Flowers, Swords and France

In the hall of the Duke of Treville's mansion, Charles and Albert ignored the guests around them and laughed as if no one was around. ? ..

"Thanks for coming back, otherwise I wouldn't know who to talk to tonight." Charles pulled his hand away from Charlotte and walked to Albert's side, "Thank you for your hard work. You have to come back at this time."

"Oh, what are you talking about! I feel happy. I finally have a holiday and can come back to see." It seems that because he felt that he had caused a big accident while supervising, and caused Charles a big trouble, Albert always seemed to feel a little guilty about Charles, and his expression was no longer as free and easy as before. "Charles, I'm sorry..."

"What are you apologizing for? You don't have anything to apologize to me?" Charles smiled and patted Albert's shoulder, "My friend, have fun, I'm very happy today, so I hope to make you happy too."

"Are you really happy, Charles?" Albert suddenly asked back.

"Hmm?"

"Okay, I admit that Charlotte is really beautiful, but even so, I don't envy you." Albert looked at Charlotte standing next to him, and muttered to Charles in a very light tone, "Charles, don't you know yet? Marriage will ruin love, especially for people like us who are too perceptive and can easily see the shortcomings of the people around us. Charlotte is extremely beautiful now, but life is not just about beauty. When the time comes, all kinds of trivialities will destroy the rosy future you envision tonight. What will you do then? Even if you regret it, there is nothing you can do. And me. I would rather stand by and love someone alone and hopelessly. I want to stand far enough away. So that I will never see the dust around her..."

"Why, my friend, how did you suddenly become a philosopher?" After listening to Albert's muttering, Charles was a little stunned. "This long speech is different from the theme of tonight. Do you expect me to thank you for this?"

"I tell you these words from my heart because we are friends." Albert spread his hands, "But I understand you, you are different from me. You are the only child in the family. You can't get along without getting married. You have to get married no matter what. You have to have children. I am just giving you some advice so that you don't get married in the future because of the big psychological gap..."

"But I am not getting married for blind love. I just want to see Charlotte happy. Because I owe her too much - and this is what I can give her. Although it requires some effort." Looking at his friend's sincere expression, Charles couldn't help but lower his voice, "My friend, don't worry about me. We are all rational enough to live the way we like. No one will fall off the galloping horse, but will ride it straight forward."

"If so. That's great." Albert nodded with relief, and then looked at Charles carefully again. Finally, his eyes fell on the medal on Charles' chest, "But, after all, this outfit is really good! Charles, I knew ten years ago that you would be great."

"We will all be great," Charles replied as a matter of course, "So, continue to follow me, sooner or later we will turn this country upside down as we said at the beginning!"

"Okay, Charles." Albert also patted Charles on the shoulder, "Well, we have talked long enough, and Charlotte is impatient to wait."

"Then you play first." Charles said, turned around and walked back to Charlotte's side.

"Charles, what were you two whispering about just now?" Charlotte looked at Charles curiously.

"Oh, nothing, Albert is just worried about us." Charles answered in a low voice, "Because he cares, he worries. He advised me to cherish my marriage with you and not to treat it as a momentary impulse."

"This man has the leisure to worry about us! He doesn't even look at what he is like!" Charlotte curled her lips in dissatisfaction, but there was a lot of smiles in her eyes, "Anyway, Albert is our good friend. Let's help him find a suitable partner in the future, right? He can't be so dissolute all his life."

"It depends on him. We can't make decisions for him." Charles sighed slightly.

Albert's words just now can't be called a blessing in any way. He is worried about Charles. Maybe this worry is because he knows Charles very well?

In any case, because of his friend's muttering just now, Charles's spirit, which was not very excited, was unexpectedly covered with a cloud, but he still concealed it well and accompanied Charlotte to chat with several friends attending the banquet.

Just when he felt a little depressed and bored, his eyes fell on a corner of the hall, and then he suddenly became excited again.

Because he saw a different person.

It was Matilda.

At this time, she was dressed up carefully. She wore a gray gauze dress, and the diamond brooch sparkled in the candlelight. Her brown hair was also carefully trimmed and tied into a bun behind her head. Perhaps for the sake of beauty, she still didn't wear glasses today, and it seemed that she had put a lot of makeup on her face. There was a charm in her look.

Perhaps it was because she was not wearing glasses that she did not feel the gaze directed towards her by Charles. She just stood with her sister and brother-in-law and occasionally talked, as if she was isolated from the entire atmosphere.

"Charlotte, go deal with your friends, I have something to do." Without any hesitation, Charles whispered to Charlotte next to him.

"What's wrong, Ciel?" Charlotte was a little surprised.

