[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

The scenery of Netherfield Manor in summer is very beautiful, especially the forest with lush foliage and various birds inhabiting among the trees.

Mr. Pete felt that his father was not only in a good mood recently, but also his body was much better than before, and he was in good spirits. He even resumed hunting activities that had been interrupted for a long time, and brought his servants out to hunt early in the morning.

"boom!"

After a gunshot, the Earl of Chatham smiled and put down the double-barreled shotgun in his hand, and the servants behind him ran to the front to pick up the shot down partridge.

"Dad, your marksmanship is as accurate as ever." Mr. Pete followed up, and he was relieved to find that his father's marksmanship had not become rusted due to long-term use.

His father, the Earl of Chatham, was a man gifted in every way.In addition, he has received first-class education since childhood, so all skills are excellent.Painting, music, French, literature, equestrianism, hunting, and even billiards, there is nothing he is not proficient in, so he has been living an elegant, conceited, and comfortable life in his own way.

It was only two years ago that the Earl of Chatham was hit hard by hand tremors. Not only could he not continue his favorite painting activity, but other daily pastimes were also affected, and he has been depressed for this reason.

Thinking of this, Mr. Pete was bewildered and pleasantly surprised, "Dad! Your hand is healed! The gun was held very steadily just now, and there was no vibration at all."

The Earl of Chatham glanced at him, "I am so sorry that my son is the last one to find out that my hand has been restored." Even though he said that, his tone was very brisk, without reproach at all.

Mr. Pete finally understood why his father was in a good mood recently, and was very happy for him, "Dad, please accept my late congratulations, maybe we can celebrate this well."

"There's no need to celebrate. Although my hand is much better, I still can't use it for too long," Earl Chatham said, throwing the shotgun to the servant next to him. "Let's go back and wait until we fully recover." It's not too late to celebrate."

Mr. Pete remembered that he was going to hold a dance because of Lydia, so he just took this opportunity to talk to his father.The Earl of Chatham, tired of noise, might be displeased if, during his stay at Netherfield, he should go out of his way to attract large numbers of guests to his balls.Now would be a good reason to celebrate his recovery from an old illness.

So he followed, "Dad, I think we should celebrate."

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

Lydia and Miss Mallard waited for Mr. Pitt's return as they walked along the path that bordered the front lawn.After strolling for a while, I saw the father and son walking from behind on the road leading to the stable.

The Earl of Chatham has a perfect demeanor and a perfect appearance. Every movement is as if measured by a ruler, which properly interprets his noble identity and upbringing.

Mr. Pitt was slightly taller than his father, and he wore a gray coat, which could be seen from a distance to be of exquisite workmanship. The trim on the collar and cuffs was a style popular in the court this year.

He was talking to the Earl of Chatham in a low voice, and the Earl walked in front, listening indifferently, with no big expression on his face.

Lydia glanced at her and asked Miss Mallard, "How is the relationship between the Earl and his son? Why do I think he doesn't care about his son?"

"You are mistaken, Lydia," Miss Mallard shook her head. "On the contrary, the Earl of Chatham has only one son, George, and he has always been fond of him."

"But when I saw them get along a few times, the attitudes of both sides were indifferent."

"That's just a superficial phenomenon, because neither His Excellency the Earl nor George is a passionate person, so they won't always show their father-son affection in front of outsiders."

"But I think His Excellency the Earl is usually very gentle and amiable, and occasionally jokes, and will not always be cold." Lydia replied based on her own experience.

"It's rare for the Count to joke," thought Miss Mallard, and it's usually about you.

"If his attitude is always so lukewarm, by what standard do you judge that he actually loves his son?" Lydia asked her.

"Of course it is based on facts. Which family have you seen before the son of the family can have a large amount of property at his disposal like George before inheriting the family business? Can he buy a manor as he pleases? Generally speaking Say, it would be nice for a non-inheritor to have spare money to buy a few horses and a beautiful carriage." Miss Mallard picked the most obvious truth.

Lydia was taught, "Yes, Mr. Walter has always been attached to the family, and rarely has the opportunity to make decisions alone. I have been comparing my two rich brothers-in-law, but I have never thought of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Everyone is already the master of the family property. To be honest, even so, I sometimes feel that Mr. Pitt has more money than Bentley, and he is less restrained in spending."

"Where is Mr. Bidarcy?" Miss Mallard asked with great interest.

"It's hard to say. Mr. Darcy's family property is too impressive. It should not be worse than Mr. Peter who has not inherited the family business. However, he doesn't like to show off very much. He is low-key in detail, so it is not easy to compare."

While talking, the two came to the front, and Miss Mallard and Lydia went up to greet His Excellency the Earl, and by the way, listened to Mr. Pete talking about how many birds he had caught in the morning.

Lydia didn't expect that the Earl of Chatham was still a good hunter. Although she didn't want to say flattery, she couldn't help but express her sincere admiration.

The Earl of Chatham said with a very faint smile, "Uninformed girl, you probably think that I know nothing but painting."

