Rimbaud's girl

He went upstairs and went back to his own room—it didn't seem right to say that, it was just her temporary room.

This room is ten times better than the rented room in Charleville. The room is beautifully furnished, and the bedding is made of fine cotton. It costs more than 1 franc per meter. A bed sheet costs 10 francs at least, and the brand awareness is already gone. Yes, there are also brand marketing methods, which will be advertised in newspapers, and the bed products with a little popularity will not be less than 20 francs;

The bed was a four-poster bed, with hanging curtains of a fresh sky-blue color with dark stripes, which cannot be bought for 50 francs.

well!The thought of "money" Vitaly made her heart ache, she had only 1300 francs herself—oh, plus the 100 francs Arthur gave her last time, it was only 1400 francs.It is a huge sum of money for a 12-year-old girl, but in Paris, the best hotel room rent is 12 francs a day, and 1400 francs is only enough to live in a hotel for 3 months; it is only enough for a student to maintain a minimum living Two years at the level is really not a lot.

She thought of Arthur again, this brother was ambitious, the small town of Charleville could not keep him, neither Mrs. Rimbaud nor Captain Rimbaud could understand him, and she could barely understand him. Geniuses are always incompatible with the real world .He needs money, and she doesn't want him to be trapped by others because of money, not even their mother.Arthur couldn't stand being "trapped," and neither could she.

She's still young, she won't be 6 until June, and she can't leave home now.

But how can I get a lot of money?She doesn't have any good ideas at the moment, so she can only ask for the child support first, at least the child support is a legitimate right.

The room was lit with a kerosene lamp, with a brass lamp base and a round lampshade.Kerosene has almost no smell, and the light of kerosene lamps is much brighter than candles.This new type of lighting tool is a new thing now, and it is only used by fashionable people.Mrs. Rimbaud was reluctant to buy a kerosene lamp.

For a moment she studied the kerosene lamp.

It's still early, it's only 7 o'clock, and it's still a while before bedtime.what to doThere seemed to be nothing to do.She opened the duffel bag next to the bed, which contained her few clothes, some travel items, toothbrushes, mugs, cups for drinking water, cloth bags with hair ties and combs—money bags she always Carry it with you, and put it under your pillow when you sleep—and a cloth bag with Émile Zola's "Thérèse Laguin" in it.

—This book seems more suitable for Captain Rimbaud and Mrs. Mandarion, preferably together with the companion volume "Madeleine Ferrat".

Cheating in an affair is not an unforgivable crime. Vitaly is quite sympathetic if being forced or deceived can be forgiven; but Captain Rimbaud was not forced or deceived, and Mrs. Mandarian As long as Mrs. Rimbaud is alive, both of them are equally bad, and Mrs. Mandarian is not innocent.

She will put it on the changing stool at the end of the bed, ready to be given to "Father" tomorrow.

There are few vertical wardrobes in this era, and most people still use drawer-style wardrobes. A multi-drawer chest is placed opposite the changing stool at the end of the bed, and the drawers are opened layer by layer, and the inside is empty.She put her clothes in, using only one drawer.

Well, it seems that Mrs. Mandarian can take her out to buy clothes tomorrow.Who doesn't love a new dress?Presumably Mrs. Mundarian would not refuse her.

Whoever makes her unhappy, she makes that person unhappy even more.

Someone knocked on the door: "Miss." It was the maid.

Vitaly went to open the door, "What's the matter—" someone pushed her suddenly, pushing her down on the floor.

She was confused, and her mind was dizzy for a while.

The door was quickly closed, Louis straddled her stomach, first slapped her, and then grabbed her neck with both hands, as if he really wanted to strangle her to death.

She soon became unable to breathe and was unable to cry out.She was in a turmoil, thinking that she was going to die here, right?She struggled to wrestle his hand, her legs thrashing around, frightened to death.

Her eyes gradually turned black, stars appeared in front of her eyes, and her hands and feet gradually lost strength.

It only took about 1 or 2 minutes, but in Vitaly's memory, this scene was terribly long.

The girl under him didn't move.

Louis's anger suddenly seemed to have no object to vent, and it was extinguished extremely quickly.

He shook her first, and when he saw that she didn't respond, he started to panic: he didn't want to kill her.

"Vitaly? Vitaly? Hey, wake up."

Vitaly didn't move.

He panicked, "Vitale!" He shook her body vigorously, put his ear close to her mouth, and listened to her breathing.

Vitaly thought she might have passed out.

