CHAPTER XLV

How young ...... Mr. Hopkins?

Why does this sound so strange? As far as she knew, Mr. Hopkins was in his forties, right?

Caroline frowned, unable to tell if there was anything wrong, and she looked at Miss Gina Hopkins in front of her, who walked lightly on her front foot and on her toes, her toes hitting the ground first, and the high-waisted skirt drew graceful lines in the air with her movements, lining her waist even more.

Caroline knew that such a young lady was very sexy and attracted attention, especially in the eyes of gentlemen.

She turned her head slightly, and swept her eyes to Charles behind her, and the man glanced curiously at the big machine around him—Charles had an elm head, and she glanced at Mr. Darcy beside her, and saw that his attention was on herself—well, she was bored with herself again.

Caroline blushed and looked awkwardly at Colonel Fitzwilliam, finally seeing a normal person who was looking at Miss Hopkins with interest...... The skirt seems to be very curious about the identity of a woman.

Walking to the innermost parlor of the factory, Gina sat down casually and asked the others to sit down as well.

You can see that Mr. Hopkins's factory is indeed very good, and the reception rooms are very beautiful when the workers are not yet on strike, and you can see that they are well cleaned up and even designed.

Unfortunately, the strike was carried out so that it was destroyed, and many ornaments were taken away or broken.

Miss Gina Hopkins, sitting diagonally across from Mr. Darcy, chuckled and said to Caroline, "I haven't said hello to this young lady yet, miss, I'm Gina, Gina Hopkins." ”

“…… Caroline Bentley. Caroline paused and replied.

"Caroline, good name. Sure enough, she looks like a lady in London! Gina replied.

Caroline was silent, she always felt that Miss Gina Hopkins was a little subtle in her attitude, and there was irony in this sentence no matter how you look at it.

"Miss Hopkins is fine too." She said a perfunctory sentence without distraction, and got Gina's slightly meaningful look.

"In Kent, my father's factory is quite famous. There are many workers, the machine is good, and the things produced are also deeply loved by people, in addition to supplying the domestic market, and even receiving orders from overseas. Perhaps because of this, many people became jealous, and other factories began to lower their standards......" Gina explained softly.

"Actually, I don't know the specific content very well, after all, my father is always a fake person for this, the factory is like his life, he has always personally inspected the operation, and I, as a daughter, have never asked - you know, the young lady will not be interested in this."

Caroline felt like she had been shot in the knee Orz

"And what about later?" Charles asked.

Miss Hopkins sighed, as if dissatisfied with the outcome, "Later, as you see. My father's factory was crowded out by other factories, and the number of orders plummeted, and my father had spent his whole life in this factory, and I couldn't just watch it scrap in vain. Moreover, because of the decrease in orders, the father threw more and more money into it, and it became a vicious circle, and the workers' money - there was really no way to pay it back. ”

Caroline glanced at Miss Hopkins' dress in fine fabric, and silently swallowed the words she was about to blurt out, she wanted to see what this young lady wanted to do!

Isn't this blatant deception? If she really has a grudge against her father's factory and wants to help, shouldn't paying back the workers' money be the first step?

A factory is in debt, if it doesn't have a reputation, how can it recruit people, how can it get orders?

So what is Miss Hopkins standing on?

The young lady on the opposite side half-bowed her head, in the poorly lit factory, she could only give her hair a little light, and her whole face was in dimness, so the details of her expression were blurred even more, and she could only feel Gina's silent sadness and silent pain.

As she said, her father was sick in bed, the factory became a burden, the family was in debt, and her life was not easy.

Caroline retracted her gaze slightly, and she noticed that Charles had been impressed by Miss Gina - yes, her brother always did, believing that there were no bad people in the world, and he would believe whoever said it.

and Colonel Fitzwilliam, who stared at Miss Hopkins sternly, reassured her that things would get better, that she should not be too uncomfortable, and even expressed his desire to come to her home.

- Caroline admits that Miss Gina is beautiful.

Not only is her skin beautiful, her eyes are large and bright, the bridge of her nose is high, her eye sockets are deep, her lips are red and her teeth are white, her skin is smooth and fair, yes, not only that, she also has a special charm.

Caroline pondered for a long time, but could not hold out a word to describe her, because Miss Hopkins had a sensual taste that only mature women have, and she was familiar with what men needed and wanted to see.

