Miss Mary in Pride and Prejudice

At this time, the lingering power of the early summer sun played its role. People playing and dancing on the lawn began to feel hot. They came to the cold drink stand under the awning to drink a glass of iced guava, iced coffee or cider mixed with nutmeg juice. .So at Mary's table, more female relatives joined the conversation.

Mrs. Bennet, who was so proud of being invited to a Pemberley party for the first time, was so hot that steam rose from her hat, and kept fanning Feather fan, even the feathers on it are going to be bald.However, this will not affect Mrs. Bennet's enthusiasm in the slightest. You can only hear her yelling as soon as she sits down: "Mary, my dear, give me a glass of guava juice, and mix it with some punch. I am thirsty." Dead... that's it, that's great, thank you baby."

After Mrs. Bennet drank a big gulp of guava juice, her mood became more cheerful. She stretched her neck and said to Elizabeth who was sitting on the other side: "Lizzy, that one is wearing a tweed dress and holding a leopard-headed cane. What's the name of your husband?" Mary was like a vigilant cat, the hair on the back of her neck stood up, and she had a premonition that her mother would never say anything good.Sure enough, after knowing that it was the famous Earl of Leicester, Mrs. Bennet was very pleasantly surprised. She said with great honor: "It turned out to be an Earl! How humble! How elegant! How gentlemanly! Oh, he actually Had Mary the first two dances, and Kitty the other, and Kitty told me he'd won her seventeen shillings at roulette..."

Mary could not help interjecting in a low voice: "Mother, please don't shout so loudly. The Earl has no particular preference for me or Kitty. He invited every lady present to dance." Mrs. Bennet clapped her hands and said: "Of course, darling, that's what I mean by gentlemanly manners, and that's the upbringing of a great aristocrat. Oh, with an income of fifty thousand pounds a year, he's richer than a royal family! But he might like you." Which of the sisters, Mary, take off that ridiculous hat of yours, you gotta have your face seen if you want to marry?"

Mary walked to the other side of the table angrily, pretending not to hear her mother's last words, and Jane took over the task of chatting with Mrs. Bennet in good time: "But I think the Earl of Leicester is really a polite person, you know Well, everyone knows that he doesn't like socializing, but at today's dance he invited every lady who doesn't have a partner, it's really not easy for such a restrained and reserved person."

Elizabeth also sighed: "Yes, and he is so gentlemanly and consistent! Last year he helped Pemberley so much, but when I saw him this year and thanked him again, he even blushed a little embarrassed. I I have never seen any nobleman with such a heart."

Now Miss Darcy can objectively evaluate the Earl of Leicester without blushing and heartbeat: "Really, we all met the Earl at Howards End the year before last, and I think that's the impression he gave me since then, never It hasn't changed."

Mary never expected that everyone had such a good impression of the Earl of Leicester, especially everyone thought he was a little shy and not used to socializing, which really made her speechless: the gentleman they were talking about was a gentleman she had just learned The rascal you used to be?As soon as she thought of that person, that person appeared. Although the weather was very hot, his clothes were still meticulous, not even a single button was opened.

As soon as the Earl of Leicester came over, he was warmly welcomed by Elizabeth, so he soon had a place at the table full of women, and Mary had already consciously turned to the drink barrel to ask for drinks for the constant coming The people serving went.But she was afraid that Earl Leicester would say something that would embarrass her, so she kept as far away from him as possible.

Just listen to all the conversation being monopolized by Mrs. Bennet, who has never had the opportunity to chat with a nobleman, and such an easy-going and humble nobleman!Mrs. Bennet was very excited, so she told the earl about herself, her daughter, her relatives, her relationship with Pemberley, Longbourne, Longbourn's neighbors... Mary laughed to herself, she Her hat blocked her view, but she imagined that the Earl's expression must look very good under the torture of her mother.

Unexpectedly, as if deliberately pouring some cold water on her schadenfreude, the Earl of Leicester suddenly turned in her direction and said, "Mary, please give me a glass of apple cider." This kind address made the audience quiet For a few seconds, everyone's expressions were colorful.

