The Happy Life of a Duchess

In the afternoon, Adele finally saw her illegitimate half-brother.

The illegitimate child in this era has no status, no legitimate inheritance rights, and what he can get is completely dependent on what his father or mother can bestow on him.

For a powerful lord, it is not surprising to have one or even several lovers, and it is not surprising to have several illegitimate children. At the same time, because a courtesan may receive several men at the same time, not all illegitimate children can be recognized. , there are many women and illegitimate children who give birth to children but do not receive a franc.

Adele's brother Alexander is undoubtedly the lucky one among all the Duke's illegitimate children.

Because of his mother's previous status as a maid and the duke's little care, he barely got the maintenance fee, and he was taken care of after his mother died.

Adele has no prejudice or dissatisfaction with him.

She had expected that she would not be able to inherit all the duke's title and property, and what she could not get would not belong to this illegitimate child who was not recognized by the church and the law.

Although there are many active illegitimate children in the upper class and even in the whole society, they are still despised by the mainstream and violate the sacred marriage.

"Hello, sister."

Alexander was a sallow and thin little boy, perhaps because he was going to live in the Duke's mansion for a period of time, he was barely cleaned up, and his maid stood awkwardly aside, hardly daring to look at her directly, with obvious fear.

The 12-year-old boy, who is clearly contrasted with the middle-aged maid, has a pair of fierce eyebrows and eyes, and there are probably scars from a fight at the corner of his mouth. Although he is thin and small, he looks pretty good, with a straight spine .

"……Hello."

Adele could clearly see the alienation in his eyes.

The current meeting is still a bit unexpected.

She knew very well that all the faults should not be attributed to a child who was born without knowing it, but the other party's extraordinarily indifferent and vague hostility towards her completely dispelled all her sympathy and interest in him.

She will not intentionally embarrass this too thin boy, she just hopes that they can spend a period of time together safely for the time being.

At dinner, Adele finally met her father, Duke Juradi.

"Father." At a distance of three or four meters, she saluted politely.

This is an old duke with a beer belly. Although he looks over 60, he doesn't look so exaggerated.

There is a lot of flesh on his face and body, but he is not considered fat, but there is a pampered delicacy all over his body.

He also has a pair of divine deep blue eyes, which Adele inherited perfectly.

"Eh." He responded bluntly.

Originally, he seemed to want to step forward to hug her, but seeing Adele's indifferent appearance, he took back the steps he stepped out and the hand he extended, and covered his mouth with his hands in a concealed manner, and coughed twice.

"I'm back..." He felt inappropriate after finishing speaking, and added, "It's good that people are fine."

His speech was also dry. Adele asked "how is father" with concern, and after he replied "everything is fine", he was instantly cold.

Adele blinked and followed him to the restaurant.

She lagged behind him a little out of caution, but she didn't expect that his little eyes, which she thought she had concealed well, glanced back a few times, as if she was looking at him, and she nodded for no reason, as if she was satisfied .

Adele looked forward without squinting, pretending not to feel his eyes and hesitant expression.

"Father, do you need to call Alexander together?"

"Oh..." He responded casually, without thinking about it, and he realized when he saw her looking at him, "Oh yes, call him here, and save yourself two places to eat."

After he finished speaking, he felt that something was wrong, and turned to look at her tentatively:

"What does Adele think?"

"can."

She nodded, smiling, and he nodded too.

After ordering, I felt that I was not very dignified, so I walked straight to the restaurant with my hands behind my back.

Alexander was made an exception and allowed to dine at the same table. Adele only found out from Mary later that the family did not plan to let him eat at their main table, and his treatment was only a little better than that of the servants.

But Adele doesn't think there's any point in embarrassing a child in this way. It's just about a meal, and the family doesn't lack money. She doesn't have any stake in him, so naturally she doesn't care about it.

At the dining table, the housekeeper and servant served dishes in an orderly manner.

The Duke also wanted to arrange chicken breast and other sick meals for her, but she voluntarily refused.

She no longer needs to eat this, she can eat normally, the Duke reluctantly nodded in agreement after explaining for a long time, but she is not allowed to drink more drinks such as punch.

After a few people ate for a while, the Duke asked her a lot about her life in the nursing home, and complained that her letter was too short, and it was okay to let someone else write it for him.

After hearing her answer, he said again, "It's too dangerous" and "Fortunately, God blesses" and so on.

Adele felt a little fear from his tone, and it was the same after thinking about it. Her biological brothers and sisters were all dead. His heir was also sent away, and he was getting older, so how could he not be sad.

