[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

"Colonel, Lydia is not unloved, but we must always ensure that her happiness is long-lasting and sustainable, instead of burning like a flame and leaving only a handful of ashes."

Mary was sitting in a chair by the bed, and Colonel Edwards and Mr. Alfred were standing by the door. It was not a good occasion for conversation, but at this moment a negotiation was going on between the two sides.

"She is my younger sister. I grew up with her, and I know her well. She likes handsome young men, and it is best to have a handsome and neat red uniform. She is courteous, money is not important, the important thing is to make her happy. She is selfish, selfish, superficial and vain, her brain is not much bigger than a hazelnut! But she longs to be admired, surrounded by people, like stars The same as the moon! But most importantly, she longs for someone to love her! She doesn't like reading books, but she has a soft spot for all kinds of love stories. Romantic novels can help her break through her aversion to books. Her words and deeds all show that She longs to meet love and marry a crazy man who loves her! Now she can live a life of stars and moons according to her own temperament, but the men around her will never be better than her It's more lovely, and never have any illusions that they will have a long relationship, the most likely result is that the same superficial man soon gets tired of this superficial woman, and then leaves his wife at home to have fun!"

Colonel Edwards had to think about the possibility, and then he had to admit Mary's statement that it was indeed a possibility.

Mary took a breath and continued: "There are many good men in this world. They are noble in character, gentle in temperament, handsome and unrestrained, outstanding in demeanor, and loyal to marriage and family. If there are such excellent men, then Lydia will not be able to catch up with her now. Yes, that's why we strictly demand Lydia and impose strict discipline on her. This is all for the sake that if there is such a good man in the future, Lydia can form a happy family with him. I really don't think marriage is the ultimate worth of a woman, but my sister is sure of it, and that marriage and love can give her more happiness than any one of us can."

Colonel Edwards was almost deeply moved by what Mary said. Although he is a bastard, he is a good brother who loves his younger siblings. moved.

He said to Mary with a deep expression: "Please forgive me, Miss Mary, I have nothing to say in the face of your accusation. I am ashamed of my thoughts and words...I..." He took a few deep breaths, Said to Mary: "At the beginning, I just wanted to make Miss Lydia happy. I didn't think so far."

Mary took a deep breath, she looked at Colonel Edwards quietly, convinced that she could see the shame on the man's cynical face, and then said: "Life is a difficult thing, Mr. Colonel, I think you and I both deeply Get that."

The colonel nodded.

"So, what we can do for these wayward relatives is to let them have as few setbacks as possible, even if they are suffering here, but that is coming

Gentle reprimands and frustrations from loved ones can save them a little less bloodshed in the outside world in the future. "

Meanwhile, another conversation took place downstairs

Elizabeth asked Lydia in surprise: "Do you like Colonel Edwards?"

Lydia lay on the sofa casually, resting her chin on one hand, and nodded excitedly with a dreamy face: "Yes, he is really a lovely person, handsome and personable, and very kind and sincere, I have never seen him before There are more generous and kind people than him, and all the men I have met combined are not half as charming."

Elizabeth was really worried at this time, and she asked Lydia: "Do you really love him? If there is such a thing, why haven't we noticed it? Lydia, I'm afraid you took some vague good feelings as Is there a big difference between the love between men and women?"

Lydia rolled her eyes: "Liqi, I'm not that stupid. It's no surprise that you didn't notice it. I like Andrew, but I haven't planned to let you know my heart. I didn't I have received so many years of lady education in vain, I can't let people laugh at me for being frivolous." Saying this, Lydia giggled.

Elizabeth frowned: "I still don't believe it, Lydia, this happened so suddenly, I can't believe it!"

"Oh," Lydia waved her hand nonchalantly: "Liqi, why are you making such a fuss? Of course I wouldn't make this public before Andrew fell in love with me. I don't like talking to Mary , That's too awkward. Kitty is a watcher and a traitor, and she will immediately report to Mary if there is any trouble in me, so I won't tell her what's on my mind!"

