[Pride and Prejudice] Rich Lady

The whole thing about the cult has little to do with Elizabeth. It is actually a game between many power groups and big figures, but it has indeed affected Elizabeth's life.

It even affected her consistent ideological goals.

Before this incident, Elizabeth's consistent goal was to enable herself and her family to live a happy life in this era, but now, Elizabeth began to focus on other things, such as charity and initiatives to improve people's lives.

It was also from this time that the name of Elizabeth Bennet gradually began to be known.

A private mad sanatorium was her start.

At the beginning, except for Mr. Darcy, everyone did not agree with her plan.Even in the eyes of the enlightened and tolerant Mr. Bennet, the desires of those patients with madness are far greater than human nature. Although they are not serious enough to divide them into the group of beasts that can be visited, the father Still thinks starting a madhouse is out of place for his daughter.

The persuasion of "they hurt people", "can't be cured", "soul damage", "people are afraid", "the madman of Meryton once bit five men of prime age" and so on failed to dissipate the fire in Elizabeth's heart, Instead, it made her more and more determined.Elizabeth thinks that 'she can't just bring confusion and uneasiness to Meriton, but also try her best to bring light and hope. '

This kind of reflection is of course biased. Meriton became prosperous and rich, and the prosperity of business and population growth will inevitably bring about some problems, such as the difficulty of law and order and environmental pollution, as well as disputes and conspiracies caused by coveting.But these are not enough to make people's wallets bulge.If the townspeople of Meryton were asked to choose, most of them would choose the present day. The local prestige and support of Mr. Bennet and Uncle Gardner can show everyone's attitude towards this.

But the family's dissuasion also made the lady realize that it was really not a good idea to set up a local sanatorium.

Mr. Darcy appeared in due course, and he wanted to be the lady's partner: "I have some properties in Havering, which used to be built as weekend houses for merchants, but later merchants prefer to buy and build their own country houses. This area of ​​dense buildings was abandoned. My father bought it and wanted to renovate it into a country house near London for the Darcy family, but he found that the scattered buildings were not suitable, and the project and cost of tearing down and rebuilding were too high. It’s better to buy another suitable villa.” (Note)

The lady was shamefully tempted.Havering is a small town close to London, and even closer to Meryton, less than twenty miles away. The location is very suitable, and even the buildings are ready-made.

"The weekend house, what is that?" Miss Elizabeth asked cautiously.

"It used to be fashionable there for a while, and the church road was well built." Mr. Darcy continued his efforts, he explained: "After the sea trade drove business and London's merchants prospered, many rich people wanted to imitate the aristocrats. but it is obviously not feasible for them to stay away from the city like the aristocrats except for the social season, so merchants began to favor a villa as spacious and comfortable as a gentleman's residence in the countryside near London. On Saturdays, I took my family in a private carriage to retreat to the villa to enjoy the tranquility and scenery of the countryside, and then returned to the city on Monday to run my own business. These villas built in the countryside near London are called weekend villas.”

Mr. Darcy sketched roughly the building distribution of his property with a pencil: "Someone saw a business opportunity and built a weekend house in Havering. At the beginning, it did attract many people to rent, and the price was very high. But soon, businessmen found that although manors and farms and pastures were difficult to buy, it was not difficult to buy a small area for building villas. A large house with a good view, with a garden, and the freshest food from the neighboring farm (Note ②). So this dense rental weekend house gradually lost its source of customers. It was sold to my late father when it was a honorary debt."

When Elizabeth saw the building with her own eyes, she realized that the denseness in her imagination and the denseness in Mr. Darcy's words were completely different concepts.The small and exquisite country villas are simply the treatment that can only be enjoyed by the top nursing homes in the previous life.

"So beautiful!"

Two-storey red brick villas of various sizes are scattered on the grass, surrounded by green trees, a stream that is only as deep as the calf flows, and there are many wild flowers growing on both sides of the stream, and two or three small wooden bridges On it, more fun than practical.

"There is a garden behind this, but it hasn't been taken care of by a gardener for a long time, so it's probably pretty dilapidated." Darcy pointed to the depths of the creek and said, "The whole place covers an area of ​​less than a hundred acres. The left side of the stream occupies about two-thirds. We can use this small river to divide it into two parts, one part is a treatment place that ordinary people can afford, and the other part is an expensive nursing hospital with more thoughtful care. In the garden There is a main building with more than 30 rooms at the back, which was originally built by the owner’s own residence, which can be used as a ward for aggressive mad patients..."

Elizabeth felt again how well the two of them thought and thought, and just like that, what Mr. Darcy said was what she had imagined.

