Detective Mary

Chapter 18

Even after returning to Netherfield Hall, Sherlock Holmes did not show up at the restaurant the next day.

He arrived late, returning from the countryside to the grounds of the estate just as Mary was finishing breakfast with Elizabeth. Mr. Holmes neither offered any apology for missing breakfast nor did he make an exit to explain the intentions of the trip.

Such behavior was a bit rude in a social setting in the southern countryside. But Sherlock Holmes, unlike Mary, not to mention his special status as a valued guest invited by Mr. Bentley to solve a case, had an aura of indifference and coldness that was enough to shut everyone, including Miss Bentley, up.

Even if he saw the crowd just nodding rather perfunctorily, no one expressed dissatisfaction.

When Mary saw him return, she whispered something to Elizabeth and allowed her sister to go ahead and visit Jane while she walked over to Holmes.

"When do you intend to leave, sir?" Mary asked with concern.

"In the afternoon."

"Back in London to pursue the leads," Mary spoke next, "starting with Captain Carter, or the partner who recommended the supplier to Mr. Bentley?"

Mr. Holmes raised an eyebrow.

Instead of answering Mary, he looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze.

Four eyes met, and Mary's eyes flashed, "Would you like to hear what I have to say, sir?"

Holmes nodded readily, "Please, Miss Bennet."

Mary smiled.

Although the contact with the real Sherlock Holmes wasn't too much, a few conversations were enough for Mary to roughly understand Mr. Detective's communication habits. He was as rather egotistical as Mary perceived him to be, and disregarded most of the established rules of society, but was not someone who couldn't listen to what the next person had to say.

On the contrary, Mary felt that he quite valued his opinions and views.

Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was because Mary recognized him. It was like the original story where Mr. Detective also liked to ask Dr. Watson for his opinion.

The encouragement and subtle understanding was enough to make Mary sneak back to her room and cheer.

Of course, performance was still required. So Mary inclined her head in thought for a moment, then responded with certainty, "I think that we should start the investigation with Captain Carter."

"Your reasoning?"

"I think Captain Carter is more relevant to the case," said Mary, as she weighed her words; "assuming that he is the instigator, he should at least have known what the unsigned contract was for; whereas the partners are not necessarily so; the businessman's socialization is both wide and varied, and the search for a cheaper supplier more proper, may not be really relevant to the case."

"That's just it."

As soon as her words were out of her mouth, Holmes agreed in a loud voice, "If the police in London were half as talented as you are, my job, on the other hand, would be much easier!"

Mary was simply embarrassed by the compliment, "Thank you."

Holmes: "That is exactly where I intend to start my investigation with Captain Carter."

Mary: "It won't be easy; young Geoffrey was sent to work on the railroad before Captain Carter left, and he will inevitably be wary."

Holmes: "I may need Mr. Bentley's help."

Mary: "......"

In that case, then, would not Mr. Bingley have to leave Netherfield Hall and go forward to London?

Oops.

Upon realizing this, Mary's smile suddenly froze.

In the original Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Bingley had temporarily moved away from Netherfield Manor and gone forward to London because of Darcy's wrongful admonition, which led to Mr. Bingley mistaking Jane's love for him as greed for money.

Such a misunderstanding but let Mary's baby sister heartbroken, around a big circle, the two people only through the twists and turns finally become a couple.

And now, Mr. Darcy twice to the Bennet family's young lady to apologize, may not be again on Mary's family heart bias, but ......

How is it that, in a roundabout way, Mr. Bingley has to go to London again?

Mary wants him to go to London, but that has to be with Jane after mutual love, otherwise, see Jane to Mr. Bentley's infatuation, I am afraid that will be full of the pain of love again, Mary can not afford to be tormented by their own big sister.

And Mary's change of mood, naturally, also fell in the eyes of Holmes.

The lean gentleman watched without moving his eyes as she slowly tightened her smile, and a few imperceptible emotions surfaced in his light-colored eyes.

