Rimbaud's girl

Well, Vitaly was ready that he would propose, but didn't expect it to be in a lavender field.

She was "surprised" aptly.

A sapphire ring with excellent aqua color, the gemstone is large, at least 8 carats, square, well cut and set; the sapphire is surrounded by a ring of diamonds, shining brightly in the sun.

She had never seen such a big gem!

She barely heard what Gabriel was saying and just thought: Whoa!No wonder women can't resist these shiny stones.

She stretched out her hand to take the ring in a dizzy state, and looked at the azure blue gemstone in the sunlight.

He stood up, urging: "You haven't said 'yes' yet."

"Oh, yes." I felt that what I said was too perfunctory, so I hurriedly added, "I'm so happy. I mean, I said yes, and we got engaged, right?"

"Yes. But there is still an engagement banquet to be held in London. I will introduce you to my relatives. There are not many relatives on the mother's side, and most of them are relatives on the father's side. Put it on and see if it suits you." ?"

Only then did she happily put the ring on the ring finger of her left hand. The ring was a bit too big, so she had to take it off and put it on the middle finger.

"Your finger is a little thinner. It was a gift from my father to my mother. My mother likes rubies, so their engagement ring is a ruby ​​ring. This is another ring my father gave me after they got engaged. Do you like it? I think The sapphire is very beautiful, look how beautiful you are wearing it!" He hugged her tightly and bowed his head to kiss her. "When you arrive in London, your mother will give you some jewels, please accept them."

It wasn't until she put the ring on that he finally felt the matter was settled.

that's nice!

"Now, you are mine, my fiancée." He whispered in her ear, "I love you, Vitaly, and will always love you."

He took her left hand and kissed on the sapphire ring, "You will always love me, right?"

"Yeah!" She nodded vigorously, "I have always loved you."

He sighed, "I'm so happy. Maybe we won't be happier until the day we get married. Didn't you hear what I said to you, Vitaly?"

"What? What did you say?" She laughed.

"You really—" he smiled helplessly, "I won't say the proposal again, that's unlucky. Anyway, you agreed and put on the ring, you are mine."

"Can't you go back on your word?"

"No."

"When am I going to London? Or is it up to me?"

"It's up to you."

She smiled, "Then—an engagement banquet before Christmas, and then—a wedding after you graduate, okay?"

"That would be the best. Oxford usually holds a graduation ceremony before the end of June, and then I will immediately go back to London to marry you. On the second day of the wedding, we will go abroad for our honeymoon and come back in two years."

She suddenly heard the great news, "Is it possible? Can I spend two years abroad?"

"Of course! I know you want to go abroad to play, but you can't go abroad without someone to accompany you. See, I have arranged everything."

"Because of me?"

"I remember what you said. I will try my best to satisfy your wish."

Vitaly sighed contentedly, "It's nice to have money!"

Wronged, "Shouldn't it be 'my fiancé is the best'?"

"My fiance is the best!" she said obediently.

Arthur came over from a distance, "What are you doing?"

"Arthur!" Vitaly waved at him excitedly, "Look!" She ran towards her brother, stepping down countless lavender plants along the way, "Look! Gabriel proposed to me!"

Arthur took a quick look at Gabriel, and said, "Let me guess—you turned him down?"

"Arthur!" What a bad brother!He did it on purpose! "I promise, and look! Isn't this sapphire beautiful?"

"It's beautiful, it suits your eyes." Arthur shook hands with Gabriel, "Be good to my sister, don't let her down, don't bully her, don't make her cry."

"I will—no, I mean, I won't." Gabriel was nervous, but serious.

Arthur suppressed his laugh, "I trust you, so I'll give her to you with confidence. Don't lose this trust."

"I know." Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief.

From the moment Gabriel knelt down on one knee, Vincent van Gogh felt that the world was far away from him.

Everything is quickly moving away: the blue sky, the golden wheat field, the lavender flower field, the green trees, the unknown birds on the trees; there are people: the farmer who is harvesting wheat in the wheat field, wearing a light blue silk dress girl, boy kneeling on one knee.

Gabriel is proposing.

It doesn't take much advanced knowledge to know this.

Vitaly then took the ring.

He was flustered for a while, and felt how cold the sunshine in southern France was in July!Why is there no temperature at all?

How strange!It's all like a dream.

But it's really not a dream.

