William Edward had been busy with his new house, so he couldn't spare time to see him off, but he carefully ordered a large and comfortable carriage from the carriage shop to take him to the Royal Army Officer College in Woodridge.

Wickham thought that William Edward, now that he was a butler, and that he could no longer be allowed to work as a coachman, so he agreed to William's proposal and hired some servants and coachmen. Before leaving, Wickham forced Zhang Mingxia to stuff a cashier's check of 1,000 pounds and a small bag of gold coins, Zhang Mingxia did not have much money on him, and Zhang Mingxia's study in Woodridge also replaced his desire to do something for the motherland to a certain extent.

At first, Zhang Mingxia refused to accept it, and Wickham had no choice but to put his face on the face: "Brother Mingxia, a gentleman has the friendship of wealth, why don't you need money to study in a foreign country?" If you and I are friends, you can accept these blockages, and you will have less worries and study in Woodridge with peace of mind. Zhang Mingxia had no choice but to sigh and accept the gift from Wickham.

Zhang Mingxia left, with a pure heart for the nation and the country. During the time spent with Zhang Mingxia, Wickham even had the impulse to drop everything in front of him and go to the Royal Army Military Academy in Woodrich with him, and then return to the motherland to drive out the Tartars and restore China.

However, this short-lived impulse did not last long, because Wickham knew that he was now wearing the white skin of a European, and in the eyes of the Chinese he was a foreigner in white skin. "If you are not of my race, your heart will be different", the identity of this world is destined to Wickham will never be 100% trusted by the people, even including Zhang Mingxia.

With infinite melancholy and helplessness, Wickham could only give up his plan to go to China to make a revolution, and maybe he could do something in his homeland by staying in Europe, such as buying and selling arms.

After Zhang Mingxia left, Wickham's business in London was temporarily over, and it was time to pick up Alice's little girl back. Thinking of the eccentric Alice, Wickham couldn't help but burst out laughing, Alice was exactly twelve years old when he left two years ago, and now she should have grown into a slim girl.

Of course, Wickham hadn't forgotten Georgiana Darcy, who was in the same house as Alice, the first girl he saw when he woke up in the world, and the only girl who made him want to get married.

"William, how's the new house going up?" Wickham thought to himself that perhaps a pink, lace-clad room should be set up, and the little girls should love it.

William Edward, who was waiting on the side, said respectfully: "Young master, the furniture in the house is ready-made, and you can basically move in as long as you clean it once." I'm going to hire a few maids and men this afternoon, and then I'll set up the mahogany furniture you brought back from China in the lounge, and I'm ready to move in. ”

Wickham nodded, although William Edward did not have much education, but he was quite organized, and he was more comfortable leaving the affairs of the family to William.

"William, you prepare a carriage for me, and I'm going to take a trip to Hemerton this afternoon to fetch Alice. In addition, I want to surprise Alice by choosing the best room in the house and decorating it well, with pink as the main color and lace on the curtains. ”

Hearing Alice's name, a warm smile appeared on William Edward's face: "Okay, young master, I'll go and prepare." William Edward, of course, was very happy to see the lovely Alice, because William had long regarded Alice as his sister.

William Edward did not personally send Wickham to Hemerton, but sent a coachman from the carriage shop to take Wickham there. Wickham changed into the army school uniform that he had sent to the War Department to change in the morning, and then boarded the carriage with the newly recruited "bodyguard" Wan Hu and drove straight towards Hemerton.

…………

This year is Alice Smit Wickham's second year in the small town of Hemerton, and Alice, who is already fourteen years old, has begun to develop slowly, and no one would have expected that the ugly duckling with a vegetable face would become a bright little beauty.

Alice, who had a dazed face, was holding two letters and reading them over and over again, and her heart was more and more missing the Wickham brother who saved her from fire and water.

"Brother, where are you now? Did you forget about little Alice? Alice looked depressed and said silently in her heart.

Alice's friend, Miss Adella Burke, walked gently to Alice's side on tiptoe, and then sat down: "Alice, are you missing your brother again?" ”

Having been Alice's best friend for two years, Adella had long known that he had an older brother named George Wickham, an officer in the Royal Navy, who was said to have gone to the Far East with the fleet.

Speaking of her brother, Alice has a happy smile on her face, and often tells them about her brother's goodness. Adella was a little disdainful of this, if Alice's brother was really so good to her, he would not have sent only the necessary tuition fees and a few letters in two years. But for fear that her friend would be sad, Adella could only hold these words in her chest.

Alice reluctantly pulled out a smile and forced a smile: "In two years, my brother's fleet should return to England, and it won't be long before my brother will come to pick me up." ”

After her father's death, Alice and her mother, Mrs. Schmidt, lived a sojourn with relatives, an experience that left her insecure. She wondered more than once whether Brother Wickham didn't want her anymore, and was sent to a monastery in Ireland by her family, like her illegitimate classmate.

But when she remembered that in the run-down inn, Brother Wickham gave you croissants with a soft expression and told her stories with a smile on his lips, and she forced herself to throw those strange thoughts out of her mind.

