The Happy Life of a Duchess

But soon, Adele learned about these gossips from other people.

There are some traces that are too obvious, and those wives who are good at gossip have a natural sensitivity to that kind of news. Naturally, they just miss such crucial information.

"Did you already know?"

When Adele and Armand finished dancing, she went directly to Mr. Duval.

Armand immediately avoided it very winkingly, and Morgana felt that one creme brulee was not enough, and wanted to get another one, but seeing her brother coming, she had to withdraw her hand.

"Eat less, don't you go dancing?" Armand asked her.

"I don't want to go." Morgana replied honestly. She also drank a little wine, but she didn't have the capacity for alcohol like her father and brothers, and she seemed to have chosen the wrong wine. The alcohol taste was stronger than she imagined. After three or two bites, she felt that her face was warm and a little sleepy.

Relying on eating pudding, she barely lost her composure, but she still didn't have much desire to move.

"Did you drink a lot?" Armand frowned.

Morgana felt that her brother had never been so verbose, like a fly buzzing in her ears, she couldn't help complaining in a vague voice:

"Okay, you fool actually invited Adele to dance. Dad didn't even dance with her. Today..."

Of course, Morgana knew that Adele was very busy recently, and when she arrived at the ball, she would be surrounded by various ladies and ladies. Armand invited her to dance, but of course she was too embarrassed to refuse, after all, she would be a relative in the future.

However, Morgana still feels in her heart that her brother is so stupid, immature and inconspicuous, without a prominent background and a good income, and he just goes to the club to dance every day or goes to the theater with those people and courtesans Hunk, it doesn't look like a promising look, and of course it is good-looking, but it is not as charming as his father, and it is far worse in comparison——

No one is more compatible than two people who are in love with each other.

"Hey..." Armand really wanted to say something to prove that he still has a little prestige as an elder brother, but after thinking about it, he swallowed the words.

It seems that after my sister arrived in Paris, she became more and more daring.

Compared with the shy and ignorant look before, she seems to have something more than before, such as courage.

Of course, to a certain extent, her filter of her elder brother's tallness has already been broken, but the brother-sister relationship keeps her from saying anything excessive.

For Morgana, it is true that the more people she meets, the more she thinks and criticizes.

Compared with being confused before, now I can at least have some judgment of my own, knowing the pros and cons of analysis is always an improvement.

"Okay, drink less."

Seeing that his sister didn't want to talk to him too much, Armand quickly scanned the scene, found the next suitable dance partner for himself, and said goodbye to his sister before leaving.

Morgana continued to sit there, happily eating fruit.

"Yes, but not much earlier than you."

Mr. Duval and Adele confessed.

"I was also surprised by her boldness."

He said it in a voice that was unclear but definitely not a compliment.

Adele was silent for a while, but still couldn't help but nodded.

"Mrs. Barry will be angry because of this..."

"Probably because this lady is also very clear that she has nothing but the king's favor." He looked in Mr. Barry's direction, stood in Adele's face, and whispered to her.

"Mr. Barry has a lot of lovers outside. Just like Mrs. Barry cheating on the king, this gentleman is not very polite. He even has an illegitimate child who is seven or eight years old, but he still lacks a nominal one." Very legitimate children by the first wife, you know, that's a very important thing."

Just like those kings and princes who married a queen or princess, but the other party could not give birth to a son as an heir, they would use various methods to directly change a wife, find a reason to be locked up in a monastery, or arrange it casually. The manor that was too far, of course, the more terrifying ones became extremely bloody.

In short, it is not very likely that the ex-wife can be given relatively good treatment during the divorce. Although the law allows divorce, it cannot guarantee that the wife will get too much money when she and the husband break up.

And Mrs. Barry is known to be an unfaithful woman.

One way of doing it, and it's been whispered all the time that it's likely to happen, is that Mr. Barry could, with this blatant derailment, send his wife to a convent when the King has detested Mrs. Barry. , Explain to the church and even ask for her punishment, even if there is no punishment, she doesn't want to get a penny.

Lust, one of the seven deadly sins.

Her cheating behavior is different from other people's concealed appearance, she is almost so bright that she is blatant.