Vitaly quickly came running to show him her engagement ring.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

"Beautiful! Congratulations." He said dryly.

"I can't paint at all now, can you stay here alone? I want to walk around here with Gabriel and return to Arles at noon. Arthur said that he will have a few drinks with Gabriel in the evening and find a Do you want to go to a bar, too? You help me watch Arthur, don’t let him drink too much. Oh, don’t drink too much, it’s not good to drink too much.”

He felt a little strange, "Aren't you worried that Gabriel will drink too much?"

"Oh, Gabriel is very restrained, he won't drink too much, but he is not very good at persuading Arthur. You know, they will be relatives later. Oh, not so soon, two years, wait for me After marrying Gabriel, they will be real relatives."

"Married?" He was surprised.

"Engagement always follows marriage, if nothing happens to Gabriel."

He asked in a daze, "What will happen?"

"What's going to happen? Nothing will happen to him." She felt a little strange, but didn't think about it, Gabriel called her not far away. "I'm going there. If you want to use paint, go get it yourself. Don't let those children take away the paint. If you have anything, tell the servant to do it."

She ran away quickly.

All day long he was absent-minded, thinking about her, thinking about himself.

He knew he was hopeless, the girl he liked was engaged to another man.

Strange, he thought a lot, but he didn't seem to think about anything.

money.

Money was important, and if he had been as rich as Gabriel, he would have wooed her long ago.Vitaly has always seen clearly that she likes money, works hard to make money, and will choose the richer Gabriel.

He hates her reality, but he can understand her very well, life without money is really sad, and he is not willing for her to live a poor life like his mother.Indeed, as Arthur said, she wants to live a comfortable life, and if he can't give her a comfortable life, don't even think about being with her.

Yes, they have a more common language, but that's not enough.He can't support her with his own income. A man must have money before he can talk about other things.

He angrily painted on the canvas, not knowing what he was painting.

In the evening, he had to go to the bar for drinks with Arthur and Gabriel.

The relationship between Arthur and Gabriel is very good. As the young master of a noble family, Gabriel is actually very good-tempered, at least it will not make people feel arrogant.He had the air of a well-born young man, but he was not domineering, impetuous, or frivolous, and he was well-bred.

Vitaly has a good eye.

He thought sadly that she would live the comfortable and even luxurious life she wanted, and she might become one of those married women in the future, busy taking care of her husband and children all day, nagging with other women The master and the west are at odds—no, she won't, she is just a little fairy girl, no matter how old she is, she will always be a fairy girl.

Thinking wildly, he couldn't help but drink a few more glasses.

By the time they left the bar, all three were a little bit drunk.

As soon as Gabriel returned to the hotel, he hurried upstairs to look for Vitaly. She smelled of alcohol on his body, and she disgusted him and told him to go back to the room to wash up.

He smiled and kissed her cheek, "Good night, sorry to wake you up. Are you asleep?"

"See what stupid things you're talking about?"

"Go back to bed and have a good sleep." Touching her small face, it was smooth and tender, fragrant and soft.

Arthur came upstairs. "Vitale."

Vitaly pushed him quickly, "Go, don't let Arthur talk about me again."

"You are my fiancee now, can't I give you a good night kiss?"

She stood on tiptoe and kissed him briskly on the lips, "Okay, this is the good night kiss."

Gabriel happily went upstairs.

bsp; "You know what you can't do?" Arthur whispered to her, standing in the doorway.

She was a little shy, lowered her head, and nodded.

"Even if he calls an elephant a rose, don't let him in your bed until the day you get married. You're a smart girl, but a girl, and you know what men think, they always Thinking about going to your bed as soon as possible, even if he is your fiancé, you can't relax your vigilance. Watch your belt, my good sister. "

She blushed and nodded.

Arthur stroked her hair and kissed her forehead, "Go back to sleep."

Vitaly closed the door.

Alas, what my brother said is right, men, after puberty, they probably always think about the things between men and women, so they go to brothels; and men in this era generally feel that it is not good to solve it with their hands Yes, it will hurt you.She couldn't discuss such things with her fiancé, it would frighten him.There's no way, I can only let him hold back.

She snickered.Well, she herself doesn't think "virginity" is too important a thing. Arthur doesn't want her to become "social news", at least not like that Madame Bovary.It is her misfortune that Madame Bovary blindly believes in "love" and credulously believes in the "love" of men.She wouldn't make that mistake, and besides, Arthur was watching Gabriel for her.If Gabriel wanted to do something bad, he would always worry about being discovered by Arthur, so he might not dare to think about it.

