Detective Mary

Chapter 14

Before Mary traveled through time and space, she was intrigued by the Victorian period and often fantasized about seeing for herself the era in which her favorite literary character, Sherlock Holmes, lived.

Mary never expected that God would not only fulfill her dream, but even allow her to meet Holmes himself.

And Mr. Detective even smiled at himself!

At the thought of what she had just seen, Mary couldn't help but bury her head in her thick book, feeling her cheeks still rolling.

After learning the progress of the case, she returned to Jane's room, still unable to restrain her joy and leap. Mary's reaction surprised Jane and Elizabeth.

Everyone knew that the third daughter of the Bennet family, not to mention her mediocre appearance, was also dull and socially inactive. What worried the two sisters was that Mary had always been as if she hadn't been enlightened; she longed for talented poets, loved legendary heroes, and just had no interest in the gentlemen around her.

While Lydia was spoiled by her mother and was too frivolous for her own good looks, Mary was unconcerned with the realities of marriage.

It was the first time Jane and Elizabeth had seen Mary in such a girlish state.

"What on earth is that gentleman?" Elizabeth couldn't help but mutter.

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes is a detective hired by Mr. Bingley."

Jane coughed lightly a few times and exited to explain, "He is said to be brilliant and keenly observant. The first time we met he threw out the key points of the case straight away, but unfortunately I contracted a wind chill last night and only met him once without conversation."

Elizabeth: "......"

So he was the "detective from London". Looking at Mary's red face and shining eyes, Elizabeth understood everything at once.

--This sister of hers, where is the arrogant Mr. Darcy, I am afraid that as early as when she heard the word "detective", she was bent on drawing closer to Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy as a friend, so that he could ask this legendary detective to come and open his eyes.

After all, the rich Mr. Darcy, where is the walking in the streets of London detective more story?

But ......

Elizabeth frowned slightly at the thought of the so-called "great detective" who had just come so close to intruding directly into a lady's boudoir: "I think this gentleman's behavior is very unseemly."

"Not so!"

Mary sniffed and immediately looked up from her book.

She rubbed her red cheeks and hastily argued, "Mr. Holmes is only bent on solving the case, and it's true that when he's serious he overlooks red tape, but that only proves that the truth is most important in his eyes, nothing more."

Elizabeth doesn't quite accept this argument, "Going straight into a lady's boudoir is not a matter of red tape."

Mary was about to argue, but before she opened her mouth, she saw Elizabeth hold her head slightly high and immediately swallowed the words that came out of her mouth.

Having lived under the same roof as Elizabeth for so long, Mary understood all too well what her second sister's expression meant; she was waiting for her to open her mouth so that she could ask for a rebuttal.

Elizabeth's mind was clear and articulate, Mary didn't want to fight with her over nothing.

Moreover, from Elizabeth's point of view, she was right not to like Mr. Detective. Elizabeth does not know what Sherlock Holmes, for her, a few hundred years later the reputation of the world's great detective, is a moment not to say hello, nearly broke into the lady's boudoir rude guy.

Can not argue with Elizabeth, Mary also does not know how to roundabout policy.

She put down her thick book and dawdled up to sit next to Elizabeth, "Good Lizzie, you're angry again, I haven't even said anything yet."

With that Mary was about to reach out and take Elizabeth's arm, but the latter grunted and dodged her, "I know what you're going to say even if you don't open your mouth."

"Yes, yes, that's natural!"

Mary unfolded a pleasing smile and cheekily had to hold onto Elizabeth, "You're my dearest, dearest sister, of course you know what I'm going to say."

Jane in the hospital bed, "Lizzie is your dearest sister, what am I then, Mary?"

Mary's smile froze on her face, "Uh."

In fact, Elizabeth hadn't been angry in the first place, and then she couldn't help but laugh along with Jane at Mary's failed ass-kissing look.

"Well," said the good-natured Jane, moderating the atmosphere at the right time, "Mr. Holmes is only anxious to solve the case as well, and it would all be a small matter if he could find the real thief without any difficulty."

"But it is no trifle."

Elizabeth, however, was extraordinarily principled: "What if any man under the sun just barged into a lady's room? It has nothing to do with what he wants to do, Jane, it's a moral principle for everyone."

Yet Sherlock Holmes is a man who occasionally loses sight of moral principles.

Mary laughed and cried, she just couldn't explain to Elizabeth that this was the nineteenth century, not hundreds of years after she was born.

"Then, then give Mr. Holmes another chance," Mary spoke carefully, "You see, Mr. Darcy is not as bad and corrupt as you think he is is, is he?"

