Flowers, Swords and France

After seeing off Louis Bonaparte, Charles walked step by step back to the residence of the Duke of Treville. $乐$Read$Novel .(乐Read)(x).()

When he returned there, he found his relatives still waiting there, and even the Duke was still sitting there.

"Charles, are you hungry now?" His cousin, Duke Philippe Jr., greeted him with a smile, asked him to sit back on the dining table, and then waved to the servants to serve the food.

It seemed that everyone felt that it would be embarrassing for everyone to watch Ciel eating alone, so the others followed suit and started eating politely, but they only moved the tableware symbolically. Only Ciel, who had been hungry for a long time, started to eat. He devoured all the dishes without hesitation, including salad, lentil soup, and pan-fried duck, and kept putting them into his mouth.

"Don't eat so fast, I won't let you eat." His regrettable eating appearance caused Charlotte next to him to complain. "Don't affect grandpa's mood."

"It's nothing. What kind of etiquette should we pay attention to in our own home?" Her father replied with a smile, "This also shows that the chef in our family is doing a good job."

"It's indeed very delicious." Charles took the time to reply, and then continued to eat.

"Speaking of this, I just remembered it." Charlotte suddenly laughed and looked at her father, "I've been worried that Charles and I won't be able to find a good chef in the future. Dad, let's just do it then Let the chef follow me, too, or I might not be able to get used to it..."

"No." Before the daughter could finish speaking, the father flatly refused. Then he looked at Charlotte with a sad face, "It's not like you want to marry in a foreign country. Do you really want to move out of your home?"

"What's wrong?" Charlotte was not discouraged. "Anyway, there is not only one chef in the family..."

"That can't be..."

"Okay, okay, let a chef follow him then." Duke Treville, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. "Charlotte's request is not too much, so be it."

The Duke's sudden words made the atmosphere, which had been a bit tense just now, become serious.

Little Philip immediately replied calmly, "Okay, father."

"Thank you, Grandpa." Charlotte also thanked her quickly.

Although he was still eating, Charles had been observing the Duke, and he found that it was much different from the last time they met. The Duke seemed much older, and he didn't even look at the people in the dining room, as if his mind was elsewhere.

This is probably what happens when people get old.

"Is Victor okay?" Suddenly, the Duke's eyes fell on him.

"Yeah. It's not bad now." Ciel quickly replied.

His eyes are still as sharp as before.

"That's right. Things have turned around. Now the spring breeze is triumphant, how could it be bad..." The Duke smiled slightly.

Then he suddenly let out a sigh of relief.

"No, we can't say that he is the only one. It should be said that everyone in your group is very proud now... Didn't you notice the look in Bonaparte's Count Faroux's eyes just now?" He picked up the knife and gently pointed at it. Everything about the tenderloin on the dinner plate, "It's like looking at this thing! The funny thing is that he is still unaware! Haha. Your time is finally coming..."

Of course Charles knew the origin of the Duke's sigh.

As a traditional nobleman. Although he is clearly aware of the reality and understands that orthodoxy can only die out in this era, he still can't help but feel a little melancholy - if he can choose, of course the Duke himself still hopes that everything can return to the old times. .

However, isn't this the advantage of Trevilles who never let emotions affect their reason and make judgments based on pure interests?

"Mr. President complained to me just now, saying that you are indifferent to words like God, King, Legitimacy, etc." Charles picked up the wine glass and took a sip. "Now if he sees you like this, he will definitely praise you. You are a very loyal minister."

"Huh, loyal minister!" After hearing Charles's somewhat mocking reply, the Duke suddenly sneered, "Well, you're right, I really shouldn't care too much about such trivial matters. It seems I'm getting older. It’s getting sentimental.”

Then, he sighed again, "Char, you also know that I have been in poor health recently, and I will have to rely more on yourselves in the future. But I believe you must have the ability. At your age, as long as you are not in a hurry, Seek success, and the future will be yours sooner or later.

"Thank you, I know." Charles read the title without humility.

"Hey, the death of Count Diliion has given me a wake-up call. I'm afraid I don't have many years to live... My old friends have left me one by one. It will be my turn in the end, right?" Maybe it's because of the recent past. Because he had been bedridden, the Duke seemed quite melancholy, "I really should make plans for the future."

