St Margaret's College for Women, a small town outside London, Hemerton, England.

In a spacious music room, two young ladies are practicing the piano under the guidance of a music teacher, and the melodious sound of the piano wafts through the classroom, which makes people relax and concentrate on immersing themselves in the world of music.

After pressing the last note, the brown-haired little Lori stood up and curtsy the music teacher, signaling that she was over. Mrs. Beth looked at the polite little Lori with a smile and said kindly, "Miss Adella, you are already very skillful. If you can incorporate your feelings into the playing in the future, it will be perfect. It's just that now you're still young and your experience isn't rich enough, so it's normal to not have plenty of feelings. ”

Little Lori, named Adella, stroked her brown hair and smiled reservedly: "Mrs. Beth, you're right, I'll work hard in the future." ”

Madame Beth nodded, she had no one to teach this clever young lady any tricks, and the student she was most worried about now was another little girl. Mrs. Beth turned her gaze to the other blond-haired little Lori, and said, "Miss Alice Schmidt, I know that you didn't have a governess to teach you when you were at home, and it's not your fault. But after coming to St. Margaret's College, I hope that you will work hard to become a true lady, and the piano is the most direct manifestation of a lady's musical talent. ”

Alice bit her lip and said with some frustration, "I see, Lady Beth. ”

When Mrs. Beth was gone, Alice approached Miss Adella and said, "Adella plays the piano so beautifully, if only I could play such a beautiful note." ”

It's not that Alice doesn't know what those classmates say about her behind her back, and some people even say that she is a "vulgar" country girl. But it's true that Alice had only learned some English grammar under the tutelage of Wickham before coming to St. Margaret's College. As for musical instruments, female celebrity, painting, French and dance, how could she, a child from the lower class of London's East End, have access to them?

This led to the fact that in St. Margaret's Female College, she basically couldn't fit into the circle of those young ladies, and she made Adella a friend for so long. Adella is a gentle and graceful girl, and she has a good temper with everyone, not only are several teachers very fond of her, but the other ladies also get along well with her, which makes Alice feel very envious.

After Adella, Alice also met a new sister, Georgiana Darcy, who came to school at the same time as her. Georgiana takes good care of Alice from the beginning, which makes Alice feel a little baffled because she doesn't know Miss Darcy. Anyway, after a few months of getting along, Alice has come to regard the kind and gentle Miss Darcy as a real sister.

Adella smiled and put her arm around Alice's shoulders and comforted: "Alice, in fact, I just practiced a lot. You don't know, when I was six years old, my mother hired a tutor to teach me the piano, and I became proficient over the years. If you spend more time, you will be able to practice the piano well. ”

Adella let go a lot in front of Alice, no longer caring about those annoying etiquette, showing the vitality that a girl should have. Maybe it's because Alice doesn't have the pretentiousness of those aristocratic ladies, but has more sincerity.

Adella suddenly remembered something, and then asked curiously, "By the way, Alice." It's been so long, and no one has come to pick you up, isn't your home in England? Adella was just curious, because Alice never went out shopping with them, and she never saw her family visit her.

Alice's expression darkened, and she whispered, "Adella, I don't have a home, and I don't have a father and mother. With that, Alice lowered her head, the corners of her eyes slightly moistened, and for countless nights she would recall the scene when Mrs. Schmidt chased her to dress. Perhaps, Mom will live carefree in heaven as Brother Wickham said.

Listening to Alice's whispered sobs, Adele was speechless for a while, she didn't expect that this usually strong girl would have such a tragic background. After a long while, Adella said in a thoughtful tone, "Alice, I'm sorry...... I shouldn't have brought up your sadness. ”

Alice quickly hid her negative emotions and laughed, "But I also have an older brother, who is very kind to me, often buys me snacks, and tells me a lot of interesting stories." It's just that he is an officer in the Royal Navy, and he doesn't know when he will be back from this trip. ”

At the mention of Wickham, Alice's heart warmed. She will never forget that terrible afternoon, when Mrs. Schmidt closed her eyes forever, and it was Brother Wakeham, who held her and comforted her softly, and carried him away from that filthy place.

In order to change the embarrassing atmosphere just now, Adella pretended to be surprised and shouted: "It turns out that Alice still has such an excellent brother, why didn't you mention it before, was it afraid of being snatched away by me?" ”

In fact, Adella used such an exaggerated tone and expression just to divert Alice's attention. After laughing for a while, he said, "Alice, it's Christmas soon, can your brother come back before Christmas Eve?" When it comes to the topic of her brother, Adella tilts her little head, and her second brother said goodbye in the summer, and she is still nowhere to be seen. Every time she asked this question, her father would say nothing with a gloomy face, and her mother would only cry silently on the sidelines.

Alice held her delicate little face, looked at the blue sky outside the window, and muttered: "The destination of my brother's voyage this time is the distant ancient country in the East, and it may take more than a year to come back." ”

Seeing Alice's lonely look, Adele's heart softened, and she said, "Alice, otherwise, you will come to my house for Christmas this year!" ”

Alice didn't expect Adella to invite her to her house, and said with some hesitation: "It's not good, I don't know anyone in your family." ”

Adella didn't think about it so much, just took Alice's hand: "What's wrong, I'm the only girl in our family, and my eldest brother surrounds me when he sees a beautiful young lady, and he doesn't accompany me much." Alice, you should stay with me, okay? Adele didn't mention her second brother, thinking that maybe her second brother would never come back.

Alice thought that she would be better to stay with her best friend than stay on the empty campus, and she agreed.

