[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Come back home

Because of this unpleasant episode, Alfred was somewhat absent-minded for the rest of the time, but he was cheered up by a conversation with Mrs. Fry afterwards.

This garden party invited the famous philanthropist Mrs. Frye. This lady is in her 30s and is also called Elizabeth, but everyone likes to call her Mrs. Frye.

Alfred talked with Andrew and Adrian, and Mary took part in it with her younger sister, but she was not interested in the men's conversation, but was more concerned with Lydia's supervision, telling her not to talk to Andrew spoke up.

Miss Woodhouse was soon to be married into the Edwards family, so she acted as a half master in chatting with the ladies.

It was at this moment that Mrs. Fry came up, and the people present stopped talking to greet the famous and respected philanthropist.

This lady is currently planning to improve the living environment of the female prisoners in Xinmen Prison, but the society does not pay much attention to this aspect. People's general understanding of prisons is: dirty, messy, full of heinous people, a terrible place .

Mary has never been there, but Mr. Alfred has been there many times because of his work. He described it to Mary: everyone has lost their dignity, food and drinking water are scarce, and the air is full of stench.

Prisoners, men and women, were randomly locked together regardless of the seriousness of the crime. Mrs. Frye was very concerned about this. She said to the three brothers with concern: "In the long run, the prison will not be a place for prisoners to accept punishment and reform. Instead, it will become a criminal school. A thief goes in. When he comes out, he may have learned the skills of murder and robbery. There are also a lot of female criminals and children there. Dignified life, where the air is dirty, smelly, women and children are mostly naked. Many children who are imprisoned with their mothers cannot get a good education. When they grow up in the future, most of them will go back to prison. Crime. We hope to help these poor women and children so that they can have a safe living environment."

"We hope to improve the living environment in prisons, separate heavy criminals from light criminals, female prisoners from male prisoners, and we plan to raise funds to give every woman and child in the prison a washbasin, a Soap and a towel, to keep them clean, I have seen women and children there several times, and I have never seen a villain among them, they are only corrupted by the force of life. I dare say, give Ten quid each of them, and they'll all be good boys..."

Many people present expressed that they would actively donate money, and Mrs. Fry hoped that those famous people could join her in persuading the warden to carry out prison reform. She also wanted to hold a weaving workshop for female prisoners in the prison. Some technologies can also allow them to have some income, although not too much, but it will bring some hope to the female prisoners. She hopes to gain the support of some high-ranking people, which is why she came to Edwards Mansion an important reason.

It's a pity that Duke Edwards is not here this time, and her granddaughter gave a speech on the women's movement. I am afraid that Duke Edwards will not have the leisure to care for the prisoners in Newgate Prison, but Mrs. Fry still wants to fight for the next Edward. The Duke of Si and his future wife, these people will one day become the mainstay of high society, and philanthropy has a long way to go.

Miss Woodhouse listened to her with a blank face, and immediately expressed her willingness to donate twenty pounds to the children there, and then fell silent.It was Lord Adrian who expressed his willingness to come forward to persuade the warden of Newgate Prison. He smiled and said: "Speaking of which, I also know Mr. John. I went there once with Alfred. Mr. John is an approachable person. A gentle and generous man, I think, on the grounds of humanitarianism, he will not object to improving the prison environment."

Seeing the angelic expression of the second brother, Mary thought to herself, the warden is approachable, gentle and generous to you because of your status.

Sure enough, Alfred's words confirmed her conjecture: "Mr. John will only show his humanitarian side when facing people with a higher status than him. When treating those prisoners, he simply treats them like pigs and sheep."

Instead, Colonel Edwards said to Mrs. Frye: "My sales company will be established soon. I am willing to handle the affairs of the women's textile workshop for you, including raw materials and sales. It's just that I can't do anything about management."

His words made Mrs. Fry overjoyed. She said that the manager of the workshop could be elected from among the female prisoners. If they were only responsible for production, and Colonel Edwards was responsible for raw materials and sales, then the matter would be more effective.

Colonel Edwards was praised by everyone, and Lydia said to him excitedly: "I dare say, you are the only naval officer who earns his own living without a salary, and you are the most kind-hearted one. How can you be so kind?" And Andrew, there is no one better than you!"

There was a very admiring expression on her face, which made Mary's heart shrink. She had to admit that Colonel Edwards did this out of kindness, but not all philanthropists are good husbands!

Mrs. Fry, with the support of Lord Edwards, left contentedly, ready to lobby for her next target.

As soon as she left, Miss Woodhouse said to Adrian in dissatisfaction: "That kind of place is full of terrible criminals, and they carry many infectious diseases. I really don't understand why Mrs. Fry wants to help these people?"

