[Count of Monte Cristo] Love and hatred

r098

"mom!"

Valentine woke up screaming to find that her pillow had been wet with tears.

In her dream, she was trapped in a maze, lonely and frightened, but a black cat sprang out from nowhere and led her to the iron gate covered with roses at the exit.Behind the door, she found her mother, Renee, there, waiting for her.

Although Renee's face seemed to be shrouded in a layer of holy light, she couldn't see clearly, but Valentine seemed to really feel her warm embrace.

This was not the first time Valentine had this dream.

She still remembered that she had come to this labyrinth on the night her mother left.At that time, she was so scared that she cried until the little black cat appeared in front of her, as if to tell her something.So she followed it, and actually found the exit.

Renee was waiting there with a sweet smile on her lips.

"Mom, didn't you go to Paris?" Valentine asked suspiciously.

"No, I have gone to a far away place," said the mother in a gentle tone, stroking her hair, "Valentine, promise me that no matter what happens, don't be afraid, I will always watch you, always by your side."

Later at Renee's funeral, baby Valentine really didn't cry because she believed her mom had been watching her.

And now, Valentine wanted to go back to her dream.

But for some reason, she couldn't fall asleep.

Not a ray of light came in from the window.Valentine then got out of bed and lit a candle.

The moment she walked out of the room, she finally understood where she should go.It was a small storage room, where she kept the big wooden box she had brought from Marseilles, full of old things from her childhood.

Valentine opened the box and found a delicate doll, which her mother had brought her from Paris.There is also a first edition of "Grimm's Fairy Tales", which was often read to her by her mother at that time, but she was too young to remember anything at that time. She only knew that no one appeared at her bedside to read to her. story.

Her father is always busy.She was like this when she was a child, and she is like this now.Now that her stepmother was pregnant again, her father couldn't care less about her.And her stepmother, Heloise, has been watching her since the first day she became the mistress of the house.Even her maid was always spying on her every move, and every time she did and said a word, the maid had to report to Heloise.

Her grandparents loved her very much.But perhaps it was because they couldn't help thinking of their dead daughter when they saw her, and therefore they always appeared in her presence with such sorrow, and Valentine could not bear such sorrow.Later, after Valentine's father took her to Paris, she rarely saw her grandparents.

Only her grandfather, Mr. Vannotier, her closest relative, has always cared and loved her.But in [-], this last care was taken away.Valentine still remembered that a great event happened in that year, the French Emperor Charles X was ousted from power, and Louis Philips became the new emperor.

But at that time, Valentine only noticed that her father was in a state of confusion and hesitation, but she believed that such things would not affect her small family.But just a few days before Charles X stepped down, her grandfather suddenly suffered a stroke overnight and could no longer move.

Since then, no one will comfort her when she is sad and encourage her when she is depressed.

Valentine felt so lonely, if only her mother was still there.

She continued to flip through those childhood treasures, and her eyes became moist unconsciously.

At the bottom of the box, she suddenly saw a portrait...

This aroused even more remote memories for Valentine.

It was when Valentine was a child, and her father was going to take her to a new home in Paris.The maid found the portrait while sorting out Renee's belongings.Valentine did not know the woman in the painting, but she always felt that the woman in the painting was so beautiful, like a goddess in Greek mythology.

However, when she showed the painting to her father, he threw it away angrily.Later she begged the maid to get it back and hid it in a chest.

To this day, Valentine doesn't know why her father has such an attitude when she sees the painting. She only knows that it is her mother's work.

She picked up the picture frame carefully and wiped off the dust on it.At this time, Valentine suddenly found that the woman in the painting resembled Madame de Morcerf.But that lady was even younger than her stepmother Heloise, and her mother should not have known her.

Valentine would not ask Madame Hermine Danglars, though that lady was her mother's best friend, yet somehow Valentine always felt that there was something between Hermine and her father. An inexplicable strange feeling.What's more, Ermini didn't even care about her own daughter, so how could she really care about her?Although Eugenie is the daughter of Baron Tanglar and his ex-wife, and not Ermini's own, she is Eugenie's guardian after all.

And many times Valentine can see that she is only perfunctory to herself.

Valentine knew whom to ask.

When Valentine was a child, Dr. Avrini often visited her because of her poor health.He was a friend of her parents and had always taken good care of her.