A mad hospital where poor and rich people can get good treatment and maintenance, and the hospital can also hire the family members of patients who cannot be treated. These people can get paid by working to offset the burden of family treatment.Employees who take care of patients must also undergo systematic teaching and training, and must obey the supervision and inspection system of the hospital. A strict management system can ensure that patients are not abused: the closed environment of mad hospitals and the particularity of patients often make normal people breed They have the illusion that they are above the patients, and turn the responsibility of caring for the patients into the right to control the patients. Over time, they will swell up like the wardens of Newgate Prison, turning the sanatorium into "black as the knocker of Newgate" ( Note ③).

The young couple stood on the grass and began to discuss to their heart's content. Jane and George smiled at each other, and walked along the stream together arm in arm.

Like a conscientious secretary, Mary wanted to take out a pencil to record, but was dragged away by Georgiana and Lydia: "They have finished discussing and will ask you to sort it out. Now let's not disturb them." Mary has turned 16 years old , according to the 'tradition' of the Bennet family, she can invest or own property by herself, and now she is studying with her two older sisters. The little girl is currently very interested in the insane sanatorium proposed by Elizabeth.Her strong memory and logical ability also really helped Elizabeth a lot.

And Kitty had already taken her new favorite, two fluffy puppies who had just turned three months old, and ran to the grass on the other side to have fun.

It wasn't until the sun was high and sweat dripped from the young lady's forehead that the two of them stopped to go to the villa, only to realize that three hours had passed, and the others had already sat down to rest in a nearby villa.

"It's really nice here, with fresh air and beautiful scenery. If they recuperate here, I believe it will make them feel happy." Jane greeted her sister with a smile: "You really have something to talk about, Lizzie, I don't even know you You're talking about ordinary friends."

Elizabeth's heart shrank, and she smiled unnaturally, attracted by the chemical fit between her and Mr. Darcy, but also suffering from the most secret guilt and knot in her heart.Approaching unconsciously and moving away after regaining consciousness, Elizabeth seemed to be walking on a cliff. Emotions and reason kept seeing each other, neither advancing nor retreating. She became quiet and thinner.

Seeing her appearance, Jane was puzzled and worried: "Anyone can see Mr. Darcy's heart for you. He is sincere and understands and respects you very rarely. But it's all up to your wish, even my mother is not here Speak - Lizzie, I don't understand what you're worrying about, we're a little worried about you."

Jane pulled her to sit aside and said in a low voice: "I can see that you still have deep affection for 'Mr. William'. Although Mr. Darcy is wrong about this, gentlemen who fall in love always have some Stupid thoughts and actions. He deserves to be taught a lesson, you can do whatever you want, but there is no need to embarrass yourself, to be honest, I feel uncomfortable."

Elizabeth sniffled and stretched out her arms to embrace Jane. She could never tell Jane that it was the original Elizabeth who stood between her and Mr. Darcy.The more compatible she is, the more she despises herself in her heart, but Mr. Darcy has done nothing wrong in this, unreasonable anger is the limit, Elizabeth's character determines that she can only torture herself.

——But it's never been Eliza's style to be in a dead end. She is better at using the busy and forgetful method.

Time passed quickly, and Elizabeth watched things unfold while trying to add work to herself.

After Elizabeth and Darcy set up the overall framework and the detailed rules of the hospital, the assistants of the two partners quickly took over the tedious and specific work.When the Havering Insanity Hospital began to be renovated on a large scale, Elizabeth invested in another "small workshop" jointly invested with Mary.

"My dear Lizzie, you've got to learn to relax and take it easy," said Mr. Bennet. "I don't understand why you've got yourself so much work that you've got to take care of business over tea-time, I suppose. No one in England is busier than you, even the King and Prime Minister are on holiday now!"

"Work makes me happy, Dad." Work can make people forget their troubles. As long as there is a lot of work, there will be no emotional troubles of any kind.

"That's right, Dad, work enriches us, and gin guinea makes us happy." Mary walked in with her head held high, and two assistants behind her were holding a large stack of documents.

"My God, you're getting more and more like Lizzie!" lamented Mr. Bennet. "Boys, you should enjoy balls and picnics and love instead of business letters and quills and papers that weigh down desks!"

He muttered: "This will make your old father look too lazy!"

The old father, who was getting more and more energetic, writhed wildly on the sofa, wanting to turn over and look at the younger sons of his sisters, "But Alexander is not very useful, otherwise Mr. Bennet should enjoy the fun of laziness."

Miss Mary gently spread her hands, and while motioning to her assistant to put the documents on the round table beside her father, she said to him, "Dad has indeed been a bit industrious recently."

