Eagle’s Glory

Induced by Edmond Dantès, Agnes easily agreed to introduce him to her master.

However, he was also afraid that His Majesty's information was wrong, so he made further insinuations.

"I wonder what your master's name is?"

"Bianca, that's her name." Agnes answered the question immediately without doubting his presence, "She is Italian, but well, she has always been at home in the world and often comes to France, so Maybe you’ll meet her soon.”

"Really? That would be great!" Edmund pretended to be honored, but in fact his heart was full of murderous intent.

Although Edmund felt a little guilty for Agnes, he had absolutely no sympathy or mercy for Bianca who dared to assassinate His Majesty. In his opinion, those who committed such crimes would not be punished with any punishment. Pass.

Of course, he is not a reckless fool. He knows that his skills cannot even match Agnes, let alone compete with Bianca. He just wants to pretend to be a new identity and get close to Bianca to find out the details of this woman. , and find out the person behind her.

Anyway, as long as His Majesty returns to Paris, Bianca will definitely not be able to escape, and there is no rush to execute her immediately - she should be punished by His Majesty himself, so as to eliminate the hatred in His Majesty's heart.

Because of this thought, Edmond Dantès continued to pretend that nothing happened and continued to inquire for information with great interest.

"Miss Agnes, forgive me... I'm really curious, how did you meet her and how did you become her apprentice?"

After he asked this question, Agnes suddenly looked at Alice, and then Agnes smiled brightly at her sister, "Thanks to my good sister."

Um? Edmund was a little confused. What does this have to do with Alice?

He looked at Alice in confusion, waiting for her answer.

Alice blushed slightly and hesitated not knowing how to answer, but she soon returned to normal, and then smiled sheepishly, "This is a pleasant story."

"I'm all ears!" Edmund said quickly.

Alice was silent for another moment, as if she was organizing her words or recalling those distant past events.

After a while,

She spoke again.

"Do you know about our family's exile in Italy during the previous period?" she asked first.

"He knows, I once told him!" Agnes interjected, "I also told Mr. Count that you took me to sell handkerchiefs..."

When Agnes said this, Edmund also remembered the story she told about her sister at Agron's welcome banquet when she first arrived in Greece. He recalled that touching memory, and even more so the story of Agnes at that time. tears.

In this era, stories of brothers falling out with each other are commonplace, but these two sisters really have a deep relationship, which is extraordinary.

"I made you laugh, Mr. Earl." Perhaps because of embarrassment, Alice's face turned even redder. "Speaking of it, it was only a past event more than ten years ago. Many memories are still vivid in my mind... If you As we all know, we were exiles at the time. Our parents were hurriedly taken away from France by their respective parents when they were very young. During the years of exile, we had already lost the small amount of property we had brought with us. After they got married, , and created a big family with many children, so if you count, we should be three generations of exiles, right? I am the eldest daughter, and I have lived with nothing since I was born. My father also saw our ancestors when they were rich and wealthy. He would tell me about the glory of our family in the past, but to my ears, it was as illusory as a distant fairy tale... I really can't believe that we were once so rich, let alone expect that I will have I have the opportunity to experience that kind of life again. Ever since I was young, I have not only helped my parents to support the family, but also found time to take care of my younger siblings. Life has not given me much hope. I only feel that I will become an Italian and live a poor life. .”

The Earl bowed and expressed regret for what he had heard, but Alice waved her hand to show that she was not sad about it.

"Well, you probably don't like to hear this kind of gossip. I'm just describing my mood at that time. To be honest, this is all in the past. I am indeed glad that I have escaped such bleak days, but I I will never feel that it is a shame..." Alice smiled and continued, "In short, I was only a few years old at the time, and I had already shouldered the heavy burden that fate had given me. I worked hard and went to work during the day. Selling handkerchiefs and brocades, and helping my mother and grandmother tailor clothes at night, the days passed like this."

Edmond Dantès listened quietly, not daring to speak or even breathe loudly for fear of ruining the atmosphere.

He was not moved by misery - the misery he had experienced himself was painful enough, and this level of "misery" was simply commonplace. What really moved him was when Lady Alice talked about it. That grace, gentleness and even objectivity.

She does not shy away from feeling glad that her family has turned around, but she is not ashamed of the impoverished days when she was self-reliant like many exiled nobles. She is even a little proud - because of her thin, immature shoulders. She once took on the important task of taking care of her younger siblings, and she did it with all her strength.

His story is full of ups and downs, full of tragedy and drama; but so are the stories of others, who also have their own joys and sorrows. Although they may not be so cruel or so brilliant that they cannot be looked at directly, they are equally contagious.

"Let's get down to business. It was 1814 - well, that was the end of the empire, when His Majesty Napoleon abdicated for the first time." After adjusting her mood, Alice continued, "We were all in Naples at the time. You know, on April 4 of this year, His Majesty Napoleon officially announced his abdication. In late April, the news reached us.

We are all Bonapartists now, but please forgive me, at that time my parents were very excited about the destruction of the empire. They felt that their hard life was about to end, because the emperor's abdication meant that the royal family could return to rule France. , that also means that we, who were once courtiers, can return to the king. This idea is wonderful, but it also has insurmountable difficulties - since we have no money, we naturally don’t have the means to return home, and we don’t even have the ability to write to the exiled court and shamelessly ask for the money to return home..."

At this point, Alice's expression became a little depressed, "There were endless wars at that time, even in Naples. You know, Prince Murat tried to betray the emperor and secretly made peace with the anti-French coalition forces, hoping that they would recognize it. His own throne, but although the emperor abdicated, the coalition forces refused to let him go, because the kings gathered in Vienna felt that the throne of Naples should also belong to the original owner of the Bourbon family, so he still had to fight for his throne. Fight.

