His Excellency the Count of Grandet

Obviously, on this day, the father and son of the Grandet and Lafitte families had a happy night.When they got up the next day, the sons continued to work, while the idle fathers began to get busy with Charles' birthday party——

Because during the business negotiations between Britain and France, Guillaume deeply felt that his son could be alone, so he happily resigned from the positions of judge of the commercial court and colonel of the National Guard, and prepared to concentrate on supporting the elderly and helping Charles by the way.

——Although the status of Grandet in Paris is now rising, it is not appropriate to do it in order to prevent the tree from attracting wind, but it is always okay to have a small salon at home, right?

Charles always knew that his father loved his son dearly, so he went with Guillaume.According to what he thought, keep a low profile when sending invitations, and there will be only a dozen or twenty people at most.Victor seems to have almost contacted those who are interested, and maybe they can use his birthday as an excuse to get together and discuss major issues together.

There was nothing wrong with this idea, but there was someone among the guests that Charles had never thought of before.

"Charles, this is His Excellency Viscount Blanchet, your own uncle." Before the birthday party was about to start, Guillaume introduced this, with a hidden reluctance in his tone and expression.

It is no wonder that Guillaume is unhappy in various ways - because this Lord Viscount Blanche is the elder brother of his wife, Charles' mother Emily.However, since Emily is an illegitimate daughter, she has nothing to do with the Blanche family except for her inheritance. Even her surname follows her mother's, not Viscount Blanche's.

As for the relationship between half-brothers and sisters, it can be seen from Guillaume's introduction to Charles.Charles is now 24 years old, even if he and his nephew met once before, he doesn't need to do so much now!

As far as the reason for alienation is concerned, it is actually very simple.Emily herself is an illegitimate daughter, and she is not welcomed by the real Vicomtesse Blanche; then, when she married Guillaume, Guillaume was just an ordinary provincial who came to Paris to make a living, and there was really no need to let her go. Nobles like them condescend to intersect.

If it is said that Guillaume's brother, Saumur's Grandet, has never met after Guillaume's wedding and is unfamiliar, the Blanche family and the Grandet family in Paris have never been familiar!Even Guillaume and his brother-in-law did not meet more than three times!

Under such circumstances, even if he was as gentle and conservative as Guillaume, it was obviously impossible to send an invitation to such a relative who was like a stranger.

However, Viscount Blanchet came out while Guillaume was welcoming the guests at the gate, and brought a birthday present for Charles. He really couldn't drive him out in front of other guests——

That's right, he did hold the idea of ​​marrying a noble lady (even if it was illegitimate), and then stepping into the upper class of Paris, but the indifference of the Blanche family made him give up.

Fortunately, he didn't marry Emily solely for the reason of climbing up the ladder, and his married life was quite happy, so he forgot about it, and only thought that Shire must marry a genuine noble lady in the future.

Thinking like this, Guillaume later didn't even bother to inquire about the situation of the Blanche family. He only vaguely heard that the old Viscount Blanche passed away last year, and the eldest son, the current Viscount Blanche, inherited the title and badge.

Almost immediately after hearing it, Guillaume forgot that the news had only passed from his left ear to his right and out again.He was more worried about Shire's safety in the United States than the funeral of his father-in-law whom he hadn't said a word to!

Who would have thought that the people who looked down on their family before life and death would suddenly pester them with shamelessness?

Although Charles only had the feeling of "who are you" for his uncle who came out of nowhere, and firmly believed that the uncle came uninvited and would go to the Three Jewels Palace for nothing, but he saw Guillaume's embarrassment, and only Smiling: "Hello, dear uncle."

Although he thought that he would be able to sweep his so-called dear uncle out of the house later, but in the eyes of everyone, he was a good old Charles who could not offend anyone, wasn't he?

"Nice to meet you, dear nephew." Viscount Blanche reluctantly restrained his polite gesture, but his heart was already full of joy——

Sure enough, as Viscount de Aubrion said, Charles is easy to talk to!

At this time, it must be explained that Viscount Blanche actually supported the royalists in his heart.But he was not that extreme, after all he was just an ordinary viscount: Guarding his own small fief, Blanche easily survived the wave of the Great Revolution.

Not so with the Viscount de Aubrion, however.Before the Great Revolution, his ancestor was a marquis, a captain, and an attendant to the royal family; in terms of status, prestige, and pension, he was several grades higher than the Viscount Blanche, but he declined later.

But you know, some people are always obsessed with the glory of the past, never willing to face the truth, and the Viscount de Aubrion is the same.

