Flowers, Swords and France

In the dark corridor of the castle, an old woman glared at Charles with her eyes wide open, and talked to him in an extremely stern manner. However, Charles just put on a modest and gentle smile on her face, but there was no trace of it. There is no sign of backing down either.

The sudden appearance of Ms. Patterson not only gave him a huge surprise, but more importantly, made him feel embarrassed.

Because he had already made up his mind, Charles refused to change his name to "Madame Bonaparte" no matter how much the other party insisted.

It's not that he doesn't have good manners, it's just that this matter is too troublesome.

Yes, it was because the emperor beat the couple, forcibly broke up the couple, and arranged for Prince Jérôme to marry him separately, which caused this embarrassing fact. But now the emperor is already dead. If Prince Jérôme really wanted to If I try to reconcile with my ex-wife and recognize my son again, what obstacles will there be?

The facts are there,

As the uncle of Louis Bonaparte and the only surviving brother of Napoleon, Prince Jérôme Bonaparte will undoubtedly become one of the most visible and prominent figures in the imperial royal family, although he will not be the same as his son Joseph Bonaparte. Ba is making some unpleasant noises now, but Ciel has absolutely no intention of causing trouble to the prince without authorization.

He did get a big joke played on him by the Duke of Wellington, one that would get him into trouble.

I should have thought of it a long time ago. Ms. Elizabeth Patterson is related to the Duke of Wellington. How could this reclusive old man not think of using this opportunity to give me a big surprise?

In addition to being the ex-wife of Prince Jérôme Bonaparte (and not being recognized as such), this lady was at the same time. After her brother's death, the widow Marianne Paterson remarried Richard Wellesley, the 1st Marquess of Wellesley, the eldest son of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. Brother.

In addition, in addition to being related by marriage, after Napoleon's empire disappeared, she returned to Europe and was accepted by the aristocracy and upper class society. She was praised for her beauty and intelligence (of course, and more importantly for her family fortune), and was said to be quite popular among the British upper class.

What's more, she has been used to the world for so many years, and there is no way he can deal with it with such harsh words.

"It seems that you are unwilling to change your story?" After a long silence, the lady asked again coldly.

"Please understand my difficulty, madam." Ciel sighed softly. "On many issues, I can't make my own opinions."

"Even if you do what you're supposed to do?" she shot back defiantly.

"I think I know what I should do." Charles still refused to give in.

"Okay, fine." The woman shrugged. "Forget it, since you are not sure to obey my request, I don't want to force you, but...please listen patiently to what I say next, okay?"

Judging from her natural boldness, we can also see the unique American lack of rigidity in details.

"Then what do you want to say?" Charles finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's talk frankly, sir. I came to visit the Duke today precisely because I got the news that you will visit here in the future." A cold smile appeared on the old woman's face, "Yes, You can understand that I came here just to find you."

It seems that is indeed the case.

Oh...what a bad luck...how could I be involved in such a thing? Ciel couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"It's really my honor." Although he felt very uncomfortable, he still pretended to be interested and responded, "Then, let's talk in detail later..."

However. The lady seemed determined to make things clear to Charles, so she was not at all prepared to agree to Charles's delay. She waved her hand directly, making a gesture of 'You must listen to me today'.

"Why wait? It's good now, sir. If I wanted to find you in public, I would have found a way to find you in London. The reason why I waited until today is to find a place where we can meet you." A place where we can speak clearly in private - that is, give us, all of us, a chance to keep our decency."

After a pause, there was a hint of threat in her tone, "That's the chance to keep your master's dignity."

What does this woman want to do? Ciel's heart suddenly sank.

"Actually, this matter is very simple," the lady continued under Charles's suspicious eyes, "I want you to send a message to your master and tell him that my child and his family People can no longer endure this kind of dishonor, and they want to use the surname they deserve with dignity."

Sure enough... that is indeed the problem. Ciel's heart sank again.

Yes, at this time, in addition to the main branch in continental Europe, the Bonaparte family also had a descendant in the United States.

Jerome was a bohemian when he was young. He had affairs in the United States and had a child with this lady. Their son was Jerome-Napoleon-Bonaparte. He was born in Camberwell Manor in London, but grew up in the United States and lived with his mother. Because his parents' marriage was declared invalid by the French emperor, he was not recognized as a member of the Bonaparte family after he was born. The emperor also prohibited him from using "Bonaparte" as his surname-of course, his mother ignored the emperor's inhumane order and continued to let her children use this surname.

And this Jerome-Napoleon-Bonaparte also married and had children in the United States, and passed down his descendants.

His eldest son was still named Jerome-Napoleon-Bonaparte. He was born in 1830, attended West Point Military Academy in 1848, and graduated in 1852 with the 11th place in his class. After graduation, he was appointed a second lieutenant and served in the Texas Lancers.