It seemed that she saw a lot of people, but she couldn't remember whether they were people she knew or strangers. She felt that many people came and talked in her ear, but she couldn't remember what they said.

My throat was sore and hot; my head was dizzy and confused, and for a while I didn't know what was going on.

It was black and white for a while, and I don't know how long it took before I heard Louis calling her name in a flustered voice.

She coughed a few times.

Louie helped her up in a panic and let her lean on the changing stool, nervous-->>

asked, "Would you like some water? You—"

She opened her eyes and looked at him.

With a stubborn and ashamed expression, he looked at her in a panic, but quickly looked away, not daring to look at her.

"Look at me." She said in a hoarse voice.He didn't dare to look at her because he knew that what he did was wrong, and he felt ashamed.She wouldn't just forgive him like that.

——The more guilty and ashamed you are, the more you have to look at me and see how you treat me.

Louis had to look back and look at her.

"Do you want to kill me?"

"I, I don't want to." He shook his head in a panic. "I poured water for you, your voice is hoarse."

He poured her a glass of water from the glass jug on the table beside him, using her own water glass, knelt on the floor, and carefully fed her a few sips of water.

After drinking water, the sore throat is slightly better, but it still hurts.He has great strength. Sure enough, this is the difference in physical strength between men and women. Although Louis is not tall or strong, he is very strong.

She touched her throat: it was probably red and swollen, and it might turn blue tomorrow.

Louis lowered his head, still not daring to look at her.

"Look at me," she said again. "You... resent me for accusing your mother, but what about my mother? She is married to Captain Rimbaud, she is his wife, your mother... why do you want to be the mistress of such a man? You are 11 years old, You should understand that he can abandon my mother, and he will abandon your mother in the future."

Louis was very ashamed, "Mother... wants me to treat Captain Rimbaud as my father, but I can't."

"My brother Arthur came to him before, and he sent Arthur away for only a hundred francs. You see, Arthur is his own son, and he doesn't love Arthur. You are not related to him, Will he really love you?"

Louis bowed his head in silence.

"Louis, when you talk to me, you have to look at me." She said coldly, "In the future, you also have to remember that when you talk to someone, you have to look directly into the other person's eyes."

"I, I... I'm sorry, I must have gone crazy just now. Don't tell my mother and... your father." He was afraid this time thinking, "Mother cried for a long time in the room, I never saw her Cried, she always laughed... Captain Rimbaud can make her laugh, I think she loves your father. But—"

The 11-year-old boy was very distressed, "I don't like Dijon, I want to go back to Marseille."

"Then go back to Marseilles. Can't you go back?"

"I can go back." Lu Yi looked at her and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, I did something wrong. You, you hit me too, or you strangle me to death, I will never resist."

"I will not beat you, and you must always remember that today, May 1871, 5, Louis Mandarion nearly killed Vitaly Rimbaud. You owe it to me, you are a gentleman , you should remember that you owe me half your life."

the next morning.

Vitaly didn't say anything, but the bruises on her neck couldn't be covered: It's already May, and it's impossible to wear a scarf to cover the scars, right?

Captain Rimbaud saw the bruise on her neck at a glance.Her skin is very light, and her bruised and purple finger marks are clear, which are the fingerprints of a child.It doesn't take a great detective to guess who did this kind of thing.

"Louis," he said sullenly, "what did you do to Vitaly last night?"

Louis' face was already pale, but now it turned blue, "I hit her."

"Vitale?"

Vitaly nodded.

Mrs. Mandarian did not come downstairs, and they were alone in the dining-room.

"Go back to your own room and don't go downstairs without my permission."

Louis stood up and gave Captain Rimbaud a cold look, "Yes, sir."

"Does it hurt?" Captain Rimbaud asked calmly.

"It doesn't hurt now."

"Do you want Louie to apologize to you?"

Vitaly gave him a strange look: "Why didn't you let him apologize to me just now?"

Captain Rimbaud was speechless, and after a while, he said, "Louis is spoiled."

She lowered her head, "Father, do you love Louis more than me?"

"Louie - was a good kid, just spoiled."

"But, father, I'm your daughter." She looked up, tears streaming down her face, "mother never hit me, Arthur and Frederick never hit me, Louis...Louis is a bad boy, I don't like him."

"Let Mrs. Mandarian take you shopping for a new dress today, will you? Do you like the new dress?" He changed the subject hastily.

"I like it." She sighed secretly, "I want 3, no, 5 new skirts, as well as new leather shoes and new socks."

"Okay, buy 5 new skirts." He seemed a little relaxed and said, "Let Mrs. Mandarian take you there later."