Old Charles' words made Fanny's steps flutter, and she almost tripped over her own foot.

"Don't care, my dad has been a little messy since the revolution, and he likes to talk nonsense, don't take it to heart." Fanny's face flushed, and she said this to Joseph.

"I understand." Somehow, Joseph said this. Then he began to mutter, how should he understand this sentence of his own? Is it understood as "I understand, your dad is a psychopath", or is it understood as "I know he means that he hopes I can chase you and marry you off quickly"?

So he gave Fanny another ghostly look. Fanny noticed that Joseph was watching her, and she was a little shy, but she didn't turn her head away, and certainly didn't play the trick that some women in high society used to use - just faint.

In this era, most of the aristocratic women had the habit of girdling their waists. This is a perverted trick that can be compared to the foot-binding of the Eastern Eater, and in terms of physical harm, the harm of this practice is even more serious than that of foot-binding.

Women's foot binding will cause foot deformities, which will seriously damage women's ability to walk, and some women even lose the ability to walk because of this, becoming the so-called "Miss Hug". (Unable to move on their own, they must be held by a person to move)

However, no matter how you bind your feet, they are generally not likely to cause death. But the European girdle is much more ferocious, because if it is not done well, it will really kill people!

Just as the oriental practice of binding feet originated in the imperial court, the custom of corsiding in Europe (which is said to have been invented by Empress Li is said to have originated in the imperial court, and it is said to have originated in the French court.

Whether this rumor is true or not is unquestionable, but the intensification of the corset did begin in the time of Louis XV. It is said that a certain French woman discovered that by tightening her waist, she could make her breasts stand out extraordinarily. In addition, the slender waist has always been a symbol of beauty, and until today, some people are keen to play games such as touching the belly button with a backhand.

However, the backhand of later generations can touch the waist of the navel eye, and in Europe in this era, it is definitely a bucket waist or even a water tank waist. And in that era, what was the standard waist circumference of European beauties? Well, by the standards of the French court, it was fourteen inches, which is 35.56 centimeters. If we simplify the model and reduce the cut of a woman's waist to a standard circle, then the diameter of this circle is only a little more than 11 centimeters.

It is conceivable that when the waist is bound to such a point, it is naturally impossible for the organs in the woman's body to shrink into this small space with a diameter of 11 centimeters, and they are forced to shift their positions, which brings various physical problems. From various vertigo and syncope to death, it is a common phenomenon. In many classical dramas in Europe, those young ladies will faint when they are slightly excited, which is not an exaggerated exaggeration, but a common thing - of course, intentional fainting in the arms of the person who cares about it is also a small means commonly used by some girls.

However, Fanny's waist is not quite up to par, or far from it. may be because her parents doted on her too much when she was a child, and they were reluctant to tie her waist hard, so that now her waist circumference is probably more than twenty inches, which is definitely a small waist in future generations, but in this era, it is a serious body problem. Fanny hasn't been able to marry yet, so maybe it has something to do with it. Although Armand always liked to brag about his sister's beauty, in that era, Fanny was really not beautiful. In addition, the problem of being too thick also brings another problem, that is, Fanny is unlikely to faint at the right time. Lacking a femininity that some men of this era particularly appreciated.

But this was a great merit in Joseph's eyes. Joseph, who came from later generations, really couldn't appreciate this perverted beauty, and whenever he met the women of high society, he would always feel very incongruous and even disgusted and frightened when he saw their waists that were so thin that they could be blown off by a gust of wind. This is probably one of the reasons why Joseph has been living a single life despite not lacking opportunities.

"Ah...... Miss Fanny, I mean......" said Joseph, "Oh, yes. Are you going to ......"

Joseph kept his mouth shut, fearing that the rest of the words would be heard by Old Charles. So the two men walked on in silence, until they walked out of the antechamber, and then Joseph asked:

"Miss Fanny, you forged Armand's letter?"

"Yes." Fanny replied, "I used to write for my brother a lot, and I knew his handwriting and his diction habits, so I could barely imitate it." Mom and Dad's health is not very good. You just saw my dad's situation. My mother was even sicker, and she completely started the bed and couldn't see the guests. That's it since the last time she knew her uncle had been guillotined. I don't dare let them know about my brother. ”

Maybe she has been trying hard to hide the news of her brother's death at home, and she has to pretend to be happy after getting her brother's letter in front of her family, this girl's heart has suppressed too much sorrow. Now that there is finally a person who can talk to her directly about these things that cannot be said, her tears suddenly welled up.

