Rimbaud's girl

1878, August.

Autumn in New York is very short, and it is already cold and windy in early October.

Vitaly Rimbaud-Olin was sitting at her desk writing a letter.

They arrived in New York in early August. They first lived in a hotel, and soon found a house and moved in.

I also found an obstetrician and gynecologist to check again, and it was confirmed that she was 2 months pregnant.

All three of them wrote letters home to report the good news to their parents.

After the steam engine appeared, the journey time across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to America was shortened, from more than 30 days, it was directly cut in half. If the sea weather is good, you can reach another continent at the fastest in two weeks, and a delay of a few days means three weeks.

When the Orans heard the good news, they wanted to tell the young couple to return to London immediately; but the second letter told them to stay in New York for a few more months and come back at the end of November.At that time, Vitaly was 11 months pregnant, her body was not too bulky, and she had no worries about miscarriage.Their children had to be born in England, and Mrs. Orland hated the New World, which she considered "savages."

Mrs. Rimbaud wanted her to go back to Europe, Paris or London, in short, not to stay in the New World.Caroline wanted her to return to Paris to wait for delivery. Although the Flaubert family was a family of surgeons, the in-laws in the family also had obstetricians and gynecologists. Caroline just gave birth to her third child in August, a girl. She named her youngest daughter Vitaly.

Vitaly and Gabriel have already named their unborn child Leonardo for the boy and Charlotte for the girl.

She wrote several letters, folded the letter papers, put them in envelopes, wrote the sender's address and the recipient's address, sealed them, put them on the table, and rang the bell to ask the servant to deliver the letters to the post office.

They hired four new servants, two men and two women, all black, and there are very few white people here who would like to be servants.Servants are different from slaves. Slaves have no personal freedom, while servants are employed.

Her belly is now slightly protruding, hidden under the skirt, and it is almost invisible.Gabriel was too careful to let her go out by herself easily - servants were not considered "human" to him - he would accompany her wherever she was going.

She didn't have much trouble being pregnant, but she didn't sleep well.After arriving in New York, her appetite recovered, and she didn't have any morning sickness, so she went through the early stages of pregnancy quite smoothly.

Now, her appetite is very good!Eat 5 meals a day, eat less and eat more.Gabriel always wants her to eat more, but she refuses, saying that he doesn't understand that if the fetus grows too big, she may not be able to give birth naturally in the future.

Gabriel was too scared to let her eat more.

"Darling, Darling!" Gabriel came back and shouted from downstairs as soon as he entered the door.

The frizzy man!Vitaly disliked him more and more now.

He ran upstairs quickly, "Darling, how's your day? Are you okay?"

"I'm very good."

He hugged her and kissed her face, "Miss me?"

"Thinking about it. When will you be done? When are we going back to England?"

"Gee! Do you want to go back? I thought you'd like to stay here for a few more months."

"I can't go anywhere, and you won't let me go out alone! I'm bored at home. I might as well go back to London."

"New York is still quite messy. I don't trust you to go out by yourself. Besides, you are pregnant, so don't walk around."

Leila came in with a washbasin, Gabriel took off his coat, washed his hands and face.Leila took the basin and closed the door.

"I'm just pregnant, not unable to walk."

"When we get back to London, when will you have your baby? February or March, right? Well then—we'll be leaving London at the end of next year. Leave the baby with the mother, and I'll take you to America , take you for a walk, how about it?"

"I'm afraid I can't bear to leave him."

"While the child is still young, we can still go away. When he is a few years old, we will bring him back and educate him well." Hands reached into her neckline, and the skirt with a large neckline was very convenient.Because of her pregnancy, she no longer wears corsets under her skirts.

"Don't." She was very troubled.

"I will be very careful. I will never hurt you or the child." He hurriedly unbuttoned the back of the skirt.

"It's been on your mind all day."

"Isn't it good? Now you can finally stop using condoms. You have to know that not using condoms feels different."

dog man!Every sentence is inseparable from the lower body!

"I'm not a man, how do I know?"

He put his hand on her lower abdomen and touched it carefully, "Why isn't your stomach big at all?"

What a fool! "It's not the month yet."

"When will it move?"

"I don't know, it will probably take another month."

"If you feel uncomfortable or hurt you, you have to tell me."

"You be careful."

The dog man is still very young, he never tires of making love, and he is very well-behaved. During the two weeks in the hotel, she was afraid of miscarriage, so she asked him to sleep in a room by himself. Mess around.Of course, Arthur went out with him now and then, and he dared not look at him.

Well, if he dared, she would tell Arthur to take care of him!You brother is amazing!

