[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

At the breakfast table in Longbourne, the Bennetts, their eldest daughter Jane, their third daughter Mary, and Mr. Bingley, who was accompanying Jane at her natal home, sat opposite each other and had breakfast.

Mr. Bennett held a letter and announced, "Lydia will be back tomorrow."

"Oh, very well," said Mrs. Bennet immediately, "my dear Lydia has been in London for more than a month, and I miss her so much."

"Father, didn't you say that you couldn't send a carriage to pick her up for the time being? How will Lydia come back tomorrow?" Mary asked.

"Of course I came back by taking someone else's car. Speaking of this, I was really surprised. This time I have to express my admiration for my little daughter's social skills!" Mr. Bennett said thoughtfully.

"Come on, Mr. Bennett, I said you never bothered to praise your lovely little daughter. It's the rare time you did it and it didn't make sense. You really let me down!" Mrs. Bennett said. He yelled dissatisfiedly, "Isn't it just a carriage home with an enthusiastic friend? This is a common thing, but anyone who meets a good family and educated person will provide this kind of help to a friend. What's the fuss?" , Lydia made friends with Baroness, Mrs. Walter, why didn't you praise her?"

"My dear, I admire your rationality and calmness. It turns out that you think it is very common for Lydia to be able to go home in the carriage of the Earl of Chatham," Mr. Bennet replied, "I am so sorry for you." Proud of a stable wife!"

Nine times out of ten Mrs. Bennet could not hear her husband's sarcasm, and once she did not hear it at all. The shocked expression remained for a full minute, and then he covered his chest and exclaimed, "Oh my God! My baby Lydia! I'm so proud of her! Think about it, riding in the same carriage with the Earl Oh, how many people will never encounter such a dignified thing in their life!..."

Mr. Bennet didn't like to hear such long-winded words, so he interrupted her, "Honey, maybe you need to prepare some exquisite refreshments in advance, maybe the Earl will come in and take a rest on his own initiative."

"Yes! Yes! I'm going to find Hill right away, and I want the best black tea and freshly baked muffins," Mrs. Bennet said without even finishing her breakfast, and got up to look for the housekeeper.

"Don't worry, Mr. Bennett was joking. The Earl of Chatham probably wouldn't just come in for tea." Mr. Bingley reminded kindly, but Mrs. Bennett had already left.

Mr. Bennett smiled triumphantly, "It's okay, even if His Excellency the Earl doesn't come in to enjoy it, there are still us."

Everyone shut up when they heard this, and no one reminded Mrs. Bennet any more.

...............

The next day, when Lydia came back, the Earl of Chatham did not come into the house - it was unnecessary for him to do so in his capacity and age.

However, he graciously asked the coachman to drive the carriage to the gate of the Longbourne house, and got off the station himself for a while, and then got into the carriage and left after listening to Lydia say a few concise and sincere words of thanks to him. go.

Mrs. Bennet was fortunate enough to watch His Excellency the Earl from the upstairs window.Because she had the help of a servant, she got the news in time, and she was loud enough to immediately call the eldest daughter and the third daughter to share her excitement, so Jane and Mary also accompanied her to visit the Earl of Chatham from a distance from the window. image of.

"Oh! He's so handsome. I've never seen him in such a manner!" Lydia heard Mrs. Bennet commenting loudly as soon as she entered the room. "I'm sure I've seen him before." The most beautiful man! Those facial features are so perfect..."

Lydia was very speechless, and at the same time admired Mrs. Bennet's sharp eyes. She could see other people's facial features clearly from the upstairs window.

However, the two sisters, Jane and Mary, were still as calm as usual, and they were able to come forward to welcome her home. Mr. Bingley was listening to his mother-in-law praising the distinguished guest who stayed at the door for 2 minutes just now. Behind Jane and Mary.

Everyone greeted each other lively, and the two sisters hadn't finished talking when Mrs. Bennet rushed in and asked Lydia to tell everyone about the Earl of Chatham. Be curious to death.

