[Pride and Prejudice] Rich Lady

Mr. Darcy spoke of his rubber plantation, and of the plants on an estate in Derbyshire.

Everyone didn't expect that this seemingly unapproachable gentleman knew a lot of gardening knowledge, and they didn't expect him to speak so pleasantly.

Especially Mrs. Bennet, staring at him with burning eyes, she has always favored this typical British gentleman, and she talked to other ladies for him at the ball, thinking that he is not arrogant and rude, but restrained and reserved.This Mr. Darcy had also spoken to her, when she had been alone with these distinguished guests, in an elegant and courteous manner.

An estate?The rubber plantation just bought overseas!This shows that Mr. Darcy's family background is higher than Mr. Bingley's, and his wealth is at least comparable to his!Mrs. Bennet was about to faint. She looked at Jane one by one, hoping that the caring eldest daughter could understand what her mother meant, get rid of that annoying Miss Bingley, and talk to this 'good son-in-law'.

But the facts are obviously not what the hostess wanted.

Jane was tightly entangled, and after Miss Bingley's repeated chatter, the amiable Jane was unwilling to take care of the two siblings, and she began to talk to Mr. Jared and Mr. George.

And Mr. Darcy had talked with Mr. Bennet at the ball, they both love to read books, and now they have successfully pulled Mr. Bennet's attention from plants to ancient books.Mr. Darcy obviously has a rich collection of books and is well-read. He seemingly casually mentioned the latest edition of "Encyclopedia Britannica": "In this edition, the editor-in-chief has changed the previous compiling method and invited many scholars to write some professional articles. articles, which make this edition particularly worth perusing."

He easily gained the favor of Mr. Bennet. If it was not difficult to leave other guests behind, Mr. Bennet would invite him to the study for a good talk. "Lizzie, Mr. Darcy is the most knowledgeable person I have ever met. If you have any questions, you don't have to trouble your poor old father. You can take this opportunity to ask Mr. Darcy." "Yes, Darcy gentlemen?"

"I am happy to serve Miss Elizabeth. Maybe I will be stumped by Miss Elizabeth, but we can discuss it together." Mr. Darcy said with his chiseled face straight to Elizabeth, watching her.

Elizabeth was astonished. Is this Mr. Darcy who is arrogant and repulsive? Who would have thought that he could have a few words with Mrs. Bennet?Now you have a good conversation with Mr. Bennet?

'I'm afraid it's a fake Fitzwilliam Darcy? Elizabeth thought, "Is it possible that the current Mr. Darcy is still a few years younger, so he is considered mild for the time being." '

'That's unfortunate! The second lady of the Bennet family didn't have any sincere regrets in her heart: "I don't know what was the blow to become that arrogant character, it's really pitiful." '

In fact, those pungent sarcasms, as well as contemptuous and contemptuous attitudes, have been shattered by Elizabeth herself after repeated ignorance.What else could poor Mr. Darcy do?

What's more, Bennet is a prestigious family of gentlemen in the local area. What people mention the most is not the beauty of Miss Bennet, but the generosity and respect of the Bennet family.

Mr. Bennet is very capable. His family’s farm brings in more income than other families, and the business he invested not long ago brought him a lot of money.This gentleman was successfully elected as a member of the Security Council at the beginning of this year. He is a real "JP". He has done a lot of practical things for the whole town and is very respected.And the young ladies of the Bennet family are outstanding, their manners and conversations are true ladies, and there is one who is educated in a private girls' school in the city, so there is nothing to be picky about.Only Mrs. Bennet can cause others to criticize her, but she is such a beautiful housewife, doing her duty and taking good care of her husband and daughter is already the greatest achievement. People should not be too harsh.

Only God can be perfect, and mortals bathed in deep grace do not need extravagance at all.This is what Mr. Bingley said when he laughed at himself when he was once again implicated in his innocent sister's temper.Mr. Darcy thought it was very reasonable, so he tried his best to communicate with the Bennet family with an equal and tolerant heart-fortunately, he found that Mr. Bennet was indeed a good chat partner; and Mrs. Bennet, although talking A little impolite, but easily satisfied, and good-natured, Mr. Darcy heard the lady argue for him at the ball.

The Bennet of Longbourne is no longer the country gentleman family that was famous for "producing beautiful daughters but low dowry".Most of the news about his family these days is: Mr. Bennet took the lead in starting the Sunday school, the Bennet's new gadgets, the Bennet's good cook, and so on.