Everyone knew that she was the king's lover, and that it was impossible for the king to marry her, and she did not give birth to any children of the king's or husband's blood. She had no children and was really weak.

She doesn't have the last layer of fig leaf, and everyone even knows that, to some extent, she is a chaotic wanderer who does not conform to her aristocratic status, so some wives are extremely disgusted with this type of mistress aristocratic woman.

"Then Miss Barry's child is..." Adele narrowed her eyes slightly, as if she was extremely curious, and she couldn't help leaning towards him, hoping to get some reliable answers from him.

"That's not certain." He shook his head, protected her with one hand, and explained softly.

"Actually, during that time," he said quickly, "she may have had relationships with the king and Mr. Barry at the same time, and it is not sure if other people were involved. So, I am afraid that no one but her Knowing where the child belongs, of course, if the child is born, maybe it can be seen from his appearance."

Adele quickly went through this passage in her mind, and couldn't help being shocked by the huge amount of information.

"My God," she exclaimed.

Mrs. Barry will come to the ball today, but she doesn't want to make her nominal sister feel better.

In fact, she used to be very nice to her, but who would have thought that Miss Sophie Barry took advantage of her status as Mrs. Barry's mistress not only to increase her bargaining chip and social status by going in and out of the palace, but also It was directly looking for an opportunity to seduce the king, and even——

The king was more interested in her than in Mrs. Barry, who was getting old and fading.

In the matter of Mrs. Barry seducing the king and helping the family behind it, the biggest beneficiary is undoubtedly the Barry family on the surface, and the direct beneficiary is Mr. Barry. The relationship, successfully got the king's little idea of ​​compensation, and stood firm in the political arena.

You must know that at that time, when old Mr. Barry died of sudden illness, he was unable to deal with the complicated political situation at all, and those cunning wolves were not something he could solve. But relying on such a low-level way, he still has a safe position at present.

Although in terms of status and glory, he is not even as good as his father at that time, and his reputation among politicians is not very good. He is not at all like his father who is good at dancing and profiting from many people.

Mrs. Barry's natal family, Baron Bernard's family, probably took this opportunity, and her marriage to Mr. Barry, to successfully get rid of the family's almost bankrupt situation.

In other words, Baron Bernard's family, on the surface, seems to have obtained the benefits of money and property from it, and survived the difficulties of business failure.

However, the Bernard family still has nothing to achieve in the political arena.

They don't have connections in this area, let alone such talents, that's why they have reached the current level of meekness.

Not particularly great, but not that bad either.

If Miss Bernard chooses well, she will still be able to find a good gentleman who is well-matched.

It's a pity that this nymphomaniac lady with a bit of a love brain fell in love with Armand, and even now she still doesn't give up, but I don't know if it's the order of the family behind her——

Although Armand’s conditions are average from an objective point of view, he has a good father. Mr. Duval’s future will only be better, and he is the eldest son. Another point is that he does have the beauty that girls like most nowadays, and he also has a little Melancholy, it seems to be naturally affectionate when looking at you.

In short, Miss Bernard seemed to be working hard.

But neither M. Duval nor M. Armand had any intention of making such a marriage.

"There's nothing surprising about that," Mr. Duval explained.

"Miss Sophie Barry seems to have been in and out of the palace frequently since a few years ago, but at that time there should be no other meaning, just simply having dinner with the king or attending some palace events Prom, for the glory."

"However, some time ago, Mrs. Barry was furious and had a big fight in the manor, and even drove back to her mother's house angrily that night. This is something everyone knows."

That is, today's gossip reminded everyone of what happened a few months ago, and everyone felt as if they had found the truth.

There are not many people who dare to guess that Miss Barry and her brother are unclean, but most people think that Mr. Barry does not have much affection for his nominal wife who has been with the king for many years , and even said that the relationship between the husband and wife is very cold.

Once in private, Mr. Barry was drunk and sneered at himself. Of course, he didn't dare to say anything bad about the king, but he just complained about how "promiscuous" the lady was.

Don't look at him and see that there are many friends, but it is not an unbreakable wall. Besides, what is the quality of him, and how can he expect to make such sincere friends, not to mention the aristocratic circle, there are so many interests. Nor is it.

