[Comprehensive Book] A Rose for Catherine

Netherfield’s dinner was very rich, and the chef’s skills were also good. The grilled pork chops were tender and delicious, and the apple pie was baked crispy but not burnt. The taste was sweet but not greasy. ①

Mrs. Bennet, of course, could not avoid admiring Netherfield's cook, saying that there was no such good cook in Longbourn, and the guests and guests enjoyed themselves for a while.Catherine sipped the freshly squeezed apple juice, smiled politely, and said nothing.

After dinner, everyone sat together to play blackjack for a while. Jane and Bingley unexpectedly discovered that each other loves this game, and this same little hobby brought them closer together. ②

Then Colonel Hurst proposed to play whist, and everyone complied and formed two tables.Catherine's card skills were not very good, and she lost two hands resentfully. She puffed up her cheeks unhappily, and as soon as she rolled her eyes, she jumped at Mary to serve her at the table. ③

Mary was reading a book about Shakespeare's poems by the window sill, and didn't want to get involved in the excitement, but Catherine pleaded softly in a long-tailed tone: "Mary..."

She looked at Mary pitifully, and offered many benefits, "I can help you borrow books from the library in the town. Half a year!"

Of course, Catherine was not talking about the books that could be lent out at will in the library, but the private collection of the head of the library.Catherine made friends with him because of some accidental reasons. The two had similar interests and could be regarded as friends, so they could borrow some books that were not borrowed from others.

Mary also knew, and even asked Catherine to help borrow the works on the other side of the strait.It's just that Catherine doesn't go to the library very often, and Mary always bothers her.The balance in her heart gradually tilted, she nodded in agreement, and reluctantly put down the book she had only read a few pages.

Luckily she wasn't that interested in poetry either.

Catherine found a helper, and immediately pulled Mary to sit down at the card table, then pulled a chair for herself, leaned against Mary intimately, and looked at the cards in her hand.There had been a change of hands at the card-table, and at present they were Mary, Mr. Knightley, Elizabeth, and Colonel Hurst.

Mr. Knightley was sitting on the right side of Catherine and Mary. He was not very interested in playing cards, but Colonel Hurst invited him again and again, and the card table happened to be empty, so he took advantage of the opportunity to play two hands.

Catherine, who had lost both hands to him, glanced at him secretly, then turned her gaze back to Mary's cards.

With Mary here, she's gotta win tonight.

Mary doesn't play cards very much, but she has a good memory and her mental arithmetic ability is not bad.The Bennet family also organized a poker game at home in previous Christmas years, and Catherine saw her three sisters win all the hands-Mary's ability to memorize and count cards made her feel inferior.

This may be an important reason why she is the only girl in the family who can easily learn obscure German and French.

Mr. Bennet always thinks that his daughters are mediocre and superficial except Elizabeth, not worthy of praise.But Catherine thinks this is because their intelligence is not recognized by the society for women in this era, and Mr. Bennet will not pay special attention to the unobtrusive excellence of each of the five daughters.

Or perhaps Lydia's gift for embroidering lace and ribbons didn't count as real intelligence in his eyes.

Mr. Bennet wasn't bad, but he was really not a good father--to the daughters other than Elizabeth.Catherine did not intend to criticize, after all, the concept of the times is different, and parents will inevitably have their own preferred child, just like Mrs. Bennet loves Lydia more.

The relationship between people cannot be forced.

But she can't help but have more regrets.

It can only be said that fortunately, none of the sisters can find any major faults, and they are harmonious and friendly.

Catherine calmed down the complex emotions in her heart, turned her attention back to the cards, and watched the battle.The cards in Mary's hand were dealt out smoothly, and she calculated the points Mary could get in this round with great interest.

She had no doubts that Mary would win!

Indulging in excitement, she didn't notice that Mr. Knightley looked at her several times in a row. This Miss Kitty seemed more mature and sensible than a girl of her age when she first met her. Today, she can be regarded as seeing her at the same age. The lively side of people.

This kind of contrast can easily arouse people's curiosity, and he is no exception, so he can't help but pay more attention to her.

It was only then that Knightley discovered that compared to the well-known eldest girl of the Bennet family, this Miss Kitty, who was not a young girl, was actually as beautiful as her elder sister. She was not inferior to her elder sister, even Even more lively.

Mary did win.

Catherine clapped her hands happily, and let Mary go back to her book.

Mr. Knightley looked away calmly.

No matter how sensible she looked, she was still just a young girl.

He couldn't help but smile.

