[Pride and Prejudice] Dear Lydia

"Well, Lois, what am I supposed to do?"

Lydia asked Miss Mallard for the hundredth time, not expecting her to come up with any clever solution for herself, but just venting her emotions.

Lydia was walking with Miss Mallard on a field path near Netherfield when she said this.Lydia didn't want to take the initiative to go to Netherfield unless necessary until she cleared her mind, so she asked Miss Mallard to meet her.

Miss Mallard told Lydia to relax, because in her opinion, the pros outweighed the cons, and the only thing Lydia had to worry about was to find out who was the one who offered to pay her out of the marriage in name only. After marrying someone she has a relationship with, just carefully weigh whether this person is worthy of her remarriage.

"Is it really that simple?" Lydia looked at her in distress.

"In the present circumstances, there are only two persons who could do it. One is my cousin George, and the other is his father, the Earl of Chatham." Miss Mallard said naturally, "and both of them He is a very respectable person, even if he paid such a large sum of money for you, he is voluntary, and he will never threaten you because of it."

Lydia was taken aback, "Oh my God, Lois, do you also think it's possible for the Earl? I never dared to tell you that Mr. Wickham thinks this may have something to do with the Earl, because I was afraid that the idea would be too scary. Scared you, I didn't expect you to have thought of it!"

"I've known for a long time that the Earl likes you, and I haven't dared to tell you, for fear of scaring you." Miss Mallard replied, after all, the two were actually afraid of scaring each other, which shows that this is indeed a unusual situation.

"Your Excellency the Earl is very kind to me, but I always think that there is a difference between this kind of amiable attitude and feelings of admiration. Maybe you all guessed wrong!" Lydia frowned.

"I hope, too, that we are wrong," said Miss Mallard, "that the matter would be so much simpler and more manageable. Then again, I ask you, Lydia, if your lordship is sincerely I fell in love with you and expressed my love to you, can you refuse him?"

"I...should be able to do it." Lydia was a little unconfident. After this period of contact, she knew that although the Earl of Chatham was no longer young, he was still full of charm.

Sighing, "I have always regarded Your Excellency the Earl as a rare year-end friend. This state cannot be changed for a while, and I really don't want to change."

At this time, there was the sound of horseshoes from behind, and the two turned their heads together, and saw two gentlemen coming on horseback.When they got closer, they found that one of the people on the horse was a local doctor Jones, and the other was a doctor Hutton who was specially invited from London for Jane half a month ago.

The two doctors were in a hurry, trotting all the way on their horses. When Dr. Jones saw Lydia, he stopped and said loudly, "Mrs. Wickham! Why are you still in the mood to take a walk here? Your sister, Mrs. Bingley, appeared this morning The symptoms of childbirth, but it is not going well, it looks like dystocia, I will take Dr. Hatton back to get some medicine, your mother is so nervous that she is going to collapse, you should go back and have a look!" After finishing speaking, she rode the horse and left .

"Disease!"

Lydia thumped in her heart, dystocia these days is very easy to kill!

Hastily said to Miss Mallard, "Lois, I'm going back first!" Lifting her skirt, she turned around and was about to rush back.

Miss Mallard quickly grabbed her back, "No, this is close to Netherfield, you come back with me, I'll send you a carriage."

Lydia didn't care about the embarrassment of meeting people now, so she agreed immediately, and hurriedly followed Miss Mallard back.

When he was approaching Netherfield, he met Mr. Pitt coming out of an open two-wheeled carriage, and his expression was a little anxious, "Mrs. Wickham, I was just going to find you. Your mother sent someone to Netherfield to tell you My sister is having a baby, so I want you to go back quickly, get in the car, and I'll see you off."

In fact, it is enough to send a coachman for this matter, and there is no need to bother Mr. Pete to deliver it himself, but Lydia has no time to worry about it with him now, so she got into the carriage with a thank you, "I am sorry to trouble you."

"Please don't be polite to me." Mr. Pete nodded calmly, "Sit still!" He raised the rein and let the carriage run quickly and steadily.

Longbourn was by this time out of sorts.

Although Mrs. Bennett had given birth to five daughters herself, she was lucky and all of them were born naturally. She hardly suffered any great pain in giving birth. She did not expect that her eldest daughter failed to inherit her good physique. There was a difficult labor as a child, and Mrs. Bennett nearly passed out when Dr. Hutton said it was difficult.

Mr. Bennett played an important role at the critical moment. He sternly stopped Mrs. Bennett, who was almost in shock, and told her that her daughter could only rely on her at this time, and if she wanted to make trouble, she would have to wait until Jane gave birth. Go in and be with Jane immediately, and give her the greatest support and comfort a mother can give!

