[Masterpiece Les Miserables] Paris Sparks

On the morning of May 21st, the residence of Viscount Albert de Morcerf welcomed this distinguished guest.

The young man happily introduced his savior, the Count of Monte Cristo, to several friends.After breakfast, when his friends had dispersed, Albert invited the count to visit his residence.To his surprise, the earl was very familiar with every art treasure in his collection.All the things that Albert collected here: ancient wooden cabinets, Japanese porcelain, oriental silks, Venetian glassware, weapons from all over the world, works of modern painters, etc., he can tell the history immediately just by looking at them.They walked from the art studio to the living room, and every time they passed a collection, it only showed the Earl's erudition.At last they came to the modest and elegant bedroom.A portrait in a framed gilt and framed hanging on the bedroom wall caught the attention of the Count of Monte Cristo, who took a few quick steps in the room, and then stopped suddenly in front of it.On the screen is a young girl, who looks less than 20 years old, with a slightly dark complexion, and under long eyelashes, there are a pair of watery and bright eyes.She was dressed in the costume of a beautiful Catalan fisherwoman—a red and black blouse with gold pins in her hair.She gazes out to sea with the blue sea and sky in the background.In the corner of the screen, the name "CE" was signed in a very concealed font.

"Your mistress is very pretty, Viscount," said the count in a very calm tone. "This costume is probably for dancing. It makes her look very lovely."

"Ah, sir!" replied Albert, "if you had seen another picture next to this one, I would not forgive you for your mistake. You do not know my mother. You see in this picture It was she who arrived. This picture was drawn when I was very young. Although the costume is imaginary, it is so realistic that I seem to see my mother when I was a girl. But it is strange to say that my father seems very strange. I was not happy to see this portrait, but my mother cherished it very much. She kept it with me in order to preserve such a portrait. Because every time my mother came here, she always looked at it, and every time she looked at it It just has to cry."

Monte Cristo cast a quick glance at Albert, as if seeking to find the meaning behind his words, but it was evident that the young man's words came from his heart.

"It's hard for me to imagine why your father would be dissatisfied with such a portrait. If I admit it correctly, this is a painting by Miss Corona Evermond—she has painted less and less portraits in recent years, so it is from the The portrait by her hand is exceptionally valuable. And as far as I can see, it is undoubtedly a masterpiece, not inferior to those fine arts you have shown me before." asked the count.

"I can't figure that out either. I tell you in private that my father, the Comte de Morcerf, was one of the most industrious nobles in Luxembourg, a general who was good at military theory, but he was the most vulgar one when it came to art." Fortunately, Miss Evermond didn't care about him. Just two years ago, she drew another portrait of my mother. If I have the honor to invite you to meet my parents, listen If the countess thanks you in person, you can take a look at the painting, which is hanging in the corridor on the second floor of my house."

"I heard that Miss Evermond has hardly painted portraits in recent years because of her health. It seems that your family has an extraordinary friendship with her?"

Albert smiled with a hint of pride: "My mother and Miss Evermond have been good friends for many years. I have been taught by her in painting and art appreciation, but unfortunately I am not good at painting. Without talent or pursuit, I'm afraid I'm not qualified to be her student."

The Count of Monte Cristo was taken aback, and he deliberately showed his surprise on the surface, to the extent that Albert could just detect it: "This is rare. Please forgive me, I seldom hear of unmarried women The matter of the painter teaching male students. Naturally, I have no doubts about your character, and I am surprised that neither Miss Evermond nor your father tried to avoid suspicion."

"Your Excellency, I don't mind what you say, since you have just arrived in Paris and you have saved my life. If another person said such a thing, I would have turned against him." Albert replied solemnly, "When I was just born, my mother and Miss Evermond had become good friends. She was my teacher and my eldest sister. If you hear anything against Miss Evermond You can ignore the rumors, I assure you with my character, she is a person of noble character, she does not need and should not deliberately avoid anything for the malicious slander of some villains. If you think I If the words are not credible, then I can tell you that the M. Courfeyrac and M. Morel you have just met are her friends. I dare say that they can give exactly the same guarantee as I do."

"In that case, please accept my apology." The Count of Monte Cristo bowed and replied.

"No, you are not at fault. You are new to Paris and do not know all the circumstances," replied Albert, "but I can tell you frankly that you know an old, unmarried woman who is gossiping. It is inevitable that you will receive some malicious slander, and in the case of a famous painter, even more from jealousy. If you want to enter the social life of Paris, you will inevitably encounter some such lies. But ignore those words."

