Granville's estate

"Oh, Louis! People who don't work are called black sheep in our place, but in Paris, people who need work are looked down upon." Alred said a little helplessly. "Even people who need work have to work here." Act like the annuity is enough for him to spend freely, otherwise he will be excluded by the rules here immediately."

Louie shrugged.

"A loafer would be scolded in the provinces, but here it is a compliment—well, my dear Al, I probably know what to do in Paris. Get excluded here."

"That's not enough, you don't have to change your own nature for me." Alred laughed, and he looked at his friend very proudly: "You just need to be yourself, I believe that even if you If you make a small mistake, no one will blame you—beautiful people always get more preferential treatment, and this rule is universal no matter where it is.”

Louis didn't care about his friend's teasing at all.

"You're making fun of me again, Al."

The carriage with the coat of arms of the Granville family passed the tree-lined avenue, and then drove into the Bois de Boulogne with other carriages, leaving the atmosphere of the city completely behind.

There are many trails in this forest, and you can see gorgeous carriages and men on horses walking slowly everywhere. There are more luxurious private carriages passing by in 10 minutes than Louis saw in Magong in a year. The aristocrats and rich bourgeois ladies and ladies on the carriage are all dressed in gorgeous clothes, wearing hats decorated with tropical bird feathers, letting the breeze blow the ribbons, enjoying the fresh air in the forest in the afternoon peacefully and dignifiedly .

Under the shade of trees in some places, Louis even saw marble benches placed under the trees for people to rest, and all the ladies sitting on them were luxuriously dressed ladies.Their skirts are magnificent, they compete with each other, they talk to each other, they look at each other with examining eyes, the men who pay them, and all the people in the carriages that pass by; The aristocratic ladies have also become the objects of appreciation of other people. Not far from the shade of the trees, many women who are dressed as small businessmen and wives and daughters of the petty bourgeoisie also look at these aristocratic ladies and ladies with eager eyes. Their beautiful appearance and costumes, as well as their extremely luxurious carriages waiting nearby, while the people being watched enjoy these gazes mixed with admiration, envy and jealousy.

"It seems that this is not only a place where only nobles can come, Al!"

"That's natural. No one has stipulated that only nobles can enter the Bois de Boulogne. Since it is an elegant thing for people who come and go to the court to take a walk here, then the citizens naturally flock here." Allred said , "Everyone is afraid of being ridiculed as a bumpkin who doesn't understand fashion, so where else can you see the latest fashion than here?"

This was a novel experience for Louis. Along the way, he came to a conclusion: the Boulogne Forest is not so much a place where people can get close to nature and breathe fresh air, but rather a place for nobles to show off. The stage of beauty and wealth, as well as the hotbed of love - this judgment only needs to look at the knights who ride horses and accompany the women's carriages, and the eyes of the men looking at the women under the shade of the trees.

Their carriage drove all the way to the depths of the forest, as if passing through a dome made of green branches and green leaves, until it stopped at the edge of a lake.

"Louie, she—they're there."

There is an elegantly curved white gazebo beside this small lake hidden in the depths of the forest. A small and light Cabriolet-style two-wheeled carriage, a Karash four-wheeled open carriage, and two carriages are parked in the distance. The coachmen were talking to each other and waiting for their master's orders; and in the gazebo by the lake, there were three people talking--two women who were seated, and a young man who was standing.

From the moment he saw other men beside Margaret, Louis could clearly feel that Alrede's mood had changed.They got out of the car and walked towards the pavilion arm in arm. The closer they got to the pavilion, the tighter Alred's lips were pursed.

With just a glance, Louis guessed which of the two women was Margaret - one of the two women was about 22 or 30 years old, with very beautiful brown eyes and long tawny hair in big waves, And the beautiful face like a rose, she was completely indifferent when she saw Allaide walking by; the other was a woman who looked in her 40s and was close to [-] years old. The material of the skirt is obviously not as good as the former.

The one with them was a very handsome young man with well-manicured blond hair, his eyes were a light blue color that tended to be green, and his slim figure was outlined in a thin-waisted coat. He's the kind of playboy dude that women love.

"Mr. Galbien de Durand," Alred pursed his lips tightly, and reluctantly greeted the young man: "Good afternoon."

