Granville's estate

"Enough, sir, enough, please don't say any more!"

The bad memories that have been deliberately ignored in the deepest part of the memory swept over like a tsunami. Even after many years, when Louis faced this memory again, he still felt as if he was sinking in the water, as if he would suffocate in the next second. past.

He didn't know where the strength came from, and he immediately tore away Callister's hand that was holding his shoulders, and even pushed Callister hard.

Louis' move was beyond Callister's expectation. Although the force of the push was not enough to shake him, Callister still took a step back, and then looked at Louis with a novel look— ——The expression on his face was like suddenly seeing the obedient Angora cat he raised showed its teeth and claws to demonstrate to him.

"I'm surprised you've finally got some manliness," Callister raised an eyebrow and said in a drawl, pausing at the word "manly" : "If you had the courage to be angry when you faced that woman back then, maybe you wouldn't need me to help you later."

"Enough, sir, please stop talking, I don't want to think of anything about that time."

Louis said that he didn't look at Callister, but concentrated his eyes on the pattern of the curtain behind Callister, as if he could avoid the shadow that had been in his heart for many years.

That was the last part of the past that Louis didn't want to think about.

The Saint-Etienne boarding school, where they had lived for eleven years, a closed world still stuck in history, a living specimen of a school in the days of absolute monarchy.When it was founded, it was contaminated with the ubiquitous romantic habits of the old era and has inherited this habit. Even when that Napoleon Bonaparte came to power, the outside world could not turn the world upside down in this school. The trend of latent growth has changed by half.

The school is isolated from the outside world. In a small world enclosed by walls, there are principals, supervisors, teachers and more than 100 students of different grades from eight to 19 years old, but it is not completely forbidden to women. ——Saint-Etienne also hires some maids who do chores. The school has signed contracts with them for a long time, so that some maids have been working there since they got married, and they are more familiar with the school than any student. everything of.As members who were also domesticated by Saint-Etienne, these maids share part of the power delegated by the teachers, not only taking care of the lives of the students, but also have absolute control over the students to some extent because of their age advantage. Domination; in this way, age, sex, and power form subtle inversions in this small world, and even give some people the opportunity to use this inversion to satisfy their own hidden desires.

What Louis had the misfortune to meet was a maid who knew how to make the most of her power—an older man whom he had grown up with as a stand-in for his mother in Magon. The maid, whom all the students in Saint-Étienne called Mamè Moreau at the time.

This elderly but romantic Mother Moreau has been helping in the boarding school since 30. She was already in her [-]s when Louis entered Saint-Etienne, but her growing age could not stop her. The ambition and enthusiasm of a maid to pick the love buds of young students who are still ignorant.She took extra care of this beautiful child, conniving him to secretly eat candy, and leaving him the softest part when sharing bread; Étienne's few females looked for the shadow of his mother, from whom he had been separated from him when he was still very young--and this continued until the day when Mama Moreau, under the pretext of needing help, put the The boy who trusted her with all his heart called into his room.

To some extent, from the day Louis walked into Mama Moreau's house, his carefree study life in Saint-Etienne was over.In the following two years, even after Mother Moreau had disappeared from Saint-Etienne, the shadow she brought to Louis haunted him all the time-because of her, all the secular rules Louis knew were overturned Now, the status of male and female is dislocated, the relationship between the strong and the weak is reversed, and the watchman becomes a thief who guards himself - this shadow is so deep that when Louis heard Calliste mention it again, he , has completely lost the courage to fight.

"Mr. De Durand, I have always remembered your help to me, and I have always been very grateful to you." Louis tried his best to save himself from the bad memories that seemed to be drowning. He felt that his emotions were rapidly sinking, The memory was so dark that it almost swallowed all the surprise and joy he had at the ball tonight: "But I am very shocked by your behavior today. If you are not kidding me, you want to treat me What is the difference between what Mama Moreau wants to do to me?"

Callister squinted at him.

"You're comparing me to that woman?" he said. "That's not the kind of thing a grateful person should do, and it really hurts me to say that."

Although saying such words, there was no look of frustration on Callister's face.

"Isn't that the truth?" Louis said, almost losing the strength to argue with Callister.

"Of course it's different. At least I asked for your opinion, and you agreed, didn't you?"

"Sir, I have already said that the so-called consent is just a temporary expedient measure for me. In my opinion, there is no difference between your behavior and Mama Moreau's behavior. They are both the same violation of morality." Louis said, "I don't understand what you are thinking. If you think such things that violate religion and morality are allowed, then why did you help me in the first place? If you think such things should not be, why did you Do you want to do the same thing yourself?"

"At the beginning, I was willing to help you, but because I happened to be happy to do so." Callister raised his chin arrogantly, "It is the same reason now, as long as I am happy, I can do whatever I want."

"Then you can do as you like, sir, you can do what you want, but I'm going back to my friend now." Louis said, and he glanced at the closed door of the lounge: "If If you think I should pay for your original help, you can make your request, whether it is money or other requests, I am willing to do my best without violating the teachings and morals-but I absolutely I will not do anything against the teachings of the Lord."

Callister stared at him for a while, then suddenly sneered.

"Aren't you willing to violate the teaching? What if I say that what I want you to do is to fulfill your promise to the lover's house?"

"Then I can only pray for you most sincerely before the Lord, sir."

Louis didn't look at Callister again, he stood up, took back his coat from the arm of the sofa, didn't call the outside attendant to come in, but took a moment to put on and button the coat himself.

After fastening the last button, he held out his hand to Callister: "Mr. de Durand, please return my pocket watch and franc box."

Just like the ladies and ladies of the upper class in Paris must wear hats when they go out, otherwise they will be considered civilian women without status. His pocket watch and franc case were also essential accessories; if he returned to the ballroom without them, Arred would probably think he had been blackmailed by the servants of the Vicomte de Bourgogne.

Callister looked at him for a long time, and just when Louis thought that his pocket watch and franc box would never come back, the silver pocket watch on a gold chain and the franc box with the coat of arms of the Farentin family were thrown away come over.

The pocket watch and the franc case were flung over quite suddenly, and Louis almost missed it, but he put them carefully in the left and right pockets of his coat, and said goodbye to Callister politely.

"Goodbye, sir, and I sincerely hope that the next time we meet we will be in a place under the protection of Almighty God and do everything in accordance with our faith and morals."

After Louis opened the door and went out, Calliste stood alone in the small lounge for a long time, until his entourage came to him under the direction of the servants of the House of Bourgogne.

"Sir, His Royal Highness just asked where you have been."

"understood."

Callister didn't even turn his head. He stood in the small lounge with his arms folded, staring at the sofa where Louis had just been lying on. After a while, he seemed to say something to himself.

"It's my business to do what I'm willing to do—but if my fruit is taken by someone else, it's absolutely not!"