Chapter 1437: The Unyielding Queen
Queen Mary nodded emphatically.
That was right; everyone's attention was truly focused only on the king's title.
As long as someone could help Louis attract people's attention, he could smoothly extricate himself.
Her eyes lit up at the thought.
Therefore, if Joseph assumed a title grand enough to "overshadow" the king's, everything would fall into place!
She turned to look at the lady-in-waiting standing nearby and exclaimed, "Pauline, don't you think it would be perfect for the Crown Prince to act as Prince Regent?"
The lady-in-waiting's smiling face instantly froze. 'Good heavens,' she thought, 'I'm just the Duchess of Lévis; why are you discussing such a major matter with me?'
Seeing the queen still looking at her, she could only stammer, "Your... Your Highness is indeed very suitable..."
Queen Mary tapped her palm with her folding fan. "Excellent! I knew this would work. When I get back, I'll discuss it with the gentlemen of the Senate. No, I'll write to Baron Breteuil right now."
If she could pick lobsters and dig barnacles with Louis in Brest every day in the future, life would be like heaven.
The Duchess of Lévis swallowed hard and cautiously reminded her, "Your Majesty, but His Majesty the King is currently in good health. This might not be in accordance with proper procedure..."
Queen Mary paused, taken aback.
Oh, that's right. Traditionally, a Prince Regent was only appointed when the king was too young, gravely ill, or far from the capital, rendering him unable to govern personally.
But Louis currently met none of those conditions.
She sighed. Why were there so many annoying rules?
'Hmm, if Joseph encountered such a situation, how would he handle it?'
Queen Mary had observed her son's governance for so many years and had been somewhat "influenced" by him. She immediately tried to adopt her son's way of thinking.
...
It was already somewhat cold in Potsdam in late September, but Charles paid no mind to the cold wind whipping his face. He kept his head out of the carriage window, as if hoping that figure would suddenly appear by the roadside.
"Your Highness, Berlin is just ahead."
The voice of the guard captain came from beside the carriage. Charles's heart quickened instantly, and he imagined the scent of her hair.
He checked his pocket watch; it was just past four in the afternoon. He loudly instructed the coachman, "Mr. Albert, faster!"
An hour and a half later, the carriage entered the outskirts of Berlin. Charles ordered most of his retinue to remain behind, taking only five or six trusted aides into the city.
Before dusk, he finally followed a maid to a villa on the south side of Berlin's Leipzig Avenue.
A figure in a white gown from this year's Parisian autumn collection, her hair styled like the heroine from The Count of Monte Cristo, hurried down the stairs and rushed into Charles's arms.
The French prince's heart pounded like a steam hammer. He embraced the woman who had haunted his dreams, greedily inhaling her enchanting fragrance.
"My Louise, by God, I thought of you every waking moment."
The young woman pulled her head from his chest, her eyes filled with tenderness. "Me too, my dearest Charles. Why did it take you so long to visit me?"
"You know, my mother was ill, and I had to care for her. But she's gone to Brest recently." Charles sighed. "And my brother also disagreed with my appointment as Governor of Esens. I pleaded with Archbishop Talleyrand for a long time to get this diplomatic assignment."
"My rose, I've missed you so much..."
As Charles spoke, he closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her, but Louise, nimble as a fawn, lightly turned away, slipping from his embrace. "You've traveled such a long way; you must be thirsty. I'll get you some wine."
"No, no, don't go." Charles reached out and caught her hand. "I don't want to leave you for a second."
Louise casually guided his hand to her slender waist, her eyes shining with allure. "All right, all right, I'll stay right here with you."
Charles suddenly remembered something. He took a small silver box from his pocket, opened it, and said softly, "This is a gift for you."
The woman glanced at the diamond earrings in the box and gently pushed it back. "You should keep it. No jewelry can make me happy in this miserable situation."
Charles exclaimed urgently, "Please tell me, what trouble have you encountered?"
"It's... never mind, I shouldn't tell you this."
Louise hesitated, then began again, and finally, after Charles's repeated questions, she frowned lightly and said, "You know, William constantly faces issues with state affairs, and he always takes his temper out on me..."
"That scoundrel!" Charles exclaimed angrily. "I'll have my brother send troops to teach him a good lesson!"
Her face paled, and she frantically waved her hand. "No! You can't do that; he is my husband after all..."
Yes, the William she spoke of was none other than William III, the current King of Prussia.
The year before last, Charles had accompanied a French special envoy to Berlin for the signing ceremony of the supplementary articles to the Franco-Prussian armistice agreement.
It was then that he met Queen Louise of Prussia, who was Prussia's plenipotentiary.
The young French prince was immediately captivated by her mature, gentle, and confident charm. And the Queen of Prussia seemed equally fond of him.
The two quickly moved from the negotiating table to falling in love.
Charles ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "What should we do then? I can't leave you to suffer. Seeing you in pain is worse than death for me!"
She subtly observed his expression and said, her voice laced with grievance, "William is worried about raising the War Reparations; he's even set his sights on my dowry.
"If you could exert your influence at Versailles — I believe it wouldn't be difficult given your standing — to convert part of the reparations into a loan for Prussia, I think he would certainly treat me much more kindly than he does now."
Charles knew she was referring to Prussia's War Reparations to France, of which 7.2 million Thaler remained. And the portion due this year had already been delayed—it was supposed to have arrived in June.
He hesitated. "I'll try. But even if the Ministry of Finance agrees, the Interest will certainly be quite high."
A flicker of joy crossed Louise's eyes, but she quickly adopted a fragile demeanor. "You are my only reliance in this world. What would I do without you..."
She didn't care about the Interest. That was a concern for the future; no one knew what Europe would become. For now, she and Prince Heinrich, along with other ministers, were planning to vigorously develop the steel and machinery manufacturing industries, which required a large amount of capital.
This young French prince before her was her only way forward.
Comments