"It's a good thing you're back..." He ate a mouthful of baked snails and drank another sip of red wine, maybe because he drank too much, he said a little more, "I have you by my father...but I just want to... "

Adele didn't hear what was said in the Northland dialect, but she just smiled. The butler stepped forward and quietly removed the wine, and replaced him with hangover soup.

Now she thinks the duke's father is a little funny.

Just as she was laughing, she met a pair of slightly vicious eyes and looked up. It was her illegitimate brother who was sitting across from him.

Adele finally understood that the Duke was not someone who could take care of children at all, just like her modern father.

The most astonishing thing is that he doesn't care much about other children. Even Alexander, who seems to have enjoyed a certain amount of good treatment, doesn't really like him. He didn't even look at him during the whole process. If there is no one sentence, it is probably enough for him to read a book if he is not hungry to death.

Adele smiled at him, her brown hostile eyes froze and her face froze.

The skinny kid pouted, tilted his head and deliberately didn't look at her. After a while, he found that she was still looking at him, and couldn't help turning around. He gave her a weak look, and started to drink soup quickly.

The Duke was probably really drunk, and he started talking about her marriage.

From his nonsense, she managed to extract one thing, that is, she could indeed marry independently to a certain extent, only under the condition of well-matched families and non-hostile families.

But women in this era have no property rights. Nowadays, French women do not have the right to own private property. All the dowry will be used as the husband’s property in the future, but the richness of the dowry will completely affect her status and treatment in her husband’s family.

But at the same time, he also assured her that he would definitely prepare a very generous dowry for her. Adele thought about the jewels in her room, and had no doubts about his generosity.

For her, the most important point in all the words is that she doesn't have to worry about whether the property will be taken back or not. Even if he dies unexpectedly and the title is inherited by his nephew, she will not have the share that she should have. will be deducted—

Just because they are very rich.

The families of her cousins ​​are not inferior to the Duke's family, which is one of the reasons why they can let the old Duke spend money to raise his lover's illegitimate child without caring about fame and money.

They are not short of money or titles, and the Duke's property is just icing on the cake for them.

That being the case, it's nothing to let the old duke enjoy himself, and the duke will not be so disrespectful as to let her take out the family foundation as a dowry.

But relatively, she will not lack jewelry or other financial aspects.

After realizing this, Adele was amazed, but also couldn't help feeling that she really had a good birth, compared with other women of the same generation.

Having said that, after the meal, she took the initiative to find Mrs. Lude.

"Amande." She said nervously.

"What's the matter, my lady?" She put down her needlework, met her, and poured her a cup of hot tea.

"When will my sister come? I saw my brother today..." She gathered her coat, and it was a bit cold at night, so she changed the cloak into her coat.

"That courtesan is not fit to be your sister."

Mrs. Lude corrected, and Adele nodded with a confused expression.

Seeing that she was still in such a daze, she also sighed a little.

"Since the Duke mentioned your marriage today, I think you should also know..."

"Yes?" Adele acted as if she was listening attentively, and followed her advice carefully.

Her well-behaved appearance also made Mrs. Lu De feel even more emotional in her heart. After all, she still has feelings.

"Having such a 'sister-in-law' is of no benefit to your marriage, and may even have a great impact."

"Maybe you don't know, but I know exactly what such a despicable woman looks like. She won't live in peace for a long time when she returns to Paris. Women like them have long been accustomed to a life of depravity and luxury, even if Mr. Duke sponsors her The living expenses of tens of thousands of francs still can't stop their appetite."

"This woman who has bewitched Mr. Duke will return to the life of a courtesan sooner or later. By then, her corrupt life as a prostitute will seriously affect the reputation of you and the entire Juradi family..."

"Because she is the goddaughter my father recognized?"

Adele was a little surprised on her face, but she wasn't surprised in her heart. In the original book, there was also something that affected the marriage of the hero's younger sister, but she had only guessed before, but now she finally understands.

"Yes, it's not a good thing to have a courtesan relative with a low family background, not to mention that she will soon be your sister in name, it will be an unimaginable blow to your marriage, but any family that cherishes reputation will not Will be willing to marry you and our family..."

Adele's complexion seemed a little bad, but it didn't seem to be completely the case.

Mrs. Lu De only thought that she didn't understand at first, and she was also very curious and expectant about this sister, but now that she knew the truth, she was hit hard.

"About this matter, I will ask Monsieur the Duke again in person."

"It doesn't matter if you just sponsor a woman, but if you let her live in Bailu Manor as a young lady, it's really..."

"Too ridiculous."

Adele doesn't know why she changed her mind, but to her, it should be a good thing.

If she hadn't found out that Mr. Duke really loved her, she wouldn't have tried it like this.

The author has something to say:

Punch wine: also in the original book, a British drink made of shochu or fruit wine mixed with sugar, black tea, lemon, etc.