Detective Mary

Chapter 24

To say that Mr. Darcy is an unintelligent straight man is to say that Mr. Collins and Mr. Wickham in the original story are, in Mary's opinion, two different types of straight men.

William Collins was old-fashioned and self-righteous, and when he fell into the lap of a noblewoman, he went on and on and on about it.

Not only that, but Mr. Collins, knowing that his cousins would be disinherited by the laws of inheritance and that he was short of a wife, made the gesture of choosing a fiancée from among the Bennet ladies as a matter of course. Especially when it came to Elizabeth, as if his interest in her were a great blessing.

In Collins's eyes, Elizabeth's perfunctory behavior is polite, her polite words are shyness, and her euphemistic refusals are the refusals of an unmarried girl. In short, it's all about one thing - according to Elizabeth's financial situation, he's obviously here to help the poor, and she should be grateful for that, so how could he not have meant to do that at all?

How could he not mean it at all? This caused Elizabeth to be annoyed to the point of madness, whether she refused or did not refuse.

Luckily, Mary had her maid secretly listen to Mrs. Bennet's conversation with Mr. Collins, and she felt that he was not far from proposing, and that she could just refuse.

Mr. Collins was nothing to be trifled with, a self-righteous straight man who was never to be trifled with. Mr. Wickham, on the other hand, was far more dangerous.

He was handsome, a good judge of character, and a conversation at Aunt Phillips' house endeared him to everyone. In the original, Wickham first makes eyes at Elizabeth, then turns to the other unmarried ladies of Meryton when he realizes that she will not inherit Longbourn and that her dowry is not large.

When he sees that the deception is hopeless, he hooks up with Lydia and even elopes, causing a scandal.

Although Mary despised Lydia's dimwittedness, the whole thing was clear that the scum were really hateful!

The point is that when reading the novels Mary disliked the character immensely, and after seeing him in real life, she had to admit that it wasn't for no reason that Scummy Boy was likable.

Now, for example, at Aunt Phillips's house, Mr. Collins was smugly pontificating in front of Elizabeth, Lydia and Catherine were gleefully chatting with a few more officers, and Mary, as usual, had no one to talk to left or right.

She was happy to be idle, and Mary could not have been aroused by the socializing between unmarried men and women if it had not been for the discussion of the case. So Mary was in no hurry to catch fire, and, after a few words with Mrs. Phipps, intended to find an excuse to go into the study and arrange her manuscript.

Just then, however, Mr. Wickham, the most striking man in the whole mansion, came up to Mary.

"My lady," he said, with unquestionable sincerity, "I saw you reading Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing yesterday, and, if I may venture to open a conversation, you seem to be very fond of Shakespeare's dramatic works."

He could have ignored Mary like the rest of them, but Wickham did not, and seeing that she was being snubbed, he stepped forward to warm up the conversation - and picked Mary's favorite topic.

It had to be said that scum were scum for a reason, and that was bound to be a reason.

Not only the face, Mary sighed in her heart, his emotional intelligence is also really high ah.

Stretching her hand, so Mary also hooked the corner of her mouth.

"Love it."

She said.

"Anything Shakespeare plays, I love."

Mr. Wickham: "That's wonderful, I'm extraordinarily fond of his history plays."

Mary: "I love them too, especially the Empty Crown three."

Mr. Wickham's expression was first blanked out by the unfamiliar description, and he subconsciously echoed, "Empty Crown ......? Ah, I know!"

The handsome youth's eyes lit up.

"None have died well, for within this empty crown is trapped flesh and blood! Death is his court, where the clown sits, mocking his nobility and despising his grandeur!"

He uttered the lines from Richard II, and looking at the glowing expression, he almost came close to reaching out and applauding, "That's marvelous, Lady Mary! By three, I suppose it means Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. No wonder Mrs. Phillips praises you and says you're the most talented woman in the neighborhood!"

Mary: "......"

That's blowing it out of proportion!

Mostly, the description "empty crown" didn't come from Mary herself, but from a future Shakespeare episode of the bbc, produced for the London 2012 Olympics. So Mr. Wickham's praise makes Mary feel guilty - she's just used to it and says it subconsciously.

Mr. Wickham, on the other hand, was handsome, sincere in his tone, and his eyes shone with joy as he looked at Mary as if she had found the most important confidant in her life.

A man whose face value rivaled that of Orlando Bloom staring at an unmarried lady like this, even if Mary no longer looked at the face and knew his nature well, she couldn't say to him, you're disgusting, quickly go away!

A good face is a good face, Mary sighed mentally.

It wasn't surprising that Lydia was so mad anymore; Dad, Mr. Bennet, was right, she wasn't really that different from Lydia - and Mary knew she viewed Mr. Sherlock Holmes with his own filter as well.

The only difference was that she loved the detective's intelligence, while Lydia loved Mr. Wickham's face.

"Thank you," Mary spoke politely, "that's overly flattering, sir."

If it had been Mr. Bingley or Mr. Darcy, Mary would have had to be smug and say a few more witty things. But with Wickham Wickham, ...... maintaining her nerdy image, Mary didn't care to impress him.

"That's not too much to ask," said Mr. Wickham, not at all embarrassed by Mary's indifference, "That description is proof that you understand Shakespeare, not just read about it."

"I don't think anyone reads Shakespeare on a horse and cartwheel," Mary said politely, "His works do deserve to be chewed over and over again, don't they?"

"Precisely!"

