Miss Mary in Pride and Prejudice

Hearing that the Earl of Leicester accepted the queen's entrustment without hesitation, Mary was secretly worried, because judging from the anecdotes she had heard in the past few days, the crown prince was by no means someone who could be manipulated at will. What's more, he also has a mistress who has lived together for many years-the two even held a religious wedding, but they were not recognized by the king, so they were not recognized legally.

After exiting Queen Sophia's reception room, the earl greeted for a while with the nobles who surrounded them. They seemed to have some confidential matters to discuss, so Mary went to the window to look out at the scenery in the royal courtyard—glass window It was covered in dust and seemed to have not been cleaned in a long time.Mary subconsciously wiped the dirt on the glass with a handkerchief. At this time, she heard an old and low voice from behind: "Countess, do you think the servants in the palace are not doing their job well?"

Mary was startled, she withdrew her hand, turned her head, and it turned out that the Archbishop of Canterbury was smiling and talking to her. Mary was an old acquaintance who had officiated a wedding before, so she curtseyed, and the Archbishop kindly extended his hand , let Mary kiss the archbishop's ring on his hand.

Then Mary explained with some embarrassment: "Well, I'm sorry, Monsieur Archbishop, I hope I haven't been rude-I'm just surprised that the servants are so careless, there are people coming and going, and there are blurs on the glass windows." There is a thick layer of dust—even in ordinary people’s houses, this kind of situation will not happen, right?”

The archbishop smiled tolerantly and said: "However, the palace is not an ordinary house, Countess. You must know that Sir Podley is in charge of cleaning the courtyard, and Countess Kargan is in charge of cleaning the palace. Unfortunately, the glass window is between the two. Between the two, the only thing left to do is to let the dust and grime sit on it until ownership is figured out — as far as I know, this has been discussed for 30 years.”

Mary chuckled, "My lord, you are so humorous." She thought the Archbishop of Canterbury was joking, but the Archbishop didn't explain further. Instead, he cautiously glanced at the crowd at the other end of the hall, and then changed the subject: " Countess, as far as I know, do you know Mr. Lisbon, my private secretary?"

Mary's smile faded a little: "Yes, we used to be friends, but after some things, I don't know if it's appropriate to say that again."

The archbishop smiled kindly: "I understand, I understand, Mr. Lisbon has already confessed to me what he has done. If I evaluate it from a female perspective, I think it is not difficult for the Countess to forgive him-- Although he is not open and aboveboard, but it is out of strong love."

Mary pointed out gently: "From my standpoint, it is indeed understandable, but I'm afraid the Earl doesn't think so."

The archbishop sighed and said, "Yes, yes, that's exactly what I was worried about. Before, because he was ashamed of his behavior, the priest of Lisbon once offered to go to the most remote mountainous area of ​​Indochina to preach, in order to redeem himself But before leaving, he wrote a plan for the development of the empire in the Far East. After I forwarded it to the king, His Majesty appreciated it very much, and specially summoned him back to London—he was only one step away from boarding the So he is now His Majesty's personal priest, not only in charge of the mass in the palace, but also a state advisor for His Majesty. I earnestly hope that the Earl of Leicester can clear up the past, after all, he is a subject serving His Majesty There should be solidarity, not bitterness against each other."

Now Mary understands that the Archbishop of Canterbury is afraid that the Earl of Leicester will use his influence with the king to cancel the new post of priest in Lisbon, but he himself does not want to lobby the Earl, so he turns to lobby Mary. As far as she is concerned, Mary is indeed not very angry at Mr. Lisbon's behavior. After all, it is difficult for any woman to be cruel to a man who loves her. She thinks that she may be able to help the archbishop.

In the carriage going back, the earl asked Mary how she felt about the royal family members she saw today, and Mary replied without hesitation: "Your Majesty is not like a king, but like a farmer, but when you see it, you will immediately feel sympathy and affection; and Prince William doesn't look like a prince, he's more like a sailor, with a bad temper and capriciousness - I hope the crown prince can be more talkative."

The earl laughed: "Prince of Wales may be the most aristocratic member of the royal family. But that's just his appearance. In fact, this prince is a mixture of contradictions. He is easy-going and friendly at times. Sometimes he is cunning and eccentric, he is talented, but he is mediocre. Since he was born, he has been waiting for the day when His Majesty will ascend, because only then can he say what he wants to say and do what he wants to do , before that, he can only stand in the shadow of His Majesty—he has been waiting for this day for 30 years, and he is still waiting indefinitely, "

Mary was a little curious: "Are you really going to persuade the crown prince to marry that Princess Caroline? Even if you succeed, won't you be hated by the crown prince and the wife who lives with him?"

The Earl of Leicester kissed Mary's ear lightly, and said, "Honey, you have the sensitivity and judgment to be a politician - that Princess Caroline is obviously the candidate recommended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and behind all this Lisbon's plan is indispensable, but they didn't want to offend the crown prince too much, so they came up with such an idea, planning to make me a scapegoat-so not only will I not persuade the crown prince to marry that princess, but I will also firmly oppose him in front of him He betrayed his first wife, so that when he himself made up his mind to marry his father and king and soon regretted it, he would think how wise my opinion was, and regret that he did not follow my advice."

