The sun had risen, and the fog on the beach had gradually lifted.

"Dorothea, can you ride a horse?" Scrooge asked. Scrooge had two beautiful thoroughbreds and saddled them with the best possible saddles, but the answer Scrooge wanted to hear was "I won't". Because of this, he could justifiably let Dorothea ride with him on the same horse.

However, his expectation was disappointed, the daughter of a southern manor owner could not ride a horse? Oh, that's definitely a joke. Like the sister-in-law named Bonnie in the later novel "Gone with the Wind", Dorothea was trained to ride from a very young age. When she was only six years old, her father gave her a pony (a breed of horse bred specifically for children) that Barred did, and Dorothea began to learn horsemanship. Although Dorothea is not good at driving a carriage at all, when it comes to horseback riding, Scrooge, which she learned in Robson's class, is definitely not as good as Dorothea.

"Don't underestimate me." Dorothea said, "I'm a great rider, I was in ......," Dorothea stopped, probably because she didn't want to talk about the old days, because many of the people involved in those stories were no longer there.

"Well, let's have a game. Scrooge, whoever of us gets to the castle gate first, even if he wins, whatever. Dorothea said.

"Okay! I don't believe I can still lose to a woman! Scrooge laughed.

The two men each got on a horse. In fact, this kind of competition is very unfair to women, although women weigh less and their horses can theoretically run faster, but women's riding posture will severely hinder their control of horses. Because women of that era always had to maintain a special elegant demeanor, and wearing breeches, legs spread, and straddle horseback, such a posture was not elegant at the time. In those days, there was only George?? A strange woman like San would dress like that, ride a horse like that. Add to that the fact that the ladies always wear long skirts, so there is no way to straddle the horse. Therefore, the ladies rode horses, and the postures they adopted were all sideways. When riding on the side, although there is a special side saddle assist, but from a technical point of view, side saddle riding, still puts forward higher requirements for the rider, because the legs are biased to one side, regardless of the "two-point type" or "three-point type", it does not work, and the rider needs a better "horse feeling" and balance technology to control the horse freely. In this way, the ladies who ride the horse in the side way may not have any problems when they trot slowly on the horse, but if they want to gallop on the horse, they will immediately face a lot of problems in controlling the balance, and it is not impossible to fall off the horse if they don't do it well.

Because of this advantage, Scrooge said very gentlemanly that Dorothea should step forward - anyway, it was just to tease Dorothea.

However, as soon as Dorothea came out, Scrooge was immediately dumbfounded. Dorothea sat in the side saddle as if it were glued to it, and no matter how the horse ran, she sat firmly on it. In the blink of an eye, Dorothea was far away.

"Hell! Why is this girl's equestrian skills so good! That's it, if Robson comes up, he won't necessarily win! Scrooge hurriedly waved his horsewhip and hurried over.

However, the straight-line distance from here to the castle is only five or six hundred meters, and if you count the curves of the mountain road, it is at most 1,500 meters to the top. At such a short distance, Dorothea was nearly thirty meters ahead, and she wanted to catch up, at least, with Scrooge's three-legged cat riding skills, it was not to think about it. But this kind of win or loss is nothing, just let the little girl be happy.

As soon as the road turned in the grove ahead, Scrooge saw Dorothea deftly steering her horse around the bend, barely slowing down.

"What a good ride!" Scrooge couldn't help but applaud in his heart when he saw it. But when he rounded the corner, Dorothea was unexpectedly close to him. Dorothea seems to be in some trouble, and her degree has dropped a lot.

Scrooge chased after him from behind and asked, "What's wrong?" How did you lose it? ”

Dorothea replied with a bitter face, "The saddle seems to be a little loose." ”

When riding sideways, if the saddle is loose, there is really no way to maintain the degree. Scrooge laughed: "Dorothea, if this is the case, I will win, and there will be no glory." Why don't we go up together slowly. ”

"Hmph, you're in luck!" Dorothea said proudly.

It's just that the saddles on Scrooge's and Dorothea's horses have been adjusted by the most experienced trainers, so how can such a problem arise? Scrooge didn't think much of it. He and Dorothea rode side by side as they walked slowly along the path towards the castle. As for Dorothea, she remembered Lady Stephen's conversation with her.

