The Sin of Ludwigs

A few days before the ball, the guests arrived at Kolleck Manor in carriages one after another.

This may be the first time in many years that Kollak Manor has welcomed so many guests. When I first arrived, the empty stables were suddenly filled with all kinds of horses. The guests' luggage was unloaded from the luggage rack behind the four-wheeled double carriage, while Old David and several assistant housekeepers were busy arranging the rooms of the guests.

This time, there were only seven men who could qualify as guests, but some of the female guests they brought became opponents that Anne hadn't expected, and to some extent, they were opponents that she couldn't match—— These ladies were all brought by their fathers, uncles or aunts, especially Viscount Lester, who brought his three beautiful daughters who were of marriageable age in one breath, and cleverly won them over. There are several rooms on the left wing of the manor near the earl's living room. Considering the earl's romantic habits, the viscount's mind is quite obvious.

In order to welcome the distinguished guests, with the exception of Beatrix and a few other exceptions, the other female servants were forced to move to the back wing of the count's room, giving up the original guest room closer to the count's room.

According to the unspoken rules among nobles, the higher the status of the concubine, the more rooms she occupies and the closer she is to the center of power. Just like in the era of Louis XIV in the French court, the rooms of the most favored concubine were the most and the closest. The king's living room often overwhelms the queen's limelight; and in my experience in Ludwigsburg, the Grand Princess of Württemberg never got a room next to her husband's living room-that is basically The scene was taken over by the "blue shoes" from the Grand Theater.

Because of these guests, Anne can no longer sneak out to find me in the middle of the night, which is a real relief - I'm still a person who needs to get up at five o'clock to "work" after all!And what is unexpected is that because some noble ladies with daughters or nieces among the invited female guests are very uncomfortable with the existence of the maids out of some subtle psychology, their attitudes are even more serious. The indignation of being forced to vacate the room directly caused the waitresses to be quite united with the enemy. On the contrary, Anne, who they didn't like before, was also included in the scope of "my own people", and the difficulty against her was reduced a lot. , I can only sigh at this, a woman's mind is really elusive!

The day after the last guest arrived, the ball Anne had been looking forward to so long was finally held.

However, this day is actually a combination of "banquet" and "dance".

The first is the banquet that starts at two o'clock in the afternoon - after the ladies and ladies get up at ten o'clock, in order to protect their delicate skin, they need to take a bath with warm water mixed with milk for an hour or two to make the skin clear. Soft and moist, as a duchess of beauty and fame taught her daughter, "When we sleep, the skin is in a dormant state, and its function is reduced. If it is nourished with milk, After washing with a sponge, the woman will look like a girl, this is the secret of the beauty of the water"-this is the secret of eternal youth, and it must be cared for in the most meticulous way; afterward, they will have a drink Coffee with cream—or whatever else the ladies prefer—and then engage in that all-important private event, which, through the elegance of French courts, has spread to the New World—morning make-up.

For ladies, morning makeup is not so much a part of private dressing and changing, but a performance part where they show off their coquettish and boundless beauty to their followers. Of course, unmarried ladies have no right to enjoy this One treatment.As we all know, every qualified lady will have her own loyal suitors like knights. When she is dressing up, she can receive them in the most casual and charming manner and let them sit on the chair next to her dressing table. , let the maid arrange her hair and apply makeup, while talking with suitors, and even directly showing her most proud body bestowed by God in front of their faces.This custom originated in the era of the Sun King, and spread to the courts of various countries with the popularity of French-everything is very ceremonial. It is an unbearable shame to perform embarrassingly with a few empty chairs, or to let her husband make a guest appearance for a long time-after all, it means that she is old and can only withdraw from the social world from now on!

Annie once complained to me that Earl Ian basically only attended Beatrix's morning makeup, and other people basically didn't get this kind of treatment, and she didn't even have a male attendant to make up for it. Quite humiliating—someday, she must have the Earl appear in her dressing room in the morning!

