[Pride and Prejudice] Rich Lady

Although Mr. Bennet was shocked by his daughters' proposal, he is undoubtedly a person who can listen to other people's suggestions.Especially when he saw the numbers listed by dear little Mary, he couldn't help laughing.

Since Mr. Bennet was also moved, it is very necessary to calculate the existing property that can be taken out before the visit of Manager Morris.So after taking a relaxing walk in the flower orchard of the ladies, it's time to discuss business.

"Daddy's little Mary has grown up too." The husband said gratifiedly, and then he looked at the elder daughters: "I think you also agree with Mary's ability?"

Jane and Elizabeth looked at each other and nodded excitedly.

In the past, because the father was incompetent and the mother was too simple-minded, Mr. Bennet would never invite his daughters to join this kind of business. According to him, "they are like other girls, one by one. Silly and stupid".But it was the contribution of the silly daughters that made him wake up, and in less than a year, the children brought changes to the Bennet family that were worth more than ten years before.

Mr. Bennet solemnly announced at Easter this year that ladies who have been recognized for their abilities will be invited into his study and have the right to participate in the planning, discussion and handling of affairs outside the family.

When Miss Mary was about to turn 15 years old, she was officially invited to participate in Bennet's affairs. This is undoubtedly the best compliment and affirmation.Fortunately, she has always been calm and reserved, with a serious expression on her pink face.

The moment the oak door of the study room was closed, Miss Mary's status changed quietly, and she would have the right to speak and make decisions in the Bennet family.Outside the door, Kitty and Lydia encouraged her excitedly, and the two little girls secretly looked forward to the moment when they were recognized.

"The price of Netherfield Manor is about 4500 pounds. I heard that the owner of the manor set a price of 4700 pounds. Before going abroad, he has the full power to ask Mr. Morris and a lawyer to take care of it. If it is not lower than the price, it can be changed reasonably according to the situation. A few months ago, when Mr. Bingley was looking for the manor, Mr. Morris proposed a price of [-] pounds, but the situation is different now. Meryton is much more prosperous, and the price of nearby land is rising. We'd better be fully prepared. "Ban said Mr. Nut gravely.

Mr. Bennet gave his daughters the account books of the farm, and after accounting, he was able to come up with about 600 pounds.With Mr. Bennet's contingency money in the study, it would come up to a thousand pounds.This is almost the working capital of the entire Bennet family.

The girls looked at each other, and the two eldest ladies took out their purses at the same time. What Jane took out was the profit from Viola's clothing store, and Elizabeth's was her income from the dessert shop and the dividends from the sewing machine factory.

Jane and Mary objected to Elizabeth's extra money: "Lizzie, the income of the clothing store is negotiated by everyone, and you can't use your own money to make up for it. It's not fair."

Elizabeth thought that since she had spare power, she had to help at this time.

Mr. Bennet clapped his hands and directed his daughters to look at him. He shook his head and said, "This is my responsibility, and it cannot be replaced by anyone. Children, please listen to Dad first."

"You must consider that if you are going to have a younger brother, then either Longbourn or Netherfield will be his successor; if it is a younger sister, then Longborne will be inherited by outsiders, leaving you with only Netherfield Field, and it's not a big farm—in either case, it's not up to the sisters to bear the money for the purchase of the property."

Determined to buy another manor, Mr. Bennet is obviously in high spirits. Like Jane, he has a small corner of his heart constantly worrying about what to do if his wish fails.

"Knock, knock," came the sound of knocking on the oak door of the study.

The father and daughter persuaded each other, and Mr. Bennet was a little unhappy. The servants should not disturb the masters to deal with business when they did not ring the bell.

"Mr. Bennet, may I come in?" Mrs. Bennet said loudly.

The husband and daughters quickly opened the door and helped her in.Mrs. Bennet evidently had no intention of interfering with her husband's decision; in fact, she was delighted, and what lady in the neighborhood hadn't dreamed of being a real Mistress of Netherfield?

