I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

The butler gently closed the study door, leaving Fitzwilliam Darcy alone at his desk.

In front of the young gentleman, a dusty package lay quietly on the table.

Darcy stared at it for a moment, then picked up the scissors at hand, and began to cut the criss-crossed strings on the parcel bit by bit. He cut it carefully and carefully until the strings were all broken.

Opening the outer package, Fitzwilliam Darcy's eyes fell on what was inside the package: a stack of papers covered with handwriting and a folded and wax-sealed letter.

Darcy hesitated for a moment, instead of reading the letter first, he held the stack of papers in front of him, bowed his head and began to read.

There is nothing superfluous on the paper, and the first page begins with the full name of a person written emphatically. Under the name, there are some specific times and places, and occasionally one or two other people's names and some numbers are mixed in.

Darcy's eyes flashed thoughtfully, he pursed his lips, and read back silently.

He found that from the second page to the sixth page, they were all headed by the name of the person. Under the different names, different time points and interpersonal relationship diagrams were listed. There are only a few lines, and there are still question marks between the lines.

After the sixth page, some gossip and anecdotes began to appear. At first glance, I felt that the content was absurd, unreliable, or vulgar and boring, but if it was connected with the previous names and places, I felt that there were some unclear things in it, which made people unable to help Try to figure out a deeper layer.

After Darcy flipped through the stack of papers of unknown origin from beginning to end, his face became very solemn.

If other people see the above content, they may be confused, but Darcy is different. After seeing the name on the first page that was written in bold and emphatic handwriting, Darcy vaguely sensed that this is a harmonious relationship. Information closely related to the Darcy family business.

Sure enough, every page after that was inextricably linked with the Darcy family.

Darcy flipped through it again and noticed that there were some small symbols marked on each page, either expressing doubts, conjectures, or denials. It can be seen that the people who wrote these contents also had many things that were unclear.

However, no one knows where he or she got these trivial news, which is not true or false, and copied them word for word, and those symbols should be what the person who copied them thought was suspicious or unreasonable.

——all have direct or indirect relationship with the industrial agent of the Darcy family.

——It seems that there are still many moths inside, and there are more enemies staring at the outside than expected.

——If this information is true...

Ever since Darcy officially took over all the family's property and connections, he has noticed that some people have been spying on his family secretly, trying to embezzle and plunder the huge wealth of the Darcy family. He has been vigilant against the dark tide under the sun. Surging, wanting to find out the family thief first, and then give the coveter a head-on blow.

However, the cunning of the enemy is far beyond Fitzwilliam Darcy's expectations. In other words, when the old Mr. Darcy was still alive, the other party had already started to lay various traps. A young gentleman who has just become the head of the family can be easily defeated.

The best he can do now is to prevent the family property from suffering too much loss while dealing with the people in the dark.

As for further expanding his power or counterattacking the enemy, it is still a bit difficult for Darcy at this stage, and he needs to give himself more time to accumulate energy.

Before, he left London to check the accounts of the factory in the north of England. In fact, he had a contest with the hidden pretender. He spent a long time there. Although he narrowly won in the end, it was also extremely thrilling.

If it hadn't been for the support of the Bentley family at the critical moment, Darcy might have suffered a dark loss, and even now he would not be able to return to London.

——If this information is credible, then I really want to thank the other party, it almost helped me lock the victory in advance.

—Who sent it?Does she or he really have great kindness towards the Darcy family?

——Are you deliberately misleading me?

——No, judging from the data, the other party carefully marked out the possible mistakes or ambiguous clues, which served as a very obvious reminder.

Darcy's eyes stayed on a line of records, contemplating.

——Three question marks are marked here in a row, indicating that the person who recorded or transcribed has already noticed something wrong, but they can't be sure, so they still wrote it down.

The person who wrote it was not sure, but Fitzwilliam Darcy naturally knew more about the real situation, so at a glance, he understood where the error occurred.

Darcy clearly realized that this line of records was related to the Darcy family's industry in South Asia. There was a small ups and downs there before, but it subsided quickly.

——If the record is true, then there is a problem with the so-called subduing of the situation in South Asia.

——The agent there was promoted by his father himself, and he is quite trusted. Now it seems that people's hearts seem to have changed.

——If the agent has greater selfishness, or if he simply colludes with other people, then the authorization application and new contract he sent before cannot be easily given to him...

After a long time, Darcy put down the information in his hand.

He decided not to think about the problem according to the above prompts for the time being. Before he could confirm that the sender was absolutely credible, Darcy must not be easily bewitched, or even wronged innocent subordinates.

Darcy leaned back in the large armchair, crossed his fingers on his lower abdomen, lowered his eyebrows, and looked calm.

After a while, his eyes finally moved to the letter that came with the package.

—Will the sender's name be revealed in this letter?

——He or she said that it was a person who had been helped by me, so he sent me this information?

——Is this repaying me?

