I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 443 Love and War (Part 1)

People who know the inside story have already changed their attitude towards Ms. Eva. In France, where the Salic law is strictly enforced, the status of women is completely taken from men. When she is unmarried, people look at her father or brother. Her husband, although he did a lot to improve the status of women after Louis XIV came to the throne, it was never something that happened overnight.

Here, she is called the Duchess of So-and-So, the Countess of So-and-so, and it is different from the Duchess. Simply put, the title of the Duchess is bestowed on her by the king, and she also has a small fief, which can be used as a dowry. It was brought into the husband's house and left to his own son. The details can be seen in the original Countess Eleanor and Countess Anne of Brittany.

   However, although Eva's title is Duchess of Furne (Furne is the town where her father is located), her territory is in a seaside wasteland in Groningen, which is named New Furne.

You probably haven't forgotten that what the eldest Princess Elizabeth brought to Sweden is a territory belonging to Groningen, where there is now a joint Swedish and French garrison to choke Denmark by the throat. Although New Verne is desolate and small , but echoing the territory of Princess Elizabeth, if something unpleasant happens to the princess or the princess, they have at least one place to retreat.

The Countess of Fournay's skin was creamed in Paris and Versailles, and took on a beautiful honey-colored hue—she didn't whiten herself with mirabilis and wheat flour like other provincial women, which honestly didn't. Good-looking, but it means that you are willing to bend to the rules of the court game rather than turn a blind eye or turn a deaf ear.

   This is also the reason why the people of Versailles increasingly dislike Madame Eva, but now with this will of the king, she will soon become hot.

   "I'm not interested in this." Eva said: "It was fresh at first, but after over and over again, they seem to have only this trick, not as good as Jack or Jean."

   "You are talking about your deceased husband, and Jean Barr." The Grand Princess said, "I thought you would hate your husband."

"When he was hung on the city wall, I was at peace." Eva clapped her hands and said, "What else, I don't think sticking a wooden pole in his **** would make me more relieved, although he Don't love me, but I did love him, so let him be respectable. As for Baal," she glanced at the naval officer who was still spinning in the hall: "I know him too well, just like you With the crown prince, even if we are not blood related, we are like brothers and sisters, I am willing to die for him, and he is willing to die for me, but if we want to get married, let us die together."

  The grand princess laughed when she heard the words, but Ferdinand, the son of the grand duke beside Eva, showed a strange look that she didn't know whether to laugh or roll her eyes.

  Joseph walked up to him and whispered, "She still doesn't want to stay?"

Ferdinand shook his head: "She said that the price of a lover is far from the sacrifice she paid," he was a little disappointed, "When I saw her, it was too late." In today's Eva, she would not even be able to Marrying Jack: "And she's been made a Countess, she said, even if I'm willing to give the wife's position, she won't marry me with French territory, which will lead to a series of troubles, of course, I also Could use Tuscany as a replacement, but…”

   "But your father is definitely not willing." Joseph replied.

They were silent for a moment. Although Louis XIV had a very close relationship with Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and they were half sons and daughters, when it came to national interests, no one could guarantee the future. I'm afraid he won't stop at a Naples, just like all heroes, since his eldest son has an Italian name instead of his original French name, it means that Bourbon may also become Italian King's last name.

  In this way, as the heir of Cosimo III, Ferdinand was embarrassed, and it was no wonder that Cosimo III was so angry when he heard that Ferdinand had sneaked to France.

Versailles is also worthy of being an anonymous political university. Ferdinand has only been here for a few years, and he has been able to understand a lot of things, but he understands that he knows that he is not the kind of ambitious person, let alone them. The ancestor, the tyrant of Florence, Cosimo I, even his father, Cosimo III, did not think he could do what a mediocre person could do - Cosimo III still holds Leopold in his hand As for the evidence of King De I's betrayal of Spain, Ferdinand might just need a few words from the envoy, and he would either return it or destroy it with fear.

Cosimo III seems to have noticed this: "You should also go back to Florence," said Eva, "your brother is eight or nine years old, and your father is teaching him himself, and there are some ministers who seem to often Be with him." She didn't finish her sentence, but Ferdinand understood what she meant. Although Italians also enforce primogeniture, if the lord or prince insists on changing the heir, he has to deal with an unpleasant son. , is still easy.

   Even if Cosimo III was too ruthless to kill his own child, he would be forced to become a priest and spend the rest of his lonely life in a monastery.

"Is there a reason why you are unwilling to accept my arrangement," Ferdinand said: "I am just a timid and incompetent person, and I cannot control my own destiny, let alone give you protection and honor. You look down upon me. I should too."

   "I don't know how to comfort you," Eva said, "but you are a good man."

Ferdinand gave a bitter smile and looked around, he had no shortage of friends at Versailles, but even Eva, who was closest to him, was more of a political animal than he was—she was right, they met too late , if she was still the fishing village girl who would be confused by the name of the noble, they might still have a result, but now... she is like a dry sponge, soaked in her own blood and soaked in other people's blood. Such a painful lesson was fortunately favored by the king and the great county master. She must have been ready when she fell in love with him - a game before she entered the "battlefield".

He can't even blame Eva, because he can't come up with any bargaining chips... Can he publicly announce that he will marry a commoner who has no title, no dowry, and no surname, his father, and even the king of France will intervene, and he will also He didn't have the courage to give up the position of heir. He knew too well that he was just a mediocre person. Once he lost his right to inherit, he would quickly fall into the dirtiest quagmire.