"This is definitely the best decision you have ever made, dear Mr. Bennet, you will definitely not regret it!" Saying this, the wife put the box she held in her hand on the writing table.

"Don't give me a headache with these boring numbers, I'm just waiting to move into that big manor!"

The wife didn't sit down at all, and went out after speaking. The butler stood guard at the door of the study and helped the hostess back to the lounge on the second floor.

Everyone guessed what was in the box, and the husband opened it, and it turned out to be a discounted bill for Mrs. Bennet's property for four thousand pounds.

"Okay, now your mother has helped a lot, and the matter is settled." Mr. Bennet laughed.

He was such a gentleman that the lady's dowry should actually be in her own hands, which is unusual in all England.

But of course Mrs. Bennet will not suffer. Not only will she become the hostess of a luxurious manor, but she will also win the love of her husband and children. Whether it is Mr. Bennet or the girls, they will always try to find ways She was subsidized by her—perhaps in a few years her private fortune would be more than four thousand pounds.

Buying real estate is a complete hassle. Even if both parties are happy, many issues have to be discussed, negotiated, and confirmed over and over again.Uncle Phillips was a great help. He deliberately put aside Meryton's other work and devoted himself to helping his brother-in-law with legal affairs.

It has been two weeks since it was basically confirmed.But before Netherfield really belonged to the Bennet family, there was still some waiting, because it required a series of procedures from the county government, and it was not as convenient as Meryton to ask the county government officials to handle it.But this is a matter for the lawyers. The Bennet family has already paid the first payment and can move in at any time.

But there was a small mistake in the matter of the servant.Mr. Morris accepted that the Bennet family did not intend to hire the original steward and servants of the manor, and he himself preferred to be hired by the nobles; but the original servants of Netherfield were different. How good they used to be ah.Especially the upper-class servants with higher status, when there is no master in Netherfield, they don't have to do any work, they just need to give orders and supervise the helpers to clean up the surface of the manor.But after the manor changed hands, these things no longer existed, and the Bennet family even had to replace the servants equipped in the whole manor.

Mr. Bennet followed the advice of his daughters and asked Mr. Morris to come forward and give these people who were about to be fired an extra two months' pay.Some servants accepted it gratefully, and they asked the steward whether the Bennet family needed to hire new servants; while some servants were full of resentment, thinking that the Bennet family was unreasonable and damaged their reputation. Benefit.

Especially when they moved out of the servant's room and the attic and returned to their respective homes, they became even more aggrieved.Their room at Netherfield, which was supposed to be cramped and shabby, seemed very luxurious by comparison.Some people can only say a few bad words, while others hold grudges for a long time. Among the dismissed servants is a special servant, Claude.

Claude was the hatter's daughter and the illegitimate son of a French petty nobleman who was very generous with his money, so even after his mother was abandoned, Claude received some education.Literate and good-looking, he thought he would be able to become a dean of the local chapel.But because his mother, that poor woman, chose to plan for herself, she married a small businessman with the property left by the hatter, which made Claude, who had lost his property, never have a chance to get a decent job , I had to find a job as a servant.

But God seemed to look down on him by nature. When he was about to become the first manservant of the manor, the owner's whole family went abroad and did not plan to come back.During that time, Claude was in great pain. He often secretly boarded the carriage carrying the master’s luggage and went to the city to drink. At that time, the manor’s butler and the deputy manager were busy handling affairs for the master, so he naturally relaxed the management of the servants below. some.During that time Claude came into contact with members of labor activist groups that preached freedom and human rights, and advocated the French Revolution.

Claude is very proud of half of the noble blood flowing in him, he looks down on the workers at the bottom, and especially hates the vigorous French movement of "below committing crimes above" - ​​it was this news that made him. His mother decided that his father could not protect himself , never coming back, and quickly decided to marry.But he was deeply attracted by the theory of freedom and human rights. At this time, he suddenly realized: he and his master, as well as those noble gentlemen, have equal natural rights!

