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Although Maria felt sorry for her sister, Elizabeth herself did not think so, she was a very realistic girl, and she knew that if she wanted to maintain her current standard of living, there were only two ways out, either to marry a man with good conditions, or to become a goddess of the night, that is, a courtesan.

In those days, courtesans were a symbol of beauty, boldness, and sexual freedom. Scandal-ridden is their distinguishing feature. But don't compare them, the goddesses of the night who can call the wind and rain in Vanity Fair, to some vulgar fans who casually fade their skirts to the base of their thighs. Despite the depravity and decay of life, the vast majority of courtesans are not victims. In fact, they often make their admirers lose both their fortune and fame.

And it is not so simple to marry a man with good conditions, either a handsome but poor family who expects her dowry to live, or a rich but old and ugly person, or has been divorced once, and he has both but does not look down on his family background at all.

Relatively speaking, if Cousin Downing really inherited his own estate, then he is really a suitable object, 1,500 pounds a year is definitely a high income in the surroundings, and although he is not handsome, he is also tall and big, barely in line with the standard.

Just when the Elizabeth sisters were worried about Downing's arrival, Downing, who had been grinding for a week, finally came to Lane Village, in fact, the town where Downing stayed was not far from Lane Village, where Douglas's house was located, only more than fifty miles away, that is, 160 miles, if it was now, it would be more than an hour to drive less than two hours, but at the end of the nineteenth century in Britain, the main means of transportation was still horse-drawn carriages, plus Downing took the carriage of the public post station, and the speed was even slower than that. By the time Downing came to Lane Village, it was already past seven o'clock in the evening.

Although Tang Ning had long heard that his cousin Elizabeth was very beautiful, but when he saw him, he was still a little surprised, the girl in front of him had long golden hair like gold, which looked dreamy under the reflection of the sunset, smooth and delicate skin was as fair as milk, and the long eyelashes were decorated with big blue eyes, which made the innocence full of feminine feeling, and the two plump balls shown from the neckline made his eyes a little unable to move away for a while......

Seeing Downing's appearance, Elizabeth's heart finally breathed a sigh of relief, originally she was still a little worried that she wouldn't see her charm for a few years, whether her charm would have expired, but now it seems that her plan is still very feasible, so she hurriedly stepped forward and took a step, and said enthusiastically: "Cousin Downing, you can be regarded as here, since my father left, Maria and I have always felt helpless, and now that you are here, we can finally rest assured." As he spoke, he gently patted the plump chest with his little hand.

Tang Ning's eyes moved with the fluctuating beauty in front of him, and he said in his heart that the development of this foreign girl is good, if I remember correctly, Elizabeth seems to be just eighteen years old this year, but on the surface, she is still serious and pretends to be sad and said: "Originally, after I heard that Uncle Glass had an accident, I wanted to rush over immediately to see if there was anything I could help, but I didn't expect that I would suddenly get sick, and I finally got better a few days ago, so I just came over now, hey, I didn't see Uncle Douglas for the last time. ”

"Father, I was always talking about you when I was leaving." Mary chimed in.

However, before she could finish her words, she was interrupted by Elizabeth: "Okay, don't talk about this sad thing, Cousin Tangning must be tired after taking the carriage all the way, so let's take a good rest." With that, Elizabeth reached over to help Downing carry his luggage.

Tang Ning hurriedly stopped: "Oh, how can you let you do such a heavy job, cousin." At this time, Tang Ning realized that there was something very wrong, so he asked, "By the way, Isa, why don't there be any servants in the mansion?" Because in his impression, Elizabeth's house had more than a dozen servants, including the housekeeper and maid, the gardener, and the groom, so why couldn't he see any of them now?

Hearing Tang Ning ask, Elizabeth couldn't help but have a sour nose, and said with a little crying: "Cousin Tang Ning, because my father passed away suddenly, and I didn't leave any inheritance to our sisters, so in order to save money, we dismissed all the servants in the house, and only one temporary maid came to help us cook, wash clothes, and clean the room every day. ”

Elizabeth did this to save money, but she saved her own money, because once Downing did not accept her, then the six hundred pounds in the bank was all the assets of her and Maria before they got married, and she naturally had to be careful with her calculations, not only that, but she also sold a carriage and three horses at a low price, so that she could increase her assets, and on the other hand, she could also reduce expenses, knowing that the cost of raising a horse was quite amazing. This also means that you can pretend to be pitiful in front of Tang Ning and win his sympathy.

"Oh? Is the family's money already so tight? Tang Ning frowned and asked, to be honest, he really didn't believe that Douglas's family would be nervous like this, after all, it was also a squire's house for many years, how could he have no savings at all.

"Cousin Tangning, you don't know, now those nouveau riche who are in business are making more and more money, and the pomp is getting bigger and bigger, and my father is a good-looking person, so most of the family's income is used for socializing, so the family doesn't have much savings. And this year happens to be the year of the lease renewal of the property, my father is not there, and Maria and I do not have the right to sign a contract to subcontract, so I ......"

Although Elizabeth did not finish her sentence, Downing generally understood what she meant, indeed, with the development of the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of overseas colonies, the squire class who lived only on real estate income was rapidly becoming poorer and poorer than the wealthy industrial and commercial owners—although the rent income did not decrease, the average daily social expenses of the upper class rose day by day with the birth of a large number of nouveau riche, so that the traditional gentry began to become unable to make ends meet in order to maintain the standard of living of the upper class. If the land is not much or too barren, it is barely decent. The truly wealthy elite, in addition to being large landowners at home, usually had to earn additional income from the new manufacturing industry and trade in overseas colonies and plantations, so that they could live a life of luxury. As for their estates in England, they were reduced to mere status symbols, no different from famous horses, fancy costumes, and yachts.

Therefore, it is normal that Mr. Douglas, who only relies on some real estate and does not know how to do business, cannot save much savings, and the real estate is their own thing, and they naturally have no right to sign a contract.

PS: During the new book period, ask for collections and recommend votes!