His Excellency the Count of Grandet

One of the two walking along the edge of the grape field was Victor.He has always been a busy man, and of course he has a business to show up in Bordeaux at this time.

Not long ago, Mr. Van Leburg hoped that Victor would find a reliable person who had no interest in the country to help manage the vineyard (after all, Mrs. Le Maire is not good at this), and Victor recommended Mr. Scott to him. .Recently, when Victor found time, he came to help Mr. Van Leberg inspect the newly purchased real estate to make sure everything was on track——

All investments handled by Lafitte will make a lot of money, and this statement is full of gold; Victor will never let any of his clients think that he is a speculator with only a reputation.

The other, of course, was Sir Samuel Scott.He is a genuine Englishman, acting as Mr. Van Leburg's agent, and he just arrived at Lafite Castle this morning, only half a day earlier than Victor.Charles went out early in the morning to inspect the grape field, and he never ran into it. It was natural that he didn't know each other.

"...as you can see, the grapes have already been picked. Mr. van Leburg followed our advice and bought the workers with him when he bought the estate; now some of them are busy in the cellar, and the other They are digging and arranging the land in preparation for the next year’s harvest.”

Samuel respected Victor.He had carefully studied the information on the manor before he came, and took advantage of the few hours when Victor was not there to conduct a field investigation, so he was quite comfortable with it.

Seeing that Victor didn't express his opinion immediately, he added: "This year's harvest is good, and there must be a lot of wine that is qualified for long-term aging."

Victor nodded, and turned his gaze to a place not far away - the grape branches there were shaking slightly, and the sound of some iron farm tools rubbing against the dry soil could be heard faintly.Even if you can't see it, you can guess that it is the workers that Samuel said are working.

"Then do as you say," he replied, looking away again. "In any case, what Mr. Van Leburg means is that you don't save what you don't have to."

The translation of these words is that time should be spent, time should be spent, money should be spent, and the brand must not be smashed!

"I see, sir." Samuel thought that made perfect sense.Accurate positioning, generous shots, following such a master is the only way out! "Would you like to continue walking further, or turn back to the manor and look at the wine cellar?"

The grape fields of Chateau Lafite cover over a hundred hectares, and it would be difficult to walk on two legs alone.Considering that he will stay in Bordeaux for a while this time, Victor is not so anxious. "It doesn't matter," he said, "You've just arrived, and you'll continue after you figure things out." After walking around in the bright sunlight, he felt a little hot, so he pushed his top hat and turned it back.

It was just a small move, but Samuel felt that it was time to propose to go back and rest. "I fully understand. In that case, are you going to taste those fine wines in the basement? Although they are not yet ready to be shipped, I believe that your exquisite judgment will definitely enhance them."

This is not entirely flattery.During the wine aging process, manual tasting is required at regular intervals.The more sophisticated connoisseurs have the more discerning palates; wines that can meet this challenge must be excellent.As a figure in the high society of Paris, Victor obviously drank a lot of top-quality wine and had a deep understanding of this.

Drinking is by no means a chore, and Victor would have definitely agreed.But when he was fiddling with the hat, his line of sight was slightly wrong, and he saw two people sitting under the tall beech on the other side from a distance.He focused on distinguishing for a few seconds, and a smile appeared on the corner of his lips. "It's unnecessary now, let's wait until night." His tone rose slightly, "Wouldn't it be better to add a character?"

Just as Charles did not know Samuel, Samuel knew nothing about Charles.Victor's movements were natural, he only thought that the other party glanced at the neighboring vineyard.But this didn't affect him guessing who Victor was talking about - he knew that Mrs. Le Maire had a guest from Paris, but he hadn't seen it yet.

"Are you talking about the young master?" He was thoughtful, because he thought of the rumors that have swept the city of Paris recently, "I think this young gentleman must be willing to show us kindness once." After all, Flamel Mrs. Charles succeeded in inviting Charles, and Charles also stayed here, didn't he?

If Samuel looked at Victor carefully at this time, he would know that this matter seemed to be Mrs. Le Maire's kindness, but the real reason was Victor——

As a woman who is proficient in grooming and speech skills, Mrs. Le Maire may not have much business talent.But she has a pair of bright enough eyes, and the ability to figure out other people's thoughts from a few words and a smile.Her husband finally asked Victor to help, and her name was still written on the manor title deed. Of course, she hoped that Victor would do his best.

In this way, keeping Victor happy became a big deal.

To be honest, there are quite a few people who think this way, but almost none of them are successful—because, as a complete winner in life, Victor has everything he should have, and others simply can’t offer enough price to make him take a second look; He still finds it troublesome to be a king!

