Flowers, Swords and France

The evening glow gives the Tuileries Garden a fantastic dark golden color. Visitors stroll through it in groups of twos and threes, feeling the charm of early autumn. Among them were two young men and women.

The man has gray hair and a round face. He is wearing a straight uniform of a palace attendant and an officer. He looks handsome and upright. He carefully follows the woman and never takes his eyes away from her. The woman is wearing a thin silk skirt. , wearing a beautiful pink hat on his head, with blond hair pouring from the brim. She held a small parasol in her right hand, and her left hand was clasped behind her back. Her eyes were always staring at the red clouds on the horizon, with a calm and beautiful face, looking thoughtful.

The young man moved his mouth several times, but no words came out. He looked like he wanted to say something but was afraid of making the other party unhappy. Until finally, he finally made up his mind to break the silence that made him feel at a loss.

"Miss Treville, I'm really honored that you can honor me today..."

His diligent compliments finally made the young lady notice him.

Charlotte's gaze turned slightly away from the red clouds on the horizon, and her habitual smile returned to her beautiful face.

"You made so many appointments, I finally have some time today, so I came here to take a look."

If the young man could look carefully at the blue and deep pupils, he would find that there was nothing related to joy or happiness in them. However, he could neither do it nor have the inclination to look.

Miss Charlotte de Treville's beautiful and proud face, her gifted elegant manners, and her intelligent and agile mind fascinated him every time she smiled. He wanted to get close to her, but he felt that she was just out of his reach.

"I'm really, really honored..." The young man's voice was trembling, and he was almost incoherent in front of such a surprise. His originally pale face looked even paler at this moment.

"Mr. de Beauvin, have you been busy recently?" Charlotte's smile became softer, and the sarcasm in her mouth was perfectly concealed into greetings and greetings. "You look like you're not in a good mood today."

The young man's face was slightly embarrassed, but it was quickly covered up by a smile.

"I'm sorry. I have to serve the king a lot lately, so I have to spend too much energy at night. Please forgive me!"

"Oh," Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly, and there seemed to be some surprise in her smile, "Serving the king is not an easy job, it's really hard for you!"

Charlotte knew these people all too well, for they were everywhere she saw them.

They spend almost all day outside, and they feel they don't have enough time to deal with daily life. The social world does not know how many irresistible attractions can make a vigorous young man stay from nine o'clock to two or three in the morning every night, spending so much money and enduring so much fatigue. But they enjoy it and feel that this is the meaning of life.

In addition to his love of indulgence and enjoyment, his main shortcoming is his love of face and vanity, and sometimes he does not hesitate to lie and brag in order to improve himself. Given Mr. de Beauvin's qualifications and palace status, how could he have the opportunity to serve the king? It's obvious that I often have fun somewhere at night and end up draining my energy...

But then again, which young man of this age is not like this? She didn't have the heart to point it out.

No, he is not like this, he is different.

That familiar figure flashed across her mind, causing her to raise her head again and stare at the sunset that was dyed red.

I don’t know how he is doing today.

Seemingly inspired by Charlotte's "surprise", the young Mr. Maurice de Beauvain, son of the great banker Baron de Beauvain, became energetic and even spoke much more fluently.

"It's nothing," he smiled happily and sincerely. "Being able to serve France is an honor we all dream of. It's nothing if it's a bit hard. I can bear it. Can you please honor me and join me in Dusseldorf at this time?" A walk in Illery Gardens was the perfect reward for this poor man... I have no regrets.”

"Ah! It's so rare..." She knew clearly that the other party was just talking big words, but Charlotte's smile didn't change at all. "If every young man in France is like you, then why should they be afraid of Britain and Russia!"

"Where, where..." The sudden happiness almost made the young man intoxicated. "You praise me too much..."

Charlotte turned her face away again to prevent others from discovering her impatience and disgust.

However, Maurice mistook it for the princess' shyness, and his heart beat a little faster.

How happy I am to be able to walk in the garden with such a beauty! He thought to himself.

No, this is not enough, if... if I can come together with her... what a happiness it will be!

The young man suddenly ran through countless thoughts in his mind, the kind of crimson thoughts unique to young people.

Am I worthy of her?

She should be worthy of it. Although she is the direct granddaughter of the Duke of Treville, I am also the only son of a big banker and a director of the Bank of France. Although I have a younger sister, my father will always pass on most of the family property to me. With such a large fortune, am I not worthy of a princess? This is no longer a hundred years ago.

So what would she think? Would she think so too? What does she think of me? Do you like or hate me?