Mr. Wickham was about to say something more, but Lydia was no longer willing to be left out in the cold.

The pretty little sister ran up to Mr. Wickham, first glaring at Mary, as if to resent her for having "monopolized" him for so long: "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing that interests you," said Mary; "just books."

"What's there to talk about!"

Lydia, who didn't care at all for literature or art, skipped over the subject with disdain and chattered about Sir Lucas's desire to hold another ball afterward.

Mary mentally rolled her eyes considerably.

Crossing her mind that she didn't want to talk to Wickham, she let Lydia drag his attention away.

Now, at last, no one paid any attention to her. Mary was finally given the opportunity to find an excuse to take a leave of absence from Mrs. Phillips, and ran off to her study, where she quietly began to work on the outline of her novel.

And so she stayed until several of the officers had left.

By the time a couple of Miss Bennets had turned back to Longbourn and were on their way, Elizabeth was finally free of Mr. Collins for the time being and was given the opportunity to speak with Mary.

Seeing that she was again holding the manuscript in her hand, Elizabeth was just about to lecture her, but on second thought, she couldn't help but smile, "Never mind, seeing as you haven't fallen behind in your socializing these past few days, I'll leave you alone. I see you and Mr. Wickham are still talking today."

"Yes," Mary answered truthfully, "he said he was fond of Shakespeare's history plays."

Lydia sniffed coldly.

"All Mary knows how to do is make a spectacle of herself," she grumbled, "What's so great about a historical drama? Claptrap!"

"Ouch, you know how to use the word claptrap," Mary laughed, "I'm afraid you've just figured out what it means this morning and you're just learning it now, aren't you?"

"You--"

It could almost be said that from the time Lydia began to learn how to speak, the arguments between Mary and her never stopped. Either Lydia would cry at Mary's exasperation, or Mary would be so angry at Lydia that she would clutch her books and leave on the spot.

At first Mrs. Bennet would have stopped the reprimanding, but Mary was nineteen years old, and by now the whole of Longbourn was used to the two sisters bickering.

There was always friction between relatives living under the same roof.

That's pretty much what Mary thought.

Though she didn't like Lydia at all, finding the girl to be short-sighted, frivolous, and nothing but a face, arguably the kind of girl Mary hated the most.

But a sister is a sister, only she can dislike and bully, no one else can!

And Lydia, hearing Mary's mockery of her being uneducated, immediately retaliated without hesitation, "What about you! What do you pretend to be sober on weekdays, and say you don't like socializing and don't want to dance, but you can't take your eyes off Mr. Wickham when you see him, I advise you to die of that heart, Mr. Wickham is just being polite to you, he doesn't mean it to you!"

"What do I want his heart for," said Mary, "if Mr. Wickham can disguise himself as a coachman and no one will recognize him, or if he can look at you and know that you have come to Afghanistan?"

Lydia:??????

Elizabeth: "Pfft."

Even though Elizabeth didn't know that Mary was borrowing from the original Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, hearing the bizarre description and Mary's interests, it was only natural for a sister to know who she was talking about.

"Well."

In Jane's absence, Elizabeth was the oldest one and had to step in to mediate the argument between the two sisters.

"Mr. Wickham is warm and generous," she said, "and treats everyone with sincerity; what is wrong with that?"

"With all his heart."

Mary raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "I don't see it that way."

Elizabeth flinched.

She turned her head to Mary, those eyes that Mr. Darcy had praised as bright and moving showing traces of scrutiny, "What does that say?"

With four glances, Mary read Elizabeth's meaning.

Elizabeth had been suspicious as early as the discovery of Mr. Wickham's acquaintance with Mr. Darcy and their delicate relationship.

And these words made Elizabeth think that Mary might be following the example of the detective she had loved and had picked up on all the clues.

"Don't forget that Mr. Wickham has not been here long," Mary spoke truthfully, "and she is only making a great show of courtship because she sees that you and Lydia are distinguished in their looks, and are unmarried girls of good reputation and high standing in the neighborhood."

Lydia was upset, "You do the opposite of what everyone else says, and you know how to make a spectacle of yourself in that way! Mr. Wickham is so kind to you and you insult him?!"

"Take it easy."

Mary blinked and smiled instead of rushing.

She purposely paused and waited until Lydia was impatient before speaking, "Here's the deal, Lydia, I can put Mr. Wickham's admiration for you and Elizabeth to rest with a single word, any bets?"

"...... What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Nonsense is also spoken," Mary pursued, "bet or no bet?"

"Bet, why not?"

Lydia was still not convinced! She huffed, "If you lose, you will never speak to Mr. Wickham again."

"Good."

If you don't say it, just don't say it, the character you use as a treasure is worthless in other people's eyes, okay. Mary easily answered her, "No problem, but if you lose ......"

She looked Lydia up and down for a while, and finally her eyes fell on the incomparably exquisite hat on her sister's beautiful long hair.

The bonnet stores of Meriden had only a few styles back and forth, far less fashionable than in London or other large cities. Lydia's hats, however, were always the most elaborate and the brightest among the unmarried girls around her.

Well, Mary decided to take that back, Lydia wasn't entirely useless, she wasn't very clever, but she did do well in red.

"You altered this hat yourself, didn't you," Mary said wistfully, "If you lose, you'll have to alter five such hats for me, and they must each look better than this one."

--Foolish people don't take advantage, and it wasn't that Mary was bullying her. I don't believe Lydia will learn not to move her pretty little head if she suffers this kind of loss a few more times!