[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

Miss Mallard teased her, "Lydia, if you continue to be so 'straightforward', you will really become a small money fan in the eyes of others."

"It's fine if you say yes." Lydia didn't care.

Miss Mallard shook her head, probably thinking that Lydia in this state is not interesting to tease, "Then let me tell you, according to Mr. Eshton's calculation, the return is more than double the principal."

"More than double?" Lydia blinked, afraid that she had heard it wrong, "Can you explain it more clearly? Dear Lois."

"That is to say, if you invest one pound, you will earn at least one pound. For example, George invested [-] pounds in this gold mining business, so the income he will get this year is more than [-] pounds."

"Really!!!" Lydia stood up, "Then the investment of the two of us is [-] pounds each, so we can each earn [-] pounds this year?"

"Yes, that's right. You're good at math, and you're right."

"Oh!" Lydia didn't expect there to be so many, so she walked around twice in excitement, and finally stopped in front of her friend Miss Mallard and asked, "Lois, are you really calm and not surprised at all?" ?”

"That's because I was already pleasantly surprised when I first heard the good news. So you don't have to be embarrassed, just go around a few more times to vent." Miss Mallard spread her hands, "We won't laugh at you."

Lydia wrinkled her nose at her and sat down, "No, thank you for your suggestion, but in order to prevent you from laughing at me in the stomach, I'd better sit quietly."

Mr. Pete had a little smile in his mouth, and sat with his legs crossed, watching the two of them teasing each other leisurely, and after the teasing, they began to discuss how to use the money.

Miss Mallard spoke with gusto that she was going to get some new furniture for her London flat, and buy a dozen of her favorite expensive silk pajamas, which she wore every day, and saved the rest of the money.

Lydia was very envious, "Oh, it must be a great feeling to suddenly have an extra sum of money to spend freely to buy some luxury goods that I have wanted for a long time, but unfortunately I can't feel it this year."

Miss Mallard wondered, "Did you earn money differently? Why don't you reward yourself with some money?"

"You forgot, the principal was paid by my mother. If I pay her all the proceeds this year, I won't owe her any more. I won't be able to earn it until next year." Speaking of this, she thought of a question. , so he turned to Mr. Pete, "Eshton said that if this business goes well, the high profits can be maintained for at least four or five years. What do you think? Can we still get such a high return next year?"

Mr. Peter invested [-] pounds at one time, which shows how sure he is of the profit expectation of this gold mining project.Although he encountered some uncontrollable interference in the middle, he almost lost all his money, but now that the situation has improved, he still maintains his original point of view, "Eshton's words are very reasonable, and I predict that next year's income will be even higher. , also in the year after, but it’s hard to say in the future, because not many people participated in this kind of high-risk investment at the beginning, but after everyone sees its benefits, they will definitely want to get involved, but I will discuss with Eshton and send more people there to ensure that our vested rights will not be affected, as long as there is no war, maintaining high profits for four to five years will not be a problem."

Lydia is relieved that no one is plowing the thin field and there are people fighting for it. What she is most worried about is whether other people will carve it up with jealousy. Now it seems that Mr. Eshton and Mr. Pete have already considered it, "Then I can rest assured. gone."

Miss Mallard was very amused by her little money fanatic, so she laughed at her for worrying about the next few years before she got her profits this year, and thinking too far ahead!

Lydia retorted that she was clear-headed and had long-term plans.

After talking for a while, I remembered that she still had something to discuss with Miss Mallard, "Lois, Mrs. Burns came to Longbourn today as a guest, and she suddenly proposed to invite me to live with her back in Somerset. For a while, do you think I should accept it?"

Miss Mallard was stunned. "Mrs. Burns invited you to go back with her?"

"Yeah, unexpected, right?"

"That's astonishing!" murmured Miss Mallard, looking up at Mr. Pitt, who was also surprised.

Lydia thought sideways, didn't pay attention to the reactions of the two of them, and said to herself, "In my conscience, I feel a little ashamed of this warm invitation! I haven't known Mrs. Burns for long, and we don't get along well. She is related, although every time we meet and talk is very pleasant, but I don't think it has reached the level of intimacy with Mrs. Walter, and I don't know what she is looking for in me."

