Miss Mary in Pride and Prejudice

The grapes have entered the ripening period, and the air is filled with an intoxicating sweet aroma.The carriage was not going very fast, so that Mary could clearly see the lovely clusters of amethyst-like grapes hanging among the dense layers of vine leaves.She couldn't help but cried out in surprise, and called Annie to come and see. Annie seemed to wake up from a sleepwalking, stuck her head out to look out the window, and said in a soft voice, "Oh, last year's grape harvest season, I ate half a pound of Gewürztraminer grapes, which made Mrs. Jenkinson worry for a long time." The old lady said to her daughter in a rare kind way: "So, Anne, don't be greedy for so many grapes this time, You know, your body..."

However, before the old lady finished speaking, no one paid attention to it, because the carriage turned around the vineyard, came to a high ground, and went down the hillside to reach Leicester Castle.It was a majestic building with countless pointed towers pointing straight to the sky. In front of the castle was a rippling lake, in which there were groups of swans, sometimes flying, sometimes cruising in pairs...

The scenery was so intoxicating that Marie had only seen it in pictures, and even the well-informed Madame de Bourgh kept her mouth shut.The carriage continued to move forward. When it turned a hillside, the line of sight was blocked by a beautiful oak forest. Turning through the forest, the scenery changed again. Now they are driving on the side of the castle, and the light gray marble exterior wall is shining in the sun. Hui, not only has a long history, but also seems to have a magic power that transcends time and space, making it eternally youthful.Looking in this direction, a beautiful arch bridge across the lake is not obtrusive at all, and it is very harmonious with the surrounding scenery.

Mary was inexplicably moved by the beauty and tears filled her eyes. She was worried about being laughed at, so she desperately held back the tears and kept them from flowing down.While she was struggling with her excitement, the speed of the carriage slowed down significantly and gradually stopped.Only then did Mary notice that the carriage had already stopped at the gate of the castle, and the solemn Earl of Leicester was already waiting for the distinguished guests on the steps. Behind him were neatly lined up two rows of decent uniforms with coats of arms servant.

Mrs. de Bourd liked this kind of luxury the most. She stretched out a hand gracefully, let the earl help her out of the carriage, and said arrogantly: "My dear David, I want to remind you to take care of me. I asked the butler of your mansion, I saw a lot of fallen leaves accumulated by the lake, the gardener must have been lazy and didn’t clean it up. In Rosings Manor, this is an unforgivable mistake.”

The count just replied calmly: "Thank you, dear lady. But it's not my housekeeper's fault, it's all my eccentricity. I think the lakeside is full of fallen leaves, which can add layers to the scenery, so I told them not to clean it." Madame de Bourgh laughed disapprovingly. At this time, the count had already turned to Anne. He graciously helped Anne off the carriage, shook hands with Colonel Fitzwilliam, and finally turned to Mary.

Mary felt that compared with the time in London, the earl's attitude towards her was obviously much colder, but she knew that she had offended him, so she didn't care about his attitude.In fact, the Earl greeted her family members politely and thoughtfully, including the Gardners. Mary thanked him sincerely and concisely, and the guests and hosts stopped greeting each other. He went to his room, bathed, changed and rested. He simply bowed to Mrs. de Bourgh and said, "Dinner time is seven o'clock." Then he walked away.

A young maid led Mary to the guest room on the second floor. Mary's room was next to Anne's room, but far away from Mrs. de Bourgh's room. Both ladies were sincerely satisfied with this. .After washing up briefly, Mary put on her best evening dress with the help of the maid. The so-called best, compared with Anne, can only be described as plain.It was Mary's birthday last year, and Jane gave her a floor-length evening dress made of beige embroidered taffeta material. Mary always felt that the shoulders of this dress were a bit too revealing, although the maid repeatedly assured her that it was beautiful. , She still found another white shawl with lace trim from the box, and she felt a lot more comfortable wearing this shawl.

There was still a while before dinner time, so she sent the maid to leave, and she looked out of the window and indulged in the beautiful scenery outside the window. From this angle, what she saw was another scene: nearby was a lush greenery. The grass stretches out all the way, blending into the distant wilderness in a seamless manner.On the undulating hills, there are some beautiful shrubs and big trees scattered high and low. The hillside in the distance is full of alfalfa. When the wind blows past, it swirls like purple waves, and groups of black and white flowers The cows are scattered on the green carpet, which is very vivid and beautiful.

