The Happy Life of a Duchess

This matter is really not difficult to find out, as long as she thinks about it.

Adele asked the housekeeper and Mrs. Lude to find out about the situation, and then asked the Duke's father about it.

It cannot be denied that as the Duke's father grew older, his energy became weaker and weaker, so naturally his attention would no longer focus on such things so frequently.

There are many industries in the family, but this is just a handmade cloth workshop combined with cotton planting. Most of the fabrics produced are for home use, and a small part will be sold in the family shop, and most of them are directly sold. Some cotton farmers.

The so-called high-tech products are already for their own use, and they are sold to ordinary people, the price is only ordinary, and the usual revenue is only so. The Duke's father doesn't care much about this business.

Before and after Adele almost died of illness and was sent to a nursing home two years ago, the Duke's father had already spent a lot of energy on this.

It was only later that Adele learned that although this father had never been here, in fact he had made a lot of psychological preparations, with a mentality that would allow her to "go away with more peace of mind", and finally tried desperately. Sent to the nursing home, praying for a miracle——

And she did wake up later in a way that is incomprehensible to common sense and can probably be called a medical miracle.The duke himself never thought that the only remaining daughter he thought would be gone would come back alive and come back safely, and now everything is going well and she has grown into a beautiful big girl, and it is even time to choose a husband.

In short, for various reasons, the Duke's father's energy was consumed.

With the relaxation of his control and the growth of his age, those properties that he might have to check every year will not be looked at one by one as carefully as in the past.

In addition, the production of this kind of cotton itself is not very large, and it has never been the main agricultural and sideline income, so the Duke himself didn't pay much attention to it, but he didn't expect that the people below had arrived and shoddy it, so that The extent to which mistakes can be made in major matters.

In the past, at least these manual work had some advantages such as "delicacy" and "uniqueness", but now it seems that it really doesn't work anymore.

In today's era, machines are used, whether it is wool or cotton, it is a combination of people and large machines.

Their handicraft workshop is still relatively primitive. Although they have also purchased "big machines", it is said that the utilization rate is not high.

"Let's put this matter aside."

Seeing that the Duke's father was furious, Adele was also a little worried.

"In short, the problem now is to replace the broken and unusable curtain as soon as possible." Adele thought for a while.

"As for the matter on the farm, I will go there later. They are all our slaves or tenants, but they deliberately made such loopholes in their work. Although we are not very cruel farmers, it is impossible for us to do anything. Punishment did not let this matter go."

"Originally..." The Duke hesitated for a moment, and then he let out a long sigh.

"I originally planned to give you the fields and workshops over there as a dowry."

"What?" Adele was taken aback, unable to react for a moment.

"Dowry, besides those jewelries, I also prepared two manors for you. One manor can be used for summer vacation. Our family often went there when you were young, and your mother was still there at that time, and this is also your mother's. One of the dowry. There is also a farm. Although it is in the countryside of Paris, it is equipped with a large orchard, and next to it is a field belonging to our family. Part of it is leased to tenants, and the family also keeps a third. Now plant Cotton, and some other agricultural products, and some edible chickens, ducks and sheep are raised on a piece of land. There is also a lake there, and the utilization rate of the land is not high. You can let people grow some other things in the future. .”

"The main reason is that the country manor has a lot of land, and I plan to allocate it to you directly and the surrounding land. You can also get [-] to [-] francs from the land rent every year, and the self-owned property used to be able to make a profit of five or six. Thousands of francs, not counting those used by myself. But now the income is only two or three thousand, and I thought it was...the poor harvest in the past two years, so it turned out that there was a big problem."

Adele's heart became hot, and she didn't know what to say.

The duke's father was also emotional. He kept holding back these words. In the past, he was not familiar enough with his daughter, and the relationship was not close, so he couldn't say some words, but now, he can say them naturally.

"I also made up some shops and real estate for you, all of which are local in Paris. Giving you the assets of your hometown and hometown will not help you much, and it is not convenient to get money... This is good now, and it will be everywhere You can get an annuity of [-] to [-] francs every year with the certificate. But because it has been rented out to others, you can only get money, unlike the two manors, you can often live there if you like."

