Miss Mary in Pride and Prejudice

After they arrived in London, they stayed at the Lester family's mansion on Bond Street in London. To Mary's surprise, she saw Mr. Smith again at the door of the mansion. The serious and imposing housekeeper stood respectfully at the door , to report to the master that everything is ready.It appeared that either Mr. Smith was so competent as a steward that the earl could not do without him wherever he went, or that the earl was too lazy to repeat his customs and requirements every time he visited one of his estates, so Mr. Smith left the sole responsibility for it.In short, Mary was very satisfied with the residential facilities in London and the service of the servants. That night, she told the butler waiting at the door of the restaurant that everything was impeccable. The butler bowed humbly, and it seemed that he was equally satisfied with herself.

Three days later, the Earl of Leicester ordered Mr. Smith to hire a senior court etiquette teacher for Mary to let her know some court etiquette, taboos and the main members of the royal family. .It should be said that this lady who is familiar with court etiquette and noble temperament did not bore Mary. On the contrary, she satisfied Mary's deep love for gossip. The indispensable additive is enough to make people feel excited about the boring preaching and rigid exercises, and full of anticipation-looking forward to seeing those legendary big men, who appear to be glamorous on the surface, but are actually corrupt and evil.

The Earl of Leicester was not idle during these three days. He would go out to the club every day during the day, and at night he would always bring back a few friends from the political or military circles. From their titles and manners, Mary could deduce this. People have a decisive influence on Britain and even the whole of Europe, but when they are with ladies, they are just suave gentlemen, who are better at flattery and courteousness than country gentlemen, and it is hard not to have a good impression.

Among them, the Earl of Chatham and Lord Liverpool are the most valued by Mary. The Earl of Chatham is dignified, self-restraining, knowledgeable, and unsmiling, while the Lord Liverpool is humorous, chatting and laughing, which makes people feel like a spring breeze. However, these two outstanding talents It is a strange thing that outstanding people do not like each other, and they can hardly live under the same roof.However, the Earl later told Mary that it was because the Earl of Chatham was valued by the current king and entrusted with the important task of Prime Minister, while Lord Liverpool was a friend of the Crown Prince.

With his explanation in this way, it is not difficult for Mary to understand the confrontation between the two when they met, because in her etiquette class, she already knew the tradition of the Hanover royal family that lasted for four generations-every day. With every crown prince opposed to his ruling father, most notably the current Prince of Wales, it's no surprise that relations between their trusted vassals have hit a freezing point.What surprised her was that the earl had maintained a very friendly relationship with these two people who obviously couldn't work together, and on the night of meeting Mary, the earl of Chatham invited the Leicester couple to the Royal Palace as the prime minister. He watched the opera "The Barber of Seville" in his prime minister's box at the Grand Theater.

Although the trip to the palace the next day made Mary a little nervous, the Italian opera said to be comparable to "The Marriage of Figaro" still touched Mary's art-loving heart, so she readily accepted the prime minister's kindness and went to the Appeared in the prime minister's box.

The Earl of Chatham is a bachelor, so there is no Prime Minister's wife who needs Mary's entertainment, so Mary can monopolize the eyes of the two men this evening and be treated with great hospitality.The Earl of Chatham told Mary ostentatiously that this opera had been ridiculed in Italy because Italians adhered to traditional concepts. The veteran composer Paisciello had already written an opera in the same libretto, so this masterpiece of Don Rossini was boycotted, and on the night of the opening all the hooligans of Italy gathered in the theater to whistle, Booed, the premiere failed with chaos unprecedented in the history of drama, but the Earl of Chatham discovered the pearl with his unique artistic appreciation and brought it from the Apennine Peninsula to the British Isles, where the Mr. Sydney's genius will be recognized by the world.

In fact, the performance was indeed very successful. This opera does not have the complex and tortuous plot of "The Marriage of Figaro", but the melody is smooth and lively, the rhythm is relaxed and carefree, and the satirical plot is both spicy and pleasant. At the beginning of the opera, Mary was attracted by the love story between the young Earl Almaviva and the beautiful girl Rosina. She read it with gusto, laughing with the emotions of the characters from time to time. Smiling, he reminded her that she was lucky enough not to wait until the next day, but to see His Majesty the King only that night, because His Majesty also came to the Royal Theater to watch this sensational opera.

The Earl of Chatham volunteered to serve as Mary's recommender, and he guided Mary out of his box to let the royal box go. The corridor was full of ministers, nobles, and all kinds of volunteers who were looking forward to the Holy Spirit.The Earl of Chatham's title worked like a special pass, but after seeing the king, Mary guessed that her husband's title would work just as well without the Prime Minister's introduction, because the king would immediately take the title when he saw anyone coming in. Shouted to the Earl of Leicester: "David, my friend. I was lured by Chatham, and made me suffer for two hours for the Italian Rossini whom he admired, I just looked at my watch to see if it would give me another two hours." The Earl of Chatham just shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to contradict the king at all.