"What about me and Jane? If you have something in your heart, you can tell us. As sisters, we can of course give you advice and persuasion."

"Oh, then do you have any advice to tell me?" Lydia asked casually.

Elizabeth was silent for a while, and said to Lydia worriedly: "I don't think what I say now will change your mind, but, dear Lydia, I follow my conscience to give you advice. Colonel Edwards will not He is not a good marriage partner, he is a flirtatious dude, if we are ordinary friends, we can get along happily, but as a marriage proposal, I think it will be difficult for Colonel Edwards to gain our trust."

"Why?" Lydia opened her eyes wide. "Andrew is such a nice person. He is kind, funny, and brave. He is a trustworthy friend."

"But as a fiancé or even a husband, I'm afraid his behavior is too derailed!" Elizabeth sat next to Lydia, held her hand, and said softly: "As soon as possible, this should not be said out loud, but I think since the facts are not yet Now, I don't mean to slander him, he has a mistress and an illegitimate child, this is a well-known fact."

"That's in the past," Lydia said unconvinced. "Who doesn't make mistakes when they are young, Lizzie, we shouldn't hold on to this! Compared with mistresses and illegitimate children, no one in London There are more celebrities than him, and our Royal Highness the Prince Regent and the mistresses of several princes are still in the newspapers every day."

"Lydia—" Elizabeth couldn't believe that Lydia treated this matter so contemptuously, "We are not simply talking about this matter, but his attitude towards feelings. He is too frivolous, which may make him You can't fulfill your responsibilities to your lover well."

"No, he will. He treats me very well. I believe that after I become his fiancée and wife, he will treat me twice as well! I can't imagine that he will be irresponsible to me!"

"It's not a matter of your imagination, Lydia, we can infer his future driving trajectory from his usual bad deeds, we can know a person's temperament and character from his past actions, and Edwards The colonel is obviously used to affairs, if you agree to his proposal and marry him, what if he cheats again in the future? That is very possible."

"Cheating? You mean he will keep mistresses and have a lot of illegitimate children?" Lydia sat up and asked in surprise.

Elizabeth nodded: "Although these words should not be uttered by the two ladies, I think there is no reason for us to discuss in private, especially when it concerns my sister. I think I have every reason to suspect that a man who behaves indiscriminately It will continue to be so, and this is not wild speculation and malicious speculation about Colonel Edwards, but a well-founded speculation..."

"Puchi——" Lydia laughed and slapped the armrest of the sofa, as if she had encountered the most ridiculous thing in the world, "Oh—Liqi—hahaha—this is so ridiculous ——hahaha——" She was out of breath from laughing, and Elizabeth laughed so hard that she couldn't understand it. Finally, she laughed enough, and said to Elizabeth with a sigh of relief: "Dear Liqi, you really think too much Now, why do you have to think so far? Maybe before he cheats, I will be tired of him cheating first?"

Her sister was clearly shocked by her remarks, and it took Elizabeth a long time to speak: "Lydia, I think we have been taught to ensure that we should behave morally, and obviously it is immoral to betray a commitment to marriage , I think you should give up your idea, both men and women should remain faithful to marriage."

"Which idea? Is Hongxing cheating?" Lydia tilted her head, "Don't be stupid, Liqi, how many people can be consistent. Besides, it will be many years later, Liqi, I just raised a possibility, is it also possible that my husband and I can keep our mutual loyalty and live forever?"

Elizabeth was helpless. She felt that the education of Lydia for so many years was a mistake. Although she was not as reckless as she was when she was a child, she only thought of foolish flirting all day long, but now Lidia, who has been strictly educated for many years, Dia seems to be more difficult to tame, she has her own set of standards, and she seems to be dismissive of the moral concepts of the world, and even has no moral values ​​and shame.

