Miss Eugenie Grandet

The living room suddenly fell into silence.

After a while, all eyes were on President de Bonfon, who had been named by the heiress.

The chief judge's face faded from all the blood in an instant, and then he seemed to realize something faintly, and flushed instantly because of excitement.

He stared at Eugenie without blinking, his eyes wide open, and the muscles beside his cheeks twitched slightly.Just when he swallowed hard, moistened his dry throat, and tried to move his feet towards the heiress, the old Grandet who had been sitting in the corner before suddenly ran away like a sleeping tiger. stand up.

He moved nimbly, walked in front of Eugenie in a few steps, and blocked the judge who was trying to approach.

The old man's eyes flashed fiercely like a night wolf, and he stared quietly at the presiding judge, who couldn't help shivering with fear, and stopped in his tracks.

After stopping the judge, Grandet turned his face and gave orders in a cold tone: "My daughter, come with me."

After he finished speaking, he walked out, stepping heavily on the floor, making a creaking sound.

Eugenie followed him, and the two entered the old man's room one after the other.

As soon as the door was closed, Grandet looked at his daughter with the same eyes that had frightened the judge away just now, and when he found that she was completely indifferent, he finally began to walk around the room in annoyance, asking questions.

"Eugenie, what did you mean by telling M. Crochet to stay alone?"

"You know, father," said Eugenie.

"Scary! You actually talk to me in such a nonchalant tone!" Grandet stopped and said angrily, "You don't mean to tell me that you decided to choose this man to be your husband?"

"You are right."

"Unless you are crazy! Otherwise, how could you choose him to be your husband?"

"Mr. Crochet is stable, obedient, and knowledgeable. He is a very suitable husband candidate," Eugenie said calmly in the old father's almost roaring voice. We all know that you will leave me sooner or later. In this world, no one can escape the call from heaven. If you don’t get married at least once in your life, it will be condemned by social morality and religious teachings. So in your Afterwards, I need a husband who, like you, can continue to take care of things that are inconvenient for me or that I don't want to deal with. As you know, Mr. Crochet is the best candidate."

"Damn Paradise! Go to hell!" Grandet continued to growl. "As for your husband, yes, but you can marry that Philippe Laner! Didn't I ask you to marry him last night? He doesn't know how much better he is than that idiot Crosch!"

"What you want is for me to marry twenty-five flotafones? Father, I remind you again, I will make money for you, twenty-five or even fifty flotafones. You don't have to Take me for such a small piece of land. And, let me ask, do you really trust Napoleon and this third empire he built so much? Don’t forget that his second empire only lasted Hundred days. This time, although they entered the Tuileries Palace for the third time and survived by winning a war by luck, who knows what will happen in the future? Maybe soon, everything will change again. What about the sudden collapse? If so, father, do you think the 25 Floavfons will still belong to you?"

In fact, the old Grandet did not fail to consider Eugenie's reminder.But like all misers who are bent on getting money, when a huge amount of wealth suddenly falls from the sky in front of him, his first thought is to take it for himself first.As for the future, all misers are obstinately convinced that once they have swallowed their stomachs, their luck will never be so bad that they will one day be forced to spit out what they have eaten.

So now that his daughter punctured him so mercilessly, old Grandet seemed even more angry.

"Eugenie, are you trying to annoy your father on purpose? Yes, yes..."

He walked around his daughter twice angrily, howling incessantly.

"What's the use of having children! It's just a knife in the heart! This time, it's true, Eugenie, if you don't listen to your old father and really marry Crochet, I will marry you." Sever the relationship! Cancel your right of inheritance!"

"Father, I'm sorry for disappointing you with my decision. But I can assure you that before I get married, I will enter into a legal document with Mr. Crochet. That is, whether I have married or not, I have no responsibility for you The status quo of your property will not be affected at all. You will never suffer any loss, unless I die earlier than Mr. Crochet. But if there is such a day, you should not see it. So, what you need to do now, Not threatening me, or opposing my decisions, but praying that I outlive my husband."

"Listen! Such cruel words came from my daughter's mouth!"

Old Grandet stared at the back of his daughter who had turned around, and let out a desperate and angry wail.

