[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

In line with the principle of 'old clothes are better than no clothes', Lydia picked out the one that looked the least old among several skirts and put it on her body.

According to the maid who brought the clothes, they were left by the Earl of Chatham's sister, Mrs. Pitt's aunt, the Baroness Dufar, who had come to live for a while.

Dark smoky gray shiny satin, a wide skirt that drags the floor, with extremely intricate rose decorations on the breast, and a fluffy double-piece veil covering the waist.

After putting it on, Lydia stood in front of the mirror and sighed. The maid who helped her change her clothes didn't understand why she sighed, "Mrs. Wickham, do you think it doesn't fit? I think it looks good."

Lydia replied, "I'm bemoaning why I'm not 50 now to match this gorgeous and exquisite dress!"

The maid of the count's house was very polite, she quickly turned her head and covered her mouth, and she turned around after she laughed, "Ma'am, you look beautiful in this dress now, except for the slightly dark color, everything else is fine."

The door was knocked, and the maid went to open the door, and Mr. Pete walked in, "How about it, let me see what else you need?"

Lydia shrugged at him in the mirror, "Fortunately, I finally found something I can wear."

Mr. Pitt looked at her image, didn't say much, and backed out again.

Come back after a while and hand Lydia a small folding fan made of ivory bone, "I think you might need this to match your clothes."

"I just need this." Lydia took it, wearing cumbersome clothes, with an elegant folding fan in her hand, it really can add a lot of color, "Thank you."

After doing the math, Mr. Pete has worked tirelessly up and down three times to deliver things in such a short period of time. It can be seen that he is very sorry for the trouble he has caused himself.Even if Lydia was originally dissatisfied with him, now facing such thoughtfulness and politeness, the unhappiness in her heart has long since dissipated, and she is in the mood to joke with him.

"Mr. Pete, I always thought you were a very stable person, but I didn't expect you to be frizzy. Is this the first time you have spilled wine on others and yourself in a formal occasion?"

"It is indeed the first time, but you have to admit that even the most prudent person will be negligent. It is impossible to never make mistakes." Mr. Pete answered very easily.

"As much as I would like to take this rare opportunity to criticize you, unfortunately, your statement makes sense, and I think I have to agree with you, well, I agree with you, and I won't hold you any longer. I will not let go of this reckless thing I did." Lydia said in the same relaxed and cheerful tone, "but I found another interesting thing, Mr. Pete, where did you get this fan? If I didn't You read it wrong, this is a newly released style, so it’s not something your aunt left here, right? If I accidentally used a gift that a lady gave you, I’d be really sorry for him.”

When Mr. Peter heard this, he immediately became serious, "Regarding this, Mrs. Wickham, don't worry, I am by no means the kind of frivolous person who accepts ambiguous gifts from ladies and wives. This fan belongs to one of my father's Young friends left here."

"A friend of your father's?"

"Well, it's a young lady. I'm sorry I can't tell you her name. She was invited by my father to accompany his old man on a trip to the Lake District. They stayed in London for a few days after they came back. My father and her were... ..."

Mr. Pete patiently continued to explain, but Lydia interrupted him quickly. This lady is probably one of the Earl's lovers, and she doesn't want to inquire about other people's affairs, "Oh, Mr. Pete, thank you Now I can boldly borrow this fan." Glancing at the strange looking maid, she suggested, "I think we should go downstairs."

Mr. Pitt then stopped talking, bent his left arm and made a gesture for her to put it on.

The two returned downstairs and found that almost all the guests had arrived at this time.Those who can be invited by the Earl of Chatham are not expensive socialites, or nobles with extraordinary status and titles of nobility. The living room is full of gentlemen in elegant dresses and ladies in gorgeous dresses. Standing together in twos and threes talking and laughing.

Lydia stood at the entrance and looked around, and found that she knew only one of these guests, and that was Mrs. De Boer. The ladies of Mrs. De Boer were talking about what happened in the palace recently in a very restrained and lively tone. a funny thing.

Miss Mallard suddenly appeared out of nowhere, walked towards them in a slanting stab, grabbed Mr. Pete, "George, please come here, I have something to tell you." Nuzui said to Lydia, "Honey, Mrs. de Boer is over there. Since she promised to be a kind elder in all formal occasions and introduce new friends for you, then don't be polite."