She was about to go to bed when someone knocked on the door again. The young man lowered his voice, "Miss Rimbaud."

Vincent was the only one who would call her "Miss Rimbaud". The servants never spoke directly to her, and they always asked the maid to tell her anything.

Puzzled, she walked to the door and opened a crack, "Vincent?"

He also smelled of alcohol, but had obviously rinsed his mouth with peppermint water and cologne.He was nervous and embarrassed.

"Miss."

She looked at him puzzled.

"I think... starting tomorrow, I won't...not go with you. I—" He stared at her, "I want to stay, maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months. It's beautiful here , I can stay here for a long time. Or I will go somewhere else, just in Provence, but I will not return to Paris for a while."

Vitaly didn't expect that he would suddenly decide to stay, "—Okay. I'll leave all the painting materials to you, and then I will give you 500 francs first, and you can rent a house or live in a farmer's house, Once settled, write to me and give me your new address so I can continue to send you money in the future."

He smiled, "Thank you, you are a good girl. I - Vitaly, please allow me to call you that, this is the first time, maybe the last time. I love you," he suddenly felt a burst of relief in his heart: It's not that difficult to finally say it! "I love you, but I know you won't love me, so staying with you will make me too sad, I can't bear it."

Vitaly looked startled, but said nothing.

"You treat me very well, but it may be more like a patron treating his fancy future painter. You don't even know if I'm worth your money... I've thought about it, I have to be worthy of your money, I will I worked hard, not for you, but for myself." He pursed his lips with a determined face, "I'll look for a house tomorrow."

Shock!

She really didn't expect it.She really regarded him as an "investment". That's right, that's what art patrons do. They discover unknown artists and give them money so that they can create without worrying about food and clothing.Did she do something wrong?It seems not, except that Vincent did not expect to fall in love with her.

However, it doesn't seem too surprising.There were no other women in his life, just like when he fell in love with Ursula in the boarding house, he only knew her, so he fell in love with her, probably without actually knowing what "love" was.In this way, he should have finally decided to leave because she was engaged to Gabriel.

It seems... not a bad thing?He is an adult, he should know what he wants.

She could finally lie down on the bed, thinking about two important things that happened today, one of which she knew what would follow, and the follow-up of the other she could not control.

Neither Arthur nor Gabriel were surprised by Vincent's decision to stay in Arles.Arthur thinks that Vincent has finally given up, while Gabriel thinks that Vincent is still "reasonable".

He didn't take the initiative to tell Vincent that he was willing to support him, but just gave Vitaly 1000 francs and asked her to give it to Vincent.

"Can't you give it to him yourself?" Vitaly was a little strange.

"Little fool! You don't know how men think about problems. If you give him the money, he will accept it happily; but if I give it to him, he will not be happy."

"A man's vanity." She rolled her eyes.Vincent's attitude makes sense in the context of his love for her: he won't accept Gabriel's money.So, Gabriel has already seen it?

I really don't understand the psychology of men!

She called Gisela, asked her to send 500 francs to Vincent, and gave her another 300 francs, asking her to go to see the house with Vincent these days, help him pay the rent, and buy some clothes and daily necessities .

Back in Marseille, Gabriel and Arthur didn't go out much during the day.Arthur basked in the sun on the beach every day, saying that he wanted to make up for the lack of sun exposure caused by staying in the ghostly place in England that was rainy and rainy all day for the past two years.

Gabriel stayed with Vitaly all day, painting everywhere, or wandering the streets of Marseille.He wrote back to London to tell his parents that Vitaly had agreed to the marriage proposal, and the engagement banquet was going to be held before Christmas, so he asked his mother to help him organize the banquet; Many months are enough.

The Orans quickly wrote back, saying that one month is still a little too nervous, and it is best for Vitaly to go to London in early October; in addition, Mrs. Flaubert, the adoptive father, and Mrs. Rimbaud, the biological mother, must be invited to the engagement banquet. Tali confirmed their itinerary as soon as possible so that they could arrange accommodation;

Vitaly also wrote back to Rouen and Charleville, telling Flaubert and Madame Rimbaud that she had agreed to Gabriel's proposal.Flaubert's letter was written by Caroline, who warmly congratulated her on her engagement; Mrs. Rimbaud was even happier, but she still talked about it. The general meaning was to warn her not to have anything indescribable with Gabriel before marriage. In order to prevent the Oran and his wife from finding out that she is not a "good girl".