"Actually, I plan to see your future husband's family background."

He looked at Adele as if trying to see something else through her.

Adele has seen the portraits of her deceased brother and sister. The elder brother lived to adulthood, but in the end he did not last long. Only one of the older sisters got married successfully, but left behind a daughter who was in extremely poor health and was said to be somewhat disabled. Correspondence is only available during the holidays, and the relationship is not very warm.

I don’t know if it’s a little secret, the Duke’s attitude towards that side is relatively cold, and the entire Duke’s mansion doesn’t have much contact with that side. Even if Adele asked, she didn’t know much, and Mrs. Lude didn’t know much about it. It's too clear that most of the information is in the hands of the Duke's father himself.

Relatives and friends in Paris can still visit more, the Duke is not willing to run away, and there may be other reasons, so Adele doesn't want to ask more questions.

All I know is that they live in Frankfurt, a wealthy local family, whose surname is Sessmann, and that her little niece has never been to Paris, and it is said that her health is really bad. The little girl's name is Clara.

The Duke's father didn't care about her distraction, or he didn't even notice it.

He just spoke in a low tone, and his words were full of love for Adele.

"Although I hope that you can go to a wealthy family... Your husband's family is strong, and your future life will naturally be more comfortable, but if you are unlucky, you just fell in love with the son of a small nobleman. The young man still has a few years to gain in the future, so he will definitely need money, and then I will add some real estate stocks to you, and your husband will use it, relying on your money, I can't treat you too badly."

"Furthermore, the money will be left to your children in the future. If he is a nobleman who does not think about making progress and cannot make a lot of money by himself, then it doesn't matter. There are many people who don't like to make money. With the dowry you leave behind, they can live well."

Adele quickly calculated in her mind, for example, the two manors, the summer place should cost [-] to [-] francs, the farmer’s may be cheaper, but because there is an orchard, and the Duke’s father gave her more There should be hundreds of thousands of fields divided.

Then there are the shops and real estate in the Paris area mentioned by the duke's father. If one is calculated at a price of 20 to [-], it should be [-]. Estimated thirty thousand.

There may be around 50 jewelry, so her dowry may reach an astonishing figure of [-] francs!

Except for jewelry, such as real estate and manors, they will be directly classified to the husband in the legal sense. There should be some ways of property in it. Of course, those who are more face-saving will not take it away directly, but they will anyway. It is the common property of the family in the future, reserved for the children and husband to use.

Adele then silently calculated in her heart again, so she has a dowry of 50 yuan. It is conservatively estimated that she can net [-] yuan in farmland rent, [-] in agricultural and sideline income, [-] in annuities of various properties, The stock is unstable and the annual income is several thousand.

That is to say, excluding her husband's salary income and property income, she herself can provide an annuity of at least [-] yuan per year, and this is not counting some of the money offset by self-production and self-use.

You know, Armand alone doesn't count as a fixed property, and with salary and annuity, it's only about [-].

Armand's friend, Mr. Gaston, earns [-] yuan a year, which is relatively high among young people. Compared with hers, it can't be seen at all.

Just with this dowry...

No wonder some people want to marry her even if they sharpen their heads? !

Adele asked herself, if she was a man, she could marry such a wife who gave money and golden eggs, and she and her children and grandchildren would spend a few lifetimes less fighting, wouldn't she be crazy about happiness? !

Those young men who want to marry the daughters of rich nobles by all means seem to be understandable at once, and there are indeed many young gentlemen who will seduce naive and ignorant ladies.

But Adele also knew the weight of the money.

She has no doubt that this is actually not her dowry alone, it is very likely that it is the share of her older sister who died before she reached the age of marriage, and maybe even the share of her brother.

The elder sister of the deceased married man should not have had such a generous dowry back then.

Because at that time the property of the Duke's Mansion had not accumulated as much as it is now, and more importantly, the brother who was the heir did not die, and all the money and titles now would be given to her cousin brothers.

Mr. Duke doesn't have much close affection for his nephew in his hometown, at least compared with his own son, his nephew must be somewhat inferior.

