The Happy Life of a Duchess

Count Garcia's party was held very thoughtfully, whether it was the service of the servants, the arrangement of the ball, or other aspects, it was considered excellent. Judging from the expressions of most people, everyone was very satisfied with the party.

And Earl Garcia also seemed very happy. For him, although such an activity cost him a lot of money, it maintained or even increased his reputation to a certain extent, and added a new meaning to his surname Garcia. Kind of glorious.

For them, when people talk, they can be added the words "the richest is Count Garcia's family" and "their family's dance party is very lively", thus adding a lot of hidden prestige to him. good.

The reputation of the nobles is mostly earned by money and power. It is true that there are very few rich men who are loved and praised by ordinary people, almost none.

Therefore, in order to satisfy vanity, it is natural to rely on more material things to distinguish high and low gears and divide them. Money can create ostentation, and Earl Garcia happens to be the lucky one who is not too stingy with money and has some money-making skills. Son.

Although I don't know how long this luck can last, but as far as the moment is concerned, he is still a good earl praised by everyone in the circle.

Adele silently kept everything she had observed in her heart, and increased her confidence for the dinner she prepared later. If she could learn as much as she could, she would never be polite.

Just before setting off to come here, Mrs. Armand Rude reminded her tactfully that the Duke has basically given her the power of steward by default, and she has to take some measures to prove her ability, relying only on management It is not enough to restrain the servants, she needs to prove her ability among the nobles.

For a lady or a lady, the best way to show her housekeeping skills and her social skills is to hold a dance or a dinner party.

Not all dance parties will include a dinner party, but the essence of all dinner parties lies in the invitation of guests, the arrangement of the order of entry and the arrangement of seats.

The dance party also has a sequence, but there are already some customary rules, and the guests can control it by themselves, but because the dinner also involves the seating and dining after entering the venue, basically the host and family need to make adjustments and arrangements when entering the venue. Control the order of guests.

Juradi's family has not issued an invitation to hold a dance party in this year's spring social season, and there is no rumor about it, but now that Adele has come back, and she has reached the age when she needs to consider marriage after adulthood, it will become a big deal for her to make preparations. very naturally.

In the past, when there was no hostess and Juradi's family had no other close female relatives in Paris, the Duke's mansion did not hold balls, and the only remaining protagonist, the Duke Juradi, only went out to participate in the ball or invite guests to the door. It doesn't matter if you are a guest.

From balls, clubs to various theaters, men have a variety of social and entertainment activities. Many times they will not manage the activities and projects at home by themselves. If he is happy, he can ask the housekeeper to arrange and entertain guests to have fun, but Obviously, Duke Juradi is not too young, and he is not willing to make such a fuss.

But after the daughter was still by his side, everything was different.

He had a lot more things to think about, but considering the fact that he and Adele were gradually getting better, but he himself was very dishonest, Mrs. Lude took the initiative to remind Adele, who seemed to have not considered it yet, that they The house is going to prepare some activities.

"So, before the Easter public ball?"

"Not necessarily." Mrs. Lu De replied simply after thinking for a while, "I have discussed with the housekeeper a little before, and we both think that it is better to hold a dance party under the current situation of the Duke's Mansion than a more complicated ball arrangement." Small and medium-sized dinner parties are most suitable, and about [-] guests can be invited."

"About 20 people?" Adele nodded, "I remember."

So, at the ball held by Earl Garcia today, Adele not only paid attention to the visiting guests, filled in as much as possible her vacancy on subtle matters such as interpersonal relationships that cannot be explained directly, and at the same time secretly communicated with the Earl's mansion. The housekeeper stole the teacher.

From desserts and drinks to the layout of the venue, the arrangement of entertainment activities, the scheduling, rotation and service of the servants, and the preparation of the meals for the dinner later, the taste of the dishes and the preferences of each family, Adele, in order to make no trace It took a lot of work to observe.

On the way back, because it was quite late, the Duke had already dozed off in the carriage.

Seeing this, Adele only asked the waiter to lay a soft cushion and a thin blanket for him in the carriage, so as not to catch a cold in the middle of the night, while she and Jenny sat in a smaller carriage behind.

Adele is still young, and she is not so sleepy, and she is not so sleepy, and she is in a good state of mind right now.

Needless to say, Jenny, although she has a lot of tasks on her trip today, she is still very happy to be able to go out to learn more, and she is naturally satisfied now.

