As mentioned before, in aristocratic families, the bond between parents and children is very thin. Basically, children are raised by housekeepers and nannies, and the relationship between children and housekeepers and nannies is closer and closer than that of blood parents.

The same goes for the Hall family.

Butler Philip Demba and nanny Denis-Stevens are responsible for the upbringing of the four children, and although all four children have hired tutors, the boys are more intimate with Philip overall, and the girls are grown up under Denis's watch.

There are small differences.

As a housekeeper, Philip has a transcendent status, basically following all the etiquette of the nobility, and as George Hall's right and left hand, he is in charge of all the affairs of the entire mansion.

So, Philip had to follow more rules and regulations, and his relationship with the two boys was more intimate, but he still had to follow aristocratic etiquette, which was not strictly like a father-son relationship, but a bit of a teacher and a friend.

As a nanny, Denise is different. Many nannies from aristocratic families are hired, and they have specialized systematic education and training institutions, and after receiving relevant training, they are hired as if they were interviewing for jobs, and only a few aristocratic families will adopt the hereditary system.

Naturally, Denise is much less restrained, pouring all her maternal love into her children, and her bond and relationship with her children are also closer, closer to the image of a mother.

It is worth mentioning that Denise is now over eighty years old, and when she was young, she took care of Elizabeth Hall, and later followed Elizabeth to Hall's house, and took care of Elph and Edith respectively.

Denise herself once gave birth to a son and a daughter, the daughter died unexpectedly at a young age, and the son became an adult, but he became seriously ill, and after years of torture, she died, and now she is also alone. Shortly after her son's death, Edith was born, so Denise put all her heart and soul into Edith.

Of the four children, Edith and Denise are also the most closely related.

"Nanny" is a very colloquial term, in aristocratic families, only children will call their nanny, and in colloquial language, people are used to use this term to nickname their grandmother or grandmother, which is more intimate and childish.

Of the four children in the Hall family, only Edith still calls Denise like this, while the other children all call them by their names when they grow up. This small detail shows how important Denise is to Edith.

A few years ago, when Lan Li and Edith were not yet adults, Dennis chose to retire due to her health, and left London to live in the countryside.

This time, Denise specially invited Edith back to spend Christmas together, and went further back to the Hall family's mansion, obviously not just for the holidays, it is estimated that Elizabeth's shadow can still be seen behind -

It is true that Denise and Edith were very close, and it is also true that Elizabeth was brought up by Denis.

All along, in order not to worry Denise and enjoy life, Edith rarely talked about her life and work, and every time she talked and met, she was vague, and if Elizabeth told Denise that Edith was now working in a dangerous place such as a battlefield and needed help to persuade her, Denise would definitely be willing to help.

This is the meanness of the adult world.

Weaving white lies under the banner of "for your good", breaking the bottom line again and again, but in the end, it is impossible to determine who it is for.

When Lan Li heard Edith mention "nanny", a sense of foreboding came over her, and her first reaction was to exclaim "Jesus Christ", because he knew that as long as she faced Denise's matter, Edith would lose her cool, even if she knew it was a trap, she would jump willingly.

Lan Li believed, and Elizabeth knew this.

As for the "Charlie" mentioned in the words, it is their personal family doctor, and they have a good relationship.

Edith, who returned to London for Denise's sake, soon realized that this was a trap, but she had no way to blame the nanny, not to mention, Denise's physical condition was indeed not good, she was old and needed to recuperate, so even if she understood, Edith had no way to leave.

In the blink of an eye, it was a month.

Even if she doesn't need Edith to explain in detail, Lan Li can still make up the relevant pictures in her head.

Living in that house was like a soul being bound, and even though Edith's body was free and could leave at any time, she still couldn't rest assured that Denise could not easily turn around and let go, so she became a kite, and the kite string was firmly in Elizabeth's hand.

This is their mother.

Lan Li couldn't help but think of the original "Hamlet" invitation, they chose to compromise temporarily, and the ultimate goal was to want the child to regress, and then choose the path according to their wishes.