His generosity to Adele may not be due to these reasons. After all, it is a little love for his only blood relative daughter. You must know that ordinary noble ladies get married, and the dowry minus one zero is considered good. Of course, there are many homes for daughters. The dowry is calculated according to the price of louis d'or.

The main reason is that other families have more children, and more daughters are married, so naturally fewer are assigned to individuals.

And Adele is the only one left. She got not only the dowry from her deceased mother, but also all kinds of money that her father kept adding to her in private, although she would not give her the inheritance of the Juradi family. For example, this Bailu Manor is absolutely impossible to leave to her, it will only be given to the heir's cousin, but a lot of tolerance has been done in other places, such as those fields.

Adele was speechless for a moment.

The duke's father also had some tears in his eyes, and the topic got here somehow, but she had already received some love.

Adele hugged her poor old father, and sincerely hoped that she could be with him for a few more years.

He also patted her on the back, and after he calmed down, he turned his face away and wiped the corners of his eyes before talking to her again.

"The handicraft workshop will only be yours in the future. You can take care of it now. When the time comes, let the butler go with you. He knows this. He also lived with me in the farm over there before. He manages the workshop. People there also know him..." He patted her on the shoulder.

"I believe my daughter is okay, and I will support you in whatever you want to do."

"However, the matter of this dinner party is more important right now, and I will absolutely not allow any mistakes in this presentation."

"Yes." Adele nodded and told him her thoughts.

"The newly made fabric was made by Mrs. Lu De, who stayed up all night to supervise the workers. Now it has been brought back, and the tailor has also been brought to the house. There are also embroidery tools, and she is sewing directly, but she wants to rush here alone. It’s still a bit difficult to finish in three days.”

"Mrs. Lu De recommended a relative from her hometown. She said that the embroidery work of the two fellow villagers was not bad. People, so I don’t want to say anything here and there.”

"Is it enough for two people?" the Duke's father asked uncomfortably.

Adele knew that she and her father had another dance to attend before the holiday, and their dinner was scheduled for right after the holiday.

"There are two maids in the manor, who are also good at this kind of work. They have been transferred by the housekeeper to fill them up for the time being. But because they are not specialized in this field, they can only do some simple embroidery work. For the specific and detailed aspects, more reliable manpower is needed..."

Adele hesitated for a while and decided to tell the truth.

"But maybe tomorrow, two new professional tailors will come over."

"Where is it from?"

"Mr. Duval's."

"Eh?"

The Duke's father's voice was a little surprised, as if he hadn't expected such a development.

"Didn't you go to the prom two days ago?...Maybe I didn't hide the sadness on my face, and Morgana and I are good friends, so he could see that I seemed to have some worries, so After asking me, I couldn't hold back, and told her about this terrible thing, and she offered to lend us the manpower..."

Adele also didn't expect that the movement over there would be so fast, mainly because she didn't expect that the gentleman's hands and feet were much more agile than he imagined——

He was such an impulsive person, so he wrote her a letter directly, saying that it would be delivered to her door tomorrow.

"It's not an example."

The Duke thought about it, but still didn't blame her.

If it's just the friendship between the girls, then it's really not a big deal, but it can be regarded as a bond to strengthen the relationship between the two families.

Mr. Duke doesn't mind maintaining a good relationship with the Duval family in the future, mainly because Mr. Duval is the most prosperous person in the circle now, and it seems that the momentum will not be suppressed within a few years. If you really want to say, He really felt that the other party was a promising and smart "young man".

He is very optimistic about the future of the other party. Although he does not have such ample property and titles now, power itself is enough to bring everything he wants.

And the other party is very clear-headed, able to understand clearly, and able to not lose himself in power and money, such a person is rare.

The kind of people Mr. Duke met before have basically made a big career, and they are the kind of prominent figures who can retire after success. He doesn't mind making such a kind of "investment" in advance.

Adele and his daughter have a good relationship, and the two families will naturally have a good relationship in the future. Maybe she may even take a fancy to the son of the other party's family, and it is possible that she will marry him in the future——

At this time, Mr. Duke never imagined that there are other possibilities and ways to get married as well.

"..."

Hearing her father's answer, Adele still couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, and there was a subtle guilty conscience in it.