"I found out." Jenny said impatiently, and Adele took the initiative to hand her a cushion, which is generally not needed by maids.

"Come on, tell me, what news did you know today?"

Adele had arranged for her to inquire about the news before, and then asked her to ask some questions about the plans for the ball held at Count Garcia's mansion, or to learn something from other people's housekeepers, maids or female companions. It's a useful skill, now I can just listen to it, and let her get excited by the way, lest I won't be able to fall asleep when I go back.

"Count Garcia is in the stock business." She licked her lips with admiration on her face.

"That thing is very profound, and there are many strange terms. Anyway, I didn't understand it after listening to it for a while. I just know that he seems to have bought British stocks, and then made a lot of money from investing, and because of this, he got along with a bunch of British people. As for the Italians, it seems that... there is an industry in the Earl's Mansion, which is cooperated with the Italians, and they have been importing from them, transporting them from the Mediterranean, and then how to get there..."

Adele nodded. Although Jenny spoke upside down, and there were many terms that she couldn't accurately describe because of her ignorance, and even made mistakes in words and sentences, she still understood.

A simple understanding is that Count Garcia is doing foreign business and has industries in his own country, but he is cooperating with foreigners. He made a small profit because he found the direction of the investment in the UK.

Although the best country in Adele's heart is France, she has to bear with her heart to admit that at this time, and for many years to come, the most glorious country in Europe and the world will be Britain.

Their national strength will be stronger than ever, and they will become a big country that attracts the attention of the world. They will have achievements that are envied by countless people, even if these achievements are based on some unfortunate facts.

Adele is not the leader of the country. Even if she is, she will soon lose the so-called advantages brought by the current situation in the future French political fluctuations and changes in national conditions. There must be capitalists and politicians who can persist from beginning to end, but She had to admit that she was not that shrewd, nor did she have the ability to "change the world" like "God recreated".

But she can be sure that Earl Garcia has found the right door, and found the right British "big ship" that started the industrial revolution and is about to take off.

Of course, she also didn't know whether he was the leek that was cut off. She had an impression in her memory, and the exact time was unclear, but there was a wave of shrewd Jews who took a lot of petty bourgeois and ordinary people. The "wool" thing, and the most eye-catching thing in France at this time is the group of wealthy bankers and the new industrial bourgeoisie. *

The risk of stocks is too great. Adele does not believe that Count Garcia has financial or banking-related connections, or that he is not close enough to have entered their circle.

She agreed with the Duke's father. The risk of stocks is too great. If ordinary people want to make money from this, they basically rely on their luck and bet on their own chances. If they are not careful, they may go bankrupt.

However, Count Garcia seems to have a solid background. Judging from the louis he has so far sprinkled out, he should be able to hold on for a while, at least he will not face the situation of making ends meet immediately.

"And there's more, that's..."

Jenny's mouth was dry, but she was still very excited and wanted to talk, to express the shock she was full of. She didn't dare to talk casually at the ball. To be honest, she could also see that because of her accent, those native Parisians People weren't all that warm to her either.

In this way, she was even more afraid to speak out some sincere words, lest she be underestimated by them. It doesn’t matter if she herself was underestimated because she was born in the country. Anyway, she was raised by Sister Burns. It doesn’t matter, but if it affects her For the reputation of the duke's mansion or the reputation of the young lady, she would probably die of guilt.

"I asked for some of their menus, not only for today's show, but also for dances and preparations at other times." When it came to food, she looked even happier, and she said excitedly to her, "We should find a Reliable seafood suppliers, they say that the freshness of raw materials is very important, especially sometimes seafood is eaten raw, dipping sauce or topping with various soups requires enough delicious ingredients, which depends on the cooking process can make up for it.”

"Common meat dishes such as foie gras, duck, beef, and mutton have a stable supply in our kitchen. Some of them are purchased from outside the Duke's Mansion, and some are harvested from the fields and other industries, or directly from tenants. , it is regularly sent to Bailu Manor every month."

"Only seafood, because it is closely related to the season, so you need to pay extra attention."

Jenny said very solemnly, and Adele also nodded in response.

She is not very satisfied with the current seafood supply of the manor, and Jenny also knows about it.

Adele has a picky mouth and has high requirements for freshness, so the difficulty of purchasing naturally increases.

Originally, the things arranged by the seafood supplier of the manor did not satisfy her much, and the imported ones were even less, but because they have maintained cooperation for many years, it is not easy to give up directly.