Thinking of the word repayment, Darcy was not in a hurry to cut the wax seal on the letter. He had a premonition that after he finished reading this letter, he would face a truth that he had never wanted to figure out. , he no longer has an excuse to avoid certain things.

However, the always proud and resolute young Patriarch only allowed himself to hesitate for a moment, after which he opened the letter with a sullen face.

The familiar handwriting came into view:

"Good day, Mr Darcy, I will be out of England when you read this letter.

I did have some mishaps while in Kent, so I had to ask you for help.

Of course, after I left without saying goodbye, I think you have realized that what I have told you about Mrs. Lucy, even including the name Lucy, is false.

As for who I am, sorry, out of an abundance of caution, I won't leave any trace in writing.

Three months have passed by now. With your connections and power, if you really want to investigate thoroughly, you must have already guessed my true identity, so I don't need to write it out. "

Seeing this, Darcy pinched the bridge of his nose helplessly. According to his previous style of dealing with things, at this moment, he should really investigate the real identity of Mrs. Lucy. He hates those who have deceived and used him. At the same time, you must have a clear grasp of the other party's situation to prevent repeating the same mistakes.

——Unfortunately, I have been too busy during this time, and I have never had free time to deal with this matter.

Darcy first deceived himself for a moment, and then laughed at himself. He shook his head, bowed his head and continued to read the letter:

"I had reasons why I had to leave England, and whether you understand it or not, or agree with it or not (I assume you know who I really am), I did it the way I did.

From Kent to London, from London to my departure from England, I met many people and many things.

But no matter strangers or relatives, among all kinds, you are the only one who is willing to help me selflessly without any price from me.

And when I repay your kindness and generosity a little bit, you immediately regard me as a sincere friend and a guest of the family, taking care of me and helping me in every detail. , I was even more worried.

Although I have never been guilty of every choice I made, I cannot accept more benefits calmly.

So, for the reputation of you and the Darcy family, and for my own future, I quickly escaped from your protection and decided to find a way out with my own strength. Fortunately, I succeeded.

During this period, I inadvertently got involved in a love-hate entanglement with others, so I got some materials recording secret things.

Of course, the person who recorded the information may not have realized that some of the gossip above would be helpful to the Darcy family, and she just recorded the secrets she heard in detail.

And when I got her notes, because I knew you and I was always grateful for your help, I immediately captured some fragments related to the Darcy family. After thinking about it, I think I should tell you.

Mr. Darcy, I have transcribed all the relevant content on those papers without any modification. I just wrote down the original words of the original owner. As for the authenticity of the content, you need to judge by yourself, Mr. Darcy.

It is worth mentioning that the owner of the note has no ability to predict that one day in the future I will get her record, and then you will know it.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for her to deliberately fabricate some information to mislead you and me, so I believe that what can be recorded by her should be what she heard and saw with her own eyes.

Besides, I have always known that the Darcy family is an important sponsor and supporter of the MP Marlborough's party, and Derbyshire has also voted for them, so they treat you as their guests of honour, which is very courteous.

However, I have heard a story.

At the special stage of the old lion king passing away and the young lion king just inheriting the forest, jackals, tigers and leopards are all looking at the rich and lush forest with greedy eyes, and they are no longer satisfied with getting enough food from the forest , but wanted to take the forest for himself, and drive the young Lion out of his domain.

Mr. Darcy, you are a smart person, you must have already noticed the turmoil and danger around you.

Perhaps, my warning is superfluous, and the information I sent you is delayed and full of fallacies.

But I don't have anything at this time, and I will be separated from you in the future, and there will be no intersection.Only this unexpected discovery may be able to repay you a thing or two and repay your sincere friendship.

When you find out that everything about me is false, I have no doubt that I have lost your attention and friendship.

I know that in your frank and proud nature, cunning and trickery should be cast aside, not to mention someone using your kindness to lie unscrupulously.

But I still have some luck, I hope you don't hold grudges and despise me all the time, as time goes by, you will completely forget people like me.

Hatred is probably the strongest and most tormenting emotion other than love. In your smooth life, you shouldn't add disturbances because of my appearance.

Of course, seeing this, you might laugh at me for being sentimental. You won't disturb your mood because of unworthy people. If that's the case, please laugh at me. I sincerely hope that no one can disappoint you Sincere and kind.

Mr. Darcy, I wish you health, happiness and success. "

In the middle of the night, the butler knocked on the door of the study, and after a while, the voice of "please come in" came from inside.

"Mr. Darcy, it's late at night, it's time to rest."

Fitzwilliam Darcy raised his head from the pile of documents, his expression was extremely calm, but his eyes were more bloodshot, which showed that he had worked at his desk for a long time.

"It's so late? It's time for me to rest." He glanced at his pocket watch and got up from his chair.

"Lawrence, what are my plans for tomorrow?"

"Mr Darcy, you are going to call on the Bingleys to-morrow, and Mr Bingley and his sisters will dine with you."

"Push it up. Go to Bingley's house tomorrow morning and apologize for me, saying that I have something to do and I can't make the appointment for the time being."

