Granville's estate

According to the general law in France—whether in Paris or in the provinces—every decent gentleman should carry his franc box and pocket watch with him, which are to the gentlemen what a lady holds in her hand. A fan is as essential as a hat on the head.Therefore, when Callister took his franc box and pocket watch away, Louis subconsciously reached out to stop him, and then realized what the viscount said, which made him unable to believe his ears .

"You mean, have you changed your mind?"

Louis couldn't help asking the person standing in front of him, he felt a little dizzy, as if the blood in his whole body was about to boil; just like a prisoner who was about to be hanged suddenly heard that he was pardoned, he was so anxious that he almost It was almost incoherent: "Sir, did I hear you right? You...you are willing to allow me to give up the promise I made today, aren't you?"

The so-called promise undoubtedly refers to the promise Louis made in the letter to Viscount Durand, and according to Viscount Durand's previous behavior, if that promise is fulfilled, Louis will inevitably commit the most taboo sin in doctrine.For a pious believer, allowing him to give up this promise is undoubtedly saving him from the painful situation of betraying the teachings, so Louis stared closely at the viscount's eyes, fearing that he had heard the viscount wrong meaning, and was afraid that the viscount would suddenly change his mind again.

As for Louis' disbelief, Callister just sneered, and he squinted at Louis.

"I haven't broken my word about what I said." The Viscount said, he raised his chin very arrogantly, then paused for a while, admiring the way Louis was anxiously and flusteredly waiting for him to speak, and then with a This nasty tease and he spoke again: "Or, do you think that there should be no other conditions and it is better to fulfill your promise now? If you think so, I don't mind charging what I deserve now interest."

As Callister spoke, he made a gesture to stretch out his hand towards Louis' neck-this action immediately frightened the person sitting on the chair to lean back suddenly, and almost hit the hard stone. Mahogany chair back.

"I, I have no other meaning!"

Louie yelled in a panic, clutching his collar tightly, trying to get himself back to the innermost part of the chair, even though the distance between them was not far apart at all: "I agree to your conditions, no matter what the conditions are I agree!" There can't be anything worse than breaking the teachings anyway!

Seeing that Louis was really scared enough, Callister withdrew his hand, and he seemed to be quite regretful.

"Since you have chosen to agree, then I hope you can fulfill your promise seriously this time." The Viscount said, he folded his arms and looked at Louis: "According to calculations, this is the third time you have agreed to my conditions, and You failed to fulfill your promise the first two times, which is not what a decent gentleman should do—little guy, you must know that customers who do not keep their promises are not very welcome no matter where they are."

This should be about the previous incident in the lover's house and this time, Louis only felt that his ears were feverish-the Holy Virgin Mary, the last time he faced Callister because of the lover's house. He can be justified, but this time for his friend, he can only give up his persistence, and the result is the current situation: breaking his promise and keeping the promise that he knows is wrong, these two choices, no matter how he chooses It's a mistake!

However, rather than doing something strictly prohibited by the doctrine, Louis would rather obey Callister's conditions, even if the other party had other thoughts, he could only accept: "Your generosity is really grateful, my lord, then you What do you want me to do, as the price for giving up today's promise?"

He specifically emphasized "today's commitment" in order to remind the other party that he would not accept similar requests that go against religion and morality, or even more excessive demands-this cannot be blamed on Louis for being too cautious, it can only be said that Callister's actions The style is really unpredictable. This gentleman can even do things that are completely unacceptable to decent people such as asking a pimp from a lover's house to make a bridge. Who knows what strange conditions he will put forward this time!

Callister must have heard Louis's careful thinking. He lowered his head slightly and stared at Louis for a long time without knowing what he was watching. Fafa said mercifully: "The first condition, you can't leave Paris without my consent."

"Ah...this?"

This request was completely beyond Louis' expectations. He was stunned for a while before he realized: "But, I have been in Paris for so long, and my home is still waiting for me to go back..."

