[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

Lydia came to Netherfield full of sulking, and planned a lot of things to say to Miss Mallard, but after entering the door, she was told by the servant that Miss Mallard had gone to Meryton early in the morning—— He was sent by the Earl of Chatham to do something, and it will probably take some time before he can come back.

Lydia had to wait in the first room.

The Earl of Chatham was sitting in Netherfield's spacious and bright living room dictating the contents of several letters, while Robert was skillfully taking notes.

Lydia wanted to sit in the living room, but she was about to leave when she saw this scene, but Earl Chatham called her, "Mrs. Wickham, wait here for a while, you will be ready soon."

Lydia knew that His Excellency the Earl often dealt with some daily affairs in the morning, and his office was usually located in the upstairs study, so he didn't know why he came downstairs today.But since he told himself not to leave, it proved that it was definitely not something important to be disturbed by others, so he chose a seat a little further away to sit down.

Because I was still suffocating in my heart, I started to lose my mind after sitting down for a while.

I thought that the Bingley sisters are indeed very hateful, but they are easy to deal with. As long as you don't be polite, give them a frontal counterattack for their contempt, embarrass them once, and promise to be honest next time, at least they won't come back easily. provocative.But Meryton's nasty gossip was not so easy to deal with, it was a tricky and annoying thing.

Lydia believes that these sudden rumors must have been deliberately spread, but the question is who is this person targeting her?She didn't have a clue yet, which was so upsetting.

Sitting there frowning, I tried to think hard, did I offend anyone recently?

After the Earl of Chatham finished explaining the contents of those letters, he raised his eyes and saw Lydia resting her chin on her hand, frowning vigorously, looking preoccupied, and her usually cheerful and delicate face was almost taken by her at this moment. Wrinkled into a ball, looking very funny, he suddenly laughed, and said to his personal attendant Robert, "Our lovely lady seems to have something to worry about today."

Robert, like the respectable stewards of all noble families in England, behaved rigorously and did not smile. Hearing what the earl said, he looked at Lydia calmly, and then replied politely, "It seems so, Mrs. Wickham frowned. Wrinkled tightly, and the curvature of the corner of the mouth is also a little downward."

Lydia turned her face in a daze, thinking that they seemed to be talking about herself, but because she was distracted just now, she didn't hear clearly what they were saying.

"What's the matter, what's the matter? Mrs. Wickham, as soon as you came in today, I saw that your face was not very good." Earl Chatham stood up and asked Lydia.

"Ah," Lydia said in front of him with the troubled truth, "it's nothing, some small things between neighbors and friends, people always get together to spread some news and anecdotes, and sometimes small misunderstandings inevitably occur, it's not worth your time Take the trouble to listen."

Earl Chatham looked at her intently, and did not continue to ask, because he was really not interested in such trivial matters.He just found it amusing that Mrs. Wickham, with her young eighteen/nine-year-old face, was seriously troubled, and he'd often found Lydia amusing here and there lately, an endearing lady. He liked the young lady, so he was always in a good mood, so he stretched out a hand in a very gentlemanly way to invite, "Let's go."

"Where are you going?" Lydia stood up naturally with his hands intertwined, and saw that Earl Chatham was looking down at the hands that were being joined together. His thick eyelashes seemed to be longer than her own, and the corners of his beautiful mouth with a smile.

The Earl of Chatham took her out, "Of course it is to go to the billiards room. Proper entertainment can make people relax and forget the little unhappiness in life, and we agreed to play billiards today. Don't you forget our agreed?"

Lydia suddenly remembered that when she left the day before yesterday, she had made an appointment with His Excellency the Earl to play billiards with him, "Of course not. To be honest, I am looking forward to it. I may be far behind in terms of painting skills and recuperation, but playing billiards is a good thing for me." But very good at it, rarely loses."

The Earl of Chatham turned his face to the side and smiled slightly, "As far as I know, women have never had high demands on themselves in this regard. Anyone who understands the rules and can shoot correctly will consider himself a master."

"Your Excellency, you are prejudiced." Lydia retorted.

"Really, then you can prove it to me with facts."

"No problem." Lydia cheered up, put aside her troubles for the time being, and prepared to play the game seriously first, to save some honor for the female compatriots.