Just as the two were discussing how to spend Christmas, the door of the music room was pushed open, and a petite girl with cute curly hair walked in, with excitement on her face that could not be concealed: "Alice, your brother has a letter!" Look at the address is sent from the Gold Coast. ”

As soon as Alice heard that it was Brother Wickham's letter to her, a spirit bounced out of her chair and walked up to the girl's side in two and three steps: "Great, Sister Georgiana, I am so happy! Alice excitedly took the letter from Georgiana's hand, and eagerly opened it, and counted it as the first letter her brother had ever written to her.

Adela, too, was happy for her friend and walked over with a smile: "Hello, Miss Darcy. Thank you so much for being here in person. "Adella knew that this sister, who was two years older than her, was the only young lady in the Darcy family. Although the current Darcy family no longer has a title, his influence in the religious world is still there, and it is said that the current Archbishop of Canterbury has a good relationship with the deceased old Mr. Darcy. Their in-laws, the Fitzwilliam, also had a prominent position among the Whigs. Based on such a family background, Adella did not dare to snub the seemingly weak young lady in front of her.

Georgiana just nodded reservedly: "Miss Adella Burke is too polite, Alice's brother asked me to take good care of Alice before leaving, these are what I should do." ”

Suddenly, Alice exclaimed, waved the letter in her hand excitedly, and raised her little head high: "Sister Anna, Adella, look, my brother also wrote a story in it, called Alice in Wonderland, and my brother said in the letter that he wrote it for me personally!"

Wickham hadn't read the original version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and he knew the story because he had seen a Hollywood movie based on it. Upon the thought that the heroine in this story and Alice happen to have the same name, Wickham is ashamed to say that it is written specifically for Alice. Anyway, the author of this book is not born yet, and Wickham is not afraid that someone will accuse him of plagiarism.

If you don't know if Mr. Beethoven, the music giant, has written the famous song Alice, Wickham wants to play this song directly to the little girl Alice after he goes back.

Georgiana was a little surprised, although Wickham went to Cambridge, but she also knew that Wickham's grades were really not good, and she had never heard of Wickham still having this ability. With questions, Alice asked, "Your brother can also write stories?" ”

Alice said proudly: "Sister Anna, you don't know, my brother can also write poetry." The last time I left London, my brother's poems were published in The Times, and the name of the collection seems to be Ode to Freedom. ”

This can calm Georgiana, the quality of this collection of poems is quite high, to the surprise of the entire British literary world. Each of these poems is a rare masterpiece when taken out individually. At the recent party organized by the young ladies of the academy, everyone likes to talk about this book of poems, how could she not have read it?

It's just that Wickham didn't leave his full name "George Wickham", but only the surname "Wickham", and there are many people with this name in the UK, so Georgiana didn't associate the poetry collection with Wickham.

"Ah, I didn't expect George to have such a literary talent, I thought she would only say sweet words." Halfway through speaking, Georgiana realized that there was something wrong with her words, and quickly covered her mouth, and her fair little face suddenly turned red.

Adela, who was on the side, quickly understood what was going on, she had thought that this Miss Darcy seemed to take too good care of Alice, and the two of them didn't even know each other before. When Miss Darcy mentioned the brother that Alice was talking about, the shyness on her face quickly confirmed her suspicions. Although she was curious, Adella would not be reckless enough to ask, after all, she and Miss Darcy did not know each other very well.

Alice was about to put the letter away when a note slipped from it. "Huh? What is this? Alice picked up the piece of paper in confusion, only to find that it was a five hundred pound Bank of England cashier's note. Alice said a little strangely, "Why did my brother send me money, Mr. William Edward gave me eighty pounds last time." ”

Georgiana touched Alice's hair and said, "Okay, Alice, St. Margaret's school system is two years, and this is the tuition fee that your brother prepared for you for the next year, you should take good care of it." ”

After telling Alice a few times, Georgiana said goodbye to the two, and then walked quickly to a hidden place in the courtyard, and after noticing that there was no one around, she carefully took out a letter, opened it and read it:

Georgiana:

I don't know if I should write this letter or not, because I have hurt you who are so innocent and so kind. I confess that part of the reason I did that to you was because of your large dowry, though that was only partly because of it. But the thought only flashed through my mind, and I was deeply ashamed of this terrible thought. Now, I really hope for your understanding.

I know that when I was young I did something to make your brother wary and hostile to me, and that your cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, was deeply dissatisfied with my social status and character. But now I'm planning to start a new life and get back on my feet. It is very boring when the warship is sailing on the sea, and sometimes I will look at the blue sky and the ocean from afar, thinking of you thousands of miles away.

Some time ago, I participated in a military campaign against the indigenous people of Africa in World War I. It was very dangerous at the time, but thank God I survived, and not only did I get the favor of Lord Magalny, but I also got a lot of money to share the spoils.

I think maybe the army is a good place, and if I can go and make a great fortune and get the honor of His Majesty the King, then I will be able to face your brother and cousin calmly. Although the path of joining the army is very dangerous, I am willing to stand at the same height as me.

Hopefully the next time we come back we will be a different scene.

George Wickham

Georgiana slowly closed the letter, tears rolling down her eyes, she had never blamed Wickham. But there is no right or wrong in love, and even though she knew that Wickham's purpose was not pure, she still eloped with him willingly.

And now, Wickham is willing to risk his life to serve in the army in order to be qualified to be with her, which makes her heart both sweet and worried, but it undoubtedly strengthens her resolve.

"George, I'll wait for you. You must come back safely. Georgiana held the letter in her hand and muttered.