Chapter 52 Mr. McDonald...
Mr. McDonald, his expression conflicted yet his eyes filled with deep affection, asked, "Miss Price, I wonder if you've read this book yet?"
“Oh, Mr. MacDonald, I’ve already read this novel, and I found it utterly uninteresting. I suggest you read some more sincere novels instead of this pretentious work,” Mary said earnestly, discussing the book’s contents.
“Affectation?” Mr. McDonald repeated in surprise.
Mary smiled sarcastically: "Isn't that right? I think the female protagonist in this book is stupid. The concealment and misunderstandings between them are completely unreasonable. The male protagonist is full of self-indulgent hypocrisy. Such love is not sincere at all and cannot move me at all."
Mr. McDonald pondered Mary's tone, wondering if she hadn't seen the note. Otherwise, it shouldn't be like that; how could a lady remain unresponsive to such a bold and passionate declaration of love from a gentleman?
In Mr. MacDonald's view, although Miss Price was extremely beautiful, she was unfortunate not to have been born into a noble family. Although she was the general's goddaughter and the niece of Sir Thomas Bertram, and had a brother who had made a fortune in business, judging from the tone of the general's wife when she mentioned the deceased Lieutenant Price, her father was not able to give Miss Price much of a dowry.
He judged her by his own standards, thinking that a girl like her, who had lived in General Maxwell's mansion for so long and was accustomed to the luxurious life of high society, would surely want to climb up to a rich man to maintain that lifestyle. She wasn't the wealthy Miss Maxwell; if he expressed his affections to Miss Price, she would most likely fall for him.
Having witnessed much of the scheming and backstabbing among women, this gentleman knew that the jealousy of young ladies should not be underestimated, and secretly surmised that Miss Price could not possibly be completely without resentment towards her friend Miss Maxwell.
He had been pursuing Miss Maxwell, and this jealousy might either win Miss Price's sympathy and affection, or it might make her keep her distance. Therefore, he played this trick to let her know that she was the one who had truly won his love, ensuring his own success.
Once he succeeds, he can enjoy a sweet romance with this beautiful lady. As for marriage, that will depend on how much money Miss Price's brother, Richard, is willing to offer. It's just a pity that her other brother won Miss Maxwell's heart; otherwise, he might not have come up with this idea of killing two birds with one stone—getting revenge on William and enjoying the beauty at the same time.
If a real sixteen-year-old girl were faced with such a meticulously planned pursuit, she might actually let Mr. McDonald succeed. Unfortunately, Mary was not. Not only was she not, but in the information age, she had seen too many scams and harbored suspicions about this gentleman who made both her and Anne uncomfortable from the start.
If Mr. McDonald had taken a different approach and waited a while before openly pursuing Mary, he might not have been exposed so soon. It is reasonable for a heartbroken gentleman to pursue other ladies and seek comfort from them; at least it would prove that his love is sincere.
But from the beginning, he harbored ill intentions, fearing that if he openly expressed his pursuit, the general and his wife would notice and pressure him to marry Mary. If Miss Price didn't receive a large dowry, wouldn't he be trapped? Although Anne had already rejected him, he hadn't completely given up his hopes of getting rich.
After this "coincidence" orchestrated by Mr. McDonald, whenever he encountered Mary alone or when no one else was paying attention, he would speak to her hesitantly, as if he had a lot to say to her.
However, Mary gave him no chance to speak at all. Whenever she encountered this gentleman, her tone would immediately turn cold, and her words would become barbed and sarcastic.
If she knew what this gentleman was planning, she would surely have ridiculed him mercilessly, but for now, Mary was giving Mr. McDonald face.
The gentleman returned empty-handed time and time again, and gradually realized that Miss Price, perhaps not yet old enough to fall in love, seemed completely uninterested in the various dramatic romantic scenarios he had carefully orchestrated, such as "chance encounters" and "coincidences."
Anne Maxwell was one thing, but Miss Mary Price was so ungrateful, Matthew McDonald thought as he returned to his lodgings from Grosvenor Place.
At the same time, Anne also noticed that her friend was becoming increasingly impatient with Mr. McDonald.
“Dear Mary, what was with your attitude towards Mr. McDonald just now? Is there something I don’t know about? I don’t believe you would target him for no reason.” Anne asked as the two went upstairs after seeing the guests off.
“My dear Anne, you’re right. I’m so glad you turned him down. Don’t blame me for being suspicious, but I think there’s something wrong with Mr. McDonald. If Richard hadn’t been so busy lately, I would have really asked him to look into this man for us. His behavior is just too strange.”
"What's wrong?" Anne asked. After she rejected Mr. McDonald, and because he stopped pursuing her so persistently, she had recently changed her opinion of him a little and wondered if she had misunderstood him.