Mary hated secretly in her heart, but her face was calm and calm. She viciously added two tablespoons of lemon juice into the glass, then filled it with sparkling cider, walked gracefully to the side of the long table, and slammed the glass on the table. The Earl of Leicester grinned and said, "Thank you, Mary." He showed his white teeth, as if to remind Mary not to forget the agreement between the two, and then he took a sip of cider, wrinkling his facial features instantly Together.Mary smiled coquettishly, and replied refreshingly, "You're welcome, David!"

Several people gasped again. Although it was summer, the air-conditioning emitted by a few young ladies like Miss Bingley was enough to make people shiver.Elizabeth couldn't help but whispered to Jane: "Is the friendship between the two of them good enough to call each other by name?" Mrs. Bennet was really overjoyed, but fortunately she still had reason and didn't say anything meaningful in front of everyone. Indecent words, but in the evening, her old man could not help interrogating Mary for hours, insisting on making her "slick little girl" confess how she had caught the earl in the bait.Mary managed to reassure her mother, but she could see clearly—everyone now believed that she was very friendly with the Count.

Fortunately, most of the guests left Pemberley the next day. Mrs. Bennet had so much to say to Mary, but it was a pity that she hadn't said one percent of her thousand words. Mr. Bennet impatiently urged Mrs. On the road, this time the old couple took Kitty back to Longbourne, leaving Mary with Jane.

Elizabeth and her sister had just been reunited, so naturally they were reluctant to separate immediately, so the Bingley family was persuaded to stay. Even Miss Bingley and her elder brother and sister-in-law cleared up their past suspicions and happily stayed as guests.It's just that she looks at Mary very strangely now, as if she is flattering, but also vaguely defensive.

Mary didn't care about the subtle change in Miss Bingley's attitude. In fact, she ignored everyone's speculation and prying eyes, because no one knew what happened in Paris and Florence except Anne. She only lightly described the earl's recent behavior as "a gentleman's occasional naughty", and no matter how rich the imagination of others, they would never have thought that the earl had proposed to Mary, so Mary was not worried about what happened. Inappropriate gossip.Now as long as the Earl of Leicester was away from Pemberley, she felt that she could even breathe easily.

The summer life in Pemberley is leisurely and carefree. There are enough people here to take care of little Ellen, and basically there is no need for Mary, so Mary can have plenty of leisure to enjoy the woods and river valleys around Pemberley.She goes for a walk in the fields for about two or three hours every day, and the quietness of being alone allows her to fully recall and think.Of course she went out with Georgiana sometimes, when little Mr. Austen had parish business to attend to, so that she was not entirely useless even at Pemberley.

Miss Bingley used to like Pemberley very much, and she didn't even want to leave after staying here, but this time she urged Mr. Bingley to go back to Howard End every day. He lives in Emerald Valley all the time, and will not return to Leicester Manor until the autumn grape harvest season.In this way, Howard's End, which is next to the Emerald Valley, naturally attracted her much more than before.

But the same reason made Mary not want to go to Howard End. She had also revealed this meaning to Jane and Charles, but Jane immediately begged her to help her to the end. When Mr. Bingley was not in sight, Jane told Mary Said: "My dear Mary, I can only rely on you now. You know, Caroline will not leave Howard as long as the Earl is at the Emerald Valley Manor, but instead of being able to help, she is always looking for trouble. I I have less and less energy to take care of little Alan, but the nanny has recently been in love with the coachman Jack, and often leaves little Alan alone and runs to the stables by himself, which is really worrying. The housekeeper is always there Complain about the lack of manpower, but Charles does not agree to hire more servants, I am about to have a second child, and the expenses will increase..."

Before Jane finished talking about these difficulties, Mary immediately promised her that she would accompany her to Howard End and help her take care of the children and housework.Jane was finally relieved, and Mary felt a little strange. It is said that Mr. Bingley has an annual income of [-] pounds. Although after purchasing Howard Manor, he caused some losses due to his poor management of agriculture, but he is not so tight.But Mary knows that Jane and Charles are soft-hearted and good-natured people, and it is not surprising that they are always unable to withstand the entreaties of others, so that they often make ends meet.But in comparison, Pemberley's management does seem to be much more orderly than Howard's. Mary thought: It seems that Mr. Bingley should learn more from Mr. Darcy about management.

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