"Yes, Mr. Darcy."

The housekeeper didn't ask Darcy what urgent matter he had tomorrow, but stood quietly behind the young Patriarch, watching him pace, ponder, hesitate, and then seemed to have made up his mind.

"Lawrence, you go and help me check a person, Edward Bruce, from the Marlborough Councilor's network."

"Edward Bruce? Mr. Darcy, I have heard of this name, but I don't know if it is the one you are looking for, sir."

Darcy looked at the butler Lawrence suspiciously.

Lawrence smiled and continued: "Before, you asked Mrs. Miller to take care of Mrs. Lucy in secret. Mrs. Miller was inconvenient to appear in front of Mrs. Lucy, so she occasionally went to Grace Church Street to inquire about news. There were some rumors , about Mrs. Lucy and Mr. Bruce."

"Say it carefully."

Lawrence, the butler, told Darcy exactly what he had heard from Mrs. Miller.The general content is the rumors that Pei Xiang hired Mrs. Peggy for one pound.

Darcy listened, and suddenly frowned:

"Wait, Mrs. Lucy is pregnant, right? They didn't discuss who the biological father of the child is? Instead, they think that Mrs. Lucy has an affair with that Edward Bruce, which is unreasonable."

Lawrence paused for a moment, and he gave Darcy a hesitant look.

Darcy's eyelids twitched, and he tried to maintain a steady tone and said: "If there is anything else, just say it."

"Well, sir, because Mrs. Lucy left early and returned late, and you told Mrs. Miller to take care of her in the dark, so since Mrs. Lucy left Grosswino Street, Mrs. Miller has not seen Lucy with her own eyes. Mrs. West.

However, from the conversation of the neighbors in Grayschurch Street, it seems that none of them seemed to know that Lady Lucy was pregnant.

It is logically impossible, so we privately speculate that Mrs. Lucy may have lost the child accidentally because she was too tired to go out to work.

And because the child's parentage was not so prestigious, Mrs. Lucy simply hid the fact that she was pregnant from her neighbors... It's a tragic fact, and we don't want to talk about it. "

Hearing the "unfortunate" news, Darcy did not show regret or pity, but his expression became a little strange, as if he was still gnashing his teeth.

At this time, Darcy didn't believe the words of being overworked. Lawrence's words made him guess immediately that the woman Lucy was very likely not pregnant!

——Even, all kinds of speculations of Lawrence and Mrs. Miller were deliberately misleading by her. God knows what she calculated, huh!

He suddenly understood the letter he had read earlier, and it turned out that the so-called "all false" was even more false than he thought.

— not pregnant?False names and identities too?

—Then there should be little relation between her and George Wickham?

Darcy raised his eyebrows, his expression changed rapidly.

——No, judging from Lucy's usual performance, there may be no relationship between her and Wickham at all.Such a person could not get her admiration at all.

—It's just that she learned of the quarrel between me and Wickham from some unknown source, and took advantage of this to deliberately lie and deceive me, in order to get me to take her out of Kent.

—why should I take her out of Kent?

——At that time, the sheriffs at Grove Manor and nearby were searching for suspicious candidates. Lucy's real identity should be questionable, so she needed me to cover for her.

——There is a problem with Lucy's identity...

Thinking of this, Darcy's complexion suddenly became complicated, stunned, confused, hesitant and understanding intertwined, making his eyes more profound and difficult to understand.

——At that time, the most problematic person near the Grove Manor was the governess named Doris Gray.

Darcy closed his eyes, and all kinds of doubts that he had been reluctant to think about before suddenly came to his mind.

Why was she in such a hurry to leave England?

Why is her profile and hair color so similar to Jennifer Gray?

What accident did she get involved in, and where did she get those secret information?

"Lawrence, I heard that Mr. Marlborough's lover was killed?"

"Yes, Mr. Darcy, that's a big case.

Just the month before your return to London, Miss Jennifer Gray had an argument with her secret lover, Mr George Dover, and was accidentally killed.

Mr. Dover has been arrested, but his interrogation is not yet over, because he has not confessed where he hid Doris Gray, so he has not been finally convicted.

But I believe that the longer the delay, the more severe the future punishment of Mr. Dover will be. "

Hearing the name Doris Gray again, Darcy's eyelids twitched again:

"Lawrence, please, go and investigate the information on Edward Bruce, the details of Miss Jennifer Gray's case, and the people Mrs. Lucy has contacted after moving to Grace Church Street, and then one by one Report to me in ten places."

Although Butler Lawrence felt that Darcy's order was a bit strange, he would not ask any questions. He carefully wrote down Darcy's request and planned to start processing it tomorrow morning.

At this time, Darcy almost regarded Doris Gray and Mrs. Lucy as the same person, but before he finally confirmed, he needed to find some strong evidence for his guess.

——Since you left so simply, then I should also face up to the problem, and stop being flustered and confused. I will solve all the mysteries one by one.