Chapter 31: Country Life 25: Cold Tincture (Part 2)
"I have to correct you. It's not just me who's amazing, you're amazing too. I just casually gestured, and you actually made it a reality." Heather asked curiously, "So did you accept her proposal?"
Charlotte smiled, looking more confident and cheerful than ever. "I refused. I spent an entire evening reading through a ton of books on the history of clothing evolution, using all my imagination to write her a paper demonstrating the importance of using bias cutting to expand her shop. The next day, after reading it, she agreed to buy all my work for eighty pounds and made me sign a contract promising never to use this technique again for anything other than that moon-white dress."
Heather sincerely admired her and said, "Charlotte, you have more determination, perseverance, and intelligence than I thought."
She had always thought that Charlotte was the kind of person who would compromise in order to maintain stability and clarity.
"No wonder you seemed so absent-minded on the day of the hunt, not even walking with Lizzie. I thought it was because Mr. Collins didn't come. It turns out you managed to accomplish such a big thing quietly."
Charlotte couldn't help but laugh out loud: "He can't let me be distracted!"
She laughed for a long moment before standing up, walking to the window and looking out at the clear blue sky. She said, "There was a moment when I truly felt that perhaps I still had undiscovered talent and potential. Perhaps I didn't have to compromise for a house. Perhaps I had the opportunity to go even further."
She paused for a few seconds before continuing with difficulty, "But soon, my courage expanded like a bubble, then burst with a snap, disappearing without a trace in an instant."
Heather said nothing, waiting quietly for her to tell her story.
"I have sold the only thing I ever owned that could make money," said Charlotte. "Even if I had gotten eighty pounds, I can't imagine what I could do with it. But even if I hadn't accepted the lady's offer, I probably wouldn't have gone into business on my own and risked being kicked out by my father and left with nothing."
"I'm twenty-seven, Aunt Heather. I've lived in this same constant temperature for twenty-seven years. Like Lizzie, I've rejected proposals I didn't like in the past, but now I'm no longer in a position to waste my time on empty expectations."
Heather remained silent. Charlotte was too clear-headed. She had thought clearly about all the possibilities of the future, and no one could say anything more about it.
It was impossible for her to persuade Charlotte to stick to her heart and not compromise with the world, because even she herself was not sure of this.
The rules of survival for women in the 19th century were like an impenetrable web, binding their every choice. If a woman had £100,000, she could take out a tenth of it and make some harmless bets; if she only had £10, she might also be motivated to throw all her chips at once and give it a go.
However, for middle-class women like Charlotte, who come from respectable families and are well-educated but have little opportunity to make mistakes, marrying an economically compatible man is their only respectable way out and a safe that prevents their later lives from falling into ruin.
Heather walked Charlotte to the door. She had regained her usual calm and composed demeanor, looking like a contented girl who was looking forward to marriage.
Charlotte pulled an embroidered cloth purse from her handbag and handed it to Heather. "Aunt Heather, I wouldn't have gotten the eighty pounds without the design ideas you provided. I know you won't take it all, so let's split it up. I'll give you the forty pounds."
Of course Heather didn't want it. This amount of money meant almost nothing to her now, but it was a considerable income for Charlotte.
But Charlotte held Hazel's hand, her eyes smiling with determination. She whispered, "Just think of it as depositing a seed of hope. Aunt Hazel, I always feel that you are different from all of us. Perhaps you will have an unconventional life in the future. I'll keep this money with you. If one day you find a new way out, remember me when you see it."
Heather agreed. She thought that when Charlotte got married, she must give her a piece of jewelry to add to her dowry. Now, she had to hurry up and study the possible new way out.
Heather ran upstairs with her long skirt lifted up, startling Mary, who was reading with the door open, so much so that she stuck her head out.
Heather was about to begin her plant experiments in the small utility room across from their two rooms on the third floor, which had been used to store some seldom-used boxes.
It was partitioned off from the corner of the attic, irregular in shape, cold in winter and hot in summer, and unsuitable for human habitation. It was already late autumn, and the temperature in Longbourn was dropping rapidly, and in the utility room it was dropping even faster. The thermometer on the wall showed that it had reached about ten degrees Celsius.
The 18th and 19th centuries were the golden age of British botany. The continued expansion of colonies made becoming a plant hunter sponsored by aristocrats a highly sought-after profession, introducing numerous new species from the Americas, Mexico, and China. The subsequent maturation of glass industry technology fueled the greenhouse boom.