The king hugged and kissed the earl of Leicester like a simple farmer, and then his majesty turned to Mary. The earl introduced his wife, and the king nodded and said majesticly: "Understood, this is your Rosina." He Laughing, he held out his hand to Mary.Mary didn't expect the king to be so approachable and unassuming. She behaved politely and got a good look at the king: he was a grizzled old man with a red face and a fat body that made him seem to be embedded in an armchair, but he was angry. Full of yelling, he looked like a man who was drinking too much but was full of energy.

George III was courteous to his ladies, which endeared Mary to him instantly, but he was not very polite when speaking to his Prime Minister, and in fact the King seemed to take pleasure in embarrassing the Earl of Chatham.Now he left the Prime Minister aside, and began to talk in low tones with the Earl of Leicester, and Mary caught a few fragments of their conversation referring to Napoleon, First Consul of France.

The Earl of Leicester is convincing the king: "Your Majesty, please believe me, Napoleon's victory in Europe will not last long, power will go to his head, so that he himself believes that he is invincible, and eventually he will be defeated because of his ego. And fell flat."

However, the king didn't seem to have received much comfort. His chest heaved violently: "Lestat, what if he was really ordered by the heavens as the Pope claimed? So far, he hasn't lost a battle..."

"But Your Majesty, have you forgotten Egypt? In Egypt, the British Royal Navy almost wiped out its entire army, and that naval fleet is still under your command. Therefore, only the United Kingdom and only you can organize an anti-French alliance to fight Napoleon. Do it." The Earl of Leicester persuaded, and the Earl of Chatham listened with a smile, and didn't want to interrupt at all. In the end, the king seemed to have gained some comfort from Leicester's repeated assurances, and he remembered again. In the theater, he returned from politics to art. He is a layman in this regard. Although everyone listens to his high-spirited speeches because of his status, the Earl of Chatham is against the king's wanton denigration of his favorite composers and operas. Obviously aggrieved, and it showed in his expression.

In this way, when Mary and the others retired from the king's box, the king's mood became better. He laughed heartily and invited Mary to enter the palace the next day. He would meet her again in Buckingham Palace and confirm her Countess and introduced her to Queen Sofia, Mary thanked him sincerely for his kindness before bowing out.

On the way back to the prime minister’s box, Earl Chatham swept away his displeasure in front of the king just now, and said to Earl Leicester with satisfaction: “David, your persuasion is very effective this time, the king trusts you very much, I hope you will have enough time tomorrow to let His Majesty make up his mind to form an anti-French alliance."

The Earl of Leicester replied firmly: "You don't have to worry about this, Pete. Your Majesty knows that Britain has only one way to go. He just needs time and reasons to accept this fact, because he is afraid of all wars, although he is not a cowardly man." Man — I'm just worried that the stress will take it out on his fragile spirit, you know, the king was insane for six months."

While talking like this, they greeted people who passed by, and the two men introduced various acquaintances to Mary from time to time. Mary felt that the evening was fresh and interesting, and the political topics she heard did not make her feel bored, but when At the beginning of the second act of the opera, her attention was instantly returned from the situation in Europe to that thunderstorm night in seventeenth-century Spain.

The accident happened when the band was playing to a climax. When Mary saw the man in black climbing up the wooden box on the orchestra pit, she was puzzled, but she never thought that the man was going to assassinate the king.When the man fired two shots into the king's box, the whole theater was in chaos and screaming.Earl Chatham ran out of the box in the blink of an eye to escort him, while Earl Leicester stayed in the box, guarding Mary behind him, while calmly observing the movement in the theater.

The king's guards and theater guards quickly took control of the situation, and the man who shot was caught on the spot. In Mary's view, he had no intention of escaping at all. When he was tied up by the guards and taken away, he shouted religious slogans.The Earl of Chatham returned shortly afterwards, and said the King was safe and well, that the bullet had hurt no one, but had struck the guard of the box, and His Majesty ordered the show to go on.

The Earl of Leicester asked Mary if she was frightened and needed to go home to rest, but Mary said she was well and was willing to follow the king and finish the opera.The Earl of Chatham paid tribute to her courage, for after this incident most of the ladies left, but all the gentlemen remained.

Mary now understood why the Earl of Leicester said that the king was not a timid person. The assassination incident did not seem to affect His Majesty's mood. He was still not interested in opera, and even dozed off in the second scene of the second act. Everyone in the theater heard his snoring.

