Flowers, Swords and France

The next morning, when Charles was woken up by Albert again, he no longer even had the spirit to be angry.

"Well, my friend, poor Treville is at your mercy." He sighed.

However, after seeing Albert's state, he didn't feel much irritation left - he was now horribly pale, with bloodshot eyes at the corners, and he looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"My father came to your place last night?"

Although he seemed to be asking, it was actually a statement.

"Yes," Charles nodded. There was nothing to hide. "Your father came to see me last night and told me some interesting things."

"How interesting?" asked Albert with a straight face.

"He came over and told me that he thought you were here for a rich widow who was about to die. This widow had tens of millions of assets, and he planned to make a fortune from it. He also suggested that I join in and get a fortune from it. I also made a lot of money." After thinking for a while, Charles described the information he got last night in as concise terms as possible. "My friend, I really didn't expect that your father has been able to give me much more information than you so far! Is what he said true?"

"A large part of the truth is true. I did answer for her. Yesterday morning I got the news that she was critically ill." The corners of Albert's mouth twitched. "So, what do you think of my father's proposal?"

"So there really is such a rich widow! Ha, thirty million, do you know what this means? How many queens are not so rich!" Charles said in an exaggerated way, but he immediately revealed his Smile, "But... screw it! You are my friend. If I want to help, I will also help you. You have the final say."

"Thank you, Charles." Albert looked relieved.

"Okay, now that I have made my statement, it's time for you to tell me the truth, right?" Charles sat on the chair. He closed his hands quite easily, "What on earth is going on here?"

"No, let's go over now..." Albert rubbed his hands uneasily, looking very anxious, "I should go see her."

"Meet her?" It took Charles a moment to figure out who he was referring to. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go meet the poor lady together! Both of you, father and son, piqued my curiosity. Out."

Finished. He stood up and straightened his tie carefully.

"Let's go." Albert showed no sign of excitement. He was silent for a long time before finally speaking.

………………

Ciel originally thought he would come to a magnificent palace, but he was wrong.

After riding with Albert for a long time, he stood in front of him. It is a dark, gloomy, silent house that looks to be in disrepair, as if it has been here since the last century. A wall separates the house from the adjacent grape fields, its shape no longer visible, covered with vines. It seemed as if the whole thing was being tied up underground by these green ropes.

The whole house looked old, dilapidated and lifeless.

"The rich widow you mentioned lives here?" He looked at Albert strangely.

Albert did not answer him, but looked at the big room in front of him, silent. He seemed very excited, and even his hands were shaking, like a devout believer who had arduously trekked to the Holy City after a journey of thousands of miles.

It seems that there is no need to answer, this is the right place.

One of the richest men in France. Actually living in this damn place?

He would never have believed this fact if Albert had not guided him. Even if people from other provinces are notoriously stingy and don’t know how to enjoy themselves, they wouldn’t be exaggerating to this extent, right?

I really learned a lot today, he sighed in his heart.

Similar to the impression given by the house, the servants inside were few and far between. After an old woman saw Albert, she was a little confused at first, and then finally recognized him.

"Is this Master De Foa Grail? You are finally here!" She looked at Albert carefully. There was a look of surprise on his face, "You have grown into such a big young man! You have really changed a lot!"

However, she backed away from the fence and allowed Albert and Charles to enter.

"How is Madame? Are you feeling better?" Albert asked hastily.

"Madam... Madam, I'm afraid she can't survive. The doctor said there's nothing we can do now, so we can only wait... Maybe in the next two days..." As soon as she mentioned Madam, the old woman's smile suddenly turned into a smile. Sad, "It's great that you can finally come back to see her."

Albert quickly quickened his pace and walked quickly towards the old house.

The furnishings inside the old house were as frugal as the exterior, but Albert seemed to be very familiar with the place and walked straight forward. He was so fast that Charles could hardly keep up.

Soon, they came to a bedroom. This bedroom is covered with old carpets and gray cloth curtains; the furniture is only a few mahogany chairs, two side chairs, a desk with a lid that can be pushed up and down, and a small mirror on it. There is a copper shell on the mantelpiece. Clock, two old candlesticks.

In the center of the bedroom, there was a wooden bed, with a woman lying under the plain white sheets. She had her eyes closed and seemed to be resting. The woman's face was wrinkled and frighteningly pale, the kind of paleness typical of people who have been ill and depressed for a long time. Her hair was withered and yellow, and her exposed hands were also covered with lines.

Obviously, under the invasion of time, she has already lost the beauty of her youth.

There was an old doctor standing next to the bed. He seemed to be very dissatisfied with the sudden intrusion of the two young people, so he glared angrily.

