[Pride and Prejudice] Becoming Katherine Bennett

Catherine is very good at caring for patients.

Throughout the day, she put a handkerchief soaked in cold spring water on Jane's forehead, changing it from time to time, while staring at Jane, asking her to drink as much hot water as possible, and asking the housekeeper for an extra quilt to wrap Jane in. Wrap tightly.There are no antipyretics here, she can only use these methods to physically cool down Jane.

As the saying goes, it is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself. Catherine knows how to deal with illness.

Under her careful care, Jane's condition has improved a lot. She had a low fever, and after sweating a few times, she no longer had a fever, and even the pain in her throat eased a lot.

Elizabeth couldn't help but marvel: "Kitty, it seems that you are the older sister, and Jane is the younger sister. In the past six months, you have changed a lot. In addition to your more generous and calm personality, you are also so good at treating patients. I don't think our family will need to find a pharmacist anymore. .”

This is not the first time Elizabeth mentioned her changes, but before everyone just chatted with each other, they would express their emotions. After hearing this, Catherine said, "I don't know why, but I suddenly want to read, and I am no longer interested in prom or dressing up." ’ The vague answer got over it.

Perhaps it was because after getting along with each other these days, Catherine had already valued Jane and Elizabeth very much in her heart. Hearing what she said at this time, Catherine took a soft cotton cloth to help Jane wipe off the sweat on her forehead. Tsukuru said nonchalantly, "Lizzie, do you like me now?"

"Of course," Elizabeth said in surprise, "you are my sister, and I love you no matter what."

For this answer, Catherine had to admit that she was a little disappointed.But fortunately, she was used to being disappointed, and she didn't feel that this was any great blow. Instead, she felt amused at her wishful thinking in her heart.

But Elizabeth's next sentence made her little disappointment and self-deprecation quickly disappear.

Elizabeth said: "But if you don't mind my straightforwardness, then I want to tell you that you were my sister before, and you are still my friend now."

Jane nodded slightly, and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "I think so too, Kitty."

"It's really nasty." Catherine smiled at them, turned around, and quietly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes by rubbing the cotton cloth in the basin.

Jane fell asleep at nine o'clock. In order not to disturb her rest, Elizabeth and Catherine quietly exited the room.

"We should sit in the lounge for a while," Elizabeth said.

Catherine was reluctant: "I don't want to go."

Elizabeth persuaded: "I am not happy to stay in the same room with them, but Mr. Bingley treats us warmly and thoughtfully, and it will be considered impolite not to go."

"Well, you're right, for Mr. Bingley's sake," Catherine shrugged, "As for the others, I don't care what they say about me, and besides, when it comes to impoliteness, those few are better .”

She remembered that when she evaluated Mr. Darcy in the morning, she agreed with him for dividing people into those who were willing to be reasonable and those who were not, because she was the same way.

However, unlike Mr. Darcy, she was born in a noble family. She can speak harshly of others in person, and others greet her with a smile.She chose to avoid silently and not to get in touch with people she hated, and now Sister Bingley and Mr. Darcy belonged to the category she didn't want to pay attention to.

The two sisters entered the lounge and found that everyone was playing cards.They kindly invited them to play together, but the two declined with a smile, saying that they would go back to accompany Jane after reading a book in the lounge.

Catherine took a book from the desk, and when she sat on the chair and opened it, she realized that it was a collection of poetry—the kind of book she least liked to read.She would have liked to have had a new one, but she did not want to make Miss Bingley find fault with her.

I don't know why, since she entered the room, the other party has said her three times.

The first time, when she refused to play cards, Miss Bingley said queerly, "Miss Catherine doesn't like that sort of thing. She likes to be alone."

The second time, when she looked down and was a little tired from reading, she raised her head and turned her neck. Miss Bingley taunted her that if she didn't like reading, don't force herself.

The third time was when they talked about the standard of a talented woman when they were playing cards, but Catherine didn't say a word, which provoked Miss Bingley again, and falsely praised Catherine as a real talented woman, who liked to read, and no one else could compare to her.

Catherine felt that she was really breathing wrong.

Miss Bingley's constant nonsense, coupled with her dislike of poetry, made Catherine very irritable when she read a book, and decided to change a book, preferably without thinking about it.

Catherine thought, as she went to the desk, that if Miss Bingley spoke again, she was not to be blamed for her cruelty.

And Miss Bingley did not disappoint her.When she was standing in front of the desk and choosing the book she wanted to read, she heard the other party say in that obnoxious tone again: "Oh, Miss Catherine finished a book in a while, no wonder she claims to have read a lot of books, really Different from us."