The doctor is a rigid and serious person, but when facing her, he is always willing to smile.At that time, a strange idea even came into Valentine's mind. Compared with Mr. Villefort, who always only knew his work and always had an expression, Dr. Avrini was more like a father.

A knock at the door interrupted Valentine's thoughts.

"Valentina, why are you here so late?"

Recognizing that it was her father's voice, she hastily put the portrait back in the box, and cast a guilty glance at M. de Villefort.He was still wearing formal clothes, looking tired, he should have just come out of the study. "I...I miss my mother."

"Valentine..." Villefort walked quickly into the room and pulled Valentine up from the ground, "You'll catch a cold like this."

catch a cold?Valentine suddenly had an idea, "Yes, father, I don't feel well... Can I ask Dr. Avrini to come over tomorrow?"

A rare smile appeared on Villefort's face, "Of course, my daughter."

Early the next morning, while waiting for Dr. Avrini to come to see him, Valentine managed to distract the maid and brought out the portrait.She was surprised when she saw the doctor's expression.

"Uncle Avrigni, is that Madame de Morcerf in the picture?" asked Valentine doubtfully.

"No," Dr. Avrini shook his head. "Your mother did not know Madame de Morcerf. She is Miss Masertes, a friend of your mother's."

Valentine breathed a sigh of relief at this answer, for Madame de Morcerf had a bad reputation.Madame de Morcerf was famous for her beauty in the social circle of Parisian ladies, but she was arrogant and frivolous, and few ladies liked her.They whispered that she was no nobleman, but the Count of Morcerf loved her very much.

Valentine had had the honor of visiting the count's small drawing room, where the most striking painting was in a gilt and openwork frame.That painting was the work of the painter Oppo Robert, and it was the beautiful Countess.But Valentine always felt that she had a different temperament from the person in the painting, because the person in the painting was dressed in the costume of a beautiful Catalan fisherwoman—a red and black blouse, with golden pins in her hair.In Valentine's cognition, the Countess seems to be inseparable from precious jewelry forever. Eugenie once satirized her as a mobile jewelry rack.

However, what Dr. Avrigini said also aroused Valentine's doubts, "But Mrs. Ermini is my mother's friend since childhood, I never heard her mention a lady named Maisette? "

"That's because Maisette disappeared in Paris many years ago," Dr. Avrigni explained, "at that time she and Madame Danglars didn't know each other."

"Can you tell me her story?" Valentine asked expectantly.

Dr. Avrini nodded and began to tell the story of the past.

He told how Renee and Maisette had met in Aix, and how they had met to go to Paris.Later, Renee had an accident on the way, and the situation was very dangerous.He still remembered Renee lying pale on the blood-red velvet mattress, drenched in cold sweat.She was also emotionally unstable, and kept calling M. de Villefort's name.

The accompanying coachman was sent to find General Noirtier, who was familiar with Paris, and as the only doctor, he had to guard Renee.Therefore, at that time, Mei Tess volunteered to go to Villa Teouy to find Villefort, perhaps because he was too worried about Renee, but he did not raise any objections.

This is something that doctors have been blaming themselves for years.For when M. de Villefort came later, Mei Tess did not come back with him.

"So Miss Plum Tess did it for my mother..." Valentine's eyes flickered.

"Yes, your mother is very concerned about this matter. After you were born, she never gave up her search for Miss Maisy Tess." The doctor pondered for a while, "Speaking of which, Miss Maisy Tess almost became your Where's the godmother?"

"My godmother..." repeated Valentine, muttering.

"It was in that hotel outside Paris that your mother made a request to Maisette. Maybe at that time she had a premonition that something would happen to her in the future, and she asked Meisette to protect you instead. When your mother asked Even I was surprised at that request, because Mei Tess is not of high status, but you are destined to be a nobleman. But at that time, your mother firmly believed that the road ahead of you was full of darkness, and Mei Tess once saved you. After you once, she is the one who is destined to lead you to the light."

"Miss Meiser Tess saved my mother in Aix, and also saved me..." Valentine pondered for a while, "By the way, Uncle Avrigni, at that time Miss Meiser Tess Did you agree to my mother's request?"

Dr. Avrini nodded and said with a smile, "She agreed. She said that no matter what happens, she will protect you and love you like her own daughter."

Valentine held the portrait tightly in her arms. She did not expect that she had such a relative in the world.

But now, where is she?