Adella Burke rubbed Alice's smooth blonde hair, and said helplessly: "Yes, yes, our Alice's brother is the best brother in the world, and he will soon come to pick up Alice back." But the most important thing for now is to get the painting I copied yesterday to Madame Beth as soon as possible, or I will not be the only one who will be scolded. ”

Madame Beth was a wealthy widow of many talents, and because she could not stand the harassment of men who wanted to make money, she hid in the quiet St. Margaret's Girls' College, where she taught the ladies music and painting. can

It can be because of the early death of her husband, Mrs. Ness is extremely strict, because of the bad foundation, Alice is not less reprimanded by Mrs. Beth. Thinking of Mrs. Beth's stern face, Alice was excited, quickly put away the drawing paper on the table, and said to Adella, "Adella, thank you for the reminder, let's go find Mrs. Beth." Adèle nodded, and pulled Alice out the door.

When the two of them reached the small pond of the school, they were confronted by a group of aristocratic girls led by Miss Bridgewater. Miss Bridgewater's grandfather was the Duke of Bridgewater, the leading figure in the House of Lords, and her father was the eldest son who would inherit the title.

Miss Bridgewater, who was of noble birth, did not look down on her classmates from squires and merchant families, and often gathered a group of aristocratic girls in the academy to isolate those who were not too well-born, and Alice belonged to the group of people of low birth in her eyes, and did not deserve to go to school with them.

"Isn't this Miss Alice Wickham, the most rustic in our house? Why, in such a hurry, could it be that your brother William, who worked as a coachman, has come to you again? With that, Miss Bridgewater laughed sneering with a group of aristocratic maidens behind her.

William Edward came to St. Margaret's College to find Alice a few times, originally the classmates thought it was Alice's servant, but later someone overheard Alice call William his brother, and during the school year, Alice's own brother did not come once, everyone speculated that Alice was the coachman's daughter, because her father stole a sum of money from the main family Alice came here to go to school, the purpose is to learn etiquette and music, so that she can go to London as a courtesan.

When she heard the rumors, Alice cried silently in the music room for a long time, but there was no way to refute it, because her brother Wickham had indeed never been seen at school.

Adella stepped forward, stopped Alice behind her, and sneered: "A few days ago, the London Opera House staged a new work by Mr. Richard Brinsley Sheridan, called the Rumor Academy. There is a character in it called Mrs. Dandise, who likes to create rumors about young ladies to entertain the public. Miss Bridgewater, if she had time, would have come to the opera house to see this play, and perhaps you would have admired the role of Mrs. Dandise. ”

"You ......," said Miss Bridgewater, whose cheeks were flushed by Adele's words, "Miss Adella Burke, what do you think the Earl of Burke would have thought if he heard that you had been hanging out with a coachman's daughter all day?"

This sentence is equivalent to threatening Adella not to be idle, or she will go to her father, the Earl of Burke, to sue her father when she returns to London.

Adella smiled contemptuously, and didn't look at Miss Bridgewater: "I don't have to worry about who I'm friends with, Miss Bridgewater, you are still worried about whether your father will marry you to that lame man of Lord Falmoth!"

Adele has a precocious personality and never suffers from her mouth, and anyone who dares to provoke her will basically be so angry that she can't speak. Sure enough, Miss Bridgewater was so angry that she couldn't speak, but just stood there staring dryly.

Miss Bridgewater's side was a girl from a small aristocratic family, and out of the idea of pleasing Bridgewater, who was born in a big aristocracy, her eyes rolled to her heart. The young lady stepped forward and snatched the paper from Alice's hand, and shouted, "You daughter of a lowly coachman, you dare to take away the sketch I copied yesterday, and I happened to be caught today, I will definitely inform Dean Martha of this, and let her fire you!" ”

Alice's eyes were red, and she stepped forward to take back her sketch: "I don't, this is the sketch I copied yesterday, Adella can testify for me!" Please give me back my stuff now! "Inside the sketch were the letters that Wickham had written to her, and they were her most precious things, and she was absolutely going to take them back!

Adella was also angry at first sight, although she was very modest on the surface, but she was still a tsundere aristocratic lady at the root, and at this time, seeing a little girl from a small aristocratic family was so bold, she was immediately angry: "What are you, you dare to do it to my friend!" With that, he stepped forward to help Alice snatch the drawing.

As soon as the three of them exerted their strength, the stacked drawing paper could no longer withstand such a large pull, and suddenly cracked in half! Alice couldn't catch off guard, so she "plopped" and fell into the pond behind her, but fortunately, the water in this small artificially dug pond was not deep, but it only drowned Alice's waist.

At this time, Alice's milky white tunic skirt was already soaked, and there was still a trace of green aquatic plants stuck to her long golden hair, which looked very embarrassing. A group of aristocratic ladies on the shore laughed when they saw Alice's appearance.

Adela, too, didn't bother arguing with Miss Bridgewater, and hurriedly lay on the edge of the pond trying to pull Alice up. Alice didn't go to pull Adella's hand, but went crazy looking for something in the water, muttering, "My letter, my letter...... My letter is gone...... Woohoo......"

Miss Bridgewater glanced disdainfully at Alice in the water, "Letter? You can't make a private agreement with a farmer's son for life, do you? What an insult to the reputation of our college! ”

At this moment, an unusually stern male voice sounded: "What are you doing!" ”