Eugenie turned a deaf ear to the door, and went straight to the door. When she opened it, she raised her chin slightly, her face even more indifferent.

Philip was standing outside the door, as if he had been standing there for a long time.

The wind rushed in through the suddenly opened door, blowing the candles on the table flickering.The firelight cast on his face, making his face half-lit and half-dark, and it was a bit hard to see his expression clearly.

"Father Grandet, please allow me to have a few words with Mademoiselle Grandet."

After gazing at Eugenie for a moment, his eyes lifted, passed over her head, and fell on Grandet behind her.

"Speak! Speak! Say whatever you want!" Grandet yelled angrily, "She is no longer my daughter! Life and death have nothing to do with me!"

"Thank you!"

His eyes fell again on Eugenie's face.

"I know very well in my heart that the reason why you made such a decision is because of me. So, if you don't want to see your wishes come to nothing, then please give me a chance to speak."

When he said this, his voice was low and depressed.But whether it is expression or tone, it seems unusually calm.It's a different person from the way they met during the day.After saying the last sentence, he even bent over towards her in an extremely gentlemanly manner, followed, turned around and walked out quickly.

Eugenie did not hesitate, and followed immediately.

Between them, there really needs to be one last conversation.

This is also her wish.

After the dialogue, the world will regain peace.

He walked quickly, with long strides.One step was almost equal to her two steps, and he didn't seem to slow down and wait for her.So when he came out of the house and stopped at last in the grape field by the haystack where they had first met, she had been left a long way behind him.

He turned around and watched her walking towards him under the moonlight, her steps were not too fast or slow.The part of the chest where the heart was beating violently suddenly felt a twinge like a severed finger.When she finally stopped in front of him who was almost alone, looking at him with a cold and calm gaze, this colic feeling suddenly became worse.

Just this second before, he still felt as if there were countless words gushing out of his mouth, but now, he suddenly didn't know what to say.Even, facing her like this, he even developed a kind of fear.

He remembered the wailing from her father when he was standing outside the door just now—accusing her of being cruel and heartless.

Just before tonight, he had been stubbornly convinced that it was just a disguise she could put on.

But now, he was suddenly a little less sure.

"Eugenie...I originally hoped, but I was wrong..."

He called her name in a low voice, and finally spoke, "But just now, I heard the conversation between you and your father..."

His voice lowered until it disappeared.

"Yes. So, shouldn't you bless me?"

He stared at her expressionless face.After a moment of silence, he smiled wryly, looking even more gloomy.

"You really disdain my feelings for you so much, even to the point of deep disgust, that you don't hesitate to use such a hasty decision to refuse my approach? God! Mr. Crochet!"

He read the title once, and his voice was slightly harsh, "What kind of determination did you make to make such a decision?"

"Mr. Rana, there are two points about your statement that I must correct. First, the decision was not made in one day, as you think. In fact, if I needed a husband , then, Mr. Crochet will be the most suitable marriage partner for me. I have determined this a long time ago. Second, I heard the contempt for Mr. Crochet in your tone just now. I I don't understand why you have such a sense of superiority. Is it because he has lived in Saumur for many years and has completely different living habits and dresses from you Parisians? If so, it shows your prejudice and superficiality even more .Since you have been outside the door just now, you must have heard my conversation with my father. I explained to my father why I chose Mr. Crochet. Apart from those reasons, he also has a decent life that I admire Style. So, choosing such a decent man whom I have known for many years to be my husband, what is there for you to question?"

"Okay... I apologize to you and to him for my contempt for Mr. Crochet just now!" Philip took a deep breath, "But no matter what you say, I can't accept your decision! I'm still that In a word, Eugenie, I don't believe you really hate me that much! Don't ask me why. This is my intuition. My intuition has saved my life several times on the battlefield, and my intuition can't be wrong! This time, my intuition tells me that no matter how good that Mr. Crochet is, your decision is completely out of avoiding me. I admit that some of my actions during the day today, or before, are really true to you It's an offense—although in my own opinion, those are all expressions of my inner feelings. But since you don't like it, I can also learn to restrain and change myself. From now on. So, now I also beg you, please change your decision first... I will do whatever you want me to do. I just hope you will give me one more chance..."

