The sudden bad news made the originally festive Treville Mansion fall into a gloomy cloud all of a sudden.

Marshal Trevier, who was stunned to learn of his brother-in-law's death, fell into inexplicable grief and sadness, his expression was painful and dazed for a while, and even his speech lost his usual momentum, and the whole person was much more depressed.

The guests who had gathered, of course, could see that the old marshal's soul was not giving up, so they took their leave after a few words of comfort, and in this way, the banquet that was originally scheduled to be used to catch up with the Marquis of Saint-Merand, and by the way, let the old friends catch up with the old friends, just began to end hastily.

As the people left, the noisy hall suddenly fell silent, and returned to its usual desertion, with only a few people remaining inside, digesting the terrible news.

Because his grandfather was in poor spirits, Charles sent him back to the bedroom to rest, and then walked to the vestibule to bid farewell to the guests who had come from afar one by one.

He was also in a very bad mood, so he was a little listless, but now no one would be harsh on him, and the guests comforted him and left.

Charles only mechanically said words of thanks, his mind had already flown somewhere else, and it was not until the Count of Monte Cristo had said goodbye to him that he had come to his senses a little.

"My friend, it's really a pity, who would have thought that there would be such an accident, it's a pity......" The Earl looked solemn and patted Charles on the shoulder, "But don't be too sad, people have such a day after all, no one can escape the time to leave this world, the important thing is not time, but way." ”

Perhaps thinking of something, the Count of Monte Cristo was quite sincere, as if genuinely sorry for the grief of Marshal Treville.

If he really has anything to do with it, then his acting skills are too superb.

But does it really matter?

Is everything just a coincidence?

The Marquis of Saint-Merand lived in Marseille, Father Boussany was present in Marseille, the Attorney General of Villefort was in Marseille, and his butler was imprisoned in Marseille...... Can all this really be explained by coincidence?

What the hell happened at that time?!

Charles roared in his heart.

His expression was stiff because of his inner agitation and irritation, but the Count of Monte Cristo was not surprised, but he patted Charles on the shoulder again, and then turned to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Charles blurted out.

"What's wrong?" The Count turned back and looked at Charles with some curiosity.

"I have just seen you standing next to Mr. and Mrs. Villefort...... Do you already know them? Charles' eyes were blazing, and he kept looking at the Count.

"Yes." The Count nodded slightly, "Thanks to you, I have found an opportunity to get acquainted with both of them, and I have to say that the Inspector General of Villefort is as I thought, a stern and unmerciless man, and there is a special feeling when I talk to him. ”

"I see you guys are having a good time...... Have you seen this before? Charles asked, feigning inadvertentness.

"No, we haven't met, today is the first time we've met." The Count of Monte Cristo shook his head at once. "Maybe we had a more speculative conversation just now, so I brought you this illusion, but it's really a pity that I didn't have that kind of privilege, and I knew them and his wife before."

"Oh, I see." Charles nodded knowingly, "Goodbye then, Count." ”

"Goodbye." The Count beckoned to him as well, and then turned to leave.

Interestingly, the Count said that he had never met the Attorney-General of Villefort and his wife before, while Valentina said that she had met the Count of Monte Cristo in Italy before...... Who should I trust?

Does this need to be asked? Charles replied in his heart.

He shook his head, then turned and walked back inside the mansion.

At this time, the hall was already gloomy and gloomy, and the atmosphere was depressing.

Old Madame Saint-Meran sat in her seat with a stiff expression, as if her whole mind had stagnated, and the grief of her widowhood had broken her.

Her former son-in-law, the Procurator General of Villefort, was standing beside her, bending over to speak to her, as if to comfort her, while her granddaughter, Valentina, stood beside her and wept.

Because she had been crying for a long time, her tears rippled, and her eyelashes were stained with teardrops, shining with brilliance.

The deep sorrow contained in the tears made her even more pitiful when she was already pale and sick, and the so-called pear blossom with rain is probably like this.

