When Anne walked into the living room, Darcy and Bentley, who were talking to Lady Catherine, immediately stood up.
The elegant and noble British gentleman was always pleasing to the eye.
Of course, this was not the first time that Anne saw Darcy, but her eyes still involuntarily stayed on him.
There was no doubt that Darcy was the best man that Anne had ever seen in her two lifetimes. Of course, she had not lived for long in both lifetimes, and she had never had a wide range of social contacts. In her previous life, she was trapped in the hospital. In this life, she was trapped in a gorgeous manor by the title of a noble lady and her weak body.
Darcy was like a noble coming out of a classical European novel. He was handsome, elegant, and rich. But the reason why he was not as lovable as the lovely Mr. Bentley was that he was obviously cold and arrogant.
This coldness and arrogance would become a romantic hindrance between him and his lover in the future, but Anne did not find Darcy's coldness and arrogance annoying. She even liked it a little. Forgive her soul in the 21st century for inevitably being poisoned by the overbearing CEO.
Bentley was the complete opposite of Darcy. He was warm, cheerful, sincere, and had a charming smile on his face almost all the time. Sometimes, he even looked simple and honest.
Compared with Darcy, who grew up with her, Anne and Bentley were not too familiar with each other. But when Anne stepped into the living room, Bentley looked almost warmer than Darcy next to him. If it were not the conservative 19th century, Anne felt that Mr. Bentley would probably rush over and give her a warm hug.
Anne was really happy to see Darcy and Bentley. She directly ignored another beautiful lady sitting next to Lady Catherine.
"Annie, are you trying to hurt my feelings on purpose? If so, then congratulations, you succeeded. I feel very hurt now. "
The one who spoke was Bentley's sister, Caroline.
Compared with Mr. Bentley, this superficial and vain Miss Bentley was not very likable. Miss Bentley had always been secretly hostile to Anne.
Even without the spoilers from the previous life, Anne could see that Miss Bentley was in love with Darcy. Anne believed that Darcy must also know. Probably only the simple Mr. Bentley was unaware of his sister's feelings.
Anne's mother, Lady Catherine, and Darcy's mother were sisters. Although there were huge cultural differences between the East and the West, the one thing that was in common was that ancient families seemed to be keen to deepen the relationship.
Therefore, it was inevitable that Darcy and Annie had been engaged since they were young.
However, Anne felt that Caroline probably did not really treat her as a love rival. After all, even someone as superficial as Miss Bentley could see that Mr. Darcy would probably not marry his underage cousin.
In any case, Anne could not be said to be close to Miss Bentley, but she did not dislike her. Moreover, with Caroline, she never had to worry about awkward silence, because Miss Bentley had endless things to say. Although it always revolved around women's eternal topics such as clothes and jewelry.
To Annie, who wasn't good with words, this was a form of help and relief. Therefore, even though Carolyn was hostile towards her, Annie would always be able to breathe a sigh of relief every time she saw Carolyn. This was especially the case in these kinds of daily interactions.
"I'm sorry, Caroline," Anne apologized with a smile, "You know that you can't blame me. These two men are too outstanding. They forcibly occupied all my attention."
Caroline had already come over and held Anne's hand, although she was still complaining.
"You're always like this, Anne. You either don't speak, or once you speak, everyone will like you. Look at my brother, he's so happy to be flattered by you. "
Anne just smiled and did not speak. She followed Caroline's footsteps and sat on a chair beside her.
Miss Bentley, who had all her thoughts written on her face, spared no effort to match Anne and her brother.
"But you have to admit, Anne, my brother is really beautiful when he smiles." Caroline did not seem to want to let go of this topic easily.
Anne felt that maybe she should be happy. Although she did not have any feelings for Mr. Bentley beyond friendship, Caroline's behavior at least showed that she did not hate Anne that much and was even willing to let her be her "sister-in-law."
"So Anne, you must accompany me to Longbourn this time. I really can't understand why Charles suddenly rented a manor in that rural place, but I can imagine that when my lovely brother appears, those country girls will be ecstatic. I need you to help me look after him. "
Longbourn? Anne's eyes lit up and she subconsciously looked at Darcy. So, the plot is about to start? After all, Darcy met his intelligent and beautiful Miss Elizabeth in Longbourn.
