The Happy Life of a Duchess

"Well, who is it?" Gaston heard Adele muttering to himself, took advantage of the change of dance steps to turn around, and glanced at the place she had just looked at.

"..." Adele just smiled and said no more, she didn't want people to see her lack of focus just now, so she just smiled and acted like a shy but curious young lady.

"I think you should be asking about that handsome middle-aged gentleman."

Gaston didn't know anything about her psychological thoughts, instead he smiled smugly, and Adele showed a little surprised expression very cooperatively, as if he was really shocked by his ingenuity.

"I know, Mr. Duval has always been very charming, even when he was in City C." Gaston smiled, "After all, I am Armand's friend, and I have been to their house many times, and I treat them very well. familiar."

"That's Mr. Duval?" Adele's eyes were full of curiosity.

"Yes, a very charming gentleman. He treats others peacefully, pays attention to family affection, is very upright and friendly." Gaston was not stingy with praise, and it was obvious that he really admired his friend's father very much.

"He's a celebrity now." Adele said half-jokingly.

"Oh yes, of course, he is now the chief tax collector of Paris, with great power in his hands, and the cabinet, parliament, and king all trust him." Gaston smiled, and the dimples on his face became more distinct, "But if I Let’s just say, it’s not all a good thing, for example, Armand has been troubled by his sudden social interaction for a long time.”

"Usually when he comes to Paris, he just sits in the cafe on the Circus and drinks coffee to pass the afternoon. In his free time, he goes to the club to play billiards, play poker, and sometimes attend dances, and then write letters to his family. That's good, now there are a lot of strangers coming to strike up a conversation..."

"Aren't you used to it?" Adele pursed her lips and smiled, as if casually said, "Then Mr. Duval must be able to handle this kind of thing well?"

"Of course, his work is more troublesome than these social interactions. Things like dealing with money... After all, those bankers are not easy to talk to. Even if they want to open a factory somewhere, they have to weigh it. Manage taxes, can you There is so much to do.”

"Then Monsieur Armand must also be engaged in this field..."

"No, on the contrary." Gaston shook his head and recounted the news she had already heard from Marianne, but heard a lot of information, "He came to Paris to study law, and now he has successfully passed the Got a diploma in my pocket and got a decent job."

"Lawyer is a booming job." Adele complimented politely.

"Isn't it? I have a leisurely job and easy money...Reincarnation is really a lucky job. A few years ago, Armand's father gave him an allowance of [-] francs per year, so that this guy can count From the three thousand francs he inherited from his mother, and the four thousand francs he took during the four months of summer at home, he has twelve thousand francs to squander a year." He said with a smile.

"Will Mr. Gaston, who has tens of thousands of years of money, be envious of Mr. Armand?" Adele danced while laughing, and Gaston laughed together with her sudden accelerated dance steps.

"My income of twenty-five thousand is not the same as his," he repeated without elaborating on the difference, "it is different now, it is different, Mr. Duval has always been very kind to the two children." Loving."

"Really?" Adele suddenly raised her chin and smiled triumphantly.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha..." Gaston understood what she meant, "of course, my lady, I mean, there is no one richer than you! You are a princess! You simply charm me! "

"I take this as a compliment." Adele cleverly used a staggered dance step to make a beautiful circle. The hem of the skirt brushed against his trousers, drawing a crescent-like graceful curve in the air. lock up.

"Tell me, what kind of person is Miss Duval?"

Adele asked curiously again, Gaston misunderstood her meaning.

"Oh, in terms of appearance, it's a little duller than yours."

"Hehehe, you know that's not what I want to ask..." Adele glared at him pretending to be angry, "I don't like talking about her appearance when she's not around, please tell Mr. Gaston Kind words, I mean, if Miss Duval asks about me."

"Hahahaha, then why don't you go and meet in person?" Mr. Gaston asked her with a smile.

"Mrs. Castellana said she was ill. I'm a little worried." Her face showed a little bit of sadness, and she naturally slowed down the dance and returned to the original rhythm.

The girl next to her didn't know what she said and suddenly burst out laughing, barely standing still with the support of her male companion.

"Oh, yes, maybe it's because I'm not used to the climate here in Paris. Didn't it rain a lot a while ago? I really hope she gets better as soon as possible. She doesn't go out very often. She is a very kind and innocent girl who doesn't know the world. Father pampered and protected well."

"That's right." Adele nodded thoughtfully, "If I knew her already, I would definitely visit her right away."

"Then you have to pay attention to your body. As far as I know, you have just returned from Bagnell."

Gaston had to remind her, and Adele responded with a smile, only saying that she would definitely pay attention.

Adele's impression of Miss Duval was still that poor little girl who was almost divorced by her fiancé.

She was a little curious about all the characters that appeared in the original book, and even took great pleasure in matching them with the images she had seen, to see which one was the most similar to the original in later generations.

However, after seeing Mr. Duval himself, she had to express regret that there seemed to be some errors in the image of this gentleman. Not only did he not have a small belly, strange makeup and hair, and a rigid attitude, but he was unexpectedly handsome and mild.

Of course, this world is not exactly the same as the famous world she knows, otherwise she would not be able to live, would she?

After dancing with Gaston, she walked to the place where the ladies gathered to drink tea, play cards and chat.