When the old father sat up straight and was about to speak, he heard the third daughter say ruthlessly: "Lizzie asked me to help her calculate and sort out her accounts: all investments and properties, not even the ninth one that has just started and has no quarterly accounts. Dessert shop, No. 16, seventeen Ming-style restaurants, excluding the funds reserved to invest in the Havering Private Insane Sanatorium and our workshop, her assets have already surpassed yours, Dad."

"Oh, by the way, the shares in several clothing stores, jam workshops, and Uncle Gardner's factory that everyone jointly owns are not included." Miss Mary added without changing her face, ignoring the pain of her dear father clutching his chest. expression.

"I guess Lizzie has already surpassed Dad, but there is no such large land property as Longbourn Farm." Kitty, who was drawing a portrait of her beloved puppy, said, "Daddy, you are really holding your chest." Like mom before, can I draw it? Mom stays away from her old friends with neuralgia and I never see her like this again."

Mr. Bennet didn't want to deal with the bad boy who made up the knife. He kept echoing in his mind: "Lizzie's assets surpassed Dad's." This was so frustrating for the old father. The unidentified pride of the pillar and the man at the helm has kept Mr. Bennet from thinking about it.

Elizabeth looked through the collected account books, and it was indeed like Mary's style, with clear and clear entries. She turned to the last page of the general book: "Wow."

"The annuity is [-] pounds." The lady raised her eyebrows, "It's really a pleasing number."

Mr. Bennet, slumped on the sofa, had just raised the combined income of Longbourn, Netherfield and Woolworks to £[-], which was not a small sum, nearly double what it had been before, Not long ago, the gentlemen he knew and made friends with him specially held a public ball to celebrate this great deed for him-now the old father feels sad when he thinks back.

"Why is the Ming-style restaurant expanding so fast?" Kitty asked with a double-edged mind.

"This is thanks to Mr. Anthony's great help. That gentleman's appetite is as big as that of a shark in the ocean. He not only has a restaurant in the UK that I cooperate with, but also cunningly moved the entire mature model to stabilize it. Paris. There are no fewer Ming-style restaurants in France than in England, and they belong to him alone." Elizabeth replied casually.

"Mr. Captain?" Kitty stopped painting and asked enthusiastically: "I have read his sailing adventure stories, which are more thrilling and interesting than English myths and legends! Can you introduce us, Lizzie? In the book Many places are not detailed, I really want to hear him talk about it.”

Mary had also met this heroic captain before, and she answered with a deadpan face: "Compared to the captain, I think Mr. Anthony is more qualified for the role of a treacherous businessman, and he is talkative, narcissistic, and smug."

Kitty blinked and gestured to Elizabeth: "How did Captain Anthony offend Mary?"

Smiling like a sister, she said briskly: "It's nothing, but Mary has also read those books, and she is still very fascinated. She wrote down all the details that she didn't understand and asked Mr. Anthony for advice. As a result, she chatted with Mr. Captain all afternoon. I just realized that those books were all written by Mr. Anthony at a large price, and according to his wishes, there were some... well, artistic exaggeration and beautification——Mr. The image of a hero in my mind may seem to be shattered."

"Then Mr. Anthony retaliated and made a little suggestion on Mary's dress. Oh, yes, he also tricked Mary into buying a refined version of "The Adventures of Captain Anthony" in French, which is the one you saw. set, and earned Mary twenty pounds—you know, except for the "Encyclopedia Britannica", our Mary buys books mainly for practicality, and never pursues exquisite collections. This time..." Elizabeth replied to her little sister. understanding eyes.

"He was able to trick Mary!" The fourth lady of the Bennet family gasped, and immediately dismissed the idea of ​​getting acquainted with the 'Captain Hero of the Sea'.

Mr. Anthony Xue is indeed an out-and-out profiteer.Although the Ming-style restaurant in England developed faster than the pastry shop because of his reasons, this gentleman also took advantage of the contract. He applied Elizabeth's model and plan to open the Anthony Ming-style restaurant to a full capacity. In addition to the European countries other than the United Kingdom, they are also very cheeky and directly named after themselves.With the popularity of restaurants and dessert shops in the Ming Dynasty, his tea business has also reached a threshold. It is said that several small European countries are vying to grant him the title.

Elizabeth knocked a sum of "use fee" and transferred it to the charity plan just drawn up, and let him do it.The young lady could see very clearly that it would be difficult for her to expand the restaurant to other countries for the rest of her life if she relied on herself alone. Anthony's doing so would not count as robbing her of business. Besides, thanks to him, she and Laura successfully opened the dessert shop. When I arrived in Paris, I competed with the court chefs who had served in Louis XVI's Palace of Versailles. Although it was not long, according to Laura's letter, the response was very good.