Mary pulled Anne into her room and whispered, "I think this man has been deliberately creating coincidences lately to make me think he's fallen in love with me, without taking any responsibility for it himself."
After saying that, Mary carefully recounted to Anne the "coincidence" she had recently encountered and what happened afterward.
Anne wasn't angry that the man had pursued her before but was now pursuing her friend instead. Instead, she said with some confusion, "According to your analysis, Mr. McDonald and Mr. Crawford are no different. We didn't see that at all before. Why doesn't he pursue you openly? You're so cute, I wouldn't mind."
Mr. McDonald has always maintained a gentlemanly demeanor in public, and even after Anne rejected him, the General's wife still felt her stepdaughter was too cold-hearted. Even if he pursued Mary, aside from the fact that Mary was not yet part of social circles, which was somewhat unconventional, it wouldn't actually provoke any resentment.
"Perhaps it's because he doesn't dare to take any risks, fearing that his godfather and godmother will have a problem with him."
Mary thought to herself that perhaps he was even worse than Crawford, at least that gentleman was merely vain, enjoying the pleasures of "passing through a sea of flowers without a single petal clinging to him." Mr. McDonald's current state was quite inconsistent with the persona he had initially cultivated, and she felt there was some other conspiracy at play.
Could it be that this gentleman has actually fallen in love with her? She didn't sense any sincerity from him. She wasn't stupid; she knew what it meant to be smitten or to be in love. Mr. McDonald's scheming was truly annoying.
While Mary and Anne were discussing Matthew McDonald, she herself was being discussed by others.
“Dear Matthew, you’re back.” At Mr. McDonald’s London apartment, a beautiful young woman was waiting for him, leaning against the sofa.
"Who sent you here? Didn't I tell you we'd better not meet in town?" As soon as MacDonald entered, he heard from the servant that a lady had been waiting for him. He knew something was wrong, and sure enough, he saw his old friend in the living room. He told the servant to leave the living room and closed the door himself.
The guest stood up. She wasn't as tall and slender as Mary, but she had a graceful walk. Her slightly plump figure, combined with her delicate expression and elegant demeanor, created a unique charm.
She walked up to Mr. MacDonald with a smile and said, "I came here to comfort you after hearing that you had a bad start and failed to win over Miss Maxwell. But then I found out that you've been pursuing Miss Price, General Maxwell's goddaughter. Who is she? Does she also have a dowry of 50,000 pounds?"
“No, her father was just a naval lieutenant before he died, and he only had one uncle who was a baron. I don’t think he had much dowry,” McDonald said calmly.
"Then why are you pursuing her? Could it be that you've really fallen for Miss Price? I've heard that although she hasn't appeared in social circles yet, everyone who has seen her at General Maxwell's mansion says she's a rare beauty." The young woman said something she herself didn't believe.
“Mrs. Russell, I have my reasons. The most important thing now is that you should leave London and go back to Derbyshire as soon as possible, and don’t let anyone find out about our relationship.”
"Don't forget, Matthew, you wouldn't have made so much money without my help. I sacrificed my own interests, so don't think you can just forget about me after you've succeeded," Mrs. Russell threatened.
"What exactly do you want to do in the city?" Mr. McDonald asked in a low voice.
“Nothing much. Actually, I already know even if you don’t say it. Recently, there’s a young businessman in London who has risen to prominence, Richard Price, and made a fortune with sewing machines. You want to have both money and women, don’t you?” Mrs. Russell did not agree to MacDonald’s suggestion and instead sat back down on the sofa.
“Matthew, instead of hoping to get rich off Miss Price, you might as well introduce me to your new friend. If young Price falls in love with me, then we can call all his money, just like Mr. Russell did back then.”
Mrs. Russell leaned close to Mr. McDonald with a flirtatious smile, but Matthew McDonald remained unmoved, only turning his head and glaring at her fiercely when she mentioned Mr. Russell.
Mrs. Russell then sat up straight: "Let's get down to business, Matthew. I'm not going back this time, so why are you so nervous? As far as I know, no one in town knows about us. Besides, you should know my capabilities; women are sometimes much better at finding out things than men. You probably don't know, Miss Price only has seven hundred pounds on her."
"Seven hundred pounds? How is that possible? Isn't she Sir Thomas Bertram's niece? Even if it's a small amount, it shouldn't be this little." MacDonald already knew that Mary Price didn't have much wealth, but he didn't expect it to be this little.
"Small? This little bit was supposedly given to her three younger sisters by her eldest brother. Her father didn't intend to leave a single penny to his daughters. If it weren't for her having a few good relatives, this Miss Price might have ended up like me."
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