From Corsica to the Fourth Rome

Shortly after Baron Bertula left, he sent a hastily drafted transfer agreement to Lawrence.

Although Baron Bertula drafted it hastily, the agreement is generally quite rigorous, and the conspicuous bold letters at the end indicate that all transfer procedures will only begin after William Pitt returns to England. conduct.

Moreover, according to Lawrence's additional requirements, the ownership and sovereignty of St. Kitts Island will be taken over by Lawrence in his own name. Although Baron Bertula did not realize why, he did not care about these details in a hurry. .

At the bottom of the agreement is the autograph of Baron Bertula and the seal of the English Ambassador to France. Although these two certificates cannot make the agreement directly effective, they are equivalent to a written guarantee given by Ambassador Bertula to Lawrence. .

"Well, there's basically no problem."

Duke Choiseul also looked over the agreement and found no problems for the time being, but he still said very cautiously:

"But what he said is that it would be inappropriate to wait for William Pitt to return to England before starting the transfer. If William Pitt returns, the British will definitely postpone the extension of the transfer process. Who knows how long the wrangling will be. "

Lawrence smiled indifferently, carefully folded the agreement and put it in his pocket, shook his head and said:

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I won't be arguing with the British anymore."

"You."

Duke Choiseul couldn't help laughing, and then shook his head helplessly. He knew that he would be the one who ended up arguing with the British over St. Kitts Island.

The two chatted in the garden for a while. It was not until about four o'clock in the afternoon that a royal steward found the two of them in the garden very respectfully.

"Your Excellency, Mr. Governor, it's getting late."

The royal butler bowed respectfully to the two of them and reminded them:

"The banquet and dance in the Hall of Mirrors will begin soon. If you two have nothing else to do, you can prepare to enter."

"Hall of Mirrors? It seems that our King still values ​​you very much."

After hearing the location of the banquet, Duke Choiseul looked at Lawrence with some surprise and said:

"That's a good thing, but not every banquet and dance can be held in the Hall of Mirrors."

Although Lawrence did not know the unspoken rules of the royal banquet, he also understood that the Hall of Mirrors was a unique and luxurious place in the Palace of Versailles, and it was fully worthy of being called the jewel of the Palace of Versailles.

This is not only a dedicated place for the Bourbon royal family to receive envoys from various countries, but also the establishment of the German Empire and the signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty in history.

In the hands of King Louis, who is now addicted to the decadent palace life, the Hall of Mirrors is also an excellent place to hold dance parties. Every noble lady dreams of becoming the dazzling protagonist in the Hall of Mirrors one day.

Even Louis XV's last official mistress, Madame de Pompadour, met Louis XV at a masquerade ball in the Hall of Mirrors; Madame Pompadour was disguised as a shepherdess, and Louis XV Then it disguised itself as a tree.

"It's getting late, let's get ready to change."

Duke Choiseul took out his pocket watch and looked at it, then looked at Lawrence's old-fashioned dress with some disgust, and joked:

"Surely you don't want to appear in front of the king and all the celebrities in Versailles wearing these rags?"

Lawrence took a look at his shirt and nodded helplessly. He had asked for this outfit from his brother Carlo when he first arrived in Corsica.

Although Lawrence felt that the clothes fit him well, Parisians who are proud of their fashion trends must look down on these backward Corsican designs.

The time came to five o'clock in the afternoon, and although the sunlight was already a little dim at this time, the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles was filled with bright golden light.

Seventeen floor-to-ceiling crystal windows introduce sunlight into the hall, as well as the summer view of the back garden facing the Hall of Mirrors. In the reflection of nearly 500 mirrors, even standing in the hall It will feel like you are in the back garden with all the flowers blooming.

Although the banquet has not officially started yet, the more than 70-meter long corridor is already slightly crowded:

Well-groomed ladies carefully walked through the hall of mirrors holding their long silk skirts to say hello to others and avoid bumping into the servants carrying large silver trays.

The elegant men gathered together in small groups, chatting happily while sipping the white wine specially provided by the royal family.