Elizabeth thought for a while, and decided to persuade her sister from another aspect: "I know that it is difficult to change your mind, but I think Colonel Edwards doesn't love you right now, does he?"

Lydia was discouraged when she heard this: "Oh, yes, although I want to deny it, he really hasn't fallen in love with me yet!"

She said distressedly, "I'm trying to figure it out, Lizzie. Men must be encouraged and hinted before they propose to a woman, but I've only just gotten so far."

She suddenly turned her head and said to Elizabeth: "If you want Mr. Wickham to propose to you, you must give him some encouragement, Lizzie. I think Mr. Bingley was disappointed in her and left because he couldn't wait for Jane's encouragement. Yes, otherwise as long as she is willing to give him a little hint, they must have held a wedding long ago."

Elizabeth smiled and shook her head: "I haven't developed any love for Mr. Wickham yet, so there is no question of encouraging him. I'm sure I won't have this trouble in the future. As for Jane and Mr. Bingley, anyway, now There is no such issue between them.”

"Oh, Jane may be so, but you don't have to. I think you and Mr. Wickham are still possible. The reason why he is biased towards Miss King is because she has a dowry of ten thousand pounds, but your future The dowry may not be less than her! And she's freckled and short like a Lilliputian from Gulliver's Travels, and there's nothing about her like you, except she walks around with her coquettish eyes Seductive! Your eyes are beautiful too, only a little bigger than mine."

"I'm sorry to hear you say that, Lydia, besides your harsh words, letting me know that I lost to someone who is worthless is more painful than simply knowing that I have lost, but fortunately I have Got it. I think that if there is no sincere affection between two people, the goodwill maintained by money will only wear off quickly, and the goodwill between me and Mr. Wickham has obviously not reached the level where money can be ignored. My friend relationship with him, talking about money is obviously a precursor to the collapse of the friendly relationship. Well, don't change the subject, I ask you, Colonel Edwards is not in love with you, and he is going to capture him, I think this is very difficult !What do you think?"

"Why do you think so?" Lydia turned her head and glanced at Elizabeth: "He takes great care of me, and it's obvious that he cares about me very much. I think it's not difficult to get him."

"Lydia, it may be true that he cares about you, but he may be more caring about other women, even ten times as much as you! This kind of thing is very possible. As a romantic man, caring about beautiful women is Their instincts, I don't think this can be used as the basis for him to have a good impression of you and will love you in the future." Elizabeth thought her opinion was reasonable, and combined with what she had seen and heard in London, Colonel Edwards Expelled from the family and rejected by the upper class, but there are not a few women who like him.

Lydia felt extremely jealous when she thought of such a situation, but she still gritted her teeth and retorted: "Liqi, you can't say that about him, Andrew is a good man, he is definitely not a playboy who plays with women."

"I'm not saying that he is playing with women, maybe he is unintentional, but you can't deny that he is also considerate to others, it's just because you are too straightforward and always take the initiative to get together with him, so he seems closer to you .In fact, as long as you observe carefully, you will soon find out that he also cares about other ladies with the same care."

Lydia looked thoughtful, and Elizabeth continued: "We must admit that you are not the most special one, Lydia!"

"Anyway," Lydia turned suddenly and looked at Elizabeth: "I have to try, Lizzie, I don't deny what you said, but I think a rich and beautiful girl like me has feelings for him, and he will never will be indifferent."

"Oh, Lydia, don't be so conceited." Elizabeth said disapprovingly: "Colonel Edwards is not a fledgling young man. He has seen the world and had many affairs. Don't you think he will be easily accepted by you?" Are you attracted? I advise you to save your energy and don’t waste time on him. There are so many handsome guys in London, none of them are worse than him, and even more handsome and personable than him. I think you should focus on them It’s easier to achieve your wishes on the body. Think about it, they are just as knowledgeable, insightful, and will circle around you all day long. You will spend half the energy to capture such a handsome young man than Colonel Edwards, but the rewards My heart is satisfied but twice as much!"