If it weren't for knowing that Gina was Mr. Hopkins' daughter, she would even think that she was a woman who had been in the dust all year round.

However, not all of them have poor concentration.

This time, however, what Caroline had thought was not confirmed, for Darcy, whom she thought was a good gentleman, stared straight at Miss Hopkins.

There was light in his eyes, and he didn't even speak sarcastically, nor did he silently ignore it, but stared at her.

Caroline looked up blankly, with a moment of loss in her heart, she didn't even know what she was missing, it was funny to think about.

"There's no need to visit, thank you for your kindness, but as a friend, my father won't want Mr. to see him like that." Gina waved her hand and rejected Colonel Fitzwilliam's offer.

"So, if there is anything you need help with, please bring it up and we'll do our best to help!" Charles said seriously.

"Sir, you are so generous! I really am, there is no way to express my gratitude to you! Gina said excitedly.

Caroline saw the beauty, a teary-eyed beauty, and turned her gaze to the tall man.

"Sir, I know it may be difficult, but I can't help but say it, Mr. Darcy, I know you are so generous, for my father's sake, Hopkins, can you help me? You're friends, aren't you? ”

###

After returning from Hopkins' factory, Darcy didn't say a word about Gina Hopkins, they met Mrs. Catherine in Rosings for the past two days, chatted with Darcy routinely, and talked to Caroline by the way, I have to say, Caroline really felt flattered, the sun must have come out in the west, otherwise how could Madame de Bauer meet her?

It is worth mentioning that Colonel Fitzwilliam, with his characteristic sense of humor, caught the attention of Elizabeth Bennett, and they had a good chat at the Rosins dinner.

Elizabeth thought Colonel Fitzwilliam to be a good person to talk to, and never felt awkward to talk to, even better than her acquaintance, Mr. George Wickham, who was now far more close to Lydia than she was.

Colonel Fitzwilliam, on the other hand, had an inexplicable feeling about Elizabeth, and he affirmed that the young lady was excellent, and that she was very similar to Miss Bingley, in some things.

Of course, Elizabeth's lovely bluntness, and the warmth that Colonel Fitzwilliam had never seen before, made him deeply attracted to Miss Bennett.

He offered to visit Elizabeth's hometown if he had the chance.

"Longbourn?" Elizabeth's eyes brightened, "That's right, you really should go check it out!" It's really beautiful there! ”

As if offended Lady Catherine, Elizabeth shrunk her shoulders and added, "Like Kent, there are large wheat fields and fruit trees, the sky is blue like a Scottish eye, there are always white clouds, the little shops in the town are bustling, and the neighbours are very friendly." You will love it there, sir! ”

"When you say that, I really want to go see it!" Colonel Fitzwilliam laughed, and after regaining his composure, he looked at the woman beside him gently, "Miss Bennett, you are really special. ”

The praised young lady's cheeks flushed, and she pretended to speak calmly, "Of course, I know sir! ”

"Miss, if you don't dislike it, I'd like to introduce you to my friends—and, of course, your sisters, I've heard that there are five beautiful young ladies in the Bennett family!"

Elizabeth was stunned for a moment, smiled and nodded, and made a note of Colonel Fitzwilliam's carefulness.

Hearing this, Charles paused, and then continued to chat with Madame de Baul like no one, they were discussing real estate, Madame was curious why Bentley, as a gentleman's family, still needed to be on duty with real estate, Charles was embarrassed to reply that it was all for Caroline.

"Oh? Then, it would be good for anyone to marry this young lady, at least the property and status were good. Lady Catherine looked Caroline up and down and commented.

The latter smiled stiffly, she knew that she was not pleasing to Lady Catherine, but it was really difficult for her to accept being looked at like a commodity.

After two days of not going out, Caroline was not very interested.

Charles, who had always liked to hang out and play, was trapped by Lady Catherine, and Colonel Fitzwilliam was all set on Elizabeth - even if the young lady's dowry and fortune were not up to his standards.

Caroline also noticed something strange about Mr. Darcy, who began to receive frequent letters.

"Is it Georgiana's? Did she miss you? Caroline was a little curious, she remembered that Georgiana rarely seemed to take the initiative to communicate with her brother.

"No, it's not, it's Miss Gina Hopkins' letter." Darcy spoke calmly, not in the slightest sense that there was anything wrong with what he said.

"Gina Hopkins?" Caroline was surprised, "Sir, did you agree to her request?" ”