"Your parents have passed away, and there are no other relatives. There is only a housekeeper who is helping to take care of various things, isn't it?" Callister said, he seemed to know the situation in Louis's house very well: "There is nothing in winter For the farm work that needs to be taken care of by you, you just need to write to your housekeeper and ask him to take care of the chores at home."

"But there's still a lot to do in the winter, renovating the house, fixing the furniture, tending the livestock..."

Under the gaze of the Viscount, Louis retorted more and more quietly, but he still mustered up the courage to raise his objection: "Sir, if I can't leave Paris without your consent, this time must be your permission." How long is it?"

In fact, he really wanted to say "I can't stay in Paris forever", but just thinking that this gentleman now has all his freedom and hope in his hands, Louis didn't have the courage to say this.

For Louis's question, Callister just thought about it casually and gave him an answer.

"Before Easter."

"Easter?"

Easter is in April, and now it is almost December. That is to say, according to the Viscount's request, Louis will not be able to leave the French capital for nearly half a year: "Sir, why is it Easter?" Does this have any special meaning?

"Because after Easter, the social season in Paris is over." Callister said, he easily untied the franc box with the emblem of the Farentin family from the gold chain, and then this The beautiful enamel box that Louis has always cherished fell into the viscount's coat pocket: "After the social season is over, all the nobles will leave Paris and go to the countryside. I think Magon will be a good place for vacation."

It was only then that Louis remembered that Alrede had indeed told him that because of the custom brought back from London, the French nobles would leave Paris to go to the countryside for vacation when summer came, until October and November Going back to Paris, during this period, no other nobles will stay in Paris except members of the House of Lords; even if some nobles have to stay due to accidents, they would rather stay at home than show up on the street—but Compared with the extravagant habits of this high society, what made Louis more flustered was the Viscount's sentence "Magon will be a good place for vacation". up.

"But when I, I came to Paris, I only brought very little money." Louis said, racking his brains to figure out how to get rid of the Viscount's absurd idea: "The money I brought must not be enough for half a year." costs, and prices in Paris are so high."

This is not a lie—before coming to Paris, Louis never thought that he might stay here for half a year. To be honest, if he hadn’t been suddenly ill before, he might already be sitting at Magon’s house now. I am reading the newspaper peacefully by the fireplace!But in that case, his friend would definitely not be able to escape from the trap of Officer Clermont and Jacques Bernard. Louis couldn't imagine what a tragic situation it would be. He could only say that everything was arranged by God!

Callister, who heard what Louis said, glanced at Louis, as if he was very dissatisfied with what Louis said.

"I will let Kabo arrange everything for you, and there will be no place where you need to pay for it yourself."

"I didn't mean to ask you for money, sir." Louis said, he thought that the viscount misunderstood him and thought he was asking him for money, and suddenly felt his face became hot: "I have my own income , although in your opinion, my income is insignificant, but I don't need to use your money."

Callister obviously didn't want to continue discussing this topic with him. He picked up the silver pocket watch that Alrede gave to Louis impatiently and tapped it in the palm of his hand, and then stared at it with his blue-green eyes. Louis: "The second condition is precisely related to this - you will not be able to refuse no matter whether it is my invitation or a gift in the future."

This request sounds much milder than the first condition, but Louis carefully thought over the viscount's words several times before carefully putting forward his own opinion: "May I know that the invitation and gift you mentioned, What exactly do you mean?"

"Don't worry, no matter where I invite you to or give you anything, it will not exceed the scope of what you think morality should be." The Viscount replied a little arrogantly, he seemed to be able to see through Louis's mind: "Are you What are you afraid of? If I want to do something to you, I can get what I want now without spending any other thoughts, right?"

Callister's words made Louis a little ashamed. After thinking about it, he felt that the other party really didn't need to do this.

"I am willing to believe in your promise, sir, as long as it does not exceed the constraints of morality and law, I can agree to your request."

The viscount who heard what Louis said glanced at Louis, his expression was clearly saying "do you still have room to refuse", but Callister didn't say anything more about it, but just made a third request : "The third condition, I want you to let go of all prejudice against me in the future."

"bias……?"