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

Miss Mallard was sent by her uncle to Meryton to buy some insignificant things, and went to several shops from house to house. After meeting two acquaintances and accosting for a while, she was not surprised to hear that Miss Bingley's morning Rumors brought to Longbourn.

Because she was not the person involved, Miss Mallard was angry when she heard it, but she was able to calmly analyze it. After careful consideration, she came to the same conclusion as Lydia: this rumor was deliberately spread by someone against Lydia. .

She used her brains all the way to check out the few people who might have done such wicked things. When the carriage she was riding in stopped in front of the gate of Netherfield, the suspect had already been locked on Baroness Moran. Miss Ladd thought it most likely the work of the baroness.

Two maids came to the carriage to carry a bunch of things that Miss Mallard had bought back, and told her that Mrs. Wickham had come. Miss Mallard hurriedly jumped out of the carriage and walked quickly into the room.

"Lois!"

On the way to the back stable came a tall young man, Mr. Pitt.

Miss Mallard stopped waiting for him, a little surprised, "George, why did you come back suddenly? You didn't write me a letter in advance."

Mr. Pete looked a little thinner, but he was in good spirits, "Lois, I decided to come back temporarily, so I didn't have time to inform you in advance."

"Is the matter settled?" asked Miss Mallard.

Mr. Pete nodded, with a hint of relief in his tone, "The two seized cargoes have been lifted. Eshton sent me a letter last night, saying that he had shipped all the cargoes on board."

"Great," Miss Mallard patted her chest, "We've been worrying about you for a long time. The two cargoes have been detained at the port for a long time. Is there a big loss?"

"Fortunately, that person is inexperienced in doing these things, so it's just a delay in time, and there is no major loss in other things." Mr. Pete replied.

Miss Mallard knew who the 'that person' was referring to. She sighed, then smiled sincerely, and said in a low voice, "Then I really want to congratulate you! I was worried a while ago. Your Excellency the Earl will be unhappy about this, and take back control of the property in your hands, now that the matter is settled, everything can be said."

Mr. Pete was also a little thankful, "That was indeed a big mistake. It was the trouble caused by my inadvertent making friends. If Dad blamed me for this, I have nothing to say, but fortunately, the old man is in a particularly good mood this time for some reason. Apart from writing to Senator Morris personally, asking him to help take care of this matter, I didn’t say anything more.”

Miss Mallard said bluntly, "George, this is not considered careless in making friends. I would say that your charm is too great. You can be proud of it quietly for a few days, and you don't have to blame yourself too much for it. Charm is such a thing It's all natural, Uncle can't blame you for being too attractive to women, after all, your family background, appearance and other things that make women look at you differently are all from him."

Mr. Peter curled his lips and wisely dropped the topic, "Lois, I want to thank you. You have taken good care of Netherfield and thoughtful consideration of all aspects."

"Why did you suddenly think of saying this?"

"Father is rarely willing to live in other places for so long. If it wasn't for the comfortable living here, he would have gone back long ago."

Miss Mallard shook her head, "I don't want to belittle myself, because I do think I'm managing well, but I'm afraid that's not the main reason why Your Excellency the Earl is willing to stay here for a long time."

"You mean because of Mrs. Wickham?" Mr. Pitt raised his eyebrows.

Miss Mallard shrugged. "I really hope not, but the facts don't support me. By the way, George, it's a good sign that you've become more expressive since you got to know Mrs. Wickham." People with flexible and rich expressions are more likable, and cold indifference will make you lose a lot of advantage in the competition for cute girls."

"I'm not interested in this kind of boring competition, Lois, please don't tease me all the time, let's talk about something serious, how did they get along during this time?" Mr. Pete demanded seriously.

Miss Mallard frowned, "It's actually normal, but it's so normal that I don't feel at ease."

Lydia and the Earl of Chatham had already played two rounds of billiards at this time, and returned to the living room to rest. Earl Chatham praised Lydia's skills with reservations, and told Lydia with a smile, For a woman, her level is not bad.

On the other hand, Lydia found that the Earl is very good at playing. She tried her best just now and only won one game. It is estimated that the Earl thought she was serious, so she let the water go on purpose.Lydia felt that there was no need to worry too much about entertainment. Since the other party let her go, she should express her gratitude, and generously stated that what she just said was overconfident.After Mr. Pitt and Miss Mallard walked into the living room, they saw a very normal scene. Lydia was talking with Earl Chatham politely and politely.