"Didn't I say that? The patient needs to rest, can't you let her die quietly?" The white-haired old doctor scolded Albert in a low voice, "Who are you?"

It seemed that he had misunderstood something, and the doctor's anger became more intense. "The patient hasn't left yet, and you are here to steal his property? You are really a bunch of beasts!"

"How is she?" Albert ignored the other party's insults and lowered his head to look at the person on the bed. "Is there really no hope at all? Is it really... hopeless...?"

His eyes were filled with tears and his voice was trembling. It was the real sadness that people who are used to being doctors can recognize. The doctor finally realized that the other person was not the kind of person he thought, so he stopped cursing and said, He apologized quietly to Albert.

But Albert was still unaware. He slowly walked to the bedside and looked at the old woman who was still sleeping. He actually choked up.

Tears slowly slid down his cheeks and fell onto the sheets, but he remained unaware of them.

"I'm afraid it's just these two days." The doctor whispered, "Hey, what a good man, he is only over fifty years old!"

Charles was about to say something when the old woman seemed to feel something. Suddenly his eyes opened.

After a while, her already dim eyes finally saw the person standing in front of her clearly. "Albert?"

Albert nodded, but the tears still flowed uncontrollably.

"Don't be sad, you should be happy for me. I can go to heaven to accompany my mother." The old woman smiled reluctantly. His face actually turned a little rosy, "What's the point of staying in this world?"

Her comfort only made Albert feel more sad, and he began to sob even more.

"Don't be sad, you are a good boy, live well." The old woman still smiled, and then raised her hand with difficulty. Patting Albert's hand, "I have nothing to miss anymore, but you are different. You still have a future. God will bless you, and I will watch over you..."

Her voice became lower and lower, and Albert just held her hand and cried.

Sudden. The woman's face was a little distorted, and then she said "shen yin" loudly.

The doctor came up quickly and gave her painkillers, but she was still crying out in pain, and her nails dug into the back of Albert's hand, and blood seemed to ooze out. To let an old woman who is so exhausted generate such strength, God knows what kind of pain it is!

Albert didn't care at all about the pain in his hands. He just held this dry hand tightly, as if he wanted to use this method to transfer his energy and health to it.

Ciel couldn't help but sigh secretly as he looked at it.

It's better to leave early to avoid suffering so much.

After a while. The pain seemed to subside a little, and the old woman's voice gradually gained some clarity.

"Mom, I'm back to find you...Mom, I miss you..." She kept repeating these words, but strangely, there was no mention of her father.

She kept scanning the whole room, as if she was looking for something, but it seemed as if she couldn't see anything. Half of her soul was no longer in this world.

Suddenly, her eyes stopped and she looked at Charles steadily, and then, she actually smiled.

"Char, you are finally back. Let's go play together. The grapes are almost ripe..."

The old voice paired with a girlish tone and this smile made Ciel feel horrified.

How does she know me? What the hell!

"Charles, come here quickly!" Albert's voice broke him out of his panic. "She means her cousin, Charles Grandet, not you!"

It turned out to be a false alarm. Ciel felt relieved.

Forget it, consider it a good thing.

He slowly walked to the head of the bed.

"Char, you are finally back... Dad has passed away, we can get married..." She was still smiling, and she raised her other hand with difficulty, and then held Charles' hand tightly. "Don't be afraid. Dad left me a lot of money. I can pay off all your father's debts. Let's get married and live together..."

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

The old woman smiled and talked about trivial matters, as if everything about her had been fixed decades ago. Ciel stood quietly and let her hold his hand.

Until finally, with an extremely satisfied smile, she fell asleep again.

Albert gently put down her hand, and then took Charles out of the room. His footsteps were very light, for fear of disturbing the other person's rare sleep.

"Such a good person died earlier than those bastards," Albert looked out the window at the wilderness and murmured to himself, "That's right. This world is absurd and filthy. How can a beautiful soul stay for too long? Woolen cloth?"

"There's no need to say that. Everyone will die, and there's nothing you can do about it when your life span is up." Charles comforted him softly, "Besides, if I knew that my death could contribute to the happiness of others, I wouldn't want to go there." Die!"

"Charles, I know you want to make me happy, but if you make these nonsense jokes again, I will really beat you up." Albert was still looking out the window. "I'm very sad now. Not for her, but for this world. The meaning of this world's existence is about to be reduced a little bit. Shouldn't it be a pity?"

Seeing that the other party had been so severely hit, Ciel didn't want to have any more arguments with him, so he also looked out the window. No more words were spoken.

After a long time, Albert let out a long sigh and lowered his head slightly. His expression was so confused and sad that Charles had never seen him before.