☆、Chapter 73 Meet the queen

Early the next morning, Mary dressed up and went to the palace with David, because her etiquette teacher had reminded her in advance that both the king and queen advocated frugality and hated luxury, so although Mary's clothes were exquisite, they were not overly gorgeous , all unnecessary accessories were removed, and only a string of Tahitian black pearl necklaces were worn on the neck. Even the most picky court lady could not pick out the slightest fault in her clothing.

Unfortunately, this time she was not as lucky as last night. The head of the inner court came out with a stern expression and informed the people in the hall that the king was ill and could not preside over the state affairs of the day. Both the prime minister and the crown prince had been summoned into the palace urgently.

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became tense. The earl rubbed his chin with his hand, squinted his eyes and said nothing. Mary was at a loss when she entered the palace for the first time. There was a familiar face - Lord Liverpool. On the night she arrived in London, the earl had invited the crown prince's friend to dinner. Now he also saw Mary, so he took the initiative to say hello.

Then Lord Liverpool eagerly asked: "Countess, I heard that you also witnessed the assassination of His Majesty at the Royal Theater last night. Was Your Majesty really not injured?"

Mary replied affirmatively: "Yes, I don't think His Majesty was injured. There were two shots fired, and the Prime Minister later said that two bullets were found on the guard board of the box."

The somewhat pompous Lord Liverpool raised his head and sighed: "Then maybe this incident surprised His Majesty and brought back old illnesses..."

The count asked coldly: "What? Has Your Majesty relapsed yet again?"

"Yes, it was fine last night, but according to the servants, the king couldn't sleep all night. This morning, the queen found that the king was not in his bed. He didn't know when he was standing in the corridor in his pajamas, facing A window chattering."

The earl thought for a while, and asked, "The last time your Majesty got sick, he took an oak tree for General Washington. Who did he take that window for this time?"

Lord Liverpool smiled: "David, you are always so perceptive. To be honest, after His Majesty came back last night, he received the Crown Prince, and the conversation between the father and son was very unpleasant... Then His Majesty mistook the window for the Prince of Wales in the morning— —You know, the Hannover family has always had a tradition of discord between father and son, it should be said that both of them made mistakes, and the Crown Prince cannot be blamed entirely."

The Earl of Leicester retorted disapprovingly: "As far as I know, His Majesty loves his children very much, perhaps a little too much." He turned his head and looked at a tall and strong young man who was walking towards him, Liverpool The lord smiled knowingly, "You mean His Majesty's knighting of Prince William? Yes, Prince William is too capricious." He turned to Mary and said, "Maybe the countess would appreciate a hero like Prince William. He served as the commander of the battleship "Cape St. Vincent" in the North American War of Independence. He made outstanding military achievements and was named a rear admiral. It should be said that the prince is very good at fighting, but he has only a little bit of political acumen—he wants to be like his brothers Became a duke, and after being rejected by the king, he once threatened to leave the royal family to run for the House of Commons..."

At this time, a young and straightforward voice sounded behind the happy Lord Liverpool: "Thank you, thank you, Liverpool, for complimenting me so much in front of a beautiful lady."

Lord Liverpool turned his head, standing behind him was Prince William who was slammed by him. The Earl of Leicester laughed and introduced his wife to the prince. Prince William happily said to Mary: "Very well, very Well, Leicester is always so terse, but if we let our friend Liverpool continue the introduction, he will tell you all my titles, Countess."

Facing such an embarrassing situation, humor is the only weapon, so Mary turned to Lord Liverpool with interesting eyes, and the Lord had no choice but to say in a bit of embarrassment: "Of course, Your Highness. Ma'am, this is the Duke of Clarence And the Duke of St. Andrew, and the Earl of Munster." Mary greeted the distinguished prince again with a smile on her face, it seemed that Prince William was just joking and liked Mary's demeanor very much.But it was evident that the earl of Leicester was his preferred object of conversation, and Lord Liverpool soon went away.

As soon as Lord Liverpool walked away, Prince William grabbed the earl of Leicester's sleeve rudely and said, "Oh, Leicester, you must help me this time and persuade my father to let me return to the army. ——The anti-French war is about to start. This is where I come in. I didn’t listen to you when you advised me not to leave the navy. It was the biggest mistake. I’ve been fed up with London’s dwarf politics for a few years Now, the only thing I can do is to help my eldest brother, the Prince of Wales, defend his high expenses in Parliament, which is no use for heroes."

The earl patted the sleeves that were wrinkled by the prince informally, and replied: "This time, that time, Your Highness. The current British government will never allow you to return to the navy. In the North American War, your identity as a prince was leaked, and how much effort General Washington took to send someone to kidnap you, neither the government nor the Congress will take the same risk again. And the king will not agree to your participation in the war, which I should not need Remind you again."