As a sensitive and intelligent daughter, her first reaction was that she could not let the Duke's father know the truth of the matter directly. After all, for an old father who loves his daughter very much, it seems that Mr. Duval's behavior is too "out of bounds". .

But Adele is not angry at these "little oversteps". She is very grateful for the help of the other party, and out of the protection of her reputation, she also uses the name of Morgana, although in fact, the matter is Du Mr. Val discovered it himself.

Even she herself was surprised that the other party was so sensitive, but on the other hand, he was still that conservative "shrinking turtle".

Adele has an inexplicable feeling that this is not the time yet, if her lovely old father is involved in this matter now, it will really mess up her "hope" and "love" No matter how clever and quick-witted Mr. Duval is, a conservative gentleman, he will not continue to persist.

Once the present hazy state is broken, nine times out of ten there will be a very unfortunate end.

Adele doesn't want to entrust her future to other people's hands yet, at least she hasn't seen other guys who are enough to make her very excited.

"Anyway, if this is the case, when two skilled tailors arrive tomorrow, there will be a total of seven people, and it will still be too late to make it within two days."

Adele made the final calculations in her heart, and couldn't help feeling relieved by this emergency and timely help. The burden that had been weighing on her heart seemed to have finally lightened a lot.

She was able to relax completely after this matter was resolved.

In the past few days, everyone in the Duke's mansion has been very vigilant, as if everyone has a tense nerve.

The tailors are basically working around the clock, and the candles are brightly lit at night, and the time for rest and meals is also compressed to the extreme. The good thing is that the Duke's mansion offered an irresistible salary for this matter. , This amount makes every tailor work hard.

As long as the quality is completed before the deadline without any problems, they can get a generous bonus.

Although these two days of arduous work were very hard, when the salary was received, everyone's faces were filled with joyful smiles.

The most amazing thing is that they also finished the work ahead of schedule.

Adele originally thought that at noon that day, that is, it would take about two and a half days to see the finished product.

In fact, they delivered the results one night early.

Generally speaking, women are poorly paid for doing embroidery work.

Even a specialized clothing store tailor who is willing to accept some embroidery or give out odd sewing work will not pay too much wages to the embroiderers outside. It is cruel to say that women are very cheap and cruel labor.

There are not many jobs that they can do, and the most subsidized work that housewives do is to do some tailoring work.

Including some unmarried women and unmarried pregnant women whose reputation is hindered or for various reasons, they will and can only rely on this method to earn a meager salary for themselves.

Although the time was very tight and the work at the Duke's Mansion was very tight this time, embroidery was considered fine work after all, and the patterns were not difficult but complicated to do, which hurt the eyes, but the money they gave even exceeded their original expectations.

This was something that Adele asked Mrs. Lude to add after seeing the finished curtains. Mrs. Lude even told her that this was what a female worker outside could earn for a month or even two months.

"It's ok."

Adele knows now that she is rich and will be very, very rich in the future.

But she is not stingy with the money, and she doesn't mind giving more labor remuneration. Since they are doing the hard work with their eyes open, there is no reason to embarrass them in this regard. The most important thing is their work and results. Rescued them who were in a difficult state.

The contribution that can save people is commendable. She does not want to let down their intentions and hard work, even if they may not have such a simple or great mind at the beginning, nor are they voluntary, they are just for salary come.

But now that the problem has been solved, everything is easy to say.

As for her reputation for generosity and kindness, that's another story.

At this moment, Adele still has to be busy with the most important thing in front of her.

Counting the days and time in this way, it will soon be time for the dinner party.

The banquet was in the evening, but Adele was still pulled up early to dress up as usual.

Although it is in your own home, you must also maintain a good state.

But because it is a dinner party, in order to prepare for this, neither she nor the Duke's Mansion will receive new guests in the afternoon, so she just gets up and combs briefly, and then dresses up in the afternoon, so that she will be the best one at night state.

"Miss Adele, there is a letter."

Mary had brought the letter from Jenny.

At the time, Adele was checking the condition of her skin in the mirror.

