The Happy Life of a Duchess

"Is there anything special about the play 'Lucles Borgia'?"

Adele was thinking about this matter in her heart. According to Leo's letter, she seemed to have some special "obsession" with this show.

She initially thought it was because the show itself might have some kind of special meaning to Leo, but soon Adele realized that the show wasn't really so special as to be irreplaceable.

Unlike those masterpieces that have been handed down to later generations, this drama is just one of many popular dramas that are relatively prosperous in this era. After realizing that this tragic love is not so special that it is irreplaceable, Adele immediately changed her mind.

"Lucles Borgia" tells a tragic love story involving incest, murder, etc., set in the countryside, but the special thing is that it is written by Victor Hugo.

Adele thought it was because Leo had deep feelings for her father's play, just like she had read all his works and admired him very much, but after learning about the scene at St. After the theater play and the cast, she understood where Leo struggled.

The female lead in this play is Juliet Drouet, the lover of Mr. Hugo, Leopoldina's father. There are too many, which is why they are so sought-after.

This lover, like some other lovers, reduced the frequency of her activities after falling in love with a certain gentleman, and insisted on her loyalty for Hugo, even though she had also taken on other men before that. , but after being with Hugo, she remained the same.

It was no secret that Hugo treated his lover very favorably.

In fact, this romantic lover has many lovers. After being with the actor Juliet, he still has other lovers. A gossip about the Hugo family.

Hugo and his wife are childhood sweethearts, and they are also well-matched. It was Mr. Hugo who took the initiative to pursue him.

However, not long after being together, the romantic Hugo soon had other lovers-this is not a rare thing for many gentlemen.

Having a wife in the legal and religious sense does not prevent them from having fun outside, having other lovers or playing with courtesans and whores.

And Hugo, as a romantic writer who is good at talking and writing love poems, has also expressed his love to many beautiful women.

Adele didn't know it at first, but after inquiring about these gossips for Leo, she got another news in addition.

It turned out that Leo's mother, Mrs. Hugo, soon after her husband had many lovers, felt that life became more and more boring. Although she still loved her husband in her heart, she also found a young critic and writer to be her lover.

Hugo was frustrated when he learned of his wife's betrayal, especially when she later chose this not-so-rich young man between her husband and her lover. The couple had actually separated more than ten years ago. , but never divorced, and now they live together for a period of time every year, but not often, according to others, the relationship between the two is relatively weak.

Only then did Adele know that the current situation of Leo's family was like this.

Although this kind of thing is not uncommon among nobles, and it is true that there are many similar family problems, but if Adele is in the position of Leopoldina herself, it is difficult for her not to be in this critical period. Feelings of confusion and hesitation.

As Leo himself said, her mother had both resentment and love for her father, and she was also full of dissatisfaction with the actress who wrote letters and talked to her father every day. A vow made before God and the priest.

As the eldest daughter, Leo was sandwiched between her parents, which became one of the reasons why they could not and did not want to divorce. In such an embarrassing growth state, Leo said very much that "marriage brought about by love must be beautiful. "In this case... it is also impossible.

Leo is still a girl who believes in love, but as a girl who needs to think about marriage, she will inevitably think more.

Maybe it's some kind of obsession brought about by witnessing parents quarreling when I was young, maybe it's because I'm full of confusion about the future and marriage, I want to see some possibility of the marriage of my parents' generation...

Adele asked herself, only felt that she had to feel helpless and bewildered in the face of such a bad upbringing experience.

Besides, the marriage at this time is basically a one-off, unless the other half dies, otherwise it will be a lifetime of incomprehension.

"I'm so glad..." Leo took her hand.

"I know you understand me."

"I understand you as best I can."

Adele's words are extremely sincere.

The two met at the entrance of the theater.

The Porte Saint-Martin Theater and the Paris Opera House are quite different in appearance, but they are both magnificent and magnificent places, only slightly different in style.

