[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

"Alf!" Mary immediately stood up and ran to his side, and she stopped when she reached him, staring at his face, observing his facial features inch by inch, wishing she could pounce hard on him right now. In his arms, but there are too many people in the living room now.

Just as she was hesitating, she found herself in a warm embrace the next moment Alfred held her, hard, tight.

"Mary, I'm really worried about you, I'm really worried about you..." Alfred said anxiously, then quickly let go of Mary, checked her back and forth several times with his eyes, and made sure that she was real. It's all right.Alfred breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her again.Since he received the letter from Mary, he set off from Wales and rushed back day and night. He blamed himself for not being by her side, so that she was in danger.

And Mary's face was pressed against her fiancé's chest. The fabric of the suit was not very warm, and it even carried the coolness of the outdoors, but soon Mary felt very warm. This chest was very warm, this embrace was very warm, and she was actually very reluctant to leave. up.But she must not indulge in it. There are still many people in this room waiting to say hello to Alfred, who has not seen him for a long time.

Especially Mrs. Bennet, she couldn't wait to tell him about Lydia's smooth engagement, and even the newly announced son-in-law of the Bennet family is his brother: "It's really interesting, isn't it? Alfred, it's very interesting that your brother is going to marry a pair of sisters, oh, but, of course, you probably already know the good news, the colonel said he wrote to you, didn't he? "

"Oh, actually, I was running back when I got Mary's letter, so maybe I missed Andrew's letter." Alfred said regretfully.

"Oh, so I'm the first to tell you the good news?" Mrs. Bennet said happily.

However, Mary noticed another thing. She asked Alfred: "So, you don't know about Lily anymore? Have you received the letter from Mr. West?"

Alfred frowned: "Lily? Mr. West?" He didn't understand why his fiancée would mention these two names. He thought for a while and said, "Mr. West will report to me every few days Lily's matter, but I didn't find anything abnormal in his letter, so you say, something happened to Lily O'Deno?"

"Yes, very serious matter."

The family rushed to tell him about Lily, but in the end Mr. Bennet led Alfred to his study, and Mary went in with him.

It was not a long story, and Mr. Banner told Alfred everything he knew. Alfred listened carefully with his eyebrows frowned, and then said to Mr. Bennet: "I I will go back to Mr. Fox as soon as possible and get all the information and documents on this matter. Please rest assured that I will try my best to defend Miss Lily and protect Miss Mary's reputation."

Upon hearing this, Mary quickly asked him: "Then can I not visit Lily in Newgate Prison?"

Alfred thought for a while and asked her, "Will the business of the food store be affected?"

Mary paused, "Yes, it has a great impact."

Miss White came to her today and said that since Lily's report appeared in the newspapers, there have been rumors that Fanny's Food Store has hired a gangster as a clerk.Except for the Southwark district, the turnover of several food stores has dropped sharply.In the Southwark branch, there are not so many elegant gentlemen and ladies as customers, so the decrease in sales is not as serious as in other districts, but when it is open at night, drunkards rush in to "seek a lady".Mary has decided that all stores will be open for reduced hours and will not continue to open after dinner.

Alfred was not surprised when he heard this, but instead comforted her and said: "People like to make a fuss, don't worry, there are so many news in London, I guarantee that those reserved customers will forget about these things next month." It was spotless and loved the delicious food there again.”

Mary pulled her lips into a forced smile, and now there was no other way but to stop still.

Alfred finally agreed to take her to Newgate Prison to visit Lily the next day. He said to Mr. Bennet: "It's no big deal. Miss Mary used to go to Newgate Prison to visit the female prisoners there. I I think we don't have to face a big enemy at all, and this matter will have a happy ending."

However, things did not develop in a better direction, and a new article "The Short Life of a Cock" was published in the newspaper the next day.

When Elizabeth saw this article, she was so angry that she pointed it out to Mary, and then kept pacing back and forth in the living room. Because she was very angry, her voice became louder and louder: "I don't know how to write this article." What kind of intentions does the person who wrote this article have, or maybe he is inhumane! His article is completely out of wild imagination and wild speculation, it is unbelievable that such an article is published in a newspaper majestically!"

Mary finished reading it in a short while, and then raised her head and said to Elizabeth: "The reporter didn't completely conjecture. He interviewed Mr. Robert O'Deno, a bastard who was full of lies."

"So with this news full of lies, Robert still wantonly slandered our food store. Look at what he said, it seems that the food store sells besides food..." Elizabeth took a deep breath, "He said Not a word of truth, except that he got our family's surname right, it seems that his memory is not bad."

"This is a complete bastard, a vicious liar, look at how he treats his own children, and you can understand how ungrateful he is to our family!" Mr. Bennet was also very angry, but he still told him afterwards The two daughters remained silent.

