Granville's estate

"Al! You've been holding me for so long, I can't breathe!"

It’s rare for friends who haven’t seen each other for a long time to meet again. No matter how many worries along the way, they first turned into the joy of reunion. After a long hug full of enthusiasm and an intimate kiss, Louis had to laugh and complain to Alred .

"This is really an unexpected surprise. I just got two hundred gold louis in the morning, and my louis, which is more valuable than any gold louis, appeared in front of me in the evening! Seeing you, I still feel like I am in a dream , I can't believe that you really came to Paris!" Alred said, hugging Louis fiercely again, and then changed to an intimate position of embracing his shoulders, and pulled him to the side of the couch to sit down.

"I thought I wouldn't be able to wait for you to come back today, and I was thinking about where to find a hotel—after all, I heard from your janitor that you have your own social activities every day, and I have already prepared for tomorrow. I'm ready to see you," Louis said.

"How could it be!—To be honest, when the errand runner found me, at first I thought it was Margaret who had come up with some crazy idea to tease me, but when I realized that it was really you, I was so rude that I didn't even say hello. I left the hotel without calling anyone. When I came out, Madame de Bougogne saw me and asked me why I was in such a hurry. I said, "My Louis is here" and hurried away. Think I've made a fortune—how can I leave you to play!"

Louis laughed. He looked sideways at his friend whom he hadn't seen for a long time. Today, Alrede was wearing a double-breasted white shirt and a long black coat. The buttons of the coat were not fully buttoned. A golden watch chain is tied in the hole; black embroidered gray trousers, with the same color belt on the trousers hem to fasten them on the black calfskin sole, the style is beautiful and elegant, and it looks very decent with gray gloves.

Very gentlemanly, very fashionable, personable, chic, very Parisian, full of Parisian chic in every gesture; among other things, at least provincials will never wear trousers. Considered the pants of "prodigal sons".

Alrede allowed his friends to look at him calmly. He even stood up and walked around in front of Louis, proudly showing off his slender figure and chic demeanor in front of his friends.

"How is it? My dear little Louis, are you overwhelmed by my charm?"

Louis was immediately amused by his act of showing off his charm like a peacock.

"Holy Virgin Mary, you look so Parisian that our old friends from Saint-Etienne would not recognize you if they saw you!"

"Oh, never mind Saint-Etienne, every time I think of the suffocating so-called costumes that the proctors make us wear every year on the celebration day, I want to drag them to Bouyson's tailor shop Look at what is called a real costume!" Allred complained and sat down next to Louie, and tried to use his own weight to bounce him off the soft sofa: "How could you Came to Paris suddenly? And you didn’t say a word or write a letter to me before you came here! I just changed my address and haven’t had time to write to you yet, fortunately you found me here!”

"Can't I visit him because I miss my friend?" Louis said, elbowing Alrede's sneaky hands that wanted to tickle him, "Besides, I haven't been to Paris yet, and I'm curious too What a city it is that my friend can forget his poor friend in the country for a while, and not write him a letter for so long!"

"Oh, I'm just about to write you a letter! It's good for you to blame me first when you come here!"

When the two were squabbling, Mary appeared by the door holding a candle.

"Ah, gentlemen, you can chat later, after all, you have a lot of time to catch up on old times." Mary said, "but in this weather, the food will go cold if you don't eat it, and reheating it will not only take Firewood, and it doesn't taste as good as it does when it comes out of the oven."

Only then did Alred remember that he himself didn't seem to have had dinner yet.

"Mary, did you get someone to buy dinner?"

"Of course, considering the time when Mr. Farentin came, at most you just ordered food, so I asked Papa Tonsart to go to Papa Denis's restaurant to buy two dinners, one for two francs. A set meal, all of which are the specialty dishes of Papa Denis's restaurant. Since you usually like Papa Denis's cooking, this kind of meal should not lose you and Mr. Farentin when you use it to greet Mr. identity of."

"That's great, Mary, you're as thoughtful as ever, I completely forgot to think about dinner when I got back."

"I'm glad to receive your compliment, but it's getting late, sir, if you continue to procrastinate, it may be more appropriate for you to take Mr. Farentin to the Reeve Hotel for supper."

