[Pride and Prejudice] Mrs Bennett

Looking blankly at the buildings passing by outside the window of the carriage, she finally fully accepted that her name was Grace.Facts about Gardner, a 16-year-old English girl who is about to marry.

It is now AD [-], and the place where she lives is London, England, in the British Empire.She is very fortunate about this. Although she has traveled to Europe, which she doesn't like very much, instead of China, at least she has traveled to the British Isles, which is far away from the mainland of Europe.

You must know that the French Revolution will begin ten years later, and until Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in [-], the European mainland can be said to be turbulent. Only the British Isles in the whole of Europe were not affected by the war turmoil.

Napoleon, the famous first emperor of France in history.Bonaparte really impressed Grace, who majored in history and literature at the university.

But since he is far away from France, Grace doesn't have to think about war and politics.Most important to her now was the fact that she was to be married in three days, to a landowner in the village of Longborn, in Hartfordshire.

Even if she is not willing to marry a stranger she has never seen before, she has no other choice in this strange age and strange place where women's status is very low.The historical knowledge she knows is just what major events happened in so many years, or roughly what happened in what era.

For example, the French Revolution lasted for five full years from [-] to [-]. For example, the steam engine and the spinning jenny appeared, and the industrial revolution began to spread from central England.

Now is the time for the rise of a new British aristocracy.The old aristocrats felt that doing business was a matter full of money, and their property gradually shrank. Some successful businessmen began to buy up land and became big landlords, and they were entrusted by the king as new aristocrats.The middle class such as lawyers, doctors, and squires slowly rose and became a new and important part of British society.

Grace's family, the Gardner family, is a family of lawyers. It is said to be a family, but in fact it is just three generations of lawyers in the family.She was the second in the family, with an elder brother Edward who inherited all his father's property and business, and a younger sister Betty who was four years younger than her.In this country where the land law exists and the system of limited inheritance and primogeniture is the main system, the status of women can only be said to be a little higher than that of women in the Qing Dynasty in China.

Fortunately, the population of the Gardner family is simple, and the father and elder brother are also very generous with the two daughters, and prepared a dowry of [-] pounds for each of them.Now England needs a minimum annual income of about [-] pounds to maintain a middle-level family. The [-] pounds that Grace owns is already quite impressive.

Of course, these properties are incomparable with the luxurious life of those nobles.

The current Prince of Wales and the future King George IV are only 17 years old now, but he already receives an annuity of up to £21 a year from Parliament!It's just that with so much money every year, his financial situation is still beyond his means.And four years later, when he turns [-], Congress will give him a living allowance of [-] pounds a year, and his father, King George III, will also give him an allowance of [-] pounds a year.But even so, he still owed a lot of debt in history, and later had to marry a wife to repay the debt.

This shows how extravagant the life of the British nobles and royal family is.

Grace is not a person who pursues a luxurious life, but being able to live a moist and comfortable life is her minimum requirement.Mr. Bennett, whom she was to marry, was a country gentleman, not a great landowner, but the land he leased to those tenants produced an income of two thousand pounds a year for him.

For the British of this era, a marriage proposal is equivalent to an engagement, and it is not much different from a marriage, except that there is one less procedure.Divorce is not allowed by British law, and now Grace can only plan to manage her married life well after getting married.

It is better to respect each other as guests than to respect each other as ice!

Of course, it is better if you can love each other, and the relationship between husband and wife is born.It is better to have a husband who loves himself and is willing to give him dignity and pampering than a husband who is cold and violent or even does not pick up some flirts with other women outside.

Now that this era has come, Grace can only adapt.Mr. Bennett's income of [-] pounds per year is definitely enough for them to maintain a relatively decent life, and Mr. Bennett is also pretty handsome, at least it will not hurt her eyes.

"Grace, it's not good for a bride to keep a straight face like this." The girl in a linen dress interrupted her contemplation by looking at Grace, who was sitting next to her, with her big light brown eyes. , "I heard from Edward that although the manor of Mr. Bennett's family is not as good as those big landowners, the farm is also very good, and the annual wool production is very impressive. Ah - he is also very handsome!" Holding himself in both hands She looked very intoxicated, "When I think of the scene where Mr. Bennett proposed to you, I feel very excited, Grace!"

"In a few years, you will be able to experience the feeling of being proposed, dear Betty, so you don't need to be so excited now." Grace said helplessly.

Thinking of the previous owner of her body, just like this 12-year-old girl, she yearned for things like love, and was always careless and bluffing at social dances, making people feel frivolous and uneducated, She felt a headache.

Fortunately, she will get married in three days and leave the Gardner family, and because of the social environment, that Mr. Bennett and her ex did not get along much, and her personality will not be changed. Discover!

