Chapter 59: I Challenge You to a Duel!
Perna watched the Crown Prince's retreating back, worried that he might be upset about the dance, and wanted to follow him, but hesitated.
She suddenly remembered her task to monitor His Highness's health. Pressing her lips together, she pushed past the glaring noblewomen and hurried after Joseph.
Joseph tightened his mask, tore off the bothersome cape, and squeezed out of the crowded hall.
He let out a long breath and wiped away sweat. Before the flocks of eager young women could catch him, he bent down and scurried towards the Hall of Mirrors' main door, slipping outside.
The night air in the Versailles palace square was cool and fresh. He stretched his arms and strolled along, feeling much more relaxed. He secretly vowed never to attend another one of these balls again, even if it killed him.
By the dim light of the oil lamps in the courtyard, Eman, dressed in a maid's uniform, vaguely spotted the Crown Prince's figure and quickly hurried over. "Your Highness, why are you out so early?"
A graceful figure in a white gown arrived almost simultaneously from the other side. "Your Highness..."
Eman turned, a little surprised. "Miss Perna, why are you also...?"
His gaze swept between the two, and suddenly realizing something, he cleared his throat. "Ahem, Your Highness, I have something to attend to. I'll just be over there."
Joseph quickly interjected, "I'm fine, I just wanted some fresh air. Dancing is truly exhausting."
Eman realized he had perhaps misunderstood, and nodded awkwardly. "Ah, yes, those young ladies were perhaps a little too enthusiastic."
As the three were awkwardly chatting, two figures approached them, accompanied by the muffled sound of a girl's sobbing.
"No, André, you wouldn't understand! If I could, I'd give anything to spend time with you..."
The man's voice responded, "Oh, Emilie, then marry me! Since merciful fate has brought us together again, I will never let you slip away a second time!"
"But you know it's impossible..." The girl struggled to stop crying, her voice broken. "My heart tells me to entrust all my love to you, but my reason tells me that the entire Villars family rests on my shoulders. I must abandon my love for you and instead embrace another man who will force me to seal away my affections."
"My dearest Emilie, I wish I could pierce my own ears to not hear your cruel words, and stab my own eyes so as not to see the mournful tears streaming down your face! Do you know that you appear in my dreams every night? I love you, and you love me. Isn't that enough? Must another innocent soul stand between us, bearing the weight of our painful feelings due to this fickle fate?"
The girl began to weep softly again.
It seemed the young couple was at a critical point. Joseph didn't want to disturb them and prepared to move away, but found that behind him was a large bed of neatly trimmed pine bushes, while the path ahead was occupied by the couple.
He looked at Eman helplessly. The butler scanned the surroundings, then pulled Joseph behind a maple tree.
Perna also hurriedly followed.
However, the maple tree wasn't thick enough. Eman pressed his back tightly against the trunk, and Joseph and Perna squeezed together, barely managing to stay out of sight.
Fortunately, the moonlight was dim, making it difficult to spot anyone hiding there without a close look.
The girl's choked voice grew closer. "André, not all love can see the light of day.
"You know, my mother values appearances too much, she cares too much about the title of Duke. She..."
The man hugged her tightly. "Emilie, I've just earned distinction on the battlefield and have now been promoted to Lieutenant! Please believe me, it won't be long before I achieve a status worthy of you!"
The girl also wrapped her arms around his waist, shaking her head sorrowfully. "But my paternal uncle keeps pressuring me to marry his son. I can't hold on any longer!"
"No! You cannot marry him!" The man exclaimed urgently. "Your mother wouldn't agree, would she?"
The girl sighed. "You know what? Actually, it was my mother who initially suggested that my uncle have you transferred to Soissons, all so I would forget you..."
'André? Soissons?' Joseph frowned slightly, suddenly recognizing the man's voice. 'Is he Lieutenant Davout?'
Eman peeked out, using the dim gas light to observe the seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl, who was dressed in a Crusader's costume. He mused, "She seems to be the Duchess of Villars."
"A Duchess?" Perna whispered in surprise. "That girl is actually a Duchess!"
Eman nodded, also lowering his voice. "You know Marshal Villars, don't you? The Marshal Villars who twice routed the British at Steenkirk and Neerwinden, then crushed Prince Eugene's forces, and eventually captured Freiburg, Austria's former capital."
Perna nodded. Of course, she had heard of such a renowned Marshal from the eras of Louis XIV and Louis XV.
Eman continued, "This Mademoiselle Marie Emilie is the great-granddaughter of Marshal Villars and is now the Duchess of Villars. However, her father was severely punished during the Seven Years' War for delaying military opportunities, which greatly reduced the family's power. Still, the Villars family maintains considerable prestige within the military, especially in the Moulins region."
Just then, a tall, thin man, dressed as a flower seller, quickly approached. When he saw Emilie, he immediately called out, "My dear Emilie, why have you run off here? Come back with me, the ball isn't over yet."
Emilie instantly replied in a cold tone, "Where I go is none of your business. Please leave."
The flower seller, however, reached out to pull her. "I am your fiancé, how can I not look after you?"
"No! You are not my fiancé, I have never agreed to you!"
The flower seller chuckled. "It's only a matter of time. Your mother will certainly agree to you marrying me. Without my father's thirty thousand livres, your family probably wouldn't even be able to maintain the dignity of the Duchess of Villars."
From behind the maple tree, Perna murmured, "Thirty thousand livres is a lot, but would the Duchess of Villars' mother marry her daughter off to someone she dislikes for that money?"
Eman whispered, "I heard that the Villars family's properties and influence are managed by Major General Villars, oh, that's Mademoiselle Emilie's paternal uncle.
"Now it seems he has probably sidelined Mademoiselle Emilie and her mother, taking firm control of everything."
Joseph sneered, "What a scheme. If he then forces his son to marry Mademoiselle Emilie, everything belonging to the Duchess of Villars will be his family's."
Perna gnashed her teeth in anger. "Shameless! Absolutely shameless!"
As the flower seller spoke, he glanced at André, a mocking tone in his voice. "Oh, aren't you just that little officer from Soissons? How did you even manage to get invited to a ball at Versailles? What, you still haven't given up on my Emilie?"
André had been invited to the ball for his military distinction. He stared intently at the man. "I deeply love Emilie, and she loves me! I will never let her marry you!"
"Haha," the flower seller suddenly burst into laughter. "A petty commoner like you, trying to climb into the Duchess of Villars' family?
"Do you know how much the Duchess of Villars' estate costs to maintain? Your pathetic salary wouldn't even last two days."
"I..." André tried to speak but was choked with anger.
The flower seller continued, "Listen, even if Emilie married you against all odds, it would only bring scorn upon the Duchess of Villars' family. Her mother would never be able to hold her head high among the nobility. Why?"
He mimicked a disdainful voice, "Oh, Madame de Villars, I hear your daughter married a poor, low-ranking Lieutenant with no title? How truly pitiful for you!"
"You!" André's eyes turned crimson. He suddenly pulled off his glove and threw it to the ground, then dramatically drew his sword. "I, Louis André de Davout, challenge you to a duel!"
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