Chapter 21 Chapter 21

May 31, 1893 How much Jiaqi hopes to accurately predict the behavior of this man, this man who is her husband. She had assumed that, with a man and a widow shut up in a closed private carriage on the way to Devon, he would demand a great cause.She was so confident that she even took precautions.From the moment she left the house, her heartbeat began to fluctuate. Before the train had even left Paddington Station, however, he was buried in the blueprints for some mechanism.She has nothing to be proud of, but she feels like a fool watching the world go by at ninety kilometers an hour. She also felt very awkward and felt a little dizzy.

He compliments her, compliments her sincerely, and compliments something that she really values.It felt like a little girl on social season for the first time, not expecting the most handsome and notorious prodigal to ask her to dance, knowing that the sizzling heat inside was very unwise, very unreasonable, and the other party didn't The same feeling, but totally out of control. His handwriting was slightly crooked, and he quickly deciphered one after another calculation formulas. In the eyes of people who are not familiar with machinery, he probably thinks it is like the Egyptian hieroglyphs before the discovery of the Rosetta Stone.She hired a lot of engineers, because she didn't want to be fooled when dealing with them, so she specially hired tutors to instruct advanced mathematics and mechanics in depth, but looking at it backwards, she only understood half of those numbers and symbols.

She read that he was studying heating and gas exchange.He calculated angular momentum instead, and she further reasoned that he was improving the design of the internal combustion engine. She doesn't have much faith in the car thing.Cars are indeed amazing, new, and now finally on the road, but only the rich and adventurous would want to buy them and drive them.After all, carriages are simpler and more convenient in the city, and trains are faster and more reliable for long-distance travel. At least during the short journey from London to Brighton, it is impossible for horses to die violently three times in a row.

However, because she was very curious, she visited Mr. Mercedes in Mannheim last summer and was negotiating to license her company to produce Mercedes-Benz engines.The shrewd mind she had inherited from her Roland ancestors worked itself out, quickly calculating how much money she could save by using Condon's design, but only if his engine worked. And he has to be her real husband. What's wrong with your engine. When the running speed exceeds one hundred times per minute, the exhaust speed will not be able to catch up. He didn't raise his head, nor was he surprised that she knew so much about machinery. Most women have no idea about this knowledge, and men are the same.

However, he knew about Mr. Williams, who had been her tutor at first and then her lover. The partial vacuum created by exhaust gases as they exit draws fresh air and fuel into the cylinders.Combining the air with fuel and igniting the gases explodes to power the engine, but residual exhaust gases that don't escape reduce efficiency. The exhaust cycle should be advanced during crankshaft operation, she said.Although it will sacrifice a little power, it can improve performance. That's right. The trick is getting to the right spot, right?Her firm was contracted to design London's new Underground, and engineers had been agonizing over how many volts of electricity the third rail would use.

That was always the biggest problem, he answered.Design can only improve so far.I've narrowed down the possibilities to either, and my engineers in New York will build samples for testing. Luckily you don't have to get your hands dirty. But the fun is in getting your hands dirty.What I design myself, I will definitely build myself.I can do anything.He glanced at her and smiled.Her heartbeat stopped abruptly.The sun really shines brighter when he smiles.Do you want to be the first lady in England to drive a horseless carriage through Hyde Park? She couldn't help smiling.The hissing heat spread wantonly in his heart, half joyful, half bewildered.I know you can do anything.I know your little secret.

He looked puzzled.Little secret? Claudia's dress for her first ball. Ah, that thing.He relaxes.It's not my secret, it's hers.If my impression is correct, she felt very humiliated at the time, because everyone else's dresses were made to order by Mr. Voss, and she was the only one who had to wear the rags put together by her brother. you are too humble. The reason why I say patchwork is because it is really a piece of dress.I couldn't make the neckline she wanted, and the top would fall off every time, so I took apart one of my mother's mesh panniers and used wire to hold up the whole top.She was constantly worried that the gown might stab her to death during the dance, or else it would stab her handsome suitor in the chest.

She showed it to me when she came to England in 1890, said Jiaqi.I can't believe you did it, but she swears on the lives of her two sons. That was my first foray into gown making and my last, he said resignedly.I was nineteen years old and I thought I could do anything.Her first prom, and the family had no money for a new gown, and Claudia cried for hours, I guess it shouldn't be that hard?After all, custom-made dresses are also engineering, but the material to be processed is relatively soft, and I have cut and sewed a lot of fabrics for making model ships. She said you were magical.

