Miss Eugenie Grandet

Sitting in the carriage, going to the manor along the uneven road in the center of the town of Floavond, Eugenie asked herself several times, for what reason, she would once again be interested in this gambler-like ambition? Home lends a helping hand.

Unlike most of the peasants in this country who still regard the Emperor of the First Empire as their own, she has no special feelings for this big man.In the era when he was invincible in the world, she was just a little girl who sat in the old house every day and listened to Mrs. Grandet recite the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven.The light of glory brought to France by the emperor did not shine on her young heart.Moreover, in fact, just before seeing the weak man lying motionless in the dim candlelight with her own eyes, the image of the emperor imprinted in her mind was just a radical idealist defeated by reality, and so stubborn To the point of morbidity.

"When a person dies, the greatest sorrow is not his unfulfilled dreams, but the opportunities lost time after time due to inadvertent mistakes."

He said so much, or, it was this sentence that really touched her heartstrings-indeed, she was luckier than anyone else in the world.

Because she has a chance to do it all over again and make up for her regrets.

"stop--"

When she was lost in thought, she heard a shout from outside the carriage.

Meet the police on patrol.

The French police is an organization created by Fucha, who served twice as Minister of Police for the First Empire and the Hundred Days Dynasty.Now, together with their leaders, they are arresting the Emperor Napoleon whom they once swore allegiance to. It's just in the ancient legend of Gone with the Wind.

After the carriage stopped, a slightly indifferent face was reflected behind the glass windows on one side of the carriage.The inspecting police officer, Brodin, recognized it immediately and ran over in a hurry.

"Mademoiselle Grandet!"

He stopped at the side of the carriage and barked courteously.

Of course he knew the young lady who was talking to him now—the town, no, probably the richest heiress of Floisphon in the province.In recent months, she has been living in the manor with her mother, Mrs. Grandet, and has come to the church in the town twice a week, contributing a thousand francs a month.All of this was seen by everyone, and there was a lot of discussion.Like countless people whose hearts are moved by money, if he hadn't just heard that this lady was being enthusiastically pursued by two gentlemen whose family background matched her in Saumur, he would even consider whether to send his wife to visit and make friends thought.For he had a son of his own, who was handsome and of the same age as Mademoiselle Grandet.If he works harder and wins the position of the local police chief next year, maybe he will be full of hope to climb this family.

"Monsieur Brodin." Eugenie stared at him, as if recognizing him, and finally smiled, and nodded to him.

Although the attitude of the heiress was still quite indifferent, she actually recognized him, which was enough to make Mr. Brodin very excited, and his attitude became more attentive, "I'm very sorry for blocking you. I didn't know it was your carriage just now. That's it. You should have heard of it too? We were ordered to carry out a search mission."

Eugenie hummed, took the initiative to open the window, and pointed to the person sitting beside her.

"My mother and I just got out of the church and are planning to go back. Do I need my mother and I to get out of the car and accept your inspection?"

The police chief glanced at the head of the hooded man, "Of course not! Please continue on your way! Miss Grandet, I heard that you donated an extra thousand francs today? You are so kind, God will bless you .”

"Thank you."

After thanking her casually, Eugenie closed the window, and the carriage started again.

"Although she is rich and beautiful, she is really proud to look at."

After staring intently at Miss Grandet's carriage going away, another person beside him said something.

"Who says it's not! But aren't all rich ladies like this?"

The police leader withdrew his gaze, and then muttered something.

----

The emperor, who was leaning against the wall of the carriage, slowly opened his eyes, turned his face, and smiled at Eugenie.

"Thank you very much, miss."

His voice was soft, but recognizable, very composed.She was wearing the smock that Madame Grandet wore when she went out, and a turban on her head. Seen from behind, she looked no different from an old lady.When you turn your face away now, it will inevitably look funny.

Eugenie breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at the pale face opposite.It's hard to imagine that such a weak patient who looked like the carriage would fall apart at any time if the carriage shook a little more, was the figure who once made the whole of Europe unite to deal with it.

"You look a bit tired. Don't talk to me."

said Eugenie.

----

The careerist's previous thoughts were not wrong.The Château Floisfon is indeed the best place to recuperate.The man was placed in the attic of an empty house in the depths of the vineyard—it was originally a separate house used by the Marquis to spend summers. It was built near the water and was very secluded. Some days, there will be no one around all year round.The loft is cool and airy.Except for the occasional bird that flies by and rests in front of the window lattice, no one will climb up to see what's going on.Very suitable for Tibetans.

After Eugenie prepared enough food and requested paper and pens for the new residents, it seemed as if nothing had happened, and she continued to live her life every day.

After the freshness brought by the new life gradually faded, Mrs. Grandet began to talk about the old Grandet.But it seemed that she was afraid that her daughter would be unhappy when she heard it, so she only mentioned it occasionally.For example, what did he eat today, and if his clothes were scratched outside, would Nanon mend them in time?

