Granville's estate

"Gentlemen, ladies, and ladies bathed in the blessings of France, please enjoy yourself to the fullest!"

"Long live!"

Amidst the cheers of the attendants of the de Bourgogne mansion, the musicians of the orchestra played the brisk and joyful Gallop dance music with all their strength.

The Marquis de Simon, who accompanied the Earl of Artois, took his young and beautiful lady by the hand, and brought her to the Earl of Artois. From such a distance, it was difficult to hear what the Marquis de Simon was talking to. The Count of Artois said something, but everyone knew that it must be the introduction of the Marquise de Simon.This is probably a picture enough to make even the dullest viewer faintly aware of the uneasiness - the old Marquis who is getting old and only a shroud separates him from death, and the young man who is just in his youth and smiling like a flower Marquise, when they stood together, they were like angels and skeletons juxtaposed, but standing in front of them was the future king of this country, and he was happy to send blessings to this seemingly mismatched marriage.

There were those who had enough sense of smell to think of more, who smelled the shadow of concubine politics growing out of the soil in the days of the Sun King, and realized that although the Marquis de Simon regarded his young lady as his beloved Treasures, but in the face of possible greater interests, he is probably willing to bear the pain and give up what he loves for a while in exchange for a higher level of power.It is hard to say whether the Marchioness de Simon knew or did not know her husband's intentions. On the other hand, the Baroness Claudia de Portandière, who chose a relatively elegant dress, may have deliberately avoided It ended the battle with the Marquise de Simon in the same field.

After the Marquise de Simone was introduced by her husband to Her Royal Highness the Count of Artois, this young and beautiful lady has become one of the most dazzling focal points of the whole ball, just like the favorite concubines in the era of the Sun King would be as Like the gods sharing the sacred halo under the protection of the monarch who is the spokesperson of the world, following the rules that do not need to be said, the Viscount de Bourgogne, the host of the ball, invited the Marquise de Simon as the partner of the first dance. , and the Marquis naturally readily accepted.The atmosphere intensified as they took their first steps, and everyone wanted to pretend to be "passing" Attu while they were dancing, to the gallop, which had dancers gliding around the ballroom By His Royal Highness Count Va!

Even Alred was unable to avoid such thoughts.

"Louis, let's go down to dance too!" Alred said to Louis, and he quietly told Louis the trick: "We can find those ladies who have stepped into the social world for the first time, and they are relatively easy to accept. Our dance request, because most of the men who invite the dance are actually wanting to win the favor of the wives so that they can gain benefits through them."

Louis took a closer look and found that there were indeed more courteous men around the noble ladies than the unmarried ladies—it was relatively easy to distinguish the noble ladies from the young ladies, especially when they had just stepped into the Ladies in the social world, they are all around fifteen or sixteen years old, and their dress is relatively childish - he thought it was because noble ladies tend to be more mature and beautiful!

"I don't like dancing very much, you go first, I can watch you dance beside me."

Louis told Alred that he really didn't like dancing as entertainment very much, and he only knew the most basic dance steps.

Alrede also knew that he was not very keen on dancing. Although he didn't want to abandon Louis, the temptation of "pretending to pass by His Royal Highness by chance by dancing" was so great that he was willing to temporarily leave his friend .

They went down to the first floor. At this time, many people had already danced the Gallop dance to the dance music. Pairs of men and women clasped each other's left and right hands and slid out of the dance steps with the two-quarter beat of the music. .

Because he couldn't find a suitable dance partner, Alred asked a beautiful lady to dance, but was rejected without any surprise.

"I'd be happy to have your initials on my fan, sir," said the fair lady to Alred, "you can tell me when you're dancing the quadrille say."

For women of high society, the fan was used both to express subtle emotions and hints-in which Spanish women are the most outstanding experts, the fan is in their hands like the sword is in the knight's hand-and It can be used to record the names of the men who want to dance with them, to determine the order of dancing with them, of course, it can also be used to shirk the dancers they don't like; It is a kind of dance for men and women to dance in a square. The dance steps are not complicated, but the dancers must concentrate on it, because each dance must jump out of the specified pattern. How many opportunities to speak to each other.

"Then, I look forward to meeting you later, madam."

Facing the refusal, Alred was not surprised. He bid farewell to the lady gracefully, and after watching for a while, he chose to invite another lady who passed by them to dance.

Coincidentally, the lady chosen by Alred happened to be the lady in the bright blue skirt who sniggered about Villiers in the entrance hall. This beautiful lady named Louise The young lady accepted Alred's invitation with great pleasure.

Because there were too many people dancing in the second hall, Louis, who was not dancing, had to move his feet to find a place with relatively few people, which led him to the third hall unknowingly. It took considerable effort to find him in the crowd during a gallop.

"When Miss Louise and I were dancing, I passed by Her Majesty the Count of Artois," Alred whispered to Louis in a low voice excitedly, "His Royal Highness was talking to the Viscountess de Morel, guess what?" What did we hear?"

"Have you heard the big secret?"

Louis asked quite face-savingly.