"Miss Dorothea, men generally don't like women who are too incompetent, and if a woman doesn't know anything, then she must not have a high status in the family. But I'm not worried about that, because our Dorothea may have done it, and even the old lady probably couldn't compare to you. But you have to remember that a woman can't be too capable, can't be so capable that she can overwhelm a man. Such a woman, although she will have a lot of status, most of them will not be very happy. Don't try to overwhelm a man, even if you can, it's a stupid thing to do. It can be seen that Mr. MacDonald is very fond of you, but in return, you should not also take care of his feelings. It was with this lesson in mind that Dorothea took the initiative to lower her horse, allowing Scrooge to catch up. Sure enough, Scrooge, who caught up, seemed to be in a good mood.

After another turn, Scrooge and Dorothea finally reached the castle gates. By this time, the gates of the castle had been opened, and Scrooge jumped from his horse, and then carried Dorothea from his horse. The two men led their horses towards the castle.

As soon as they entered the gate, servants came and took their horses. An elderly man in his fifties stepped forward to greet Scrooge and Dorothea. Scrooge knows this is the commander-in-chief of this project, Davy?? Fürth. He was one of the best architects in England, and it was Scrooge who invited him from England when Carroll came in to bring him in.

"Mr. Fürth, can you show us around the castle?" Scrooge said.

"We'd love to help. Mr. MacDonald, Miss Dorothea, please follow me. Fürth led the way, followed by Dorothea and Scrooge.

Once inside, you will find a wide courtyard and fountain, as well as a variety of statues, most of which were made by famous artists of the time.

Then there is the spacious ballroom, the interior decoration is made by the best Italian designers, the whole style is luxurious and subtle, full of a family bearing. Mobs are often ridiculed for being tasteless, but in fact they weren't violent enough. A tyrant like Scrooge, although he doesn't have a good taste in interior decoration, can bring in experts in this field to serve him. As a result, who would now see this grand ballroom and say that the decoration is full of the copper smell of mobs?

Such an emperor-level castle, Dorothea from the south has naturally never seen such a castle, and even when she dreamed, she had never dreamed of such a castle. Although as a girl, Dorothea has never dreamed of Prince Charming since she was a child.

"From here, it's the living area, and the rooms here have a lot more lighting than the traditional castle, so it must be very comfortable to live here." Fürth took them to the room in the living quarters to have a look. From these rooms, you can see the sea rolling in the distance, and when you open the window, you will be greeted by the sea breeze, mixed with the salty smell of the ocean and the chirping of seagulls.

"Mr. Fürth, how's that pool going?" Scrooge asked.

"Ah, Mr. MacDonald, that pool was designed by you, and you should know that now is not the best time to visit it," said Fürth, glancing at the table clock next to him, "and the sun is shining today, and you should be able to see that wonderful optical magic." ”

"What are you all talking about?" Dorothea asked.

"Ah, nothing, in a moment, in another hour, you'll be able to see it. It's just a little trick. Scrooge replied with a smile.

Fürth then took Scrooge and Dorothea to visit the chapel and the watchtower at the top of the castle. The scenery was beautiful, but Dorothea still remembered the pool that could conjure tricks.

Mr. Fürth took out his pocket watch and looked at it, and said, "The time is almost up, the height of the sun is in order, let's go to the pool." ”

……

The swimming pool is built indoors, but it is surrounded by glass, and although the glass is all polished, so that people cannot see the outside directly, it also makes it so bright that it is almost indistinguishable from the outside. The ceiling overhead is also glass, and seems a little polished, neither as blurry as the surrounding glass, but also not as transparent as the pure flat glass. The pool is full of clear spring water, and the calm water surface is like a mirror.

"What's so special about this?" Dorothea asked.

It's true that this pool is big and beautiful, but that's all, what's the trick?

Mr. Fürth slapped his palm lightly, and the glass ceiling on the top of the pool actually moved, and it turned out that the ceiling was actually made of two layers of glass, and it could be moved in a dislocation.

"Look at the water," Scrooge said to Dorothea, "and see what happens!" ”

As the glass ceiling moved, countless spots of light appeared on the surface of the pool, and then these spots of light condensed and turned into a pool full of gold coins!

"Oh my God, what's going on?" Dorothea's beautiful big eyes were full of doubt.

"Nothing." Scrooge triumphantly began to explain to Dorothea, "The double glazing above our heads has some special patterns that allow sunlight to interfere with each other, and by adjusting the position and distance between them, we can project this effect on the surface of the water. It's just an optical trick. How's that, isn't it amazing that I designed this well-walled swimming pool? ”

"I didn't understand what it meant, though." Dorothea smiled mischievously, "But I still think it's a great design." It's just that you use him to project such a large piece of gold instead of flowers or something, you can only say that you are too tasteless. And these gold coins are also fake, what's the ......?"

"Hmph," said Scrooge, "believe it or not, one day, I'll fill this whole pool with gold!" ”