Pregnancy doesn't seem to be very tiring. Gabriel takes her for a walk around the neighborhood every morning and evening, and at other times, he either goes to the store or buys something.Since the Civil War in the United States, the domestic industry has developed rapidly, and now most of the daily necessities are self-sufficient. Of course, high-end textiles and the like are not enough, and they have to be imported from Britain and France.

The United States used to be the world's largest cotton exporter. After the War of Independence, Britain and France began to seek alternative cotton exporters, and finally found India. Egypt's cotton output is not high, but its quality is high, and it is used to produce high-grade textiles. .

Indian cotton is also good, but it used to be limited to the slow transportation, and it took a month to bypass the entire African continent.After the Suez Canal was completed and opened to navigation, Indian cotton was exported to European countries such as Britain and France in large quantities, and the price of cotton fabrics gradually fell.

After all, Britain and France are industrial countries that have done a good job in the industrial revolution. They are rich in materials, and Vitaly, who has seen a lot of good things, is not very interested in American products. After all, what only the United States has but Britain and France do not have?

So the interest in shopping is not very high.As for Gabriel who said earlier that he would take her around New York, he didn't mention it later.The situation in New York is complicated, there are many gangsters, the rich area is okay, and the slightly less good neighborhoods are always messy.

The urban area of ​​New York is not big. They live near the most prosperous Wall Street in Manhattan and have seen several musicals on Broadway.I also went to nightclubs. Cancan dancing is very popular in the New World, and the shining lap dance is very popular among men.

Vitaly didn't mind if they went to some fancy shows, topless clubs or whatever, but nothing else.Compared with momentary happiness, life is more important.Charles once chatted with Gabriel and Arthur, saying why many rich men go to prostitutes or young virgins after they get venereal diseases, because they think that the virgin body can take away venereal diseases, as long as the virgins they scourge Enough is enough, and you are healed.

Vitaly was shocked: how crazy is this!

In this era, there is no law to protect young girls at all. The folk laws of Europe, Asia and the United States all believe that girls can get married after their first menstrual period.In the 1803 "Napoleonic Code", France expressly stipulated in the form of legal provisions that women can only marry with their parents' consent after they reach the age of 15, but in fact many girls lose their virginity before the age of 15; the situation in the UK is also not acceptable Optimistic, although it is assumed that women get married around the age of 18, but such things as female virginity do not exist among low-class people;

Noble masters and nouveau riche have the right to occupy the women who work in their families, and those who are conscientious will give them some money to support them-->>

Most of the illegitimate children born in this pregnancy are ignored. It is definitely not uncommon for illegitimate children to continue to be servants and serve their half-brothers and sisters.

In most cases, the wives in these families can only swallow their anger.Those who silently endure and turn a blind eye are already very self-cultivated, but it is inevitable that they will become Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; those who are a little bit colder will drive away the maid and illegitimate child, leaving them to fend for themselves, and maids without skills usually can only be reduced to For prostitutes.Although it is said that women have to make things difficult for women, wives usually cannot restrain their husbands, nor can they restrain their sons.

The more I know, the more I feel that these men with power and money but no shame are really social cancer, disgusting and perverted.

She actually knew a little about this dark side of society before, but she didn't want to think about it.

"Don't worry, I will obey you obediently and never do those disgusting things." Gabriel was very self-conscious.

Charles's theory is, "These people are really weird. They must have seen too many weird and weird witch legends." Legend has it that old and decrepit witches bathed in the blood of virgins to gain youth and restore them. beauty.The principle of the rich man's "virgin cure theory" is the same.

So what did the virgin do wrong?

He also said: "When it comes to the pleasure of making love, of course more mature women can bring you supreme enjoyment."

Arthur patted him abruptly, "Pay attention to your language! Don't say such things in front of my sister."

Vitaly waved her hand, saying "it doesn't matter". "Arthur, don't say that either. You don't see me as an individual who can talk about problems with you. In fact, I am an adult, and I know these things between men and women. There is nothing that cannot be done to me. As I said before. This society, or rather, the upper class of this society has always been 'bad', and it was even worse before.

But why do I think society will develop better and better in the future, getting closer and closer to the universal meaning of 'good'? This is inseparable from two important aspects: first, the rise of newspapers, magazines and other media and development; the second is the improvement of the literacy rate of the people, and these two are closely linked.Tracing back to the source, it is because of the rapid progress of printing technology brought about by the industrial revolution.

Therefore, science and technology promote the progress of mankind, and the progress of mankind also promotes the better development of society.People obtain news and knowledge from newspapers, and also express their opinions in newspapers.Now only men have the right to vote, and women will also get the right to vote in the future. By then, this society will become better and more comfortable. "

"Women's suffrage!" Charles exclaimed. "This seems a bit...too advanced, doesn't it?"

