then Mrs. Thornton turned her face to me and asked in an arrogant manner: "Miss Addams, I heard you are from The South of the United States, and there is a plantation dedicated to growing cotton?"

"To be exact, it's my father's plantation, Mrs. Thornton." I corrected, I couldn't understand her appearance, and from the "heard" in her mouth, I could guess [-]% that the person who told her was Thornton. Mr. Ton.

"Of course, that's what I mean. So how big is your family's farm?" Her expression remained unchanged.

"My father's farm is medium-sized in Tennessee, about 160 acres."

"Is cotton grown on all 160 acres?"

"Three-quarters are planted with cotton."

Hearing this, I noticed that Mrs. Thornton's eyes lit up, and she asked again: "Then your father has only one daughter?"

"Yes, I'm his only child."

In fact, this "only" did not meet my father's wishes. I had already left Tennessee and gave up everything there, just because I just wanted to be myself. I suddenly felt very lost and didn't want to talk about my family affairs with Mrs. Thornton. But she refused to stop and continued to ask: "How many slaves are there?"

"My father's farm mainly relies on machinery to pick cotton. When the farm is busy, he also hires workers. We don't have slaves. Of course, some of the workers we hire are people of color..."

"You mean your father hired and paid negroes? It's the first time I've heard that." Mrs. Thornton interrupted me, looking surprised.

"I mean people of color, besides white people there are also black people and Asians." I replied coldly, correcting her mistakes again, I was a little tired of her asking this and that when we first met, like A judge was interrogating a prisoner, and without considering my feelings, I said angrily, "Mrs. Thornton, you don't have to be too surprised. Actually, as a person from the southern United States, I'm surprised that your factory still doesn't have enough workers." Ten-year-old children and those weak and sick women, the poor working environment made them sick and even died. A girl I just met in Milton was suffering from great pain every day because of inhalation of cotton wool in her lungs. Bringing her closer and closer to death, and the cause of this pain is Milton's factory!"

"Miss Addams!" cried Mrs. Thornton, raising her voice, and I noticed her eyebrows quivering slightly, "just as you are an American and don't know Milton's situation, just as I don't know your actual situation there." It is the same! My son is the symbol of the Milton factory. Your puzzlement or accusation is unreasonable. If our factory does not employ those children to work, and does not employ those girls as weavers, What do these people live on? They don't have land and can only work in factories. Do you want them to be farmers on your farm? Don't forget, you just said that even your farm relies on machinery , can't hire so many workers at all, you let them starve to death? In the final analysis, it is the farmers who deprive those workers of their land, leaving them with no land to grow, and bringing their young children and sick wives to Milton, our factory gave them food and gave them a way out of life. They also voluntarily sent their children to the factory. They begged me to take their children, and I hired their children to help them. As for the cotton wool damaging their bodies, I don't deny it, but they all know the consequences of working in the factory, and they know the price they have to pay!"

There was a strong smell of sex in the room. I heard Mrs. Thornton's self-righteous fallacies. I was about to refute when I felt Mrs. Hale who was sitting next to me hold her hand and said with a smile: "Cali, can you Help Dixon bring tea from the kitchen to Mrs Thornton and Miss Thornton? I think Dixon will need your help." I suddenly calmed down, knowing that arguing with Mrs Thornton on such occasions Arguing with Mr Thornton was worse, and it would directly affect Mr Hale, so nodding resignedly, he followed Dixon to the kitchen to prepare tea.

In the kitchen, Mary was boiling water. She saw Dixon and I came in and said hello to us. Dixon asked Mary to bring out two large plates, and she herself took out a snack box from a cabinet, put scones and two The cake is on a plate.Dixon and I each carry a plate, ready to return to the living room again.At this moment, Dixon looked at me, and at Mary who was working not far away, and whispered kindly as he walked: "Miss Addams, I know why you mentioned the sick girl to Mrs. Thornton just now. Mary's sister, Bessie, complained."

"So you also know about Bessie?"

"Yes, Mary told me! It's a pity to have something like that at such a young age."

I turned and glanced at Dixon, and seeing that I was out of Mary's sight again, I said in a low voice, "Bessie's going to die of her tuberculosis before long. The factory killed her."

"Really, Miss Addams? After your last prophecy that I could find the maid soon, I already believe you. If it is what you said, Mary's sister is really a pity! Poor Mary!" Good Dixon shook his head, and I grew sentimental, too, and we said nothing more.