"Dad?" Perhaps sensing something was wrong in the atmosphere, his son spoke quickly, but was stopped by the Duke's gesture.

"Charle, I heard something from Charlotte before, um... I was talking about the idea that you and Baron de Beauvain plan to cooperate in corporate investment." The Duke was still looking at Charles, but his eyes seemed to be It has some inexplicable meaning, "It seems very interesting."

"Well, it's just a preliminary framework now, and it's still unclear what it will look like in the future." Charles looked at the Duke curiously, "Why, are you interested in investing?"

"If you don't mind, of course I'm interested." The Duke read the head, "I carefully estimated that it does have very promising prospects. As long as you are backed by me financially and politically, I am very optimistic."

"If you like, of course you can invest." Without any consideration, Charles agreed immediately, "But, as I said, it's just a preliminary framework now, and we don't need to inject capital. But when our company starts to issue stocks publicly in the future, I can give you the right of first refusal..."

"No, I don't mean that. What's the point of just investing?" The Duke suddenly raised his voice, "I mean, can we, the Duke of Treville and his family, also become a member of the board of directors?"

Charles' heart suddenly tightened. It must be said that the Duke of Treville's proposal was beyond his expectation. Then he secretly glanced at Charlotte and her daughter, and found that they were all calm, as if they had already known the Duke's plan - or, they had already discussed it.

"Become a member of the board of directors?" Suppressing the sudden displeasure in his heart, Charles said calmly, "Of course, I have no objection, or we can discuss it with Baron de Bovan later?"

After hearing Charles' answer, the Duke frowned - Charles' answer was obviously an excuse, how could Baron Bovan agree to a situation where his family and Treville had a 3:4 ratio of seats on the board of directors, unless they were increased simultaneously. But the Bovan family has no other reliable relatives, so the baron would definitely not agree to such a proposal.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

"Charles, don't bother so much," after a moment of silence, the Duke spoke again, "I mean, let one of the existing seats flow to our side."

Hmm? What does this mean? Charles looked at Charlotte with some confusion, did she want to withdraw?

Soon, his doubts were solved.

"Charles, Fran has grown up, right? How about letting her marry Philip when she grows up?" The Duke smiled, and his tone seemed to be much softer. "She is about the same age as Philip, and they should have a lot of common topics."

The wine glass that was just brought to Charles' mouth was gently put down.

He raised his head and looked directly at his uncle, and in an instant he had forgotten how impolite this look was.

The Philip he was talking about, of course, was not referring to him or his son, but to his eldest grandson, the future heir to the Duke. If they got married, Fran's seat would indeed be transferred to the Duke's family.

This is actually not harmful, and family marriage is common in this era, and it is not surprising at all. After all, isn't my marriage also a family marriage...

"I don't agree." Charles answered.

"Charles?" Charlotte grabbed Charles' hand beside him, as if she was a little surprised by his reaction.

"Why?" Even though he was treated like this, the Duke still looked calm, "Charles, I don't think this is a bad thing. What are you worried about? Even if it is arranged like this, we won't get in your way, I can guarantee this. In addition, Victor doesn't object to such an arrangement..."

Has he communicated with his grandfather? Damn it...Charles' mood became even more chaotic at this moment.

"Fran is still young, we can't think so much now, right?" In front of the Duke's eyes that seemed to be able to see through everything, Charles looked a little embarrassed, and answered uncomfortably, "Besides...this kind of thing can't be decided by me, it's best to wait until she grows up to decide...Yes, that's it, wait until she grows up to decide."

The Duke looked at Charles quietly, and kept looking, obviously not convinced by Charles's obviously made-up words.

But time passed by minute by minute, and he still didn't find any signs that Charles was going to change his words.

"It's late at night..." He suddenly sighed, then slowly stood up, "I'm a little tired and want to rest. Charlotte, take Charles to rest too."

"Yes, I do want to rest." Charles also stood up quickly, and then hurriedly left the dining room.

Charlotte looked at her father and grandfather, sighed helplessly, and then followed them out. (To be continued...)