[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

Darcy and Elizabeth also bid farewell shortly after Jane's recovery.Elizabeth accompanied Jane back to Longbourne in November, and she had been away from home for a long time. As the housewife of Pemberley, she should go back and have a look, so although Jane was reluctant, she did not say anything to persuade her to stay.

Mr. Bingley went with them, but agreed to be back some time later, and stayed with Jane at Longbourn until she gave birth.

Regarding his plan, no one has much to say except that he agrees. Since accepting Lydia's popularization of pregnancy knowledge, Bingley has become more and more careful with his wife Jane, and has shown unprecedented patience to discuss everything with Jane. The arrangement must have been decided by the two of them together.

As for Lydia, she was lucky. When she was racking her brains to figure out how to explain to Mrs. Walter that she could not be with the family at Netherfield, Mrs. Walter sent her a letter expressing apology.

The letter said that a relative of General Walter in the north of England suddenly received good news that he was going to get married. The family had to temporarily cancel their plan to come to Hertfordshire and rush to the north of England to attend the wedding of that relative.

If Walter’s family didn’t come, the party at Netherfield Manor had nothing to do with Lydia. She just heard the details of the reception party there from Miss Mallard, who visited regularly:

Towards the end of January, Mr. Pete came back, along with his two cousins...

Due to the bad weather in February, it was muddy and cold everywhere, so the arrival time of the guests was postponed until the end of February and the beginning of March. As the sun appeared occasionally, the road became dry, and the fields and plants were faintly green, the guests arrived one after another... ………

Among the guests were the Baroness Moran, and the Baroness's aunt, Lady Briggs, who recovered miraculously quickly to health, and her companion, the pretty Lady Thorpe, with the Earl of Temple's eldest son and his A brother and a sister, Mrs. de Boer and her daughter, Mr. Eshton, and even Colonel Fitzwilliam. . . .

These people who consider themselves elegant and noble get together and come up with all kinds of entertainment to pass the time every day...

The boys will go hunting the next day...

Every afternoon there is a poker game...

Every night there is music and singing and dancing...  

There were small formal dances at the manor two nights...  

Let's go to a few places worth visiting nearby...  

There were several afternoons where gents and gals got together to play a big game full of thrills...  

The billiard room is one of the gentlemen's favorite places to go, and many interesting things happened there...

"The gentlemen playing billiards thought of calling on you once on a whim!" said Miss Mallard suddenly, as she sat with Lydia on the long log by the woods behind Longbourne's house. Sunbathing on a chair.

"Huh? Come to visit me, why?" Lydia didn't understand.

"Because George said that their playing skills were average, and they were not as good as a young lady from the neighbor's house. Those gentlemen were very curious about which woman was so good. They probably were bored at the time, so they proposed to let George took them to visit you, a master pinball player, or send an invitation to invite you to play for an evening someday, but fortunately George ignored them." Miss Mallard leaned back on the wooden chair, closing her eyes Sunning her eyes, she said that she is now working part-time as the hostess of Netherfield. After a large group of guests came, her business has increased a lot more than usual, and every time she comes to see Lydia, she takes a rest by the way.

"So that's what happened." Lydia smiled.

Mr. Pete kept a proper distance from her now. Although he didn't deliberately avoid her, as long as Mr. Pete didn't specifically want to see her, the lives of the two had almost no intersection. Even if they met by chance in church or on the road, they only needed to A polite hello will suffice.Mr. Pitt would even stop and say a few more words to her, but it was just a couple of greetings.

Mr. Pete's attitude of pinching benefits satisfies Lydia, and saves her a lot of embarrassment and explanations. Even Mrs. Bennett can't fault it. After all, rich people are like this, and they often condescend to others on a whim. If you want to hang out with someone for a while, when the freshness wears off, it's only logical that he must return to his original aloofness.

"They have to bet when they play ball." Lydia suddenly remembered that people usually bet more or less when playing billiards. "Oh, what a pity." I can't help but regret the opportunity of small money.

Miss Mallard giggled, "Lydia, you are so funny, you are always different from what other people think, if other women know that there are such a group of men who want to meet her, and almost flock to the house to visit, they will be excited and nervous , or complacent, no matter what, I will not turn my thoughts to bets."

"I don't have much property, so I don't want to miss the opportunity to make money." Lydia said openly to her friend, "By the way, I think I should meet Mr. Eshton, you If it is convenient for you to come next time, please invite him to come with you, okay?"

"No problem, we should just sit down and talk with him." Miss Mallard invested all her own money in Mr. Eshton's gold mine development business, so she has always been interested in this man.

Mr. Eshton came to Longbourne next day with Miss Mallard, and he brought good news that the agent sent to Cape Town had sent back that the preliminary work there was going well. After the army defeated the French garrison and gained absolute control over the local area, the activities of British businessmen in the local area became more and more convenient. They had already obtained the license to organize laborers to go to the northern inland area to mine, and through activities up and down, they sent generous gifts to several officials. received tax exemption.

This is an investment that requires patience, and as long as the business is moving in a good direction, Lydia is satisfied.

After asking about the situation in Cape Town, because it was still early, I discussed with Mr. Eshton whether the coffee and spice trading in the East Indies was worth doing.

Although Lydia can't tell the details of the operation of these trade routes, she can grasp the general direction and speak with great confidence. The more people listen, the more reasonable they feel, and they are naturally willing to be convinced.

When Mr. Eshton lamented Madam, how did you know these things at a young age, he said that he and his husband had lived in the army for a while, and the most important thing in the army is those well-informed guys who have traveled far and wide. , she has been more exposed to it, so she can naturally gain some insight.

