Granville's estate

"He's at Mrs. Lessing's flower shop."

These words were heard in Louis' ears, like thunder suddenly exploding in summer, making him tremble all over.

"My maid," said Louis, and it took him a moment to recover his voice, which sounded so strange that it didn't even sound like his own: Her man is your brother."

Callister didn't even deny his allegations.

"Galbien drank that day, and the people at Lessing's flower shop gave him a woman." The viscount replied, his expression was very calm, as if he was just talking about something very ordinary: "I wrote to ask He, he also admitted, in his opinion, this is not a big deal."

"It's nothing?"

Louis repeated the words in a murmur, recalling what Moina had said: "Mr. Garbien de Durand thinks that he has despicably forced an innocent girl in an indecent place." His crime is nothing? How could he say such a thing, do such a thing, and act as if nothing happened in the end? Mary, she had recognized him at that time, and begged him hard!"

"At that time, he thought it was a new pattern that Mrs. Lessing's flower shop came up with, and he drank a lot of alcohol at that time and was not sober." Callister said, he turned his head and glanced at the night that had fallen outside the window: " Galbione has been indulging in an overindulgent pleasure ever since he mingled with those Englishmen, and even I can't restrain him much; that's why the Countess de Lopez is very worried about him."

"It's not, it's not the reason why he can do such a thing."

Louis gasped for breath. He tried to calm himself down, but sadly found that he couldn't do it: "His behavior has violated our laws and our morals. The Almighty God will never tolerate this crime. Yes, sir, never."

Callister didn't speak, he just stood there silently looking at Louis, which made Louis feel a sense of ominous premonition.

"I venture to ask you, sir, what will you do with your brother after he has done something so despicable?"

"You're getting too emotional, Louie, it's not good for your health, you need to calm down."

The viscount didn't answer his question, he walked towards Louis, and tried to make Louis sit down and rest for a while; but Louis took two steps back, avoiding Callister's hand extended to him.

"Sir," Louis said, he was persistently wanting an answer from the Viscount, a just and fair answer: "What will you do with your brother after you know this?"

The outstretched hand was rejected silently, and Callister had to stop. The flames burning in the fireplace behind him were jumping, casting flickering firelight on the wooden guard boards of the wall, and even the viscount's expression was also disturbed. In the light and shadow, it becomes uncertain.

"I will give the girl a life annuity of a thousand francs a year."

After a long silence, the Viscount finally replied: "This money is enough for her to live in peace. As for Galbien, I will temporarily suspend all his allowances and ask him to live in a monastery in another province for a few months."

Louis felt that his blood was about to freeze because of the Viscount's words.

"Is this your punishment for him?"

He only felt that his voice was light and ethereal, like a kite with a broken string that could not be grasped: "That girl has suffered so badly, she is almost dead, but your punishment for Mr. Galbien is just, Want him to live in a monastery for a few months?"

Facing his accusations and accusations, Callister frowned slightly.

"Isn't it enough that I will compensate her accordingly, pay all the expenses, and teach Galbien enough?" he said, "Do you think I should send my brother to prison , Is it the correct way to hand it over to those so-called judges who don't even have noble status?"

"Isn't this exactly the punishment he deserves?"

"Louis!"

Callister's voice suddenly became severe, and this was the first time he spoke to Louis like this: "Listen, Louis, that is absolutely impossible, I will never allow my brother to stand like a commoner Go to the trial seat, let alone allow my family's reputation and glory to be destroyed by the so-called law in my hands."

Louis took another step back. He looked at the Viscount in disbelief, and couldn't even understand what he heard.

"You want to cover him."

His thinking was almost at a standstill, and it took a while for Louis to make himself understand what Callister said: "You said you couldn't let him go to court, but your so-called punishment for him was nothing at all. It cannot be regarded as punishment, for you, the so-called going to the monastery is nothing more than staying in another place for a few days... No, no, sir, I cannot accept such a result."

He thought of the withered Mary at No. 79 St. George Street, and the weeping of Joseph, Papa Tunsal, and those who loved her; the girl was destroyed, she was dying, but she Teenager, not so long ago eagerly looking forward to being a happy bride - what was she doing wrong?She did nothing wrong, but in the end she was going to die bearing the ridicule and abuse of the world, but the person who caused all this only needs to live in a monastery in other provinces for a few days according to his cousin's instructions, and then he can claim his The soul has been purified, and he will return to Paris to continue his luxurious life!

The Viscount stared at the person in front of him, with a strange sadness in his expression, but that kind of firm will did not change even a little bit because of the accusation of his beloved.

"Louis."

After a long silence, Callister spoke slowly. He stared deeply at Louis, as if he wanted to engrave his tears in his heart: "Do you know that Galbien's father is also my uncle?" Andre, how did you die?"

"Andre is my grandfather's favorite child. He is smart, smart, and beautiful. He is more popular with women than Galbien now. My grandfather once favored him to the point that my father was jealous of him."

Callister slowly talked about these past events of his family, the fire in the fireplace was burning, and the firewood made a slight crackling sound in the flames, like these ominous notes buried in the deepest part of time: "But [-] One year, the enemies of my family lured André into a murder trap against us, claiming that my uncle wanted to take the merchant's diamonds worth tens of millions of francs and shot him dead. That businessman; they forged all the evidence and made them all point to Andre and the family behind him, trying to make the Durand family annihilated."

"My grandfather tried everything he could to save his child, because the enemy had already prepared, and Andre stepped into their trap."

When he said this, Callister paused for a moment, and he stared at Louis with a rare deep sadness in his expression.

"In order not to insult the reputation and honor of the Durand family, before those inferior people send Andre to the so-called fair court you said, Louis, do you know what my grandfather did? He ordered his side Someone sent my uncle, his favorite child, a cup of poison."

He would rather poison his own child with his own hands than ruin his family’s reputation by taking him to court—Louis took a step back suddenly, almost falling down; he looked at the person in front of him in disbelief, and suddenly Realizing that there has always been a deep gap between them, an invisible gap that was artificially smoothed out in the past, but now that it has surfaced, they cannot even continue to pretend that it does not exist.

They are actually people from two worlds, one is a nobleman and the other is a commoner; one can do anything for the benefit of the family in the cruel Vanity Fair, while the other believes in the dignity of law and religion in the conservative and rigid provincial world.

Two straight lines that should be parallel, two different trajectories of life, because of the dramatic changes of the times, have a chance to intersect for a short time, but perhaps, separation is their original destiny.

"Sir," Louis said, almost weeping, trying to engrave forever the face of the person before him through his blurred eyes: "Since your will is unalterable, goodbye, sir."

He rushed out of the almost suffocating room, leaving Callister behind; he ignored the astonished Dumont, Carbo, and others in the corridor-a man should not be in front of others. With tears in front of him, it would make people think he was weak and incompetent—but Louis couldn't care less, he urged the coachman to drive the car all the way back to Paris, back to 79 Rue St. Georges.

Allred was pacing anxiously in 79 St George Street, and when Louie rushed in, he was surprised to see his friend so sad that he couldn't maintain the most basic decency.

"Louis...?"

Louis didn't stop his footsteps, he almost rushed into the storage room where Mary was, knelt by the maid's bed and grabbed her hand.

"Mary! Mary!"

When things got to this point, he finally didn't need to worry about anything, and wept bitterly, for Mary and himself.

"Mary, please, please live! When you get better, I will take you away, I will take you out of Paris!"

Mary lay there, unresponsive to the cries of the outside world, and outside the storage room, the priests of the church had brought holy water jars, boxwood branches and crucifixes.

In the early hours of the next day, before the sun rose, Mary died.