Granville's estate

Chapter 65 Brumaire: Maiden's Prayer

"Sir, we have Miss Margaret Labdin and her friends in the prop room behind the stage."

Louis was taken aback when the servant sent out to find Margaret reported this to Callister and Louis.

"Are they behind the stage?"

He immediately walked to the window of the box and looked at the stage, only to realize that behind the orchestra playing all kinds of musical instruments, it was not the solid wall he thought, but a movable scene board painted like a wall that could be raised and lowered .There should be a fairly large space behind this set board to hide all kinds of props used in the performance of the play, which is what the attendant called the prop room, and the one he searched on the first floor of the Misard Opera House before At that time, they completely ignored the possibility that Margaret and the others were hiding in this area!

This is the best news—although Louis doesn't know why Margaret and the others hid in the prop room, but no matter what, it's better than receiving news that they were in the hall on the first floor. Those who don't know their identities should dance together, otherwise Louis can't imagine whether Alred will lose his mind when he sees his beloved being embraced by men casually like other women!

"Now that you've found them, why don't you bring them here?" Callister asked, the answer to which Louis was eager to know.

When he heard his master's question, the servant showed a rather embarrassed expression.

"Sir, according to your previous instructions, when we found Miss Margaret and the others, we tried to take them away, but the two ladies were quite uncooperative." The attendant said, obviously after some failures He came back to report to his master: "Especially Miss Margaret, she seems to regard our people as police spies, and has a very strong hostility towards us-our people politely ask When she came with us, she threatened to burn the whole opera house down if we did anything to her."

This kind of words should not be said casually. Louis immediately remembered that at No. 79 St. George Street, Mrs. Busa said that Marguerite drank strong alcohol before she was persuaded by the people around her to go to the Misard Opera House. things.

"Miss Margaret drank gin before she came here, she may not be very sober now." Louis said, he glanced at the dance floor on the first floor, and gave up finding Arleigh in the extremely chaotic dance. De's thoughts: "Which side of the stage is the entrance to the props room? I'll have to go and take her away. This Misard opera house is a terrible place to be for ladies."

Callister, who heard him say that, gave him a suspicious look.

"Are you going to take her back to where you live?"

"Of course I want to do this." Louis said, he looked at the Viscount a little puzzled: "Miss Margaret's girlfriend is still on St. George Street, anxiously waiting for us to take her back!"

Callister just nodded to the attendant, who immediately said to Louis: "Then, sir, please come with me!"

They walked out of the box, led by the attendant, went down to the first floor through another staircase, walked around a dark corridor, and climbed up a small upward staircase to find the entrance to the props room.

The little door leading to the prop room was hidden behind a pillar on the left side of the stage, and when they got there, the old dwarf standing at the door was arguing with a pair of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet lovers.

"Five francs a person!" the dwarf shouted, his voice so high-pitched that even the music playing on the stage could not drown out his voice: "Two people, ten francs, no bargaining Son, sir!"

"We bought tickets!" The young man said angrily, looking rather indignant: "You didn't say that you have to pay again!"

"I don't care about that, I just know that whoever wants to come here to see the novelty has to pay." The old dwarf said, he stood in front of the lovers, unwilling to let go: "The mechanism props of our opera house can't be in vain. Show it to you!"

"Is the Misard Opera House using their props room as a novelty exhibit?"

Louis, who heard their conversation, asked Callister beside him a little bit in astonishment, just like the lovers, he never thought that after entering the Missal Opera House, he would have to go backstage to enter the opera house. Give another five francs.

"Don't worry about them." Callister took a look at the lovers and the old dwarf, and led Louis directly into the prop room as if he hadn't heard their quarrel at all.

The four of them——Louis, Callister, the attendant Carbo, and the escort who led the way walked past the old dwarf so easily, and the old dwarf didn't even ask them for money to enter the props room. ——However, after they passed by, Louis vaguely heard the young man questioning the old dwarf angrily.

"Why don't they pay?"

"Because they already paid, sir!"

The old dwarf who collected the ticket money was also angry.

"The gentleman at the front gave ten people's money from the beginning, which is much more generous than you!"

