Granville's estate

Chapter 146 Years

In the silent, boring, day-to-day provincial life, Easter in 1824 passed, and after the social season in Paris ended, Callister came to Magon as he had promised-but he used It wasn't his real surname, but he bought a vacant house next to the Farentin's house under the identity he had used as Calliste Duvas, so he became neighbors with Louis.

In a quiet provincial town, the arrival of a new resident always makes everyone extremely curious. On the day the new neighbor moved in, everyone on this street was asking about the gentleman’s name, age, Income, the business he has done, the assets he owns, the contacts he has made...all of these were "inadvertently" revealed in the witty and ingenious maneuvers of the attendant Kabo, so everyone secretly calculated that he could What to get out of this new neighbor who is "28 years old, with an annuity of 3000 francs a year and other income, a small publisher" - some decent families with unmarried daughters even start to consider the status of a publisher Can they be worthy of their family background and their beautiful daughter? After all, there are many young ladies who are well-born but lack dowry these days, but a young and handsome bachelor with a fixed annuity income is hard to find; since They all want to send their daughters to marry with as little dowry as possible, so why not try to get the love of a steady young man in his 20s instead of choosing those old people who are 50 or [-] years old?

Of course, Monsieur Calliste de Durand did not come to Magon to win the heart of a lady, but the person he wanted his favor refused to participate in these worldly excitement and troubles, and refused Contact him again——the day he came to Magon, Louis stood alone at the end of those curious neighbors. Thin and haggard.

They looked at each other from a distance across the crowd, and after looking at Callister for a while, Louis turned straight and walked into his own home alone, despite the obstruction of Papa Peter who wanted to keep him outside for a while, Then he never appeared in front of the Viscount again.

There are always various things to deal with when moving to a new place, and by the end of the night, Callister finally sent the last uninvited guest away, in the spirit of "newcomers should On the principle of visiting one's neighbors in a friendly way", he knocked on the door of Farentin's house.

However, when Father Peter came to open the door, he saw clearly that this gentleman was outside, and the coachman immediately turned into a bitter face.

"Sir, my husband is praying, and he doesn't want anyone to disturb him."

As Father Peter said, he wanted to close the door, but Callister was naturally not someone who would admit defeat so easily. He even did it himself without aristocratic demeanor, and pushed the door that was about to be closed.

"Just right, I haven't prayed today, so I can be with him."

However, when the viscount walked into the Farentin's house, he discovered that Peter was not lying—Louis locked himself in a small prayer room, which had only one very high window. Locked, even trying to break in through the window is impossible.

He would rather kneel inside for a day and a night than meet the Viscount again.

"Sir, he has been like this often since he came back from Paris." Father Peter told Callister, "but today's time is longer, I think, ah, he has been staying in the prayer room since noon today. inside."

That is to say, from the moment he saw him at noon, Louis has been staying in the prayer room, and he locked himself up, as if with that lock, he would not have to face those censures of conscience, moral Torture, and those emotions that defy everything.

Faced with Louis's resolute and silent refusal, Calliste de Durand, a man who had never frowned in the face of the cruel teachings of his father and grandfather, and the open and dark arrows and intrigues of the Parisian nobles, suddenly I realized that the phrase "I will never see you again" that Louis once said was not just a casual remark. His beloved did not calm down from the blow as time went by as he expected. down.

"Louis."

He tried to push the door of the prayer room, but the people inside neither opened the door nor responded to him.

"You can't do this to me."

Callister whispered to the people inside the door that he was suddenly at a loss. Ever since he took charge of the Durand family and reached the peak of power, he could always get what he wanted—people always have Weak, isn't it?Money, sex, power, fame, food, fancy clothes, he has become accustomed to using these to drive people's hearts, but none of these can make him open the door in front of him: "I beg you, Louis, no matter what, at least let me see Look at you, you can't be so ruthless to me."

Across the thin door, inside the prayer room, Louis was kneeling on the cold ground without blankets. He had to cover his mouth desperately so that the sound of his sobbing would not be heard by people outside.

In front of him, there is a statue of the Madonna and Son enshrined with incense. The Madonna on the statue is wearing a blue cloak, looking down at all the troubled beings in this world, with a touch of pity and sorrow in her expression .

Don't answer him, you can't accept his request - Louis told himself in his heart, hide everything, bury everything in his heart, all love and hate that cannot be tolerated by the world should be annihilated in the unknown In the corner, all the sins only need one person to silently pray and atone for sins, so that everything can return to the right track it should be. This is the best choice for him and Callister.

Religion cannot tolerate the shocking emotions between them, the secular world does not allow them to make choices that violate morality, and the law will not tolerate love that hurts social morality, and he himself cannot accept what Callister has done; If the things of the time are spread, they can only usher in complete destruction. In this case, they can only hide everything and bury it, and wait for time to make the final judgment.

Almighty Lord, have you ever heard the cry and prayer of your lost lamb?If this is all your arrangement, then why did you put us in this situation?

Callister waited outside the prayer room for more than two hours that day, but in the end Louis was still unwilling to open the door to see him, and he had to leave disappointed.

In the next month or so, Viscount Durand exhausted all means, but none of them could shake Louis' will: Louis is living the most secluded life now, and he almost spends his life and entertainment. It was all cut to the bare minimum, with the exception of mass and festive religious ceremonies, and basically no public appearances, let alone participation in receptions, relatives and friends or other entertainment held in the town; most of the affairs of the Farentine family It was all handed over to the faithful housekeeper and Papa Peter. Mr. de Chandu, who had always been unhappy with Louis's deceased father, Mr. Lucien, said bluntly, "We have a priest who is not a priest, no A priest's priest."

Even when Callister took advantage of every opportunity he could find, and when Louis had to stand before him when he could not avoid it, he would lower his eyes and stand quietly like a meek and obedient lamb. There, he would never take the initiative to talk to Callister, let alone respond to the Viscount as happily as he did in Paris.

"You have been too cruel to me."

Callister was completely helpless against Louis' silence. He once tried to climb into Louis' room through the window in the middle of the night, trying to force him to talk to him, but after Louis found him, he just sat silently in his own room. They neither chased him away nor welcomed him; he later went even further to Louis's bed, and they spent the night in each other's clothes, Louis reacted a little: he moved the second floor of the Farentin's house. The windows were all boarded up.

As for the viscount's requests, complaints, confessions and accusations, Louis always had only one sentence: "I pray for you before God."

No matter how passionate love and passion is, it will slowly fade away when there is no response - and this is undoubtedly what Louis wants, even though his heart is actually unwilling to accept this most rational choice.

Callister failed to stay in Magon as he had planned until the social season in Paris began again, and in June a letter from Paris beckoning him to the capital from the Count d'Artois made him I have no choice but to return to His Royal Highness immediately.

"I hope that when I come again, you will have changed your mind."

He asked Louis, and Louis' answer was still the same sentence: "I pray for you before God."

After the Viscount de Durand left, he could not come to Magon for a long time.