The affairs of the kings were too far away from us at that time, and the real problem we faced was very simple - no one wanted to spend money to buy things during the war, and we had no money to pay for our return home, and even maintaining our lives became a problem. The problem is that although our parents have been extremely economical, we are still inevitably trapped in famine... Agnes was only three years old at the time, so she must have no memory of many things. She has experienced too little about poverty, but for me All of that is unforgettable, because I will always remember what it feels like to have your sanity eaten away by long-term hunger. "

"Madam, I know it too, even better than you." Edmond Dantès felt pity, and then sighed, "I have eaten moldy gruel and salty food that is about to go rancid for more than ten years. Fish, I’m even glad I didn’t lose my sense of taste because of it.”

Hearing the count's words, Alice and Agnes looked at each other again, curious about what the Count of Monte Cristo had experienced back then and who he was.

However, of course they would not take the initiative to ask such personal questions, and Alice soon continued.

"There is no elegance in poverty, and there is no princess in hunger. I have never thought about what I will have when I return to France. Those dreams are farther away than the stars to me. I only think about what I can eat today and what I can do tomorrow. What to eat, and what my younger brothers and sisters can eat... I was starving but I couldn't stop. I went crazy selling handkerchiefs everywhere, and even begged passers-by regardless of dignity, but it was a pity that during the war, Compassion is always a luxury product. How can we show kindness when everyone has too much time to take care of themselves? So I often get nothing."

"Of course... I can understand." Edmond Dantès had experienced the pain of the human heart, so he immediately expressed his understanding and agreement.

He was so engrossed in it that he almost forgot what he wanted to ask in the first place.

"What's next?"

"Sorry, I have to tell you so much background...but after saying this, it will help you understand what I did at that time and why I did it." Alice smiled slightly, her blue eyes rippling. With a gentle light, "Hunger tortured us and slowly consumed my sanity. At this time, Prince Murat was also breaking ties with Vienna and began to reorganize the army to prepare for the army sent by Austria - we all know He was finally defeated at the Battle of Tolentino in May 1815, and then fled. A year later, he refused to give up and ran back to Naples to seek restoration. He was shot to death by the Austrians again, but that is his story, and mine The stories have nothing to do with each other. There is only one intersection between our two stories - after the defeat, Prince Murat and his wife, Princess Caterina, the emperor's sister, fled the palace in Naples in a hurry. At this time, the social order of the entire city was in ruins. It had collapsed, and the palace was quickly robbed by the surrounding residents. Everyone wanted to get some 'gifts' from the things left by the couple. You should be able to imagine the scene at that time, right? The whole city was robbed at that time. People are pouring into the palace. If you ask me, the most exciting scene I have seen in my life so far is that time... I have never seen what a revolution looks like, but it must be partly equivalent to that time. ?”

"In terms of age, you should be less than ten years old at the time." Edmund suddenly thought of something.

"But can't you make a revolution at the age of ten? You are discriminating against children's revolutionary enthusiasm." Alice replied with a smile.

"Hahahaha..." Edmund laughed at this funny answer. "So, you also participated in the 'revolution'?"

Of course he knew that Alice's participation in the so-called looting was not for revolution at all, but the motive was still noble and legitimate - at least that's how he saw it.

"Yes, I participated, but I basically couldn't squeeze into the crowd. Besides, I was thin and small at the time, so how could I possibly grab something from other people's fingers?" Alice replied with a smile.

"Then what did you do?" Edmund asked doubtfully.

"I followed Queen Caterina's motorcade." Alice's eyes flashed with a hint of cunning. "At that time, the British fleet was outside the port of Naples, but of course they would not embarrass a queen. They allowed the queen to Leaving with part of her property, this 'part of the property' was already incredibly rich, but at this time the queen no longer had the ability to restrain the people around her. The down-and-out royal family would always be divided. France has gone through it all, and Naples is no exception. Some servants remained loyal and carried her property on the ship leaving Naples. However, some of the property was robbed by these servants before it could be loaded onto the ship at the dock. This scale of looting It was much smaller...and this was the opportunity I was waiting for. When they were snatching it, I rushed over secretly, and I didn't fail. I got a pocket watch and a small necklace."

Then, she glanced at Edmond Dantès and said, "Sir, you can regard this as theft, yes, this is theft. But who can blame me? These things are very important to Prince Murat and Catherine." It's meaningless to Na. They have huge wealth that ordinary people can't imagine. They originally took it from other people's hands, but they don't even care about the things in my hands. They don't even think about these things... ...At the same time, these things are of great significance to me. They can prevent me and my brothers and sisters from starving, save our lives, and we will have the means to return to our motherland... Isn't this Are they better used?

If the revolution that took away everything from me was justified, then what I did was justified; if I was not justified, then they should honor me as Princess, and why let me live in exile overseas? "

"Don't worry, I'm not an old scholar who sticks to any legal provisions. Madam, you've done a great job, it's simply superb." Edmond Dantès said sincerely, but he was still a little confused, "But, those Will the servant just watch you come and take a share of the pie?"

"Of course not..." Alice smiled and shook her head, "I received a good beating, but even though I was beaten to the ground and punched and kicked, I still held on to those small objects. In the palm of my hand, at that time I was not afraid of death, only of pain, and maybe death would be a relief for me - but I was lucky, I survived, because the person who saved me finally showed up."

"Bianca..." Even though Madam Alice had not yet said her name, Edmond Dantès understood it in an instant.

His scalp suddenly became numb.

He was feeling lucky for Alice at that time, but also horrified by his mission - what would he do to Alice and Agnes's savior?