Compared with the bright and bright hall with dozens of chandeliers and seat lamps outside, the prop room behind the stage can be said to be quite miserable. The space here is not narrow, but it is all supported by a few hanging lamps hanging on the walls and pillars. The lighting and brightness can only make people barely see the surroundings.Under the dim light, Louis saw a lot of mechanisms and props piled up together, casting black shadows on the ground like giants squatting in the darkness: tall Roman columns decorated with sculptures, Each one is four or five meters high, with wheels installed under the feet. It looks very heavy but can be easily pushed; there are half-built grand castles and watchtowers with thin wooden boards, and there is a tree next to it to climb to the roof. There was also a tattered oil-stained coat on the ladder, probably some irresponsible worker went out to dance in the middle of the work, and put the coat and the castle builder The work has been forgotten here; a huge mill with a windmill sits safely next to a set panel painted into a forest, and Louis can even see the fan of the windmill when they walk by. The leaves turned a bit!

This place looks completely unrelated to the masquerade party outside, and people who enter here have to be very careful even when walking, so as not to be caught by the ropes thrown on the ground and the dismantled stage equipment that can't be seen. Stumbling--these scattered objects show very clearly that since the Masquerade, the Misard Opera House has had little need for the traps and props that come in handy for opera and burlesque; They didn't completely ignore these props, two backstage supervisors wearing hats walked around among the various props, if they saw someone who wanted to climb to those castles, mills and pillars driven by curiosity Go up, they will stop loudly.

Just when Louis wondered whether Margaret and the others were really hiding in this prop room, he heard someone singing, the voice was very clear, and then Callister's attendants led them around a wooden and cloth room. In the erected post station painted gray, a corner that was not filled with props appeared immediately in front of them, and the area was large enough to accommodate a dozen people for a small dance party.

A miniature masquerade ball is also being held in this vacant little corner at the moment, but there is only one dancer-a female dock worker wearing a red antler mask, wearing a white dress with red trim, sleeves She is tied up to her arms with red ribbons, she wears a pair of off-white short gloves on her hands, and a pair of white satin shoes with lace on her feet; her dancing posture is extremely graceful and seductive, without It is not inferior to the best ballet dancers, especially when standing on tiptoe, the graceful posture is enough to make any man's heart beat.

Louis saw another attendant of Callister here. He seemed to be assigned to guard here to prevent Margaret and the others from slipping away again. When he saw Callister walking in, he immediately bowed to his master. besides this attendant, Louis also saw two young men he did not know, one was dressed as a court minister, the other was wearing a turban and holding a flute. Scary cobra decoration - he's supposed to be an Indian snake handler.

When Louis and his party walked in, the two men ignored them. They were mesmerized watching Elisa, who was dressed as a dock worker, dance. The snake trainer held the flute in his hand and completely forgot to play it. , but stared closely at Elisa's footsteps - for men, it is very difficult to see a woman's shoes hidden under the heavy skirt in daily life, and it is also Therefore, if a woman wants to make a man her prisoner, the most common method is to make him "casually" see the shoes under her skirt; Elisa obviously knows this little trick well, she Giggling, showing off her shoulders and feet to her heart's content.

Playing the dancing music for Eliza was Marguerite in a domino cloak, sitting in front of an old piano by the wall, without the hood of the cloak, left to the wavy tawny The long curly hair fell freely, and while carelessly pressing the insensitive keys, he sang a song with a very beautiful voice.

She sang an old folk song called "The Maiden's Prayer," and it was the first time Louis heard the voice of this beauty who was said to have sung under the gas lamps of the Opera House:

"Please give me a husband, Santa Maria, please give me a husband

please make him rich, saint antony, please make him rich

Please make him learned, Saint-Etienne, please let him be learned

Please let him not be jealous, Saint Joseph, please let him not be jealous

Please keep him safe, Santa Clara, please keep him safe

please let him love me forever saint charlotte please let him love me forever

Please don't forget me, Saint Nicholas, please don't forget me! "

It was a ballad that could be repeated in loop, and Marguerite had no qualms about repeating it after she had sung it once.

"Give me a husband please, Santa Maria, please give me a husband!"

When Margaret was singing, she must have seen Louis and the others walking in, but she didn't stop her singing, let alone pay them a glance. Instead, Elisa, who was dancing, giggled.

"Mary," said Eliza to her friend, in a rather flippant tone: "Look, your knights are coming!"