And his youngest son (the second grandson of Ms. Patterson) is even more famous.

Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851-1921) was an American lawyer and political activist who graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He later served as an inspector at Harvard. He worked as a lawyer in Baltimore and was famous in the urban and national reform movements.

Later, he entered politics and served in the cabinet of President Theodore Roosevelt, serving as Secretary of the Navy and Attorney General, and as Attorney General he established the Bureau of Investigation (which later evolved into the current Federal Bureau of Investigation).

In other words, the grandson of the lady in front of me, a member of the Bonaparte family. He is the founder of the FBI in the United States...

It sounds incredible, but it did happen in that history.

So now, the Napoleon family has three male children in the American branch, one father and two sons.

As an aside, it is precisely because of this legendary family line that pretending to be the illegitimate son of the Bonaparte family has become one of the special preferences of American scammers. In Mark Twain's novel "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", there is a liar who claims to be like this...

"You mean, you plan to ask the president to recognize that your children and grandsons are legitimate members of the Bonaparte family?" Charles took a deep breath and asked the other party again.

"Yes, that's it." Ms. Patterson nodded without hesitation, "Is there anything unreasonable about this? My son is a legitimate child and all the marriage procedures were fulfilled at the time. My grandson is also a legitimate child. In this case, what reason do they have to be excluded from the Bonaparte family and have to bear the stigma of illegitimate children? Let me tell you... My eldest grandson, Jerome-Napoleon, has now graduated from West Point Military Academy and has become a professional soldier-he wants to be accepted as a formal member of the Bonaparte family, and at the same time serve in the French army and contribute to the Bonaparte family's France... Isn't this the arrangement he deserves?"

The original text can be read in Liu # 9 @Shu/Bar!

Charles finally understood.

It turned out that today, when the Bonaparte family was about to reign over France again, this lady wanted to use him to put pressure on Louis-Bonaparte to accept his children and grandchildren into the Bonaparte family. In this way, let her children and grandchildren integrate into the ancient and closed aristocratic system of the European continent.

This idea is very good, but unfortunately... people always have to face reality.

"Let me remind you. Regarding this issue, His Majesty the Emperor seems to have given a ruling before..." Just as Charles was about to point out this fact, he was interrupted again.

"That hateful Napoleon is dead!" She shouted with a slightly raised voice, "and now you are serving another Bonaparte!"

"Even if it is another Bonaparte, his attitude may not be much different." With a slight sense of tension, Charles pointed out this problem to her very carefully.

People often say that people become more and more stubborn when they get older, especially women. Now he finally understands that this is not a lie.

"Madam, I think you understand... As a mere subordinate..."

"Isn't he a servant?" Charles was interrupted by the woman opposite before he finished speaking.

"Okay... Let's do as you say." Charles sighed with regret, "As a servant, I can't do everything I can to cause trouble to my benefactor, and I am not qualified to intervene in his family affairs. This will not only cause him some unnecessary troubles, but also make me violate the obligations I should have fulfilled..."

"Is it also part of the obligation to let the father disown the child?"

"I think the problem between the child and the father is their own problem." Charles' tone was respectful and a little sarcastic, "If the father is unwilling to pay attention to the child, then what can we do? Ms. Patterson, I say, instead of making things difficult for me here, you might as well go... Well, find a more direct solution."

When Charles said this, the lady's already tense face became even uglier.

Yes, that is true.

If she wants to solve the problem of her child's status, wouldn't it be better to find Louis Bonaparte himself? Or even the one who started it all - Prince Jerome?

But this is actually unlikely.

Emperor Napoleon did not like this marriage, thinking that her family was too low, so he forcibly declared the marriage invalid and found a princess as his official wife for his younger brother Jerome... Then, as the heir, Louis-Bonaparte could not arbitrarily deny his uncle's decision.

No matter whether the emperor did it right or wrong, he had to continue, at least temporarily, he had to show a gesture of continuation.

As for Prince Jerome himself, it was even more impossible - if he really wanted to recognize these children and grandchildren, he would have recognized them long ago after so many years of Napoleon's death, so why wait until now?

It was precisely because Charles' answer hit the nail on the head that the lady could only be speechless for a while.

"People often say that you are a clever and outstanding young man, but now I think you are just so-so." It was not until a moment later that she spoke again, and this time her tone was much more relaxed. Obviously, Charles had dealt her a heavy blow. "Don't you hope to find a few supporters in the Bonaparte family? Sir, although I am not in France and I am not well-informed, I seem to have heard that you are not very popular in the Bonaparte family... If you can do this for us, won't you be grateful to us?" (To be continued ~^~)