[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

Miss Mallard was away on some errands early this morning, and Lydia remained at Hill Street.

Sitting in the well-lit living room on the first floor, Lydia was drawing a sketch of the scene and thinking slowly whether she should go to Walter's house with Mr. Wickham again in two days.

It stands to reason that Mr. Wickham's vacation will end in a few days, and it would be more polite and solemn to formally say goodbye to General Walter before leaving London.

However, Mr. Wickham has been playing more and more recklessly with his friends these days, and his whereabouts are erratic, so it is not easy to make appointments.

After much deliberation, Lydia still felt that it was best not to delay the business, and to make an appointment if it was not possible, and decided to write a note and send it to Wickham's residence, asking him to set aside a day before leaving to go to General Walter , Uncle Gardner and other relatives and friends bid farewell.

He took out a piece of white paper from the folder at hand and cut out a strip, wrote a few words on it, and wanted to find a manservant to send to Mr. Danny.

Walking out of the living room, the door was just opened by a servant to let in a young, stylish gentleman.

"Walter, why are you here suddenly?" Lydia went up to meet her.

Mr. Walter Jr. was sullen and angry, and said to Lydia as soon as he entered the living room, "I saw Mr. Wickham in Lisel Street last night! This is really too much, he How can I leave you at home and go to the Fengyue place to have fun!"

"Liesel Street?" Lydia asked back. "Where is that? Is there a famous place in the city?"

"Yes, that's a place where courtesans gather! How could Mr. Wickham treat you like this!"

"This——Mr. Wickham should have gone with his friends. I don't think you need to take it too seriously. Didn't you go too, otherwise how would you see him?" Lydia tried her best to speak calmly. Said in a tone, wanting to take this matter lightly.

It's a pity that the reason she put forward was very unconvincing to Mr. Walter Jr., and he said angrily, "That's different! There is no comparison at all. I don't have a wife I haven't seen for more than half a year who came here from Hertfordshire to get together. Besides, I just went to see the excitement with my friends and didn't stay long, Mr. Wickham is different, he looks like a regular visitor there!"

While speaking, Miss Mallard came back, and when she entered the living room, she was very surprised to see Mr. Walter Jr. with an angry face, "Mr. Walter Jr., what are you doing? Did you come to argue with Lydia early in the morning?"

"No!"

"Lois, nothing, you misunderstood."

Little Mr. Walter and Lydia answered together.

"What's the matter?" Miss Mallard looked at them with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised.

"I came here on purpose to tell Mrs. Wickham something, last night, last night—" Little Mr. Walter hesitated, looking at Lydia, and wondering for a moment whether he could tell Miss Mallard.

"It's okay. Lois is my good friend. I won't hide anything from her. You can just say it." Lydia thought that Miss Mallard had always been calm and calm, so maybe she would deal with Mr. Walter Jr. An explanation would be more effective.

Miss Mallard frowned slightly after listening to Mr. Walter Jr.'s indignant narration of what he had seen last night, "Mr. Wickham is indeed not cautious enough to do this!"

"It's not just not enough prudence! It's too much. How can you do this behind your wife's back if you are prudent!" Little Mr. Walter shouted.

"Be quiet!" Miss Mallard gave him a white look. "Our place is small. If you continue to quarrel, the servants should hear you."

"I'm sorry, I was negligent for a while." Mr. Walter Jr. apologized quickly, and he lowered his volume.

"Come on, sit down first, let me tell you, not all couples are as close and harmonious as General Walter and his wife." Miss Mallard said, pulling her skirt and sitting down first.

Little Mr. Walter curled his lips, "Don't treat me like an ignorant child. Of course I know that there are many couples in this world who seem to be estranged and live in harmony, but what we are talking about now is Mr. Wickham, our dear friend. Lydia's husband! He shouldn't be like this!"

"It's your friend, so the husband and wife must be loving and harmonious! There's no such reason!" Miss Mallard retorted immediately.

Little Mr. Walter was so blocked by her that he couldn't speak, his face flushed, and it took him a long time to turn around, his face full of disbelief, "Then—could it be, do you mean that their husband and wife have always been like this?" What does it look like?"

Miss Mallard looked at him and nodded.

Lydia was a little uncomfortable listening to others analyzing herself, so she went out to find the servant to deliver the letter, and then went around the kitchen to take care of the tea in the afternoon and dinner in the evening, and dawdled for 10 minutes.

When she returned to the living room, Miss Mallard had finished her conversation with Mr. Walter Jr., and Mr. Walter Jr. was about to leave, and he looked at Lydia with obvious understanding and sympathy, "I still If there is something, I won't bother you."

"I will visit your mother and sister in two days, see you when the time comes."

