[Pride and Prejudice] Liz's Little Vest

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Mr. Gardiner, holding the paper trembling in his hand.

"The smallpox epidemic is already very serious," he said. "This time it came from France, and the death rate is as high as one-third. Liz, Kitty, Lydia, I advise you to return to the village as soon as possible. London is crowded." Big, I’m not sure I’ll bump into you one day.”

Reporting on the front page of a newspaper is obviously the focus of current social attention.

"We're going to leave next weekend." Elizabeth said casually, "But instead of going back to the village to take refuge, I think we can try cowpox."

"Vaccinia vaccination?" Mr. Gardiner flipped through the newspaper, "It was indeed mentioned in The Times. Although the Royal Society accepted this method, I don't think many people believed it? How could it be so simple?" matter."

The older generation is slower to accept new things, which Elizabeth can understand.But she was thinking that she could take a few younger sisters to get vaccinated these days.

Seeing that no one spoke, Mr. Gardiner continued flipping through the newspaper.Breakfast was eerily quiet this morning as everyone else bowed their heads to their beef pies and Yorkie puddings.

Elizabeth took a bite, looked up at his expression, and stared closely at the pages of the newspaper in his hand.For the paper he was holding was the same one Lydia had shown her the night before.So just turn a few pages back and you'll see news about her.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous.Now she has no choice but to cover up her nervousness by eating pies and drinking black tea.

"The author of "Pride and Prejudice" is revealed—" Mr. Gardiner half-closed the newspaper before he finished reading the title, and said to his wife, "My dear, come and take a look at this, you must be interested. I Remember that you have to subscribe to Ladies Magazine every month, just to catch up with the serialization of this book."

Mary and Lydia both glanced at Elizabeth.The former looked nervous and surprised, while the latter almost laughed out loud.

"What? Show me!"

"The author of Pride and Prejudice?"

Before Mrs. Gardiner could speak, both Kitty and Miss Gardiner cried out.

Elizabeth was slightly taken aback, she lowered her head nervously and took a bite of the pudding.She realizes now that, seemingly inadvertently, she has gained a lot of female fans, ranging from young ladies to middle-aged ladies.

Male writers and critics were critical of her, and female readers loved her terribly. "Pride and Prejudice," as a rare work by a female author, seems to be a mixed bag.

"Okay, okay," said Mr. Gardiner in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be paying attention to this novel."

"I dare not say all of London, but in the neighborhood of Cheapside Street, every wife or young lady has a "Lady's Magazine" on the bookshelf. I dare say that because of this novel, the "Lady's Magazine" sales have more than doubled," Mrs. Gardiner popularized.

"Is this novel so popular?" Elizabeth couldn't help asking.

"Of course," Lydia interjected, "you know, Liz, that 'Pride and Prejudice' is a topic of discussion at every dance these days. If only everyone knew that the author was..."

Lydia stopped short at this point.She felt that the more she talked, the more proud she became - the author of the novel loved by countless of her friends turned out to be her sister!She felt that her vanity had been greatly gratified.Thinking of this, the last trace of her dissatisfaction with Elizabeth's concealment of the truth disappeared.

"What is the author?" Kitty asked curiously.

"Speak up, Lydia!" Miss Gardiner joined the discussion.

Lydia stuck out her tongue, smiled mysteriously, and winked at Elizabeth sideways.

Elizabeth was helpless, and Mr. Gardiner was even more helpless.

He said: "If you want me to say that you are still children. When I talked about smallpox before, everyone ate quietly. Now when I talk about novels, I am all excited."

"You don't understand that, my dear," said Mrs. Gardiner. "Girls stay at home, gentlemen go out. Everyone has different priorities, of course."

Elizabeth listened and thought.

Mrs. Gardiner is quite right, and in fact this may be one of the reasons why male readers and female readers have very different opinions on her works.However, it is difficult for everyone to agree, and it is still very difficult to meet the needs of all readers.

"My dear sir, don't fool everyone! I implore you to read this report," said Mrs. Gardiner.

"Then you all listen well." Mr. Gardiner said proudly, "The author of "Pride and Prejudice" is revealed—Ms. Elizabeth from the countryside outside London." He paused, looked at Elizabeth, "and You have the same name, Liz. What a coincidence!"

"As it happens," said Lydia, "the author is also from Longbourne, and her father was a country gentleman. She has one sister and three younger sisters. There are no men in her family, so the property It can only be inherited by a distant relative."

Mr. Gardiner put down the newspaper in surprise: "Is there really such a coincidence?"

Mrs. Gardiner also exclaimed: "Is there a family in Longbourn? Is it new? I must pay a visit next time I go."

"Well, that's the only family I know of," said Lydia.

Everyone looked at Lydia, expecting her to say the following.Only Elizabeth ate the pudding pretending to be unintentional, but in fact she was very nervous.

"That is—" Lydia paused, and said proudly, "Miss Elizabeth Bennet."

Mrs. Gardiner's eyes widened. Kitty and Miss Gardiner stared blankly at the pie in front of them. Mr. Gardiner was busy flipping through the newspaper to confirm.The entire dinner table was relatively calm, and only Mary and Lydia were left.

Elizabeth coughed lightly and put down the tableware: "I'm done eating, let's go to the study first."

"Okay—" Mrs. Gardiner said automatically, and then changed her words in an instant, "Oh no—wait—Is this really you, Elizabeth?"

"Yes." She replied calmly, but she had already stood at the door of the restaurant, and she could attack or defend, advance or retreat.

It was only then that Kitty came to her senses: "Okay! Mary, Lydia. It seems that you all knew about it a long time ago, but you didn't tell me."

Lydia winked and smiled smugly.Her vanity prevented her from revealing that she only found out about it yesterday.

"So, did the hero's proposal succeed?" Miss Gardiner asked.

Mary replied with a smirk, "I've read the whole book, but I don't want to tell you."

She yelled, "Liz—"

Elizabeth said: "Stay tuned to Ms. Magazine."

Kitty and Miss Gardiner cried out in unison: "You are so wicked!"

The restaurant was buzzing, except for Mr. Gardiner, who was studying the criticisms of the critics in the newspaper.He was a little worried at first, because the comments on the entire page were not friendly.But seeing how excited his wife and children were, he was slowly relieved.It seems that the critics are not up to standard, and Pride and Prejudice is actually a very popular work.

And the author of this work is his niece.Mr. Gardiner was suddenly proud too.

The rest of the breakfast was spent in heated discussions.Naturally, a group of children would not allow Elizabeth to escape. They pressed her in the middle of the dining table and tortured her about the plot of the novel one by one.

Elizabeth's fate of being "interrogated" was not suspended until the housekeeper's wife reported Mr. Darcy's visit.

The author has something to say:

Prepare for interviews in February, and there may be fewer updates.Little angels, if you are in a hurry, you can fatten up and watch again!