Judging from her current appearance, there may be some hope...if...if...

Just as all kinds of thoughts were swirling in the young man's mind, the princess finally spoke again, her voice so soft and graceful.

"Your family is indeed the pillar of the country. Your father has worked hard for the stability of the country, and your son has also devoted himself to serving the king..."

Father, father again.

This word gives young people a chill in their hearts.

Maurice both admired and had an inexplicable jealousy towards his father who had made great achievements. Every son who lives in the shadow of his father's fame would probably have such a complicated view of his father.

"It's okay, this is what we should do." Morris replied with a forced smile.

As if she didn't see the young man's mood at the moment, Charlotte spoke again.

"Speaking of your father, I really admire him. He has earned so much money and made so many contributions to the country. If France lacks him, I don't know how much trouble there will be!"

Her tone was so relaxed and natural that even if Charles himself came, it would be almost unrecognizable that she was the one who said those words "I will chop off their heads" that night.

"Yes," Morris also sighed, "Recently he has been busy organizing a new batch of railway bonds for the government, but he is so busy that he can't see anyone all day long..."

"So busy?" Charlotte showed just the right amount of questioning.

"The government is short of money!"

"Why is Zheng Ax short of money?" Charlotte looked a little confused.

Read the original article in Liu#9@书/吧!

"That's a good question, miss. I've heard that the government is short of money since I was sensible, but I can't figure out why the government is short of money..." Morris deliberately made his tone light, and quoted this sentence countless times. Quip.

He had what people call a "pick-up" level of intelligence. He could appropriate other people's witticisms, the occasional witticisms that appeared in plays or tabloids, as his own, and repeat them again and again, quoting them here and there. Of course, his handsome appearance and the happy temper unique to young people can also make him less annoying.

Coupled with the fact that his father has a net worth of tens of millions, especially his father who has a net worth of tens of millions, many ladies praised him as a talented man and tried every means to get their daughters to get close to him, and others also I dare not contradict them.

However, Charlotte could see that her sharp gaze hidden in her endless smile had already considered the poor young man thoroughly. No matter how talented and meritorious a commoner or a person who has just been named a noble is by luck, not a drop of blood in her veins flows for them, let alone such an ordinary person.

"That's it..." Charlotte sighed slightly, "That was really hard work."

"On behalf of my father, I would like to thank you for your concern and respect," Morris bowed and saluted. "In addition, our family will continue to serve the Treville family. As always, we are very honored to be able to help you."

"Thank you." Charlotte replied with a smile.

The money exchanges between the two families are very frequent. Many of the Duke of Treville's projects were financed from Baron Beauvain, and the Duke also participated in the loans of many other nobles (that is, colleagues) to such big bankers. guarantor.

Therefore, it is both necessary and necessary to temporarily maintain a harmonious relationship between the two families. No matter how much Charlotte hates Baron Beauvain and his son, she has to maintain a passable relationship for the time being.

"Speaking of which, grandpa is really worried. The mine he recently invested through Mr. Bowang has not paid dividends yet, and he even talked to me about this recently." There was some hesitation in Charlotte's smile, " You know, I'm still his secretary, so grandpa also said this to me."

This is Charlotte's ultimate intention today.

The young man was a little hesitant because his father basically did not discuss business issues with him.

But...the nervousness and anticipation in Charlotte's smile made it impossible for him to refuse.

Could you possibly say "I'm sorry, this is something beyond my control..." in such a situation?

"It doesn't matter, I will ask it for you." The young man assured quickly.

"That's great!" Charlotte seemed relieved, "With your help, I'll feel relieved!"

Then, the two of them chatted for a while about the recent interesting events in Paris society. I have to say that when it comes to this, Maurice has some talents. He can make an ordinary thing very interesting.

Charlotte let Morris talk, smiling and nodding from time to time.

After the two chatted for a while, Charlotte looked up at the sky again.

"Oh, the sun is going down!" She sighed, then turned to look at the young man, "Mr. Bowang, that's it for today, I have to go home."

Although Morris was reluctant to give up, he still nodded. "I really hope I can continue to walk like this with you next time. This is simply the greatest joy in my life..."

Walking to the carriage, when Charlotte was about to get into the carriage, Maurice stretched out his hand.

"No, sir, it's okay." Charlotte smiled and declined his help, then walked back to the car from the pedal. There was no way she would want to touch the other person's hand.

However, the young people who were carried away happened to regard this disgust as proof of shyness and chastity. He looked at the carriage speeding away and said softly.

"She is so beautiful!"

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