The Happy Life of a Duchess

"This is terrible, this is terrible."

Leopoldina waved the letter in her hand and walked in with a smile.

"Do you know what happened to me when I went out?"

"What?" Adele was sitting in the pavilion in the garden, wearing a light green lace tea dress with a peaceful expression.

"Letter, Morgana's." Leo came forward with a smile, "I come to your house to play every day."

"What's the matter." Adele didn't mind, "I wish you could play around with me every day."

"What did Morgana say?" Adele smiled and looked into her hands.

Leo had already opened the letter, maybe it was a coincidence that the letter was delivered, it happened to be when she was going out, so she simply took the letter with her when she went out.

Informal letters are not always sealed with family logo wax seals. Only very formal visits such as invitations will be decorated with extra formal arrangements.

Like the informal letters between their girls, they are often written directly in a few words, just a simple package.

The concept of envelopes is not common. Sometimes, for the purpose of saving postage money, the content of the letter will be directly written on the back of the outermost sheet, but Adele and others are not short of money, so naturally there is no need to be stingy with paper, pen and ink And postage, it is not possible to make perfect use of every inch of the paper and deliberately reduce the font size.

Adele is used to using envelopes, but she arranges her own characteristics, that is, she folds special paper with patterns on the edges to look like an envelope and seals on three sides, leaving only one place for stuffing the letter.

Because of her habit, many aristocratic ladies also followed the habit of using envelopes, and seals of sealant would also be stamped on the envelopes instead of directly folding the paper and printing on the back of the creases.

Later, because the invitation envelopes sent by Adele usually have some beautiful patterns on them, gradually, this kind of beautiful envelopes seem to have become popular in a small range, at least the ladies and ladies are not stingy about this. Go toss this.

However, if seal seal is used, a special letter opener is required to remove the seal.

This is not the case with the letter in Leo's hand, she just opened it and read it.

"Morgana said that she didn't know that the two of us went to the St. Martin's Gate Theater to watch a play together, but she didn't call her. She was on the third floor and didn't know. She said it was wrong for the two of us and didn't bring it. Play with her."

Leo can speak in such a joking tone, which means that she doesn't mind this anymore, so Adele doesn't have to worry about the possible impact of that drama on her.

Adele could understand Leo's feeling that he only invited her and no one else.

After all, objectively speaking, this involves Leo's family ugliness, her father and mother's relationship and marriage life, and it is not suitable for others to comment and evaluate too much, but she herself has doubts about this at the same time. Discuss with her friends, she can understand without looking for Morgana——

It's not because Morgana is not her friend, but because Morgana seems to them, Morgana is still young and immature. Leo is not looking for someone to be filled with righteous indignation, but may be looking for someone to discuss or talk to. It is understandable to be more cautious in choosing.

Another point is that maybe Leo still wants to gossip about Mr. Duval with Adele. With Morgana as the client, I always feel a little awkward and inconvenient to talk. Naturally, it is not easy to find her at this time. up.

Of course, these words should not be said by Adele, she is just grateful for Leo's trust and love.

Leo himself spoke lightly about this matter, and Morgana didn't really blame her in the letter, it was just a joke among friends.

"Don't listen to her nonsense." Adele smiled immediately, and signaled the maid to serve Leo some tea, "She must have entrusted her with something, and she was afraid that we would not agree, so she made us feel guilty first."

"Smart and smart." Leo applauded, "You can tell, Morgana wants to escape from the 'blind date' arranged for her by her family. She said that she is not interested in the other gentleman, but because it is through her brother—— ——The main reason is that her brother has already dealt with this matter for her in advance out of concern for her. She doesn't want to meet the other party by herself. There are many people present that she doesn't know well, so she asked me Together, I reckon you should have received the letter too."

"If you ask me, her elder brother is not very particular. Why did he agree to let his unmarried sister go to see a certain gentleman, even if there are other gentlemen and ladies present, it doesn't seem so..."

"It's not right." Adele nodded, "I also received her letter, but it's just a salon, the kind where single men and women are present, so it's not too troublesome."

If it was a one-on-one meeting between unmarried men and women, it would be impossible for Armand himself to agree to it without Leo and Adele telling him, and Mr. Duval would not agree.

But this is a salon, in an exquisite private villa on the banks of the Seine, it is a different kind of private gathering, and it is also a social occasion, but the other party intends to ask Mr. Armand to bring his sister Morgana, presumably there is also a strong relationship mean.

Morgana didn't really want to go, she had such a personality, but since her brother had already agreed, she couldn't refuse to make her brother lose face.

Fortunately, it's like going to a dance, the difference is that there are no elders present, at most only newlyweds, and there will be no couples who have been married for a long time.

Then she thought of her two friends, Leopoldina and Adele.

Morgana is a little afraid of socializing, and she is not very good at socializing in this area. Faced with a room full of people who know her brother but not her, she naturally wants some friends to accompany her, which can be regarded as helping her to embolden her, so she went to I thought of the two of them.