Mr. Eshton felt that the conversation with Mrs. Wickham was so speculative that he almost lost track of time, and almost missed his return to supper.

======

Life in the country is always simple and leisurely, some people will enjoy it very much; some people will find it dull and boring.

Lydia considers herself somewhere in between these two categories, maybe a bit more of the former, and she has a very comfortable life in the beautiful English countryside, which can be a little stuffy at times, but mostly enjoyable.

Since the weather has gradually warmed up and the grass and trees have returned to life, she has added another joy—carrying a portfolio on her back, and walking along the country roads to find beautiful scenery worth recording with a brush.

At the beginning, Mary was willing to go for a walk with her on a sunny day, but as Lydia went farther and farther, she spent more and more time outside painting, and Mary couldn't take it anymore, "Dear sister , go on your own today, I still have a book by Cooper that I need to finish reading."

Mrs. Bennet was walking down the stairs slowly with Jane, and said immediately upon hearing this, "That's great, Mary, then you can take a walk with Jane in the back of the room, don't worry, it won't be long, there won't be any delay You read."

Mary lowered her face, "Mom, didn't you just say you wanted to go for a walk with Jane?"

"Oh, dear, you are idle anyway, do me a favor, and I, a mother, can rest." Mrs. Bennet was not in the habit of taking walks, and would not go if she could.

"Mom, how can you tell that I'm idle!" Mary was not happy, and after complaining, she turned her head and explained to Jane seriously, "Jane, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't want to go for a walk with you, I I just feel that my mother’s words are not objective.”

Jane didn't mind at all, "It's okay, I feel good recently, it's okay to go for a walk by myself."

Mr. Bennet happened to be passing by, and interrupted with a smug smile, "That's no good, Jane. If your mother and your sister let you go out by yourself and have an accident because they are lazy, I will never forgive them for the rest of my life."

Mrs. Bennett and Mary retorted angrily, "Mr. Bennett/Dad! How can you say such terrible things, we are not lazy!"

Lydia smiled, picked up her portfolio and slipped out first.

She is a very self-satisfied person, and she doesn't necessarily have to find someone to accompany her in everything. It's better to let the family members worry more about Jane.

Walking vigorously along the country road to a green grassy hillside, I saw that the scenery on the other side of the hill seemed to be more attractive, so I made persistent efforts, climbed over the hill, and reached the other side of the hillside.

This is a rare clear day, the sky is clear and clear blue, the green flat fields extend to the edge of the bushes in the distance, dotted with yellow haystacks and farmhouses with white fences, the side of the bushes is high, A village can be vaguely seen.

Lydia reckoned that it was about three or four miles away from home. They rarely walked so far, but it was worth the effort to go farther. The scenery was very different from the one in front of the house. interest.

Lydia found a flat place with a good view to set up her easel. She was very glad that she remembered to bring some snacks, otherwise she would have walked such a long way, painted for two hours, and then walked back. hungry.

Lydia regards painting as a relaxing entertainment, because she does not rely on it for fame or profit, so she paints as she pleases, and often adds some exaggerated factors to the picture ingeniously.

Just like the current one, first outline the fields, woods and hills in front of you, and then change the village on the high ground behind the woods in the distance into a mysterious castle in your own imagination, the source of inspiration for the shape of the castle Yu once read a gloomy medieval novel.

The romantic and quiet rural scenery is in stark contrast with the ancient and fierce stone castle, as if to tell the sinister and weirdness hidden under the tranquility and beauty.

Such a bold and strange style of painting can only be attempted by the most maverick painters, and it is very likely that people will criticize and criticize the painting, but Lydia doesn't care about these, she is painting with great interest.

Time flies the fastest when you are concentrating on doing things. Before you know it, the sun starts to go west, and the sun turns from bright and sunny in the morning to warm and pleasant in the afternoon.

At this time, there were footsteps and sparse conversations coming from the mountain road on the side, and Lydia didn't mind, probably someone who walked here was still immersed in her painting.

"Hey! How do you doodle?" The walker stopped behind her, probably looked at her drawing honestly and then questioned her.

Lydia stopped writing and turned her head, and saw a man dressed as a gentleman standing a few steps behind him. He seemed to be five or sixty years old, and his figure was still in shape. He stood upright and energetic, and a man followed behind him Servant, the eyes of the master and servant are staring at Lydia's masterpiece together.

"Robert," the older gentleman took a few more glances, and said to the servant behind him in an expert tone, "look carefully, this style is quite distinctive, and it can't be regarded as a scribble, but the artist wanted to The expression of a depressed and contradictory state of mind has some impact, and this little girl's idea is quite interesting."

The servant named Robert replied with a smile, "You are very reasonable, and I think so too."

At this time, Lydia had already seen clearly that this elderly gentleman was very imposing and well-dressed. The most interesting thing was that he had a handsome appearance, well-maintained, shiny and elastic skin, and gray hair It is also thick, so it looks like a very beautiful old gentleman. I believe he must have been a very handsome person when he was young, and the manservant is also different from the servants of ordinary people. His appearance, behavior and even his clothes are all of a higher grade.

Both the master and the servant are so outstanding in appearance and style, and they will naturally win a lot of goodwill from the other party if they stand in front of them. It is a pity that their words and deeds are not modest and polite. The big thorn talks about other people's paintings at will in front of them, not to mention, he is honest and rude Calling Lydia a little girl arbitrarily reduced Lydia's affection for them.