Of course, at this moment, standing aside, Mr. Darcy, who maintained his expressionless face even in front of his aunt and cousin, did not know anything about this.
Looking at Anne's smiling eyes, Mr. Darcy's black pupils moved. He seemed to feel the need to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.
Anne did not immediately respond to Caroline's proposal. But there was no doubt that she wanted to go. She wanted to go very much.
She had been in this world for 18 years, but she had only been to two places. One was Rosings Manor, and the other was Darcy's home, Pemberley Manor in Derbyshire.
Although the 19th century England was relatively conservative, women were not completely forbidden to go out. Otherwise, Miss Bentley would not appear in Rosings Manor.
The lovely Mr. Bentley also smiled sincerely and said, "Yes, Miss Deboer. I also look forward to you coming with us to Longbourn. It is a very beautiful village. "
From the moment Caroline sent out the invitation, Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng's face was full of disapproval. Now, after hearing Mr. Bentley's words, she finally could not help but say to Lady Catherine.
"Madam, I'm afraid this is not appropriate. Miss Anne's body is not suitable for such a long journey. "
Anne expected that Lady Catherine and Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng would use this reason to reject Bentley and his sister's invitation.
In fact, there was another reason for Lady Catherine's rejection. She did not value the Bentley siblings and even looked down on them. Although the Bentley siblings were born rich, they were not an old-school English hereditary noble family. Instead, they relied on factories and businesses to accumulate short-term wealth.
Lady Catherine had always thought highly of herself and would never forget to remind others of her noble background. Therefore, she did not care about the Bentley family's lowly merchant class.
It was only because Bentley was a friend that Darcy valued that Lady Catherine tolerated him.
However, Mrs. Jiang Jinsheng's direct mention of Anne's body made Lady Catherine a little unhappy. In her eyes, her daughter was elegant and beautiful. She was a noble lady that no one could compare to. She was perfect.
Lady Catherine deceived herself and did not allow anyone to focus on Anne's sickly body, especially now that her nephew, Mr. Darcy, was present.
Anne knew Lady Catherine very well. She smiled gently.
Anne actually did not know that her light and peaceful smile was very persuasive. Every time she spoke, she would unconsciously smile first. It was a habit that she brought over from her previous life. It was probably because she was really tired every day at that time, but she did not want her family to see her worry, so she always pretended to smile lightly to try to comfort them.
She rarely laughed, but it was such a gentle smile that seemed to make people easily agree to compromise no matter what she was going to say next.
Just like now, she had not spoken yet. Seeing her smile, Darcy's tense expression unconsciously relaxed. He almost smiled with her, although her smile was not for him.
"Mom," Anne said to Lady Catherine, "Doctor Angus said that my body is now very well. I believe it can support me anywhere. "
"Of course, dear, of course. Doctor Angus's authority is unquestionable. "Lady Catherine replied affirmatively.
Anne continued to smile and said, "Then what are you worried about? Darcy will definitely help you take good care of me. "
Darcy, who had been sitting next to her and had not spoken much, immediately solemnly promised, "Yes, aunt. I will take good care of Anne, and appropriate going out and socializing will also help her recover. "
Lady Catherine agreed at last. Although she did not want Anne to leave her sight for too long, she was very happy that Anne and Darcy could spend more time together. Perhaps it would be a good idea to go out together.
If Lady Catherine knew that inviting Anne to Longbourn was a suggestion from Darcy to Bentley, she would probably agree without hesitation.
Before leaving, the hospitable Mr. Bentley suddenly said, "I also invited two friends to visit the Netherfield Garden. I hope Mr. Holmes will not arrive so early, or I will be too rude as the host."
Hearing the surname Holmes, Anne, who was getting into the carriage, almost stepped on air. Fortunately, Darcy, who was next to her, caught her in time and prevented a tragedy from happening.
"Didn't Doctor Angus say if you can cure your problem of falling down at any time?" Mr. Darcy bluntly ridiculed.
Anne resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This was not an action that a lady should do.
She believed that she had only fallen down in front of Darcy twice, and both times were at Pemberley Manor when she chased after the arrogant Darcy.
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