Just look at Count Garcia, how popular he was at the beginning, but now that the news of his bankruptcy is basically out, everyone's enthusiasm for him has dropped all of a sudden, which is really very real.

However, he makes friends widely and is willing to do good deeds. Among them, there are a few reliable friends who are loyal and humane. Therefore, when he is in the current embarrassing situation, he can still use friends to introduce him or something. If he really went to the point of declaring bankruptcy, he could still go to England to look for opportunities—although his purpose of looking for opportunities was to visit those rich and rich women in England.

A "money-spreading boy" like Earl Garcia, besides being a little playful and fond of playing, is a passable person in other aspects, no matter how he is or what he is, and there is no way to guarantee that the people around him are all reliable.

Not to mention Mr. Barry's character, don't look at him looking ostentatious, but in fact there is a woman behind him who is willing to go out to please the king, and the current situation seems to be okay, so everyone reluctantly Praise him for his bad feet, or some people want to take the opportunity to profit from him.

There are not many people who really think he is capable.

What kind of officials are different, what kind of officials are based on connections and money, who is powerful and who is not, especially those who want to squeeze in this area, can you still not know?

So, soon those words he said were maliciously spread out as a joke.

On the one hand, everyone despised him for relying on women to "establish himself", on the other hand they envied him for having such a chance.

The surface is all smiling, who knows how to mock him in his heart.

This incident made him keep a low profile for a long time.

It is said that he even refused to enter the palace, and he continued to go outside until the rumors outside had subsided and new gossip came out.

The relationship between him and his wife is evident.

Under such circumstances, if Mrs. Barry had anything to rely on, she really had nothing left. She could maintain a longer favor from the king. If she was lucky, she would have a son and a half daughter. Of course, the most important thing is to earn more money. Jewelry, gold and silver, a sensible mistress will definitely save money.

After that, she could just find an excuse to escape, or live a low-key life, and she would probably be able to be happy and prosperous by herself for the rest of her life.

But logically speaking, Mrs. Barry has been a mistress or married for a long time, but she has never had a child, which is very abnormal.

"It may be due to physical reasons." Mr. Duval guessed, "But it is said that she once had a child, which belonged to the king, but no one can say for sure."

"The news in the palace is true or false. At that time, I was still a little far away from the circle in Paris. In addition, it was such lace news, so I didn't pay much attention."

"It's okay." Adele shook her head.

"It's not easy to give birth now. It's normal that there are some root causes of disease or it's not easy to keep a child."

Mr. Duval paused for a moment, but then changed the subject with a smile.

"That was the period before and after the quarrel. It happened that Miss Barry was still living in her brother's manor at that time, and she did go to the palace a few times in the past few days."

"Can she enter and leave the palace at will?"

Adele was a little puzzled.

"Well, of course not in theory. Except for ministers and military officers in important positions, the only people who can come in and out at will are palace ladies or high-status noble ladies and ladies. Of course, those who are sent to the palace to be maids and maids are not counted. ’” explained Mr. Duval.

"Mrs. Barry happens to have a title, so she can come in and out, but Miss Barry doesn't actually have a title, but she can be brought by Mrs. Barry to see her, and they will always do it like this , come to increase the bargaining chip for Miss Barry."

"It's just someone who is fooling around and doesn't understand." Adele chuckled lightly.

"That's true, but some people really value these things, such as those families who want to join the king's side. They would really like to have a wife who has a friendly relationship with the palace."

With the gossip and Mr. Duval's words, Adele successfully figured out the sequence.

A few months ago, Miss Barry probably didn't discuss it with Mrs. Barry. After entering the palace, she had a relationship with the king and made the king very interested in her. This incident immediately angered Barry. Mrs. Leigh, for this is the only cake left of Mrs. Barry's.

Afterwards, Miss Barry went home, perhaps still a little unclear about her brother's routine.

After all, she lived directly in her brother's house most of the time. When Mrs. Barry was not at home, who knew if she and Mr. Barry did a lot of things that they shouldn't have done, and Mrs. Barry was very concerned about it. It's not that I don't know, I'm afraid I have to put a question mark.