Lydia smiled, seeing Mrs. de Boer reluctantly trying her best to speak up for herself in front of all kinds of people she considered high-class, "Okay, I'm going, you guys Talk slowly."

After speaking, she walked towards Mrs. de Boer enthusiastically, and Mrs. de Boer obviously froze when she saw her, showing a complex expression mixed with dissatisfaction, depression and anger, and finally changed back to a forced smile.

Miss Mallard looked at her and shook her head, and whispered to herself, "Lydia is sensible most of the time, but she is young, so she will look childish when encountering this."

Mr. Pete was also watching the movement over there, with a gentle expression, "Isn't this good? I think it's good. Lively and rational coexist. Few women can blend these two characteristics so naturally without being artificial."

"That's your prejudice. Mrs. Wickham is my friend, and I'm happy to praise her, but I also have to say that the advantage you mentioned is actually possessed by many women, but you are too lazy to discover it." Miss Mallard resumed her blunt nature.

"Dear cousin, maybe you are right, there are indeed many women who have this kind of quality, but I have limited time, and I can't always do this kind of boring thing of discovering the advantages and disadvantages of strange women. You can say that I am too lazy to do this."

Miss Mallard curled her lips angrily, "If you want me to say that you really shouldn't be lazy, you should get up and make friends with some girls who can match you. You can't always be lazy in this regard at your age."

"Lois, what do you mean?"

Miss Mallard took Mr. Pete to an empty room next to the hall, and after closing the door, she asked with a straight face, "Did you do it on purpose just now? Don't deny it, I can see that you deliberately got the drink into Lydia skirt?"

Mr. Pete shrugged, "Lois, I'm very glad that I'm so discerning. I kept a smart cousin like you around to help me take care of the housework." The implication seemed to be acquiescence.

Miss Mallard frowned, "You don't even speak nicely to me, I still want to accuse you of being too naive! Just to spend a little more time alone with Lydia and have more reasons to be courteous? George, I advise you not to do this anymore. If you do too much of this kind of thing, it will be self-defeating and arouse the disgust of others. Besides, you and Mrs. Wickham are really not suitable. Let me say something unpleasant, you should put some effort into it Then go find an unmarried lady who you can fancy!" The word unmarried is specially emphasized as a reminder.

"Lois, let's put aside the complicated issue of whether Mrs. Wickham and I are suitable. I want to say that you guessed wrong this time. I definitely didn't do this for the childish reasons you guessed. Well, I did it for a good reason."

"What is it?"

"Changing Mrs. Wickham before Daddy sees her."

"Huh?" Miss Mallard was extremely surprised, "Why, why?"

"Three reasons, the first is that papa has been inexplicably interested in her since we first met her in Hertfordshire; the second is that papa is in a good mood when he comes to London this time, and it seems to me that it is very good Now, what do you think a man will do when he is in a good mood? Of course, I don’t need to ask you about this point, I have more right to speak; the third is because Mrs. Wickham is so beautifully dressed tonight, maybe she is still like this Not the most outstanding stunner, but I can't stand it. Dad has a good impression of her for a long time. So I will help her change that beautiful dress first, just in case." Mr. Pete explained to his cousin.

This kind of worry is really unbelievable, and Miss Mallard felt that he was thinking too much, "That's not true, George, they are so different in age."

"I hope I'm thinking too much, but Lois, papa has remembered Mrs Wickham since seeing her once in Hertfordshire, and asked me about her several times in my correspondence. What happened recently, and this time I specifically proposed to invite her to this party, have you ever seen Dad pay so much attention to some unimportant woman?" Mr. Pete was troubled.

After what he said, Miss Mallard also became worried. She also knew the personality of Lord Chatham very well, and she knew that it was impossible for him to treat Lydia, a seemingly ordinary woman like Lydia, for no reason. Caring, "Your analysis seems to make sense."

Mr. Pete rubbed his brows, "So let's deal with today first. Aren't you going back to the countryside soon? Let's start early."

Miss Mallard's face became very strange, "George, I'm sorry, I'm afraid it's not that simple. When you were upstairs just now, I was asked by your father to ask me a few words. He asked me what I have planned recently. I told him that Lydia and I planned to leave London and return to Hertfordshire the day after tomorrow. Your Excellency said that he did not plan to stay in London for a long time. He was planning to stay with you in Netherfield for a few days. I will go with Lydia, I have promised."