Lord Adrian comforted her: "Honey, there are also many poor people in it. They are more miserable than those who have not been in prison. It is always right to help people."

"In my opinion, many people there deserve what they deserve. The law puts them in prison to make them suffer. If we make their life in prison better, what's the point of going to prison?" Ms. Woodhouse dissatisfied said.

Lydia was very unconvinced when she heard these words: "Perhaps many people said that they were wronged!"

"Oh?" Miss Woodhouse looked at Lydia and said in shock, "Miss Lydia, are you openly questioning the justice of our judges?"

Mary quickly smoothed things over: "I think Lydia is out of kindness. She means that some people in prison have really suffered too much."

Miss Woodhouse turned to Alfred again: "Alf, this is related to whether your legal work is fair, I think you should clarify."

Alfred said helplessly: "Actually, your problem is related to our current legal work. My conclusion is that the current judicial system is too harsh. Many people are indeed suffering too much. And I think even prisoners , should also have dignity."

Miss Woodhouse pursed her lips and said to Lord Adrian: "My dear, I have nothing against you for being kind. In fact, Adrian who is kind-hearted is a truly respectable gentleman, but I request Don't go to Newgate Prison casually, if your health is damaged because of this, the old Duke will be so sad, and I will be very worried."

These words were very sincere, and Lord Adrian said softly: "I will take care of my health for the people I love."

Colonel Edwards suddenly pouted at Lydia in the direction of Miss Woodhouse, and Lydia couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Colonel Edwards also asked her: "Have you thought of anything interesting, Miss Lydia?"

"Uh..." Lydia rolled her eyes several times, "Yes, I thought of something interesting, but that's my little secret, and I won't tell you."

"Oh, it's okay, I like to inquire about other people's little secrets, and I often find a lot of interesting things in it." Colonel Edwards began to make jokes with Lydia.

Seeing this situation, Mary really didn't care, no matter what and was unhappy, Lord Adrian had nothing to do with it, but his beautiful fiancée was already very dissatisfied with Lydia who interrupted her, although she didn't say anything, But Mary still could clearly see it from her high-end expression.

She glared at Lydia to tell her to be honest, and said, "Since you support Mrs. Fry so much, we should go to her and donate all your pocket money for this month."

Lydia is not a person who really wants to do charity. She said to Mary confidently: "Even if you want to donate money, you should donate your pocket money. You are much richer than me, and all my current income It’s all at your disposal, I’m a poor man and you are a rich man, how can a rich man spend money from a poor man?”

Mary said: "Yes, I will donate too, but your kindness should be expressed by you, and my kindness should be expressed by me."

Lydia opened her mouth, and finally said in frustration: "Okay, okay, anyway, no matter what I say, you won't pay attention."

Mary took her to find Mrs. Frye, and said that the sisters were also willing to donate money, but they were here as guests this time and did not bring much money with them, so they would send servants to give money to Mrs. Frye tomorrow.

Of course, Mrs. Fry would not refuse the kindness of any kind person, and expressed her heartfelt thanks to the two sisters.

At first Lydia was a little bit reluctant, but she couldn't help but this elegant lady praised her virtues. After a while, Lydia felt that the money spent was not worth it.

On the contrary, Miss Woodhouse said to Colonel Edwards with some sarcasm: "I thought your friend would show kindness, but it turned out to be nothing more than that."

Colonel Edwards shrugged: "Young people are always so straightforward. In my opinion, she is sincere enough, much more sincere than many other donors."

Mary later described the banquet in detail in a letter to Elizabeth, and she received a reply immediately. Elizabeth fully approved of this kind of charity. She entrusted Mary to replace her donation to Mrs. Fry, and Jane, who was The kindest of sisters naturally refuses to fall behind.

Mary sent their donations to Mrs. Fry again.

In fact, Mary's donation to Mrs. Fry the next day was already £50, which was not a small amount, but the donors included Mary, Kitty, Lydia, Daphne and Aunt Gardiner.Later, Mary sent Elizabeth and Jane's twenty pounds. Mrs. Fry wrote a special letter to express her gratitude. She also invited the ladies to go to Newgate Prison with her to inspect the living conditions of the female prisoners if they wanted to.

However, Christmas was approaching, and Mary was going back to Langbourne with Uncle Gardiner's family for Christmas, so she had to decline Mrs. Fry's proposal. However, Mary expressed that she would continue to support Mrs. Fry regardless of whether she would return to London after Christmas. .Mrs. Fry did not express any dissatisfaction in her reply. She herself wanted to celebrate Christmas, so she sincerely wished Mary a Merry Christmas in her heart.

With Mrs. Fry's best wishes, Uncle Gardiner took his family, women and children, and boarded the carriage back to Meryton.