Flowers, Swords and France

Early in the morning, in an alley in a run-down neighborhood of Paris, Charles stood in front of a carriage, preparing to bid farewell to the passengers inside. The carriage was preparing to carry the young man and woman to Calais.

"Be careful." Charles reminded Albert, who was standing next to him.

"My friend, don't worry, I'll take care of everything!" Albert, who had taken off yesterday's clothes, was already radiant. "I'm here to escort you, so what do you have to worry about?"

"Even so, you should be careful in everything." Charles instructed calmly.

"Okay, okay, don't you know about me? I won't fail in anything I do seriously." Albert shook his head nonchalantly, then pursed his lips, "In my opinion, the two of them are more worthy. Worried."

"I hope everything goes well for them in the future." Ciel said casually.

"Thank you! Mr. Treville!" Suddenly, Lucien Leflare leaned out of the carriage and jumped out of the carriage.

His originally resolute face was now full of gratitude, and he held Ciel's hand tightly, his eyes full of sincerity.

"You fulfilled your promise and saved my life, Mr. Treville. Please believe that I will fulfill my promise. If Lucien Leflare has the opportunity in the future, he will make every effort to repay you. "

"I didn't do this kind of thing for your reward." Charles was talking nonsense, "I did it for the justice in my heart. In my opinion, the love between you and Miss Julie deserves a happy ending."

Charles' answer made Lucien's eyes blurry. He lowered his head and didn't know what to say. He just kept repeating thank you.

"However, in my opinion, it is not the end yet, it is just the beginning." Charles stared at Lucien, "In order to prove that Julie, Matilda and our choices are not wrong, you still have many things to do in the future. There is still a long way to go.”

"Yes, I will never let Julie regret it!" Lucien replied in a deep voice.

"Matilda has a request."

"What's the request? As long as I can do it, I will definitely do it."

Charles took out a promissory note from his pocket.

"This is a promissory note I issued through the Bank du Taï, with a face value of thirty thousand francs. You and Julie can collect it at any time after you arrive in Calais... Sir, don't be too busy to refuse..." Charles typed. The gesture stopped Lucien who wanted to speak, "Matilda borrowed this from me to give to her sister as a temporary expense. You should not refuse, and you should not allow Julie to live in a situation that she has conditions to avoid." It’s time to suffer, right?”

After a struggle, Lucien took Charles's promissory note. "I borrowed it from you, and I, not Matilda, must repay it."

"Okay." Charles nodded. "Matilda means that you and Julie should stay in Calais for a few months. During this time she will try to persuade her father to at least admit the marriage."

"How many months? But we are going to America soon!" Lucien hesitated.

"What's the point of waiting a few more months? If Julie can at least get her parents' blessing, then that's fine." Charles replied.

Lucien hesitated again.

"Okay, I will do as you say. I hope Matilda can do it."

"Then, I hope you can spend a pleasant summer in Calais." Charles looked at his pocket watch. "It's getting late, get ready to go."

Lucien prepared to return to the carriage.

"By the way, Matilda has something else she wants me to tell you." Charles said suddenly.

"What?"

"She said..." Charles repeated it word for word, "Mr. Leflair, please remember what your sister has paid for today. If one day you dare to abandon your sister or make your sister unhappy, , I will definitely kill you. Please don't despise my words because I am a weak woman - in France, women never have to do it themselves. I have countless ways to kill you, so please Remember my words for the rest of your life."

Lucien listened solemnly to what Charles said, and then spoke to Charles with all his strength. "Please tell Miss Matilda that I will remember her words for the rest of my life."

"Very good." Charles nodded and smiled. "goodbye."

======================================

Matilda had just woken up from the small bed in the study.

The study has been cleaned, all glass shards have been removed, and then the study has resumed its duties for the past few days - so the cell where my sister was confined yesterday has a new resident today.

However, her mood was quite stable, neither fearful nor anxious.

She got up from her seat and opened the velvet curtains, and the originally dark room suddenly became brighter.

Then she sat back down and picked up yesterday's book and continued reading.

At this time, there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Come in." Matilda's tone was still calm as usual, as if nothing had happened.

"Miss, Mr. Viscount has rushed back. He wants to see you..." A middle-aged maid poked her head in and looked at Matilda cautiously. "He is waiting for you in the small reception room now, and..." Her tone became more cautious and uneasy, "The master is also there..."

"Oh, okay." Matilda responded, then stood up and straightened her clothes a little.

"Miss..." the maid lowered her voice, "Be careful, sir, he is very angry today. If he loses his temper later, don't talk back to him!"

"I know." Matilda replied calmly. "As expected."

"Miss...be careful!" The servant was still worried.

"It's okay." She smiled and walked out of the room.

Along the corridor on the second floor, Matilda walked towards the stairs, and she suddenly found her brother George standing on the first floor looking at her sister.

The young man's eyes were full of excitement and admiration.

For a young man who likes fantasy and worships heroes, what could be more exciting, romantic and just than what has already happened: "The elder sister helped the eldest sister who was bullied by her father to elope"?

Matilda glanced at her brother.

"Sister, good job!" After meeting his sister's gaze, he suddenly shouted loudly.

The servant hurriedly pulled him away.

What an ignorant and fearless little fool! Looking at her brother's look, Matilda couldn't help but laugh. How wonderful it would be if people could survive only by romance!

