[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 44 dance party is too lively

Mr. Lake finally rushed over before the ball started. He stayed directly at Meriton's hotel and walked into the public ballroom with the invitation. When Uncle Gardiner saw him, he immediately stepped forward to greet him: "I thought you I can't make it in time."

"Thank God I finally caught up, I don't think I'll ever ask the driver to hurry up again, my God, it's too bumpy."

Kitty's words came true, and the protagonists at the ball the next day were not any one of Mary, Kitty or Lydia, but the two surnamed Mr. Edwards. People inquired about their origins after they knew they were single. and income, one of these two is a navy captain, and the other just graduated from college. Neither of them is an heir to a certain estate, but the brothers from wealthy families are still quite wealthy, so they are also very popular with parents who have girls who are waiting to be married at home. .In contrast, Miss White is a lady from London. Although it is not the first time for her to come, this is indeed the first time for her to appear at Meriton's ball. Young people also like to invite this new face Pretty girls dancing together.

Mr. Lawrence, on the other hand, was not as popular as he had been in his previous visits to Meriton, and although he was a wealthy bachelor as always, it was now accepted that he would not marry one of Meriton's girls. , so everyone has a mediocre attitude towards him.Even his uncle's family focused on the two newly arrived Mr. Edwards.

The two Mr. Edwards wanted to invite Miss Mary and her sister to dance out of courtesy,

Mary was very surprised when she saw Mr. Andrew walking in front of her. He was so handsome. When his ice blue eyes looked at Mary, it really shocked Mary. This gentleman is indeed a playboy. However, Mary still rejected Mr. Andrew's invitation: "I'm so sorry, I made an appointment with Mr. Bennet before the dance started, and he would lead me to dance the first dance in my life."

As she spoke, she pulled Mr. Bennet over and apologized repeatedly to Mr. Andrew.

Mr. Bennet said repeatedly: "It's not appropriate for me to go to the dance floor to deal with young people at my age, but how can a father have the heart to refuse his daughter's request. Besides, young girls now disdain to be like me. The old man danced, so I must seize this fleeting opportunity."

Mr. Andrew was surprised. He was rarely rejected by women before, except for those who wanted to get him. This lady probably heard of his reputation as a looser. Since he was kicked out of the house, many girls who used to chase him madly are like Mary. It's like a snake to him.Ha, don't women as unremarkable as Mary take him seriously now?This feeling is very fresh.Mr. Andrew had a feeling of being offended, but he was not angry, just a little hurt.

Mr. Alfred is happy to see this happen. He thinks that a person like Andrew should be severely hurt by women several times, otherwise Mr. Andrew will be arrogant and think that all women in the world love him Well, and he could tell that Miss Mary was a sober person. Even if Andrew was still the heir to the huge family property, she would stay away from such a playboy.

It's a pity that Mrs. Bennet thought that her daughter was too ignorant, and she condemned her in public: "You are so good at hurting people, Mary, Mr. Andrew will be an excellent dance partner, much more likable than your old-fashioned father She is full of apologies to Andrew: "Don't be angry with her, sir, Mary has always been eccentric, and she deserves to be disliked by young gentlemen. But my youngest daughter has no partner yet, Mr. Andrew, She dances a hundred times better than Mary."

As Mrs. Bennet spoke, she pushed Lydia towards Mr. Andrew, and Lydia was delighted to have Mr. Andrew as her partner.

At home, Mary decided to ask her father to be her dance partner. Kitty planned to trouble Uncle Gardiner if no one invited her, but Lydia was full of confidence. She thought how could no man invite her with her beauty. Where does she dance?

What's more, she often met the young officers of Meridon at her aunt's house. Since she knew that she was going to enter the society, everyone said that if she wanted to show her face, she would at least dance a tune with each of them.

But Mr. Andrew is also very handsome, and he is the new face of Meridon. He has attracted the attention of many people. Of course, it is very honorable to have such a dance partner. Lydia was very happy when the first song started Xi walked off the dance floor with Mr. Andrew.

The blow that Mr. Andrew received from Miss Mary was quickly smoothed over by her sister.

Kitty also cheerfully accepted Mr. Alfred's invitation, leaving Uncle Gardiner, who had a heavy responsibility, aside.

Mr. Lawrence also invited Jane, and Elizabeth and Mr. Lake walked down the dance floor together.

The song started very quickly. Mary didn't dance very often, and she didn't often go to the public dance hall to study with the dance teacher like the two younger sisters. Fortunately, Elizabeth knew her personality and explained to the band early, so this song is very simple. It's not complicated either.

During the dance, they had to exchange partners, and when the person opposite her was replaced by Mr. Andrew, the gentleman suddenly said to her: "I thought young ladies usually didn't like to dance with their fathers. You didn't choose me. I'm surprised."

Mary was very surprised. This gentleman is too self-righteous, and it is obvious that his words are very rash. This bastard, my mother didn't invite you to the dance, okay?Such thoughtless remarks made Mary wonder whether this person was brought up by a gentleman's education?