However, now, in the early nineteenth century, many species are still in the stage of just appearing but have not yet attracted attention. This time difference is exactly the opportunity that Hessel can take advantage of.
Perhaps because of Longbourn's advantageous geographical location, the straight-line distance to the best route from America to London after landing in Britain is no more than five kilometers, so some caravans will pass by Longbourn for improper reasons or simply because they are not familiar with the road.
Heather had already discovered two unknown species in this auspicious spot, Echinacea and Tillandsia diversifolia, which had not yet been included in the plant atlas. However, Tillandsia diversifolia, native to the American subtropics, thrives in warm environments and is susceptible to frostbite in the low temperatures of the British winter, so she decided to start with Echinacea.
Plant protection and planting is her professional field. The current temperature is not too low, which is suitable for the growth of Echinacea seeds. When the temperature drops again, it will just meet the temperature requirements after germination, so planting Echinacea is not too difficult.
Heather first rubbed out the black wedge-shaped seeds from the mature flower bulbs she had picked earlier, wrapped them in burlap, and soaked them in willow bark water for 24 hours.
During this period, she wrote down a list of raw materials for preparing the soil and gave it to Lena, intending to mix them in different proportions and conduct experiments separately.
This mainly requires humus soil, river sand, charcoal fragments and some egg shells. Lena enthusiastically pulled Lucy out to collect them. Lucy is the daughter of a farmer in Longbourn. She happened to be resting and having nothing to do recently. They found everything in less than half a day.
After a simple preparation of the soil, the seeds could be buried. Hazel asked Mrs. Morley, the cook, for ten clay pots to cultivate the seeds. She also asked Mrs. Bennett for several oil lamps, which she would use to supplement the light from a bronze mirror after the seedlings emerged.
Mrs. Bennet briefly complained at the dinner table about her sister's behavior of wasting necessities of life and tinkering with useless things, but she did not stop her. Her mind was completely focused on preparing for the engagement of Mr. Bingley and Jane.
After the seeds were planted, the only work left for the time being was daily spray moisturizing and temperature monitoring. Mary volunteered for this task, which allowed her to rest her eyes in between reading.
The progress of seed cultivation will only be visible in about a week or two. Now Heather also plans to use the small patch of wild echinacea picked from the mountain to make tincture for colds.
Heather had no medical background, but she had memorized all the knowledge she learned in college and had read a lot of unofficial plant history in the library. She planned to use the simplest and most primitive method to make a tincture while preserving its immune-active components.
Heather asked Miss Bentley for a bottle of rum that she had poured on the ice cream last time. She washed the rhizomes of Echinacea and cut them into thin slices. After drying them in the shade, she soaked them in a glass jar in a ratio of 1:5 of roots and rum.
If you shake it regularly every day to help speed up the dissolution, then open the can after about a month and filter it with linen. If you are lucky, you will get a bottle of brown liquid that can cure colds.
While Heather was busy tinkering with her plants, Charlotte and Mr. Collins's engagement was officially announced at Longbourn.
Sir Lucas was asked by his eldest daughter to come to the Bennet family to announce the news. Although Mrs. Bennet's face was not very good, she still expressed her blessing appropriately. Her great progress was praised by her sister, daughter and husband.
Mrs. Brooke, who lived not far away, heard that Mr. Collins did not choose Miss Bennet in the end, and immediately seized the opportunity to go to her fake sister, Mrs. Bennett, to express her sympathy and comfort.
However, she was defeated by Mrs. Bennet's show of true feelings against Mr. Bingley. She left in disgrace and went home to pray to God that Mrs. Bennet would not be able to succeed.
It was the first Monday in December, and the weather was gloomy again. Mrs. Bennett vowed that there would be a heavy rainstorm, announcing the arrival of winter, no later than eight o'clock in the evening.
All the families in Longbourn thought so, so from the beginning of the morning before it rained, no one stepped out of the house. Even the farmers had no work to do, and the whole village became silent.
However, around four or five in the afternoon, the Bennett family received an unexpected visitor.
The person who came was Major Brown. What was even more surprising was that he was accompanied by a little girl, the cute little angel with blond hair and blue eyes that Hazel and Mary met in the corridor on the morning of the hunt.
Major Brown was carrying a considerable burden, but he said he was just taking his daughter out for a walk because she was bored at home, and did not explain anything.
Mrs. Bennet welcomed his arrival, but did not hurriedly send Hazel to meet the guests. Instead, she winked at Elizabeth and Mary and asked them to go and chat with the two guests.
Heather looked at her sister like she had seen a ghost.
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