"Didn't you ask me the whole story in the morning?" The lost Albert looked out the window. "It's a long story."

"I'm patient, and it looks like we still have time," Ciel replied.

"Well, my friend," Albert sighed, and then began to tell.

"Her father, Old Grandet, was a notorious miser. He saved countless amounts of money for his family, but he made his own people live like Russian serfs. He was arrogant and domineering, and his daughter was breathless. , my daughter lived a miserable and lonely childhood..."

"Then you met that Ciel?" Ciel thought of something.

"Yes, I met her. That was her cousin. He came here one day and took away her soul." Albert smiled bitterly, "You saw it just now, right? This love hides How deep does it have to be?”

"It didn't turn out very well?"

"Yes, not good at all. That Charles married an ugly girl and ran her aside for a noble title. He didn't even want to take care of his father's debts, and she was the one who helped pay them off." Albert still sneered. "However, it must be fair. When he abandoned her, he didn't know that she had inherited a fortune of 19 million..."

"It seems like you really know her affairs very well!"

"What secrets can there be in the provinces? I'd rather I didn't know anything." Albert sighed, "After all this, she is still kind-hearted, often helps others, and donates a lot of money to the poor. But she still lives like a Puritan. Ha, she has not enjoyed any of the benefits that money can bring to people; she has seen all the disadvantages that money can bring to people in her life! "

Charles listened quietly and said no more.

"It is precisely because she is so kind-hearted and generous that everyone likes her and respects her, including me. I have admired her since I was a child. I secretly wrote poems for her, and I called villagers who spread gossip about her. , I climbed over the wall and hid in a corner at night, and I did all the ridiculous things a young man could do, don’t you believe it? At that time, I even thought I could become a knight and protect her..."

This is some kind of Oedipus plot. Albert lost his mother when he was a child, so he regarded this lady as the embodiment of his ideal mother. Ciel thought.

"Then, what happened?" Charles couldn't help but ask.

"Because after those things, she was so heartbroken that she married a man who pursued her for money, that is, Mr. De Pengfeng. As a result, that man died not long after the marriage. Then...my father, a widower , I pursue this widow, needless to say why?" Albert smiled bitterly, "Isn't it strange? I admire her so much, but I am completely unwilling to accept it, because I think that bastard is not worthy of her. ”

"Then what did you do?" Charles suddenly had a bad premonition, and vaguely felt that this had an absolute relationship with Albert's later life.

"What did I do? I did what I should do." Albert replied leisurely, "I ran in front of her, and then told her everything about my father pursuing her while trying to seize her property. Then tell her to stay away from that bastard and our family..."

"How did she respond?"

Albert didn't answer for a while, just looked out the window quietly, and it wasn't until a long time later that he spoke again.

"She laughed after listening to what I said. Then she said that she had known what my father was planning and she would not agree to his pursuit."

Albert breathed a sigh of relief, "This is the happiest moment in my life."

"Then you fell out with your family?"

"Yes, my father thought that all his grand plans were ruined because of me alone, so he hated me so much, and in order to eliminate my bad influence in front of his wife, he threw me to Paris. "Albert nodded, "Then I lived there, and you know what happened next."

"He is willing to pay for tuition and board and lodging." Charles shook his head.

"No, he didn't give it." Albert smiled with a cracked smile, looking very happy, "My mother was worried about my little son before she died, so she left me a sum of money, and I used that money as a gift. Tuition and fees. Then I didn’t have enough money, so I learned to gamble... Anyway, everything was fine.”

…………

Well……

Charles didn't know what to say.

"She didn't lie to me. After so many years, she still didn't agree to my father's pursuit." Albert still smiled, but his smile was full of sadness, "And I never came back. I didn't want to see them. Until I heard After the news that she was critically ill..."

Then he raised his head and looked at Ciel.

"So, my friend, do you know what I want you to do now?"

"I think I know." Charles nodded.

"Yes, that's right, let's bury her properly. She has no relatives, and no one else will bury her with all their heart." Albert nodded, and then he raised his head proudly, "Then, we will help her take care of her affairs after her death. Even if everything is confiscated, don't let those bastards touch a penny!"

ps: When I was a child, when I watched Grandet, I couldn't help but think, "What will happen to this girl when she dies?"

Thinking about it, I always feel that it will be a pity. She has no relatives, and no one will bury her with care after her death. Her inheritance will definitely be coveted by many people.

When I think of this, I can't help but feel pity for her. This girl is too miserable. It seems that she has never encountered a few good things...

So, there is such a little story

It can be regarded as a good thing for our Charles to atone for his sins to the French people~~~