Eugenie understood her state of mind.Although the husband has been stingy about expressing concern for his wife for so many years, he only has gold in his eyes, but a woman's heart is so soft, once she gets used to the existence of another person, and now she suddenly can't see it, she will inevitably start to miss it.So Eugenie spends more time with her mother - she is also happy to enjoy this kind of mother-daughter time together.She will take Mrs. Grandet for a walk in the manor at a fixed time, and accompany her to do needlework—although now, Mrs. Grandet does not have to spend time and effort making quilt covers or knitting woolen sleeves for winter. , but she still maintains a hardworking style.Compared with the table mats she bought, she prefers to knit them one by one.Then, when Mrs. Grandet went to rest, she would put on her old sun hat, take the gardener's shears and a small shovel, and go to tend the few flower beds-now, the ivy has climbed almost one wall. At the height of the cornflower, red, red, yellow and yellow flowers bloomed one after another, and in the original rose bush, the roses also burst into buds one by one.

She quite likes this kind of life.She will not feel tired of living her life like this.

A few days later, she heard back from James.

In the letter, he thanked her for her reply in a very pleasant tone, recognized her conditions, and finally said that he would start this new business immediately.If it is not convenient for her to come to Paris, he will bring all the relevant materials to meet her again for the final consultation before the official start.

Eugenie had never been one to be overconfident.She knows how much she weighs.With her current grade, she is simply incomparable with James.Even if she has had a few extremely successful investments in the past, it stands to reason that she wouldn't let a financial giant of the other party's level treat her like a corporal.

After receiving this letter, the little doubts in her heart were completely hooked out.But in the reply, she didn't mention a word, only expressed her gratitude for his understanding and looked forward to their next meeting.

At that time, it would not be too late to ponder his intentions.

After replying to the letter, she stood up and went to the window, and habitually glanced at the other house hidden deep in the vineyard—looking out from her direction, she could see a corner of the tower of that house.

The ambitious Mr. Philip had left here a few days ago, and she didn't know where he went, and she didn't ask.Now, only the big man was left to recuperate in the attic, and beside him was a doctor and attendant who had sneaked in at night.

She didn't know how the big man spent these days and nights recuperating here.I just remember one night two days ago, when she went to replenish food at night, she accidentally saw his back standing in front of the small window facing Paris in silence—it was not clear what he was thinking, nor How do you want to know.

One night, about half a month after his arrival, Philip returned.After recuperating during this period of time, the big man's body should have recovered a lot.

He had come to arrange for him to leave.

In the night, a small carriage with the people inside left this place without a sound, just like when they came.While Madame Grandet, old Franck and the cook, mother and daughter were already asleep, and Eugenie quietly went to the attic of the other house to clean up all the traces of people who had stayed, she inadvertently slid under the bed. A wad of paper that may have been rolled into it unintentionally when it was crumpled and discarded was found.After unfolding, I found a few lines written on it that read a little bit without thinking:

"...my failure is my own fault...I am my own worst enemy...the bow is full and fragile...I used to believe too much in my luck..."

The handwriting is scribbled and unstable, and it is not difficult to guess how the person who wrote this line was feeling at the time.

Eugenie burned the paper with the oil lamp in her hand.After checking the room for the last time and finding nothing suspicious, she went downstairs and walked back to the house she lived in under the white moonlight. When she passed the rose garden, a figure suddenly appeared in the grape field beside her.

"Mademoiselle Grandet!"

A voice whispered in her ear.

Eugenie looked around, and raised her eyebrows after seeing the person who suddenly appeared.

"You are always such a surprise, Mr Philip," she said in a low voice, "what are you doing here?"

Everyone could tell that her tone was not friendly.But the man on the opposite side didn't care, and suddenly reached out to grab her arm, and led her to hide behind the already lush grape ridge. After standing still, he let go of her and smiled at her.

"Miss, I came back because I felt the need to thank you again. Besides," his tone became more serious, "I want to remind you that there may be troubles in the future. This is not very far from Paris. If you are affected "It's not safe," he looked around, "it's not safe for you to live here like this."

He took out something completely black.

A small pistol that is still rare today.

"This is for you, it's fully loaded." He demonstrated the operation process to her, and then handed the gun to her hand, "Please keep it for self-defense."

"Goodbye, I wish you all the best—"

Under the moonlight, his eyes were shining as he stared at her, his expression seemed hesitant to speak.Suddenly, he took a step closer to her, and when he seemed to be about to say something else, an angry roar suddenly sounded in his ear.

"Okay! Eugenie! You actually have a private meeting with a man here without telling your father! No wonder you insist on living here by yourself! Now your father has caught you!"

Eugenie was startled.Turning around suddenly, he saw an eagle-like figure jumping out from the other end of the grape seedlings, and immediately, the angry face of the old man approached.

The author has something to say: CP, Eugenie’s ultimate CP is wealth... O(∩_∩)O ha~