[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

Although Mr. Pitt refused to admit it, Miss Mallard felt that his feelings for his friend Lydia were more than admiration.

Miss Mallard wondered to herself, and found that she had never felt anything like it in Lydia, and could not help secretly worrying for her cousin.

"Lydia, what do you think about Baroness Moran and my cousin?" Miss Mallard asked Lydia during the chat.

Lydia thought for a moment, then smiled, and replied, "Lois, since the two of us are chatting privately, I might as well tell you my true thoughts. It's kind of funny."

"Look at the fun? It's funny! My dear, you are so unkind! Even though George offended you some time ago, he has been nice to you recently. Don't you treat him as a kind friend until now? Come and see?" Miss Mallard immediately accused.

Lydia was a little embarrassed, and quickly explained, "I know, he is indeed a very good friend in my mind now, and I sincerely hope that the troubles that Mr. Pete encountered can be resolved quickly. However, you have to admit, There is something interesting about this matter. Just imagine, an arrogant and conceited man like your cousin, who has always been aloof and ignored everyone, never thought that there would be a woman who wanted to seduce him with money. Xiang Xu', isn't this interesting? I have to say that Baroness Moran is really amazing. Although the pursuit method she adopted is not very honorable, she has the courage to let a noble man taste the taste of being raised with a purse , which is really rare.”

Miss Mallard was speechless. She knew that there was a reason for Lydia to think this way. Who made Mr. Pete recklessly make a similar rude request to Lydia a few months ago? It was his own turn, and it was understandable to be laughed at by Lydia.

Lydia was a married woman with a handsome, if unreliable, handsome husband, and her feelings for Mr. Pitt were clearly at the friendship level.Mr. Pete's falling in love with her is almost doomed to be a hopeless unrequited love. Miss Mallard sighed, deeply feeling that her cousin might have a hard time in the future.

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The Earl of Chatham did not intend to stay in London any longer, so his party was arranged three days after his arrival in London.

Lydia learned that the old gentleman still remembered herself, and she was also honored to be included in the earl's guest list, and she was very happy to praise him to Miss Mallard.

From the Earl of Chatham's outstanding appearance to his noble temperament, as well as his approachable approach, Lydia did not miss it.

"Amiable?!" Miss Mallard laughed in surprise, "Lydia, everyone who knows him will disagree with this evaluation. He is the father of George Pete. Do you think George's cold and arrogant temperament comes from Where did he come from?" After a pause, he added, "Of course, except for those who follow suit and want to compliment him, those people may unconscionably praise him for his approachable qualities."

Lydia knocked her angrily, "I'm not a follower, I'm telling the truth, because we have a common interest in painting art, so we get along well!"

He asked again, "Lois, which dress do you think I should wear?" Although she didn't care much about dressing up, she didn't want to dress too casually at the Earl Chatham's banquet to avoid being laughed at .

Miss Mallard couldn't recall for a moment which dresses Lydia had brought, and they went upstairs with her to open the trunk.

After looking around, I found that the dress that Wickham sent a few days ago was the best, and it was beautiful and decent, so I helped Lydia choose this dress, and then contributed my own dress with many small pearls. Silver-gray shawl with long tassels.

"Thank you, Lois, this shawl is so beautiful." Lydia stroked the soft shawl and thanked herself, "Oh, I'm lazy, it seems that I haven't spent more energy on buying new clothes for more than half a year. Thanks to your friendship and support, yes, thanks to Mr. Wickham, thanks to him remembering to do something for me a few days ago."

Miss Mallard seized the opportunity to continue the conversation by asking her, "I think Mr. Wickham still has something to offer. Have you changed your mind?"

"Changing your mind about what?"

"The idea of ​​living apart from Mr. Wickham, isn't that what you're doing now?"

"I haven't changed my mind, Lois, to be honest, I've already thought of a way to regain my freedom," Lydia rubbed her eyebrows, "but it will be very troublesome to implement, it will take a long time, careful planning, and A decent amount of money."

Miss Mallard's eyes widened, "Get back to freedom! Lydia, you are thinking of this. I thought you just wanted to separate from a husband who didn't agree with you! What are you going to do?"

