The garden party was still going on at the Ascot estate, although the guests were rather subdued after the failed proposal. Most of them stood in clumps across the great lawn, whispering in bewilderment.

Hamish spoke to some of the confused guests, his sideburns wrinkling as he complained. "She left me standing there without an answer," he whined.

"A case of nerves, no doubt," said Fiona reassuringly.

Suddenly, silence fell as Alice wandered back onto the lawn. Everyone stared in shock at her disheveled appearance. She looked as if she'd been through a great battle.

"Alice?" said Hamish.

"Good lord," said Lord Ascot. "Are you all right?"

Alice's mother hurried to her, gently taking her arm. "What happened to you?" Helen Kingsleigh asked, worried.

"I fell down a hole and hit my head," Alice answered, although she couldn't help but feel that she was missing some part of the story.

"You look a frightful mess," Lady Ascot sniffed.

Alice turned to Hamish. Her adventures in Underland were gone from her memory, but the self-confidence remained. And there was a lot she needed to say.

"I'm sorry, Hamish," she said. "I can't marry you. You're not the right man for me. And there's that trouble with your digestion." She turned to her sister. "I love you, Margaret. But this is my life. I'll decide what to do with it." Her sister's husband was standing next to Margaret, twitching nervously. "You're lucky to have my sister for your wife, Lowell. I know you'll be good to her. I'll be watching very closely."

Lowell blanched at her veiled threat. Alice went on to her aunt Imogene. "There is no prince, Aunt Imogene. You need to talk to someone about these delusions." Her chin went up as she faced Lady Ascot. "I happen to love rabbits," she said, "especially white ones."

Lady Ascot looked disapproving, but she didn't say anything as Alice turned to her mother and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't worry, Mother. I'll find something useful to do with my life."

Helen squeezed her hand, smiling through proud tears. Alice had never reminded her more of her dear Charles.

Alice noticed the Chattaway sisters hovering nearby. "You two remind me of some funny boys I met in a dream," she said with a grin. She looked around. Was there anyone else she meant to speak to?

Lord Ascot lifted a finger. "You've left me out," he said.

"No, I haven't, sir," said Alice. "You and I have business to discuss."

"Shall we speak in the study?" He took her elbow to lead her away, but Alice turned back for a moment.

"Oh, and one more thing," she said. She lifted her skirts above her ankles and did a brisky, happy Futterwacken to the shock of some and the delight of others. Then she calmly followed Lord Ascot into his mansion.

Maps were spread across Lord Ascot's desk, along with ledgers and other documents of the business he had taken over from Charles Kingsleigh. Alice leaned over a map of the world.

"My father told me he planned to expand his trade route to Sumatra and Borneo," she said, tracing the outlines of the exotic countries with her finger. "But I don't think he was looking far enough."

"Not far enough?" said Lord Ascot, astonished.

"Why not go all the way to China?" Alice asked. "It's vast, and the culture is rich. To be the first to trade with China. Can you imagine it?"

She looked up at him. Her eyes were shining just like her father's had.

Lord Ascot smiled. "You know, if anybody else had said that to me, I'd say, ‘You've lost your senses.' But I've seen that look before. As you're not going to be my daughter-in-law, perhaps you would consider becoming an apprentice with the company?"

Six months later, Alice stood on the deck of a China Trading Company ship, waving to her mother, sister, and Lord Ascot on the dock below. White sails billowed overhead as the ship pulled out into the ocean, and Alice felt the wind lift her hair into a wild dance of freedom around her head.

A beautiful monarch butterfly with blue-tinged wings landed on her shoulder. She smiled, one memory breaking through as clear as day.

"Hello, Absolem," she said.

The butterfly took wing, and Alice watched it soar away into the sky with a smile of pure joy on her face.

