Chapter 13 second quarter

That afternoon we went to Emily Barton's town house for afternoon tea. We walked because I thought I was in good shape and able to support all the way. We probably went out too early, so we arrived early, and a tall, fierce-looking woman answered the door, telling us that Miss Button hadn't come back yet. "But I know she's waiting for you this afternoon. If you want, please come in and sit down." Evidently this was the faithful Florence. We followed her up the stairs, and she opened a door to reveal a cozy living room, if a little too much decorated.I think some things in the house must have been moved from Little Foz.

The woman was clearly very proud of the room. "Nice, isn't it?" she asked. "Exactly," Joanna said gently. "I try to make the house as comfortable as possible. In fact, I don't want her to live here for me to serve. She should live in her house instead of these few rooms." Florence, who was clearly a stern housekeeper, looked at us in turn with reproachful eyes.I think today is probably not our lucky day.Joanna had been reprimanded by Amy Griffey and Patrick, and now we were both reprimanded by Florence, the housekeeper. "I was a housekeeper there for nine years," she added.

Joanna felt wronged, and said, "Oh, it was Miss Button who was willing to rent out the house, and she entrusted a house rental company to rent it out." "It's because she couldn't help it," Florence said. "She lives a very frugal and cautious life, but even so, the government still doesn't let her go, and she still has to pay heavy taxes." I shook my head sadly. "When the old lady was alive, there was a lot of money in the family," said Florence; "but then they died one after the other. It's a pity! Miss Emily tired herself out by attending to them one by one. But she never complained, she was always so patient, not only exhausted herself, but also had to worry about money in the end! She said that the bonus was not delivered on time as before. I don’t understand why, Those people should really feel ashamed! Bullying a lady like this, thinking that she doesn't understand numbers and is easy to bully, will fall into their tricks."

"Actually, everyone has been hit with it," I said, but Florence was unmoved. "For a person who can take care of herself, this is nothing, but she can't. She needs someone to take care of herself. As long as she is with me, I will never allow anyone to bully her or disturb her. I am willing to help Ai Mi Miss Lee does anything." She continued to stare at us for a while, hoping that we would take her words to heart, and then she walked out of the room and closed the door carefully. "Feel like a vampire, Jerry?" Joanna said. "I do. What's wrong with us?"

"We don't seem to be doing well," I said. "Meghan is getting impatient with us, Patrige doesn't appreciate you, and now we're both being belittled by Florence." Joanna murmured, "Don't know why Meghan 'exactly' is leaving?" "She's tired." "I don't think so, don't know—Jerry, do you think Amy Griffey said something?" "You mean when they were chatting outside this morning?" "Well, although there is not much time, but..." I went on: "But that woman's mouth is very fast, maybe..."

Miss Emily opened the door and came in, flushed, a little out of breath, looking excited, with blue eyes. She seemed very disturbed and said quickly: "Oh, my dear, I'm sorry I'm late. I went to the street to do some shopping, and the 'Blue Rose' cake didn't seem to be very fresh, so I went to Mrs. Leegen's bakery again Buy. I always like to buy the cake last, so I can get the fresh bread from the oven instead of the day before. But I'm sorry to keep you waiting--it's a sin--" Joanna interrupted her to say: "It's our fault, Miss Button, that we came too early. We walked all the way, and we didn't expect Jerry to go so fast, so we arrived early."

"Don't say that, it's never too early to do something, and it's never too much good, you know." The old lady patted Joanna on the back affectionately. Joanna cheered up, at least for now she was doing something right.Emily Barton also faced me with a smile, but with a little timidity, as if facing a man-eating tiger who promised not to harm anyone for the time being. "It's an honor to have you come to this women's afternoon tea, Mr. Burton." I think, in Emily Barton's mind, she must think that men, besides drinking and smoking non-stop, would only occasionally seduce unmarried girls or tease married women.

When I talked about this with Joanna later, she said that maybe Emily Barton herself had always hoped to meet that kind of man, but unfortunately she never met. Meanwhile, Miss Emily groped about the room again, seated Joanna and me at the little table, and carefully placed the ashtrays.After a while, the door opened, and Florence came in with a tea tray. There were some delicate tea sets on it, which must have been brought by Miss Emily.The tea is mellow Chinese tea, and there are also sandwiches, buns, butter, and many small cakes. Meanwhile, Florence stood aside smiling, looking at Miss Emily with a mother's delight, like watching a beloved child eat.

