After a short conversation, Charles' cousin Philip agreed to Charles' proposal. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The offer was too tempting for him.

Because he has been accustomed to the life of a young master since he was a child, what he fears most is that his future life will no longer be as chic as in the past, and Charlotte may point him to an empty marriage with no property, which aggravates his fear.

Given his position, it was only natural that he would be eager to agree to Charles's proposal.

Philip was a very shrewd man, or too shrewd. In the years of prodigal life, he simply sneered at the set of values that his grandfather and sister adhered to, and never took it to heart, although he was proud of his bloodline and lineage, but he knew better that in this world, if there is no money to accompany him, then even if there is any bloodline, it can only be difficult to move an inch, he does not have that kind of stubborn brainlessness at all, and he does not want to be a remnant of the old era.

Therefore, it didn't take him long to agree to Charles's proposal, after all, a marriage of millions of dowries was not so easy to find, and he knew that this was the time when he could sell himself for the highest price in his life, and it was nothing compared to this huge amount of money to marry the daughter of an upstart - not to mention, with Charles's relationship with him, he didn't believe that his brother-in-law would find him a bad match.

And this is also what Charles wants, he took advantage of such a condition to manipulate his cousin in his hands, making Philip his loyal pawn, and Philip's special status can do a lot of things by using him, especially to completely isolate Charlotte - he doesn't want to be bad for Charlotte, but now that things have come to this point, then some preparations must be made anyway, this is the case with the transfer of property from Giverny's factory, and the same is true for wooing Philip, so he has to do it.

More importantly, he also found a protector for Mary's children, although Philip was not a particularly reliable person, but he was at least the future Duke of Treville, and when he came out, he was enough to calm most people.

Although he hadn't thought much about Mary's children before, since he had reached this time, he had to think about his children in advance, even if they were destined to not get too good status in the future, at least Charles wanted to get better treatment for them.

Philip, of course, did not know what was going on in Charles's mind, but he was in a good mood and accompanied Charles on the hunt with high spirits, and the two cousins stirred up a bloody storm in the deep woods, and did not return in high spirits until dusk.

When Charles and Philip returned, their entourage took the game they had hunted to the kitchen for dinner, while Charles returned to the upstairs bedroom to change his coat.

And when Charles came to the bedroom, Mary, who had been waiting in the mansion, also walked in softly.

"Sir......" she asked in a low voice as she walked up to Charles, "Philip—what did he say?" ”

"He agreed." Charles replied similarly, in a low voice. "And there were no conditions, and I agreed very simply."

"Great...... Mary sighed, looking much more relaxed, "Looks like Philip is a man with brains......

In fact, she also knows Philip very well, and can also anticipate his actions, but because this matter is so important, she can't help but look a little troubled, and she will be very happy after success.

"Although Philip is sometimes careless, he is still very serious when he is serious, at least he has seen the world and can calm the scene." Charles said pointedly, "So, now that he has agreed to our terms, you can rely on him a little more in the future......"

"You don't have to talk to me so much......" Mary quipped and squeezed his arm, "well, I'll reconcile with him, and I won't embarrass you, let alone our children." ”

"That's great." Charles smiled and nodded.

Then, the two of them tacitly agreed not to talk about it anymore, Mary stuck to Charles's body, chatting with Charles, while helping Charles change clothes, indescribably gentle and considerate, she knew that all her current and future wealth and glory depended on Charles, so she was originally very gentle and obedient, and now, seeing Charles's painstaking planning for herself and her children, she was even more grateful, so she wanted to repay Charles with her thoughtfulness, and Charles was also happy, I have to say that when he was around Mary, he was most able to relax.

It wasn't dinner time for the two of them to arrive at the restaurant arm in arm, in the midst of the crowd.

The guests watched with surprise, envy or indifference as they walked into the dining room in a couple style, and Philip, who was closest to the main seat, looked the most strange.

His sister was Charles's wife, but now it was another woman who was playing the lady's way, and this scene was really embarrassing, and what was even more embarrassing was that he actually agreed to be the protector of this woman's illegitimate child, and for a moment he even suspected that he had gone crazy.

However, this selfish distraction was quickly put aside by him, and in the face of the two people who came over, he nodded to Mary very kindly, and Mary also smiled and nodded to him, and the two reached a tacit understanding without words.

When Charles and Mary were seated, the dinner began, and Philip was not very interested in the game on the table, and only tasted the wine, and his mind was already on something else.

Mary, perhaps by deliberate arrangement, sat next to him, and the smile on her face became more and more obscured in the dim candlelight.

"Mademoiselle de Léoland?" After eating for a while, Philip finally couldn't help it anymore and whispered hello to her.

"Huh?" Mary replied softly. "What is the matter, dear friend?"

When he heard this, Philip seemed to receive some kind of encouragement, and he quickly nodded.

"Hmm...... Charles told me something, and I'm grateful that you said nice things about me in front of him. After a moment of hesitation, he finally put aside his useless pride and lowered his posture in front of this woman he didn't like very much, "Thank you." ”

According to Mary's arrangement, he would take over her affairs to a certain extent, and would be promoted within the Ministry, and undoubtedly even more in power, so that whatever he disliked Mary, he must express his due gratitude.