In this era, British men and women met through various balls or introductions from relatives and friends. After they became adults, men and women would enter the social dances of the annual social season that matched their social status.Although marriage can only be said to be relatively free, it is always better than the blind marriages of the Qing Dynasty in China.The defense of men and women is not as old-fashioned as in the Qing Dynasty, but men and women still cannot contact casually in private, which will damage the reputation of women and is very shameful.It is also very rare for a man and a woman to get along alone before marriage. A truly loving couple still has to rely on cultivating their relationship after marriage.

I heard her elder brother Edward joke in private that the reason why Mr. Bennett proposed to her ex was only because of her beauty, so he was impulsive. After all, they only met three times at the ball. Have known each other for less than three months.

The evil nature of men who love beauty is the same no matter what era or country it is!

Although monogamy is practiced in Britain now and divorce is basically not allowed, but just look at the nobles, who doesn't have a mistress outside?Although it is said that His Majesty the King George III has no mistress, this is also a special case among special cases and cannot be used for comparison. It's no secret in England that the 17-year-old Prince of Wales has a string of mistresses, so his £[-] annuity is hardly enough.

In addition to these reasons, Grace also has another reason to think that getting married soon is a good thing.

The contrast between her personality and her predecessor is too great. After getting married and staying away from the Gardner family, it can be explained that her marriage life has slowly changed her.It is really hard work to act the same as her predecessor. In less than a week, she has already felt that her brain cells have reached the limit, and it is not impossible to continue to be brain-dead.

She needs to scream from time to time, and needs to speak with a lot of emotion... For a person who was raised by a lady from a young age and could smile without showing her teeth, this is really too much of a challenge!

The subtle beauty of orientals is completely out of tune with her predecessor.

"Grace, the aftereffects of hitting your head last week are really serious." The little girl Betty looked at Grace pretending to be serious with a little freckled face, "Both Dad and Edward said that you are more and more like me now." Lady."

The corner of her mouth twitched, and Grace looked at her little sister speechlessly.Being like a lady is the sequelae of bumping her head, how unreliable was her ex? !

Although she has tried her best to act like her ex, she really can't control this kind of personality that is completely opposite to her true nature, so she makes her family feel that she has changed a little because she is going to get married.

It's better to be thought like this than to be sent to the church for trial. People here can't accept such an advanced thing as soul travel.

"My dear Betty, men don't like me too much...well, that kind of character." A gentle and virtuous woman is better than a woman who is very uneducated and yells all day long, Grace has always believed so deeply.

"But Dad and Edward said that we are cute like that." Betty bit her lip and asked puzzled.

Patting this lovely little sister on the head, Grace said with a gentle smile on the corners of his lips, "It's because being a man/wife is different from being a daughter and sister. Fathers and elder brothers can pamper us unconditionally, because We're related by blood, but the husband doesn't. Just because of looks doesn't last, Betty."

So Gardner and his son are really good men. In this era, many men dislike their daughters and sisters because they will divide their property.

"In this way, don't you suppress your own nature to cater to the other party?" Betty crossed her face.

Grace looked at the sky at 45 degrees, which is rare for literature and art, and said melancholy: "Life is always unsatisfactory, Betty."

Just like her time travel, if possible, she would rather continue to be her older leftover woman in the [-]st century.

The two-wheeled carriage ran on the streets of London, and finally came to the middle of Tianen Temple Street, and stopped in front of a three-story building.

The servant at the porter came forward and opened the door of the carriage to help the two ladies in long skirts from the Gardner family down, and then removed the large and small bags from the carriage. These were the two sisters' shopping in the commercial street today. results.

Grace paid the driver, and she has been riding this kind of bumpy and slow transportation recently, which made her miss the car terribly.It's a pity that gasoline engines will not appear until at least 100 years later, and whether she can live to that time is still a question.

In addition, electric lights will take 100 years, and now candles are used for lighting.Fortunately, both the Gardner family and the Bennett family are well-off, and they use relatively expensive smokeless beeswax.Fortunately for Grace, there are now flush toilets and the most basic shower facilities, otherwise she really feels that it is hard work to survive in this era.

"Bought so many things again?" The young man dressed as a gentleman in a suit came out from the gate and directed the servants to move the many boxes placed on the ground by the concierge into the house, "I should be Mr. Bennett. I feel relieved by the marriage proposal, Grace, I can finally raise a younger sister who can spend money." Standing beside the two sisters, the young man jokingly said.

"Dear Edward, I want to get married so that the Gardner family can lose one spender right away, and it won't be long before you marry your sister-in-law too?" Grace raised her eyebrows and looked up at her brother, The voice is intentionally sharp.

☆、Chapter 2