[Comprehensive Book] A Rose for Catherine

Suddenly discovering such a "surprise", Catherine's mood of visiting at home faded a lot.She also thought that maybe it was a servant of the Elizabeth couple's family, not someone from the master's family.

She wished desperately now that God would not have such a bad luck for her, that it should not be Isabella or Mr. Knightley's brother.She's totally unprepared to meet her pen pal in real life, and she'll be terribly embarrassed by it.

It had not occurred to her at this moment that Mr. Pen-Pal could be Mr. Knightley.

Only at this time, Catherine is willing to truly believe in God.

But God is never willing to bless a false believer.

Catherine stepped into the home of John Knightley and Isabella with her two sisters in a strange and complicated mood.

Isabella, who had been looking forward to their arrival for a long time, went out to welcome them in herself enthusiastically, her face more rounded than when they met last Christmas, and John Knightley carefully supported her.It was Catherine who noticed that her belly was slightly distended, which was a sign of pregnancy.

This is the couple's third child.When Isabella talked about the child in her womb, her expression was gentle and sweet. Her two eldest sons looked at their mother curiously, full of anticipation for the soon-to-be born brother or sister. ①

It is not an easy task to give birth to a child, but the means of contraception in this era are not well developed, and abortion is equally harmful to the body.Isabella and his wife have a wealthy family and can afford several children. The best choice is undoubtedly to give birth to them.

Mrs. Bennet also had five daughters.

But Mrs. Bennet also has some helplessness in having so many children.The Bennet family needed a male heir, and this important task fell on Mrs. Bennet's stomach early. However, God deliberately opposed Mr. Bennet. Every time Mrs. Bennet became pregnant, people were delighted and then disappointed.

The conversation is divided into two parts. When it comes to Mrs. Bennet, her five daughters all went to London after Christmas. The most precious youngest daughter, Lydia, became the guest of noble ladies in no time, although she thought Lydia It is not decent for a dignified lady to design clothes for people, but Mrs. Gardner comforts her, and Lydia can design dresses for kings and queens in the future, so she becomes proud.

Recently, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner wrote to Mr. Bennet that Mary was appreciated by a noble lady and wanted to stay in London for a while.When Bennet got the news, the last unsolved case in his heart was finally closed.

In her heart, all the daughters, except Mary, have good marriages.Now that this is the case, Mary also has hope, maybe she can be more up-to-date than her sisters, and marry a noble gentleman.

Because the things that had troubled her before were settled, she no longer had to worry about trivial matters, and Mrs. Bennet gradually got along with others, and she was more understanding than before. ②

This visible change surprised Mr. Bennet, but he still had no common language with his wife, and his five daughters were away. Although he felt a little lonely, he soon became addicted to fishing and found a lot of fun.

Catherine didn't know that when they came to London, the Bennets lived a leisurely life in retirement.She was still troubled and puzzled by the address on the letter, and she didn't even notice that there was a young man sitting on the sofa by the fireplace when she walked into the living room.

Until the young man said hello to her.

"Kitty, long time no see."

There was a shallow smile in his voice, soft and low, like the sunshine covering the fields in spring.

Catherine knew the voice well.

It was also this voice that pulled her messy thoughts back a little.

It's a strange fate, obviously, they didn't get along much when they were in the countryside of Longbourne, they only met a few times, they danced once at the ball in Netherfield, and they became nodding friends when they finally said goodbye I made friends with him, but Catherine somehow felt comfortable and natural with him.

"Mr. Knightley? What a coincidence, I didn't expect you to be here today." Catherine looked surprised, and unconsciously revealed a little happiness when she saw her old friend.

Elizabeth glanced at her, and Jane also greeted the gentleman.Elizabeth found that Mr. Knightley's attitude towards them was very polite and polite, and he was equally courteous to Kitty, but there were some subtle differences compared with Jane and her.

She secretly looked at Jane teasingly, and Jane shook her head slightly.

"John and Isabella wrote to me, and I arrived yesterday."

Mr. Knightley explained.

It was quite a coincidence, thought Catherine, that she and Mr. Knightley were meant to be friends.

Isabella touched the elder son's head, and the corners of her mouth curled up as if she was looking at something interesting. She called the three Bennet ladies to sit down and started chatting.

This was supposed to be the women's home court, but John Knightley was worried about his wife's health, and sat beside Isabella to accompany her, only occasionally interjecting a word or two.This is a happy couple that is rare in this era.Catherine sighed silently in her heart.

After chatting for a while, Catherine calmly pulled the topic to the direction she wanted.

She has made up her mind to find out the true identity of the pen pal—if they don't know each other at all, the best state is of course not to disturb each other, but it is very likely that they have already known each other now.

In this case, Catherine believes that she should explore the truth, regardless of whether they can continue to be friends after the reality determines their identity.

"Speaking of which, a surprising thing happened after Christmas near Longborn."

Catherine quietly observed the expressions of several people present - he has already learned that there are only a few maids and a male driver driving the Isabella and his wife, and there is also a man who will come to Isabella's house for regular check-ups Family doctor, none of these people could possibly be, and if her friend wasn't lying, he was sitting among them.

"Mr. Knightley, you will remember that I asked you about Mr. Wickham."

Knightley said thoughtfully, "If Kitty you mean this gentleman, then I take it you mean to speak of his involvement in the murder."

Catherine nodded: "So you've heard about it."

"When he was tried, he urged Darcy to come forward. I learned this from Darcy." Mr. Knightley's words are restrained, and he is very objective when talking about this matter.

In all fairness, Catherine herself is unable to be so objective, and it may also be because Wickham maliciously deceived her family, causing her to have a lot of prejudice against him.

When a matter involves oneself, it needs to be far better than ordinary people's reason to remain absolutely objective and calm.And Catherine is a second-rate novelist who writes novels with emotional talent.

Isabella and his wife learned about Wickham from Catherine and Elizabeth's brief description, and John Knightley commented coldly: "For such a person, the gallows is his best destination."

Isabella's face was full of fear, "This is really too bad."

Catherine echoed: "Yeah, it's scary to hear that, unfortunately, and that we've ever had a relationship with someone like that. Thankfully a friend of mine gave me some advice."

Jane glanced at her inexplicably, and couldn't remember what she showed as fear at the beginning.

Isabella pressed: "What kind of suggestion?"

Catherine glanced at the people present calmly, and gently told Isabella the advice her friend gave her.

Even when speaking, Catherine paid special attention, no matter the order or the wording and sentence formation were exactly the same as those in the letter.

Isabella listened, and said: "These points are very reasonable, Kitty, and your friend must be a very fine lady."

Catherine knew she had misunderstood, but she didn't explain, just smiled and pursed her lips.Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced around and found no clues, so she couldn't help feeling a little frustrated, wondering if she had made a mistake.

She didn't notice that someone glanced at her quickly and calmly.

John Knightley then picked up Isabella's words: "These views are somewhat similar to yours. You are very legalistic."

These words were addressed to his elder brother, Mr. Knightley.

Catherine looked up at Mr. Knightley who sat beside him in surprise.

The author has something to say: [I originally wanted to put the two episodes together, but the next chapter got stuck.So first update half of the QAQ.The next chapter will be added later, don't wait. 】

①: By the timeline of the story of "Emma", Isabella had five children, and the timeline here is earlier, so they only gave birth to the third one.There are no detailed descriptions of the children in the original work, so some private settings are made.

②: Mrs. Bennet became likable because her daughter found a satisfactory marriage. This setting refers to the ending of "Pride and Prejudice".