Prince William frowned and said: "Hateful Yankee, hateful Parliament, hateful Prime Minister... because of them, I have to be confined to the living room and conspiracy, and I can't breathe. But this time my father once again Insane, probably my brother's regency, so George can send me to the navy."

The Earl of Leicester said calmly: "It depends on the king's condition, and this time is different from the last time. I heard that the king had a big fight with the Prince of Wales before the illness, which will make the parliament consider the crown prince's regent. Too cautious about position."

Prince William replied indifferently: "Yes, Your Majesty scolded George for being extravagant and licentious, spending too much money..." He glanced at Mary, and then continued vaguely, "There are other bad things... Let me say that although George It's a little too much, but you know that George is such a man full of energy, and the absorbent cotton-like air in the palace is too dull and restrained for young people. And you didn't hear Your Majesty How did you scold George, just treat him like a child—yes, he is like this, like a king in a fairy tale, who loves his princes, but wants them to be like children forever!"

The Earl of Leicester lowered his eyes, and he commented objectively: "But with an annual allowance of [-] pounds, the Prince of Wales is still heavily in debt, and His Majesty is still funding him, and he is more sad than angry about his various behaviors— —Compared with the previous crown princes of the Hanover family, the current Prince of Wales is much luckier, and he has nothing to complain about."

Prince William shrugged his shoulders in disregard of manners, and Mary felt that his gesture was too much like a sailor, not an aristocrat.He approached the Earl of Leicester and said: "But this time, His Majesty is serious. He threatened George to get married, and claimed that if he refused, he would cancel his right to inherit the throne—do you still think that George shouldn't complain? ?”

Just at this time, a graceful middle-aged lady came out from the closed door. She went straight to Earl Leicester and said, "Your Majesty invites the Earl of Leicester and his wife to see you."

As Mary walked in, she reviewed the queen's information in her mind. The current British queen is not British. She was originally the Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Germany. It is said that the two never met before the king married her. They have met each other, but this does not prevent them from becoming a loving couple that is envied by the people of the country. They have fifteen children in total, of which four survived, namely George, Prince of Wales, Frederick, Duke of York, and Clara. William, Duke of Lens and Edward, Duke of Kent.The Prince William she had just met was the Queen's third son.

This is not a formal audience. The queen is not sitting on the throne. In fact, the curtains in this small living room are low and the light is a little dim. The queen is sitting in an armchair in the corner. With a sad look, he was talking in a low voice with some priests and doctors. The Earl of Chatham was also standing beside him. When he saw the Lester couple come in, he just nodded his head as a salute.

At this time, the queen raised her head and said to the people around her: "Well then, thank you, Dr. Morris, please keep an eye on the king's condition. Now you all step back, I want to receive the Earl of Leicester and His new wife."

Those people bowed and left, and when they turned around, Mary felt a bright look flash across her face like lightning, and the man in the priest's black robe turned around—it turned out to be the priest of Lisbon!The priest of Lisbon followed behind the Archbishop of Canterbury, and retreated expressionlessly. He never looked at Mary or the Earl again, but when he passed by, Mary vaguely felt the Earl of Leicester's arm muscles tense. , just like a beast in the wilderness smelled something dangerous.

Now only the queen herself and her two female attendants were left in the audience hall. The queen kindly called Mary to her side, let her kiss her hand, and asked her family kindly, but Mary felt that the queen was clearly Absent-minded, sure enough, not long after, she turned to Earl Leicester with tears in her eyes.

The count knelt down and kissed the back of the queen's hand: "Your Majesty, is the king's condition really bad?"

The queen waved her hand and said: "No, Earl, no, the king just has a heart problem, and his emotions are a little out of control. It's just because he is very angry with George, but he has not lost his mind as the outside world has said. —You know, he hasn't had any manic auditory hallucinations since he took the sedatives you brought from Panama on a regular basis."

"Then what are you worrying about, Your Majesty? What do you want me to do?"

"Count, you are a friend of the king and a friend of our whole family. Because you have no political ambitions, our whole family trusts you, whether you are the king or the crown prince."

The count waited quietly, and the queen continued with sadness: "Last night, the crown prince came to the palace to condolence the king, because he heard about the assassination in the Grand Theater. Then they quarreled about George's squandering of money." , Then the king was furious, and he revealed everything he had been planning with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prime Minister recently-he made the crown prince have to marry, and had already chosen a bride for him-Princess Caroline of Brunswick .”

The queen gave the earl a difficult task, to persuade the crown prince to marry a bride he had never met, and who, he had heard, was fat and had a bad temper.