Miss Mary in Pride and Prejudice

When Mary walked into the church, the bells were ringing loudly, the pigeons were flying, and the people were cheering. Everything was so beautiful that people yearned for it.Mrs. Bennet and her sisters were all moved to tears, while Kitty and Georgiana were looking forward to their happy days. All the laughter and tears in this day flowed with happiness.

Mary was calmer than people imagined. Although the church was indeed magnificent, the number of guests on the viewing platform was beyond expectation, the costumes of the archbishop standing on the altar were too dazzling, and the lineup of the church choir was too strong. The first chorus of the church reverberated for a long time under the dome of the cathedral—none of which made Mary lose her composure.

Just before entering the church and before the music started, the few words Mr. Bennet said while holding his daughter's hand made Mary's eyes dim.This is what Mr. Bennet said: "Mary, you are a lucky girl."

Mary immediately kissed her father on the cheek through the veil to thank him, but Mr. Bennet continued: "You will be richer than your sisters, with more jewels and more gorgeous carriages...Of course these are not what you value Yes, you will live a more enjoyable and thrilling life than Lydia... It is predictable, the Earl will let you see scenery that you can never experience in Longbourne." Mr. Bennet rarely showed A kind smile.

Mary replied: "My dear father, is your daughter such a shallow person?" Mr. Bennet replied cynically: "Of course you are not. babbling these nasty things in your days. Mary, please believe what your old dad has learned from 30 years of personal experience—the cornerstone of a happy marriage is definitely not changing the other person, nor changing yourself. No one can really change a person. people, but understanding and acceptance.”

This time Mary didn't speak, she just stood on tiptoe and kissed her father's cheek again, more tender than last time, Mr. Bennet's eyes were also moist, he patted the back of Mary's hand kindly, let her hold him He walked into the church amid the sound of music. He had visited this church when he was young. At that time, he never dreamed that he could marry his daughter here one day.He looked at the waiting groom at the other end of the long aisle, and thought to himself, now maybe all the old fathers in England can't come up with such an excellent son-in-law, thinking that he finally threw Sir William three blocks away, the old man really Very proud.

The wedding went off without a hitch, with all the red tape exciting except for the wedding ring.Witnessing the wedding dress, tiara, and all kinds of jewelry that could bury Mary, everyone thought that the wedding ring that the earl took out from his arms should be at least a diamond the size of a pigeon egg, but the earl solemnly opened the jewelry box. There was only an inconspicuous gold ring with a small sapphire inlaid on it. Even a layman could tell that the ring was not of good quality, but Mary knew that it was the earl's mother's relic, so she Preciously let the earl put a ring on her finger, but swear before God, love him forever, obey him, and be a loyal wife forever, regardless of poverty or wealth, sickness or health.

Mrs. Bennet's sobs were so loud at this moment that Mary couldn't help feeling sore in her nose. Fortunately, she had a veil covering her face, and fortunately the Archbishop of Canterbury was used to such scenes, so he covered it with a loud voice. After all the crying and laughing, he solemnly declared: "According to the authority given to me by the holy scriptures, I declare you a husband and wife. What God has joined together, man cannot separate." Then he showed a kind smile, indicating that the groom can kiss the bride Yes, until this moment, the veil symbolizing chastity was lifted, and laughter filled the entire church.

After the wedding, the newlyweds boarded the carriage immediately, and their honeymoon will be spent in Leicester Castle, although Mrs. Bennet provided countless scenic spots that her elders thought were suitable as honeymoon locations, most of these scenic spots were Mrs. Te heard about the overseas wilderness, and it seemed that she thought that otherwise it would not be able to show her son-in-law's identity, but the Earl of Leicester insisted that Mary's newly married life should start from his most important fief, Leicester Castle.

So when they finally got into the carriage with a whole body of barley grains and rose petals, Mary couldn't help sighing, "It's like a dream." The Earl of Leicester whispered affectionately in her ear: "Honey, if this is really a dream, I would like to never wake up." Love words are always nice, even people like Mary who are not easily moved by sweet words, did not find it annoying, because they used It took such a short time to reach Leicester Castle that Mary couldn't believe it.

What makes Mary even more unbelievable is that the appearance of Leicester Castle has changed a lot from what she saw last time.She did mention that if an arch bridge is built on the water to the west of the castle, it will complement the surrounding landscape, and now there is indeed a magnificent arch bridge spanning the two banks; she also inadvertently mentioned that she likes The autumn cyclamen, now from the river bank to the bottom of the castle wall, is full of purple sea of ​​cyclamen; and in other places of the castle, there are countless surprises that she mentioned or did not mention Waiting for her to discover and appreciate.

Mary sighed: "It's so beautiful—and too extravagant, David, you don't have to be like this at all because of a word from me..." The Earl of Leicester kissed her ear and said, "Honey, your wish is Order to me—we're home."