Before Mr. Walter left, he suddenly remembered something, and said with some doubts, "By the way, Mrs. de Boer came to our house yesterday to explain that the rumor about you that came out of her house a few days ago was a maid Please don’t misunderstand you, the maid in her family who spread gossip has been dismissed by her! Mother didn’t believe those rumors, but Helen was very happy for a long time. I really didn’t expect Mrs. de Boer looks so arrogant and arrogant, but she is willing to work tirelessly to do these things for others."

Lydia smiled slyly, "I think Mrs. de Boer has always claimed to be a noble person, and she will never wrongly slander others. Even if she finds out that a maid in her family has done such a thing, she will never tolerate it, so I went to find her in advance. She said this, and she decided to come forward and clarify for me very righteously."

Little Mr. Walter showed his first smile of the day, "Save what you said to Helen, I don't believe it, but it's fine if it's okay, next time you have time, tell me what you are How did you do it."

As soon as Mr. Walter Jr. left, Mr. Pete came to the door, "What is Walter Jr. here for? I saw him leaving on a horse."

Miss Mallard shrugged. "He got bored in the morning, so he came to sit with us for a while."

Mr. Pete gave her a strange look, but he knew that this cousin acted and spoke a little differently from ordinary people. He came today because he had something serious to say, so he didn't ask any more questions. After sitting down, he meditated and said, "There is something I think it's better for me to tell you in person, and don't worry too much after hearing it, Eshton and I will work hard to resolve it."

"You and Mr. Eshton?" Lydia and Miss Mallard looked at each other. "What's the matter?"

"The situation in Cape Town has changed. The French suddenly sent troops to defeat our garrison there. Eshton's gold mining business suffered heavy losses. I'm afraid we have to withdraw all our manpower and funds." Mr. Pete looked solemn, " You can rest assured, however, that Eshton will take care to preserve your share of the investment first."

Mr. Eshton's gold mining business has been going smoothly. The last time we met, he even vowed to mention that there will be a large amount of income by the end of the year. I didn't expect the situation in southern Africa to be so fickle. It happened in a blink of an eye. Big accident.

"How can this work!" Miss Mallard reacted first, "George, I heard Eshton say that you are the biggest investor in this transaction, so don't you want you to pay to ensure that the two of us will not suffer losses? Since investing and trading naturally entails taking risks, you don’t have to. This is not a small sum, and you just used all your cash to buy the Netherfield Manor, and if you make such a big shortfall, I’m afraid your father will not be able to account for it. "

Mr. Pete has been troubled by this matter for the past two days. He was looking for someone in the House to inquire about the news, and he asked someone to find a French buyer who could take over, in order to minimize the loss. He frowned and replied, "It's okay, Roy Si, you don’t have to worry about me. The loss this time is certain, and it’s not worse than yours. I’ll go to my father’s manor to explain to him. No one can predict such a sudden battle. Trust him I can also understand."

Miss Mallard sighed, and she still wanted to refuse, but she was worried about Lydia. Her investment was her own money, and if she lost money, she would lose money. Lydia used her mother's private house, and it would be bad for the family if she lost money. Easy to explain.Seeing that Lydia has been frowning and thinking since hearing the news, she nodded to Mr. Pete, "Then I won't say much, just don't make things too difficult."

Mr. Pete curled his lips, "Don't worry. I'm worried that you will be troubled if you find out, so I took the time to tell you, don't think too much about it, you won't have much loss."

Miss Mallard consented wistfully, expressing her sincere gratitude in short words for her cousin's thoughtfulness and generosity.

Mr. Pete once again asked her not to think too much, and then hurriedly took the coat and was about to leave, "Eshton and I made an appointment to meet the Frenchman who intends to take over the gold mining business at night, and hope he Don’t take advantage of the fire to rob, just cut the price too low.”

Lydia suddenly said, "Please wait, Mr. Pete!"

"What?" Mr. Pete turned his head.

"You mean you're already planning to resell it at a low price?" Lydia asked.

"Yes, that's the only way to do it now, a little less loss is a little bit."

Lydia frowned, "Have you ever thought that our army will defeat the French again? Cape Town is located at the southernmost tip of the African continent and is an important transit point for voyages to Asia. His Majesty the King cannot easily give up there."

Mr. Pete didn't expect her to say such a thing, and he replied after a moment of surprise, "You are right, but I have used all my connections to inquire, but I have not gotten any definite news, and everyone is not sure about our army. Whether it will continue to use troops in Cape Town."

"Then don't be in a hurry to sell the business over there, and don't be in a hurry to call back the staff. Wait a while, believe me, it won't hurt to wait a little longer." Lydia looked at him eagerly, and said firmly .

"However, the Frenchman who is willing to buy was introduced by Fiona. He is in a hurry. If it takes too long, I'm afraid he will change his mind." Mr. Pete felt that what Lydia said was reasonable, so he hesitated.

As soon as she heard that it was the buyer introduced by the Baroness, Miss Mallard immediately expressed the attitude that she hoped that her cousin would wait patiently for a few more days. For nothing else, she thought that the Baroness was not pleasing to her eyes. It's definitely not a good thing.