Chapter 19 Country Life 13 Visiting the Benefactor
After breakfast the next day, Heather announced that she was going to Netherfield to visit Miss Bingley.
Her explanation was that she and Mary were spotted by a wild boar while walking in the woods behind the mountain yesterday. Miss Bingley, who happened to pass by, almost twisted her foot while trying to help them drive away the wild boar, and was therefore quite frightened.
This explanation made everyone else present doubtful, because no one could connect the words Miss Bingley, helpfulness and driving away wild boars together. Miss Bingley did not have such qualities either in terms of personality or physical strength.
However, Heather firmly stated that this was what happened, and the others had to believe it. After all, if this was not true, why would Heather go to visit Miss Bentley, who had eyes on the top of her head, for no reason?
Mrs. Bennet was afraid that Hazel had really encountered a wild boar, so she urged the servants to call the country doctor, and only stopped after Hazel assured her that she was not hurt at all.
However, she still strongly opposed Heather going to the back mountain during this period. She seriously reminded her sister not to think of herself as a strong young person anymore.
Heather had no choice but to agree to her.
Mr. Bennett said that he would go to Sir Lucas today to suggest that they hold an early country hunt this year to prevent anyone from encountering wild boars.
He seemed a little excited because they hadn't hunted an animal of the size of a wild boar for many years. The ecological environment of Longbourn was too unfavorable for the growth of large wild animals.
Jane begged Heather to take her to visit Miss Bingley. Thanks to Miss Bingley's superficial efforts, Jane still felt that they were good friends who could get along well.
Hazel originally wanted to refuse her, because if Miss Bingley had not yet fully recovered from the shock, she probably would not be happy to be seen in such an indecent state by Jane.
But Mrs. Bennet said excitedly, "Yes, Jane must go! She has always been a special favorite of Miss Bingley. How can we not take the initiative to greet her at this time? We can also invite Mr. Bingley to lunch at home, and then we can have them ride back together."
Jane blushed and complained to Mrs. Bennett for once, saying, "Mother, you're so mean! I'm really worried about Miss Bingley, and I'm not going to see her brother."
Mrs. Bennet said innocently, "It's all the same. You can see it all if you go to Netherfield Manor."
At last they set out together, and Mary reluctantly followed behind and got into the carriage.
Hazel thought she didn't want to go out of her way to see Miss Bingley again, but she didn't ask any questions. After all, little girls' minds change so quickly.
When they arrived at Netherfield Manor, a maid was already waiting at the door. It was obvious that Miss Bingley had not taken Hazel's words of "I'll come back tomorrow to thank you" as a polite gesture. If they had not arrived as promised, they would have completely missed the olive branch of friendship extended by Miss Bingley.
When they went in, they found Miss Bingley sitting in the living room fully dressed. She looked as refined and proud as usual, completely different from the disheveled look she had yesterday.
When Miss Bingley saw Heather's figure, she glanced at Mrs. Hurst with pride and whispered, "I knew Mrs. Lawrence would come, and you insisted that she was just talking."
However, her face stiffened a little when she saw Mary walking behind Heather, and she almost couldn't control her expression when she saw Jane walking at the end. To be honest, it is not easy to pretend to like someone you hate.
By the time they had all said hello, the atmosphere in the living room had returned to a false sense of peace and friendliness.
Mrs. Hurst asked someone to go upstairs to call her husband and brother to come down to meet the guests. At the same time, she said to Heather with a smile: "It's great that you can come to see Caroline. She was frightened several times last night. If she didn't put on makeup, her face would be completely unbearable."
She pretended to inquire casually, "I heard that Caroline saved the lady? Is this true or not? I asked her but she wouldn't tell me clearly."
Heather said quickly, "It's true. If it weren't for Caroline and my niece Mary yesterday, I might not be able to sit in front of you in good health today."
Mrs. Hurst smiled. This was a perfect opportunity. Although rumors said the earl's widow hadn't inherited much, she felt she was no ordinary woman, at least she had some influential connections. Caroline had helped the former countess without suffering any serious injury. She had to remember this favor.
Mrs. Hurst took Miss Bingley's hand and said with a distressed look on her face, "Mrs. Lawrence, I'm not bragging, but my sister is truly the kindest person. Don't underestimate her usual stubbornness. She was so frightened last night that she talked nonsense all night long. She even got up early today because she was worried about whether you were hurt."