Grandpa was paralyzed, my father ignored him, and now my grandfather has passed away...... It's pitiful to think about.

A glimmer of pity flashed through Charles's heart.

"Don't cry, Valentina." He walked up to Valentina's side, then carefully handed his handkerchief to the other party.

Valentina ignored him, still weeping, tears pouring out of her eyes, whimpering silently, her grief overwhelming.

Charles sighed, then leaned closer.

"Valentina, I know you're sad right now, but it's not enough to be sad now, there's still a lot of things you need to deal with, and your grandmother still needs you." He whispered to the girl's side, "She's sad enough, and if you're all broken now, won't she be even more sad?" ”

Charles's counsel finally worked, and Valentina finally stopped her tears a little, and then raised her misty eyes to look at him.

"Grandpa...... My grandfather really loves me......" she said to Charles in a trembling voice, "and he's coming this time...... It is...... It's just to come and see me! Outcome...... It turned out to be goodbye forever...... How sorry he should be......"

As soon as she thought of this, she couldn't stop crying again, and her shoulders twitched.

Still, she took Charles's handkerchief to wipe her tears, and it seemed that she was already controlling her emotions.

Charles stood silently, waiting for her to come to her senses, and as time passed, Valentina slowly wiped away her tears before looking up at Charles.

"Thank you for your comfort."

"It's okay, how can this kind of thing not comfort you?" Charles smiled bitterly, "Actually, my grandfather is also very sad, when I just sent him back, he didn't say a word, the whole person seemed to be confused, I was really a little worried about him." ”

"Hey...... Oh, God...... Why would God play such a big joke on us? Valentina let out a long sigh, "I'...... I didn't even see my grandfather for the last time! ”

is obviously a young and beautiful girl, but she has been tortured by life to be a little old-fashioned, and it is indeed not easy to live. Charles couldn't help but sigh secretly.

"Just because you lost your grandfather, you can't be crushed, because there are other people who need you, and your grandfather needs you to take care of you more now......"

"yes...... Grandfather! Valentina looked up suddenly, then looked around, "Oops! My mind was blurry just now, and I actually forgot about my grandfather! ”

"It was a mess just now, and when the guests left, I was afraid that someone would bump into your grandfather, so I asked someone to take him to the lounge to rest." Charles replied, "Come, I'll take you there." ”

"Thank you, Charles!" Valentina looked at him gratefully, "You're so thoughtful...... I, my thank you so much. ”

"At this time, you have to say thank you, isn't it too raw?" Charles shrugged his shoulders in a dashing manner, "We are cousins, so it's right to help each other." ”

"Hmmm! Yes...... You're welcome. Valentina, though she still had tears in her eyes, smiled slightly, as if full of joy, "Let's go." ”

As she spoke, she placed the handkerchief Charles had given her in her arms.

Charles quickly led her to the common room.

The Marquis de Novatier, on the other hand, was still paralyzed in his wheelchair, staring blankly at the ceiling, as if he was thinking of something.

There is no doubt that this sudden death made him as sad as Marshal Trevier, after all, the deceased was also his former father-in-law.

But there must have been something else in his mind besides sadness.

The Marquis de Novatières was known to be a staunch supporter of the Emperor and devoted himself to the service of the Empire for many years; The Marquis of Saint-Merand, however, was a loyal orthodox man who enthusiastically supported the Bourbon family, and the two sides were rivals with very different political positions, although they were close relatives.

At that time, because of their clear positions, the two of them almost never interacted, and they couldn't talk about any feelings, and after the death of their daughter-in-law, they completely cut off contact.

It's just that when it comes to the end of this year, what is the meaning of the so-called position?

Now two old fellows, one of whom had been paralyzed for many years, was almost a living dead, and the other had suddenly died on the way to Paris, never to catch up with his old friends again.

So his mood is very complicated, I don't know if he is remembering the bits and pieces of the year, or thinking about how long he can live?

"Grandpa!" As soon as she saw the old man in a wheelchair, Valentina walked straight over, trying to wake up the old man who was meditating.

