Miss Mary in Pride and Prejudice

During these few outings, Miss Darcy always sat in a carriage with the Earl of Leicester under Elizabeth's ingenious arrangement. Mary saw her sister's intentions, and she had no ill feeling towards Miss Darcy. Although the friendship between the two is very shallow, Miss Darcy is not a pretentious aristocratic lady, and she is very talented, so Mary also thinks that Miss Darcy is a good match for the status of the Earl of Leicester.It's just that when thinking of this question, she always felt a little uncomfortable in her heart. She thought that she was probably jealous of Miss Darcy's talent and appearance, and her large dowry, so she could choose her husband as she wished , and she herself has nothing.Jealousy is a bad virtue, this is a wise saying she has learned from books, so she consciously avoids discussing this issue with others, so she has no way of knowing what Miss Darcy and the Earl of Leicester think about this issue.

In the castle, when everyone gathered in the comfortable and spacious reception room to listen to Miss Darcy playing the piano, Mary always excused herself to accompany Anne and leave the crowd, staying in Anne's room, chatting with her, or Mary felt at ease when she read.She thought that although everyone thought that Miss Darcy was better than Anne, she might never become a bosom friend with Miss Darcy.Miss Darcy would come to visit Anne sometimes, and Mary would go away with excuses. This happened more often than not, and even Anne saw the clue. One day, she asked Mary: "Dear Mary, what do you think? Has Georgiana been acting strange lately?"

Mary's heart skipped a beat, and she pretended to be calm and said: "Miss Darcy? I don't think she is any different." Anne said slowly: "Well, I don't know why, recently I feel that Georgiana seems to be jealous What about you?" Mary was very surprised: "Jealous of me? Dear Anne, haven't you already had a fever? How could you have such a strange idea? Georgiana is better than me in everything, what can I make her jealous of?" ?”

Annie smiled and said: "A woman's intuition, my dear, I didn't understand before, but now, I think I understand a little bit." Her eyes fell on a lush bouquet of "Plover" roses on the windowsill , the pale green and pale white flowers are extremely delicate, and Mary suddenly thought that the vase of roses on the windowsill seemed to keep blooming every day, which was really strange.But she didn't take Anne's words seriously, but just regarded them as the ramblings of someone who was bedridden for a long time.

After Anne recovered from her illness, Mrs. de Bourgh took her and Colonel Fitzwilliam back to Rosings. When parting, Anne and Mary were reluctant to leave, but since Mary went to the vineyard to pick grapes, she lost her heart completely. Mrs. de Bourgh did not invite Mary to be a guest at Rosings Manor again. It should be said that Mary felt relieved about this.Mr. Darcy seems to have business cooperation with the Earl of Leicester, and needs to stay for another week. During this week, the two men go out on horseback early every morning, and the women in the castle live a very leisurely life.

This morning, Elizabeth was in a small and exquisite drawing room for the ladies upstairs, dealing with some letters from the housekeeper of Pemberley. Draw her a water lily pond painting for her, seeing the weather outside is fine, so early in the morning, she asks the maid who serves her to help her move the easel and paint tray downstairs, and place them properly by the pond. So he wore a wide-brimmed hat to shade the sun, and sat there painting all morning.During this period, many people came to see her painting.

First, Miss Darcy walked over from the other side of the garden and saw Mary drawing water lilies by the pond, she smiled shyly at her and said hello, then she didn't go away as usual, but walked away by the pond. Mary saw that she wanted to talk to her but was embarrassed, so she took the initiative to ask her about a small problem she encountered when painting the light and shadow colors of water lilies: "Miss Darcy, I found that I can draw It’s a water lily, but I can’t draw such a dense layer of water lilies, can you give me some advice?”

Miss Darcy is really a talented woman, she walked over briskly, took a look, and found the crux of the problem: "Miss Bennet, I think when you draw such a panoramic picture, you'd better not focus all your attention on what you need Instead of expressing the scenery, I put it on the effects of the space environment, light, smoke, and airflow around the scenery. I think the momentary impression left by the light on the water lily should be the theme of the expression. Just like Now Mr. Claude Monet in Paris is very vivid in the treatment of light and shadow. In my brother's study, there is a latest work of Mr. Monet - "Impression of Sunrise", which perfectly interprets the relationship between light and shadow. You can appreciate the relationship between them in detail when you go to Pemberley this time."

Mary was so convinced that she changed her writing point and technique. Sure enough, she soon painted a small piece of colorful and hazy water lilies in bloom. She was fascinated by this creation and immersed herself in painting Among them, they didn't notice that Miss Darcy didn't go away, but stood by and stared at her paintbrush in a daze.After a while, Miss Darcy smiled self-consciously and said, "Miss Bennet, do you know that Earl Leicester's painting skills can be described as consummate... Last time I saw the Earl drawing in the library of the Emerald Valley Manor. It's a small portrait of a person, it's very vivid...he painted you..." At this point, Miss Darcy's voice suddenly choked up, she turned her head and ran all the way back to the castle, leaving Mary staring blankly. Staring at her back in a daze.

