Detective Mary

Chapter 26

See, it's as simple as that.

Though villains are hard to deal with, it's not too hard to target them-villains are only solicitous when they have something to offer, and what kind of pretty girl couldn't Werhane Wickham have conned on his own terms? The Bennet daughters were only favored under the mistaken impression that their dowries were generous.

All Mary did was to tell him that there was nothing for him here, and to find another way out.

And it did work like a charm.

Within two days Mr. Wickham had found his "true love" in Meryton. The lucky lady was neither Elizabeth nor Lydia, but a plain-looking lady who would inherit a large fortune.

Lydia is furious.

Upon learning of this, she returned to Longbourn in a rage, and as soon as she entered the house and saw Mary still leisurely flipping through the books from Netherfield Manor, she yelled outright, "It's all your fault! Why are you trying to sow discord between Mr. Wickham and me now that Mr. Wickham won't even look at me twice?"

Mary snorted mentally.

But she didn't show it, instead carefully closing the book.

The book was borrowed from Netherfield Manor, and could not be spoiled. Since Jane and Mr. Bingley had confessed their hearts to each other, Mr. Bingley had been so grateful to Mary, the prankster, that borrowing money, not to mention borrowing a book, was not a problem.

Mary was in a bad mood when her early morning reading time was interrupted by Lydia.

She turned her head to look at Lydia, her spoiled little sister's face was red, and the corners of her forehead were still lightly sweaty, she had obviously run all the way back to Longbourn to settle a score with herself.

"Where's the hat." So Mary raised an eyebrow and asked coldly.

"......"

"It was agreed that you would give me five hats if you lost the bet," Mary finished without forgetting to add, "Oh, not the one you're wearing now, I want five that you've embroidered yourself, and they can only be better looking than the original, not perfunctory."

"You--"

Lydia was so infuriated that she couldn't speak.

She saw Mary's calm demeanor, and then she thought of Mr. Wickham's polite but detached demeanor, and that was enough to make Lydia angry plus hurt.

And Mary, who had screwed up everything, had the nerve to ask her for her hat?

The more Lydia thought about it, the more angry she became, and even a little aggravated. She gripped the corner of her skirt, and her large eyes were quickly filled with teardrops, "Mary, you're just too much!"

"How is it too much?"

Mary looked at Lydia's irrationality with a puzzled face, "A willingness to gamble is a willingness to lose, if you didn't want to, you could have just not gambled before, right?"

Lydia: "I don't care!"

She raised her voice and couldn't stop crying when she finished.

It didn't matter, the remaining three Miss Bennet's, Jane, Elizabeth and Catherine, were startled - knowing that Lydia was lawless at home, and she was always the only one who made Catherine cry.

"What's the matter," Jane asked hastily, "Mary, have you been bullying Lydia again?"

What do you mean I'm bullying her, so my own image is so bad in my big sister's mind!

"Mary, Mary she," Lydia sobbed and sobbed, and was even more energized when she saw someone sticking up for her, "she's trying to steal my hat!"

Elizabeth lost her voice in laughter at this.

Jane was not in Longbourn at that time, so naturally she did not know about Mary and Lydia's bet, but Elizabeth could be present. Hearing the reason for Lydia and Mary's argument, not only did she not say anything to relieve her, but instead, she pretended to be surprised and opened her mouth, "Wouldn't it be fine to snatch it back then? You often snatch Katie's hat like that in normal days ah."

Hearing Elizabeth's words, Lydia had to give a violent start, continuing to cry or not.

She wiped away her tears and seemed to want to argue for something, but before she could say anything, the noise just now drew Mr. and Mrs. Bennet over. Mrs. Bennet saw Lydia, who was crying into tears, and looked impatient: "What's with all the noise? Mary what are you doing bullying Lydia again?"

Mary: "............"

How does it feel like she's the one bullying Lydia, this time it's really no good!

Mary cried and laughed, "Where did I bully her? It was her who lost a bet and tried to deny it."

Mr. Bennet, who had also been given a headache by the noise, was instantly interested, "A bet? Tell me with me, Mary, what did you bet with Lydia?"

So Mary relayed to her parents that Mr. Wickham had cold-shouldered Elizabeth and Lydia.

Naturally, she had nothing to hide, but when Mary said that Mr. Wickham had shifted his goalposts as soon as he heard that Miss Bennet would not inherit the family fortune, Lydia distinctly cringed.

Why so frightened? Because everyone knew that it was a piece of Mrs. Bennet's mind.

When Cousin Collins of several of the ladies visited Longbourn, Mrs. Bennet was so angry that she could not even eat until Mr. Collins said he had a crush on Elizabeth, and her attitude improved.

Her daughters could each be the apple of her eye, and now there was someone who disliked them for it?

Mrs. Bennet was furious: "Well, forgive me for thinking that he was so talented before, but now he seems to be nothing but a snob! Fortunately, Mary, you saw through him early, this kind of snob, it's better to stay away from him!"

"That's not true!" Lydia was instantly anxious.