First of all, this matter is not pleasant. Some nobles will deliberately buy it as a charity in order to show their generosity. Another part is that they suddenly say that they are not satisfied with the item because they have cooperated for many years. Unless they find a better source, it is inconvenient to reason;

Secondly, it is easy to cause criticism to the Duke's Mansion, and there is a risk of being misunderstood that the Duke's Mansion has no money and is about to go bankrupt, so it cancels the transaction.

On the second day after going back, Mrs. Lude got ready early.

It's not good for Adele to keep her hanging out, and invite her to the small study immediately after brunch.

"Armand, please teach me how to prepare a dinner party."

Adele spoke earnestly, and Jenny and Mary were on one side, helping her. Mary was mainly responsible for writing down some key content, and Jenny helped with some chores.

"Of course."

Mrs. Lude tied her hair tightly with a headband today, and this posture made people feel nervous.

It takes a long time to prepare for a dinner party, which is especially important for the inexperienced Adele, and of course it is relatively difficult.

"The first is the guests, because there are only about 20 people, probably ten couples, but it is not necessarily the case. This number is flexible, but as long as it is not 13 people, there is no big taboo. Get ready."

"The guests at the dinner this time tend to be mainly relatives and friends who are close to the Duke's Mansion, and then supplemented by current celebrities. Since the relatives in the Duke's Mansion's hometown and your brother's side will not be socializing in April for the time being Ji is coming to Paris, so as for relatives, we need to consider your mother's side, Angli and his wife must be invited, and other relatives will come according to the remaining number of people, and I will make a list for you later. "

"..." Adele nodded, indicating that she had written it down. What she needs to do most is to write down these knowledge about treats, so that she can follow them when she holds events at her husband's house in the future. Other things can be left to the servants. Do it for me, she has to make a list, and then give it to the Duke's father, and wait for his approval before sending it out.

"Friends, the Dressels, their eldest son, their youngest son, and the Castellanas..."

"And then there are the popular people nowadays. Although I don't recommend you to follow this trend, Mr. Steward thinks you should take this into consideration..." Mrs. Lude paused for a while, her straight back didn't slacken in the slightest.

"The Duval family is the first consideration, and our family has not formally made friends with them. Mr. Duke will definitely visit their house in a few days. After visiting them, it is time to send out invitations without accident. It would be just right to send invitations like this. Before the dinner, as a courtesy, the invited people will definitely visit in advance, and Mr. Duval will be no exception. At that time, he should go to Bailu Manor. This will be done by Mr. Duke is in charge of reception."

Adele paused for a moment when she nodded, feeling inexplicably better, and then continued listening.

"After confirming the invitation letter to be sent out, it is the first time to arrange the seats and the order of the guests' admission. Those with bad relations cannot be arranged together. Those with high status mean that they are distinguished and should sit closer to the host's house. For some, relatives with close status can also be arranged in a place close to the main seat, and there is a little more flexibility that newcomers to the circle but very sought-after big shots should also be arranged for a good position, even if their status is not so high. "

"Still take Mr. Duval as an example. He does not have a very prestigious title. Of course, his net worth is absolutely innocent and he has a certain family background, but compared with other people's surnames, the weight is still a bit lighter. It is even said that this The husband is not keen on accumulating wealth, if he is a person who relies on his official position to make huge profits, he will not have the good reputation of 'integrity' today."

"However, it would be a big mistake to arrange a seat for him in such a capacity. He is a person that every family is rushing to invite, and his future potential is even more limitless. It is said that he is dealing with various parties, although He is a neutral person, but he can not only not be affected in the vortex, but can also be promoted, which shows his ability."

"Under such circumstances, it is unclear to arrange the last seat for him. Fortunately, there should be relatively young guests among the guests. For example, Ang Li and his wife are your peers. You can move them to make them more senior. Sit in the important seat."

"There is still a lot of learning here..." Seeing that she was listening carefully, Mrs. Lude was very satisfied.

"This is the first time to sit in a row. After all the invitations sent out have received a response, the list of guests who will be present is determined, and they may also get their 'wish' at the same time. For example, some people may want to meet some people. Sitting together is convenient for making friends. At that time, we need to put these in again and reconsider the seats. In addition, we must reserve the possibility of remediation if some guests cannot be there temporarily or bring more people. The biggest difficulty will still be It's the seat, as the owner, you must temporarily consider rearranging the seats."