Mary was enjoying herself, when Anne knocked on her door, Mary let her in, and Anne said pleasantly, "Oh, it's so beautiful here, Mary, do you see that the pond under the terrace is full of water lilies? This is the theme to draw a picture." Mary shook her head blankly, she really couldn't care less about looking at the pool under the terrace outside the window sill, but she was always easy-going and never let others down, let alone her friends Annie?So the two girls decided to explore the castle gardens before supper.

In the autumn afternoon, when the weather was still very warm, the two young ladies walked downstairs quietly without putting on their cloaks.The wide corridor is covered with ankle-deep Persian wool carpets, and people walk up it silently. The people in the huge oil paintings on the walls on both sides silently watched the two girls walk by, full of curiosity, imagination and expectation. However, Mary I felt some inexplicable fear.

They didn't meet a servant until they came to the garden, the sun fell on her body and dispelled the shadows, and Mary let out a breath: "God, the atmosphere there is really suffocating, and sometimes it goes hand in hand with grandeur." What is born is not intimacy, but fear." Annie may have grown up in a similar environment since she was a child, she could not understand Mary's feelings, she just smiled: "Okay, my lady philosopher, please come and comment on these The philosophy of life contained in water lilies and roses."

They laughed and laughed at each other and came to the edge of the pond. There are large rose bushes beside the pond, all of which are deep-cup champagne roses. The light yellow cream color has a hint of blush, very delicate and beautiful.The large water lilies in the pond have already closed their flower buds. When Anne was feeling sorry, she suddenly heard a young man's voice behind her saying: "Water lilies bloom in the morning, and they are all dozing off in the evening, please." Come and watch it tomorrow morning."

Mary turned her head in surprise, and saw a young gardener standing on the other side of the pond——he was wearing a gardener's overalls, his shoes were stained with mud, and he was holding a flower hoe, but his expression was not good. He seemed uneducated, and although he was talking to a strange lady, he was neither humble nor overbearing, calm and composed, and looked back and forth between Mary and Anne with great interest.

Annie turned her head away, she never talked to strangers, so Mary asked, "Are you the gardener here?" The young man looked down at the flower hoe in his hand, and said with a smile, "You can also say that, I I am studying biology at Cambridge University, and I am studying species variation. The Earl invited me to add some new varieties to his rose garden." Mary was interested in this because she read a lot, and asked, "Isn't it created by God? rose, and made her bloom in different colors?"

The young man said slowly with great interest: "Of course it is, but God can also use the hands of mortals to make his roses more colorful or purer." Anne who had been silent all this time suddenly asked: "Then you What kind of rose are you researching? Can we take a look?" Mary was taken aback, this kind of bold move was not Anne's style, and she was a little worried that if she went too far, she would cause unnecessary trouble.

But the young gardener made a gesture of invitation, and guided Anne towards the direction of the greenhouse. Mary hesitated for a moment, and followed.As she walked, she asked, "What's your name?" "Henry Davis, my friends call me Henry." Mary said without hesitation, "Mr. Davis, have you bred any special children?" the rose variety?"

Mr. Davis shook his head and said: "My research has just started. If it weren't for the Earl's generous funding, maybe I haven't even started yet, but I have already made progress." The method of controlling the choice of rose varieties, Mary is not interested in gardening, but Anne has been listening carefully and asking questions from time to time.

Soon, they came to the greenhouse. Mr. Davis pushed open the door of the greenhouse and said, "Look, this is my 'Plover' rose." Both Mary and Anne couldn't help exclaiming, The open rose is a very rare green rose variety with a soft mixture of light green and white. It blooms gracefully on the branches, like a bird fluttering its wings.

Mr. Davis squatted down in front of the flowers, stared at his roses with a very devout eyes, and said: "In another ten years, I will be able to cultivate roses with perfect green color, and I firmly believe that I will Successful." Anne murmured, "Does it take ten years?" Mr. Davis came to his spirits: "Of course, the cycle of nature cannot be viewed with the cycle of man. Every year in the flowering season, I will choose the color that is closest to Pure green roses, use her pollen to pollinate and cultivate, and the roses planted in the second year will inherit this quality, and then I will choose the right one again..." He seemed to be moved by his grand blueprint Now, the way he talks is not at all like a gardener, but like a general.

Mary thought it was funny, and just as she was trying to find the right words to get out of here, an elderly gardener came up: "Oh, Henry, are you introducing roses to the ladies? But I heard the dinner bell already It's ringing." His words reminded Anne and Mary, and they hurriedly said goodbye to the gardeners: "Thank you, Mr. Davis, it was very interesting to hear about your flowers." Mr. Davis said nothing, He just smiled, bowed slightly, and bent down to tend his roses again.

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