After regaining her senses, Mary continued to daub on the canvas with a paintbrush while thinking about the meaning of Miss Darcy's words just now.She still vaguely remembered what happened in the library of the Emerald Valley Manor that day. At that time, she was sitting in a low-backed armchair in the corner, reading, and the Earl of Leicester was indeed leaning on the window sill on the other side of the bookshelf. Writing and drawing in the sketchbook, so he was sketching a portrait of himself at the time?Thinking of this, Mary felt a little hot all over her body, and she quickly used her reason to mock her self-indulgence: the count was just idle and bored, since there was a ready-made model in front of him, and he wanted to draw two strokes, so he painted himself What's so strange about it?It was only Miss Darcy's reaction that was strange.Mary couldn't figure out what Miss Darcy was thinking, so she sighed and stopped making unnecessary guesses.

When Mary put all her attention on the painting again, she didn't notice that Mr. Henry Davis came to her quietly. Just as she turned to dip some more amber, she suddenly saw a hand Holding a straw hat, the young gardener was idly pulling a rose in one hand. She was so startled that the paintbrush fell to the grass.

Mr. Davis hurriedly leaned over to pick up the paintbrush for her, and volunteered to go to the pond to rinse it off. When he came back with the paintbrush, Mary had recovered her composure. She thanked Mr. Davis coldly and took it. Paintbrush, continue to paint, not intending to talk.Of course, Mr. Davis saw her indifference, but he still stubbornly stayed where he was. Mary couldn't help thinking that this man was not a gentleman enough to be a servant.

While she was thinking this way, Mr. Davies started talking to her. He asked her if she liked the view of Leicester Castle, and whether she thought it would be better to have only one variety of roses in the rose garden, or a variety of colors. , asking her if she thought the Grape Picking Festival was interesting, why Madame de Bourgh had decided to leave Leicester Castle so hastily...

As for his last question, Mary immediately gave an answer: "I think Mrs. de Bourgh had to leave early because she didn't like the celebration of the grape picking festival. Besides, de Bourgh Miss Bauer is well again." Davis then asked her if Mrs. de Bauer had always had such a high regard for status, and he asked how she thought about it, and what her friends thought To answer these questions, is it harmful for young men and women of different social status to dance together?Has Miss de Bauer made any comment on this?

Mary felt that he asked too many questions and it was too difficult to answer them. When she was hesitating to find a reason to go back to the castle, the earl's voice came from the path around the pond: "Henry, are you here? Ah." I saw Earl Leicester wearing riding clothes and holding a whip in one hand, turning around from the other side of the pond.

He looked at Mary with a little surprise, raised the brim of his hat slightly and bowed, and then said to Davis: "Henry, I was just about to talk to you, but the housekeeper told me that you have resigned. You are right Has research on rose breeding been given up?"

Davis said earnestly: "Yes, Earl, I quit my job, but I don't want to give up my research on plover roses. I implore you to allow me to come back to the castle every June and July and share this work with you." Go ahead."

Earl Leicester said: "Of course, but I don't understand, why don't you stay here for the rest of the time?" Davis's cheeks flushed: "I'm sorry, Earl, I have some private affairs to deal with , so I have to go, I am very grateful for your kindness and generosity to me all the time, maybe I will come back soon, maybe..." He didn't go on, and the count shook his hand, telling him that he respected His decision, and good luck to him.

Mr. Davis left, and the Earl of Leicester turned around and quietly admired Mary's "Water Lilies". The surroundings were extremely quiet, only one or two melodious birdsong could be faintly heard through the bushes.Mary recalled Miss Darcy's words just now, and she was slightly embarrassed.The Earl of Leicester was deep in thought, and Mary was very disturbed by this silent period, so she finally put away her brush and told Earl Leicester that the water lilies closed their petals as the sunlight gradually became stronger, and she planned to come back tomorrow morning Draw the rest.

The Earl of Leicester paced back and forth on the gravel path by the pool, watching Mary tidy up her painting utensils in the same way.Mary was stared at by him and felt a little nervous, wondering if he didn't have any serious things to do?In order to break this embarrassing silence, Mary tried her best to find something to talk about: "Count, didn't you go out with my brother-in-law this morning? Why are you back alone now?"

The Earl of Leicester was stunned for a moment before replying: "Yes, we are going out together, but Mr. Darcy still has some other matters to deal with, so I will come back first."

Then the conversation came to a standstill again, and Mary resolved to leave the task of finding new topics to the Count, never to speak first herself.Sure enough, as if he had understood her thoughts, the Earl of Leicester said: "Miss Bennet, I overheard Mr. Darcy say this morning that he has given the post of priest in his territory to Mrs. Austin Jr., and he specifically mentions that it was your praise of Mr. Austen Jr. that prompted him to act of generosity."

Mr. Austin Jr. got a new position?This news made Mary so happy that she didn't even pay attention to the latter words of the Earl of Leicester, but happily exclaimed: "Really? That's great."

Earl Leicester's face became ugly, he bowed coldly, and said: "Then, miss, I will not spoil your interest here. I just hope that you will not , and have a prejudice against me. I assure you, I never intend to deprive Mr. Austin of his interests." As soon as he finished speaking, he resolutely turned around and disappeared in the opposite direction from the castle.

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