Miss Eugenie Grandet

While Eugenie was speaking, there was a light knock at the door of the box, and an attendant from the theater entered, holding in his hand a beautiful box decorated with colored paper and flowers.

"Miss Grandet, I'm very sorry to bother you, but a gentleman told me to deliver this gift to you, hoping to add a wonderful surprise to your night."

He carefully held the box and put it on the table next to Eugenie.

Eugenie frowned, "Who is it?"

"I don't know. But he said you'd just open the note and you'd find out who he was."

"I'm not interested in playing this kind of game. Please return it for me, thank you."

It was probably the first time this happened, the waiter seemed a bit embarrassed, "I'm very sorry, miss, but... the gentleman just now has left... I may not be able to find him..."

After a short silence, Eugenie said: "Okay, I see. Thank you. You can go."

The waiter breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly bowed to the young lady and the other Mr. Duke in the box, and turned to leave.

Eugenie stopped talking, and Philip fell silent.

Like her, his eyes fell on this extremely beautifully decorated box.

Who will it be?

Earl of Widower hot rum?

Baron Xieyou in urgent need of a rich wife?

Or the playboy Fore who has been pursuing her recently?

Under the gaze of the man next to her, Eugenie didn't want to show too much of her inner emotions.Noticing a folded card inserted in the flower above the box, she stretched out her hand, and when she was about to take out the card, a hand suddenly stretched out from the side, blocking her movement.

"You don't touch it yet. May I have a look at this thing first?"

Then she heard him ask himself this very abruptly.Can't help but look at him in surprise.

He didn't seem to be joking. After saying this, his eyes were fixed on the box, and his face looked very serious.

To be honest, her dissatisfaction with him was really going to be completely ticked off.

Who did he think he was to her?

"Don't get me wrong," he continued to stare at the box, defending his actions, "I didn't intend to invade your privacy, but I found it a bit strange. When the waiter came in with it, I don't know if you noticed it, but he The wrist is stretched, that is to say, this box is a bit heavy, which is not in line with the gifts I know that men usually give women to please her—of course, it cannot be ruled out that this gentleman gave you a gift. Box of gold coins to please you. Also, if my memory serves me correctly, this waiter has worked here for many years, and he should know the society men who frequent the place, but he says he doesn't know the man who entrusted him with the gift gentlemen……"

"Miss Grandet, have you been courted by any newcomer to society lately?"

Finally, looking at Eugenie, he asked directly.

Eugenie gave him an annoyed look, "Mr. Laner, you are usually used to analyzing everything you encounter in this way? You don't want to tell me that this is a Pandora's box, and disaster will come when you open it?"

"If it weren't for this, I probably wouldn't have the chance to sit here and talk to you like this now." He seemed not to understand the irony in her words, and his expression was still solemn. Exactly. Now, can I smell this thing?"

Let's put it this way, if Eugenie had found his behavior very annoying just now, she found it ridiculous now.

"You can do whatever you want. It's good to make you feel at ease."

She raised her eyebrows and agreed to his request, then, watching him move towards the box, after getting closer, she sniffed like a hound a few times.Suddenly, he straightened up quickly.

"I'm very sorry, but you can't touch this box. It's not for you. It's for me, I should say."

He carefully picked up the box and quickly walked out of the box.

----

Half an hour later, in the emptied office of the theater manager, the bullet-making experts who arrived urgently dismantled the box carefully, cut the fuse, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"General, this is a very cleverly disguised miniature bomb. The detonating cord is connected to the card inserted outside. Once the card is pulled out, the bomb will explode immediately. Fortunately, you just discovered it early. If it triggers an explosion, the consequences will be disastrous. "

Philip calmly ordered the Paris police chief who came after hearing the news to take the theater waiter away for questioning, and then left the manager's office.

The theater performance is still going on.The high-pitched passionate singing of the soprano passed through the walls separated by several floors, and echoed in every corner of the entire building.

Walk quickly to the passage leading to the box on the second floor.When he stepped up a few stairs, his steps stopped.

Eugenie was standing at the corner above the stairs, holding the stairs with one hand, and looking down at him below.

Philip was stunned for a moment, then took a few strides up, and finally stopped in front of her.

"You don't have to worry. It's all right." He said with a smile, "I'll take you back to the box and watch this wonderful show."

Eugenie glanced at the theater manager and the hurried policeman at the end of the passage behind him, her tone was very calm: "Do you think I still have the mood to enjoy the opera? Because of your arrival, this originally wonderful opera The night was ruined. You owe me an explanation."

Philip hesitated for a moment, "Yes, I really should give you an explanation. Please follow me." He turned around and walked down the stairs quickly.Eugenie followed him down to the door of the manager's office.