But Fanny didn't dare to cry, she could only sobbed silently. Tears kept rolling down her eyes, and her shoulders shook like a small sapling in a storm.

"A girl like her, if she is ...... hereafter," Joseph somehow felt pity, and he tried to comfort her:

"Miss Fanny...... Don't be too sad...... Something ...... "Joseph didn't know what to say, neither in this life nor in the previous life, he had no experience of comforting a bereaved sister-in-law.

"Hell, I don't know what to say." Joseph thought to himself. He reached out and touched his pocket, but he didn't have the habit of carrying a handkerchief, so naturally he didn't touch anything. So he had to watch Fanny cry helplessly. But when he saw that Fanny was crying so much, he couldn't help but reach out and stroke her flaxen hair.

Fanny trembled slightly, but she didn't push Joseph away, nor did she throw herself into Joseph's arms, but just stood there quietly sobbing silently.

After a while, she stopped sobbing and said embarrassedly, "Sir, I'm sorry, I couldn't control my ......"

"What," Joseph clumsily tried to comfort her, "I'm a friend of Armand, so you can treat me like a brother......

After saying this, Joseph immediately regretted it, and it seemed that he was touching someone's sad thing again. So he immediately resorted to another common method, which was to change the subject.

"Miss Fanny, huh...... I mean, how do you make ends meet today? Joseph asked.

"Ah, sir." Fanny wiped her tears with the back of her hand, then calmed down and replied, "Although the price of food has been much higher after the revolution, because there are fewer gatherings among the nobles, many of the money that had to be spent for pomp and circumstance is no longer spent, but it is easier to support it. It's just that prices have suddenly risen sharply recently......"

"Ah, Miss Fanny...... said Joseph, "I don't know if Armand told you that he had a sum of money to keep with me. ”

When Fanny heard this, she raised her head and looked at Joseph and said, "What did you say, sir?" Brother has money in you? How many? ”

"It looks like they're really short of money." Joseph thought, and said, "About a thousand...... No, fifteen hundred livres. ”

Fanny shook her head and said, "Monsieur Bonaparte, you are such a good man. My brother is so lucky to have a friend like you. But I know my brother that he never has more than two hundred livres in his hands at any one time. Of course, it is even more impossible to have fifteen hundred livres of money in your possession. ”

"Okay then." Joseph sighed, "Miss Fanny, you know that Joseph and I are friends. He helped me in my most difficult times. We Corsicans have always believed that whoever gives me a drop of water to drink, I must help him dig a well to repay him. What's more, Armand gave me more than a drop of water, and what I took out was far from a well. Miss Fanny, you must know that I am genuinely trying to help Armand's family, and I am not giving anything to her. ”

"I understand, so I'm grateful to you, but ......" Fanny shook her head.

In such an era, it is not easy to meet such a girl who is a little "self-reliant and self-reliant". Joseph faintly sensed something familiar in Fanny's previous life. So he sighed and said, "Miss Fanny, you can write, you can create, and you have read a lot of books, haven't you?" ”

"Well, I don't read much...... Fanny said.

"Well, then, there is a job I want to entrust to you...... "Ah...... I have some literature there and need to find a reliable person to help me sort it out. It's not very difficult, but it's tedious. The uneducated can't do it, and the educated don't want to do it. I don't have time to do it myself. Ah, can you help me with this sort of thing? I'll pay you three hundred livres a month, what do you think? ”

"This ...... Sir, I know this salary is a bit too high. But...... I'll not hide it from you, but now because of my parents' illness, I really need money...... I'm going to work hard...... But I can't leave home......"

"No problem, I'll have someone send you the things you need to sort out." "I'm leaving Paris in a few days and going to Toulon," Joseph said. Can I write to you? ”

"Ah, of course...... Absolutely, sir. ”

"Also, ah, Fanny, I don't want to mention anything that makes you sad. Do you know where Armand's grave is, though? If you are free for these two days, can you take me to see him. ”