Joanna and I overeat, as the hostess kept us so assuring.The old lady clearly enjoyed her afternoon tea.I found that Joanna and I were like a big adventure to her—two people who had just popped out of a mysterious, worldly world like London. Before long, of course, our conversation turned to local matters.Miss Barton talked about Dr. Griffey in a friendly tone, his kind attitude and superb medical skills; Mr. Symington was also a shrewd lawyer, and once helped Miss Barton recover some income taxes. Money can be recovered.Mr. Symmington was very good to his children and his wife--too bad she was delaying himself. "Poor Mrs. Symmington. Very sad to be left with a child without a mother. Perhaps she has not been a very strong woman, and has been in poor health lately."

"The brain is too stimulated, that's what it is. I've seen similar things in the papers. At this time, people often don't know what they have done. She is like this, otherwise she would not have forgotten Symington. Her husband and the boys still need her." "That anonymous letter must have come as a shock to her," said Joanna. "It's not a thing to discuss, don't you? My dear. I know there have been some—er—letters, but we don't talk about that, it's too mean, and I think we'd better leave that alone." Well, Miss Button might be able to ignore that, but some people just can't forget it.At any rate, I obediently changed the subject, and we talked of Amy Griffey again.

"It's fantastic, it's fantastic," Emily Barton said. "Her energy and organization is amazing, she's great with girls, and she's practical and up-to-date in every way. , this place is really thanks to her, she loves her younger brother so wholeheartedly, and the siblings are so close, it's really delightful to see." "Hasn't he ever found her too imposing?" Joanna asked. Emily Barton looked at her in great astonishment, and said with dignity and reproach: "She sacrificed too much for him." I saw in Joanna's eyes a - er - and turned the conversation quickly to Mr. P. Emily Barton's attitude towards Mr. P. was a little strange. She just repeated over and over that Mr. Dao was very kind—yes, very kind, and very rich, very generous.Occasionally, he has some very strange guests, but then again, he has traveled a lot and of course met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. We all agree that travel is not only informative, but occasionally makes some strange friends. "I've always wished I had the chance to travel by air," said Emily Barton wistfully. "I've often seen travel stories in the papers, and they're so fascinating." "Then why don't you go?" Joanna asked. It seemed impossible to Miss Emily to turn dreams into reality. "Oh, no, no, that's 'too' impossible." "Why? It doesn't cost much." "Oh, it's not about the money, it's because I don't want to go by myself. It must look weird traveling alone, don't you think?" "No way," Joanna said. Miss Emily looked at her suspiciously. "And I don't know what to do with luggage--disembarks in foreign ports--and all the different coins--" Countless questions seemed to arise in the old lady's frightened eyes. Joanna immediately changed the subject to talk about the upcoming garden party and sales work, so we naturally talked about Mrs. Reverend Cassop. A sudden convulsion broke into Miss Barton's face, and she said: "You know, darling, she's such a 'queer' woman, and sometimes she says things that don't make any sense." I asked her what she was referring to. "Oh, I don't know, it's something unexpected anyway. And the way she looked at people, as if you were not in front of her, as if you were looking at other people-I didn't say clearly enough, but that kind of It's really hard to express. Plus, she doesn't -- er, doesn't 'interfere' in other people's affairs at all. There's a lot that a pastor's wife can do to give people proper advice or warning. People correct their bad behavior, because people will listen to her - I believe people are in awe of her, but she just keeps herself high, stays away, and the strangest thing is, she feels sorry for some shameful people .” "That's interesting." I said, and quickly exchanged glances with Joanna. "But she came from a good background, a daughter of a good family, but that kind of old-fashioned family is probably a bit strange, and her husband is a very smart person, and I sometimes feel that living in such a small place really bury him. He is a good man. , very sincerely, but the habit of invoking Latin is not well understood." "Listen, listen." I said enthusiastically. "Jerry went to an expensive public school, so he couldn't understand Latin either," Joanna said.This brought up a new topic for Miss Button. "The female teachers here are annoying," she said. "I think they're 'radical,'" she said, lowering her voice at the word "radical." Later, as we were walking back, Joanna said to me: "She's cute."