[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 29 The Lost Girl

The first step is to go to the Home Secretary. Mrs. Bennet tried her best to say that she would go with the five children. This time, Mary did not stop them. They had no chance to see the Home Secretary. According to Mr. Smith, at most they would go there When dealing with secretaries, clerks or clerks, the young ladies only need to smile at the right time. If it is not stipulated that the inventor must be present in person, this would not require the appearance of several young ladies.

Mary believed that Mrs. Bennet's enthusiasm would soon be overwhelmed by red tape.

They passed Trafalgar Square in a carriage. The square was only built two years ago, and it was very wide.

"Who is that?" Lydia pointed to a statue on the south side of the square.

Elizabeth took a look: "That's Lord Nelson. He died in the Battle of Trafalgar two years ago. This square was built to commemorate him and that war."

The general led the British navy to win more with less, defeated the fleets of France, the Netherlands and Spain, and made Napoleon's plan to land in England fail, completely establishing Britain's maritime hegemony.After Nelson was shot in the spine, he persisted until the last moment of the battle. It was not until the news of victory came that the one-eyed, one-armed general died forever.

However, in addition to his heroic deeds, General Nelson is widely praised for his romantic scandals. He blatantly left his wife and lived with his mistress and wife, Mrs. Emma Hamilton, on a small farm in the suburbs of London. He went out to couples, and looked at no one else, which aroused great resentment in the British upper class. His political opponents slandered and attacked him in every possible way. The major newspapers in London made a lot of money by selling these scandals about him. Now, even this The general died, and Mrs. Hamilton left for France, but discussions about them are still brought up from time to time.Like now:

"Although he is a hero, I still look down on him!" Mrs. Bennet, as a married couple, of course expressed her disdain for this kind of dog man and woman, "blatantly betrayed his wife, lived with his mistress and her husband, and let his wife How can he have the face to go out? He should be living in a mouse hole with his mistress! If you want me to say, he shouldn’t be allowed to be a general, and someone else might command better than him!”

"Mom," Jane stopped Mrs. Bennet from scolding the national hero in time, "General Nelson's achievements are incomparable. Even Napoleon admired him very much. It is said that upon hearing the news of his death, he was ordered to be hanged on all French warships." Even the enemy respects him so much, let’s not expose his ugliness, I believe his intention is not to insult his wife.”

"It's just hearsay, who knows if it's true or not." Mrs. Bennet disagreed. "I dare say that there are more people who think he is morally corrupt than those who affirm his achievements."

"Don't say that now, mother," Elizabeth laughed. "When Nelson was alive, people swarmed and cursed him, saying that he was bohemian and immoral. When he died, those who cursed him remembered him in turn. Praise him for his great achievements, and his achievements are brilliant. In fact, his achievements and his morality are completely different. We cannot recognize his immorality because of his great achievements. But we cannot deny his achievements because of his immorality. Both are one-sided."

Mary nodded: "General Nelson has indeed fulfilled his due duties. From this point of view, he is beyond reproach. And now that his body is still alive, we'd better let the dead rest in peace. Those romantic affairs between him and that beauty It’s better not to mention the romance.”

"I just want to know who is her mistress?" Lydia asked with interest. "Is that woman beautiful? How did she live with her husband and lover? Does her husband agree?"

"I've seen the portrait in the newspaper, but it's very small. That woman should be very beautiful, the most beautiful woman in Britain!" Kitty recalled the newspaper she had read before, but at that time she was young and her memory was already very vague. At that time, she hadn't started to be interested in the overwhelming celebrity gossip, "Besides, her husband, Sir Hamilton, has been satirized by newspaper caricatures, but unfortunately I didn't understand what that meant at the time?" ".

"Kitty!" Mary said very seriously, "A good girl shouldn't be overly interested in this kind of other people's privacy, let alone discuss it with others in public."

Kitty was very unconvinced: "You all said this just now. It's really unfair. We live in the same family and receive the same education, but Lydia and I have to suffer more harsh criticism."