At present, only Mr. Bennet, Mary and Elizabeth know about this matter. They are all like-minded and did not tell the rest of the family. Except for some secondary reasons, the main reason is of course that once Mrs. Bennet knows about this , I am afraid that the quiet days at home will come to an end.

Alfred arrived in a short while, and he took Mary to Newgate Prison to visit Lily. Elizabeth put down the newspaper and decided to go with them.

The warden of Newgate Prison was as "accommodating and cordial" as ever. He personally brought several visitors to Lily's cell. Because she was a new prisoner who had not been sentenced, she was not locked up with other female prisoners.

But this single room is not considered preferential treatment for her. It is a dark room in the ground floor, and the only light comes from the skylight above the head. Every time the gate of Xinmen Prison is opened, it is accompanied by the carriage of prisoners passing by. , There will be dust falling down there, and it is very humid here, and as soon as Mary walked in, she immediately smelled a lingering musty smell.

Lily was sitting on the bare bed in a daze, when she heard the sound of someone walking in, she raised her head suspiciously, she looked thinner than the last time Mary saw her, and she was very frightened.She looked suspiciously at the three people who walked in with wide eyes, and then said tentatively to Elizabeth, "Miss Elizabeth?"

"Lily, do you remember me?" Elizabeth said happily.

Lily stood up quickly, of course she remembered Elizabeth, she looked the same as when she was a child, she was still so beautiful, so smiling.It took Lily a little longer to recognize Mary than Elizabeth, but she still recognized it quickly. This Miss Mary is obviously much more beautiful than when she was a child, although she is not as good as other Miss Bennet Beautiful, but she looks fair-skinned, gentle and elegant, a very decent and elegant lady.

"Lily, do you remember us?" Mary asked her.

"Of course, Miss Mary, of course I remember you." Lily said affirmatively, making Mary overjoyed. She thought that Lily had recovered her memory, but Lily's words broke her hope immediately, "Your appearances have not changed. Big, even though it's been a few years, I can still recognize you."

It seems that Lily still hasn't remembered those forgotten years, and Mary is very disappointed.

Alfred asked Lily some things, such as whether she could no longer recall what happened in the past few days, but the result disappointed him as much as his fiancée.

Lily did have amnesia, and she indeed could not remember everything that happened during this crucial period, including her nightmarish past a few years ago.At this time, Lily seemed to be the simple and happy little girl in the country. She blinked and said to Elizabeth: "They all said that I killed someone, but I swear I didn't do it! I can't do that, I swear to you Miss Elizabeth !How could I have done such a horrible thing?"

Elizabeth nodded to reassure her: "Yes, we all believe that you will not do that! We believe in you!"

But Lily was still scared: "Then can you let them let me out? I don't want to stay here, it's too scary!" Saying this, she began to cry, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes to the tip of her eyes chin, "I just slept at home and then came to this place, Keira said I'm 19 years old now, so I slept for seven years?"

Elizabeth touched her hair: "Yes, you are a Sleeping Beauty, my dear, but you are not very lucky, but don't worry, you will be fine, and Sleeping Beauty will be fine in the end."

Lily held her hand and refused to let go. She asked nervously, "What happened? Who died? How could such a terrible thing happen?"

Elizabeth paused and asked her, "Didn't Keira tell you?"

"No, no, she just said I'll be fine, but I don't want to be here, what happened, please tell me?"

Elizabeth looked embarrassed and didn't know how to answer her.Mary looked at Alfred. She understood Elizabeth's feelings very well. If she had a showdown with Lily about what happened to Lily, wouldn't that hurt Lily too much?

Alfred said to her and Elizabeth at this time: "When I just came in, I told the warden that you miss the children here very much, and now you may visit them."

Elizabeth was a little hesitant, but Mary made a decisive decision. She really couldn't tell Lily such a cruel thing in person, so she should leave this matter to her fiancé.

She introduced Alfred to Lily, then ruthlessly ignored Lily's "don't leave me" eyes and pulled Elizabeth away.

Behind them was Alfred's persuasive voice: "It's okay, Lily, I promise you can leave here, but you must be patient before that. The warden is a friend of Miss Mary and me, and he will take care of you... ..."

Mary and Elizabeth came to the women's cell here. They visited some former friends by the way, especially kid Philip. His painting is already very good. At that time, he seemed more talkative than before.He thanked Elizabeth very much for giving him so many books, and made two silhouettes of Elizabeth and Mary on the spot.In his conversations with Mary and Elizabeth he kept asking Jane, and asking when she would come to see him.It doesn't matter if he can't come recently, he has grown up, the warden allows the children to go out regularly, and he can also perform in the small square outside, such as portraits or small silhouettes, although he doesn't make much money It was only a few pennies, but he could take the opportunity to visit Miss Jane.

Both Mary and Elizabeth were a little absent-minded, but seeing that the living conditions of the women and children here were much better than before, the depression in their hearts dissipated a little.