The grand princess sighed, and the atmosphere became dull. Fortunately, her fiancé Frederick was returning to her from the hall at this time. Speaking of which, if Ferdinand had Frederick's face, it would be great. It is impossible for a crown prince to not know what kind of request his father had made in the letter, but it did not prevent him from continuing to stay by the side of the great county master. He might not return to Prussia until the marriage contract was concluded, because he Must meet his bride in Berlin.

   "Who were you dancing minuet with just now?" The Grand Princess asked casually. She had danced with Frederick before, and she wasn't too keen on dancing, so he let Frederick do whatever he wanted. Different from people's cognition, starting from the eldest princess, the ladies of Versailles seem to be gentle and charming, innocent and generous, but they are fundamentally different from the women outside - it is difficult to say exactly what they are, but they are. The men around you can feel it for yourself. Frederick and Ferdinand quickly exchanged glances. It seems that Ferdinand has already suffered a blow. I don't know if it came from the Grand Princess or Ms. Eva.

   "And Madame Montespan," said Frederick.

The people present naturally looked towards the center of the hall. Mrs. Montespan was more willing and good at enjoying glory and wealth than the two royal ladies before the king. On such occasions, she let go of herself completely, like a flower Flowers that bloom to the extreme are like birds trying their best to spread their wings and chirping. After Louis XIV founded the dance school, the dance system that already had a certain rough model in the French court has been further strengthened. There are minuet, gawat and duet, as well as polonaise from Poland, and Leander from the Alps, but now the waltz is playing in the hall.

Now, of course, they are also dancing the round dance, which is the prototype of the later waltz. It comes from Austria like the Liandler dance. The waltz originally means sliding, rolling, and spinning - but now people who are willing to dance this kind of intimate and light dance Most of them are young people, or masters of flowers who are good at flirting - because this kind of dance was only popular in the northern countryside of Austria a hundred years ago, and it has become an Austrian court dance for only 30 years... It is too frivolous.

People in the palace are only used to keeping a distance, facing each other, the posture is calm and somewhat restrained, or the more ancient Gavot dance, at most, when the arms are touched, the men and women face each other separately, and the distance is close. The dance, which can be kissed with a slight touch, makes some people seem really unsightly. It is said that the British Protestant Church has listed this dance as a taboo, and conservative believers also regard it as a flood.

But for Mrs. Montespan, this dance, which can fully reveal her graceful grace, utterly trumps other antiques, and her swollen waist during childbirth has long returned to its original grip, in the material The king, who was never stingy, allowed her to get the right jewelry and clothes as she liked—and she did—to be the brightest at every ball.

She is now dancing with the Duke of Luxembourg, but looking at the duke's firm shoulders and unsmiling face is also a task that has to be done - people close to the king will inevitably have to flatter this lady a lot, so as not to make people misunderstand that Madame Montespan has Losing the king's favor—it doesn't mean that the king really has any sincere feelings for her, Mrs. Montespan did play a role that some ministers and generals could not play.

"It's time for you to invite Madame Montespan to dance," said Madame Eva to Ferdinand. "You are the son of Cosimo III, and if you don't ask her to dance tonight, tomorrow people will say Tos The relationship between the Archduke of Khanna and the king is deteriorating."

Ferdinand nodded, he was no longer as capricious as he was a few years ago, he got up and went to Mrs. Montespan's place, the Grand Princess stared at it for a while, "Maybe it's my illusion, today Montespan Madam is unusually quiet."

  Joseph laughed when he heard this sentence: "Because I was a little frightened."

"Do you want some small cakes?" Frederick suddenly said, obviously, the two Bourbons may have to talk about something that he would pretend not to know even if he knew it now. On the cake stand beside the couch, he ignored Frederick's inaccurate excuse: "Go get me a lemon cake." Frederick kissed her lightly and walked away immediately.

Joseph snorted, he did it on purpose before - Leopold I was despicable, and King William I of Prussia could not be said to be upright, the grand county patted his hand with a fan: "You mean in Britta What happened to Ni?" This incident was as dangerous as the undercurrent under the ice, killing people silently without even leaving any traces. If they hadn't picked the wrong person, His Majesty would have only Will go to be judged to have died in a coma.

   "Mrs. Montespan is scared."

The Grand Princess nodded slightly: "It's not surprising," she sighed. She didn't hate the former Duchess of Colonna, that is, Marie Mancini. The Duke of Colonna also loved her very much. They were blood relatives and family members. : "If this is done, Mrs. Montespan will undoubtedly benefit. She has become a royal lady, has a child with the king, and has been canonized. Little Louis, my cousin is a gentle, special Queen Leisa is not the kind of person who is so narrow-minded that when a first-class king dies, she will deprive the royal lady of her jewels and titles and expel her from the court."

"Also, she complained a lot about her son being made the Duke of Montreal," Joseph said, "not to mention that she always saw Madame Marie Mancini as a thorn in the eye. By the way, she had planned on Mancini before. Ni."

   "But she really wasn't involved in this matter," said the princess, "she's a smart person."

"Not so smart either," said Joseph. "My mother, you know, Mary was my aunt... She was very concerned about it, and I heard that although Mrs. Montespan was finally free of suspicion, I My mother said that she will suffer the same pain that my aunt suffered."

   "Hey," the Grand Princess opened his fan: "I've been busy with the dowry thing lately... Is there anything I don't know?"

   "It's nothing new," said Joseph. "She's in love with the king."

  The Grand Princess paused: "It's really nothing new," she said indifferently: "Your Majesty will only be bored."

   (end of this chapter)