"The Earl of Chatham is Mr. Pitt's father and Lois' uncle. He happened to know that we were going back to Hertfordshire, so he took us along." Lydia replied.

Mrs. Bennet was very dissatisfied with such a concise answer, "Of course we know that he and Pete show up and are related to Miss Mallard. Lydia, what we want to know is what kind of person he is, what kind of personality, easy-going How sweet is he, how did he talk? What did he say to you along the way? I saw there was a carriage behind, but I didn’t enter the manor, my God, how grand is he? How many servants does he bring with him? "

Lydia had just spent a pleasant journey with the Earl of Chatham. The carriage of the Earl of Chatham was spacious and stable, and it was the most comfortable and luxurious carriage Lydia had ever sat in.

His Excellency the Earl showed her two exquisite figure paintings in the car, and explained the painting techniques in detail, and even promised that he would take time to teach Lydia this painting skill during his stay in Netherfield. His Excellency the Earl has always been He is cold and eccentric, but when he wants to talk, he can talk and laugh happily. With his charming appearance and rich knowledge, he is really a very good companion.

Lydia talked to him attentively, and said that the time passed quickly, and they arrived at Longbourne before the carriage felt how long it had been.

Seeing that her mother was very curious at this time, even Jane and Mary were waiting for her to say something about the Earl, so Lydia picked out some of the Earl's carriage, utensils and servants, etc. Talk about a topic of interest.

Mrs. Bennet kept admiring, envious of the grandeur and luxury of the people's life. After a while, even Mr. Bennet came out of the study and went into the living room to ask about the situation on Lydia Road.

This time, Lydia didn't need to say much by herself. Mrs. Bennet excitedly relayed what she had just heard to Mr. Bennet, and by the way added what she saw from the upstairs window.

After listening for a while, Mr. Bennet suddenly realized the problem, "Lydia, what about Miss Mallard, why didn't your mother see her getting off the carriage? Your Excellency the Earl has already got off, so she can't still be sitting in the carriage?"

"Oh, the Earl of Chatham and I were in the carriage looking at some of his newly purchased paintings. Lois didn't like this, so I sat in the carriage behind, and I guess she took the opportunity to sleep all the way," Lydia said. It's funny, Miss Mallard is good at everything, but loves to sleep, I don't know if it can be regarded as a shortcoming.

Mr. Bennett wanted to say something, but was interrupted by his wife. Mrs. Bennett hadn’t seen her daughter for a long time, and she had a lot to say to Lydia, and she talked endlessly about the new things that happened in the countryside recently. , the eldest lady of the Lucas family went back with her husband last week; a niece of Mrs. Lang has good news that she is going to marry a doctor; Mr. Bennett's farm has another foal... Finally The important thing is that Mr. Darcy took a nice house in Meryton for half a year.

"Rented for half a year?" Lydia wondered, and after thinking about it, she understood, "Is it to accompany Jane and Bingley? That's great, but Mr. Darcy is really generous, and the rent for that house is not cheap."

"What's the matter? It's not like he can't afford it." Mrs. Bennet waved her hands disapprovingly, very proud of having a rich son-in-law.

Jane's due date is in October, and Bingley will stay with her until that time, and Elizabeth has the deepest affection for Jane among the sisters, and her husband, Mr. Darcy, is also a good friend of Bingley, so the two also decided to give birth in the second half of the year. Live back and stay with them.

It's just that Mr. Darcy thinks that Longbourne is too crowded for so many people, and it's not convenient for Bingley and him to entertain a friend, and his sister Georgiana doesn't want to live alone in Pemberley for a long time, so she has long asked to come together Hertfordshire too.So Mr. Darcy simply rented a house with good conditions in Meryton, so that not only would he and Elizabeth live conveniently, but Bingley could also meet friends and relax from time to time.

"Darcy's decision is really good. My sister is planning to come to live for a while in the summer. It will be lively then." Mr. Bingley interjected. He is easy-going and lively by nature and likes to be lively. He lived here with Jane in Longbourn. Been bored for months so much looking forward to seeing friends and sisters.