"Where's Elf?" Lan Li grabbed the point of the question with a rhetorical question. If Elf is also at home, plus Elizabeth, the feeling of depression and grievance is really chilling, even if it is Lan Li, she can't bear it now.

Edith looked surprised, "The wonderful place is here, and Elph hasn't returned. She never showed up except on Christmas Day, when she came back for one night, and Arthur too. It's really weird. ”

In the past, when encountering similar things, Elf's figure has always been impossible to ignore, such as Lan Li's return to London to shoot "Love is Crazy", and for example, Lan Li's return to the stage in London's West End, Elf is a representative. She doesn't take the initiative to send the door to wade into troubled waters, but she doesn't deliberately avoid hiding, but handles it in her own way, and many times, even better than George and Elizabeth.

But this time, Elph "disappeared". It can be seen that this is deliberate.

It seems that there is also a story that Elf does not know about it, but Elf has always kept a distance from Lan Li and Edith, even Arthur, Elph's communication is very limited, and he only maintains the family relationship on the surface of the aristocratic family, and that's all. Therefore, Lan Li has no way to find out, and he doesn't want to find out.

"So, Denise's body, is it okay?" Lan Li asked, changing the subject again.

Sure enough, Edith relaxed slightly, "It's all old problems, she has a bad heart, but she likes sweets." It's a real headache. This time, her knees weren't very good either, and when it was cloudy in London, she couldn't stand up, and she needed someone to take care of her, but I hired a nurse for her, and she didn't want it. God, you say, why is she so stubborn?"

Looking at Edith chattering in front of her, Lan Li couldn't help but chuckle.

The same stubbornness, Denise is so, and so is Edith. To be honest, Lan Li felt that Edith and Denise were more like mother and daughter, at least in terms of personality and habits, even the way they got along.

At this time, Matthew walked over, and the two exchanged glances, and a smile slipped under their eyes: this kind of Edith is really cute.

Then, Matthew took the plate from Lan Li's hand, raised his eyebrows, and seemed to ask, "Coffee?"

Lan Li replied, "Whiskey." Then his eyes fell on Edith, meaning that Edith needed a drink tonight, and he was going to accompany him.

Matthew immediately understood, nodded and turned to leave.

"And how did you get out in the end?" Lan Li knew Edith well, and if Denise hadn't been properly arranged, she wouldn't have been relieved, otherwise she wouldn't have been left in London for a whole month. Now that I think back to the turmoil just now, everything has been reasonably explained.

Edith took a sip of the whiskey in her hand and scratched her hair again, "Denise promised me to live in a nursing home for three months, on the one hand, to observe her body so that the doctor can systematically complete the examination, and on the other hand, to adapt to the life in the nursing home, if she still doesn't like it, she will have to accept the nurse I hired to take care of her at home." ”

"Oh, so you convinced her?" Lan Li asked with a slight surprise, Denise is a decent grandmother who doesn't know much about the new generation of women/awakenings, and naturally can't understand Edith's many choices.

"What?" Edith was stunned, not reacting.

"Elizabeth persuaded Denise to call you back for the reason she came forward, and you convinced Denis?" Lan Li explained.

Lan Li deeply believes that Edith's current reaction speed is at least two beats slower than before, but this can't blame her, after all, living in that restrained and cold mansion for a month, without assimilation or degradation, is already very rare, not to mention, Edith's current date is ...... Wait, did she change her date?

"What about my job?" Edith asked rhetorically, then waved her hand, "I brought it briefly, and Denise knew that I had something to do with my career, and she gave some advice but didn't dig into it, and the real trouble was that they started to care about my date." ”

"......" The air was suddenly quiet, and neither Lan Li nor Matthew spoke or reacted, but instead highlighted the quietness more and more, bringing out the ridiculous joy.

Edith herself knew, raised her hands, and made a gesture of surrender with a helpless face, "I know. It's not about my job at all, it's about who I'm dating. I don't understand what's wrong with Chris, they're going to be so excited that even the babysitter has moved out. ”

"Isn't he all a problem up and down, inside and out?" said Matthew's cold voice, mercilessly.