Flowers, Swords and France

After her brother left, Fran was left alone in the crowded hall. She looked around, trying to find someone of the same age with whom she could talk, but found that there were old faces with stern faces everywhere. , so she couldn't help but feel a little boring.

Out of boredom, she remembered her brother's instructions when he left, so she moved and planned to go find her grandfather.

Among the crowd, she had just walked not far when a greeting suddenly sounded next to her.

"Miss de Treville?"

She followed the sound and found that the person greeting her was Laura, the daughter of the great banker Baron de Beauvin. As usual, she was dressed very luxuriously tonight. On her thick winter skirt, the diamond flower ornaments on her chest shone piercingly.

Although she was saying hello, her face was still very cold and she looked at Fran with no expression.

Fran quickly greeted her politely.

"Good evening, Mademoiselle de Beauvin."

"Good evening." Laura also said hello, and then she slowly walked to Fran.

"Why are you staying here alone?" she asked softly, "It seems that all your family members are here today. It seems like you are looking for someone?"

"Well, we're all here. I was originally with my brother, but he just left temporarily because of something, so I'm looking for my grandpa now." Fran replied with some embarrassment.

"They're all here." Laura's words seemed to have something else in them, "Your family has become very prosperous now..."

"Look what you said, you just came to attend the president's banquet." Fran felt a little red on her face. Now she is not used to other people's compliments. "What does this have to do with success?"

"Why doesn't it matter?" Laura shook her head slightly, "Everyone says that your grandfather, Marquis Treville, was one of the former imperial generals who was most loyal to the Bonaparte family. Mr. President will not fail to remember this loyalty. ? Besides, I heard from my father that he also values ​​your brother very much..."

"Is this really true?" Fran tilted her head in confusion when she saw Laura looking so serious, "The president values ​​my brother very much?"

After hearing this sentence. There was a sudden joy in her heart. She had always thought that the Bonaparte family was so close to her family just because of her grandfather's relationship. Who knew there were so many affairs between Charles and Louis Bonaparte.

However, it is not strange for someone as outstanding as my brother to be valued. This is what he should be. It would be strange if Louis Bonaparte did not know his stuff. No wonder they sent someone to ask him to come over just now!

The thought of this. She became even more excited. She was even happier when her brother was appreciated by others than when she was appreciated herself.

Seeing Fran looking so confused, Laura couldn't help but laugh in her heart. Is this child too pampered by his family? I don’t understand these things. she thought to herself.

However, this sigh was still buried deeply in her heart.

"Come with me, I just saw your grandfather chatting with a group of old soldiers over there..." She gestured gently.

"Oh! Thank you so much!" Fran quickly walked to her side, and then followed her forward.

Laura's enthusiasm for Fran was not without reason.

Out of a psychology that is easy to understand. What this girl hates most is that in this society where the nobles have the right to speak even though their wealth has been greatly reduced. Those who came from a noble family looked down upon the nouveau riche like her. Her father didn't care about this kind of contempt, and even regarded this kind of contempt as his own protection, but she couldn't bear it.

Matilda was unpretentious to her, so she hated Matilda very much; Charlotte clearly despised her, so she also hated the princess - even though she only met a few times.

In addition to wealth, she also wants to be at the top of society and grasp the pivot of upper class society, and this goal cannot be achieved by herself alone.

Originally, her affection for Fran was just because she had always been polite to her; but after seeing that the Marquis de Treville's family had become so prosperous, she regarded Miss de Treville as the most suitable person. She was one of the people she wanted to make friends with. In addition, her father had praised the young lady's brother several times and said that he would be promising in the future, which made Laura feel that it would be very beneficial to make friends with her. It was a way for a banker's daughter to make friends. How could you not consider the benefits?

"I heard that your grandfather participated in several battles and also went to Russia?" Laura chatted with Fran as they walked.

"Well, he participated in the battles against Prussia in 1806, Austria in 1809, and also went to Russia in 1811." Fran nodded, but her tone was a little casual, and there was not much respect for the hero. " He has been telling me about what he saw and heard when he was in the war since he was a child, and he keeps talking about those things. I am almost tired of listening to them, so I know it so clearly..."

