Flowers, Swords and France

In the afternoon, Charles took a carriage to visit the Duke of Treville.

Compared with the shabby and dilapidated Marquis's Mansion, the vast Duke of Treville's Mansion is indeed worthy of the seven-character mansion of high-end and classy.

There are neatly manicured gardens and magnificent mansions here. The servants are wearing powder and ties - just like the old times that have passed away - coming and going with a pretentious air.

After stating his purpose, Charles waited for notification in the gatehouse.

Although the two brothers' residences are only a few miles apart, Charles has only been here a few times in his life.

After waiting for a while, a servant with a haughty face came out of the mansion. "The Duke refuses to see guests today."

He actually gave me a cold look? Charles was stunned.

"Then go and tell him again. If the Duke refuses to see guests today, my cousin's marriage will be cancelled tomorrow." Charles stared at the servant with malice.

The servant was startled, and panic replaced his arrogance. Without saying anything, he went back to report.

After a while, the servant came back again, and this time his face was much more humble. "The Duke is now free to meet guests, and he is waiting for you in the study. Please follow me, Mr. Treville."

"Wouldn't it be good to start like this?" Charles gently pulled the servant's tie and laughed.

The servant ignored Charles' malicious joke and turned around to lead the way.

Passing through the path in the small garden, Charles walked into the mansion.

Along the road paved with Persian brocade carpets, Charles followed the servant to the Duke's study. Along the way, Charles did not forget to pay tribute to the portraits of Treville's ancestors on the wall.

The servant knocked gently at the door, then opened the door and motioned Charles to go in.

After Charles entered, the door was immediately closed.

The furnishings in the study were exquisite but not luxurious. Several bookshelves were piled up against the walls of the room, and the Duke's desk was placed facing the door.

Charles's great-uncle, Duke Philippe de Treville, was sitting behind the desk, staring at the visitor standing in front of him with a gloomy look.

Philippe and his brother Victor were both alike and different - their facial features were very similar, and their hair was also completely white. But the temperaments of the two old men were completely different.

Victor's younger brother had sharp eyes, fiery words, and a soldier's passion in his gaze, looking like a ball of fire; while his elder brother Philippe had a gloomy look, reserved manners, and the demeanor of a politician, as cold as ice.

That's right, the Duke of Treville was highly trusted by King Louis XVIII during the Bourbon Restoration, and was entrusted with important positions many times, and even served as a foreign minister. After the revolution broke out in 1830 and the collateral line replaced the eldest line to usurp the throne, the Duke of Treville chose to retire from politics and live a semi-secluded life out of disdain for Louis-Philippe.

As the elder brother was a die-hard royalist and the younger brother was a Bonapartist, it was normal for the two brothers to break off relations and never contact each other again.

Of course, semi-seclusion does not mean that the Duke has no influence. When he was in power, the Duke had made friends with many people he liked. After the political turmoil, these people went further and many of them held important positions-such as the current Prime Minister Soult. He often expressed his opinions on state affairs and diplomacy, but quite a few big men listened to and referred to these opinions.

In short, the Duke of Treville is still an influential national figure.

After Charles entered the room, the study fell into silence for a while. The Duke stared at his nephew tightly, and Charles smiled in response.

After a long while, the Duke spoke, asking in a steady tone without any emotion.

"How much do you know?"

Straight to the point, no beating around the bush, very good.

"I know a lot, but there are still some questions that I haven't figured out." Charles answered, "For example, how the Leoran family plans to divide the 1.7 million with you."

"It seems that you really know a lot." The Duke said without surprise. "If you want to hear it, I can tell you. 100,000 belongs to me, 100,000 will be divided among those who handle it, and the rest will be kept by Count Leoran himself."

"You are so generous?" Charles was a little surprised.

"Nowadays, if you marry a duke's daughter, the dowry must be at least 500,000, let's just say 500,000. As a result, now I can marry Charlotte to a noble family without spending a penny, and I can also make 100,000, which means 600,000 in total. In today's France, there are not many businesses that can make 600,000 in one deal." The Duke's tone was still calm, as if he was narrating someone else's story. "Although I am old, I can still calculate this account clearly. If you want more, the Leoran family can go to other people."

Charles raised his eyebrows to express his admiration. "That's a good calculation..."

"How much do you want? Since your last name is Treville, I can give you 50,000 at most. There are not many businesses in France that can make a net profit of 50,000 francs."

"What if I want to call that poor lady back?" Charles asked.

The Duke's expression finally relaxed, and he looked at Charles again. "So you want to take 1.7 million and that lady away? Then there is really no way to bribe you."

Charles coughed.

What is this old guy thinking? !

But, people can't help thinking in this way...

"I'm just for justice, Mr. Duke." Charles looked at the other party righteously.

"Oh, yes, justice worth 1.7 million." The Duke nodded.

"This is better than killing a young and beautiful girl in a monastery for the rest of her life just for this little money!" Charles replied.

"It was her parents who made this choice, not even waiting until the next day after her aunt died. The young lady still doesn't know that she is the legal heir to a large fortune."

"At least you chose to help others do evil!"

"If I don't do it, someone will definitely do it." The Duke's face was still as dark as water.

"At least you don't have to dirty Treville's hands, right?" Charles raised his voice.

"Compared with 600,000 francs, dirty hands are nothing." The Duke looked at his grandnephew disapprovingly, "Just wash them clean from now on."