Then carefully touch some skin care dew on the face, because she doesn't like the extra strong smell, so her cosmetics are either homemade or specially made, and many additives, such as lead powder, are prohibited.

"letter?"

Adele was a little surprised, she also knew that Jenny got into the kitchen early this morning to steal a teacher.

Because Jenny is very important to Adele, and she is also an important female companion brought back from the nursing home. Everyone knows that she tolerates her, so follow, and everyone respects Jenny.

Although everyone does not deny that Jenny does have incongruities, for example, the Parisian slang and some foul language that she has not been able to master up to now, and her accent is slightly inappropriate, but generally, everyone has accepted it. her.

Jenny is a lovely little girl. She is pure, kind, hardworking and capable. She never cares too much or makes things difficult for others.

"What is it?" Adele was a little surprised.

"How can I know that?" Mary laughed immediately, "And I don't know many words, and the writing is not good-looking."

Mary had a shy smile on her face, but in fact she was proud of herself, and Adele knew this.

It's just because Mary is one of the few maids in the manor who can read and read poetry, and she can speak a few words of Latin.

According to her own statement, she learned it secretly from the master's family when she was in the manor.

She came to the manor as a maid very early. She didn't follow Adele in the early days. Of course, she was assigned to her later, and she herself said that she is definitely a loyal maid, Adele No doubt about it.

When most ordinary people and slaves could not read and write, Mary, a maid who could read some French words, was already very good.

She can also read one or two English poems by Shakespeare by herself, but only one or two. Most of the time, she can only follow a few lines from French operas, and then she can barely recognize some sentences.

She humbly said that she couldn't write well, which was true, because she didn't have much opportunity to practice, but being able to spell was already good in itself.

Adele also tried it, but like Jenny, Mary didn't want to really learn this skill.

Reading and writing seem to be a bit of a luxury for her. She can take this as a point of boasting in front of most people, and she is already satisfied. For girls, this is a relatively rare ability. Needless to say it belonged to a maid.

The talent and learning of aristocratic ladies like Adele are incomparable. After all, Adele’s thoughts are modern and she has received a systematic university education. Unfortunately, he also has tutors hired by his own family.

Adele still has several teachers who teach different content, but it is no longer the literature of the past. Her teachers are mostly those who teach her music and art. Her French no longer needs to be complicated.

"Okay, show me."

Adele was worried about something urgent, so she took it, listening to Mary's tone is also very urgent.

"It's a letter from two days ago."

Seeing that time, Adele knew why Jenny had hurriedly handed over the trust to Mary.

This letter should have been sent long ago, but it turned out to be delayed. If it was a letter about a reply to a dinner party, it would have delayed a major event, and because there was no family mark on it, it looked relatively ordinary, maybe That's why it was delayed.

"That is to say, the messengers nowadays are becoming more and more unreliable..."

After Mary answered the call, she couldn't help complaining. Because of her skin, although she had some freedom to go in and out of Bailu Manor, she didn't go out often.

She doesn't even like running errands, such as receiving letters, all of which are done by Jenny. In the past, she also troubled other male servants to take care of them together, but at that time, most of the letters were addressed to the Duke, not to Ah. It was given by the little master Dale.

She didn't have a good impression of the postman, and Adele didn't pursue the specific reason.

However, it seems that there may be some stories in it, but she doesn't need to be so wide-ranging. After all, Mary's chances of getting in touch with the postman are limited.

"Huh." Adele muttered softly, but didn't answer right away, but her voice interrupted Mary's complaints.

Mary stopped talking, observed her face, and instead became curious about the content of the letter.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Mary, do you know anything about Baroness Bernard?"

"Baroness Bernard?" Mary rolled her eyes and reacted, and guessed wildly, "Is this a letter from Baroness Bernard to you? Why is there no sign of the house? Is it possible?" Is it a secret? That doesn't make sense, and wouldn't it be a delay?"

Adele put down the letter in her hand and looked at Mary with a smile. Mary quickly stopped talking, stopped her distracting thoughts, and answered her question instead.

"Baroness Bernard..." At the beginning, Adele became a little more interested, but she didn't expect Mary's style to change.