Mary looked back at the place she called home, and she remembered the last time she felt about it—majestic, but eerie and cold, and it was difficult for her to connect it with the concept of home.Especially when the carriage drove into the driveway in front of the castle, and she saw dozens of servants lined up in front of the gate to welcome the master back, she couldn't help thinking that this was the team she would lead in the future, and she doubted that she could command it freely.

As if seeing her doubts, the count pinched her fingers and said with a light smile, "Honey, these are just a part of the servants, the lower servants are not qualified to show up in front of the master, but you don't have to know All the people, as long as they know three of them."

The carriage stopped, the count got out of the carriage, and turned around to help Mary get out of the carriage. All the servants stared at their mistress with piercing eyes, and everyone considered and evaluated in their hearts.A middle-aged man with a dignified appearance and serious expression greeted the count and his wife respectfully, and congratulated the master on a happy wedding on behalf of all the servants. Mary guessed that he was the housekeeper. Judging from their situation, it seemed that they were about to hold some kind of welcome ceremony and seemed to be waiting Mary was a little perplexed as she gave her speech.

Fortunately, the earl sent his servants away in a few words. Then he pointed to the butler who spoke first and said to Mary, "This is the butler, Mr. Smith." Mr. Smith greeted Mary respectfully, and Mary nodded and smiled. It can be seen that he has won the trust of the earl, and at the same time has great prestige among the servants.

Then he pointed to a middle-aged woman who looked like a shrewd butler behind him, and said, "Mrs. Ingle, the housekeeper." Mary had a very good impression of the housekeeper.

The last servant introduced to Mary was a 27-year-old woman who was always smiling and seemed in a good mood. The Earl told Mary that this was Miss O'Neill, Mrs. Ingle, his personal maid. I have personally inspected and trained her for several months, and think that she is qualified for the honorable and important mission of the Countess's personal maid.

Miss O'Neill took a step forward, her voice was clear and sweet: "My name is Daisy, Countess, I am honored to serve you." Mary said gently: "Hello, Daisy." After the introduction, the Count waved his gloves Dismissing the servants, he took Mary's hand and went to watch their new house together.Mr. Smith took the earl's gloves neatly, then turned around calmly and directed the servants to carry the luggage.

The appearance of the entire hall has completely changed. Those heavy and gorgeous curtains were replaced with lighter and more fashionable fabrics, and the light suddenly became brighter. The originally dignified carpets were all replaced with snow-white Persian carpets. The furniture is still the original antique furniture, but the decorations are changed from thick and hard metal to crystal and light porcelain. In addition, all the interiors and cushions are made of elegant and bright fabrics. The gloomy atmosphere was swept away, and Mary said pleasantly: "Oh, David, this place looks like home now, how do you know..."

Earl Leicester smiled and said, "How do I know? Dear, don't you know that your words and deeds are controlling my sight and thoughts?"

They walked upstairs, and the portraits of the family members in the original hallway were replaced with more story-telling frames. It was a great feeling not to have so many dark eyes staring up the stairs.Those paintings are undoubtedly of great appreciation value. Among them is an oil painting that seems to be from the period of the Crusades, which particularly attracted Mary's attention. In the past, when the lover bid farewell, the distraught nun knelt in front of her lover, clutching his armor tightly, as if she was silently trying to persuade him to stay, while the ruthless monk in black stood at the door and beckoned him to leave.

Mary noticed this painting, firstly because the story it showed was not so obscure, but because the face of the monk in black at the door in the painting reminded her of a person—the priest of Lisbon.At this time, she suddenly remembered that at today's wedding, the Lisbon priest did not serve as the master of ceremonies as the earl had planned.She immediately asked the earl this question, and the earl seemed satisfied with her unthinking and casual attitude, so he knew everything: "Oh, the Archbishop of Canterbury is sorry for this young man. He has a bright future, but he doesn't know why. The reason is that he offered to go to the Sri Lankan colony to preach, and the church certainly would not reject such a noble act of dedication, Mr. Lisbon had already left the UK a week ago and went to South Asia by boat."

Mary was a little surprised, but she didn't have many regrets. Mr. Lisbon's last actions wiped out all her good impressions of him, so she quickly put aside the whereabouts of Mr. Lisbon.But Mary still felt a little apologetic about those portraits: "David, is it appropriate to remove the portraits of the ancestors of the Leicester family from the walls? Besides, so many famous paintings must have cost you a lot of money?" the earl said indifferently. : "Don't worry, my dear, I know all those portraits. I didn't change them before because I didn't think it mattered, but if you feel uncomfortable looking at them... and the current paintings are all from the original collection of the castle. When you have time I can show you the underground storeroom of the castle, where there are many things that will interest you. Now please come and visit our bedroom."