But our dear Madame Lemaire played to her strengths as a woman.As a person who is more glass-hearted and prone to lie, she has always been very concerned about what others say behind her back-her own unjust marriage and the fact that her only son was not born out of wedlock made her feel extremely congested.

You must know that the private life of the upper class has always been chaotic, and such things as who and who are in private are just endless.Therefore, if Mrs. Le Maire doesn't care about it, her matter is not a matter at all in the eyes of others, and there is nothing to worry about.But just because she minded, in the end, she really got to know a gossip that was exciting enough——

Victor is more interested in men than women!

Since it is gossip, there is no evidence.Viktor's usual over-the-top eyes are too noticeable to cover it up.What's more, he had several mistresses, and each of them would get together and leave each other. I didn't hear that there was a man among them, so not many people really believed it.

However, during Victor's few contacts with the Grandet family, the keen Mrs. Lemaire smelled an unusual scent.Victor was at most nodding acquaintance with Guillaume before, when did he get along well enough to condescend to attend Guillaume's son's coming-of-age ceremony?It can't be because of the cooperative relationship with the Duke of Orleans. The friendship between the two parties has not reached the point where they must support each other.

She felt that Victor might have taken a fancy to Charles, and this was the truth behind Mrs. Le Maire's gracious invitation to Charles.Anyway, she didn't drug Charles and pack it to Victor's bed, she just deliberately created a chance to meet.It's good to guess right, and there are no consequences if you guess wrong - she can still make friends with the young people in Paris who are in the limelight, and have a relationship with a family with hope of rising, there is no harm at all!

This wishful thinking was well hidden, anyway, Charles only vaguely discovered it when he recognized Victor.But he hadn't heard the rumors, he only had a rough idea.When he went back in the evening, he was not surprised or worried when he saw an extra big Buddha in the living room.

Victor's tricks are indeed powerful, but he didn't deliberately provoke the other party, so what's so scary?

So Charles took the initiative to greet Victor with a calm demeanor.It was just that when shaking hands, he noticed the slightly warm palm of the other party, and frowned involuntarily in his heart.

After staying in an environment where everyone is chasing after him for a long time, Victor is indeed rarer of such people.Especially like Shire, who is not pretending to be generous and calm, but a calm expression from the bottom of his bones; before, it was just a sixth sense, but after knowing what Shire has been doing these past few months, this feeling has become more and more serious. Obvious. "Dear Charles," he said with a smile, turning the crystal wine glass in his hand, "I haven't seen you for more than two months. You had a great time in other provinces!"

This is the truth.Charles' birthday is in mid-to-late June, and now it's early September.It's just that Charles can't hear this kind of sentence pattern-I always feel that Victor is saying that he is too happy to leave-is he thinking too much? "The scenery of the provinces is different from that of Paris," he chose a well-balanced answer, "I have never seen it at this age."

Victor smiled playfully.Interesting, is Charles admitting in disguise that he is reluctant to leave? "I heard on the way that Guillaume was already on his way back to Paris from Marseille. I thought you were about the same..." He gave Charles an extra look, "But it doesn't look like you mean it?"

Charles' heart skipped a beat.Guillaume had indeed begun to return, but how did Victor know about this?Could it be that this person has been following him and his father's itinerary?

Thinking of this possibility, Charles suddenly felt bad.No matter what they do, it sure doesn't feel good to have eyes on them all the time.

If he knew that there was more than one pair of eyes staring at him, it would definitely feel worse.

But Shire doesn't know now, so all his mind is focused on how to deal with Victor. "Father has a lot of things to do, and this vacation has been a long time for him." He felt a little regretful.The implication is that Guillaume should have gone back, and he is incomparable with someone like him.

"Oh?" Victor dragged his voice slightly.The expression and tone are impeccable, is it too handy to pretend to be a little white rabbit? "That's the truth." He went on at the end of Charles's words, without retorting, because he wanted to know something else. "As soon as I came here, I heard that you went to Myron Castle again."

Charles had no hope of keeping the matter secret. "Indeed," he admitted, "I must say that M. Myron's old stories have really fascinated me."

There are several meanings that can be understood by these words, Victor squinted his eyes. "I thought it was grapes that got you? After all, you and I both know that fifteen thousand barrels is not a small amount."

A few short sentences hit the nail on the head, but Charles no longer wanted to be surprised by Victor——

Including Guillaume, the two have the same caliber and have been declaring more than 1 barrels to the outside world. Where did Victor know the exact number?Even His Excellency the Duke would not tell Victor this for no reason, would he?

So, why is he worthy of Victor's concern?Say it, he can't change it!