For men, there are not so many rules. If they don’t want to flatter a lady’s morning makeup, they can choose to play cards, read newspapers or even go hunting. Of course, I guess the gentlemen who came to Kollek this time None of them should bring their female companions or sisters and daughters for hunting.

The banquet lasted from two o'clock to five o'clock. The scale and ostentation were naturally larger and more luxurious than the last banquet held by the Earl alone. The candelabra with 40 large candles illuminated the entire banquet hall more beautifully than the outside. The sky must be bright, the golden Indian tapestry on the wall is shining, and the copper heating pipe hidden behind the flowers silently makes the place warm like a paradise, keeping the guests away from the cold outside, and silently showing the owner's strong financial resources; the harp The music never stopped, and after the previous defeat, this time Frigou's cook showed his skills with great pride, and all kinds of exquisite pastries, desserts and dishes were arranged in exquisite silver dishes. Usually delivered, together with the earl's pure and gorgeous maids with their own characteristics and noble and reserved female guests, beauties and gorgeous costumes, it almost makes people suspect that they have entered the banquet of Mount Olympus by mistake.

Earl Ian is undoubtedly the center of this banquet of the gods, and he seems to be in a very happy mood surrounded by all kinds of beauties. Among the several female guests, he seems to be interested in the third lady of Viscount Lester's family. Quite appreciative, the girl with charming lavender eyes and golden curly hair is also quite bold and pungent, when the other girls are carefully twisting the wings of the grouse, paying more attention to the posture of eating instead of food, she is the only one who is unscrupulous The bold comment that the roasted goldfinch should be seasoned with chafer powder, which has an attractive but not overly spicy taste, rather than the bland lemon juice, immediately succeeded in attracting the earl's attention.

Beatrix was another center of the banquet. Interestingly, she didn't seem to take the threat that Miss Isabella Lester might pose to her at all. The Viscountess Lester was rather annoyed, although no one could say whether the annoyance was due to Beatrix's treatment of her daughter, Lady Isabella, or to the lady's inability to fight for the center of the party. Better than Beatrix——From the beginning of the banquet, the Viscountess nonchalantly regarded herself as the hostess of the manor, as if she was the protagonist of entertaining the guests. Obviously, although the children were getting older, But it seems that she is no more than 28 years old—although her household registration may be 34 years old—the fiery heart of the Viscountess has never cooled down, which is also the normal state of noble ladies.

Anne looked just right in this feast of blooming flowers, neither to be drowned in the garden, nor to be involved in the most violent invisible strife, and she was not wearing a well-prepared costume , but just a fairly common standard dress for a maid, this girl knows very well that the banquet is just a prelude to the war, and the real battle is at the ball at night, so she can even walk past Erica as if nothing happened, Even if the message conveyed by the silk fan in the latter's hand to Baron Robert opposite is quite disrespectful.

The banquet lasted for three full hours. As time went by and the men drank, the neat and orderly order slowly became chaotic. One of the male attendants probably drank too much and suddenly jumped onto the chair on the ground, shouting "Thanks to the Almighty! Long live the Haggis family!" This immediately caused a chaos, the footmen had a hard time pulling him down, and then Viscount Dukan threw himself into a certain place. The arms of a baroness, perhaps mistaking the lace on the lady's dress for real flowers, caused another round of laughter.The flowing dishes were withdrawn after they were cold, and new mother-of-pearl, silver or gold plates were brought up with new delicacies. Gradually, a rather relaxed and harmonious atmosphere replaced some invisible struggle, and the gods The feast of the mortals became a mortal joy, and even the Viscountess Lester was infected and became drunk.

It may seem rather miraculous to some, that even some of the merry crowd, drunk and looking completely unconscious, turned up at the ball at seven o'clock in good spirits, There is no trace of gaffe at all - this may be regarded as a special ability of the upper class!

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