"Valentina?" Charles suddenly stopped her.

"What's the matter?" Valentina stopped, then looked at him with some curiosity.

"Hmm...... I have something I want you to confirm......" Charles hesitated, but closed the door with his backhand,

"Although it may be a bit ...... to say that now Well, it's a bit impersonal, but can I take the liberty of asking you to answer me first? ”

"Why is it so solemn? What the hell is going on? Valentina was even more curious.

"You said you had met the Count of Monte Cristo in Italy, what was the matter? I didn't have time to ask for clarification, but now I'd like you to tell me more about it......" Charles said with some embarrassment, "and while it may take up some of your time, and it might be a bit inappropriate in this case, I'd like to ask you to do me a favor." ”

Valentina was indeed a little angry, now that her grandfather was dead, and her grandfather didn't know what to do, her cousin came to ask an irrelevant Italian, but Charles's solemnity just showed that he valued it very much.

"Is this important to you?" She asked in a low voice.

"Indeed...... Quite important. Charles nodded, "I have to figure out some facts now, so I might be able to avoid something worse, Valentina, actually helping me is helping yourself, you should understand that." ”

"To help you is to help myself......" Valentina repeated, and suddenly her face flushed slightly.

"Okay...... Since you've said so, I'll help you remember. ”

She sighed, and led her way to a corner of the room.

"That was about two or three years ago, when my stepmother and I went on a trip to Italy. At that time I was sick - of course I had not been in good health all the time - so the doctors were afraid that my lungs would be bad, so they appointed us to travel south to get some fresh Naples air. On our way, we passed through Bologne, Birusha and Rome. I met him at the Bosti Hotel in Birusha......"

Valentina blinked her tearful eyes and immersed herself in the memory.

"I was very impressed because it was really hot that day, much hotter than Paris in our north. At that time, my stepmother was waiting for a carriage, but because it was a festival, the carriage came late, and I was able to walk under the shade of the trees in the garden, which was actually more comfortable—and my brother, who was catching birds everywhere, was as naughty and mischievous as he usually was. ”

Then, Valentina's tone carried a peculiar touch, obviously still very impressive about the scene of that day. "My stepmother was waiting under a grapevine-made gazebo, and she was sitting on a stone bench, and when I was tired of walking, and then in a corner of the garden I saw her talking to a man, and for a long time...... The man, the man in wool, was black, but his skin was terribly pale, like a messenger who had escaped from hell, and his eyes were shining like ghostly fire...... Yes, God, it is Him! I think of him! ”

Valentina shuddered suddenly, apparently recalling something that did not pleasant her.

"Valentina, calm down!" Charles hurriedly grabbed her arm and helped her compose, "We're in France now, not in Italy, and no one can hurt you." ”

"Yes, now we are in France." Valentina smiled happily, then took a few deep breaths to regain her composure, "That man, we thought he was a doctor, he had been in that hotel for two weeks, during which time he had been cured of the cold fever of his close attendant and the innkeeper's illness...... Everybody called it jaundice, and I don't know what it is. In short, everyone called him a doctor who rejuvenated him, and I thought it was so, until I saw him today, and I knew that he was the famous Count of Monte Cristo, but God testifies that he really wants to be a ghost in hell! ”

"Whether he's from hell or not, he's rich now, Parisians only care if a person has money, they don't care where he comes from, as long as he has money, then he will be treated like a guest here." Charles replied rather calmly and causticly, "Okay, what's next?" What did he talk about with your stepmother? ”

"They seemed to be just passing the time, so they talked a lot about things, the topic jumped a lot, and I was quite far away at the time, so it was impossible to hear it completely." Valentina frowned slightly, obviously pondering, "They talked about theater, painters, local customs, right...... And some ...... Something botanical and pharmacological. I didn't study Latin systematically, so I just listened to a rough idea, but it would not be wrong to be sure that there was a similar topic. ”

"Botany...... Pharmacology ......" Charles frowned, "Your stepmother is also interested in these topics?" ”

"My stepmother was very knowledgeable." Valentina praised her stepmother with a hint of reluctance, but still praised her stepmother truthfully, "She came from a family of scholars, and received a very strict education from an early age, including astronomy, geography, minerals, botany and medicine. She had said several times that she regretted that she was not a man, or she might have become an alchemist like Fremir......"