Mrs. Bennett miraculously regained her senses after being shouted at by her husband in a deep voice. She straightened up and walked to Jane's room, "Yes! Yes! The poor child needs me now!"

In Jane's room, there was a nurse who had been hired early and was busy. Jane's face was covered with cold sweat, her face was pale, and her lips had been bitten. When she saw Mrs. Bennett, she stretched out her hand tremblingly and cried: , "Mom, I can't take it anymore, it hurts to death!"

Mrs. Bennet rushed up and took her hand, and said sharply, "Jane, it's all right! It's the same with babies, be strong, hold on! It'll be all right!"

When Lydia and Mr. Pete arrived, Dr. Hatton also rushed back and drove everyone downstairs. Only Mrs. Bennett and the nurse were left upstairs.

Mr. Bennet probably didn't want to lose his composure in front of his daughter and son-in-law, so he hid in the study with a blank face, and the rest of the people gathered in the living room, worrying together.

Mr. Bingley sat alone in a corner, his lips moved, and he could be heard praying earnestly if he listened carefully.

Elizabeth's face was pale, and she stared at the ground in a daze. The great fear of losing her dear sister made her no longer lively and lively. Mr. Darcy sat beside her, holding her hand and comforting her in a low voice.

Mary kept walking up and down the room, and finally said to herself, "No, I have to go back to my room to read. Now only Shakespeare and Thubber can comfort me!" out.

Lydia and Mr. Pete sat across from Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, listening to the painful groans coming from upstairs. Although Lydia was anxious and worried, Mr. Pete's face turned pale, but he had never experienced this before. When a woman gives birth, when she hears the painful voice upstairs and the heavy atmosphere around her, she feels extremely frightening. She is frightened and tries to comfort Lydia calmly, "Don't worry too much, you My sister will be fine."

"Dr. Hutton said that Jane would not be like this if she could move more. I thought she would go out for a walk every morning, and I felt that the amount of exercise was enough, but I didn't expect that she hardly moved at other times. If I knew it, I should have taken her around every afternoon." Lydia was a little annoyed, "We are really negligent!"

Elizabeth suddenly raised her head and interjected, "Jane's temperament is relatively quiet, and she doesn't like sports very much, so everyone doesn't feel anything if she doesn't move from morning to night. After all, we have no experience, and my mother has never encountered such a situation before. Condition."

The rest of the gentlemen looked at each other and had nothing to say to this.

After being silent for a while, there was another loud cry of pain from upstairs. Jane was usually calm and dignified. If she hadn't been extremely impatient, she would never have yelled like this. The voice was heart-piercing, full of pain and helplessness.

Mr. Bingley held the arm of the chair tightly, his knuckles turned white; Elizabeth groaned, covered her mouth and leaned close to Mr. Darcy's side, trying to control herself not to cry out of anxiety and worry.

Lydia also shivered violently. Since she became Lydia Wickham, she has made up her mind to treat the original owner's family sincerely. Jane is kind and gentle, and she is a good sister. We didn't get along for a long time, but we also cultivated some sisterhood. At this time, it was really uncomfortable to hear that Jane was in such pain.

A firm and strong arm stretched out to wrap her around her, "Don't be nervous."

Lydia looked sideways at Mr. Pete's increasingly pale face, "I think I can hold on, but don't hold on, you'd better go back first."

Mr. Pete shook his head, "I'll be with you," he glanced at the room meaningfully, "If I leave now, no one will be able to take care of you."

Lydia was grateful and amused, "I don't need to take care of you. Those who need to be taken care of are upstairs."

But at the moment, Mr. Bingley is in a trance of worry, Mr. Darcy is trying to comfort his wife with red eyes, and Mary has gone to the book to find comfort. If Mr. Pitt leaves, she will be really lonely and have to bear the worries in her heart, so Mr. Peter was secretly grateful for his willingness to keep Lydia.

There were several heart-piercing cries coming down the stairs, as well as the sound of maids and nurses running up and down, probably preparing clean cloths, scissors, and bringing hot water up.

Time passed by, the atmosphere in the living room was extremely depressing, and everyone was touching and praying for Jane to give birth safely.

"After we're together, I'm afraid I'll refuse to let you have a baby. It's too scary!" Mr. Pitt whispered suddenly.

Lydia turned her head sharply, eyes wide open, "What did you say?"

"I said it's too dangerous to have a baby. I'm afraid I won't dare to let my wife take the risk in the future." Mr. Peter looked back at her with a serious face.