"Haha... Of course you will get bored if you keep listening to it. I still want to hear it. Unfortunately, neither my grandfather nor my father have been on the battlefield..." Laura smiled rarely, "If your grandfather is so brave, If upright soldiers were still in the army, France would not have to face so many disasters? But it doesn't matter, now that Mr. Bonaparte is president again, it's not too late... I heard that he will be there later. Back in the army."

"I hope so." Fran nodded slightly, but she didn't show how happy she was.

"Aren't you happy?" Laura felt a little strange about her performance,

"No, of course I'm happy," Fran was silent for a moment before replying, "But in this day and age, so what if you are so successful? Don't you see the risks involved in such a status? Who knows? Something bad will happen one day! Not to mention, haven’t we witnessed the great change of dynasty once? How many families have fallen like this? Who can say whether it will happen again in the future and how many times it will happen... So , I feel that nothing is as important as the safety of my family.”

After hearing what Fran was saying, Laura couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Your thoughts are too negative. It's not good to always only think about bad things. In this society, the most important thing is struggle, struggle! Fight with your predecessors, fight with your contemporaries, fight with the younger generations, and try your best to defeat them one by one. Only by kicking off the stage can a person become extremely strong. Only struggle can make people progress. To live in peace because you are afraid of losing the struggle is the biggest failure." She looked around, "Look, among the people around us, any of these well-dressed gentlemen and ladies did not achieve their current status through struggle? As long as the victory is won, even if it is only temporary, everything is temporary..."

After hearing Laura's words, Fran's eyes widened slightly. Her philosophy made it a little difficult for Fran to adapt. And her self-esteem was somewhat frustrated by the other party's inadvertent "teaching" tone.

"Is this your family's creed?" She said slightly sarcastically, and she immediately felt regretful after saying it.

Unexpectedly, after hearing her words, Laura laughed instead.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Yes, our family's wealth was accumulated by taking advantage of the suffering of thousands of others, and our joyous songs were sung because of the pain of thousands of others, but so what?" Laura replied coldly, " As long as a person gets rich and powerful, then any evil deed he does is justified. Isn't this the case in this society and this world? Emperor Napoleon could kill tens of thousands of young people in one battle, but who cares? What? Because of him? It's the emperor. Of course, the poor can only curse, but who cares about them? Even if everyone throws stones at us and hates us, so what? A stepping stone, as long as a person can rise step by step, as long as he climbs to the top of society, he can get whatever he wants and do whatever he wants. Isn't that the case! Does anyone dare to tell him that he has done something wrong? "

"My father used this philosophy and struggled for thirty years, so"

Even though she had some knowledge of Laura before, Fran was still shocked by her naked self-interest.

This is the tutor of the big banker, she thought to herself, they are really a group of people who have no scruples.

Suddenly, she felt a little afraid of this girl again, and couldn't help but subtly distance herself a little.

Laura immediately felt the other person's flinching emotion, but she was still not anxious or annoyed.

"You will understand what I say one day. Then you won't blame me for telling the truth, and maybe you will even thank me." She said slightly pointedly. "Even if your relatives dote on you, after your brother gets married, will the princess still dote on you? It would be better to see through the reality early and make more plans for yourself..."

She thought she was speaking frankly and honestly, but she was suddenly interrupted.

"That... Duke... Miss...?" The smile on Fran's face disappeared, and she looked at Laura steadily.

"That Duchess de Treville, isn't she your brother's fiancée?" Laura's reaction to Fran was a little strange, "Why, don't you know?"

"What's going on!" A sharp shout made Laura startled. Almost all the people nearby also focused their attention, but Fran ignored it. "Tell me, what's going on?"

"So you really don't know." Laura sighed, and then told Fran about her brother and the interactions between herself and Charlotte.

Fran listened quietly without saying a word. However, her gaze was so sharp that even Laura felt a little uncomfortable, as if she was a different girl than the usual girl.

After Laura finished speaking, she still stood blankly, and it was not until a moment later that she seemed to come back to her senses.

Then, Fran nodded gently to Laura and thanked her.

"I understand, thank you." (To be continued...)