In fact, the neighbors guessed that the dowries of the Bennet girls must have been more than a thousand pounds. There are many suitors for her beauty without dowry, so everyone knows that she doesn't make a fuss.

This is really a beautiful misunderstanding.

But these good reputations undoubtedly made Longborn look high.Once the first impression is good, there is nothing difficult to accept the rest.Most people are like this, they will take the initiative to contribute to the good, everyone is willing to think of Bennet for the good, and treat each other with tolerance unconsciously.

The three male guests all found their own small circle, chatting and contented.Although Mr. Bingley was not included, he was not neglected either. Except for Jane, everyone would bring him when they talked.

Jane had already decided in her heart: Miss Bingley didn't like her, and she was afraid that her brother would be confused and pursue her, so she made such a hindrance and didn't ask herself to talk to Mr. Bingley.Jane didn't have the slightest affection for Mr. Bingley, and because of his sister's behavior, she wanted to stay away from him, so she was willing to obey Miss Bingley's wishes and consciously not get close to Mr. Bingley.

On such occasions, Miss Bingley always had one eye on Mr. Darcy.She originally thought that Mr. Darcy treated the Bennet family so politely and even agreed to visit, breaking the habit, because he took a fancy to Miss Bennet. After all, only Jane Bennet had sex with him at the ball. intersection.Miss Bingley had already attributed Darcy's attention to Elizabeth during the previous encounter to her sister.

Therefore, Miss Bingley shows that she likes Jane very much, but she always wants to overwhelm Jane. She shows off her knowledge, just to let Mr. Darcy see that although she is not as beautiful as Jane, her knowledge and knowledge are definitely not comparable to that of this country girl. .

But the poor lady was once again presumptuous.

Not only did she not deceive Jane, but she made Jane see her hypocrisy.I also watched Mr. Darcy talk about his estate and business so that he could participate in the other side of the topic, and then he happily talked with that rude Elizabeth.

The look of interest on Mr. Darcy's face which Miss Bingley was sure had never been present when he spoke to herself.It hurt the reserved and proud heart of the young lady.

In particular, Nelson Atwood, who had been so courteous to her before, was disgraced and taken away by the sheriff of this county. This had nothing to do with Miss Bingley, but she felt ashamed when she thought about it.This made her in a bad mood after hearing the news.What Mr. Darcy did made her even more jealous and angry.

But the young girls in the city, especially those who have been in the kind of girls' schools that push the high and the low, are always a little cautious.Miss Bingley has long seen Mrs. Bennet's thoughts, especially Mrs. Jane who is beside her winks to make her look straight. Miss Bingley is determined to expose the true face of the hostess--the mother has lost a big embarrassment, and she can still count on her daughter. How much face do you have?

Mr. Darcy hated such sycophants, noisy and stupid people.

Miss Bingley deliberately showed off her close relationship with Mr. Darcy: "Mr. Darcy's sister, I have never seen such a lovely lady. She is beautiful, elegant and versatile. You will never think that she can play the harp very well." How wonderful!"

The harp has a unique and lofty status in England. In ancient times, there was even a law that stipulated that the harp was one of the three objects to establish the status of a gentleman. Except for actors, only those of noble birth were eligible to play this instrument.Although Britain doesn't pay much attention to these things now, some families with profound heritage will still teach the young lady this expensive musical instrument, and regard it as a garland to set off the family crown.

Immediately afterwards, Miss Bingley praised: "A young lady with a property of thirty thousand pounds, and an older brother with an annual income of more than ten thousand, she is so amiable, even the lowest-ranking female gangster in the manor is also polite and kind."

The annuity is more than [-]!What an astonishing amount of wealth this is. If all this money comes from land rent, how much land must Mr. Darcy own?Mrs. Bennet's mind has never been so clear and clear. She counted quickly and came to a shocking conclusion: at least a quarter of the land in Derbyshire, where Mr. Darcy's estate is located, must belong to him!

Such a large annuity, of course, does not rely solely on ground rent. The income from ground rent is less than seven thousand pounds, and the rest comes from Mr. Darcy's investment.

But the speculation was enough to make Mrs. Bennet dizzy, and the mistress of Longbourne opened her mouth several times, but she didn't know how to flatter her, how could she make Mr. Darcy a good son-in-law for her.

Miss Bingley looked at her expectantly.

Mrs. Bennet heard the news suddenly, and the noble man made of gold took the initiative to visit their home.The wife was very moved, and her affection for Mr. Darcy could at least be expected to be unrivaled for several years.