Miss Mallard stabilized her mind, and felt that she needed to discuss this matter with her cousin privately, "Lydia, you haven't promised her yet, have you?"

"Not yet, I said I was reluctant to leave you, if I left you would be lonely." Lydia smiled slyly at her, "Although this is a temporary excuse, it is also the truth."

"That's good, don't agree to her just now, it's hard to say that there will be any calculations behind the unreasonable enthusiasm." Miss Mallard suggested seriously.

"Huh?" Lydia didn't want her to take this matter so badly, "Do you think so? But Mrs. Burns said that the Earl of Chatham is also planning to go back, and he seems to intend to take you with him, so let me Don't worry, we won't be separated from you. We will live very close by then, and it is said that Mr. Burns' vicarage is within walking distance to His Excellency the Earl's estate."

Miss Mallard and Mr. Pitt glanced at each other, "But the Earl hasn't mentioned it to me yet, maybe Mrs. Burns may be wrong? You'd better not promise her, wait until you understand it."

Miss Mallard's serious look and Mr. Pete's sudden retraction of smile made Lydia vaguely feel that there was something wrong with it, and after going through it in her mind, she wisely decided not to bother about it, and changed the topic .

I thought that this might involve some internal affairs in their family, and I had better not get involved in it. It would be the safest to stay honestly in Longbourne.

Now she gets along well with Miss Mallard and Mr. Pitt, and the relationship is very pleasant, and she is willing to develop this friendship in the long run. If it is affected by some conflicts caused by accidentally getting involved in the Earl's family, it is extremely worthless .

Although Mrs. Bennet blamed Lydia for running away in the afternoon without even bothering to finish her conversation, she still remembered to remind Mr. Bennet to send a carriage to Netherfield to pick up his daughter after dinner.

As soon as Lydia left, Miss Mallard immediately turned to Mr. Pitt, "George, I remember last time that your father's lover seemed to be staying at Pastor Burns' house, and was also a guest invited by Mrs. Burns?"

Mr. Pitt nodded, "That's right, but I'm not sure whether Dad took a fancy to her after Mrs. Burns asked her to go back, or if he had already taken a fancy to that woman and arranged for Mrs. Burns to take her back."

"Then what do you think this time...?" Miss Mallard didn't say the rest of the words, but everyone understood what she meant.

Mr. Pete shook his head this time, "It's hard to say," he stood up, "I'm going to find my father, there are two matters in London that I can't make up my own mind, I need to ask him."

Miss Mallard knew that he wanted to probe Earl Tam's tone, "I asked the housekeeper to prepare some hot tea for you."

The Earl of Chatham has been indulging in painting a rural scene in Hertfordshire for the past two days. He has stayed upstairs in the newly opened studio from morning to night, and has not come down to eat dinner with everyone, Mr. Peter He had just finished work for the day when he went upstairs.

"Father, you should come out to rest earlier, so the painting will be too much for the whole day." Mr. Pete persuaded.

The Earl of Chatham was a little tired, but he was very happy. "You are right, my son. I promise not to enter the studio tomorrow."

"You've finished that picture, haven't you?"

The Earl of Chatham smiled, acquiescing, "George, what do you want from me?"

Mr. Pete went into the study with his father, took out the two things he was going to ask, and talked about them first.

Both were very common matters, and they were settled in a few words. Mr. Pitt chatted with his father a few other words, and was thinking about how to ask Mrs. Burns, when Earl Chatham said, "I hear They say they have a new batch of pearls of very fine color at Amorrod Jewelers in London."

"Huh?" Mr. Pitt looked up at his father.

The Earl of Chatham looked at him with a half-smile and said, "I was going to buy a string of pearl necklaces in the best condition—to give to a lovely lady, but yesterday Robert came back and said that the string in the best condition has been taken away." Someone bought it, and the first buyer happened to be you, George, may I ask, what are you going to buy a woman's jewelry for? I don't think I have heard that you have a lover recently or who you are pursuing beautiful lady."