"It's okay, Philip, we're friends, shouldn't we help each other?" Mary's smile seemed to mean something. "Maybe I have a lot of things to ask you for help with in the future?"

At this moment, her words are like a spring breeze, and she can no longer see a little bit of the aggressive momentum that made people stab in the back when the two people faced each other yesterday.

Yesterday's Mary, who deliberately beat him, and today's Mary, who is as warm to him as a spring breeze, look so different, but they are surprisingly consistent.

Could it be that when she asked me to not get off the stage in front of everyone yesterday, she already thought of today? The thought crossed Philip's mind.

At this moment, he suddenly realized that Mary was so unkind yesterday, just to make herself stand up and make herself feel her influence on Charles, and today, it was to make sugar after beating to make himself more aware of the importance of working with her.

In other words, she had long planned to treat herself as a pawn, and even acted according to the plan step by step, until she fell into the net. What's even more speechless is that she knows that this is a net set by her, but she can only be willing to do what she wants.

This goblin is really powerful.

After figuring it out, Philip felt a little mixed in his heart, and even more indescribable. There is not only pity for my sister, but also a kind of secret schadenfreude.

If it weren't for the fact that the two of them had won and lost at the beginning, Charlotte might not really be able to compete with her...... Before Charlotte knew it, she was already quietly planning for her future. It's a pity...... Sometimes it's better to be a head starter than any kind of cunning, and Charlotte is already a lady anyway.

Thinking of this, Philip didn't want to say anything more, he didn't want to get involved in the matter between Mary and Charlotte, and he didn't want to destroy the future by himself when he had a bright future, Charles's promise of millions of dowries had completely moved him, and he didn't want to care about anything else.

"Mary, don't worry, I have no other benefits, that is, I am considerate to my friends, and I have never treated my friends badly." Philip bowed slightly to the other party, "As long as you can use my words in the future, then just say it, I will never have any reservations about you." ”

"Thank you, Philip." Seeing Philip so good, Mary also smiled from the bottom of her heart.

How could she not cheer at the Duke of Treville's heir, at the man's brother bowing his haughty head to herself?

Under the guidance of Charles and Cousin Philip, the atmosphere of the good night soon became very enthusiastic, and the guests enjoyed the pleasure of the guests, but, strangely, Charles himself did not drink that night, but only talked with everyone attentively, waiting for the time to pass.

Soon, as it was late at night, the guests had dispersed to rest, and only the servants were left in the dining room to take care of the scraps, while Charles helped Mary, who was already a little dizzy, out of the dining room.

However, they are not going to rest now.

A figure in a dark black coat and a wide-brimmed black hat appeared in the mansion, and the servant led him to a secret room, where Charles and Mary were waiting.

He deliberately kept his feet in check, trying not to cause any commotion, and from this point of view, he must have some kind of secret mission.

Approaching Charles, he slowly raised his hand, then took off his wide-brimmed hat, allowing his face to be exposed to the light for a moment.

"Charles, long time no see!" He then greeted Charles in a cheerful tone that was completely out of tune with the circumstances, and then opened his arms.

"Long time no see, Andre." Charles stood up and nodded at him, then was hugged by the warm man.

Then the young man immediately looked at Mary.

"You're stunningly beautiful right now." Andrei courteously complimented Mary, then took her right hand with the courtesy of a diplomat, and nodded lightly on his lips, "You have become more beautiful after a year of separation in Petersburg. ”

"Thank you." Mary, who had already drunk too much wine, had a red face and a soft body, so she just nodded her head gently and thanked her, and her eyes were full of charm, which was indeed very attractive.

However, the young man did not come here to compliment his hostess.

He was Andrei Bezukhov, the youngest son of the famous Count Bezukhov, a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in France.

After the war between the two countries, André, who was an embassy official, naturally had to leave France, so this time he sneaked across the border from Germany to this country house, which was one of the motivations for Charles to come to the vicinity of Strasbourg to inspect.

With the passport he had obtained for him, Charles had made his way into France, but for the sake of safety, he did not plan to go to Paris, so he only stayed in the border area, which was absolutely necessary for his mission.

"Have you already eaten?" After he said hello, Charles asked with a smile.

"No, I've already eaten dry food when I'm on my way." Andrei waved his hand, "Let's get down to business." ”

"Well, please." Charles nodded.

"I have to say, you guys did a great job, more than expected. The tsarist government is now in a state of flux. Andrei smiled slightly, "My father believes that this war will become a bleeding wound for the tsar, and the longer it lasts, the weaker the tsarist government will become, until finally the people will see through their essence, and they will be so weak that they will break at the first poke." ”

"But at the same time, Russia itself is bleeding." Charles replied in a low voice. "Every moment there are Russian youths falling on the battlefield."

This unexpected answer made Andre stunned slightly.

After a moment, he sighed, "It's a big hurt and a blow to my father, but he thinks it's a price to pay, and I'm ...... I had to obey my father's orders. ”

"Well, I admire your father, and you." Charles laughed, "So, what mission did he give you this time?" ”

"In order to continue to bleed the Tsar, he wants to sabotage the peace talks, at least not until the Tsar can no longer bear the price." Andrei immediately replied, "For this, we must do everything in our might!" ”