When Mrs. de Boer criticized Elizabeth or Lydia in the past, she would often say that they were rude girls and ignorant girls, which made the listeners very unhappy.But the same words were quite different when the Earl of Chatham said them. It was not a lesson to belittle people, but rather kind.

So Lydia could ignore it and wink quietly at Miss Mallard.

The Earl of Chatham used this time every morning to deal with some affairs. After saying a few words, he took Robert upstairs. When he walked up the stairs, he heard Lydia say to his son from behind, "Mr. Pete, Do you have time now? I have something I want to talk to you about."

"I'm going to write a letter to Mr. Eshton in the morning. If you don't need to talk for a long time, then talk about it now. If it takes a long time, please wait for me. We can meet in the living room in half an hour. Is it?" replied Mr. Pitt.

"Then in half an hour, I want to talk to you about a very important matter. You should finish the work at hand first, so that we can sit down and discuss it slowly." Lydia estimated that what she wanted to talk about would take up some It took a lot of time for Mr. Pete, so I respectfully ask him to write back to Mr. Eshton first, so that he can discuss with himself the question of how to be responsible for the innocent and implicated people as the chief culprit.

The Earl of Chatham sat down in the study and asked Robert, "Has the letter to Mrs. Burns been sent?"

Robert bent down and put the stack of letters that had been sorted out that needed to be read by the Earl of Chatham on the table, "It has been mailed, I remember Mrs. Burns once mentioned that she has a distant relative near here, and I asked her to receive it." Set off immediately after receiving the letter, and come here in the name of visiting relatives, and it is estimated that you will arrive in a week at the latest."

"Okay." Earl Tam nodded in satisfaction, "You have to know what to do when the time comes, let her establish a relationship with the Bennett family as soon as possible, and then invite Mrs Wickham, don't delay too long, I But living outside is enough, and I want to go back as soon as possible.”

"Don't worry, I know what to do." Robert promised.

"Send someone to listen to what they are saying." Earl Chatham ordered after sitting and thinking for a while.

"Oh?" Robert was standing aside with a pen and paper as usual, and recorded this sentence casually. After writing it, he felt wrong, "Now?"

"Yes, let someone hear what Mrs. Wickham is anxious to say to George."

=========

"...So you can't sit idly by, you should help me through the predicament in front of me!" Lydia said righteously.

She first used 10 minutes to talk about her current embarrassing situation, then used 10 minutes to explain the cause and result of the incident, and finally spent 10 minutes to demonstrate that Mr. Pete was the main culprit who caused this trouble. It is an unshirkable responsibility, and it is incumbent on her to assist her in solving this difficult situation.

After Lydia finished speaking, she looked at Mr. Pete expectantly, waiting for an answer.

She knew that Mr. Pete was very busy recently, and this matter of hers might be insignificant compared to his transactions that cost tens of thousands of pounds. Even if the other party apologized for this, they might not be able to spare time to help her for a while.

But everyone's starting point is different. She is restricted by her gender and identity, and her daily social life and corresponding good interpersonal relationships are almost the whole focus of her life, so this matter that may be very trivial in the eyes of Mr. It's a big event, so I prepared a bunch of big reasons, and I just waited for him to show a little bit of prevarication before continuing to reason.

"You are right, Mrs. Wickham, I am deeply ashamed of having caused you to be so wronged, and indeed I should bear a large part of the responsibility for it, so I plan to hold a ball for you in Netherfield next week, At that time, several highly respected ladies will be invited to participate, such as Mrs. De Boer and Mrs. Walter. I believe they are the best candidates to come forward to help you clarify those false rumors." Mr. Pete replied happily after she finished speaking, "Lo Didn't Iss tell you? The dance is getting ready."

"Prom? Are you already preparing?" Lydia's words that were prepared later were useless.

"Yes."

Lydia turned to Miss Mallard with a long face, and asked with a drawn out voice, "Lois—? Isn't it funny to see me running around in a hurry?"

Miss Mallard replied with a suppressed smile, "I think it would be better for George to tell you this himself. Anyway, it will not be two hours later than mine. Besides, it is really interesting to see you wandering around."

Lydia was so angry that she got up and beat her, and Miss Mallard ran away laughing.

Mr. Pitt shrugged behind them, and suddenly saw a maid cleaning the decorative paintings on the wall in the corridor from the open door, and walked out with a frown, but found that it was a maid brought by his father, so he ordered, "Go and tell the housekeeper Mrs. , You don’t need to do this kind of thing in the future, you just need to take care of the Earl’s various needs.”

The maid agreed, and sure enough, she packed up the cleaning utensils and went back to the kitchen.The Earl of Chatham listened to Rob Niufan talking about the conversation between his son and Mrs. Wickham at night, and couldn't help pondering, "It's strange, when did Nongzhi become so enthusiastic?" He tapped on the table lightly, "That's just right, you Send another letter to Mrs. Burns tomorrow morning, asking her to arrive before the ball next week, and it will be much more natural to introduce her to Mrs. Wickham at the ball, and it will help them form a deep friendship."