"I have something to discuss with this lady. No one is allowed in without permission."

He gave the order to the two imperial policemen at the gate.

"Understood! General! I will firmly guard the passage and not let anyone in!"

The policeman saluted him and answered loudly.

The bombs on the table have been cleared away.When the door was closed, Philip beckoned Eugenie to sit down.

Eugenie did not move, but remained standing.

Philip's expression was completely different from before.Looked very apologetic.Moreover, it is a sincere apology.

"I'm so sorry, it was a bomb. Someone wanted my life and you were involved..."

He looked at Eugenie, and spoke very carefully, as if afraid of frightening her.

"Who? Who wants your life?"

She didn't even blink her eyes, she just asked this coldly.

Hearing her question, Philip smiled wryly and spread his hands.

"A lot. Royalists, Britons, Septembrists, even my dissident colleagues in the Empire. Anyone. It's too early to be sure."

After a moment of silence, Eugenie looked at him and said softly: "That is to say, if you hadn't stopped me in the box just now, I might have been with me now and was blown to pieces by the bomb?"

"I'm sorry—" He looked guilty and anxious, and couldn't help walking towards her, "but please believe me, I will protect you, and never let such a thing happen again."

"You are mistaken, Monsieur Philippe," said Eugenie slowly, gazing at him, "don't you realize that you are the greatest danger to me? No matter who sent the bomb tonight Who, their target is not me, but the person next to you. This person can be anyone."

"Yes Yes……"

Philip looked very embarrassed, "I am very, very sorry. But, as I said just now, I will definitely pay more attention to protecting you. Don't worry, I will never let such a thing happen again..."

"Please don't come close to me again, this is the greatest protection for me." Eugenie said, "I don't want to experience such a potential danger again. If you are really sorry for this, please face up to my request .I will be very grateful to you. My words are over, and now, I must go."

Eugenie walked towards the door, and when she was about to pass by him, she tightened her wrist and was caught by him.

"What else do you want to do? I have to go!"

She shook it hard a few times, but when she found that she couldn't shake it off, he grabbed it even tighter and turned his head angrily to ask questions.

"Don't worry, my people are guarding the outside, no one can come in!" He replied, his tone was a bit weird, before Eugenie had time to figure out what he meant, the next moment, she found herself dragged by him, Forcibly dragging her in front of him, followed, her waist tightened, his arms were like an iron hoop, tightly fixing her to his chest.

As if all the blood in her body had rushed to her face and heart, Eugenie's face flushed immediately, and her heart beat faster.

"You are so rude! Let go of me immediately!"

She tried her best to maintain her composure, and ordered her to let go of herself in a low voice.But the tension that could not be faked from her body was transmitted to each other unreservedly through the touching skin of the two.

He stared at her, neither moving nor letting go of her.However, gradually, his originally tense expression began to relax.

"You are always used to giving orders to me, being high above..."

His arms around her waist did not relax at all, but his voice sounded very gentle and patient, as if he was coaxing her.After saying this nonsense, he even sighed, staring at her trembling eyelashes even more, "But it's strange, I seem to be used to your attitude. So what did you say just now, I don't really care... I just know that I like you, yes, my heart doesn't lie, it tells me that I like you. You probably wouldn't believe it, listening to the foreign minister's long and Long-winded debate, I was even thinking about you at one point. Recalling the first time I met you. Yes, your eyes, have left a deep impression on me since then... So today I say I can't wait to run over. Now I just want to know, how do you feel when I treat you like this?"

"Mr. Lana, I warn you, if you are so rude again, I..."

Eugenie cried out angrily.

Her face was so red that it was about to bleed, not only her face, but now her neck, as well as her exposed shoulders and chest skin, began to glow a light pink, as if she had drunk wine.

"Ah—I know it if you don't tell me," he continued to interrupt her threat with that dreamy soft tone, "angry. I know you are angry. Your heartbeat is also fast..." He glanced at He glanced at her chest, and then quickly looked away, "But besides anger, don't you really feel anything else now..."

Probably because she was too frightened and angry, now that she heard him asking such a question, Eugenie calmed down a little.

At the same time, she also found that her performance just now was a little out of control.

She decided to correct it immediately.

She took a long breath, and after the slight dizziness as if she couldn't breathe disappeared, although the red tide on her face hadn't faded yet, her tone was much calmer than before.

"Any other feeling? What feeling do you mean? Disgust? If it's this, I tell you, you won't be disappointed."

"Miss Grandet, has anyone kissed you before?"

He was still staring at her, and suddenly asked softly.