The more she thought about it, the more excited she became, almost out of breath. Everyone looked at her worriedly.But the most respectable gentleman in Mrs. Bennet's eyes stopped talking with Lizzie and asked her to take a break with concern.

"It's so cute and respectable!" Mrs. Bennet was muttering these words all the time as she was carried back to her room by the maid.

Because of this episode, Miss Bingley's disclosure of Mr. Darcy's private affairs did not cause much controversy:

Jane and the three little girls were completely fascinated by the strange things the seed dealer told. Mr. George was so lively and witty that the girls swore that he was the most welcome guest.Even the warm and simple Mr. Bingley loves to hear it.Miss Bingley thoughtlessly mentioned a stranger. It would be better if Miss Darcy was here now, but she was not there, so she just put aside a few words of perfunctory admiration. .

And Mr. Bennet has already chatted with Mr. Jared about Hansford's customs and public security management. Mr. Bennet has been a justice of the peace for a short time and needs some advice, especially the security committee has another important function. Handle disputes between the poor and the church.Although Meryton is rich and peaceful, it is afraid that priests from other dioceses will take advantage of the loopholes and send the poor in their jurisdiction here.Mr. Jared happened to have some opinions, and the two gentlemen had a pleasant conversation.

As for the corner of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth who received the most attention from Miss Bingley, Mr. Darcy looked up at her calmly when she exaggerated her praise, and then lowered his head and started talking to Elizabeth again.And although Elizabeth was reluctant to have a deep friendship with him, she couldn't leave a guest alone, especially when she was the only one talking to this guest.As a result, Mr. Darcy talked a lot, and Elizabeth listened a lot, and it seemed to others that they were very harmonious.

Miss Bingley was very angry, but she didn't dare to offend again, for fear of offending Darcy.She had no choice but to hold on to Jane, insisting on pretending to love Jane so much that she would not be too abrupt and cold.

On the whole, the visit was pleasant and relaxing.

It was customary, then, for the ladies of Longborn to return to Netherfield.Miss Bingley has been miserable all night, and she thinks she must save face when she returns to Bennet's house.Especially that annoying Elizabeth, Miss Caroline was determined to deliberately neglect and embarrass her.

For this reason, she did everything possible to say something critical, which was bound to make Mr. Darcy look down on Bennet.

"I like Miss Jane Bennet very much, but her mother is unbearable. The sisters are not very well-behaved, and they like to listen to the fancy stories told by the businessman. And the people in his family are all Who are they? Disrespectful little businessmen. I was so uncomfortable sitting with them that day."

"Small businessman?" Mr. Darcy glanced at the big kite hanging on the wall showing off, then lowered his head and opened a book.

Mr. Bingley said dissatisfiedly: "Jared and Mr. George are both interesting, Caroline, you shouldn't say that." Although Mr. Bingley was jealous of the seed dealer, he still justified his name fairly.Mr. Bingley was also looking forward to Bennet's return visit. He even turned down Mr. King's and Sir Lucas' invitations and waited wholeheartedly at the mansion.

His sister ignored him and still said in a strange way: "The walls of their house are empty, and there is not even a portrait. It can be seen that they are a family with a shallow foundation. I also heard that the uncles of the Bennet ladies were in Meryton. lawyer!"

She specially emphasized: "It's not the kind of respected one, but just an informal consultant! Mr. Darcy's uncle is like a person who is really respected and understands the law."

Mr. Darcy's late great-uncle was a judge, and he was so proud of his profession when he was alive that even the portrait hanging in Pemberley had been specially painted by a painter as a judge.Miss Bingley thought he belonged to the same trade as Elizabeth Bennet's uncle, and such a comparison must have displeased Mr. Darcy.

Mr. Darcy was indeed dissatisfied, but not to Miss Surprise's uncle whom he had never met, but to Miss Bingley's harsh voice that made people uncomfortable.He turned a page of the book and remained silent.

"They also have an uncle, they say, who runs a shop in Chipside! With such lowly relations, it's no wonder they have such a disreputable company. It was their peddler uncle who sponsored Miss Elizabeth's girls' school in the city." , I really can’t figure it out, even if she goes to a girls’ school, it won’t make her more noble and intelligent, so why bother? Miss Elizabeth is amazing, she hasn’t been educated to be more demure and kind.”

