Granville's estate

"How could you let her go to that kind of place?!"

Alred's sudden anger not only made Mary almost drop the needle and thread in her hand, but also shocked Louis - this was the first time since he came to Paris that he saw his good friend post such a Temperament, and the object of anger is a lady; no matter from the etiquette that a man should have towards a lady, or from the special relationship between Mrs. Busha and Margaret, Alred's behavior is a bit too rude .

Mrs. Busha seemed to have anticipated Alred's anger, but even so, she looked very unhappy, and her lips were tightly pursed.

"Monsieur de Granville," Madame Boussard said a little bit angrily after a moment of silence, and she changed her address to Arlaide: "No one wants this to happen, but you know that we My Miss Margaret has never been one to take advice--perhaps you think I'm sophistry, an unworthy friend, but I can swear to the Virgin Mary that I have done my best to Dispel her crazy idea, but how can I stop her? The carriage belongs to her, the servants only listen to her, she drank strong wine again, and there are her girlfriends who are pushing hard around her."

"Wait a moment, ma'am," Louis said, both out of doubts about the Opera Misard and feeling obliged to ease the tension created by his friend: "I hear you say Miss Marguerite went to an opera house, but I don't know Paris very well, is there something wrong with that opera house?"

Mrs. Bouchard turned her head, perhaps feeling the kind doubt in Louis' tone, she hesitated for a moment before saying: "It's just a low-end opera house, sir, because the surname of the orchestra director of that opera house is Misard." , so everyone called it 'Missard's Opera House'."

"Since that Monsieur Misard has been the conductor of the orchestra, he's made a mess of his opera house, and every few days there's a masquerade ball, just put on a disguised costume and a mask, For another five francs, anyone of any status can enter that opera house and dance with thousands of men and women who are completely unknown to them—and the invitation to dance cannot be refused."

Mrs. Buscha's expression flickered when she talked about the Misard Opera House. It seemed that there was some evaluation about the Misard Opera House that prevented her from saying it in front of Alred. But for Louis, Busha The unheard-of rule of the Misard Opera House that "a person who is invited to dance cannot refuse" that Mrs. Shark said was enough to horrify him.

"Holy Virgin Mary!" Louie gasped, never in his twenty-five years had he heard such crude, savage savage tribe rules—rules that, combined with "as long as With the premise that anyone who gives money can enter the Misard Opera House to dance", anyone can imagine what kind of disorder and chaos this so-called masquerade ball in the opera house should be. Even if you can't pay for the carriage ride, come to St. George Street at this time and ask them for help!

"That kind of place is not for decent people. If you are accidentally recognized, it will be a shame." Alred said, he gritted his teeth, and the veins on his forehead were tense: "Margaret What nonsense, I must go and bring her back, at least not where the rascals are—Joseph! Get my cloak!"

The little servant Joseph appeared out of nowhere, answered "Yes, sir" briskly, and then walked towards the stairs, as if he was going to get a cloak on the second floor.

"That's a very good thing to say, Mr. Allred, really good."

After hearing Alred's instructions to Joseph, as if the embarrassment of being accused just never existed, Mrs. Busa said to Alred very earnestly: "When Margaret threw her at home—— Those friends of hers urged her to let the maids lock me up in the dressing room, and did not release me until their carriage was far away—I fell on my knees and begged the Virgin Mary: please tell me someone who can bring her Get back on track! Then I thought of you, sir, and I knew you wouldn't sit idly by Margaret!"

Her earnest and sincere gesture is like a mother who regrets not being able to educate her daughter to abide by religious precepts and is grateful for someone who can pull the child out of the mire. It is enough to make anyone who sees this lady grateful for her The loyalty and thoughtfulness of his girlfriend, and almost forget the real relationship between her and Margaret.

"I will bring Margaret back here within two hours." Perhaps moved by Mrs. Busa's sincere words, Alred's tone softened: "As for you, madam, you can Staying here and chatting with my friends will help ease your anxiety before you get another migraine."

Louis was stunned for a moment when he heard what Alred said. He looked at Mrs. Bussa and then at Alred.

"Al, let me go with you to the Opera House to find Miss Margaret."

"No, you just recovered from your illness, you just need to stay at home and wait for me to come back."

Alred rejected Louie's proposal very decisively, and it seemed that he hadn't considered the possibility at all: "Remember what Dr. Muller said to you? 'Don't go to a place with too many people', who is that opera house? Anyone can enter, and the people inside can fill an entire square!"

"But my illness is cured, Al, and I have had a good rest after these few days." Louis said, and glanced at Mrs. Buscha: "According to what Mrs. and you said, the opera house There are so many people attending the masquerade ball, how can you find Miss Margaret among thousands of people? Even if Miss Margaret went to the ball with her girlfriends, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not In that kind of chaotic place, girls may meet people with malicious intentions—there is no time to waste at this time, it is better for us to quickly find Miss Margaret and bring her back."

As soon as it was mentioned that Margaret might encounter someone with malicious intentions, Alrede hesitated, but after thinking about it for a while, he still felt that he could not let Louis set foot in that kind of place.

"I'll take Joseph with me. Joseph knows Margaret."