"Obviously you don't know enough young ladies." Mary smiled and said to him. "We must know more people to gain more knowledge. I want to thank you for letting me see the world. And people like you!"

Mr. Andrew carefully tasted this sentence, and he felt a little bit uncomfortable. He couldn't help being a little depressed, wondering if his charm had begun to decline?

Soon after, his position was replaced by his younger brother, Mr. Alfred. Mr. Alfred had seen the scene just now, and he knew that his brother must have had an unreliable illness. Mary apologized: "Please don't let Andrew bother you. He always thinks that he is very charming. If any girl is not dazzled and fascinated by him, he will be troubled."

Mary was amused by this description: "I understand very well, his illness is probably only a little milder than that of Narcissus, not to the extent that he needs treatment."

Mr. Alfred froze for a moment. Before he could react, the partners were exchanged again. When he remembered who Narcissus was, he couldn't help laughing. Andrew was indeed narcissistic and self-righteous. In terms of the hearts of the girls, he does have some symptoms of the Narcissus who died of narcissism.So occasionally being hurt by other girls will help alleviate his sins.

Mr. Alfred has always been a bit serious, and he can’t smile when he talks and does things. The smile of such a person is really amazing. Kitty’s heart is pounding when she sees it, and she almost falls for his partner. Fortunately, the dance music is very good. It was almost over, and Kitty was successfully rescued from the confused mood.

Of course, this song also successfully rescued Mr. Bennet. He said to Mary out of breath: "As an old father, it is my job to drive away those wild bees and butterflies for my daughter, but this is only this time, dance again." Going down will kill me, and if you don't find your knight, you'll have to learn to take up arms and fight those rascals yourself."

Mrs. Bennet rushed to them and scolded her husband: "You were so shameless just now, my lord, Mr. Andrew invited Mary to dance so sincerely, how could you bear to hurt him so much!" She turned her head away , and then said to Mary: "And you, Mary, what a rare figure Mr. Andrew is..."

Mary felt the veins on her forehead pop out: "Mom, you just embarrassed us!"

Mrs. Bennet was suddenly stuck, her eyes widened in disbelief: "What did you say?"

"Just now you are so impatient to sell your daughter like Mr. Andrew, just like a businessman sells his products, it will make us feel cheap, and it will also make Mr. Andrew despise us!" Mary said seriously to Mrs. Bennet: "On the dance floor just now, he also said a lot of things that looked down on me!"

"What?" Mrs. Bennet was shocked. "How dare he?"

"His brother, Mr. Alfred, apologized to me for that!"

"Oh, that's a rare young man..."

"We're talking about Mr. Andrew, mother."

"Oh, yes, I can't believe he's such a nasty, uneducated man! I thought he was a good fellow, but now it seems he's nothing more than that."

"It's you who gave him a chance, mom. He thinks we're worthless in his heart, because our mother also treats us as cheap commodities."

Mrs. Bennet was tongue-tied. She just wanted to put a few more big fish in her daughters' nets, and it was absolutely obligatory and perfectly right to match her ideal match.

Mr. Bennet patted his wife on the shoulder: "So, dear, don't be so anxious to sell your daughter, someone who knows the goods will give you a good price."

Mrs. Bennet was speechless. She wanted to say something in rebuttal, but didn't know what to say.

Seeing that she didn't show any introspection at all, Mary was very helpless, so she had no choice but to say to her: "Like those noble ladies, Mom, and be more arrogant. Playing hard to get is the smart way."

These words lighted a bright light in Mrs. Bennet's mind. It was indeed true that those proud women had good sons-in-law. She had to be proud first before a good son-in-law would fall into the trap.

Seeing the obvious change in Mrs. Bennet's expression, Mary couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. She wondered if it was because she suddenly realized that her daughters had grown up. Mrs. Bennet seemed very irritable recently and often lost her temper for no reason. , Always expressed inexplicable worries about the marriage of her daughters.

In Mr. Bennet's opinion, this is unnecessary, and Miss Charlotte Lucas is still in her boudoir at such an age, let alone their daughter.

But Mrs. Bennet is like early menopause, she can't listen to anything, and she can chatter endlessly if anyone provokes her.The only thing that comforts her is that the dowries of the sisters are increasing. Although the increase in the amount of deposits in the bank is not large, their factories and food stores are now worth a lot.

Moreover, it is not that Jane and Elizabeth are admired by no one, but they are too high-sighted and always refuse to give in, which annoys Mrs. Bennet. In her opinion, if women can have a dowry that can support them The requirements are not so high!

It was impossible to change Mrs. Bennet's mind, so Mary had to ask her to correct her behavior as much as possible.

Sure enough, Mrs. Bennet was not so impatient anymore. She deliberately acted very coldly when facing Mr. Andrew, which made Mr. Andrew a little puzzled. He reflected on whether he had offended this lady, and then She treated Mrs. Bennet more attentively, which made Mrs. Bennet think she was the result of her arrogance, and thought that she should not be too impatient, so she ignored Mr. Andrew more and more.