Before Eugenie could react, her eyes suddenly went dark, her breathing was stagnant, and his face was caught off guard, and then, two warm lips pressed against hers.

She struggled, trying to get rid of his lips, but the back of her head was fixed by his other palm, and she couldn't escape his control.

For a moment, her brain seemed to explode with a bang.Many fragments of the old days that were thought to have been completely buried suddenly rushed out from the depths of memory.

Saumur's old house...the dim attic passage...under the old wall covered with weeds...the awakened young girl fell in love with a playboy from Paris without reservation...she offered her first kiss... …

I thought it would be a sweet start.

In the end, it just proved that it was actually a sin that she could not atone for in her whole life.

In her whole life, she is still atoning for her sins.

----

Her body is so soft, her lips are so soft...

It was exactly the same feeling as he had imagined before.

He had wanted to do this for a long time.I want to use my hot kiss to prove that she is not as cold and emotionless as she appears.But there has never been a chance.He is too busy.Busy running around planning, busy dealing with their enemies, busy maintaining the existing order.Now finally got the chance.

To be honest, this was not what he expected.Just a second ago, he never thought that he would do such a thing.But it just happened, and for him, it came naturally.

He was controlled by an extreme sense of excitement—similar to the kind of pleasure that has been suppressed for a long time and suddenly bursts out.Not satisfied with just this kind of contact, when he hugged the body in his arms even tighter, trying to pry her lips and teeth open with his lips, hoping that she could use this to empathize with him and experience the dripping and boiling in his heart at the moment Suddenly, he felt the coldness on his cheek.

He woke up quickly.

As if being poured with a basin of cold water, he let her go abruptly.

Her eyes were moist, and her expression was slightly bleak, but the blush on her cheeks and the bright red color of her lips from being sucked just now did not fade away.

Such a face has a kind of shocking and strange beauty.

He stared at her blankly, his eyes were confused and apologetic.

"I'm very... sorry..." He tried to wipe the tears off her face with his hand, but found that she was still staring at him like that. After holding her hand in the air, he finally took it back, "What's wrong with you...I... It wasn't intentional..."

Eugenie turned her back to him.

After a moment of silence, just when he was hesitating and wanted to speak again, she suddenly said: "Mr. Lana, you don't have to apologize. I don't care about what happened just now. The reason why you did this to me The thing is to prove that I am not indifferent to you, is it? You say you like me, what do you like me? You don’t understand me at all. Romeo and Juliet who died for love, Lover in the Moonlight Yes, the lady fainting in the arms of her lover, the girl trembling in the dark forest waiting for the rescue of a heroic knight, sobs, tears, kisses and vows... to hell with all this, I don't believe these clichés are called A love story that makes people want to laugh. So, stop your approach. Because you are meaningless to me."

Eugenie vigorously wiped off the wetness on her face, then went to open the door, and left quickly under the watchful eyes of the imperial police standing by the corridor.

The repertoire on the stage is drawing to a close, and the audience is still busy with their own affairs.No one knew that just a moment ago, there was almost an explosion murder here.

The Duchess has just returned at last.Obviously, she was a little surprised that the box was empty.When she was hesitant to look for it, a smile appeared on her face when she saw Eugenie came back.

"My dear, I'm very sorry, I've been away for a while. I ran into an acquaintance just now... Uh, what's the matter with you?"

After taking her coat, Eugenie stood up and said calmly: "Duchess, thank you very much for your attention. But just now, you shouldn't have done this. Frankly, I am disappointed. I hope there will be no more." Second-rate."

She smiled at the embarrassed Duchess and turned to leave.

----

"Philip! You must be honest with me. What did you do to her? God, I really regret helping you. It was so embarrassing. I should have known that you can do anything." ! In the future, don’t think about me helping you again!”

Before the scene was over, the Duchess who finally found Philip questioned him repeatedly.

Philip didn't seem to notice the Duchess's question. After a long silence, he suddenly asked: "Barina, I'm very confused. Please do me another favor and tell me the answer. If you were kissed by a man and you shed tears, Why? Does it mean that you hate him very much?"

The Duchess let out an exaggerated exclamation as her eyes widened in surprise. "You are too shameless! You actually did such a thing!"

"I am asking you for help," said Philip. "You may laugh at me. But when you have finished laughing, please tell me an answer."

The Duchess smiled narrowly.

"That's because your kissing skills are not good enough to win her heart."

Philip stared at her sadly.

"Okay, okay, I know you're in a bad mood..." The Duchess thought for a while, and finally said, "If you hate me very much, your reaction should not be tears, but a slap in the face. Sadness, it should be Some sad past. Maybe your actions reminded her of some unpleasant past?"