"Mr. Alred, please allow a woman who is anxious for her friend to express her thoughts," said Mrs. Boucher when the two were arguing, and she begged gently and earnestly: "Your Joseph Just a child of fourteen or fifteen years old, you know, Misard's opera house even let those vulgar blacksmiths, carpenters and porters dance in it, if you meet these people, how can a child deal with them What? But it would be different if there was a respectable gentleman around at this time, those people would never dare to be presumptuous."

"I think so, too," Louis said, and just as Alrede would not have let him be in a crowded place like that, he would never have liked Alrede anxiously looking for him alone in a crowded and chaotic opera house. When he was in love with his beloved woman, he sat by the warm fireplace and drank coffee comfortably: "Well, Al, if you are worried about my body, let Joseph follow me, and we will separate to find Margaret Miss's whereabouts, isn't that faster than you alone?"

"But I only have one cloak here." Even though Louis made a quite feasible suggestion, Alred was still very reluctant to let his friend take risks, and he made an excuse: "That kind of masquerade party will not let People in ordinary clothes had to wear a hooded domino cloak and a mask, even if they didn't put on some weird makeup—it was definitely too late to put on makeup now, and I don't have any extra cloaks here either."

Just a few minutes after Alred finished speaking, Joseph came down from the second floor. He was holding two long black cloaks with hoods. Because he was not tall enough, the hem of the cloak was almost To be dragged to the ground; in his hand he also held a golden brass mask fashioned into a rather handsome butterfly shape.

"Sir, I have brought you both cloaks," said Joseph to Alred, and the boy had done his duty faithfully, and more in addition, only to find his master displeased stared at him, as if displeased with his self-assertion.

"Oh, that's great! Now we've got two cloaks, Al, one for you and me."

Louis pretended that he hadn't heard what Alred said just now that there was only one cloak, took a black cloak from Joseph, shook it out and gestured at himself, and found that it was actually a hooded cloak. Loose coat; this kind of cloak can cover a person's figure to a large extent. If you wear it and wear a half-section mask, even friends who are very familiar with each other have to look carefully at each other to recognize each other.

"Oh! Mr. Louis, are you going to that opera house too? I thought it was me and sir."

Joseph asked Louis in a little surprise, while shaking off another cloak nimbly, and put it on Alred.

Alred looked at the black cloak on his body, then at Louis and Joseph, and finally he sighed.

"The three of us are going to the Opera House," he said to Joseph, "and when you get there, you must follow Louis without leaving the house, and if he feels any discomfort, immediately take him out of the Opera House and take a carriage." Come back here, understand?"

"I see, sir," said Joseph, and the boy's ideas followed one after another, and soon he thought of a way to make up: "I can take a turban and dress myself up as an Indian, it's very simple-- But, sir, we don't have enough masks, and I only found this golden one on the second floor, and I can't find the other black one; without them we can't go to the ball."

"Both masks are stored in the third drawer from the left side of the cabinet." Mary, who had been sitting there quietly listening to the conversation between the host and the guests, said, she was a little puzzled: "How could only one be found? Joseph, you must have been careless and missed the other one."

"I have searched carefully, but I didn't find the black one." Joseph defended a little unconvinced.

"I'm pretty sure the masks are kept there, I'll go up to the second floor and have a look."

Just when Mary stood up, took the candle and was about to go upstairs, Joseph snatched the candle from his sister: "Okay, okay, I'll go up and have a look, it's so late, you might fall on the stairs—— It's the third drawer from the left, right?"

This time when Joseph came down again, he was holding another black butterfly-shaped half-section mask in his hand: "Sister, you simply remembered wrongly, it was clearly placed in the first drawer on the right, no wonder how did I find it?" I can't find it either!"

"Mary must have misremembered it," Alred said. He felt that Mary had been a little out of her mind recently, and it's not surprising that she misremembered the location of things for a while: "In this way, we have two masks, and we still lack one. —Mary, I remember you also have a mask, can you lend us that first?"

"Ah, sir," Mary hesitated when she heard the request, and said hesitantly, "That mask is just made of wood, it's a bit rough, and it's not very pretty..."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, we only wear it for half a day." Joseph said, he volunteered: "A wooden mask is not as comfortable as a copper mask, so let me wear it! The two gentlemen wear copper masks."

As soon as she said this, Mary couldn't refuse to lend her beloved mask. She reluctantly took the little thing that Villiers gave her as a birthday present, and handed it to her brother. Go up, and then repeatedly told him not to break it.

In this way, all the conditions for them to go to the Masquerade Ball at the Misard Opera House were met. Considering that a carriage might not be enough, Alrede decided to let his coachman and Louis' coachman drive together.

When making preparations for departure, Alred was not idle. He repeatedly asked Mrs. Buscha what kind of dress Marguerite was wearing today.

"She was also wearing a domino cloak, and I didn't see the mask clearly. I was locked in the dressing room at the time." Mrs. Busa said, she tried her best to recall the details she saw from the window at that time: "Ah, I Thinking about it, Elisa's dress with her is very distinctive. She is wearing a white dress with red trim, and the sleeves are tied up with red ribbons, tied up to the arms, just like a dock worker Same, wearing a red antler-shaped mask!"