Catherine didn't even look at her, and continued to turn the pages of the book, and said slowly: "Sorry, what you said just now is only half true. You said in the first half that I claimed to have read a lot of books, so I dare not agree. Books The sea is vast, and no one can boast that he has read a lot. In fact, the more you read, the more awe you will have for knowledge, and you will feel the infinity of the world and your own insignificance. As for this book, I haven’t finished it. The sonnet is not that interesting. But I agree with the second half of your sentence, I really..."

Having said that, Catherine turned around, looked Miss Bingley up and down, a slight smile appeared on her lips, and then turned back, holding up a book: "Very different from you."

Catherine's tone was very indifferent, and her attitude was very casual. If I had to find an appropriate adjective, it would be contempt, complete contempt.

Although she didn't say a bad word, the attitude brought out by her words and actions made Miss Bingley flush instantly, and stared at her angrily.

Mr. Bingley said hastily: "You are right, Miss Bennett. Knowledge is truly awe-inspiring. I have read too little. It seems that I have to work harder."

After Catherine said those words, she also regretted a little.She didn't care about offending Miss Bingley, but she was Mr. Bingley's sister after all, and she would make Mr. Bingley very embarrassed by her words.

But Miss Bingley's repeated provocations made her very impatient.The previous few times she had endured for Mr. Bingley, but Miss Bingley was still uninterested, probably thinking that she had been silent all the time, but in fact she was very weak and deceitful.After all, Elizabeth was a little angry just now and took the initiative to respond for her, but she herself remained silent.

Catherine didn't want to make trouble, but she was never afraid of it.If she was afraid of things, she would not be able to live long ago.

Fortunately, Mr. Bingley was really understanding.Catherine was originally worried that the other party would help her relatives, but now she heard what he said, and she felt relieved.I was also very moved in my heart, and I believed that he was a gentle and kind person, and he was a good match for Jane.

In order to make Mr. Bingley's work of activating the atmosphere less difficult, Catherine decided to leave the lounge: "I'll go to the study to get the book I read this afternoon."

With that said, she bid farewell to everyone and exited the lounge.Elizabeth originally wanted to leave with her, but felt that it was impolite for her family to go out now, so she could only continue to sit in the lounge.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for her to find out that this was also quite interesting.Miss Bingley was almost pissed off by Catherine, but since she was there, she couldn't say anything harsh directly, so she could only vent her anger on playing cards.

She wasn't very good at poker, but she played with emotions and made a mess, and lost a lot of money in a short while.

Catherine thought about it, and Jane was still sleeping, and went to the study.In the afternoon, when Elizabeth was dragged into the study for "questioning", she accidentally saw a copy of "The Wealth of Nations" on the table.

In this era, the social economy is constantly undergoing drastic changes, and the Industrial Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars are in full swing.Social turmoil has impacted people from all walks of life, and Adam Smith, the author of The Wealth of Nations, put forward a set of systematic and comprehensive economic theories based on a large number of investigations and studies based on the situation in the early stage of capitalism development, which has far-reaching influence , was later hailed as the main founder of economics.

Catherine had read this book in modern times, but it was a serious book of knowledge. She quickly forgot it and only remembered that it described political economy.

This choice to read "The Wealth of Nations" is not because Catherine is pretending to be sophisticated, but because Mr. Bingley's behavior of buying books is really suspected of being used for decoration.

There is not a single kind of popular books in his room, all are high-level political philosophy books such as "The Wealth of Nations", "Encyclopedia", "On Science and Art", "Emile: On Education".Catherine picked up the book and flipped through it, and found that the book was very brand new, with no traces of scratches.

This made Catherine have to think that many people would buy "Siku Quanshu" or a whole set of world famous books. The beautifully packaged hardcover books were neatly placed in the bookcase, but they were never opened.

Mr. Bingley behaved in a manner similar to theirs.

Compared with other books, Catherine felt that choosing one to read might not be so strenuous, so she picked up "The Wealth of Nations" and read it with relish.

Her reading angle is very special. When she found that the book was about the division of labor, capital accumulation, national income and economic system, she quickly connected the book with hers, using an author's perspective to dabble in knowledge, Just think about whether there are suitable characters or scenes that can benefit from it.

She set an important supporting role in the next book as the factory owner, and felt that the division of labor in it was very useful for her to experience the life of the factory owner.After reading the section on national income, she felt that writing about a reborn king would probably be very popular if she used her knowledge to make great achievements. Of course, for the sake of her own safety, this person would definitely not be the king of England.

When she was immersed in the characters and plots, organizing and recording her thoughts with a pen and paper, she heard the door of the study room being opened.

Catherine looked up and saw Mr. Darcy standing there.