King Louis and his mistress Madame Du Barry were not present yet, as were Crown Prince Louis and Crown Princess Marie, as well as Crown Prince Louis' two younger brothers. As members of the royal family, according to the rules, they would only come when the banquet officially started.

Lawrence and the Duke of Choiseul have also finished dressing up and are quickly heading to the Hall of Mirrors.

"Hey, to be honest, you look really impressive dressed up like this. I think the girls will be talking about you tonight."

Duke Choiseul, who was walking on the road, did not forget to turn his head and look at Lawrence a few times. Looking at his neat silver wig and handsome face, he couldn't help but sigh.

Lawrence grabbed his wig with some discomfort, looked at the silver powder stuck to his hand, and said helplessly:

"This thing makes my scalp itchy. I really don't know why the French call this a fashion."

In Paris at the end of the 18th century, wearing wigs had become a symbol of culture and fashion, and was extremely common among the civilian class. Even ordinary craftsmen of this era would wear a silver curly hair on formal occasions.

In Paris alone, there were 1,200 wig shops and more than 6,000 shop assistants working there.

Men even put aside the tradition of wearing hats in order to follow the wig trend, because wearing hats would mess up their carefully groomed wigs.

Therefore, in Paris at this time, it was more common for gentlemen to wear neat silver hair and put a beautifully decorated big three-cornered hat with feathers and gold tassels under their arms, but they almost never wore it. , only as a portable pendant.

"I don't understand what fashion is. It's much harder to understand than politics and diplomacy."

Duke Choiseul shrugged and said that as a traditional nobleman, he was obviously not interested in these emerging trends. It was only because the king was obsessed with them that he put on the most fashionable clothes for himself.

"If you ask me, 80% of fashion is created by second-rate artists. While they deliberately create crazy and weird designs, they denounce everyone who doesn't agree with them as ordinary people, and we still have to pay taxes. It’s ridiculous to fund art schools to create these deformed designs.”

Duke Choiseul said very dissatisfied.

Lawrence chuckled in response and nodded to indicate that Duke Choiseul was right.

The two of them chatted and laughed all the way to the Hall of Mirrors, and at the entrance of the Hall of Mirrors, they saw the daughter of the Duke of Choiseul, Miss Elvy, who had obviously been waiting here for a long time.

Although in Paris of this era, women have conquered men with their charm and have become more and more important, in form they are still accessories to men. This is why Miss Hervé has to wait until Choiseul. The Duke entered the banquet only after his arrival.

"So, the government doesn't need any subsidies for artists at all. People will spend their own money to support the artists they like. We should really stop all those subsidies and spend the money on the military."

Until he reached the gate, Duke Choiseul continued to loudly talk about his criticism of the art world, regardless of the strange looks from the people around him.

"Father!"

Miss Elvy came forward with some complaints, hugged Duke Choiseul's arm and said:

"You are talking bad about those artists again. I should really take you to more art exhibitions and clothing exhibitions so that you can cultivate yourself."

"Oh, my little Elvie, you are a woman, and women are not politicians or soldiers. How can you understand my thoughts? I am talking about national affairs."

Duke Choiseul shook his head to his daughter and said, although his tone was very doting, it was obvious that he did not take Miss Elvy's words seriously.

There is no doubt that Duke Choiseul's discriminatory words immediately drew the eyes of the women around him. Miss Elvy also pouted her lips in displeasure, then looked at Lawrence behind her and said:

"I'm so glad that you're here too, Mr. Bonaparte. Although I asked my father to come and thank you for the matter about Count Falcone last time, I still have to express my gratitude to you again in person. You are not only responsible for I also saved a lot of trouble for my sisters. By the way, do you think my father’s words make sense?”

Lawrence was slightly relieved to hear Miss Elvy's thanks at first, but as soon as he heard her talking about him, Lawrence couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth and glanced at the ladies around him who were waiting for his answer with their ears pricked up.

Seeing this, Lawrence could only spread his hands and said:

"I must say that your Excellency the Duke certainly has his reasons, but we do have many outstanding women, from Joan of Arc from Orleans to the Marchioness de Pompadour."