Mary and Lydia hadn't fought much growing up, and for the most part Mrs. Bennet still favored her youngest daughter, but this was a rare occasion when she didn't give her a good look.

Lydia also had to speak in Wickham's favor, which was like adding fuel to the fire.

"And you," reprimanded Mrs. Bennet, "running about every day without a care in the world, I knew you'd get into trouble sooner or later. From now on you're not to go to the officers at Meryton as long as that fellow Wickham is there!"

Lydia: "No, no ...... how could I!"

Growing up to the age of fifteen, it was the first time Lydia had been scolded so harshly by her mother, and she was even grounded?

Seeing that the scene was lopsided, while Mary sat at the table still in that old-fashioned manner, looking smug. Lydia was left with no help and was so sad that she broke down and cried again.

This scene frightened Catherine, who usually had little idea of what to do.

The good-natured Jane hastened to pull Catherine to comfort Lydia, while Mary, seeing her cry out again, even laughed out in a bad way, "Remember five hats oh, you embroidered the hats yourself, and if I am not satisfied, you will have to make them again."

Mr. Bennet looked at Mary with interest, and even spoke out to make up for it, "Be a man of your word, since you made a bet at the time, you have to be willing to gamble and accept to lose, otherwise in the future, when you marry your sweetheart, how should you build up housewife prestige at home?"

"It is so true," said Mrs. Bennet, in a rare moment of unity with her husband, "that I shall have to supervise you."

Lydia couldn't help but wonder if these were real parents!

Lydia, who had always been highly favored, had never suffered such aggravation, she huffed and puffed as she yelled up at Mary, "You just want to make a name for yourself and want to prove that you're different from everyone else! Even if that's the case people won't like you, especially Mr. Wickham!"

Mary was concerned, "What do I want him to like, to figure out my dinky dowry?"

Lydia: "Mr. Wickham is not like that!"

What an obsession.

Hearing her exasperated retort, Mary deliberately c****d her head and said provocatively, "I'm going to say it, but don't worry, he'll be coming for you, and when he finds out that rich ladies aren't as stupid as you are, your dowry of two thousand pounds will be considered a possession!"

Lydia: "You - I forbid you to denigrate him!"

"Don't believe me?"

Mary laughed.

"If you don't believe me, you can bet five more hats that Mr. Wickham will turn back to you and Lizzie in a matter of months when all the rich ladies he's now courting find out what he's up to. If I go back on my word, the five hats will be returned to you, and if I'm right, you'll have to give me five more."

Lydia didn't think twice: "A bet's a bet!"

Elizabeth, watching from the sidelines, "............"

Goodness gracious, it really took all of Elizabeth's strength to suppress the urge to laugh.

One could never trip over the same stone, and Lydia not only had to trip over the same stone, but she had to offer it up deliciously as a treasure.

Things had come to a head, and Elizabeth finally realized what Mary was trying to do.

By the time Lydia gambled away, Mary was in no hurry, but instead was excitedly packing up her books and her own manuscripts in preparation for going back to her room.

On the contrary, Jane, seeing that Catherine went to accompany Lydia, called out to Mary worriedly, and persuaded her kindly, "Seeing that she is so sad, why don't you forget about it, Mary, you don't like hats much on weekdays either."

Elizabeth, "But don't, I do think it's necessary to make her sad."

But don't.

Mary knew Elizabeth would understand, and she grinned as she took Jane's arm, "I don't think so; Lydia's manner is frivolous and impervious to admonition, and that Mr. Wickham is not a noble gentleman. How will she ever learn if she does not grieve well and thoroughly, and while she grieves, she will have to hemorrhage money?"

It didn't matter if she didn't listen to her, it didn't matter if she despised her; Mary had all the means in the world to teach Lydia a lesson. A girl like her, high-minded and shallow, wouldn't know what she'd done wrong until she'd taken a hard fall herself, a fall that hurt to the core of her heart.

This ten hats Mary must not, not only that, in the future she did what confused, Mary will also bet with her other, change the way to provoke her, do not believe that she can still be muddled, want to follow the amazing big scum to run away.

Mary was looking forward to Mr. Wickham's return, and she couldn't wait to see Lydia's angry and anxious face. However, it wasn't to be.

A week later, Mary waited not for Wickham, but for a second letter from Mr. Holmes.

But this second letter does not make Mary happy; she reads it and instead looks worriedly at Mr. Bingley, who has come to deliver the letter himself.

"Mr. Holmes says that a trip to London is required of you." She repeated out the contents of the letter.

"Yes," nodded Mr. Bentley gruffly, "it just so happens that I have some business affairs in London that I can take advantage of."

"......"

So Mary's fears came true.

It's hard for Jane and Mr. Bingley to avoid the original misunderstanding and after interacting with each other's feelings, but Mr. Bingley still has to leave Netherfield Manor and part ways with Jane for a while.

More upsetting than the parting of the misunderstanding is to love each other after the separation, now the two people like glue, is sweet, what can be done about it?