As soon as I thought of Laura, I heard Mary ask: "It's a pity that Lydia and Georgiana can't see Miss Laura in Tauris. Does she really want to settle in Paris?"

Elizabeth shook her head and said with a smile: "The two of them just moved to the main building and became official students of Tao Lisi, so they began to miss the lady who graduated with excellence? Even if Laura is not in Paris, she will not stay in London for long, Cliff The Baron has been implicated in the 'cult' incident, and he's trying to ask Laura for her support."

"Graduated?! Miss Laura must be the fastest graduating student from Taurus Academy?" Kitty interjected.

"No way, after she married Mr. Cecilio, she is not suitable to go back to the academy." Elizabeth flipped through the account books and said, "Lady Anne gave her permission to graduate—but it doesn't make any difference if she doesn't graduate. After passing the necessary courses, they will not stay in Taolisi for a long time, and everyone is busy with socializing. Lily and Daisy are like this, and I am similar."

"After the chaos, there are many more opportunities, whether it is for the ladies or their fathers. Daisy's father has become a member of the House of Commons, and she has more suitors, and Lily's family is also very likely When the next king confers, he will be elevated from the title of baron to baron, officially becoming a nobleman."

Mary glanced at her, and suddenly said: "It's a pity, Mr. Darcy, he has been busy for a long time, and even played a considerable role, but he can't get a reward title. Georgiana is also worrying about her brother. She said that Darcy Mr. Darcy is always in the background, for all his efforts, and refuses to take credit for it. She can't guess what Mr. Darcy thinks, do you know, Lizzie?"

Elizabeth flicked her hand while looking at the account books, and then she replied nonchalantly after a long while: "The Church and the Parliament are not as simple as we imagined, probably he doesn't want to be dragged into it." Mr. Darcy is practical, not suitable for a political biology.

"Oh~" The younger sisters all made exaggerated expressions of sudden realization.

Elizabeth gave them an angry look, and the little girls became less and less cute.But immediately, her attention was still drawn away from the ledger, and she couldn't help but think of the gentleman in the north who handled affairs.

The bright lounge fell silent for a while, until everyone was alarmed by Mr. Bennet Jr.

Little Mr. Bennet was stroked back and forth by the big palm of the old Bennet. Little Alex, who couldn't turn over, spit at his father's Kyorot angrily. The tights were soaked, and he still repeated his movements.Little Alex's slender neck couldn't hold it in a while, and his fat face was wrinkled and pressed on the sofa, and the angry little baby got all the energy to blow up.

The sofa launched a flood.

Mr. Bennet's half of his trousers, which were placed on the sofa to cover him, were all wet, and little Alexander himself was also flooded. He cried earth-shatteringly.

The nanny, who was guarding outside the lounge and not allowing the Bennet family to disturb their happy family time, hurried in and hugged the angry sobbing little guy.

"Let's come." Elizabeth took little Alexander, "Smelly."

The three sisters surrounded the little guy to the nursery next door, little Alexander smiled again on his chubby face, and the old father who had been forgotten in the rest room felt the coldness of his wet legs.

The author has something to say: the first cooperation has begun~

Grinding an iron pestle into a needle, you can do it, Mr. Darcy!

This chapter gives two hundred small red envelopes.

Fish's flag: update at [-] o'clock tomorrow, and update at [-] o'clock in the evening~ If you can't do it, you will be fined [-] small red envelopes + [-]D updates.

Note: Since the 17th century, some wealthy middle-class people in London have started to buy or build their own villas on rural land adjacent to London, spend weekends there on weekends, and return to London on Mondays to engage in their own various economic activities. Called "The Weekend Cottage". —— "On the Suburbanization of London in the 18th and 19th Centuries——Comment on the Origin of Modern Suburbs" and "On the Promoting Effect of the Middle Class on the Suburbanization of the City——Taking London in the Late Eighteenth Century as an Example," by Ouyang Ping.

Note ②: Quoted from "an advertisement at that time for a villa, which described this way of life very well: a large residence on a hillside with a good view, with a garden, which can be seen from the surrounding farms. Obtaining Food" - "On the Middle Class's Promotion of Urban Suburbanization - A Case Study of London in the Late 18th Century", Ouyang Ping.

Note ③: "Black as the knocker of a new door" is a phrase used by Londoners to describe the knocker on the prison door. ——Encyclopedia New Gate Prison.