Claude pinned all his expectations on this organization, and he hoped to stand out in this movement and turn himself into a superior person.However, he hid this little thought that was completely contrary to the purpose of the organization very well, and pretended that he was a workshop worker who was enslaved and cheated, and he was the most pitiful wave of bottom-level workers.With literacy, Claude memorized the speeches of the chairman of the London Correspondence Association and the memorization of promotional pamphlets, which quickly attracted the attention of some people, and soon gathered more than a dozen supporters around him.

Just as Cloud was targeting the high-level and core efforts of the Correspondence, a catastrophe swept through the organization.It was in late October 1795 when radicals attacked the king's carriage as he was heading to Westminster to open Parliament, the windows of the carriage shattered and the king was nearly injured.This incident caused a shock throughout Britain, and Congress quickly passed the most severe suppression decree, regarding this incident as a major treason that could be executed directly.Claude was terrified. He fled back to Netherfield overnight, and suddenly worked harder and more attentively, which saved him from being dismissed by Mr. Maurice——Mr. servants were fired.

Claude retained his position as a senior manservant during that accident. He also served as the personal steward of the previous owner, Mr. Bingley. He was such a foolish gentleman and he trusted him very much.Claude ambitiously hopes that Mr. Bingley can stay in Netherfield for a long time, and he is confident that he can climb to the position of head of the Bingley family.But this dream was soon shattered, and Mr. Bingley would rather pay a sum of money to return the rent.Claude knew something about Bingley's mind. At that time, he resented Jane Bennet for not knowing how to flatter her. Otherwise, with her beauty, he would definitely be able to keep Mr. Bingley.

Now that Bennet's family has ruined his good life of doing nothing, Claude is extremely annoyed and must take revenge on Bennet.But he is bullying by nature and dares not do anything to Mr. Bennet, not even dig a hole on the road he often passes to trap him with his ankle.

This made him turn his eyes to the delicate ladies.

The Miss Bennets had a good reputation in the neighbourhood, not only for being pretty and friendly, but also for being well behaved.There is a default etiquette in England: an unmarried young lady from a respectable family should not appear in public unaccompanied.

The Bennet girls have always done well, except this time.

After an in-depth visit to Netherfield Manor, Lydia was fascinated by the bright corridors, flowery walkways, lawns and statues. She deeply liked that place and always wanted to visit it.

Netherfield Hall is less than three miles from Longbourne, a distance Lydia can walk there in just over an hour.After bothering her sisters to go with her several times, the little girl felt embarrassed to ask her sisters to accompany her again, and on the other hand, she felt that she knew the road very well, even if she walked there, it would be fine.

The first time she walked only a mile, she was discovered by her sisters. Jane and Elizabeth came to her on horseback, and reprimanded her severely.But little girls are always a bit adventurous and unconvinced by nature, especially Lydia, who was once spoiled.

Miss Lydia, who was detained by her mother for a week and hardly even went downstairs, finally took advantage of her mother to rest in the room when Elizabeth's holiday was about to end, and the three sisters were invited by her father. While discussing things, he sneaked out alone.

This time, she didn't even tell Kitty, and she was still remembering what Kitty had complained to her sisters last time.

The author has something to say: one hundred small red envelopes for comments in this chapter~

The second watch is at seven o'clock in the evening.

Note: The London Correspondence Society: The radical movement of the working class in Britain emerged at the end of the 18th century, with the main purpose of “promoting domestic parliamentary reform and realizing the parliamentary suffrage of the working class.” The London Correspondence Society is the largest and most influential radical organization in the movement.See Working-Class Radical Movements in Late 18th-Century England.Claude in this article is an opportunist, not a working-class man with real reform ambitions.

"England has a tacit etiquette: unmarried young ladies from decent families should not appear in public places without being accompanied." -Refer to "Womenssilence, mensviolence, sexualassaultinEngnd1770–1845" byAnnaCrk (Women's Silence, Male Violence, Sexual Assault in England 1700-1845; Anna Clarke)