He moved closer to her and stopped.The moonlight shone on his face.The frenzy he'd displayed during the day was gone.At this moment, his brows were tightly frowned, and his expression looked painful and bewildered, like a child who suddenly lost his way forward.

Eugenie gazed at him.

Perhaps it was an illusion under the moonlight, but this time, unlike the previous indifference, her brows and eyes gradually showed a bit of softness.

"Philip," she said slowly--it was the first time in a long time that she called his name.

"Now that you are finally willing to learn what restraint is, then we have a basis for conversation. So, please don't interrupt me, I would like to tell you why I cannot accept your feelings."

"You have repeatedly emphasized your intuition that I have no feelings for you. You are right. But if you insist, it is a relationship between a man and a woman, and I will not bother to argue with you, although in my own opinion Come on, it's more about pity than love or anything like that. But one thing, I know very well, no matter what kind of emotion I have for you, I love myself more than you. Frankly speaking Well, the way you express your feelings makes me uneasy, even fearful. If I submit to your feelings, I don't know what will happen tomorrow. I am used to being in control of everything, and I will never allow anything to happen in my life. People and things that break the balance. And you are the one who is likely to break the balance. Yes, you are Napoleon's favorite, you have made great contributions to the reconstruction of the empire, and you can also strategize and use force to subdue the world. But Your identity and status as a professional soldier make me unable to feel any sense of stability with you. Besides this, what is more important is your character and the way you express your feelings. You may remember the one at the ball at the Duchess Palace in Paris Evening. I said, I would be very happy if my future son could be like you. You didn't seem very happy at the time. But the truth is, your feelings and the way you express them seem to me like a My child, your love is like a fire. When it comes, it burns like a ball of fire, but you forget that the more it burns, the faster it goes out. One day, when you love me so much, don’t Love me again—please don’t interrupt. The future is invisible, and any vow is empty—”

She interrupted his intention to distinguish, and then continued, "At that time, with your personality, I can completely imagine what will happen. You just said that this decision I made is to escape from you. Also Yes, it’s not right. To be precise, this is not my impulse, but a calm decision to put my previous thoughts into action after thinking. You are not a knight, and I am not a woman living in a dream who needs a knight’s salvation. Since my previous refusal could not wake you up from your dream of being a knight, I can only cut off your continued desire to be a knight. Since Mr. Crochet is a good husband candidate, then at this time Choosing him is a move that kills two birds with one stone. So, do you understand, my decision is indeed related to you, but more, I still think about it for myself. "

She finished speaking and looked at him quietly.

He stood stiffly,

After a long time, he finally moved.Slowly, he raised his injured hand wrapped in gauze.

"You mean that it was because of my action that you decided to marry Mr. Crochet?"

"Yes," she said clearly, "Originally, it was just a thought, maybe it would come true, maybe it wasn't necessary at all. But because of today's accident, I made a final decision."

His hands drooped limply, his face was pale, making his eyebrows and fallen forehead hair black as ink.

"It turns out that's how you look at me... because you saved me and saw me in the most desolate state, so in your mind, I have always been someone who needs your help and pity?"

She did not answer.

He twitched the corners of his mouth and squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying.

"I understand. Because I am not strong enough, and in your eyes, I am not mature enough to give you any sense of trust that you can rely on, so you would rather choose to marry a Ke who is like an answering guy who you have no feelings for at all." Mr. Luo Xu!"

She remained silent.

After a moment she said: "Philip, thank you for the affection you have for me. If you will respect my choice for it, I am happy to regard it as the highest compliment a man can give a woman. Of course, this does not mean that I approve of it." What you did to hurt yourself today," she glanced at his hand, "I hope you can recover soon."

"If there are no other questions, I'll go first."

She nodded at him, turned and left.

"last question……"

Suddenly came a low-pitched questioning voice from behind, "What about James? He loves you too, and proposed to you. Compared to Mr. Crochet, he should be the kind of person you said can make you see a stable future. would have been a better husband. Why didn't you choose him?"

She stopped and didn't look back.

"If he only asked me to be his wife, maybe I would consider it. But no. I don't think I can give him the feelings that a wife should give to a husband. Choosing him is not only unfair to him, but also to myself. It's also torture."

After she finished speaking, she walked away quickly.