So Alred stood up, put his hands on his chest, and saluted Louis solemnly like a waiter in a big hotel: "Ah, my lord, would you like to move to the dining room to accompany a man?" Shall the poor man eat a meal to excuse his inattentive hospitality to a friend from afar?"

Louis straightened his face, and said in an extremely old-fashioned and pedantic tone: "It depends on the sincerity of the host. If there is sincerity, the worst bread is also the best hospitality; otherwise, the table is full of delicacies from mountains and seas. It's just...puchi, hahaha..."

It was a variation of the "King and the Stranger" role-play they used to play at their boarding school in Saint-Etienne, and the result was that Louis the Stranger was completely broken in the middle of his lines He pointed at Alred with one hand and collapsed on the sofa with a smile.

Alred took the opportunity to pounce on him to tickle him, and Louis was most afraid of his attack. The two hid on the sofa and rolled into a ball, almost kicking the candle on the side of the table to the ground.

In the midst of the play, Alred's gold fob in the buttonhole came loose, and a gold pocket watch fell out of his coat pocket and fell right into Louis's hand.

"what?"

Louis snatched the strange-looking golden pocket watch, held it up and looked at it against the light of the candle.

It was a very thin pocket watch made of gold from Monrose, only the size of a five-franc silver coin. There was no family crest or logo on the watch, but one only needed to look at its thickness and the exquisiteness of the dial to know that it must be of great value. .Louis took out the pocket watch that Alrede gave him for comparison, and was surprised to find that in front of this watch, the Breguet silver pocket watch that he cherished very much looked rough and dull.

"Alred! My friend, where did you get this watch?" Louis held up the gold pocket watch, full of suspicion: "Where is your previous pocket watch? The pocket watch that is just a pair with me."

"Oh, it's just a gold-plated item, just to save face!" Alred blinked, "My previous pocket watch was broken and sent to be repaired, so I changed this one temporarily. If you don't believe me, look at it On the back, there's the logo of the store that sold it, and it's not even a fancy store."

Suspiciously, Louis turned the gold watch over to the back, and indeed saw a mark, but before he could get a closer look at the candlelight, Alred snatched the pocket watch.

"We can study it when we have time-it's getting late, Louis, let's eat first, you must be hungry."

Arlaide stuffed the pocket watch casually into his pocket, and then stretched out his hand to pull Louis up from the sofa: "Papa Denis's craftsmanship is not the best in Paris, but it's not bad, their Rhine carp It's a must with the roast leg of lamb, I bet you'll love it!"

In the dining room of No. 79 St. George Street, a warm small fireplace has already been fired. The square dining table that can accommodate four to six people is covered with a dazzling white fine satin tablecloth, and a portable gilt candlestick is placed. Triangular silk napkins lie neatly on blue-lined white porcelain plates; silver cutlery is on one side, and in the center of the table is a small, delicate table with six shepherdesses and sheep. On silver-plated plates, there were the famous dishes that Mary had ordered back from Papa Denis’s restaurant: a piece of Rhine carp, a piece of roasted partridge with fresh mushrooms, a piece of roasted duck with radish; Beef and half a roast goose with olives; besides that, there are the pre-desserts stacked in beautiful pyramids: Breton petit fours and madeleines, served in pans with Mouth-watering beef broth and lily bisque that stay warm.

Looking at the assortment of exquisite dishes and snacks, for some reason, Louis thought of Count Fernand de Granville who had a title but cared about his own food in the Granville mansion in Chablis; time and space It’s only a day’s distance away. The small independent dining room at 79 St. George’s Street is full of delicacies bought from outside and homemade dishes that are only served on the table in the living room of the Granville Mansion when guests come. The few dishes in the restaurant form an unusually sharp contrast.

Alred put a piece of madeleine on the plate in front of Louis, and pulled his thoughts back from the distant Chablis.

"Try it, Louie! Before it cools!"

Louie stared at the tiny snack.

"Al, this meal seems to have cost you four francs." He frowned in distress, "Don't you think it's a bit extravagant? Although these dishes look delicious, as long as you think about the price , I’m about to lose my appetite.”