Getting engaged is such a hassle.

But you have to go through it once, so just bear with it.After all, she doesn't need to worry about the engagement banquet, and she doesn't need to worry about the future wedding ceremony, so it's very easy.

She is in a good mood, which is reflected in the painting, that is, the colors used are softer now.She was originally a student of Degas, and her color preference is also closer to Degas. She likes the dreamy colors, and the color contrast is not too strong. It is good to use soft colors for flowers and scenery. Eyesight, said that if her paintings are hung up for sale, the water pink pastel paintings can be sold for 1 francs, and the oil paintings are 200 francs. The main reason is that the colors are too beautiful, very suitable for home decoration, and guests can also appreciate this color. Bright paintings.

Of course, painting flowers is the safest, and painting landscapes is also very safe. As long as she masters the skills, she can already support herself with painting alone, and even make more money than writing.

Vitaly suddenly discovered that she had already "graduated" and could support herself by selling paintings and writing.

Today she is sorting out the paintings she drew in Marseilles this time, putting the gouache and water color powder on one side, and the oil painting on the other.The price of oil paintings is high because it takes a long time to paint and the paint is expensive, so she paints more gouache paintings and less oil paintings. Gouache paintings can be painted very quickly, and two paintings a day is not a problem.

It only took two weeks to paint, and I also painted more than a dozen pastels, and the calculation was 2 to 3000 francs.

She said happily, "Look! If all these paintings are sold, it will be enough for my mother and Isabel's living expenses for a year."

"How is the profit of your small shop?" Gabriel asked.

"It's okay. I can earn more than 2000 a year. She and Isabel can't spend 1000 francs a year, and they can still send dozens of francs to Arthur and me every month."

Gabriel did some calculations. In a small town like Charleville, two people can indeed live well on 1000 francs a year. Mrs. Rimbaud is very economical, but the money that should be spent is quite generous. For example, she gave Arthur Sending 70 francs a month and sending 30 francs to Vitaly is because Arthur has a lot of expenses, and Vitaly lives in Flaubert's house and spends almost nothing.

As for Vitaly's future dowry, Arthur also told him that the Rimbaud family was of course extremely poor for the Oran family, but Mrs. Rimbaud promised to give the eldest daughter at least 5 francs in cash as a dowry.The fields in Rosh Village originally had Vitaly's share, but Arthur thought about it. Vitaly would not return to Rosh Village in the future, so he would consider buying some fields outside London before she got married. The village property will be left to their elder brother Frederick.Frederick is still serving in the military, returned to Charleville after his discharge, and is unlikely to leave his hometown in the future.

He didn't tell Arthur, and his parents were reluctant at first for him to marry a country girl.In their view, those who do not have a noble title and were not born in Paris or London are all "country girls". Not to mention that Vitaly has two older brothers and a younger sister. It's not good to have to bear the burden of the wife and the whole family.

He took a lot of effort to convince his parents that although Rimbaud's family was poor, they were not the kind who could not eat enough and had no warmth. Her family still has land, so she cannot be regarded as a proletarian; needless to say, Arthur, finding a job in a newspaper office after graduating from Oxford is definitely not a problem. Being a newspaper or magazine editor is a job with a relatively high social status and a good salary. So before persuading her father to write a letter of recommendation and requesting a reserved student place at Oxford, she wanted Arthur to be independent in the future; Vitaly didn't really need to worry too much about her family.

He also said that when Vitaly was in Charleville, he took the initiative to open a grocery store, and then he was in Paris with Arthur. The two brothers and sisters took care of their studies and life well; She manages the manor, she's a smart girl, she doesn't really know anything.

Mrs. Orland was worried that Mrs. Rimbaud would show her cowardice at the engagement party, and the ladies would laugh at her for being related to a vulgar peasant woman.Gabriel recalled Mrs. Rimbaud's performance in London, and thought that the future mother-in-law was uneducated and looked too serious, but the biggest advantage was that she would not talk nonsense; ladies would definitely laugh at her for being a peasant woman anyway, but She doesn't know how to make jokes, and the noble ladies are not so free that they always laugh at her.