The Happy Life of a Duchess

"Why are there others?"

Jenny's voice was a little surprised, but this section was a country road, not their home, she was just surprised at first, and then quickly calmed down.

The two of them are not very familiar with this place, and they are not familiar with the place of life, and besides an important single noble lady, Jenny is naturally more cautious.

Adele thought of something and just looked over curiously.

"Hey, this is..."

Jenny's eyes widened, and Adele was also a little surprised.

The two gentlemen who rode over there also saw them.

The one in front was none other than Mr. Duval whom they were very familiar with.

Riding behind him was probably some manservant, and it seemed to be so dressed.

"Mr. Duvall?"

Adele saw them here, and they also noticed Jenny and Adele standing on the grass beside the road.

When he saw Adele, Mr. Duval's eyes lit up obviously.

He showed a distinct smile, stopped immediately, and dismounted to salute.

"Miss Adele."

He greeted the two with a smile, and the servant behind him also saluted.

Duval handed over the reins to the manservant, while he kept a close distance from the two of them.

"It was a surprise to see you."

Adele's smile was full of surprise and surprise.

There was the same emotion in his expression.

"Yes, I'm a little surprised too."

"Are you coming from Paris?" Adele looked at his attire, but he wasn't very busy, and he seemed to be in good spirits when he came here.

"Yes, I bought the manor next door, so we should be neighbors."

He smiled and nodded, Adele seemed to understand something.

"You wait for me over there first." Adele whispered to Jenny, and Jenny looked at Adele and Mr. Duval without any suspicion, and nodded.

"There is a lake not far from there, would you like to walk with me?"

She smiled at Mr. Duval.

"..." He hesitated for a moment, then nodded in response.

Adele then took the initiative to walk a little behind him, and the two walked towards the lake together.

The two walked unhurriedly. After the initial surprise, their mood gradually calmed down, and then the joy continued to surge upwards.

"I thought you would refuse me? A gentleman like you..."

"Ashamed." He shook his head and looked at her. The two of them had already walked away, and there was no one else around, so Adele walked to his side, and sometimes even quickened her pace to lead him a little because she was in a good mood.

"Huh?" She turned her back, put her hands behind her, walked backwards, and looked at him.

"I'm actually just hesitating. It seems a little inappropriate for me to dress up like this."

Adele was delighted by his candor.

"It sounds like you're very conscious of your image."

After thinking about it, she added:

"Of course this is a good thing. A gentleman always appears in a decent image, but in my opinion, you are dressed very well now. This is the first time I have seen you wearing horse riding clothes, but you are still very handsome."

"Thank you for your compliment." He seemed to be relieved, but he couldn't help laughing, with a bit of cunning, "But I just pay more attention to my image in front of you. I am not usually so cautious."

"Is that so?" Adele was amused by his ingenious words again.

Everyone says that Mr. Duval is a very cautious person. In the political arena, he belongs to the kind of carnivore who waits for opportunities and can endure "hunting". Do not take unsure measures or measures.

This combination of prudence and sensitivity has allowed him to achieve his current achievements. In the aristocratic circle, there is probably no one who can compare with him among people of the same age in terms of the degree of control over real power.

"Yes." Mr. Duval nodded again, expressing that he really took it very seriously, "but fortunately, you didn't mind my little negligence."

"No, of course I don't mind." She turned around with a smile, and he was afraid that if she walked backwards again, he would drag her directly, "After all, we should be considered...a coincidence, right?"

"Why not?"

He asked back with a smile.

"Because before this, I have never heard that you want to buy the place next to my farm."

Adele replied very naturally, and this farm is relatively well-known to outsiders in the Juradi family. Although they did not come here for the summer vacation, they would occasionally live here for a while. There have been things.

The family has a lot of manor real estate, and sometimes it is easy to be unable to live in it. It is better in Paris and nearby places, and it is really basically impossible to take care of it if it is far away.