"I can't see that she's so powerful!" Charles secretly stammered, "I didn't expect a woman who lived in a secluded mansion all year round to know so many things. ”

"You're underestimating people! We girls aren't stupid. Valentina couldn't help but give him a blank look, and then continued, "...... Anyway, then they turned the conversation to pharmacology, and I remember they mentioned Tofona poison, and what other poisons, by the way, what is Tofona? ”

"In the seventeenth century, in Italy, a woman named Tofona murdered the local lord, and the potion she used was said to be colorless, tasteless, odorless, and extremely deadly, so it was called Tofona poisoned water." Charles explained, his face darkening.

"Doesn't that mean ......?"

Suddenly, both of them felt that something was wrong, Valentina stopped, and then the two looked at each other.

In Italy, the Count of Monte Cristo and Madame de Villefort met, and then talked about poison...... Is this a normal topic of conversation when chatting?

"I finally understand why you're so scared of him." Charles blinked, "Valentina, anything else?" ”

"No...... I can't really think of anything else. Valentina thought for a moment, then shook her head, "I didn't really hear it at the time, so I can only remember this point, sorry, maybe it didn't help you." ”

"No, that's enough, I think I've been helped a lot." Charles smiled, then looked at Valentina again seriously, "Well, if you don't mind, I have one last question - why, you pay so much attention to your stepmother's conversation with a foreigner?" You said you overheard, but I don't think anyone would inadvertently walk to a particular location and listen to a conversation for that long. ”

Valentina froze for a moment, not answering Charles's question, and for a moment it seemed to be back to the last time they met at her house, when they were run by Charles.

"You found out that she had been talking to other strange men for so long, so you became suspicious of her, so you decided to eavesdrop, hoping to catch her?" Although Charles was asking a question, he was unintentionally saying his conclusion.

Valentina didn't speak, and Charles didn't press anymore, just looked at him quietly.

After a short while, Valentina's face turned red and white, her breathing was slightly rapid, and her chest continued to rise and fall, obviously not pleasant to be exposed by Charles.

"You...... You've always been so perceptive and so cruel......" After a while, she finally smiled wryly, "You're right, that's what I thought. I...... My relationship with her was so bad that I thought that if I could really get some grip on her, maybe my father would be able to stop being so biased towards her, or at least let her have some scruples and stop bullying me like that. But I was wrong, it's not a trick, they're just chatting and chatting, and they don't have much to do with in the future. ”

Then, tears glistened again in the corners of her eyes, "You see, I'm also a very despicable person. I'm as mean as society is. ”

"Don't be so, Valentina, it's true that you're not an angel, but no one expects you to be an angel either. At the end of the day, we're all mortal, aren't we? We all have our own likes and hats, we all work hard for ourselves, no one can blame you for what you did to protect yourself, and you didn't do anything bad. Charles comforted his cousin, "I want to thank you, you are selfish for me, it shows that you have spared no effort to help me, and I think it is my honor to be so honest with you." ”

Then he smiled again, "Now, we know each other very well. You and everyone else, hate each other, watch out for each other, but we don't need to do that, we are...... Well, it's an alliance with affection, we help each other, protect ourselves, protect others. Valentina, you don't need to feel any guilt, you are not a saint, but you are a good person, I can make this judgment unequivocally. If you believe me, laugh at me. ”

Valentina was a little moved by Charles's words, but she couldn't laugh or cry.

But in the end, she smiled slightly.

"You really like to play tricks on people, God knows how you are so good at seeing into people's hearts! You just said that we know each other, which is wrong, you unilaterally pried my head open and saw my thoughts and my character thoroughly, but what about me? It's so unfair to you and not know how much! ”

"There's still a lot of time, and you can figure it out slowly." Charles laughed dumbly. "Then you will find out that although I am not a good person, I have no ill will towards you."