"I only pity Miss Jane, she has these burdens, and decent and self-respecting gentlemen look down on her. She should understand, so I think she is very close to the businessman who sells seeds, which is really buried She." Miss Bingley sighed, "Not to mention her younger sisters, I'm afraid I'll never have a chance to find a decent family in this life, after all, which gentleman would like to have a seed dealer as his brother-in-law?"

Mr. Bingley's attention was all on "getting close to the seed dealer", and he was so lost that he didn't even bother to refute his sister.

"Oh, he is so far-sighted. I admire him. I would like to socialize with such a person." Mr. Darcy closed the book and said lightly.

"Who?" cried Miss Bingley. "Mr. Darcy, who are you talking about?"

"It's nothing. I'm just grateful to Miss Bennet's uncle." Mr. Darcy stood up. "Please forgive me."

……

When Miss Bingley laughed at the fact that the Bennets did not have a single portrait of their ancestors, in the drawing room at Longbourne the girls were framing pictures with the help of Mr. George.

Mr. Seed Merchant is really a good man. He carefully helped the ladies plan their flower orchards. The scene he described made the girls dream about it. Everyone was so excited. Mary suggested that everyone draw the imagined flower orchard.Whoever draws the best and most beautiful painting will be asked to name Huaguoyuan.

Mr. George had just sent off errands to deliver letters to the nursery he rented outside London, and sent an assistant back to his estate in East Anglia to take care of the transplanting of the apple trees.After dealing with the affairs, Mr. George took the task of the ladies and helped them nail the picture frames.Apparently, the seed merchant himself had been accepted as Bennet's friend.

It will take some time for the apple trees to be transported by horse-drawn carriage, and they have to go on the navigable river, but Mr. George guarantees that the transplanted fruit trees will not suffer too much damage, and their family is very experienced in this.And rose seedlings and other berry seedlings and flower seedlings are very easy. Mr. George's nursery has everything you need, and it only takes two or three days to ship it.

The ladies happily asked him to be a judge and pointed out whose painting was the most beautiful.Mr. George readily agreed, and the scene he described inspired the girls even more.

Mr. Jared and Mr. Bennet sat on the sofa to discuss the cane, because Elizabeth had left the address in Longbourne, and the cane shop on Savile Row sent an apprentice to inform that the custom-made rosewood cane with tortoiseshell handle had been made. Well, Mr. Bennet, please, come to town yourself with a custom order and cane license.

Mr. Bennet was very happy, he gave the apprentice a lot of tips, and agreed to go to London tomorrow to bring the cane back.Mr. Jared was at the age that loved this kind of decoration, and the two gentlemen laughed from time to time when they chatted.

In the sunny lounge, the two dials occupy one side, enjoying themselves.Only Mrs. Bennet is too busy. She will go to see the masterpieces of her daughters in a while, and she will also guide and comment on them. She will joke with Mr. Bennet and others in a while. Activities with the girls——

Back then, when Mrs. Bennet was pregnant with her first child, she thought it was a boy. Her greatest expectation for her eldest son was that he would be like a big brother, able to take care of the family business and treat his younger siblings well.At this moment, she felt that if Jane was a boy, he would be like Mr. George, willing to play jokes with his sisters.For the first time, Mrs. Bennet did not look at an unmarried young man with the eyes of a mother-in-law.

The author has something to say: Although it is a bit late, it is quite fat.

Thank you little angels, I will give you [-] small red envelopes for comments on this chapter~

Note: Justices of the Peace, Justices of the Peace: The Justices of the Peace Act of 1361 in the United Kingdom stipulates that the Justices of the Peace will be set up throughout England, consisting of local nobles, several of the most prestigious squires, and people who are proficient in the law.

In this article, "Another important function of the Vigilante is to deal with the disputes between the poor and the church": this is because the priests of the church at that time (the official title of Catholic priests, also used in Protestant Britain, and the fish didn't understand it very well. ; the priest is usually the head of a church) has the obligation to relieve the poor congregants in the jurisdiction, but there was a loophole in the definition of the congregation in the jurisdiction at that time (it only needs to live in a certain parish for two consecutive weeks without any disputes, it is considered a parish. congregation in the jurisdiction).Therefore, some priests are unwilling to give relief, so they will take advantage of loopholes and try to send the poor to other people's territory.Therefore, before the new "Poor Relief Act" was revised, there were often disputes between the church and the poor.So the vigilante has to be responsible for mediating these disputes, but the residents of Meryton are generally well-off, with few poor people, and the squires have a conscience, so this kind of trouble rarely happens.