Duke Choiseul could only nod helplessly after hearing these two names.

The significance of Joan of Arc to the French is self-evident, and the Duke of Choiseul certainly cannot deny it.

As for Madame de Pompadour, although she was only the official mistress of Louis XV, she also had a strong influence on French politics during her lifetime.

She was also accomplished in the military. During the Seven Years' War, French commanders on the front lines would even occasionally receive battle plan drawings drawn with eyebrow pencil by Madame Pompadour from the Palace of Versailles.

Even after she lost her physical attraction to the king in her old age, she still maintained a close relationship with Louis XV by virtue of her outstanding artistic attainments and erudite knowledge.

After her death, Voltaire, who was supported by her, wrote a heartfelt letter to express his sadness at the passing of this outstanding woman.

Duke Choiseul was once a core member of Madame Pompadour's faction. It can be said that if Madame Pompadour had not passed away prematurely, Duke Choiseul's status in France would have been almost unshakable, and there would have been no Richeille at all. Leave the Duke and Madame Du Barry a chance.

Of course, Duke Choiseul could not say anything bad about such a woman, so he could only wave his hand and said:

"Governor Bonaparte, you are really clever with your words. Forget it, let's go in quickly."

Miss Elvy was very satisfied with Lawrence's answer. She winked at Lawrence very playfully, then took Duke Choiseul's arm and walked into the Hall of Mirrors together.

The servant who was greeting the guests at the door of the Hall of Mirrors saw that Duke Choiseul was coming, and he quickly cleared his throat and raised his voice.

Servants who can serve as greeters and reporters in the royal family also have rich experience.

For guests with ordinary status, such as some petty bourgeois businessmen or small nobles, they will announce their names in a voice that only the guests can hear, so as not to disturb the guests talking inside.

Higher up, such as a church bishop or a count, they will raise their voices so that the guests in the venue can know the arrival of the guests without disturbing them.

As for now, when facing a powerful official like the Duke of Choiseul, they would stand up straight and respectfully, raise their voices, and shout out in a sing-song tone, as if they were afraid that no one would be able to hear:

"Minister of War, His Excellency the Duke of Choiseul! And his daughter, Mademoiselle Hervé!"

The voice of the reporter immediately reached the ears of everyone in the venue. Except for the nobles of Madame Du Barry's family, most people directly interrupted their conversations and raised their glasses to the Duke of Choiseul at the door. to pay tribute to him.

The servant didn't take a breath after shouting loudly, and then looked at Lawrence behind Duke Choiseul, and then couldn't help showing a hesitant expression.

But seeing Lawrence about to step into the Hall of Mirrors, the servant didn't have time to think too much. He directly raised his voice and shouted in a slightly weaker voice:

"His Excellency Laurence Bonaparte, Governor of the Republic of Corsica!"

The slightly narrow hall of mirrors instantly echoed with the loud voice of customers, and people stood on tiptoes to look towards the entrance, vying to look at the protagonist of tonight's banquet.

Lawrence glanced at the reporter's servant with a wry smile, and then waved to the nobles and ladies who looked at him.

Although Lawrence was not proficient in those complicated royal rules, he also knew that the volume of the reporter was obviously adjusted according to the status of the visitor. According to the voice of the servant just now, I am afraid that he was put in the same group as some old dukes. Level.

"I don't know if it's because of my status as the head of a country, or because of my relationship with the Duke of Choiseul."

Lawrence thought about it helplessly, but did not pursue it seriously.

After waving to everyone, Lawrence looked at the hall of mirrors in front of him. It was indeed as luxurious and magnificent as he remembered. Although the width was only about ten meters, the hundreds of mirrors greatly enhanced the sense of space. You won't feel any crowding or depression when you are there.

And just when Lawrence was about to take a closer look at this world-famous monument, he heard the poor reporter at the door yelling again at the top of his lungs before he could rest for a moment:

"Duke Richelieu! And the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Britain to France, Baron Bertula!"