"That's right," Lydia immediately stared into a pair of big round eyes, very angry at such differential treatment, "It's really unfair, we can't talk about it, but you can, we should do the same thing and say the same thing , receive the same treatment."

Mrs. Bennet supported her little daughter's thoughts: "It's true, that's right, what we just said is the same thing, sometimes you can't be too harsh on your little sister."

"Mom," said Mary, who disapproved of Mrs. Bennet's submissiveness to the two sisters, which only added to their arrogance, "they talked about the same things we talked about, but they said it in a silly and vulgar way." Celebrity affairs, and we," she paused, several sisters looked at her: "We just talked about Nelson, but we were talking about British history and politics, which is much nobler."

The two little sisters grew their mouths and stared at her: "You can say that!"

Even Mrs. Bennet was amazed that Mary had turned the affair into such frivolous things as history and politics. How could she say such things with confidence?

"These two things don't go together at all!" cried Lydia.

"But if you think about it carefully, you will know that what I said is correct. Whether a person is vulgar or noble, superficial or profound, you can see it from the subtleties. Talking about the same thing, saying the same thing, may not give the same person. Impressions, received the same treatment!"

Kitty and Lydia looked at Mary stupidly, and were completely shocked. They felt that Mary was sophistrying, but after thinking about their conversation just now, it was really different.

At this moment, the carriage stopped, and Lawyer Smith was already waiting outside. He graciously ushered several clients into the door. This is the Ministry of the Interior building on Whitehall Street. The towering hall is very brightly reflected.

Mrs. Bennet was amazed at everything here: "This is even more beautiful than the Nathanfield Manor in Meridon. It would be great if we could have a ball in the hall. It must be the grandest ball I have ever seen!"

The office workers and officials walking to and fro were all proud and imposing. Kitty and Lydia pointed curiously at those people. Occasionally, they saw a few people with lipstick and lips painted. About to cover her mouth and giggle, Mary gave them a hard look, and the two of them restrained themselves a little. Although they put their hands down and followed behind their mother and sister in an orderly manner, their eyes were still moving around flexibly. mopping up.

"Look, it's that person!" Kitty tugged at Mary's skirt and pointed to a position on the left.

Mary looked over, and it turned out to be the young gentleman she met in the cloth shop that day. She turned her head and warned the two sisters: "Don't tell mom, if mom starts arguing with this man here, we will all make a big fool of myself." .”

Kitty and Lydia quickly nodded obediently.

They came to see the Minister of the Interior, but obviously the Minister of the Interior did not have time to meet them. A young secretary met the ladies on behalf of the adults above, but he was also busy with everything, and he was interrupted after he said a few words. Another young man whispered a few words to the secretary, and the secretary asked them to wait for a while, and then left with the young man.

After a long wait, only Mary and lawyer Smith were still sitting on the chairs chatting, and the other mother and daughter began to look around in boredom.Kitty and Lydia continued to comment on the people who came and went here. Because of Mary's warning, the two of them pretended to be chatting. So far, they seem to be quite successful, and Mrs. Bennet is also excited Catch as many things as possible with your eyes to show off to people when you go back,

There are some oil paintings hanging on the walls here, and there are statues and some other decorations in the corners. Jane and Elizabeth are watching an oil painting about the Crusades. The painter vividly portrays the fighting spirit of the soldiers. At this time A little girl with a hat decorated with roses came over in a panic. She was dressed luxuriously, but her expression was shy. Her big foggy eyes seemed to be looking for something anxiously. When she saw the Bennet's house, she froze. After a while, she stood by the door and hesitated for a while, then walked towards them dawdly, stood beside Jane and Elizabeth and did not move, looking from a distance, it seemed that she was enjoying oil paintings with Jane and Elizabeth.

Jane and Elizabeth walked slowly from one end of the corridor to the other, and the girl followed them step by step.Jane and Elizabeth felt that the little girl was strange, and they stopped and looked at her.

"With all due respect, maybe you need our help?" Elizabeth asked.

"I...I..." the little girl wrung her hands nervously, "I lost my girlfriend. I came to find my brother...but I didn't know he was Where...there are all people here, no one knows where he is? I'm a little scared!"