"It's not a secret, but it's quite interesting!—His Royal Highness said to the Viscountess de Morel, 'You are too restrained', and guess what the Viscountess de Morel replied? She said, 'Jenesupportepasquelesgeent (I can't stand other people's lies)', my God, although I have heard of this lady's famous name for a long time, no one would have thought that she would dare to say that in front of His Highness!"

Louis gasped.

"Isn't that a bit too rude?"

"I think so too. I don't think the Viscount de Morel thought that his wife would dare to speak to His Highness like that, but His Highness seems to be in a good mood, and he doesn't mean to be offended at all."

After the brisk Gallop, the band played the Gautier, which required four pairs of dancers to dance together. This dance can actually be counted as a kind of Quadrille, but the tricks to dance It turned into a variety of geometric patterns; after the Gautillon dance, there was a more lively polka dance. At this time, the atmosphere of the whole dance party was already very lively. The rhythm of the music is on time, and even the most indifferent people will be infected by this atmosphere and become excited.

There was a pause at about eleven o'clock in the dance, the band played slow and leisurely music, and the waiters brought out almond sorbet, punch and small cakes for the guests to take freely, and everyone chatted While resting; around 11:30, the music and dancing started again, and Louis also invited a lady to dance a short dance out of courtesy, but when he returned to the original position in the third hall after the dance, Alred had already I don't know which hall I went with which lady.

At this time, it was past eleven o'clock in the evening and it was almost twelve o'clock. For the people in Paris, it was not even time for supper, but for Louis who always went to bed early and woke up early, it was already very late. It was in Magon, when everyone should fall asleep.

Although he didn't want to show it, the long-term routine still made Louis want to yawn. He really wanted to find a place to rest, but there was no resting place for men at this kind of dance party.There are rows of benches on the side of the ballroom, but they are for women, and men must not sit on them—this iron law is common no matter in Paris or in Magon, and before coming to Arles De has repeatedly reminded him.

Just when Louis was in trouble, perhaps seeing his thoughts, an attendant wearing the uniform of the Viscount de Bourgogne came over and asked him politely if he needed to go to the fourth hall to give Small lounge for guests to take a break.

"Is there even a small lounge here for the guests?"

Louis was quite surprised, because apart from a greenhouse full of tulips next to the third hall, he had never seen the so-called small lounge in this mansion.

"Of course, sir, follow me."

The attendant took Louis out through a small door on the second floor of the fourth hall—it turned out to be an independent small building not connected to the dancing hall, and each floor had multiple suites composed of small rooms with different functions , each suite is exquisite and tidy.The attendants took Louis to a lounge on the second floor, where candles were already lit, soft woolen blankets were stacked on the couch outside, coffee, wine and exquisite snacks were placed on the coffee table, as well as available There were cards and whists to pass the time; there was even a small dressing-room with a table and mirror for dressing.Each of these small lounges is a fully functional suite, which can be used for temporary rest for guests, or for entertaining close friends, which shows how strong the wealth accumulated by the Bourgogne family is. .

"Sir, if you feel tired, you can rest on the sofa for a while. If you are worried about missing the time, you can ask the servant outside to come in and wake you up at the time you specify."

Louis yawned, he was indeed a little sleepy, thinking that the dance would not end in about an hour and a half, so sleeping for half an hour shouldn't delay anything.

"Please wait a moment to send a message to my friend M. Alred de Granville and tell him that I am here." Louis said to the attendant, he took out the franc box in his coat pocket and took a five Give him francs in silver: "If he can't find me, he'll think something has happened to me—you can find him, can't you?"

The attendant took the silver coin and smiled happily.

"You can rest assured, Monsieur," said the page, "I will bring your words to M. de Granville."

"Then I'll trouble you."

"Okay, sir, please rest well first."

After the attendants went out, Louis took off his coat and put it aside, then fell down on the couch, and suddenly felt a flood of tiredness—attending this kind of dance is really a very exhausting thing, and he must be careful all the time , Even every word in a small chat has to be carefully considered before it can be said!In contrast, even the most tiring grape harvest season and winemaking season are not so exhausting. At least when harvesting grapes, you don’t have to think about every word you say “doesn’t fit your status”!

The sound of the music played in the hall could be heard from the small lounge, but it did not affect the rest of the people inside. When Louis was attacked by drowsiness and was about to fall asleep in a daze, he heard two soft sounds from outside. There was a knock on the door, and then the door of the small lounge was opened, and someone walked in.

"Al, I want to sleep for a while."

Louis thought it was Alred who came in, he didn't even open his eyes, just muttered something, and then moved into the sofa.

The person who came in did not answer him or speak, and after a while, Louis heard a very soft snort.

It wasn't Alred's voice—Louis's sleepy mind suddenly woke up, he opened his eyes, and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar figure.

Viscount Calliste de Durand stood beside the sofa, looking down at him. Behind the viscount were burning candles on candle holders nailed into the wall. From Louis' perspective, his shadow seemed to be Louie's whole body shrouded in the same way.

"Long time no see, little guy."