Ever since the de Aubrion family met Charles in Charleston, USA, Mrs. de Aubrion has been thinking about Charles, and she has been talking about it all day long. If there is a son-in-law like Charles, not to mention De Aub Mademoiselle Lyon had a good home, and she and M. de Aubrion had a good old age.

As a husband, his ears are weak, and after being told several times by his wife, he finally prepared himself mentally and found an opportunity on the train to Bordeaux to get close to Charles.But God hadn't cared for him at all—before he got connected, Charles was surrounded by another large group of people, and he couldn't get in at all.

Mr. de Aubrion went back to tell the story, and felt that the competition was too great to be done.

A wife can only hate iron for being weak: "Others are also flocking to it, doesn't that just show that we have good vision?"

Madame de Aubrion confirmed that it was a good idea for Charles to be her son-in-law.In fact, she only hated herself for being old and decrepit, otherwise she would have abandoned Mr. de Aubrion who couldn't move her mind, and went out to seduce Charles herself!

When he found his estate in the West Indies almost sold out, M. de Aubrion was obliged to admit that no matter how stubborn he was, he could not save the flour vat; A rich and powerful son-in-law like Charles is needed!

So the couple got together and sharpened their heads to figure out how to set up a relationship.They should also be glad that nobles are always inextricably linked, and they finally found the right candidate, Viscount Blanche——

Charles' mother is the younger sister of the current Viscount Blanche!What does it matter if she is an illegitimate daughter?They're just missing the line!

Therefore, Viscount de Aubrion and his wife took turns to persuade Viscount Blanche.They convinced Viscount Blanche that Charles is a gentle and good man, he has a lot of affection for his deceased mother, and he will definitely take care of the relationship between his nephew and uncle; Today's life is really not rich...

In the end, Viscount Blanche, who originally thought that he would only humiliate himself by going to Guillaume, lost his mind——

After all, everyone with eyes knows how much money Charles can make, and everyone without eyes has heard of it.With an annual income of tens of millions of francs, wouldn't it be a drizzle if you just give some to your natal relatives?

Madame de Aubrion even assured her that if Viscount Blanchet had another daughter at his knees, she might be able to achieve a century-old friendship with Charles!

As smart as you are, you must have discovered her true intentions by now.The reason why the de Aubrion and his wife approached the Viscount Blanche with confidence was because the other had only three sons in his family.

And it was these three sons who completely moved Viscount Blanche.

Although he has the title of viscount, his financial situation is very tight, and few rich girls will take a fancy to him.In fact, he could barely scrape together gold for the marriage of his elder son, and the second and younger sons were still missing!

Look at Shire again, not to mention one wife, a hundred ladies can afford to marry!

Without looking at his words, Charles guessed that his uncle must have regarded him as a cash machine in human form.But he didn't point it out, he just said: "Dear uncle, I haven't seen you for many years, my nephew should have been with you well. But look, there are so many guests..."

Viscount Blanche hurriedly shook his hand. "I understand, you are busy with your work, I can take care of myself!"

That was what Charles wanted.So he retired politely and took Guillaume away with the same reason.

As soon as the father and son had turned the bend of the stairs, Guillaume could no longer hold back his words, and told Charles in detail what he knew—the Vicomte Blanchet had three unmarried sons.

"I suspect he can't afford the banquet money," he concluded at last, "you know, not all places are like Saumur. Girls bring gold coins as money when they get married!"

In fact, even if there is money in the box, it can only be used after marriage.And if you want to borrow money to get married, it will be very embarrassing.The last key is that nobles usually care about their own face, that is, they have to have ostentation even if they have no money!

As soon as Charles heard it, he knew that his guess was right. "I see." He nodded, "What do you mean?"

"I mean?" repeated Guillaume.Even if he always strives for peace and wealth, it is impossible to be so stupid in essence-"If he only needs a little money, then it's fine to give him. But the point is, some people just want to push their noses and push their noses. It's not as good as that." Not at the beginning!"

"What you said is exactly what I thought." Charles nodded.There is no doubt that the Viscount Blanche is such a person.If he can come today, he will come again in the future!

"But how to send him away? Preferably before he speaks?" asked Guillaume.He had already made up his mind not to borrow—he would not be taken advantage of again—but after all, there are a lot of guests today, if they are not handled well, it will definitely affect their family's reputation!

"As long as you nod your head, isn't it easy?" Charles laughed.Then he listened and said to Guillaume: "Get the bottle out of the cellar. You know, the strong wine that I told you not to try. Give him three glasses, and the servants will take the wine." He sent it out the back door."

Get drunk and throw it out?In the future, thank you behind closed doors?good idea!

Guillaume understood in an instant. "I know," he nodded, "he will definitely not refuse our good wine!"