Miss Bentley looked at her sister with a strange expression. When had she been talking nonsense all night? As a lady, she never talked in her sleep, okay? And she had only woken up once last night. After all, it wasn't a real wild boar, just a good-looking wild man.
Jane looked at Miss Bingley sincerely and said, "Miss Bingley is so brave and kind-hearted. If it were me, I might not have the courage to face a wild boar."
Miss Bingley twitched her lips, not sure if she was being sarcastic. If only I had known I wouldn't have agreed to Mrs. Lawrence's wild boar creation. A pheasant would have been better!
Mary felt a little uncomfortable when she heard that Miss Bingley was so scared. If she had known this, she would not have quarreled with her on the way back yesterday. She didn't expect that although she looked so arrogant, she actually suffered a lot of psychological trauma.
Mary put the food box in her hand on the coffee table in front of Miss Bingley with a guilty look on her face. She said stiffly, "Miss Bingley is very brave indeed. I brought some carrot cinnamon cake from home. I hope you will feel better after eating it."
Miss Bentley was very satisfied to be recognized by the opponent she had just quarreled with.
She opened the box and saw the most common cake. She said in confusion, "Thank you, but why is it carrot cake? I don't really like carrots."
Mary said quickly, "I'm sorry, I don't know. But when Mr. Darcy came to visit last time, he praised this cake very much, and I thought you might like it too."
Miss Bingley immediately closed the lid and asked the maid to take the box to her room. She told Mary seriously, "Although I don't like carrots, I love cinnamon very much. This cake looks very delicious."
Mary scratched her head and agreed.
At this time, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Hurst also came downstairs. After they greeted each other, Heather took out the gift she had prepared.
She first declared to Mrs. Hurst that she was by no means an ungrateful person, and that if Miss Bingley had any difficulties in the future, as a friend she would do her best to help.
Then she opened the box for Miss Bingley and pushed it towards her.
"Caroline, this is a small gift I prepared for you. I thought you already have enough exquisite jewelry, so I prepared this interesting thing. These are twelve silk embroidered fans from Lyon, France. Each fan corresponds to a month and has its own theme. The fan surface is handmade by professional embroiderers who spend dozens of hours. The fan frame is made of pure tortoise shell and mother-of-pearl, and each fan stud is a small diamond of the corresponding color."
Miss Bingley looked at the contents of the box with amazement in her eyes.
The Bentley family is considered one of the richest people in Longbourn, but in the whole of Britain, they are just considered the emerging wealthy class, not as good as the real traditional aristocracy or old-fashioned gentry.
Miss Bingley also knew that her family's foundation was actually still shallow, and that they had to marry into a family with more status in order to consolidate or even improve their current social status. This was part of the reason why she liked Mr. Darcy, and also the reason why her sister married into the Hurst family, which had only the appearance but the wealth had been lost.
While in London, Miss Bingley tried hard to imitate the true daughter of aristocracy in terms of dress, etiquette, and various skills. This included diligently learning French, because in London, those who could speak authentic French were generally those with deep family backgrounds, the best upbringing, and the most elegant temperaments. Therefore, Miss Bingley had a natural respect for Heather, who had lived in France for many years.
She carefully picked up one of the gray-blue silk fans. It was the fan for April, called "Paris in the Rain." Embroidered with raindrop ripples and a silhouette of the Eiffel Tower, its ribs were silver-plated, openwork carvings. The note in the box said that if the fan got wet, a hidden French poem would appear.
"It's absolutely stunning, a true work of art."
Mr. Hurst also came over to admire it. He asked curiously, "A fan of this quality must be worth a lot of money, right?"
Mrs. Hurst was well aware of the going prices in London's luxury goods market. "I'd say at least forty pounds a piece, but if you put twelve together it would be much more enjoyable and the value would definitely be much higher."
Mr. Bentley couldn't help but be amazed. This amount was a governess's annual salary. Women's things were really expensive.
Miss Bingley's face flushed with joy. She would keep it to admire it for a while, and then give it to an old friend or use it to make friends with new ladies when she returned to London at Christmas. This French product would definitely be very popular.
She was so happy that she didn't want Heather and the others to go back. She sincerely asked them to stay for lunch at Netherfield and didn't let them leave until the afternoon.
Within three days of Heather returning home, someone brought new news about the hateful Mr. Davis.
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