But because this matter is really too appalling, telling it out will directly cause a huge blow to Mr. Barry, and may lead to hopelessness in his official career. This will directly relate to the glory of Mrs. Barry as "Mrs. Barry", so of course she It is impossible to self-destruct and offend the entire Barry family.

After that, Miss Barry didn't know if she realized that she was pregnant, and she began to think about a takeover, or she thought that there should be many men who would be willing to be like Mr. Barry, relying on the relationship with the king to advance The official career was profitable, so she took a fancy to Mr. Duval who already had a crush on him.

She might even have persuaded the king to make sure of it.

However, the rumors spread, but they did not expect that Mr. Duval was much more determined than imagined, and he was not at all a disgusting person like them.

He couldn't accept this matter at all, and he was even more determined to speed up the process of getting engaged with Adele, the lady he already liked.

As a result, they suffered a big loss, and all their previous plans were shattered.

Right now, Miss Barry's belly has begun to show. Although she has used a corset, many wives who are sharp-eyed and very gossip have noticed that her figure is out of control.

Miss Barry had put on weight, and that probably had something to do with her waist.

If this is the case, everyone may only think that she has suffered a big loss and lost her face, so she resorts to overeating and other things to resolve it. This kind of thing is not unheard of.

But the point is, there is another person here today, not a fuel-efficient lamp——

That's Mrs. Barry.

Adele completely believed that the rumors that Miss Barry had a relationship with the king seemed to come from nowhere, but in fact, most of them were the information that this lady tried to leak.

Even the fact that she went home after a quarrel with Barry's family a few months ago was exposed, which shows that she is determined to completely discredit Miss Barry.

"Excellent fight."

Adele made an exaggerated expression, expressing the shock in her heart implicitly.

Mr. Duval laughed.

"Mrs. Barry has been a mistress for many years. It's not that simple. Miss Barry is too careless, but..."

He paused for a moment, and Adele looked over curiously.

"Honestly speaking, I still feel that Miss Barry's move to seek the king is not so rational and appropriate. She should have no intention in this regard, and this is not the best answer."

"Her reputation was no longer good at that time, and she had committed too many crimes before, and she has begun to retaliate. According to her temperament that must be top-notch," Adele thought, "she might really look down on ordinary people's wives, No matter how bad it is, you must be at the level of a countess."

"But it is true that the king...is not a very good choice."

Adele knows that there is not much time left for the reign of this era, but others don't know, if they still retain the ideas of the Bourbon dynasty's rule hundreds of years ago, they think that the Barley family is so firm royalist Pai also has some remarks made by Miss Barry before, which is not impossible——

Kings are the only rulers after all, they are such a firm stand.

"Hey, but she is indeed very strange. I thought she hated Mrs. Barry so much, she detested her act of being a mistress so much, and even felt deeply dissatisfied and restrained by it, but she still made such a move..."

"Most of the time, it's enough for everyone to manage themselves. What's more, as one of the vested interests of this move, I don't think they have any position to condemn Mrs. Barry." Mr. Duval held her hand.

"Even if Mrs. Barry's behavior was forced by circumstances, there is no chance of turning back now." He comforted her.

"This is not something you should worry about. In the final analysis, it is their own vain attempt to ascend to the sky in one step, which caused such a cause and effect."

"Look at so many people, if they want to earn a decent income, men can possibly gain glory by relying on military exploits or other things, but he wants his wife to do that kind of thing, or the Barry family and After discussing with the Bernard family..."

Seeing Adele distracted, Mr. Duval felt a little emotional, mainly because Adele was looking at one of his defeated rivals, Mr. Becker.

"Got it." Adele shook his hand with a smile, and Mr. Duval quickly cleaned up his expression.

"Mr. Becker, hello." She greeted each other with a smile.

"Is that your brother who is dancing with Miss Barry?"

Mr. Baker looked a little embarrassed, and Mr. Duval looked a little bit tangled.

He has hesitated for a long time, and finally decided to come over.

Hearing her question, he was taken aback for a moment, and when he looked over, he realized that his brother and Miss Sophie Barry had already danced the second dance.

"Ah, yes, that's my brother."