"I'll take your advice to heart. But, it seems to me, the crux of the whole thing is that Miss Evermond is as yet unmarried. If she had been a married lady, it would have been thought that, regardless of the modesty of her private life, No wonder. It wasn't her character that was attacked, it was her failure to play by the well-worn set of rules."

Albert was taken aback by the sharp and pungent remark of the count. "You are really straightforward! However, I really can't refute you." He said with a wry smile.

The count sneered slightly, but did not say anything more about the matter.Albert ordered his servants to inform Mr. and Mrs. Morcerf, and they walked out of the young viscount's residence together, towards the main hall where the Count and Countess of Morcerf lived not far away.

While the Count of Monte Cristo was sitting in the drawing room of the Count of Morcerf, Courfeyrac sat down at Coronne's.

"That Count of Monte Cristo is a queer man," said he, "who has completely subdued Albert. You should have heard what Albert described and praised him before us: he hardly spoke of a mortal, It seems to be talking about the fairy tales in One Thousand and One Nights! The count even called himself Sinbad the Sailor. He talked so mysteriously, if I hadn’t known the boy when Albert was young, I would have thought him I fell into some kind of hallucination, or I was deceived and fooled."

"Then how did you feel when you saw the Count of Monte Cristo yourself?"

Courfeyrac smiled wryly: "I found that what Albert said was not exaggerated at all."

Corona raised her eyebrows: "Is he really that amazing?"

"As I said, he was a very eccentric man and exuded an astonishing luxury. He behaved in a way I had never heard before. He said he hadn't eaten for 24 hours, but he ate very little at breakfast. He Ling’s servant bought a new house on the Champs-Elysées without even looking at it. He claimed to have bought a slave girl in Constantinople and took her to Paris with him.”

Corona frowned slightly at this sentence, and Courfeyrac continued: "However, I think he is a handy person."

"Someone to hand over to? A man who bought a slave girl?"

"Both Debray and I reminded him that there was no such thing as slavery in France. But he said: 'Anyone around me is free to leave me, and when he leaves me, he probably no longer has any. Asked of me or anyone else, and perhaps that's why they didn't leave me.'”

"Just because he said so?"

"It's not just because of this. It's also because of his mannerisms, the impression he gives people. The words he says are so absurd, but the manner of speaking is simple and sincere, as if these shocking behaviors are commonplace in his place .He has the most profound knowledge and the most elegant manners. If you ask me, he is either the most eminent liar or the wealthiest gentleman of this century, and I am willing to believe that he is the latter. Judging from your tens of thousands of francs, it should be the latter situation."

Coronna took a sip of tea——after socializing a lot, it was her subconscious habit to use such gestures to conceal her emotions, even in front of her close friends. "It's rare that you have such a high opinion of a nobleman," she said as she put down her teacup.

From a young age, Courfeyrac had been the liveliest and most well-connected person on ABC.He was the heart of the ABC and the heart that united the ABC with other revolutionary groups.At the same time, he has an extremely keen ability to recognize people.Although Courfeyrac himself has always been worried about the fact that he guessed Corona's identity wrongly back then, he has almost never made a mistake in identifying good or bad human nature.

"He is a very extraordinary person, and he is also a person who makes people feel good about him at the first sight." Courfeyrac commented, "You should meet him if you have the opportunity."

The opportunity came quickly.A few days later, Coronne went to visit Morel's house.She had also been friends with the Morel family for several years. As soon as the carriage stopped at the door, the servant went to pass the news.Coronne had hardly set foot on the beautiful path through the garden when Maximilian Morel, his sister Julie, and brother-in-law Emmanuelle came running out, followed by a pale gentleman in splendid attire. .Corona greeted her three young friends with a smile, and her eyes fell on the gentleman behind, but she paused and sized him up for a moment.Although she tried her best to suppress it, there was still a hint of surprise on her face.

"It's really rude, I didn't know you had another distinguished guest today." She immediately concealed her surprise, and said calmly and softly, "I should have made another appointment."

"No, of course not!" said Maximilian eagerly. "In fact, you came just in time, and I can't wait to introduce you both—Count, this is Miss Corona Evermond. , a famous painter in Paris, but more important to our family, she is our benefactor. Miss Evermond, have you seen the Count of Monte Cristo?"

The author has something to say: The sentence at the beginning of this chapter comes from the original text of The Count of Monte Cristo.The plot has been modified from the original.