"Are you going?" Leo asked her, "Actually, I think I can try it, because this kind of gathering is close to a salon, but there are not many restrictions on men and women. First, it is convenient for single people to meet each other, and second, it is very interesting. The thing is, sometimes it says some really funny things."

"For example, when my father was young, including now, he would talk about some messy things with his writer friends, but they were usually in clubs." Leo explained to her, and Adele didn't count on that. Very familiar, after all, it is not a circle.

"I see. After all, the salon is still... exclusive to ladies."

"That's right." Leo nodded in agreement.

Salon activities are generally in the hands of noble ladies.

To a certain extent, it can be said that the power of public opinion is also held in the hands of women, of course, this is only in the upper circles of women.

Like the leadership brought by literati, it is the mainstream of the whole society, and naturally it is still dominated by men.

Even if women want to write something and publish it, they have to use male pseudonyms or use anonymous methods.

Precisely because of the era of ideological enlightenment before and after the Great Revolution, there were many outstanding women who pursued freedom not only in thought but also in behavior, and resisted feudalism. This kind of "sharpness" and "strength" made many men feel threatened. That's why they're extra sensitive in this regard.

Of course, this does not prevent the ladies and ladies from still being the main force and backbone of gossip in the upper class.

This is not to say that gentlemen stop gossip and are not interested in all kinds of gossip.

"Then go."

Adele hesitated for a while, but still didn't try to add a spoonful of honey to the black tea.

Being with friends is different from afternoon tea. She and Leo are close girlfriends and don't have to be bound by various rules.

Like drinking tea with other people, Adele must always ensure that she does not have any problems with etiquette.

"That's great, you should be the lady with the highest status in the audience." Leo smiled and clapped his hands, looking very excited, although the words were teasing, the meaning was real, and there was no trace of malice.

"At that time, the attention of the gentlemen will definitely be focused on you."

"Come on, I might not know what to say when the time comes." Adele shook her head very modestly.

"Did the organizer really not give a theme? Should I make some preparations?"

"The organizer is August's family, right? Mr. August and his sister hold it. The topic is always given on the spot, the kind of discussion on the spot. Sometimes there may be some talent shows, but they are all simple. For example, writing two poems, or playing the piano and singing, there may be men and women dancing, it is quite easy, and there is no need to have too much burden." Leo explained to her after thinking, she is not interested in such things. The activities are very familiar.

"Oh, to be honest..." Seeing that Adele was still slightly pensive, Leo joked with a smile.

"As long as you dress up beautifully, even if you sit there with a smile, everyone will feel happy, and you are not the kind of woman who has no thoughts, you are smart, witty and kind, and everyone will be impressed by your charm Yes, you are a veritable 'First Miss'."

"Okay, okay, it's hard to get rid of the 'No. [-] Beauty', why did you give me the title of 'No. [-] Miss'?"

"That's not what I said, it's what everyone says," Leo said in a low voice, "Those ladies with their eyes above the top are full of praise for you, as if everyone knows you very well and is as close to you as you are." How affectionate..."

"Isn't the one who is closest to me right in front of you?"

Adele's eyes widened, and Leo immediately made her laugh.

Later, Adele received another letter from the Duval family, but this time it was more formal.

"What letter?" Adele asked the Duke's father who had read the letter.

"I was fishing with Duval before..."

As soon as these words came out, Adele's movements of cutting the fish stopped.

She wasn't sure what kind of expression she showed for a moment, but in short, when she finally looked up, she still had a very proper smiling face.

"Unexpectedly, he is much younger than me, but he has quite a lot of experience in health preservation. No wonder he is so well maintained... This kid is really good..."

The Duke's father muttered to himself as he spoke. He probably praised more, and he didn't know if he knew the latest gossip about the other party - about marrying a wife.

Adele smiled and pretended that she didn't understand, and forced herself not to think too much, especially not to think about it.

I just heard Mr. Duke talk about the whole process, how he got acquainted with Mr. Duval, and how he appreciated him, and finally mentioned the invitation.

"Mr. Duval said at the time that he would invite us to watch the play together."

"But I didn't expect that it was the "Beauty and the Beast" at the Paris Opera House."

"This is your taste, you should like it quite a bit."

The Duke's father looked at Adele, but unexpectedly found that she seemed to be... holding back a laugh?

He felt a little strange, but didn't think much of it.

"Of course, M. Marmontelle's?"

"Yes, the composer is Gretley, and the cooperation between the two is not bad."

Mr. Duke knew about the play, and it was not new.

But because the two families have three young people, it's not bad to watch such a young romantic drama.

Because Mr. Duke has no special preferences and preferences for drama, he quickly agreed to this matter.

"Do you have anything else to do?"

"No." Adele silently postponed the afternoon tea party she originally planned to hold for a day. Anyway, the post has not been sent out yet, so it has no impact at all.

"Then it's settled."

The Duke nodded, finalizing the matter.

The author has something to say:

Duke: Despicable!hateful!