That left Elizabeth speechless.

Even though Elizabeth still didn't feel much pain at the thought of Mr. Darcy's arrogant stance, he did admit his mistake. Who wouldn't make a mistake? The frankness of Mr. Darcy's words, and the fact that he did not know that Elizabeth herself had heard them, was proof enough that he was far from being a sycophant, but that he was truly aware of his indiscretions and had reflected on them.

Elizabeth disliked arrogant people, but she was not of an unforgiving disposition.

This morning's misadventure had removed most of her ill feelings towards Mr. Darcy.

On the contrary ...... even if it seemed to Elizabeth that the behavior of that Sherlock Holmes just now was really absurd, he was a friend recognized by Darcy and Bingley, and deserved to have extraordinary abilities or qualities.

"Lizzie, even for my sake!"

Mary was a little anxious, "Byron the poet has his faults, and he really is a talented man, isn't he?"

Not mentioning Byron was fine, mentioning Byron Elizabeth was even less kind.

"You," she lectured, still with a stern face, "Lydia thinks of officers and balls every day, and I don't think you're any better, so don't mention Byron in front of me anymore."

"Well, well Lizzie is right in everything she says," smiled Mary, "and can I mention Mr. Darcy from now on?"

"......"

And circled back again!

Elizabeth lost her temper at once. Luckily, sick Jane was in much better spirits after being so upset by Mary. Her pale face beamed with laughter, "Now you can rest easy, Lizzie, and stop worrying about Mary's indulgence in poets and the world. She has mentioned Mr. Holmes more times today than all the gentlemen she has met before combined."

"That's if you haven't seen her with Darcy left and Darcy right," Elizabeth said with disgust, "I thought Miss Mary Bennet had her eye on the haughty single aristocrat, but now it seems clear that there is an ulterior motive - and now it seems to me I'd rather it was Mr. Darcy that you had your heart set on. "

Mary: "......"

Told you she wasn't interested in Mr. Darcy, okay!

She was just about to brew up the words to retort when the maid from Netherfield Manor came in and said that Mr. Bingley had asked the two healthy Miss Bennet's to come downstairs.

Jane's typhoid fever had not yet cleared up, and a little fuss would suffice. Mary and Elizabeth, determined to give her plenty of rest, bade the maid a few words and walked downstairs.

Before any of them had entered the drawing room, they heard Miss Bingley sitting beside Mr. Darcy, gushing about the large, out-of-print and expensive collection of books he had at Pemberley Hall.

Seeing Mary walk in, Miss Bingley immediately turned around and presented the two Bennet sisters with a polite smile, "By the way, everyone around here says that Miss Mary Bennet is the most talented woman around, so I imagine there are quite a few books read."

"Not too many."

It would have been in vain for Mary to have been complimented by Mr. Holmes himself if she had not been able to see Miss Bingley's hostility to herself.

Although she didn't know why she hated herself so much, Mary didn't really care, after all, who should care if an irrelevant rich lady hated herself or not, it wasn't as if she was married to Mr. Bingley.

So Mary just answered truthfully, "I read whatever new books papa buys back, and naturally it can't be compared to Mr. Darcy's collection of books at Pemberley Manor."

"I hear from Charles that you've been in Rousseau's books lately."

"A Treatise on the Causes of the Flourishing and Falling of Rome." Mary replied.

"That's something!"

Miss Bingley made a rather pompous response, "I wouldn't have been able to read such a profound book, and it seems that Miss Mary is indeed a person of great wisdom."

After that, she turned to Darcy and said in a meaningful tone, "I think you're the only one who can talk to Miss Mary, so why don't you have a nice chat with Miss Mary about politics?"

Mary: "......"

She got it at once.

Even Elizabeth had misinterpreted her intentions because of her overzealousness for Mr. Darcy, and it was even easier for outsiders to misinterpret her intentions.

That Miss Bingley likes Mr. Darcy is obvious even if Mary doesn't know the original story - she just doesn't care for society and isn't a fool.

So that's what made her a love interest.

To Miss Bingley's sudden speech, Mr. Darcy's reaction remained cold: "I don't think the morning is a good time to talk about politics, and Miss Mary is afraid she feels the same way, isn't she?"

"I do think the morning is a good time."

Mary's sudden smile blossomed into a smile, and she had an immediate bad thought as her mind turned.

She was still wearing her signature bright smile, "We can talk about other things without talking about politics, don't you think, Ms. Bentley?"

Miss Bentley: "............"

Chat, why not? There's no way to follow up the clues with Mr. Holmes, and it's not okay for her to bully the little girl and take it out on her own sister.