"It shouldn't be very far."

"But many women can't even read the entire alphabet."

"Isn't that because education is not popularized? You men always think that women should not study and learn knowledge. It is because you know that we have mastered the knowledge you have, and you men have nothing to do."

Gabriel is very busy in New York, checking out potential investment projects.He and Charles made a deal of less than 10 pounds, not too much, not too much, just enough to do a few projects.

Vitaly suggested less but better, which was in line with their psychological expectations, so they finally chose Thomas Edison's company. Edison had just applied for a patent for sustainable lighting bulbs, and his bulbs are currently on the market. The longest light bulb has reached the level of mass production and quality assurance.

But still didn't solve the generator problem.

It doesn't mean that the generator can be researched, so there is no need to worry.

Edison also has other projects. They negotiated a home lighting system project. They provided research and development funds on a yearly basis in the early stage, and collected profits according to the proportion of capital contribution after the project matured and went on the market. This is a long-term investment; they also invested in a building in New York City company, an import and export trading company.

Charles Langdon will stay in New York for at least 5 years, and Gabriel will come here and stay for a year or so from time to time.

Arthur lived in New York for a month, and left New York in early September for Savannah, Georgia.Both Georgia and South Carolina were originally French colonies, and there were a lot of French immigrants and French descendants there.

Vitaly doesn't go out very often, so she has a lot of time to write. At the end of October, she finally finished writing "The Queen of the Broken Head". After finishing writing, she revised it again and copied the copy.

No matter how busy Gabriel was, he would transcribe the manuscript for her before going to bed, and plausibly said that she could no longer write under the kerosene lamp at night, worrying that her eyes hurt and she was too tired.

[The road to the guillotine is long and short.

At this moment, Marie Antoinette's heart was full of regrets.

She thought of Vienna, those long days in Schönbrunn Palace, her happy childhood, her not so beautiful and too short girlhood.She and her sisters spent many happy days in that beautiful palace, and she stood outside their door, waiting painfully for them to take their last breath.

She remembered not having the chance to say the last word to her dying sisters, how she had quarreled with them over a piece of lace or something trivial, how they romped and hugged, how she would always run to some sister's bed to talk to her Sleep well together.

The older sisters were not married or even grown up. They died at an age like flowers and jade, leaving behind the tears of their parents and brothers and sisters.

How time flies!

The little girl who was terrified and helpless outside the door was now approaching the end of her life.

Those ignorant Parisians!Their roaring and cursing can never affect her. She is a noble and proud Austrian princess, and a noble French queen. The person pushed to the guillotine doesn't look good!

She raised her head slightly, looking at the sharp blade, shining with a bright and cold light.

Ah!

She touched her neck: delicate neck, beautiful head, soon, it will no longer belong to me.

God bless me.

God forgive me.

God forgive France. 】

The author has something to say: * Stefan Zweig (Austrian writer, "A Letter from a Strange Woman", "When the Human Stars Shine") wrote a biography "Marie Antoie: BildniseinesmittlerenCharakters" (published in 1932 ).

*Marie Antoie's mother is Maria Theresa, the daughter of the Emperor of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. Charles VI has no male heir, and the eldest daughter Maria is the crown prince. Charles VI After his death, other countries that believed to have the right to inherit had a difficult "succession war" with Austria. In the end, Austria won, but also gave in. Maria Theresa gave the throne of Shinra and Austria to Husband Franz Stefan, Duke of Lorraine, the Habsburg family has since become the Habsburg-Lorraine family.

Therefore, Marie Antoine was the oldest Shinra and Austrian princess in Europe at the time. Her sisters were all married to the crown prince or duke except for those who were never married.

*How noble is the princess of Shinra?After Napoleon I captured Vienna, he forced the then Emperor of Austria and Emperor Franz II (the grandson of Maria Theresa, son of Leopold II) to marry his daughter Princess Maria Louise to him.Because Nayi's background is too low, what kind of royal family bird is he for a serious proposal, and he can only be forced by war. Now that they have gone to war, if they want to marry, they must marry the most noble princess.

Princess Maria Louise later gave birth to Napoleon II. After Napoleon was exiled, Maria Louise took her son back to her natal Vienna. It was not at all written by some public accounts that "wife and son were under house arrest in Austria". Go back to my mother's house!And they still live in Schönbrunn Palace and Hofburg Palace, treated like the children of the Habsburg family.But it was also miserable to get second, and died of tuberculosis at the age of 21.

At that time, Princess Sissi's aunt, Princess Sophie of Bavaria, had just married in Vienna. She had a very good relationship with Nair and was similar in age. So there were rumors that Sophie's second son Karl was Naer's cub.