While everyone was chattering about Mr. Darcy's renting, Mary leaned over to Lydia and said, "Would you like to go for a walk in the back woods with me this afternoon? It's been a long time since we talked about repairing. Prior."

Lydia was very happy, nodded, and felt that the atmosphere at home was really great, and she was very happy that she had returned to her normal life.

======

Lydia lived very comfortably at home, but she was still thinking about her good friend Miss Mallard. I am afraid that she would be cautious if she was alone with the Earl of Chatham in Netherfield. After all, she was only in love with her cousin, Mr. Pitt. Well, there is still a layer of relationship with my cousin's father.

Mr. Peter cannot leave London for the time being due to business matters, so Lydia plans to work harder by herself and make a few more trips to Netherfield to accompany Lois, and secondly, His Excellency the Earl treats her well and has a good relationship with her. Common language, Lydia also likes to associate with this old gentleman.

So on the third morning after returning to the country, Lydia saw that the weather was fine, and walked to Netherfield by herself.Longbourn is not far from Netherfield, but walking on two legs alone is also very exercised. Even though Lydia is young and healthy, her steps are brisk, and she is so tired that her cheeks are flushed when she arrives at Netherfield Manor. Breathe out.

The Earl of Chatham was setting up his picture folder and drawing on the lawn. When he saw Lydia walking in suddenly, he couldn't help but froze for a moment, then beckoned her to go, and asked, "Could it be that you came here? Why don't you let people Come to send a letter, I will take the carriage to pick you up."

Lydia walked in the sunny countryside for more than an hour. Although she was a little tired, she was in a happy mood, and she replied with a smile, "Thank you for your kindness, but I want to go for a walk on purpose, so that I can exercise and maintain my health. Good shape."

Earl Chatham raised his eyebrows and sized her up, "You have a good figure, and your complexion is very charming today."

Lydia knew that he was a very high-sighted person. This was a very high compliment, and her eyes were bent with joy, "You praised me too much, Your Excellency Earl, you are also very energetic today. My family happened to watch from the window the day before yesterday. When you got off the car, they kept saying that you were a handsome person for the next few days."

The Earl of Chatham didn't care about her polite words, and asked Lydia to go over to see his paintings, and by the way, talk about the techniques he said he wanted to guide her last time.

The Earl of Chatham was a very serious person, and he started a demonstration while explaining. Lydia suddenly realized after listening for a while, "Oh, your hands are so steady! Have you recovered yet?"

"It's not completely recovered, but I can already paint, but I can't paint for too long every day." Earl Chatham's tone was flat, and there was no superfluous expression on his face, but joy shone in his beautifully shaped and deep eyes Feelings.

Lydia hurriedly congratulated him sincerely, and finally understood why this big man who had always been a bit eccentric was so kind and amiable recently. Even Mr. Pete couldn't help saying a few times that his father was in a very good mood recently.Isn't it necessary to be in a good mood, to be able to regain the greatest hobby of many years!

"It's all thanks to you." Earl Chatham waited for her to finish speaking and replied, "When I met you on that hillside, I thought this girl was interesting and wanted to get to know her better. It seems that I Intuition was correct."

Lydia was very happy. She gave the stability ball she used to practice hands to Earl Chatham in a moment of kindness. She didn't expect it to be so helpful. She joked, "You must be thinking at the time, going out today It's really unlucky, I met a little girl with poor skills who likes to scribble with a painting clip, I really can't stand it, so come and give me some advice."

The Earl of Chatham shook his head and glanced at her, "No."

"wrong?"

The Earl of Chatham said no more, bent his arms to signal Lydia to do it, and smiled slightly, "Go in, Lois has prepared tea and fruit. Just stay here today, don't rush to leave, stay Have dinner." Lydia didn't intend to go back in a hurry, and the lady spent the whole day together, so she agreed to you. ’ When I came out I greeted Mrs Bennett, ‘Well, then I’ll stay with you and say she’s going to be with Mallard and hope it won’t be too much of an intrusion