Because it is an afterthought, it is covered with a beautiful color.With only two days left until the prom, I hadn't figured out how to gather and discount ten yards of fabric under the waist pad into a skirt, and that was my first taste of panic.I was in that bottomless pit, and all the non-Euclidean geometry in the world wasn't enough to save me. She remembered how Claudia cherished the dress, wrapped it in several layers of tissue paper, and kept it in her former room at the Villa of the Holy Column.I have the best brother in the world, and Claudia urged Jiaqi to find a husband across the Atlantic as soon as possible in a not-so-subtle way.

But the final product is very good. The skirt is also fitted with wire. They laughed out loud together.The corners of his eyes were squeezed out of fine lines because of laughter, she hadn't seen it before, it was a gift from the sun and sea breeze, and it was a sign that a man was in his prime. He stopped and looked at her.Your laugh is still the same as before, he said.I used to think you were sophisticated and mature, but when you smile, it's completely different.Your laughter is still like a little girl being tickled, rattling and panting. How should you respond when you hear this?If it were someone else, she would think it was a show of love, even if it wasn't, it would convey deep feelings.However, when this sentence came out of his mouth, how should she feel?

He hastily changed the subject.While I can remember, I want to thank you for helping to discipline Christopher, I never seem to thank you, do I? Christopher has gotten into a few troubles over the years, not too serious, at least no illegitimate children, huge debts, or criminal friends. His parents are very worried but helpless.Their eldest son Condon is basically a saint, Claudia is rational and pragmatic, and the Duke and Duchess don't know what to do in the face of wayward children.So Jiaqi shouldered the responsibility and helped Christopher out of a potentially dangerous situation. The duke and his wife were soft-hearted and reluctant to be strict with their son, so Jiaqi came forward to give him an iron-fisted education. gold. You're welcome, she said.Disciplining him is fun. He often writes to complain about you, saying that you are more terrifying than the Gorgon, and the attack is twice as powerful.He told you that you planned to send him to Vladivostok and leave him at the port without giving him a dime.When you threaten to stop the allowance, if anyone dares to lend him money, you will put them out of business. Your tone was so cheerful, the dangerous fire in her heart finally turned into a blazing flame with no scruples.These years, do you miss me?she heard herself ask. Suddenly, there was only the sound of the train moving in the carriage. The engine roared, and the steel wheels made a clanging sound as they rolled over the track, traveling 1.6 kilometers per minute.She looked out of the window and felt as stupid as a lemming blindly jumping into the sea. He also looked out the window, and didn't speak for a long time, and she almost believed that both parties were going to pretend that she hadn't asked. But this time he answered.The problem is never here, isn't it duck? It was not long after tea time when they arrived at Mrs. Roland's farm.The weather in London had become cloudy and wet when they set out, but this corner of Devon was still sunny, though it could be seen that it had just rained, for the ground was wet and the leaves were still dripping. The roses are in full bloom.Mrs. Roland's farm has snow-white walls and vermilion roof tiles, full of country style.Jiaqi originally thought that her mother would faint when she saw her appearing with Cong Deng, but she didn't expect that she was just hiding some curiosity between the lines, and there was no look of surprise or surprise.Condon must have telegraphed beforehand. It's a beautiful house. Condon kisses Mrs. Rowland on the cheek.The photos you sent don't do it justice. You should see Devonshire in the spring, said Mrs Rowland.The wildflowers in April are beautiful like nowhere else. I'll definitely come in April, Condon said.I should be still in the UK by then. Jiaqi looked at the garden. The shower had just passed, and the petals were still dotted with water drops. She felt her mother staring at her back.Of course, she had known that he was still in England at the time, and they had agreed for a year, which would end in May.But somehow she decided that they couldn't go on like this for eleven months, or even eleven weeks. For ten years, their relationship remained frozen because he made it clear that he wanted to stay away from her, and not even the whole world was far enough away.When he first came back, he was full of hostility, which can be described as the highest peak ever.But things have changed.This time they resolved their hostility, as if they had come to a new continent, facing all kinds of dangerous possibilities, all kinds of possibilities that she didn't dare to think about during the day, because if she thought too much, she would definitely go completely crazy. I am very much looking forward to it, said Mrs. Rowland.We see each other too rarely. Dear Madam, I have invited you to New York more times than I can count, Condon said, with a smile and a challenge in his tone.You always find excuses. Dear Lord Tremaus, don't you understand?Mrs. Roland said sweetly.How can I visit you if you won't talk to my daughter? Jiaqi was so surprised that she almost turned around.For some reason, she never thought her mother would be on her side in this matter.Perhaps because of her guilty conscience, she always believed that Mrs. Roland blamed her for turning this marriage into a deadly tragedy.Because of the correspondence between