"Choosing the time of the dinner party is as much a matter of learning as arranging the seats. Marianne Onley and his wife were not able to attend yesterday's ball because of a bad time arrangement."

"Usually, invitations to the dance party will be sent out more in advance than the dinner party. The more grand and grand the party, the earlier the notice will be given, and even verbal announcements will be made in advance to facilitate other people's preparations. The important thing is that the dinner party Or try not to have conflicts at the ball, which will only embarrass both parties. Because of a small ball held by a relative of Mr. Big mistake made by that relative."

"I believe that if given the choice, Miss Mariana would definitely go to the ball at Count Garcia's house, but because it was a relative of the Angli family, it would be inconvenient for them to be absent as relatives, so I had to regret missing this opportunity."

Mrs. Lude shook her head, and Adele also believed that a lady like Mariana who hoped to go higher would definitely want to go to a large ball to meet more people, but unfortunately her husband might disagree, More willing to support relatives at home.

Generally speaking, the husband and wife would not go to the dances of different families separately, so Mariana's regret was clearly expressed in the letter sent two days later.

Adele was originally concentrating on preparing the dinner at home, and during this period of time, she happened to not be invited, and it was a short period of time off, but she never thought that there would be rumors about her outside after just a few days of absence.

In the final analysis, it was caused by what happened at Count Garcia's ball a few days ago.

For those British businessmen, they came to Paris to seek cooperation. This dance was a stepping stone for them to test the Parisian social circle, but they never expected that the jazz they brought would be a slow-moving and "drinking mad" guy. Being pointed out by Adele suddenly messed up half of the matter.

There is probably no one who is not enthusiastic about making money.

Theoretically, commercial trade is mutually beneficial to both parties, but because of the unfavorable start this time, they failed to reach an agreement as scheduled, but at the subsequent dance, they quickly opened up the situation.

Then, from nowhere, there were some bad voices towards Adele.

Mariana didn't hide it from her, and asked about this matter directly in the letter. Since she was not present, she didn't know exactly what Adele did and to what extent, but as far as she knew from Mrs. Castellana From what I learned there, she thinks that Adele has been smeared by others, maybe because she is jealous of her family background, her appearance, everything she owns, maybe because she has been so good recently, maybe someone is blocking the way , just wanted to suppress her.

However, at the scene of hearing such rumors, Mrs. Dressel, Mrs. Castellana and even Miss Duval all more or less justified her name in public. A little credit.

Adele replied quickly, suppressing the anger, speechlessness, surprise and confusion in her heart.

First, I solemnly express my gratitude to my cousin for informing me of this matter, and also express my gratitude for her efforts to explain it to her, and then ask for more details, and then politely remind me that I want to hold a dinner party, please cousin Be sure to be there.

In the next few days, Adele received letters from several other wives one after another, and even a tactful letter of greeting from Miss Morgana Duval who wanted to make her a close friend.

Most of them said the same thing, expressing their relief and sympathy for her, and then belittling those who spread the rumors, but they used their words carefully, and they would not directly tell her who spread the news, nor could they find the original source .

Mrs. Castellana, on the other hand, felt anxious when she saw her reply. After a few times of relief, she raised some points and guessed vaguely, saying that it might be that Miss Ida Desi, who had some grievances with her, had passed on the message. gossip.

The limelight of rumors has also become very fast, and there are quite a lot of content.

At the beginning, it was said that she was rude and offended the British businessmen, because she deliberately did not want everyone to "mutually benefit and win-win". It was a little exaggerated to say that the Duke's Palace wanted to swallow all the benefits or provoke conflicts between Britain and France. .

After some people helped her explain, the original rumors faded but did not disappear, but became more targeted at her, such as her bad manners, rudeness, meanness, or that she tried to be the second A "Mrs. Roland", the latter point is relatively groundless, but it is obvious that there is only one purpose, to hinder her marriage and make everyone think that she is not a good wife candidate.

Naturally, Adele also understood this point, and even smart people could see it. Someone must have wanted to suppress her before she became famous at the Easter ball.

The duke soon intervened in this matter, and his firm attitude of absolutely not allowing anyone to slander his only daughter soon curbed part of the wind direction, but it was not the case that made the matter relatively quiet in the end.

"Miss, are you okay?"

Mary knew that Adele had been depressed for a few days.

The rumors did have an effect on her, but it wasn't the cause that really made her suffer.

