[Pride and Prejudice] Becoming Katherine Bennett

"Willard, I should have listened to your persuasion," Mr. Gordon turned around, with a regretful tone, "Set Mr. Bennett's manuscript fee and penalty for breach of contract higher, so that I will not be like this now. Restless."

"The thing has already happened, and regretting it won't help," Willard said with no expression on his face. "Besides, no one thought that a book would produce such a great charm."

Yes, no one thought of it.Although Willard recognized the value of "Return of the Blood" and guessed that it would be a best-selling book, in fact he also misread it. The popularity of "Return of the Blood" far exceeded their imagination.

"You're right. No matter how daring I am, I can't imagine that our newspaper sales have increased by [-] copies in just three weeks!"

When Horatio Gordon heard the number from his secretary, he was stunned for a few seconds, unable to express his shock.

You must know that before the publication of "Blood Return", the sales volume of the "Daily Telegraph" was stable at around 20 copies. This figure cannot be compared with the giant "The Times", but it is also satisfactory.After all, the newspaper has only been established for a few years, and its sales have continued to increase.But such a huge improvement in such a short period of time is still too shocking, and has even attracted the attention of newspapers and magazines all over London.

Mr. Gordon hurriedly convened a management meeting. After discussion, everyone agreed that the serialization of "Blood Return" made most of the contribution to the increase in sales.

"Horatio, I'd like to know what terms you're offering Mr. Addison Fitch to keep him in our newspaper. After all, this is just the beginning, and you don't even have the manuscript for the whole book. .” A shareholder asked sharply at the meeting.

Mr. Gordon was speechless when asked, and the question he asked was exactly what he was worried about.

"Uncle, you don't have to be too excited. The audience is limited, and it is impossible to continuously add new readers. I estimate that in a few weeks, this explosive growth will slow down, and then gradually decrease to a stop," Willard made these analysis He still said in a lazy tone, "and there must be imitators soon, writing some books such as "First Blood", "Blood 2", "Blood and Zombies", and then there will be some imitators. Scattered away many readers."

Mr. Gordon agrees with him, but that doesn't contradict the fact that the author of "Bloody Return" must be kept.

Seeing Mr. Gordon fidgeting and getting up to go to the window again, Willard stood up from the sofa and stretched himself: "I'll go and see, I'm a little tired after sitting for a long time."

As he said, he raised his slender and straight legs and walked straight to the window. As soon as he leaned against the window frame, he saw a carriage driving from the corner into the street in front of the door, gradually slowing down, and finally stopped at the door .After the carriage stopped, the coachman opened the door, and Mr. Bennett, whom he had seen last time, jumped out of the carriage.

Willard yawned twice, and raised his voice a little, "Uncle, the Mr. Bennett you're looking forward to... huh?"

Halfway through his words, a lady in a dark green silk dress followed Mr. Bennett and got out of the carriage.She was wearing a white Sienan hat with a layer of thin lace gauze hanging from it. The wide brim of the hat covered her face. From his angle, she could only see a small and round face. jaw.

Willard couldn't help but leaned against the window, trying to see the beauty clearly.And that lady seemed to feel his gaze. She lightly supported the brim of her hat, raised her head, stretched her slender neck like a swan, and her eyes met his eyes.

Willard saw that she had a pair of smart eyes.

"Oh~" Willard blinked, nodded at the lady, and at the same time did not forget to raise the corners of his mouth, showing a big smile.And she looked at him, the smile in her eyes came to her mouth and turned into a shallow smile, then she lowered her head, took Mr. Bennett's arm, and entered the gate of the newspaper office.

Willard changed his lack of interest just now, walked quickly to Mr. Gordon's desk, and said, "Uncle, let me do the negotiation for you later, how about it?"

Mr. Gordon was confused by his sudden 180-degree change in attitude, but out of trust in him, he still said: "Of course you are willing, but you are not..."

"Okay uncle, then I'll make the decision. If you have any dissatisfaction, you can tell me in private later." Willard stood in front of the mirror and adjusted the clothes, straightened the collar, and flattened the folds that didn't exist on the coat. "Don't contradict me in front of the Bennetts."

Mr. Gordon looked at him in confusion, a little confused.

But soon he understood what was going on.

For today's talks, Mr. Gordon thought it would end in a one-sided situation.Mr. Bennett was a reserved gentleman, with little business sense, and easy to deal with.He was confident that he could handle it, but thinking of the last time Willard's casual sentence became a crucial point, Mr. Gordon called him over, hoping that he would help him avoid omissions.

Unexpectedly, it is indeed one-sided, but not to oneself, but to others.

When Mr. Bennet entered the office with a young lady, Mr. Gordon immediately looked at Willard with a slightly warning look.

Facts have proved that his worries are not superfluous.During the entire negotiation, Miss Bennett agreed to whatever Willard proposed. Her tone and attitude were so good that even she was a little suspicious, and she asked Willard several times in an uncertain tone on several specific questions.

"You heard me right, Miss Bennett, I accept this reasonable request." Willard smiled, his angular outline softened by his bright smile.

Mr. Gordon strangled his heart.

After sending off Mr. Bennett and his overly smart daughter, Mr. Gordon's barely maintained smile finally collapsed, and he stared at Willard, his beard almost flying out of anger: "Those who don't know may think that You are Mr Bennett's nephew."

Willard shrugged irresolutely.

When the two of them returned to the office, Mr. Gordon saw the contract on the table, and the more he thought about it, the more angry he became: "Willard, you said that a business is a business, and you will not affect the business just because of your affairs!"

The person who was condemned by him returned to the laziness and sat on the chair, defending: "Uncle, what you said made me a little confused, what did I affect the business?"

Mr. Gordon said angrily: "You are too tolerant of that Miss Bennett, almost she says what she says, I have no objection that you are willing to pay more for the manuscript, but she wants dividends and the ownership of the pen name, and you agree Yes! I have never seen an author make such an audacious claim!"

Willard said indifferently: "I am very optimistic about her writing ability. After discussing that she will continue to provide us with manuscripts and the high liquidated damages, why don't I be generous to win her favor? Not to mention her request Not too much. Uncle, did it ever occur to you that the author's pseudonym was a commodity before she suggested it?"

"I think you're having another flirt, either... Wait, what did you just say? You mean the lady, the Miss Bennett..." Mr. Gordon couldn't believe it, " Ridiculous, ridiculous!"

"Whether you believe it or not, Uncle, that is my judgment. I don't think that old, old-fashioned gentleman would have written anything like Blood Return."

Willard sat upright, and looked at Mr. Gordon, his eyes as crystal clear as the sea showed the sharpness of his master's character: "I felt strange during the last discussion, this gentleman finished his speech. He refused to give in at all after the conditions, and he didn't know how to adapt at all. When we agreed and made a request, he said that he would go home and think about it, and refused to disclose his address. He was very much like a lawyer who helped negotiate rather than the author himself. "Blood Return" itself, the additional conditions he put forward are the real shining ideas, and their value is far higher than that of a book."

"I was thinking, how could this old-fashioned gentleman come up with such a brilliant idea. Now..."

As he spoke, he couldn't help thinking of Miss Bennet's soft tone and resolute expression, and the charming brilliance on her face when she spoke.

"I see," Willard said meaningfully, rubbing his chin, smiling slightly, "It's really, really wonderful."