Lydia hesitated. Married women want to regain their freedom because they are dissatisfied with their husbands. This is a very shocking topic in this era. "Lois, you are my good friend, but this topic is too sensitive. If people find out, my reputation will be completely ruined, can you guarantee that you will never tell anyone what I said today?"

Miss Mallard was so curious that she threw up her hands and swore, "I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Then I'll tell you, just because I'm also afraid that I'm not thinking carefully, so you can help me with my advice. Lois, this is what I plan to do," Lydia buckled the lid of the suitcase and straightened up Turning to Miss Mallard, "As soon as I have accumulated a considerable sum of money, I will seek out a reliable person to negotiate with Mr. Wickham on my behalf, and persuade him to agree to cooperate in a play."

"A play?" Miss Mallard asked subconsciously.

Lydia looked at her and nodded solemnly, "Yes, pretend to have an accident overseas, pretend to be infected with a terrible disease that cannot be cured locally, or be seriously injured by the indigenous people, and then leave the ship and quietly go to Antioch in the West Indies. Gua or some other place like that lived incognito for two years."

"My God!" Miss Mallard vaguely understood what she meant, "you can't figure it out, Lydia, you mean to let Wickham go ashore in a distant port and hide, and it's better to send a message later. Get back the news that he was injured, disappeared or died of a serious illness in the local area. When the news of his death is sent to Hertfordshire through regular channels, you will become a widow and you will be free!!! You can remarry after the filial period is over. Oh! God! It’s really feasible, even if Mr. Wickham returns after a few years, everyone can only sigh with God’s will, Mr. Wickham was lucky to survive, but there has been no news for several years Let your husband and wife regret to separate under misunderstanding, and in the end you can only become sincere and deep friends, oh, my God, what a touching legend! I can guarantee that everyone will talk about it for many years!"

"Yes!!" Lydia nodded. "Lois, you are so smart. I only said one beginning, and you can guess everything. This is roughly what my plan looks like."

Miss Mallard has a better understanding of the bold and unruly thinking of her friend. Fortunately, she is not a rigid and conservative person. She has always had her own views on any legal rules, so she can barely understand Liddy in a dumbfounded state. Ya means.

Even so, Miss Mallard was shocked for a long time, and finally thought of the actual problem, "Lydia, in theory, your method is feasible, but it will have a lot of troubles in the details, the biggest problem is the threat Why does Mr. Kemm cooperate with you like this? First pretend that there was an accident, and then live incognito in the West Indies, and can’t come back for a few years? This sacrifice is too great!"

"So the premise is that I have saved a lot of money. I think if I pay Mr. Wickham [-] pounds at a time, he can buy a rich manor in Antigua and live a comfortable and happy life there. , he should consider cooperating with me."

"Twenty thousand pounds!!!" Miss Mallard wasn't surprised this time, but rolled her eyes skyward instead, "I see, you're daydreaming! I'm so stupid, I was still nervous for a long time." Backhand hammer He hammered his waist, "Turning through clothes and boxes made my back ache. I'm going to bed."

Lydia smiled, talking about this now may really only be classified as a daydream, but it may not be so in a few years.

As long as Mr. Eshton and Mr. Pitt persist and don't give up half of the investment easily, the British army will soon regain control of the Cape Town area from the French, and the gold mining business will surely Bringing very considerable returns to investors, what we have to do now is to wait patiently.

Besides, she is not in a hurry to marry someone else now, and it is not a big problem to dissolve the relationship with Mr. Wickham sooner or later.Lydia is not in a hurry about this at all, she just puts this matter in the long-term plan.

Sometimes she even suspects that even if she gets rid of Mr. Wickham, she may not be able to find a more suitable man to marry. After all, her thinking is too "advanced and open", and she can understand and tolerate her, and at the same time is admired by her man. I'm afraid it's hard to find.

Shaking her head, Lydia is also getting ready to go to bed. Tomorrow, she will go to the Earl Chatham's dinner party. Only after a good night's sleep can she look good. On such an important occasion, her complexion will be dull, her eyes will be swollen, and even dark circles will appear It is considered a faux pas, and a sign of lack of breeding.So getting enough sleep the night before is very important.