“Can one’s conscience be cleansed after being stained?!”

"Of course it can be washed away with money. If you have time, I can tell you a hundred such stories." The Duke's voice was terrifyingly calm.

"If there is no money, at least we can still maintain our dignity, Mr. Duke Treville." Charles looked directly at the Duke.

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

A look of ridicule and disgust suddenly appeared on the Duke's face, as if he had seen a bad clown in the circus.

"Dignity? Mr. Treville, do you know what dignity is?"

"I think I know." Ciel returned the look with his eyes.

"No, I don't think you know." The Duke looked at his grandnephew coldly. "Let me tell you what dignity is."

"After the mass execution of the priests, your great-grandfather realized that something was wrong and quickly planned for us to escape from France. He himself was closely watched by the Revolutionary Party and had no hope of survival. Before escaping, he had to I swear to protect my brother and let the two of them leave France alive." The Duke said in a way that seemed to be describing what happened to others. Narrating in a calm tone, "I was 18 years old that year, and your grandfather was only 15 years old. We took a carriage first, and the servants ran all the way. After arriving in Reims, the mob found out that we were fugitive nobles, so they opened fire They wanted to beat us to death, and the horses and servants were all dead. Your grandfather and I barely hid, and then continued running eastward..."

[On September 2, 1792, the revolutionaries executed all 160 Catholic priests in a monastery who refused to obey the orders of the New Deal and swear allegiance to the new regime, which became one of the beginnings of the horrific era of the Great Revolution. 】

The Duke paused, as if remembering something.

"We didn't dare to stay in a private house, nor did we dare to find a carriage. We didn't bring much money with us, so we just walked all the way east through the wilderness. We slept in the fields along the way. Fortunately, it wasn't there at that time. It's very cold..." After a while, the Duke started talking again, his tone still as calm as ever, "I'm hungry, very hungry. I still remember the feeling of being so hungry that my stomach tightened. Your grandfather had a high fever on the road. It was almost drowsy on the road, and it was difficult to walk. Unable to walk, I almost carried him and ran eastward - looking back now, I really should have forgotten the vow I made to my father! We lived on wild fruits and vegetables, and sometimes we were lucky enough to steal them in the farmland! When ordering fruits and vegetables, I always let your grandpa eat first. I don’t know how long I ran and how far I ran, until one day I felt like I couldn’t run anymore. My stomach was so empty that I could stuff it with straw, and your grandpa’s head was so hot. If it could start a fire, I thought at the time, we were going to die here..."

Ciel felt his throat tighten.

"At this moment, God favored us." The Duke suddenly smiled, and this smile sent chills down Charles' spine. "Do you know what I saw?"

"What..." Ciel tried hard to maintain his composure, but his voice was still trembling.

"I saw a few voles. At that moment, in my eyes, these voles looked more beautiful than any beautiful women. Their faces were like angels, their fur was as beautiful as brocade, and their squeaks were louder than the songs in the French Opera House. It sounds good..."

A feeling of vomiting came over Ciel.

"What's the matter, sir? Feel disgusting? Is this all your courage?" The Duke glanced at his grandnephew sarcastically, "Without these angelic field mice, what dignity can you talk about in front of me today? Without me to steal farmland What kind of dignity can you talk about in front of me today? Sir, do you want to hear what happened next?”

Charles was silent.

"Since then, I have understood everything. Dignity is nothing. Living and living well is more important than anything else." The Duke sneered, "The eldest princess has a saying that is right, the revolution will trample us into the mud, but we will Return the gift of sludge to France.”

[The eldest princess refers to Marie-Therese, the eldest daughter of Louis XVI. She was the only child of Louis XVI to survive the Revolution, and later married her cousin, the Duke of Angoulême. During the Bourbon Restoration era, his people hated the Revolutionary Party and vowed to take revenge to the end, and even tried to blow up the French Pantheon. 】

Ciel was silent for a long time.

"Do you still want to stop me?" the Duke asked calmly.

Charles continued to be silent, until the end, he still raised his head and looked directly at the Duke.

"Your Excellency, I admit that without your help, my grandfather might have died long ago, and I would not have come into the world. I also admit that you have suffered a lot because of the revolution, but... I don't think this is an excuse for you to do whatever you want, at least this is not a reason for you to let me give up." The blue eyes of the Treville family shone with a proud light, "I have promised others that I must bring Miss Leoran back. Before the client gives up his commission, no one can stop me from fulfilling my promise."

The bloody twenty years made most of the nobles of that generation lose the concepts of "honor" and "morality" (although this concept was not originally adhered to by many people), but instead remembered the creed of swords and blood. This kind of "reactionary nobles" are the most die-hard counter-revolutionaries, and they have no other ideas for their enemies except blood for blood.

If it is only for enemies and enemies, this mentality may make some sense, but this mentality soon expanded to everyone. Selfishness is thus covered with the cloak of "forced", and various bad habits also have excuses and excuses.

"Suffering is not a reason to do whatever you want, nor is it a tool to justify evil. If you think that you can bully others at will because you suffered before, I will never agree with you."

Charles gave a negative answer righteously.

In fact, he didn't really want to help the injustice, nor did he think that he was a righteous partner. If he didn't feel that he couldn't report to Fran if he retreated now, he might have changed his mind long ago.

"So, you are unwilling to accept my settlement terms?" The Duke asked coldly.

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