Moreover, Adele has to maintain close ties in the social circle in Paris, especially when she has reached the age of considering marriage, there is not so much time for her to play willfully before marriage, and she does not want to force herself into an old girl If you are criticized by others, you can only work harder to see people right now.

——Fortunately, she took a fancy to a nice gentleman from the very beginning.

"Uh... maybe you don't know much about this place?"

Mr. Duval retorted with a smile, as if he didn't want to admit it.

"That's right." Adele nodded with a smile, and didn't bother with him too much.

"Then I'll take it as if you bought the place next to our farm by accident."

"Yes, yes, we will be neighbors in the future, what a coincidence."

Mr. Duvall then laughed.

"Then I have to correct it."

"Appreciate further details?"

"The future here should belong to me."

"..." Mr. Duval was silent for a while, and he was indeed somewhat surprised by his expression.

He had been looking at farmland and manors near Paris before, hoping to buy some land and a suitable farm.

Now he has the qualifications to do so. When he moved here, he only looked at the manor residence in Paris. Now he basically always wants to move to Paris a little bit instead of staying in City C.

But what prompted him to make a decision to buy the land here was indeed the decision he had made a few days ago.

Some lovely lady was waiting for him—

This made his already dead heart suddenly burst out with indescribable fresh vitality.

When he learned that he would be neighbors with the Juradi family, he almost subconsciously touched this place with his finger.

The farm here is indeed not bad. If there are any flaws, maybe it should be said that the land that can be invested and bought is a little less in his opinion.

If there is less, it always makes him feel that he will not be worthy of a lady who is too rich and noble.

But he didn't expect that Duke Juradi had already decided to hand over all the real estate here to Adele.

He has absolutely no greed for Adele's dowry—just like when he was in a mediocre financial situation, he issued a guarantee note to his two children, and after asking for consent, he temporarily "borrowed" it when he was young Taking a look at the property of tens of thousands of francs left by his wife who passed away very early, using this property as collateral, making an investment and taking a step forward is very important for him to be promoted to his current position. It is precisely because of this money that he can Get that position, and then have the opportunity to go up again.

After that, he returned the money to the two children, and in return gave the two children an annuity of [-] francs each.

Even though he was entitled to use the dowry left by his deceased wife, he still did not do so hastily. He is more confident in his integrity and conduct, and has always strictly restrained his behavior, never surpassing him. The bottom line you set for yourself.

But when he suddenly heard Adele say that, he still couldn't help thinking about it.

It was exactly the intention of this cunning lady.

"When did you buy it?"

Adele changed the subject very thoughtfully.

"Just a few days ago, I have been going back and forth between here and Paris for the past few days to deal with related matters."

"Then you are going back at night?" Adele asked again.

"It's about the same." He thought about it, and added after understanding what she meant, "The farm here has not been completely repaired, and the accommodation and other things are not very convenient."

"Then you can have dinner with us." Adele smiled immediately.

"It's my pleasure." He was happy to see her smile.

"In order to catch up with time, have you always traveled on horseback?"

"Yes, that's about it." Mr. Duval quickly explained his job and the troublesomeness of dealing with things here.

He is indeed quite busy, unlike other peers who have fallen into burnout and started to dawdle and have fun.

He has been sticking to his position and work, and he has done a good job as the chief tax officer. Now he has basically grasped the essentials of working in Paris, and his subordinates are also well-adjusted.

On a daily basis, although it is a little difficult because there is no reliable wife who can share the burden, but because the first wife passed away for too long, he has already gotten used to this kind of life, and it seems to be over so-so.

"Riding a horse is good." Adele thought about it.

"Is there a racecourse at the duke's mansion?" M. Duval replied.

"There is no Bailu Manor, but there are manors on the outskirts of the city. You can go there anytime you want."

As Adele spoke, she couldn't help but feel melancholy. Duval thought it was a good thing to make people feel relaxed and happy, but she didn't want her to suddenly feel lost.

