Miss Mary in Pride and Prejudice

After the ball, Mary and the others still went back to the hotel in Earl Leicester's carriage.The earl sent them all the way to the lobby of the hotel before shaking hands with them to say goodbye, but Anne asked him if he had time to visit the famous Notre Dame de Paris tomorrow afternoon. For the two-day itinerary, everyone was very satisfied and looking forward to each other.

After returning to the room, Mary was too excited to go back to the bedroom to fall asleep, and Anne was similar. Even Mrs. Jenkinson, uncharacteristically, did not urge Anne to go to bed and rest, but praised the Earl's demeanor and appearance-in fact, in Jane In the eyes of Mrs. Jinsen, the words and deeds of all nobles are role models for the world.

When Mrs. Jenkinson finally finished her chatter and remembered that she should go to the kitchen and ask Anne for a glass of milk to help her sleep, and leave the two friends alone in the living room, Mary could not help praising the Earl of Leicester. She listed his various advantages, especially his gentlemanly demeanor when he relieved himself of embarrassment at the ball, which made her admire even more.Anne couldn't help teasing her, and said, "However, I feel that Mr. Earl is not as perfect as you said. In fact, he is too timid and lacks the courage of a knight. Otherwise, you would never have to tell me So many tears..." But Mary immediately denied it, and declared that she and the earl were just ordinary friends, and the earl's concern for her was just out of the gentleman's spirit of helping the needy.

Annie didn't want to listen to her self-deception, and continued to laugh at her: "If you have to find out one of his strengths, it is that the Earl has a talent for discernment that is difficult for ordinary men to match. I think he has already discovered that you are How beautiful—whether it is on the outside or on the inside..." Anne smiled and stretched out her hand to Mary, "I really want to congratulate you, my dear, you are so outstanding and beautiful today—any man will be beaten You are charmed, not to mention the count, who is impatient to win your favor."

Mary's heart was pounding, and she cried out incredulously, "Is it true? Do you really see it that way?" Anne kissed Mary's cheek tenderly, and said, "Honey, go to sleep. Take a nap. I think when the Earl arrives tomorrow, as long as I can wrap Mrs. Jenkinson in the room for half an hour, the Earl will make good use of this hard-won opportunity." She laughed mischievously.

Mary's heart was struck by lightning of happiness and joy, and she thought blankly: Will he still propose to herself, after that rejection?But a voice deep inside her told her more and more clearly: yes, yes.

So, will she accept it this time?Mary smiled sweetly, and the answer was in her smile.She hugged Annie tenderly, and said sincerely: "My friend, I really can't believe that I am such a lucky person. I'm afraid I don't deserve such good luck." She couldn't help but shed tears of emotion , her friend also shed a few tears with her, and then the two sentimental little women were forced to eat a piece of cake and a cup of hot tea by Mrs. Jenkinson who brought the supper, and then they were driven back to the Went to bed.

Before falling asleep, Mary thought that she would see him again in more than ten hours, hear his deep and deep voice, and accept his attentive and caring care, she was full of anticipation for seeing him again.But when she was falling asleep, she never thought that they would meet so much earlier.

Before dawn, Mary was suddenly awakened by a hasty knock on the door. She put on her dressing gown and opened the door in surprise. Mrs. Jenkinson stood at the door holding a candlestick, and told her in a panic that the Earl of Leicester Come, see her and Annie now.

Something urgent must have happened, or the Earl of Leicester would not have called late at night, especially not four hours after he had parted with them.Mary dressed frightenedly and went to the small sitting room of Anne's flat.The count was walking around alone, still wearing the dress he had worn last night, when he saw Mary coming in, he came over and bowed, and said eagerly, "Please forgive me for interrupting me at this time, but something unexpected happened. What everyone thought was that General Napoleon, who was far away in Syria, had secretly returned to Paris."

At this time, Anne also changed her clothes and came out. Earl Leicester nodded to her and continued: "The situation in Paris may fall into chaos for a period of time. The Jacobins disaffected by the government and the citizens of Paris see Napoleon as a savior, and there may be armed conflicts, even street fighting..." He paused, as if afraid that such a description would frighten the three slaves in the room A lady who has never been exposed to the smoke of war.

Anne murmured, "However, these political matters should not affect tourists, right? During the Great Revolution, my mother took me to Paris to visit relatives and friends, and I was not harassed by the uprising citizens. In this regard, Paris is a Friendly and inclusive city.”

The count sighed softly: "Yes, but that is for ordinary tourists, and after last night's ball, you are already considered to be part of my party, and I," he smiled, "absolutely not General Napoleon liked it."