Mariana's design in this regard is very ingenious. The dance hall on the first floor is open. In fact, in addition to the indoor dance floor, there are also outdoor entertainment activities. The outside garden has also been prepared long ago, and there are also food and tables on the lawn. If you don't want to be bored indoors, you can also go for a walk outdoors.

There is no door between the indoor and outdoor, it is very ingenious and directly open. At this time, the sky outside is still very bright, and the dance that started in the afternoon has not yet reached the busiest time, but after the evening, even if you are outside for a horse race My husband must also consider entering the house. Angli's house also has a cloakroom that has been prepared in advance. You can continue the dance by changing the equestrian suit into a formal dress.

The places used for a dance party are generally ballrooms, chess and card rooms and restaurants.

The ballroom on the first floor has a separately designed area, just a few steps from the dance floor, and next to it is a place where ladies gather to play cards and chat. Gentlemen will not sit and play here. They have There are special chess and card rooms or billiard rooms, but there are also chess and card rooms where people play together, but Mariana's house is arranged separately in this way.

The young ladies have their own area here, not with the wives, but they are not completely separated. Adele can sit at the card table over there if she wants to play cards with the wives.

But because she is young and unengaged and her goal is to find a fiancé, it is better for her not to stay in the chess and card area and chat.

There is also no shortage of places for ladies to sit. You can let the maids get what you want to eat or choose by yourself. It is also convenient for rest and chat here, and it is also convenient for men to come and invite them to dance.

A charming young lady who seldom sits down during the whole ball, and even if she takes a break, she just stands there and chats for a while.

And sitting on the bench all the time is not a good sign. The ladies next to them seem to be chatting, but in fact they are always controlling the changes in the entire arena.They seem to have dozens of pairs of eyes, able to lock every place on the court.

But one person sees one place, so many people gossip together, it is really difficult to have a little secret in the strict sense at the dance.

Marianna had never held such a grand dance during the social season, so she was naturally a little nervous, and tried to find a male companion for every lady. There was no shortage of male guests on the field, which was convenient for her to make various arrangements.

Most of the time, if it is recommended by the host family, no matter the man or the woman, they will not refuse out of politeness. Besides, for those who come to the dance, unless they really don't get along, who can refuse to dance?

"Why didn't you see Mr. Duval?"

Adele had only played a game of cards with Mrs. Castellana, Mrs. Dressel and one of her aunts before being called away by Marianne to dance.

"I'll introduce Mr. Armand to you later, just as he's about to come off the dance floor." Mariana said bluntly, "The lady of the baron's family never took her eyes off him throughout the whole scene, so you should be more active. .”

Marianna's thoughtfulness did not arouse her reaction. Not far from the band, she finally saw Mr. Duval who was doing something quietly in an inconspicuous place.

Obviously the whole venue is so lively, but it seems that some magic has been cast on him, and no one even approaches him.

"What is he doing?" Adele was a little surprised.

"Drawing." Mariana secretly rolled her eyes, and couldn't help complaining, "It's not because of Angli and the others. I don't know what he said. He offered to show it and draw a picture of the scene of the dance."

Seeing that Adele seemed to want to walk over, Mariana gave her a pull.

"Don't go there, he said he doesn't want to be disturbed while painting."

"So there's no one there?" Adele felt a little amused.

She didn't know if the other party did it on purpose, but if he shrank to the side to avoid leisure, then it must be said that he was successful.

No matter how good his painting skills are, everyone will not really care about him, but it will not be so easy to dodge next time.

Just as Adele was thinking, the smile on her face did not change at all, and she walked towards the dance floor with Armand who came to meet her and invited her to dance.

When she turned and stood still, she was surprised to find that the very clever Mr. Duval was looking at them.

At first, she thought the other party was looking at his son Armand.

But then, after another inadvertent glance with the dancer's turn, she realized that he was looking at her.

But when Adele took the initiative to look over, the other party seemed to be concentrating on drawing something, so serious, without any distraction.

Adele felt even more puzzled, and couldn't help but want to grab the peeping little tail angrily.

"Your father is a very good man." Adele suddenly said to Armand.

"Ah, yes." Although Armand was surprised, he continued very calmly, "Everyone says so, and I respect and trust him very much, no, I even admire him very much."

Adele was about to reply, but she suddenly raised her head and stared at it based on her feeling, and finally the two people's eyes met again.

The other party paused strangely, and there seemed to be something else in the surprise.

"Miss Adele?"

Adele immediately realized that she had a dance partner beside her, the unlucky hero Armand.

"Yes, you are right."

Adele replied politely, but her gaze was still on Duval who was sitting in a corner painting behind him.

She wasn't even sure whether the smile in the other person's eyes was her illusion, and the two still kept a very polite smile calmly.

As if they were really just casually catching glimpses of each other at a social dance and smiling at each other.

After realizing that Adele had found out, I don’t know if she gave up covering up or something else. After such a dance, Adele and Mr. Duval have "accidentally" looked at each other no less than three times.

"...?"

When the song ended, not only Adele was full of doubts, but Armand was also a little confused.

Why does it seem that the princess doesn't like him very much?

Adele originally wanted to find out, but she didn't know what Marianne had done, and suddenly many gentlemen invited her to dance.

She had to agree one by one, and had almost no free time.

The author has something to say:

The original book only says that Duval is the chief tax officer of City C. I haven’t figured out which one C refers to specifically.

Adele: You got my attention.

Duval: (Like a goblin holding a script of White Moonlight)