Detective Mary

Chapter 7

Ms. Bentley couldn't believe her ears.

Mr. Darcy was actually attracted to the plain-looking Mary Bennet?

Few jokes were more absurd than this one - for heaven's sake, know that Miss Bingley was grateful to Mary Bennet for helping her brother to catch the thief, but she was rude and wanton in her manners, and so slight and thin that Miss Bingley despised her with all her heart.

In all fairness, the Bennet daughters, with the exception of the first and second young ladies, were either mediocre in appearance or of questionable breeding, and indeed not worth associating with.

Mr. Darcy, however, had gone so far as to say that Mary Bennet had "some other attractions". Knowing that Miss Bingley adored Darcy for a long time, hearing him praise a common description of the face, not even on the stage of the country girl, the high-minded Miss Bingley suddenly not taste.

"I didn't think of that," but on the surface, Miss Bingley still made a snicker, "when can I congratulate you, Mr. Darcy?"

Mr. Darcy, who naturally did not care to speak to Miss Bingley, took the unprecedented liberty of joining in the conversation between the Misses Bennet and the other gentlemen. Such conduct made Miss Bingley secretly anxious, and, biting her tongue, she followed suit.

As she approached, she heard their conversation continue to stray from balls and socializing.

Elizabeth was joking with Colonel Foster about having a ball at Meriden.

Such banter was common enough in social life, and thus Colonel Foster did not mind, but instead smiled, "Naturally I have no reason to refuse, Miss Elizabeth. Young ladies are always energized about balls, aren't they?"

Elizabeth, "Most young ladies are, but there are always exceptions."

Colonel Foster: "Oh?"

Elizabeth's pretty eyes flicked to Mary, "There is also a portion of the young ladies, who are more interested in studying knowledge than dancing, and have just complained to me about the women's failure to get into Oxford and Cambridge."

"Elizabeth!"

Mary reluctantly tugged at her sister's sleeve, "Making fun of me again, it's not that I don't like balls, I'm just not a good dancer and I'm not very well endowed, so instead of sitting on the bench I'd rather find something worthwhile to do."

"If it's pointless socializing," Mr. Darcy commented seriously, "it really is better to spend your time on something more worthwhile."

"...... Uh, thanks?" Mary was flattered.

"And what valuable things does Miss Bennet do on a regular basis." Miss Bingley asked at the right time.

It seemed to her that Mary's remark was rather a claptrap; if balls and socializing had no value, wouldn't what they were doing have no value? She just couldn't believe that Mary Bennet could say something about the door.

Mary smiled indifferently, "My embroidery is not fine either, and thus nothing more than reading and practicing the piano."

"It sounds like Miss Bennet is very good at playing the piano," Miss Bingley lifted her chin arrogantly, "Then play a piece for us."

"......"

Hey?

Hearing Miss Bentley's words, Mary was instantly a little confused.

What is she singing about. Since the last time Nessel Field Manor saw, until today Mary did not see Miss Bentley again. Even when Mary had helped Mr. Bingley, this own sister of his had treated herself faintly, not putting Mary in her eyes at all.

This party was not yet over, how come she suddenly took the initiative to strike up a conversation and gave her a chance to perform?

If Mary had been in the original story, she would have jumped at the chance to make a show of herself. But Mary Bennet, who had traveled through time and space, was not interested.

It was nice that she practiced the piano diligently on weekdays, but it was purely a hobby, and her motives were completely different from those of the other ladies.

In the Victorian era, a young girl's proficiency at the piano was a way to gain a reputation as a "talented girl" and to add to the capital she would need to marry. The most common use of a good piano player was to get a compliment at a talent show when asked by Miss Bentley.

Mary, of course, had no interest in making a spectacle of herself, and she had no intention of marrying one of the gentlemen in the audience.

"I'll play the piano then," Mary looked over to Elizabeth, "Let's ask Lizzie to sing for the group, she has an amazingly good voice."

Elizabeth instantly lost her voice in laughter.

"Well," she teased, "what guest here hasn't seen what a first-class singer can do, and you're just determined to make a fool of me."

"Even if you do, you'll still have me to keep you company." Mary replied with a smile.

It was a good thing that Mary did this so often in her day-to-day life, and when she was given the chance to show off, she would often drag Jane or Elizabeth, or even her little sister, Lydia, who she had never been able to get along with, along with her.

She accompanied them, they sang, and now that they were in the same situation, Elizabeth was no longer excused.

To be fair, Mary had some confidence in her playing skills - not as good as a real talent, but more than adequate for a country party.

As for Elizabeth, her singing voice is not superb, but the two sisters work seamlessly together, with Mary's piano sounding and Elizabeth's singing following closely behind, which can be said to be easy to use and easy to handle.

The end of the song, naturally, was exchanged for a full house of applause.

"A dedication," said Mary to Miss Bentley, "you have been in the private schools of the city, miss, and must have seen some first-rate playing."

Miss Bingley raised her head and commented, "But Miss Mary's playing is not a whit inferior to that of the ladies who have read, don't you think, Mr. Darcy?"

"That is true."