When I walked into the living room, Mrs. Hale was chatting with Mrs. Thornton about why she left Helstone. I knew that Mrs. Hale didn’t understand her husband leaving the priesthood and Helstone. She tried her best to maintain her husband's dignity in front of her, and she was really relieved when she saw us appear, just like a prisoner released after serving his sentence.I brought the plate of snacks to Miss Thornton and Mrs. Thornton, the former pouted at the snacks on the plate, obviously not to her taste; the latter glanced at me contemptuously, as if to save my face Same, barely took a small piece of scone.I went back to my original seat, and Miss Thornton pointed to my skirt and said, "Miss Addams, I have been meaning to ask for a long time, which tailor made your dress? It looks simple and chic, although I My brother runs a cotton mill, and I have seen a lot of fabrics, but I have never seen fabrics like yours."

"I bought this on Fifth Avenue in New York. It's the cheapest thing. Although it's cheap, the skirt has a sense of design. It's a mixed cotton fabric, not the cotton fabric of this era."

"Not this era? You mean it's not the usual cotton cuff, it looks very fashionable!" I realized that I had made a slip of the tongue, and quickly nodded to admit that Miss Thornton understood correctly. Miss Thornton sighed He added, "I wish I could go to those fashionable places like you. Milton is a place where the word fashionable has nothing to do with it."

"I think Milton is a very unique city, Miss Thornton. I always encounter unusual experiences here, which I will never forget."

"You think so?" Miss Thornton disagreed.

"By the way, Mrs. Thornton, I think you must know the best doctor in Milton, right?" In order to ease the emotions between me and Mrs. Thornton, I took the initiative to talk to her.

"I have no humility to say, yes, Miss Addams, but are you sick? It's not the cotton wool from the factory, is it?" she replied sarcastically.

"Of course not, Mrs. Thornton, I'm just prepared, and I will be very grateful for your help."

"I'll write down the doctor's address for you later."

I thanked her again for her help when Miss Thornton, looking around, interrupted, "I see that there is no piano here. Aren't you bored, Miss Addams?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Hale have treated me well, and I am grateful. And if there is a piano, I can't play it."

"We sold the piano when we moved, Miss Thornton. As you can see, the living room here is not large enough for a piano," explained Mrs. Hale kindly.

"Yeah, it's too small for entertainment here. The stairs in our house are wider than this living room. I can't live without a piano. It's almost becoming a necessity of my life." Miss Thornton said with some forgetfulness , when she saw her mother's stern face, she restrained that expression again.

"In Milton, hard work comes first, especially the men in Milton. They don't need literature, music, art and other illusory things. They only need to have one goal, which is to build Milton into a First class commercial city in the country, like my son. Wherever you go, the name of Milton John Thornton, manufacturer, administrator, is praised by all, courted by all young women in Milton, no Anything to blame!" Mrs Thornton spoke of her son with such pride, and her eyes were evidently on me as she spoke the last sentence.

At this time, I remembered the plot of Margaret rejecting Mr. Thornton’s marriage proposal in the novel, and felt that Mrs. Thornton’s boast was a bit funny, so I couldn’t help but blurted out with a smile: “It can’t be all of them.” The black man beside me Mrs. Hall also looked at me with smiling eyes, expressing implicit approval.

"If you have a son as fine as I am, Mrs. Hale, you will not be ashamed to sing the praises!" Mrs. Thornton said to Mrs. Hale with a look of displeasure at last, and my protector Mrs. Hale immediately restrained her smile just like Miss Thornton just now, and nodded apologetically.

Then there was another silence, the clock on the fireplace struck four times, and it was already four o'clock in the afternoon.Mrs. Thornton stood up, and Miss Thornton quickly followed her mother to stand up. It seemed that they were going to leave.

"If you can bear to visit our smoky home, we hope to see you next week, Mrs. Hale and Miss Addams." Mrs. Thornton invited Mrs. Hale and me in a strange-sounding way, which was unexpected of.Mrs. Hale nodded her acceptance, and Mrs. Thornton led her daughter out of the living room and out of the Hale house.When I was about to go upstairs, Miss Thornton came running in again, handed me a note and said, "Miss Addams, this is the doctor's address that your mother wrote to you! She asked me to give it to you. Written on the wagon." Then she whispered to me, grinning, "You've been great today, no one can talk back to my mother like you, she's always limiting me, and I've been powerless against her. I'm really looking forward to you and Mrs. Hale is coming to our house next week!" She shook my hand, and hurried out again.This is so unexpected, I didn't expect Miss Thornton to be a girl full of rebellious spirit, and wanted to be friends with me, and I also watched a debate with Mrs Thornton on impulse, although it was calm It's really exciting.

It was with this feeling that I continued to finish my letter to Edith until I handed it to the postman, and it persisted--strange and amusing at the same time.