Rimbaud's girl

Vitaly thinks that she has never seen any opera performances, mainly because she is not interested in music, opera, and thinks it is super tall, Arthur doesn't know much about operas, if Flaubert doesn't take her to the opera house , it is impossible for her to go to the show by herself, after all, she is still underage.

"I'm afraid I won't understand it." She said realistically, "I haven't seen an opera, is it good?"

"Have you ever seen a play? Or any stage play?"

"I've seen it a little bit. Guy just performed a short play with his friends a few days ago."

Maupassant smiled aside.A few days ago, he and some friends rehearsed a short play he wrote, and he played a role in one of the roles dressed as a woman.

"Operas are similar to stage plays, except that many songs are sung in them."

Vitaly imagined, "Well, I will be in Paris for two more weeks, you can write to my apartment now, do you have a pen and paper?"

Paul hurriedly asked the servant to bring paper, pen and ink bottle, and Vitaly left him the address of Flaubert's apartment, "I live with my father, so you have to invite my father, but he may not go. In short, he If not, I will tell you in my reply."

Paul picked up the address card, dried the ink, and carefully put it away.

After that, Paul was almost inseparable from her, asking her very attentively what she likes to eat, trying to find a topic.Teenagers under the age of 19 are relatively shy, but they have good social skills. People who are too shy cannot become musicians, especially performers and singers. When you stand on the stage, there are hundreds or even thousands of people in the audience. You are shy or even timid when an audience is watching you. This is not acceptable, it is a fatal injury.

In fact, Vitaly doesn’t have much experience in socializing with peers. She was the only girl in Mr. Pierre’s house in her early years, and she couldn’t play with boys; it’s not like boys can go to public schools. It was only at the convent girls' school that she spent the longest time with her peers, but she didn't develop any girly friendships at that time, so that she now has no girlfriends of her own age.

Girlfriends are actually not necessary. She is used to getting along with women who are older than herself. She can get along well with Mrs. Caroline and Mrs. Conmanville; it is not a problem to get along with her own mother, as long as the mother is not so controlling If the desire is strong, she can get along well with her mother.

The reading volume of Paul Viodore is average, that is, the reading volume of ordinary public school boys. It is a bit mediocre to say the least. The amount is not small, the children of the nobles received elite education since they were young, and the children of the nobles, no matter how rich they are, also have to read a lot, but reading a lot does not mean that this person has excellent insight.

Paul's ideological awareness was not very high either.Pauline Viodo and George Sand were friends for many years, but Paul also felt that George Sand was not a "proper woman".He didn't attack George Sand directly, but when he mentioned George Sand, he showed a look of disgust.

Vitaly thought it was amused, but didn't bother to delve into why he disliked George Sand, whom he called "Auntie."She quickly changed the subject.

The next morning, Paul Viodore came to see Vitaly at Flaubert's apartment in the morning and gave her a bouquet of white camellias.

Vitaly told Gisela to take the camellia and put it in a vase.

"Vitaly, can I invite you to go out for a walk?" The young man blushed, but he still made a firm request.

"Shouldn't you ask me out for a walk after you've visited me a few times?"

He smiled shyly, "I know that there is a bakery that has delicious puffs. You like puffs very much. I guarantee that their puffs are the most delicious puffs you have ever eaten."

"The puffs don't have any technical content, it's just that the cream is made differently, and the good cream is more delicious."

Paul froze for a moment, "This..."

"Father is working and I can't bother him right now. We'll just stay in the living room. You can tell Gisela where the shop is and she can go get some sweets. Coffee or tea? I never London has brought back some good Chinese tea, would you like to try it?"

Paul was dizzy and was arranged to sit in the living room by her.

"You haven't said anything about your parents. I know your mother is Pauline Viodo, but she was famous before she got married. How did she meet your father? Gisela, make tea." She sat down on the sofa opposite him, "How old is Mrs. Viodo? Where is Mr. Viodo?"

"Mother is 54 years old, father - 75 years old."

Vitaly raised her eyebrows in surprise: So, Pauline's husband is 21 years older than her... In other words, he is a real old man.

More than half of men in this era are over 30 years old when they get married for the first time. The main reason is economy. As we all know, a family cannot be maintained without money; It is because the choice of marriage partners with similar status and wealth is too small, so the age of first marriage is also high; on the contrary, in aristocratic families like the Oran family with a low title and good economics, boys get married relatively early, after all, they get married early By giving birth early, the issue of heirs can be resolved as soon as possible, especially for families like the Oran family with only one male heir.