Darcy still looked as if nothing had happened, "But I think that without Miss Elizabeth's singing, even the most beautiful playing would seem to be in shape."

"That couldn't be better."

Miss Bingley deliberately laughed as she assumed an I-understand-you-so-well posture to Mr. Darcy and continued to speak, "Since the two Miss Bennet's have brought us such wonderful playing and singing, as a token of our appreciation, why don't you ask Miss Mary for a dance, Mr. Darcy."

Mary: ?????

What's the situation!

This turn of events caused Mary to be a little bewildered at once. She looked at Miss Bentley, who was smiling and laughing, and was a little puzzled as to what she had in store for her.

It was hateful to think that the whole of the Longbourn district knew that Miss Mary Bennet was not a good dancer, nor was she pretty, and consequently was often benched for a night at the ball.

In order to avoid any further embarrassment of the kind, this time Lucas invited guests, and Mary pressed forward to the hall. And everyone knew very well that Mr. Darcy, a haughty male with no one in sight who couldn't see any of the ladies in the room, was unlikely to dance with Mary.

Where had she offended Miss Bingley that she had to humiliate herself so?

But fortunately, Mary's mind turned quickly.

With the kind reminder just now, I think Mr. Darcy would not reject it on the spot, denying Mary's face. She smiled and spoke first: "If you want to say thank you, is it just me? Elizabeth sang too, what do you say to that, Miss Bingley?"

"This ......" Miss Bingley blinked, not responding for a moment.

"I'm not much of a dancer," Mary said, falling back on her words, "how about asking Mr. Darcy to ask Elizabeth for a dance, as a thank you to both of us?"

Elizabeth immediately glared at Mary.

Her meaning was clear: Elizabeth was not going to dance with Darcy!

But Mary knew Elizabeth's soft underbelly, her self-respecting second sister always ate soft but not hard, so Mary secretly tugged on Elizabeth's sleeve and begged in a pitiful whisper, "Good Lizzie, just help me, who knows how I've offended Miss Bingley, who is sincerely trying to make me get off the stage."

Well, Elizabeth was also a bit of an ice-cold girl, and it did seem to her that this sudden invitation from Miss Bingley was a bit of an embarrassment to Mary.

She hated Darcy, yes, but she couldn't stand by and watch her own sister being bullied, could she?

"I don't think," she said coldly, "that Mr. Darcy would want to dance with me."

"On the contrary."

Mr. Darcy was already in front of Elizabeth, "I do mean to ask you for a dance, Miss Elizabeth."

Mary, who was standing by, breathed a long sigh of relief.

Wasn't this a simple thing to do! She even smiled encouragingly at Mr. Darcy before he turned around - grabbing this opportunity to apologize sincerely to Elizabeth is the right thing to do, don't let the misunderstanding of the first meeting continue to deepen la.

Having successfully avoided the awkward part of the ball, Mary made the most of the evening.

Though it seemed to most people that Miss Mary Bennet, with her mediocre looks, had been benched for another night, with no invitation to dance, and had to sit at the piano and fight her way through the performance, which was particularly pathetic.

But Mary couldn't wait for no one to talk to her.

It wasn't until the party was over that Mr. Darcy stopped Mary again, who was about to leave with her sisters.

The tall gentleman stood in front of her and spoke calmly but also sincerely, "Thank you for the opportunity to apologize to your sister, Miss Mary."

"Elizabeth is my sister," Mary responded, "and it is only right that I defend her honor."

Mr. Darcy nodded approvingly.

Having a young sister, he was naturally well aware that Mary had meant these words entirely from the heart. After this incident, he had changed his opinion of the rude and presumptuous Third Miss Bennet.

One could be as reckless of etiquette and tradition as the Mr. Holmes he knew. But not without a bare heart.

"I know that you are extraordinarily attached to that thief at Meryton, Miss Mary," so Mr. Darcy said, "and as a token of my appreciation I can tell you of my further investigations with Bingley."

Mary's eyes snapped up.

"Little Geoffrey did take orders, didn't he?" She asked.

"...... Yes."

Ignoring Mr. Darcy's look of surprise, Mary sighed heavily, "I knew it was unlikely that a first-time offender would come up to the challenge of such a high level of theft ...... who is it, if not instigated?"

"I don't know for the moment, except that young Geoffrey's mother said that an out-of-towner had bought him a drink that day."

"At Meryton?"

"Yes."

Mary's mind turned over, and an idea came to her at once.

"I see, thank you sir," she said sincerely, "have a nice day."

With that she hurried after Elizabeth who was waiting for her, who had naturally seen Mr. Darcy's act of stopping Mary, and who was still full of displeasure: "I knew it, I should not have danced with him."

Hey, hadn't they all apologized? Look at Mr. Darcy's look, he's still quite happy, what's going on.

Mary blinked in confusion, "What happened?"

"He went so far as to tell me," Elizabeth spoke indignantly, "that now I'd have a chance to dance with him - for heaven's sake, how in the world could such an arrogant, insolent and obnoxious fellow exist!"

"......"

God, Mary was utterly speechless. She really shouldn't have overestimated his emotional intelligence!