"Oh, my friend Lucien is here. I have to entertain him." Charles said an excuse casually, and then walked quickly towards the corner.

Charles walked very fast. When the people next to him greeted him, he just nodded casually and walked towards Matilda without stopping.

As he got closer and closer. Matilda, who had been talking to her sister, finally noticed his arrival.

Then, she turned her head slightly and looked at Charles. A slight smile suddenly appeared on his face.

This smile contained both concern and congratulation, but also a hint of melancholy, as if to say, "Sir, you finally see me!"

Encouraged by this smile, Ciel continued to walk straight over there, walking as fast as a trot.

How disrespectful is this expression? He couldn't care anymore.

However. Just when he was about to reach Matilda, Julie, who had already noticed her sister's abnormality, couldn't help but frowned tightly.

"Are you still going crazy?" she scolded her sister in a low voice. Then with a sudden pull, he pulled her behind him, and then looked at Ciel with awe as he walked over, like a warrior facing the enemy.

Under Julie's angry gaze. Charles couldn't help but feel a sudden chill in his heart. He couldn't help but slow down and stopped in front of them.

Judging from Julie's expression, Charles knew in her heart that she already knew everything about Matilda.

Did she discover it on her own, or did Matilda tell her on her own initiative? Ciel felt a little confused.

However, even so, he still maintained basic composure.

"Lucien, Julie, hello. I'm sorry that I just came to greet you now." He smiled reluctantly and looked at the young couple in front of him. Then his eyes drifted behind Julie, "Matilda, are you okay?"

"Oh, Charles, congratulations." Lucien immediately greeted with a smile, "Thank you for the invitation, we had a great time."

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

Because of his background, he really didn't feel comfortable in this kind of situation, and he didn't have many friends to talk to, so he just stood and chatted with his wife and sister-in-law. But since the master came to say hello, he couldn't say that he was there. Isn't it pleasant to stay here?

Lucien's expression made Charles feel a little more relaxed. It seemed that he only knew the secret between the two Dilion sisters.

"Thank you, Mr. Treville, we are very good." At this moment, Julie also spoke, her expression and tone were full of coldness, as if she wanted to drive Charles away. , "You can go say hello to the others first and let us be quiet here."

Julie's harsh attitude made Charles frown.

Then, he walked up to Julie, and the two of them looked at each other.

After a moment, he sighed slightly.

"Julie, don't be like this, I'm sorry about that thing too..."

"Are you just sorry, sir?!" Julie said with serious anger, "Do you know what you have done?"

"I never forced anything, nor did I trick her." Charles said to Julie in a very low voice.

"Yes, you didn't, but you didn't refuse either. You watched my sister being stupid, and just for a moment of pleasure, you threw everything away." Julie looked at Charles coldly. , "You have helped us so much, and I am grateful to you, but I cannot forgive you for this, sir."

"Julie, I'm sorry..." Under Julie's angry gaze, Charles didn't know how to deal with it for a moment.

"What's the use of apologizing? Forget it... Now that things have reached this point, it's meaningless to ask you to do anything. I only have one request. Please stop pestering Matilda, okay? You have already With a fiancée and a bright future, you should go your own way, and Matilda has her own way to go.”

"Then, can you let me have a few words with her?" Charles asked Julie in a low voice, suppressing the unhappiness in his heart. "Just say a few words?"

"No, no, my sister doesn't want to listen to your sweet talk anymore." Julie rejected his request, "You can go and entertain other guests. Don't worry, we won't cause you any trouble. We're here Time to save."

"If this is what Matilda meant, then why are you still coming? Isn't it enough to just write me a note? But you still came after all." Charles asked directly, "Now, Let me talk to Matilda."

Such a sharp counterattack made Julie suddenly speechless.

"I have seen through all of you. You are all so hard-hearted that you only think about yourself! If that's the case, why bother those irrelevant people?" Julie looked at Charles with hatred, but there was unspeakable sadness in her eyes, as if she was not just blaming Charles, "You always swing between Saint-Germain and Saint-Péragne, but you always drag others to your grave!"

[Saint-Germain refers to a district where high-ranking officials and dignitaries in Paris lived at that time, and Saint-Péragne is a prison. It was originally a prison for detaining debtors, and was changed to a prison for political prisoners in 1827.

Julie was satirizing politicians, ambitious people and speculators like Charles, who were just swinging between glory and danger. Even if they were at their peak, they would face the end of failure if they were not careful.]

Just as Julie was still cursing Charles in a low voice, her sleeve was suddenly grabbed by someone.

"Sister, don't be like this, let me have a good talk with Charles." (To be continued..)