(THE END)

花园派对仍然在阿斯科特家的庄园里进行着，尽管哈米什求婚失败让客人们有点扫兴。许多客人围成团站在宽阔的草地上，低声谈论着他们的困惑。

哈米什跟一些迷惑不解的客人在谈论着什么，他一抱怨，脸上两边的鬓角就开始起皱。“她居然连个回应都没有就把我晾在那儿。”他哼哼唧唧地说。

“毫无疑问，太紧张了。”菲奥娜安慰道。

爱丽丝不慌不忙地走回到草地上，叽叽喳喳的人群顿时静了下来。所有人都惊讶地瞪大眼睛看着狼狈不堪的爱丽丝。她看上去好像经历过一场激烈的决斗。

“爱丽丝？”哈米什喊道。

“我的天啊！你还好吗？”阿斯科特勋爵问。

爱丽丝的母亲海伦·金斯利立即跑向女儿，温柔地拉着她的胳膊。“发生什么事了？”海伦·金斯利担忧地问道。

“我掉进一个洞里，撞到了脑袋。”爱丽丝回答，尽管她情不自禁地觉得自己好像忘记了什么。

“你看起来糟糕透了。”阿斯科特夫人轻蔑地说。

爱丽丝转身面向哈米什。她已经忘记了地下世界的冒险经历，可那份自信还在。现在她有很多话要说。

“抱歉，哈米什，”她说，“我不能嫁给你。你不是我的真命天子，而且你肠胃不好。”说完又转身面向姐姐，说道：“我爱你，玛格丽特。但这是我的生活，我要自己做决定。”姐夫就站在姐姐旁边，紧张地抽搐着身体。“能娶到我姐姐是你的福气，洛厄尔，我知道你会好好待她，我会盯着你的。”

听到爱丽丝不露声色的威胁，洛厄尔脸色发白。接着爱丽丝走到伊莫金姑妈身边，对她说：“根本没有什么王子，伊莫金姑妈。你需要找个人倾诉你的这些幻想。”面对阿斯科特夫人时，爱丽丝扬起下巴平静地说：“我碰巧喜欢兔子，尤其是白兔子。”

阿斯科特夫人看上去很不高兴，但她什么也没说；爱丽丝又转身走向她母亲，并在她的脸颊上吻了一下。“别担心，母亲！我会让我的人生变得有意义！”

海伦激动地捏了捏她的手，笑着流下了骄傲的眼泪。爱丽丝让她忍不住又想起了亲爱的查尔斯。

爱丽丝注意到徘徊在自己身边的查塔韦姐妹。“你们俩让我想起来梦中那对有趣的双胞胎男孩。”爱丽丝咧着嘴笑着说道。她环顾四周，或许她还想跟谁说两句？

这时阿斯科特勋爵竖起指头，说道：“你把我漏掉了。”

“不，我没有，先生，”爱丽丝说，“我们还有生意要谈。”

“我们去书房谈好吗？”阿斯科特勋爵说着便挽起爱丽丝的胳膊带她离开，但爱丽丝又回头看了一下。

“哦，还有一件事。”她说，接着便把裙子提到脚踝上方，露出没穿长筒袜的小腿，欢快地跳起了轻快的福特韦根舞。看到这些，有的客人大吃一惊，有的客人倒挺高兴。然后爱丽丝镇定地跟着阿斯科特勋爵走进他富丽堂皇的房子。

阿斯科特勋爵的桌子上铺着许多地图，还有他从查尔斯·金斯利那接收过来的各类生意上的账目和文件。爱丽丝俯身看着一张世界地图。

“我父亲告诉过我，他计划把贸易航线拓展到苏门答腊岛和婆罗州，”她边说边用手指在地图上描绘出这些异域国家的轮廓，“但我认为他看得还不够远。”

“还不够远？”阿斯科特勋爵惊讶地问。

爱丽丝问：“为什么不一直拓展到中国呢？那里幅员辽阔，文化丰富。成为第一个和中国做生意的商人，你能想象吗？”

爱丽丝抬起头看着阿斯科特勋爵。她的眼神熠熠发光，就像她父亲当年那样。

阿斯科特勋爵笑着说：“你知道吗？如果其他人跟我讲这些，我一定会说‘你真是疯了！’但我已经错失过一次机会了。虽然你当不了我的儿媳妇，也许可以考虑到我公司来实习。”

六个月后，爱丽丝站在一艘中国贸易公司轮船的甲板上，向岸边的母亲、姐姐还有阿斯科特勋爵挥手告别。轮船驶向大洋时，头顶的白帆被吹得鼓了起来。此时爱丽丝觉得海风拂起了她的秀发，发丝在头上自由、狂乱地飞舞。

一只漂亮的、长着蓝色翅膀的黑脉金斑蝶落在了她肩上。爱丽丝微微一笑，她突然清楚地记起了梦里的一件事。

“你好，阿布索伦。”爱丽丝说。

蝴蝶飞走了，爱丽丝看着它飞向远处的天空，脸上绽开了纯真的笑容。

(完)