Mary now understood that nothing could be hidden from the Earl's eyes and ears. She lowered her head and pondered for a while, and then told the whole story of the conversation she had with the Archbishop of Canterbury in the hall just now without any comment. She let the Earl of Leicester judge for himself. Right and wrong, because she felt that she was too naive about politics and could only rely on her husband's judgment.

Obviously the Earl of Leicester was very satisfied with his wife's actions, he let out a sigh of relief and said: "Lisbon, this is really the only name that makes me afraid, he is the only one I have ever seen in my life who can compete with me in terms of intelligence. It is a pity, therefore, that, Mary, the Archbishop of Canterbury's peace cannot succeed, and not only do I disagree, but I think Mr. Lisbon absolutely cannot. Agreed."

Mary was confused: "But why? I think what happened at Howards End is entirely his fault, and he has no one to blame."

Earl Leicester smiled slightly: "Of course not for this reason, I married you just to add another layer of hatred on top of his resentment towards me - at a very early age, I I felt his resentment. At that time, I had just inherited the title and property of the Leicester family, so I did some investigation and found that he was the illegitimate son of the previous Earl of Leicester. He was talented and resourceful, but because of his status He couldn’t inherit his father’s family business because of some reasons, so he could only watch it fall into the hands of my distant relative. Hehe, I think he will fight against me in his whole life.”

Although the Earl's tone was very relaxed when he told these old things, Mary felt heavy and fearful, which seemed to be an unbreakable knot, but she didn't want to think about Mr. Lisbon anymore. The Archbishop of Canterbury said that he has a good impression of those who have pursued him infatuatedly, but now he also thinks that his pursuit is not purely motivated, which adds a bit of disgust.

Early the next morning, the Earl went to visit Carlton Mansion alone, where the Crown Prince lived. Because the hostess there, Mrs. Fitzherbert, was embarrassing, Mary did not go with her, and she had other arrangements that morning—she was going to Visit my uncle, aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner and those dear cousins.

Mrs. Gardner was very happy to see her nieces. It can be said that each of her nieces married better than the other, and among them, Mary was the most surprising. , demeanor calmly, with the self-confidence of a superior in every gesture, she lamented that women are deeply influenced by their husbands, and Mary is already a veritable countess.

Two of those cousins ​​were about to grow up. When they heard that Mary had seen the king and queen in the palace, they surrounded Mary and kept asking about various details, from the decoration on the fireplace to the queen's bracelet. They wished they could see it with their own eyes. Satisfied, Mary promised to take them into the palace when they became adults, which made the girls very happy.

Fortunately, Mary remembered the presents she had brought to everyone, and diverted the attention of the cousins. Everyone went to unwrap the presents, and Mary had time to talk to Mrs. Gardner.Mrs. Gardiner then talked about Kitty's recent situation. Kitty had been staying at the Gardiner's house for a few days ago and had only recently returned to Longbourn. She had been missing her fiancé very much, but news from India There was news that fever was prevalent in the British army, and Kitty's lover, Major Andrew, had not written to Kitty for a long time, so Kitty was inevitably worried.

Mary said that she would ask the Earl of Leicester to send someone to inquire about Major Andrew. If she lived in London for a long time, she would write to invite Kitty to stay at her home. She likes dances and banquets most, and these are in Leicester There will be no shortage in the Earl's Mansion, and it should be able to soothe my sister's lovesick heart.

She spent the day happily, chatting and playing, and when the earl came to take her home in the evening, she felt that the time passed too quickly.Mrs. Gardner is very satisfied with the Earl, and she is also very proud of her neighbors seeing her relatives with such status. In fact, dealing with the Earl and his wife is something that a merchant's family cannot achieve, but she has always behaved elegantly. Certainly, the Earl of Leicester respected her very much, so naturally he did not forbid Mary to associate with this relative, so Mary soon made an appointment with her aunt for the next visit.

After returning home, Mary hurriedly inquired about the crown prince's attitude towards the marriage. The earl said with a sneer: "Of course he can only agree, because he is already heavily in debt. If the king continues to express dissatisfaction with him, he may be sued by the creditors." , that is really a big scandal for the royal family, and it is very likely that he will lose the position of crown prince. He asked the parliament to approve his living expenses of [-] pounds a year, and the king would also give him an allowance of [-] pounds a year to pay for his return. pay off his debts, and then he promises to marry the German princess."

Mary quickly asked: "It's a huge sum of money, it can't be spent in a lifetime-will the parliament and the king agree?"

Earl Leicester said with a leisurely smile, "Just wait and attend the wedding."

Mary thought of another obstacle: "Then Mrs. Fitzherbert will agree?"

The Earl of Leicester touched his chin and said with a smile: "Speaking of this issue, I think the crown prince must have discussed it with her. When I saw the crown prince this morning, I found that his ear was broken and there were two pieces of tape on it. There is a big dark circle under the eye-I always feel that a lot of bloody things have happened at Carlton House."