"Then are you in danger?" exclaimed Mary.

The count's eyes flickered, and he comforted her with a soft tone: "Don't worry, Mary, his power can't threaten me yet. But just in case, I hope you all leave Paris early in the morning and go to a safe place."

Mary felt a lot of reluctance and uneasiness in her heart, and she really wanted to tell the count that she wanted to be with him, but reason told her that staying would only become a burden and a hindrance to him.Tears welled up in her eyes, but she bravely refused to let them stay. She sobbed silently, then turned around and pretended to pack up her belongings, listening to Anne discussing with the Earl of Leicester where it would be better for them to settle down. .

Anne mentioned that before they came to Paris, they had made an agreement with the Lisbon priest that they would meet him in Antibes and visit the scenic spots along the Cote d'Azur.When the Earl of Leicester heard the name of the priest in Lisbon, he throbbed for a moment, then regained his composure, and agreed with Anne's plan, because the town of Antibes is adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, and the residents are generally friendly to the British. The area will not be harassed by fanatics; at the same time, the Earl of Leicester spoke highly of the Lisbon priest's resilience and diplomatic skills, and believed that the three ladies would be safe and sound under his care.

So they quickly negotiated an agreement. Anne and Mary packed their bags overnight, packed the cages and put them in the hotel. They only need to leave with their belongings, and the other items will be kept by the Earl.At dawn, the count will send his own carriage to the hotel to pick them up and send them out of Paris, where there is a post station arranged by the count along the way. They will change horses along the way, and they will arrive in Antibes in five days.The count seemed to have a lot of business to attend to, and he left quickly.

Distraught, Mary went back to her room to pack her luggage, but tears blinded her eyes several times and she could do nothing.Later, she simply threw a long shawl in the box, then sat on the carpet with her knees hugged, sobbing uncontrollably.At some point, Anne ran into Mary's room. She embraced Mary, comforted her softly, and told her that the Earl had extensive contacts and influential friends in Paris. He chose to stay in Paris, so there must be His own reasons, sometimes, in a man's world, women will not understand.

At dawn, when the earl's coachman came to ask Mrs. Davis respectfully, holding his hat, Anne and Mary were already ready to go.The coachman told Anne that the earl had something to do and asked him to take the three ladies out of the city, which was now full of enthusiastic citizens welcoming General Napoleon back.

They didn't have time to inquire about the count's whereabouts, so they had to pay in a hurry. The carriage drove all the way to the outside of the city. Along the way, crowds of soldiers and mercenaries in various costumes were making noise, and countless citizens came running like headless chickens. Running, picking quarrels and causing trouble, all the shops were closed, and occasionally some unlucky shop was torn down by some mob, and women and children flocked in to snatch the goods, and no less than two hundred people were heard shouting at the same time: "... ... let's go ... to the Grand Place to welcome General Napoleon's triumphant return ..."

Mary shook her head and said, "Welcome to Napoleon's triumphant return? But yesterday I clearly heard that Napoleon had 400 warships when he set off, and only 2 ships were left when he returned. What kind of triumph is this?"

Anne sighed, shook Mary's hand, and said, "They didn't welcome Napoleon because they admired him, but just expressed their dissatisfaction with the Directory government's rule by welcoming him."

Mrs. Jenkinson, who had been sniffing the salts, interjected: "I hate Napoleon. I hate revolutions, rebellions, insurrections, and things like that. We English would never do such stupid things."

On the way to the city gate, they encountered more and more carriages painted with the family coat of arms and speeding out of the city. It seemed that the royalists in Paris were fleeing wisely. Mary was secretly worried. She was worried for the earl, but she knew that speaking out would not help, it would only add to Annie's troubles, so she endured the suffering silently.

At the gate of the city, a gorgeous carriage pulled by four white horses passed by their carriage. The coat of arms on the carriage was somewhat familiar. Anne whispered to Mary: "Look, that is the carriage of the Duke of Clovis. , are they also fleeing Paris?"

It was indeed the Duke of Clovis, because when the two carriages passed by, the curtain of the opposite carriage was lifted, and an old man with gray hair stretched out his head to look behind, Mary recognized that it was the Duke of Clovis, and Next to him was of course Cynthia, the Duchess of Clovis.At this time, the people in the opposite carriage also saw them, Duke Clovis raised his hat politely, while Miss Cynthia just gave Mary a hateful look, then turned her head away.

Once out of the city gate, the two carriages went their separate ways, leaving behind only two thin trails of smoke.

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