It's just that people around her misunderstood that it was because of the rumors that she didn't seem to be interested. Although all the arrangements were still implemented, she didn't seem as happy as before.

"No, I'm fine."

Adele shook her head. The current popular novel about love in her hand had been spread out for a long time, but she didn't read a single page.

Adele always thought that she could adapt well. Judging from her current performance, she has indeed adapted to this era and society to the best of her ability, and then worked hard to do what a princess should do, such as Managing the duke's mansion, such as concentrating on organizing a dinner party, and then tidying up oneself beautifully, speaking and acting in accordance with etiquette, making oneself behave elegantly, and trying hard not to tarnish the family's reputation.

She also knew that, as the duke reassured her, this was just a small incident not worth mentioning, and under the influence of the duke's mansion, it would pass soon. something to affect her.

She doesn't feel that she is a gold coin worthy of everyone's liking. Even if it is money, some people may not like it.

However, the powerlessness shown in this incident, which seemed to be completely trapped by speech, was what really surprised her and even made her unacceptable.

Words certainly have power, and gossip does have the power to kill.

However, when she realizes that all her own values ​​can only be realized by managing a family with her husband at the core and by having children, she really realizes where the biggest difficulty for her in this society lies.

"It's terrible..."

Adele couldn't help thinking.

Although she is not a great laborer or a hard-working proletarian in modern times, when she has no other choice, even women who have the right to public discourse, basic freedom of speech, and even the expression of patriotic enthusiasm will be rejected by others. She really felt terrible when various objective factors restricted her.

It is undeniable that she does her best to enjoy life and love this new position "Princess", but she has no confidence that as a person who accepts modern ideas of freedom and equality, she can endure this kind of bondage for the rest of her life And a life without self-worth.

She felt lost.

But she also knew it was temporary.

Soon she will have more things to do, such as dinner parties, dances, dressing up, socializing, and even future marriages and children. of this self.

Thinking of this, Adele almost wanted to throw the book in her hand out, and wanted to yell to vent—

But this is not in line with etiquette. If someone thinks he is crazy, that would be the real horror.

"Miss, I bet you don't know what's going on!"

Jenny's cheerful voice seemed to be flying in a huge manor. Mary frowned and felt that it was very impolite for her to speak so loudly and jump up and down, but she saw that Adele didn't say anything and kept silent.

Adele felt that the clear voice seemed to be cheerful notes jumping in the room, and then fell on her shoulders. She turned her head and looked over, with a gentle smile on her face unconsciously.

"Let me tell you something very relieved!" Jenny held a letter that had just been received and was imprinted with the seal of the Angli family seal, "I think this must be what Mrs. Angli is going to say. The messenger from Angli's family knew about it!"

"What's the matter?"

Mary didn't believe that there was such a big event worthy of her excitement, and she felt a little worried, thinking that her lack of dignity would tarnish the young lady's image.

Adele, on the other hand, showed a look of interest in cooperation, as if she was listening attentively.

"You must never have imagined..."

Jenny had a very bright smile on her face.

"The business of those British people is gone! Hahahahaha..."

The author has something to say:

Mention one thing:

At this time, there were quite a lot of small principalities on the Italian peninsula, and because of the previous Napoleonic War aggression and the resolution of the territorial division and return, it was also chaotic. In addition, the Austrian Empire also occupied a lot of land. Carlo Albert, King of Sardinia Tuo has not yet established a constitutional monarchy system, and has not unified such a whole area. It was not until 1861 that the Kingdom of Sardinia was renamed the Kingdom of Italy, and it was not until 1870 that the unification of Italy was completed.

It’s too messy here. I checked for a long time and found it difficult to judge, so I didn’t change the name. If you understand it, don’t change Italy to Sardinia or the name of some other small principality, otherwise it will be too complicated to read. x

Sweeping wool: Many Jewish businessmen headed by Rothschild harvested the leeks of people all over the world, and they made a lot of money as a result, but many bourgeois and ordinary people were directly forced to death because of bankruptcy, yes The bloody accumulation of capital.If you are interested, you can read the book "Currency War", which tells the fortune of the giant crocodile Rothschild family.

Madame Roland: a leading thought leader who fought for free will during the French Revolution, but after that, because of the presence of so many outstanding women, a part of the ruling men felt that this would threaten them, so the famous restrictions were passed shortly thereafter Women have property freedom bills, and women have gradually become passive and weak as the mainstream tendency, and the only purpose and value is to raise children and housekeepers (understand)