Because the evening opera performance was approaching, there were quite a lot of carriages parked here. Leo and Adele smiled and walked inside together under the guidance of the waiter.

Adele wore a sky blue long dress with a very fresh color today. It was as thin and clear as the sky after a sunny day and a rain. It is as gentle as water and has the softness of delicate flowers.

The hem of the upper body is lined with thin and dense lace, and with a little embroidery, it looks more delicate. The jasmine flowers on the skirt and sleeves are blooming in clusters, and the flowers are always a timeless pattern decoration.

It is paired with a beige plaid square shawl with tassels on the edge of the shawl, and an emerald gemstone necklace, which is a traditional style necklace. The emerald in the center is decorated with gemstones of various colors. The emerald ring made her fair and long fingers even more attractive.

Like Leo, both wore large-brimmed hats decorated with flowers.

Apart from lace, gemstones and flowers, most hats are now decorated with feathers. In addition to the exaggerated hairstyles and headdresses that were popular decades ago, some nobles now like to directly decorate their hats with birds——

This is the so-called bird specimen.

In addition to using feathers, some directly use specimen wings to decorate hats, but they are not very popular. At least for now, Adele knows that the direction of fashion is still in the hands of some people, including her, so this is not the mainstream fashion. , but I heard that Queen Victoria in England seems to like this kind of thing. *

She is worried about the so-called "carefully processed hats decorated with birds", and that is not her aesthetic, so she still prefers small hats decorated with feathers and flowers, rather than animals that are tens of centimeters taller Tall hat.

Along the way, many noble men and women greeted her.

Both Adele and Leo responded with a smile on their faces. When they entered the private room, there were constant gifts from husbands and ladies who wanted to talk to them.

The front of the private room is open, and you can talk to people on the left and right sides. Although it is not a private room, it is not difficult to communicate with the surroundings in the semi-open box, and you can clearly see the movement downstairs.

It wasn't until the beginning of the scene that Adele smiled and refused to the person who still wanted to talk.

Although Adele and Leo were chatting with the people around them, they didn't want other gentlemen to come to their private rooms. It was because the girl had made an appointment to talk privately, so it would make other gentlemen enter the private room. , especially they don't have any ideas in this regard, and they don't want to rely on this to increase their charm.

Adele already knew about the show in private, but she would not directly ask Leo about those words without winking.

She just smiled and listened to Leo and her quickly explain the outline of the plot. Although Adele learned about the story from a caring perspective, she didn't really watch the scene.

Leo still admires her father's talent very much. She can speak out almost any of his father's works proficiently, and she can say one, two, three to every supporting role.

She herself is also a smart girl who can read and read, and her talent is beyond reproach.

"Hey, do you know about that?"

Before the scene started, Leo suddenly thought of a gossip she was very curious about, and Adele naturally showed a curious look.

Although it is said that when watching a drama, try not to speak well, but sometimes those of them in the box have more social significance than watching the drama, and there are also cases of talking in the box, but everyone will basically keep their voices down.

At this time, the band in front of the stage had already started playing, and when the music started, Leo lowered his voice and spoke against Adele.

"What's the matter, don't keep it up."

"Didn't you listen to Morgana?"

Adele was taken aback for a moment, quickly recalled, and shook her head.

"No, what is it?"

"I heard," Leo whispered, "Mr. Duval intends to marry a wife."

The author has something to say:

Using bird specimens as hat decorations is one of the strange customs in the Victorian period. In the middle and late 19s, a large number of birds were caught to make hats, resulting in a sharp drop in the number of birds. At the end of the period, environmental protection organizations and people proposed to protect Birds, only use feathers, don't continue to make hats with whole birds.

Exaggerated hairstyles and headgear were the fashion caused by Queen Mary of Louis XVI of the Bourbon dynasty (late 18s). Looking at some paintings reflecting the culture of the time, it has been exaggerated to a height of half a meter by one meter, like a big ship above her head...