Vitaly from -->>

Her parents are 11 years apart in age, and she already felt that the age gap was too big.A difference of 21 years!Pauline got married at the age of 20, and Viodo is also 41 years old, which is almost half buried in the soil!

Well, age discrimination is wrong, but if she was asked to marry a man 21 years older than her, he would be the crown prince and she would not do it - think about the loose skin of a 40-year-old man!She couldn't bear to have to face her husband's fat belly without enjoying his young and fit body.

"Tell me about your mother. What does she do at home?"

"She is going to teach at the Conservatory of Music. She is very popular and many students choose her class."

"Teach what?"

"Vocal music."

"May I ask, is there a fee for her teaching? Or is it a salary?"

"Salary. On average a class--a class is two hours--is 100 francs."

Vitaly was surprised, "Then she can earn 2000 francs a month?" If she takes 6 classes a week, the actual monthly income is 2400 francs, and after excluding three months of vacation, she can earn more than 3 francs a year. This can be considered a high income in Paris.

"Almost." Paul said cautiously.

"That's not surprising. An excellent singer is also very talented. Strictly speaking, the real 'genius' is only music and mathematics. I heard from Mr. Turgenev that Mrs. Viodo can compose her own music. Still a very beautiful, very technical piece of music, which is amazing!"

"Mother is really amazing."

"Where's your father? Is he a musician too?"

"He used to be the manager of the Opera House, and that's where they met."

"Ah—" she nodded: it really is close to the water. "Then why did you learn violin instead of vocal music or piano?"

"I like the violin. The violin can be carried around and practiced at any time. It is very convenient." He hesitated, "Do you want to hear me play the violin? My mother said that I will be able to perform on stage soon."

"You can bring the violin next time. Tell me more about your mother."

Flaubert came out of the study and saw the two of them sitting in the living room. After listening to their chat for a while, he found that Vitaly only wanted to know about Pauline, and he used the Vioteau family as a material library. The innocent boy only cares about pleasing the beautiful girl.

boy!

He shook his head.

Paul came a few more times, and then invited Vitaly to an opera performed by one of his sisters.

Flaubert did not go, but asked his niece Caroline to accompany Vitaly to the Opera House.Paul was very careful and reserved a box with the best location for them.

Vitaly went to see an opera for the first time, and she was still sitting in the box, feeling a little excited.

Paul did things very well. First, he wrote a letter a few days in advance to tell her which day the show was and what time it would start. He would pick her up two hours in advance and set aside one hour for her to change clothes and make up, and then take the Viodo The family's carriage went to the opera house, and went directly upstairs and into the box.

On the day of the performance, Paul actually came 4 hours early, because he must have eaten before going to the performance, so he had to go out to eat before going to the opera house, and it took an hour.

Caroline chose her a dress for a visit, not too showy, and a cloth hat with a narrow brim trimmed in satin.Vitaly doesn't like to wear hats usually, she thinks it's too stuffy.There are thousands of styles of women's hats, suitable for different occasions, and there are many decorations. They are decorated with artificial flowers, ribbons, feathers, etc., and some rich ones are decorated with semi-precious stones. Sometimes a fashionable women's hat can be Worth more than a ball dress.

Even though Vitaly doesn't like wearing hats any more, she also unconsciously finds that she owns 7 or 8 hats, all of which she bought recently.There are dust-proof cloth hats worn at home, wide-brimmed hats for guests, and fur bowler hats for cold and windy weather. In short, there are different hats for every occasion.

Paul couldn't hide the joy on his face when he saw Vitaly dressed up pretty and lovely.

Before and after he ran, he was courteous and thoughtful, a young gentleman in every way.When he arrived at the restaurant, he helped the two ladies out of the carriage; when he entered the restaurant, he pulled out the seats for them.

It didn't take any keen observation to spot this posture, and even the general courtship of women in France couldn't explain it.Taking advantage of the time to go to the bathroom after eating, Caroline whispered, "Is Viodo pursuing you?"

"I guess."

"He didn't know you were engaged?"

Vitaly stretched out her left hand, "Look! I'm also surprised, didn't he see it?"

The engagement ring Gabriel gave her was too big for her to wear under normal circumstances, so on the day of the engagement ball, Gabriel gave her a ring with smaller stones."Smaller" is also relative to the engagement ring that is enough for 8 carats. The second engagement ring is a little more than 1 carat, and it is also a sapphire with better fire. It is very comfortable to wear on her small finger. Striking and impossible not to see.

"Maybe he didn't know it was an engagement ring. You didn't tell me?"