The playboy named Galbien glanced at Alred, and looked at Louis who was with him for a while before replying calmly: "Mr. Alred de Granville, good afternoon , what a coincidence to see you here!"

"Yes, what a coincidence." Alred said very quickly, and then turned directly to the people sitting: "Miss Margaret, Mrs. Busha, it's very nice to see you here."

"Mr. Allred, good afternoon."

Margaret's tone was that of a perfunctory suitor who didn't want to see her, but Mrs. Busa next to her was not so arrogant, and hurriedly smoothed things over: "The weather is really nice today, Mr. Alred! Ah! , who is this beautiful young man next to you?"

"This is my best friend, Louis du Farentin." Alred said, although it was an introduction, his eyes were completely on Marguerite: "Louis, this is Viscount Durand's cousin Mr. Galbien de Durand, this is Miss Marguerite Labudin, and this is Miss Marguerite's good friend, Mrs. Andrina Buscha."

Galbien laughed, and he held out his hand to Louis who was a little confused.

"The reason why Mr. Alred emphasized my brother is because he is a famous banker in Paris. As for me, although I have the same surname, I am just a fun-loving dude." He explained it to Louis in a graceful manner.

In this way, Louis has a little affection for this young man. After all, not everyone can be so generous when others run on him: "Hello, I am Louis Du Farentin."

"It is a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Farentin."

After shaking hands with Galbien, according to etiquette, Louis and Marguerite should greet him, but the latter just glanced at him and nodded to him.

"Mr. Farentin, nice to meet you." Margaret didn't mean to extend her hand at all, but just said so.

And Mrs. Boucher asked Louis to kiss her hand, and then blamed Marguerite: "My friend, for such a beautiful young man, shouldn't you be more enthusiastic and let him get close to you?" ?”

"What does this have to do with me?" Margaret said coldly, and stood up: "We have rested long enough, Andrina, let's go, take a carriage ride with me for a while .”

She just walked out like no one else was there. Madam Boucher gave Louis and Alred a sorry look, followed by her, and the driver of the Carrasch four-wheeled carriage that had been waiting for a while drove immediately. Come and meet them.

Watching their carriage leave just like that, Galbien comforted Louis and said, "Mr. Farentin, don't be surprised, Miss Margaret has such a character."

Alred pursed his lips tightly and said nothing, perhaps because of Galbien's presence, he tried his best to appear indifferent.

"She has always been like this, she doesn't care about anything, and doesn't care whether others will embarrass her." Galbien continued, and glanced at Alred.

"It seems that although the name is Daisy, Miss Margaret's character is more like a rose." Louis said, "The rose is very beautiful, but when you get along with it, you will get pricked by thorns if you are not careful."

"That's a very interesting metaphor." Galbien took out a thin pocket watch from his coat pocket and looked at it: "Ah, it's past four o'clock, both of you, I still have something to do, so I'll go first I look forward to seeing you next time."

When Galbien's carriage was slowly approaching, a very brisk "snail"-style van for two people drove out from the end of the forest path. Galbien saw it, and immediately waved his hand to stop his carriage. On the side of the road, wait for the carriage to pass first.

The low but very richly decorated "snail" coach passed Galbien's Cabriolet, but stopped in front of the gazebo, without going on.

Looking in from the window of the carriage, one can see that the interior decoration of the carriage is very luxurious. The interior lining of the carriage is satin decorated with purple ribbons. There are a man and a woman sitting in it. Near the gazebo is a 20-year-old man with Beauty with long blond curly hair and dreamy purple eyes.

"Galbien, I'm so glad to see you here!"

The blond beauty with rosy face and angelic features said so to Galbien lively, but she didn't even look at Alred and Louis.

"Claudia, I'm so glad to see you here too!" Galbien said in a very intimate tone, but then his tone became respectful: "Nice to meet you too , Viscount de Durand."

The other person sitting in the carriage just nodded to Galbien's greeting, and he glanced at the other two people in the gazebo. At that moment, Louis saw a pair that was very similar to Galbien but more green. s eyes.

The beauty called Claudia seemed to want to say a few words to Galbien on a whim: "Will you go to the Comic Opera Theater today?"

"If you want to go," Galbien replied, glancing at the other male in the car, "I'd be happy to run errands for you."

"Then it's settled, Galbien."