Adele hesitated for a while, then said slowly:

"What if I say, I want to ride a horse?"

He was silent for a while, as if he was seriously thinking and considering this matter.

"Is your silence a denial?"

"You don't approve of me doing this?"

"Or do you not like it?"

Adele seemed to be extremely curious and insisted on getting to the bottom of it.

Duvall did stop her.

Rather, the question itself surprised him to the point of astonishment.

Even the series of questions that followed, he had no doubt that these were "dangerous and fatal questions", so he had to suppress the urge to smile wryly and think seriously.

Adele stopped, insisting on waiting for his answer.

"Actually," he raised his head with a smile after a while, "this is really not in line with my cognition and thinking all the time. In a sense, I am indeed a rigid dogmatic person gentlemen……"

"This... sounds like there is something in what he said." Adele was not angry because of his words, but she couldn't say anything else, she just wanted to hear what he wanted to say.

"Let's put it this way," he said frankly, "I really don't approve of you wearing men's clothes or putting on trousers and riding astride a horse. If I understand correctly, that's what you mean."

"If Morgana made such a willful request right now, I think I would definitely refuse."

Adele smiled.

"Because I'm not your daughter, so you don't care about me?"

"No." He also smiled.

"The truth is, although my reason and all I know tells me that this is really not the right thing to do for a lady, even though it may seem weird, offensive and erotic in some way,  … ..."

He paused, smiled and shook his head amidst her full of inquiry:

"But if it was you who brought it up, my mood would not be so turbulent. Rather, if it was brought up by other ladies, I think I would disapprove from the bottom of my heart, and even cause some other worldly thoughts. Negative value judgments on

"But in front of me, it was you who asked this question, so I thought about it carefully, and was surprised to find that I didn't seem so surprised." In her slightly surprised look, his smile became more gentle.

"Just now I was trying to use reason to distinguish this kind of judgment error, but unfortunately, I couldn't use my smart brain to make a reasonable explanation. I couldn't say exactly out--"

"I have this idea based on what I know of you, a person who seems polite and gentle but actually strikes me as a novelty, with a lot of 'adventurous spirit' and 'unexpected' daring. The impression of the noble lady; or is it simply because my heart is too partial to you, this emotion is so frank and strong that I can't even deceive myself, surpassing everything, so that for decades, my The so-called firm principles and principles are not worth mentioning in front of this feeling."

"I have to say with regret that my reason was defeated by my emotions."

The smile on Adele's face could hardly be suppressed.

Maybe it was the nature and comfort of the countryside that infected her, maybe it was just that she simply didn't want to do this, she never took out her handkerchief, and forced herself to cover her smile in social etiquette.

She smiled wantonly in front of him, without concealing it, fully expressing her 12 satisfaction and happiness after hearing these words.

"So, do you feel frustrated?" Adele smiled even more happily. She joked, raising her proud chin, "Did losing to a young lady hurt your self-esteem?"

"First of all, it is not a shameful thing to lose to a beautiful lady. Even if I am a gentleman, it is better to say that it is a qualified gentleman who can accept this more calmly. Of course, even if I am a You are a despicable villain, and I will definitely feel extremely happy to 'compete on the same stage' with you at this moment."

"Secondly, if you define it as a 'competition', then maybe from the very beginning, I have raised the flag of surrender. It is really hard for me to imagine that I could resist for so long before." He smiled helplessly Shaking his head contentedly, he said with a sigh.

"I didn't have the ability to win from the very beginning. In fact, my heart had already given me the answer, but I always deceived myself that I could fool myself."

"Finally—" He smiled and held out his hand to her.

"May I ask this Miss Winner to take pity on this poor loser and give him a chance to hold you and take you back?"

"Of course." Adele took her hand without hesitation and walked to his side.

She couldn't walk very well, he could tell, maybe he was worried that she would fall.

And she was very happy to accept his little 'little offense'.

His hands gently wrapped hers around hers.