Eventually he thought for a moment before speaking abruptly, "Setting up your sister with Mr. Bingley does add to your chances of getting out of the country, but it's not a permanent solution, young lady."

"Eh?"

Mary's eyes widened in shock, "How did you know-"

Holmes gave a little nod, "Your eldest sister is in love with Mr. Bingley, even a blind man could see that, ma'am! And you are so curious about everything, obviously not willing to be confined to your country life."

Okay, who said Sherlock Holmes had a low IQ? How could Mr. Detective, with his superior intellect, quick thinking, and terrifying powers of observation, miss the changing moods of his onlookers.

So it seems that he is not low IQ, he is too high IQ.

Emotional intelligence is too high, resulting in Mr. Holmes early to see through the world of human affairs and moral laws, "human nature" for ordinary people is vague and elusive, but for him all beings are as transparent as glass.

Therefore, he is not easily swayed by other people's opinions and social customs, and thus seems to care nothing about love and affection.

"I think," said Holmes coldly, "that you, madam, if you wish to leave the country, might well marry a Londoner, preferably a merchant, so as to accompany your husband everywhere, and that there would be enough customs and curiosities in all parts of the world to satisfy your curiosity."

Mary didn't think twice: "I don't want to marry just anyone."

Holmes: "Then be financially independent."

That one went straight to Mary's heart.

If it had been any young girl in the twenty-first century, she wouldn't have found anything wrong with Holmes' remark - what independent adult doesn't make her own money and support herself?

So Mary couldn't agree more with Mr. Holmes' short sentence, but they were in the nineteenth century.

Women in the nineteenth century had no citizenship rights, and capitalist society was just in an upward stage of development, and the daughter of a southern squire's family like hers could neither enter a factory like the children of a poor family, nor could she have the wide contacts and upper-class perspective of a noble girl from a large landowner's family.

What's more, Mary had four sisters.

If she had been an only child, no matter how much she had acted out, her parents, who had only one child, would not have said anything. But now, if Mary did something out of the ordinary, it wasn't her who suffered, it was her sisters.

Mary was not as selfish as Lydia, and she could choose a path other than marriage, but the other Bennet ladies, who were limited by their times, could not.

So ......

"I see your point," Mary sighed deeply, "Sir, I do have a few options for financial independence."

Setting up Jane and Elizabeth's relationship was only the first step.

First she has to get a chance to go to London before she can think of other ways to embark on the route to financial independence.

As for Sherlock Holmes, the detective was not a meddler, and Mary felt that he would have spoken up to warn her because he thought it was a nuisance to see her tossing and turning as if she were going around corners.

But even so, Mary spoke from her heart, "But thank you very much."

After all, not any nineteenth-century male could say to an unmarried young lady, you need to be financially independent - and just this vision and affirmation of being ahead of his time meant a great deal to Mary.

At the very least, it inspired Mary to be sure that she was not unaware of her own ill-advised insistence.

"It is your choice." Mr. Holmes remained in that indifferent posture.

"It is better to look to the present moment," said Mary, seeing the good in her, and changing the subject contentedly, "I have a request to make, Mr. Holmes, if there is a breakthrough in this case, will you be able to write to me from London? Though Mr. Bingley can grant my wish as well, I feel that I may be able to learn more if you come and tell it yourself."

"Certainly," nodded Holmes, "I will let you know if there is any progress."

Mary raised an extremely wide smile.

Her eyes shone so brightly that they seemed to hold the stars in the sky, "Then say yes! Be sure to write to me, and if you can't wait, when I get to London, I'll have to come to the door and question you myself."

Holmes raised an eyebrow, "Even if I write with you, you can come to my door."

Mary: "......"

Wait, is this the Sherlock Holmes who gave her prior permission to visit her home?

Geez!

Mary felt that it was time to put her previously considered life plans on the agenda; the sooner she got to London, the sooner she could visit Mr. Detective yah!