"I hope so!" Valentina glanced at her again, "Okay, I'll take care of grandpa." ”

At this time, although she experienced the bad news of her grandfather's death, she was much better than the sick, pale and sad mental state not long ago, and after being helped by Charles, her dark blue eyes did see hope for the future.

Not bothering Valentina to take care of her grandfather anymore, Charles exited the room, then quietly closed the door, and walked back down the hallway, ready to clean up the last pieces of the night.

However, at the end of the hallway, he was stopped by a man.

Madame Eloise de Villefort was standing in front of him.

It was a woman with a slightly sharp face, and her eyes were looking at him, as if to gauge how capable the heir of the Trevill family was; Her long, chestnut hair was tucked back in a jeweled blonde bun. She was wearing a gray dress, wearing gloves and holding a folding fan, with a smile on her beautiful face, and the whole person looked beautiful and full of mysterious charm.

It is the continuation of the marriage of the chief prosecutor, so he is not too old, only a few years older than Charles, and now he is only in his twenties, which is the time when a woman is the most youthful and beautiful.

Charles looked at her, paused, and smiled kindly. "Madame, do you have any orders?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Treville." The smiling lady spoke, "It's a pity that our family has ruined your grandfather's good spirits today. ”

"It's not something you can control, don't take it personally." Charles shook his head, indicating that there was no need to apologize.

"Although Monsieur Saint-Meyran is not my father, he is also my husband's former father-in-law, so I am deeply saddened by the death of this gentleman." Madame blinked slightly, as if she was a little sad, but there was not much real grief, "But, because of this sad moment, our family should be more united, so that we can overcome our grief and regain our former harmony." ”

"I also very much hope that your family will be able to restore harmony as soon as possible." Charles accentuated the word harmony, with a hint of sarcasm.

Madame could certainly hear the sarcasm, and her eyes sank slightly, and then she sighed softly.

"You...... Go and call me Valentina, my husband is going to go back with her and her grandfather and Madame Saint-Meran, and we need to go back and rest for a good rest to melt our grief on this fateful day. I'd better not go over on my own, lest it disturb Valentina and her grandfather, and now everyone is bad enough. ”

"Okay." Charles nodded, then turned back to inform Valentina.

"Hey...... I know Valentina doesn't like me, she probably ...... I may have said something in front of you that didn't make you feel good about me, but I actually understand her, after all, stepmothers are not loved. At this moment, Madame smiled slightly wryly, "However, I feel that I am still entitled to defend myself, since I married into this family, I have always been careful with his children, and over the years, I have never deprived her of the material treatment she deserves, and I have helped her to get a complete and rigorous enough education, Valentina may hate me for not loving her enough, but by the standards of my stepmother, I have done enough hard." ”

"I'm an outsider, so I can't comment on your family affairs." Charles shook his head regretfully, "But if you want to be friendly with Valentina, why don't you just tell her in person?" ”

"It's already this time, how much effect can it be said to your face?" Madame continued to smile bitterly, "I just hope that everything can continue to be maintained and not get worse, and that is enough, after all, Valentina has grown up and will leave this family sooner or later, I sincerely hope that she can live better than me and form a happy family-"

Then, she looked at Charles meaningfully, the folding fan in her hand swaying slightly, "If a handsome, intelligent, and imposing child like you came and took her, it must be ...... That must be the best and most desirable outcome. ”

"Thank you for saying that." Charles didn't understand what she meant, so he nodded his head first.

"By the way, I'd like to ask...... Just now I saw that you and the Count of Monte Cristo seemed to be talking, and the conversation was quite enjoyable, did you know each other before? Charles asked casually.

"No, we don't know each other." Madame de Villefort shook her head at once, and hardly hesitated.

Yes, of course you have to say so, the Count of Monte Cristo and you both deny that they have ever met, but Valentina insists on having met.

So, who do I trust?

This damn bastard!

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