The maid opened the door, then Matilda raised her head proudly and walked in slowly, and then the door was slowly closed. She glanced around and found her father standing in front of the fireplace in the living room, staring at her closely, his eyes full of sorrow and helplessness. And her grandfather, the current Lord Chancellor of the Seal, was lying on a lounge chair next to the unlit fireplace, with his eyes half open and half closed, as if he was resting.

No one spoke, and the atmosphere fell into a cold and awkward silence.

After a while, Matilda felt that it was not an option to continue like this, so she spoke and looked at her father.

"dad……"

"Don't call me that!" Viscount Dillion scolded. "How could I have a daughter like you!"

"dad……"

Mr. Viscount was a little sad when his daughter called again, and then was immediately replaced by anger.

"You...you are calling daddy while doing all the things to make him sad. You...how can you do that!"

"But I do it for my sister!" Matilda looked directly at her father, "If I don't do this, something will really happen to my sister! Can't you see it? Can't you bear to watch your own cultivation? Are the roses that have been there for twenty years withered and withered like this?”

"How can love kill people? I was young too, and I loved passionately, but in the end I didn't live well? Young people are like this. Why do you have to live or die for love? After a while, you will turn around and kill the other person. Forgot everything, as long as I lock Julie up a little longer..."

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Sister is different, she is really serious, I can see it!" Matilda interrupted her father.

"Why is it different!" Father scolded sternly, and then lowered his head sadly, "Crazy... you are all crazy! Wouldn't it be better to just follow the path that Dad has arranged for you? You must mess up your own life. It's a mess! Do you think you are helping your sister? You are wrong, you are so wrong, you are indulging her and leading her to misfortune!"

"This will never happen." Matilda's eyes were bright, "I will always protect my sister..."

A light flashed in the Viscount's eyes.

"So you know where they are?"

"I don't know, I just asked someone to send them away."

"Who is the person entrusted to you?"

"I won't say it." Matilda looked at her father sternly. "Dad, don't you understand me yet? What I have decided will never be shaken, so please don't ask me..."

"You!" Angry at his daughter's attitude, the Viscount walked aimlessly, his neatly trimmed hair trembling with anger. "Every one of you... is crazy! No... I am going crazy! God, what kind of era are these! The whole era is crazy! We treat our daughters as our darlings, as angels given by God, be careful We were raised and given everything we asked for, but they all used this to repay us! Why on earth did we have a daughter?”

"Dad..." Matilda felt sad at her father's sigh. "We will always be your sweethearts!"

"No, not anymore!" Father yelled again.

"Yes, father." Matilda stepped forward and took her father's hand.

The father wanted to pull away, but the girl held him tightly.

He raised his other hand, as if he wanted to slap his daughter, but in the end he was reluctant to slap his daughter.

Finally he lowered his hand and sighed sadly.

"Hey...oh...God, why do you torture me like this!"

"Dad..." Matilda burst into tears.

The Viscount still hung his head dejectedly.

"Dad, actually I've met that guy before, and he's not particularly bad." Matilda said softly, "He seems to be a reliable young man."

"There are hundreds of thousands of reliable young people in France. I can go to the streets and bring you a few of them now! But how many of them are worthy of our title, family status or wealth?" The Viscount was furious again. "And he is a republican! The descendants of rebels are indeed rebels!"

"But isn't this the era of rebellion?" Matilda whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"Father, you know that I am not stupid. I have seen a lot with you and grandpa in the past few years, and I can see a little bit of what the world is like now..." Matilda lowered her head, " You see, how long can the current dynasty last? There are famines everywhere but no one can help. There is constant chaos in the palace, and there are malicious conspiracies against the king everywhere..."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" The Viscount glanced around subconsciously and found that no one was relieved.

"Furthermore, our King is seventy-four years old. How much energy does he still have to deal with state affairs? You and grandpa, who often meet with His Majesty, must be aware of this, right? Besides, God knows how long he can continue to care for France?" Tilda's tone was calm and steady, "Look at his children and grandchildren, which one is popular among the people? The Crown Prince is a bit like that, but unfortunately he died long ago... So in my opinion, this dynasty may not be long... "

[Referring to Ferdinand Philippe, the eldest son of King Louis Philippe, who died in a carriage accident in 1842 at the age of 32]

"Why do you think so much!" the Viscount yelled angrily.

What he said was not "What are you thinking about!".

"So you see, I'm afraid it won't be long before France is going to change again." Matilda continued talking to herself.

"What does that have to do with this!"

"Once the current situation is turbulent, aren't we the court officials who will be most affected? Therefore, we should make some plans early..." Matilda expressed her opinion, "Mr. Leflair is a former military officer. And he is a republican with a good reputation. Once the situation changes, it may be time for this kind of person to speak... Think about a few decades ago, father! "

"You..." the Viscount took a breath.

"Now that we've reached this point, what's the use of pursuing my sister? It's better to look forward, father, think about what else we can hope for in the future!" Matilda's voice increased.

This is Matilda's plan to first create a fait accompli, then use an irreversible situation to oppress her, and then induce her to persuade her by saying "Maybe there is some benefit to doing this...".

There was silence.

"Matilda," the old man who had been lying in the rocking chair seemed to be half asleep suddenly said, "if only you were a boy!"

====================================

I wish you all good luck and success in the new year...

The girl is praying o(n_n)o~