Elizabeth, who was sitting opposite Catherine, keenly noticed that Knightley's eyes had been vaguely falling on Catherine many times. She secretly wrote it down and planned to tell Catherine about it when she went back.

Maybe this year we can see two happy events that will make everyone happy.

Catherine, unaware of this, left the table after she had won the round, to be joined by Mrs. Bennet.I and Mary went to the fireplace to discuss books in a low voice.

After a short play, the ladies of Longbourn said it was getting late.Mrs. Bennet was a little bit reluctant, but she couldn't underestimate the etiquette of decent people.

Catherine felt that Mr. Bingley was more reluctant than her mother.But it was a good thing to go back early, it was not easy to be a guest at Netherfield.

Back home, Mrs. Bennet couldn't help showing off to Mr. Bennet the hospitality they received at Netherfield, and Mr. Bennet nodded in boredom.

Catherine was very tired. She took a warm bath and went to bed.Lydia came in after a while, her little face was filled with excitement, and she sat down beside Catherine's bed.

"Kitty! Take a look at my new designs! I'm going to have a tailor make a new dress this year!"

Catherine opened her eyes in a daze, and from the corner of her eyes, she glanced at the hand-drawn drawings that Lydia had slammed into her eyes.She sat up "swish", her sleepy eyelids were completely opened, and she reached out to catch the dress design drawing and looked at it for several minutes.

Lydia's drawing skills are mediocre, and the patterns can only be considered crude, but the design of the cuffs and neckline is really exquisite and beautiful, which is different from the current popular styles.

very nice.

She returned the drawings to Lydia with bright eyes: "Hey, Lydia, you don't mind having the tailor make two skirts, do you?"

"Of course." Lydia proudly raised her head, slightly curly hair hanging on her shoulders, and a few broken hairs trembled with her smile.Lydia was pleased with her identification, "but it costs ten shillings to use my blueprints."

She didn't charge too much, maybe because she and Catherine had done this kind of business more than once, so they gave her a discount.Of course, if the price was higher, Lydia thought that Catherine would not be able to afford it.

She regretted miscalculating Catherine's small coffers.

"I'll pay you twelve shillings. It's worth it, my dear," said Catherine without hesitation. "But you can't just do my business, can you?"

"Are you talking about the other girls in the town? After I put on the new clothes I made, people will naturally ask me, and then I can sell this design to more people." Lydia couldn't help it anymore. Thinking of a bright future, he laughed "giggle".

Catherine didn't say that the style would no longer be classified when she wore the new dress—after all, there were only two tailors in town, so just ask.Clothing design these days is not so particular about copyright protection.

She then asked: "Have you ever thought about selling your designs to London? You know that there are more rich people in London, and they are more willing to spend money to make a good-looking dress."

Lydia hesitated, shook her head, and became excited again: "You mean to sell to a tailor in London? That would be a good idea. But we don't know anyone who runs a tailor?"

"Write a letter and ask my uncle and aunt?" Catherine pondered for a moment, "They are doing business in London, maybe they have such a connection."

Lydia jumped up: "I'll write right away!"

After walking two steps, Lydia stopped and said to Catherine: "Kitty, pay me your ten shillings first!"

Catherine shook her head, "It's in the box on my desk, take it yourself."

She turned over and fell into a deep sleep.

Lydia opened Catherine's storage box, and Catherine's pocket money was wrapped in a piece of paper.Lydia reached out and peeled off the paper wrapping, the luster of gold shone, making her eyes hurt. ④

...This is not a British pound, is it?Lydia touched the two RoseRoyals, and looked towards the bed in doubt, why did Kitty have this kind of currency?Never seen anything like this at home!

Ask her tomorrow.Don't be fooled by this silly girl.Kitty is a worrying girl, Lydia thought.

She took ten shillings, put the other things back where they were, blew out the candle, and fell asleep.

The night was silent, the winter insects chirped softly outside the window, the whispers of horses could not pass through the walls, only the soft moonlight sneaked in silently.

Catherine woke up suddenly the next morning—her clear head finally reminded her that the two RoseRoyals were still in her box.She hadn't finished writing the reply letter, and naturally the gold coins hadn't been sent back with the letter.

Lydia must have seen it!

She sat on the bed, half of the quilt slipped off, and she didn't care about it.Catherine covered her eyes in pain. What reason should she have used to fool Lydia?

Sure enough, Lydia opened her eyes from the bed next to her, turned over and lay down on the bed, she muttered softly: "Kitty, I saw your box. Dad never gave us money in denominations larger than the British pound." , where did you get your gold coins? You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"

Oh! God, why didn't she forget about it?

Catherine thought painfully while racking her brains to find a suitable reason.