"Isn't it... the famous lady who brought a large dowry to help her husband? Everyone knew that Baron Bernard had no money in his family at that time. Everyone said that he was going to go bankrupt. After the original marriage, there is actually another good marriage... Let me tell you, for these men, whether their wives have money is really too important, and they themselves rely on their wives. That little dowry life..."

Adele shook the letter in her hand, her expression was a little delicate, and then she had to tell Mary not to be so excited when she was talking, and stop for a while.

"You seem to be overly excited today..." Adele had to remind the other party.

"..." Mary choked for a moment, reflected on herself, and then explained, "Maybe I have an important guest today. I seem to talk too much unconsciously when something big happens, and I can't stop. I can't help the kind, but... anyway, there is a little nervousness, and then I can't stop talking... keep talking, so that I can feel better."

"Okay, then you can talk about it." Adele nodded, expressing her understanding.

Mary is her maid, her personal maid. When she shows up at the dinner party today, of course she will not be an important and eye-catching existence, but even as a servant, she is one of the hostess' right-hand men. One, will also receive attention.

Mary cares about this very much. She even told Jenny not to steal her limelight. Of course, this kind of behavior also looks cute. Mary doesn't want to be in the limelight, she doesn't want to do other things, she just wants to be the maid who stands beside Adele and serves calmly, making herself look extra "elite" and capable like Mrs. Lude and excellent.

She knew that in terms of brilliance and ability, she was not comparable to Mrs. Lu De, but compared with other maids of the same age, she was not only lucky, but also considered to be a relatively outstanding one.

She dreamed of such an opportunity. Now that Adele finally held a dinner party, everyone knew that she would hire the maids around her to help with the work. Mary, a girl who might hide a little bit of laziness, took the initiative to come forward.

Adele didn't mind this, and understood her excitement very much.

So, Mary could go on talking, but Adele didn't really want to know about this lady.

"Mary, you understand..." She put it another way, "I actually wanted to ask the old baroness."

"You mean the Baron's mother?" Mary responded.

"To be honest, I don't know much, because she is too old, and she is different from other wives." She vaguely referred to several families with the names of long-lived old wives, because it didn't sound too respectful, Fortunately, Adele understood, "The old lady of their family really...has no news for a long time."

"You know... Everyone said that after the family almost went bankrupt, the old lady's spirit was not very good, probably because she was old, sick, or something, all kinds of problems are common, isn't it I said, it's not easy to live that long..."

"Oh, but..." Mary paused again, "If it wasn't for the Baroness Bernard mentioned just now, I wouldn't have thought of it..."

"Old Baroness Bernard, this lady who seems to have lost her voice in recent years, seems to have been weakened by Baron Bernard's family for some reason... used to seem to like the girl who was engaged."

"So that one?!" Adele's brows and eyes suddenly lit up, as if she finally got the information she was curious about and cared about.

Mary received the signal she gave, and racked her brains to recall.

"Hey, what is it... anyway..."

"Everyone knows that Mr. Baron originally had an engaged wife, but he went bankrupt, and now it's his turn..."

"But someone seems to have said that the old baroness had taken a fancy to this young lady, but her family regretted the marriage..."

"Yes, that's right, it's exactly what you think. At the beginning, many people thought that this lady preferred the original one, so everyone guessed that she was crazy because the girl she liked more abandoned her proud son. ...But no one knows whether she is crazy or not, she hasn't been seen for a long time, and there will always be some problems with her body when she gets older."

The author has something to say:

Don’t make a comparison at an arrogant price. The pound is worth more than the franc, and the times are slightly different. We can discuss the specific conversion next time. I have also done my homework here.

The dowry figure of 50 francs sounds exaggerated, but compared with the price of Eugenie Grandet’s work in the 80s, after Grandet’s death, Eugenie, as the sole heir, can inherit 700 million francs. When Grandet was alive, Eugenie was forced to save [-] louis pocket money as a dowry (that is, [-] francs)

Then it was mentioned in La Traviata that Armand can use the voucher to get an annuity from a house, which is about [-] francs. The rent collection is about five or six thousand a year.

The basis of the data is basically above, no matter how much more, don’t get entangled, just have fun _(:з」∠)_