her mother and Condon, he had the means to blackmail her. This made her even more convinced that Mrs. Roland would even sell herself to the devil as long as Condon was willing to forgive Jiaqi magnanimously. Honestly, I shouldn't even be writing to you, said Mrs. Roland.But I'm always a little less than perfect, which is really frustrating. This time Jiaqi really turned around.Is that what an apology means?Mother has never admitted her mistakes in her life, but now she actually apologizes? Hollis came in with a tea set, and the conversation immediately turned sharply into a discussion of Mrs. Rowland's recent charity party.Unexpectedly, Condon knew Mrs. Rowland's philanthropy very well. As soon as Mrs. Rowland said the amount raised, he immediately asked, "It's much higher than what you usually raise." Yeah, so to speak.Mrs. Rowland stammered.Thanks to the generosity of His Excellency the Duke. Is that the Duke who is coming to dinner tonight?Jiaqi said. God, is mother blushing?It was true that they had had a bad row over Lord Perrin the last time Mother was in London, but at this moment the blush on Mother's face did not seem to be the result of shock or embarrassment. That's right.Madame Roland resumed her renaissance royalty.Very amazing person, scholar and van.I'm so glad you finally got the chance to meet him. Condon raises his glass.At least I was looking forward to it, almost shaking with excitement. A few minutes later, Condon rode to Dorquay to enjoy the scenery, which was obviously recommended by Mrs. Roland.Being in the same room with him made Jiaqi very uncomfortable, because her mother's sharp eyes were always on the interaction between the two, as if she could infer their recent development from such trivial things as asking the other party to help pass the milk can.But without him as a buffer in the middle, the awkwardness between mother and daughter immediately surfaced, as strong and obvious as the smell of acetic acid. After nearly three minutes of stalemate, Mrs. Roland said, last Friday, I went to visit your father's grave. Jiaqi was very surprised.They rarely talked about John.Roland.Grief is a private matter.I also went this Sunday, and I saw the flowers you put.John.Roland died of typhoid fever in his forty-ninth year, and Sunday was his sixty-eighth birthday.He has always loved camellias. That's because when you were three years old, you gave him a handful from the garden.He loves you very much, Mrs. Rowland said. He loves you very much too. When my father buys gifts for his wife, he always takes Jiaqi with him.In his eyes, a beautiful wife deserves the best things in the world.He likes big and conspicuous jewelry. The reason why Jiaqi likes exaggerated jewelry may be influenced by her father, although she rarely wears them.In the end, though, he only buys cameo brooches or Park Chung's pearls each time, because he doesn't want his wife to be forced to wear what she considers vulgar jewelry. We had been married for ten years and five months when he passed away.Mrs. Rowland took a small brioche and put it on a plate in front of her, and cut it into perfect quarters.In two weeks, you will be married for ten years and five months. There are too many variables in life, Jiaqi.Don't pass up the chance to start over with Condon. I don't want to talk about him. I want to talk, and Mrs. Roland will not budge.If you thought that he was the Duke's heir and I would try my best to match him up, then you are wrong.You two are sitting in the living room of Briarfield holding hands and whispering, do you think I didn't see it?I have never seen you so happy and happy, neither before nor after.I have never seen him so relaxed, completely forgetting his restraint, letting go of the burden of the world on his shoulders, and rarely showing the appearance of a young man. That's a long time ago, mother. Not long enough for me to forget.You didn't forget, and so did he. Jiaqi took a deep breath and drank the tea in the cup.The tea was cold and too sweet because Condon touched her hand as he passed the sugar bowl, and for a full minute she couldn't tell the difference between two and four.Even if you can't forget, what's the use?I did love him then, I don't deny it, but it's over.Now he doesn't love me, and I don't love him either.Even if there was a chance to start over, no one gave it to me, let alone Condon. You really can't see it?Mrs. Rowland yelled, and because she was so angry and anxious, she rarely put down her teacup with too much force, and a drop of milky brown tea splashed out and landed on the embroidered tablecloth, printing a surprisingly perfect circular stain.That tablecloth was bought by Jiaqi in Copenhagen, on that miserable journey of fate.He came to England together, stayed at your house, treated you with courtesy, advised you to come and see me, all these things mean nothing to you.Really, does it have to be said and engraved on a stone tablet to count? Facing these tests alone is hard enough, why did my mother have to list them all?She is not the ignorant girl in Wilde's play. Mother, you seem to have forgotten the purpose of his return, she said coldly.We are getting a divorce.I have promised to marry Lord Frederick. Mrs. Rowland stood up abruptly.I want to take a break.I don't want to be seen haggard and tired by the Duke.You, Tremais, I'm not talking about the past, but the present.If you think you're as good as Lord Frederick, you're a fool, Shakespeare couldn't have written a stupider fool! Mrs. Roland walked away, leaving behind only the scent of rose water.Jiaqi sat alone in the living room for a long time, slowly eating the cake left by her mother and the untouched fruit tart on the three-tiered shelf in a daze. How she wished she could assert that her mother was dead wrong.