Morning, August 2, 1849.
The morning sunlight pierced through the gaps of the thick curtains embroidered with the golden bee emblem, slightly scorching beams of light stretched across the red Persian carpet all the way to the corner of the bed, adding a touch of brightness to the dim bedroom.
On a large mahogany bed draped with silk canopies, Jero Bonaparte lay flat with his eyes closed and in only a shirt and shorts, sprawled in a "big" posture. The red thin blanket, ant to be on the bed, had long been "discarded" along with clothes onto the Persian carpet.
"Dong, dong, dong!"
In the corner of the bedroom, a heavy Rococo-style walnut-cased chanical clock, after a series of gears turning prompted by the heavy weights, suddenly emitted a deep but rhythmic single chi when the clock hands pointed to twelve.
The robust grandfather clock chid twelve tis and stopped, only then did Jero Bonaparte awaken. As he lay there half-awake, intending to rub his sleepy eyes with his right hand, he realized that he couldn’t feel his right hand; there was only a tingling sensation.
Feeling a strange sensation from his right hand, Jero Bonaparte instantly dispelled the sleepiness sweeping over him. He certainly didn’t want to end up like the future German Emperor, narcissist, and destroyer of the empire William II, a "cripple".
Jero Bonaparte opened his eyes and turned his head to the right, discovering that his right hand was sohow under the head of a noblewoman dressed in a black gown.
The noblewoman in bed was none other than Jero Bonaparte’s mistress, Marchioness Aile.
"Damn, what did I do yesterday?" Jero Bonaparte softly mumbled as he found a gap in his mory, only recalling being "earnestly" invited by Baron Achille Fuld to an evening banquet at his mansion comparable to the Tuileries Palace.
During the banquet, Jero Bonaparte encountered the seemingly estranged but spiritually united couple, Marchioness Aile and Marquis Aile.
Marquis Aile humbly expressed to Jero Bonaparte that if the President required, he would unconditionally offer his loyalty, while also thanking the President for allowing him a share in the railroad bonds.
With his mind not on Marquis Aile, Jero Bonaparte casually encouraged him with a few words and then intentionally or unintentionally shifted his gaze to Marchioness Aile.
Marchioness Aile at the banquet remained as radiant as ever, with a black gown adorned with butterfly decorations, her bare collarbone vaguely exposing the black bodice inside, a black floral hat on her head, and black leather shoes on her feet, exuding a mysterious and seductive aura like a thorny rose.
Perhaps due to her husband’s presence, Marchioness Aile only slightly nodded to her lover Jero Bonaparte in acknowledgnt, and then without regard for Marquis Aile’s approval, pulled him along with Jero Bonaparte.
Gazing at Marchioness Aile’s figure disappearing into the crowd, Jero Bonaparte felt a slight sense of regret.
After Marchioness Aile’s departure, Achille Fuld appeared from sowhere, leading Jero Bonaparte to et with another group of influential bankers in Paris, including the founders of Future Bank, Emile Pereire and Isaac Pereire, and Eugene Schneider’s brother, the famous industrialist Adolphe Schneider.
[PS: Eugene Schneider and Adolphe Schneider were the first-generation founders of Schneider Electric, which evolved from banking to industry through several trials and beca the present-day Schneider Electric, a century-old brand.]
Bankers eager to climb high social ranks eagerly approached Jero Bonaparte to converse enthusiastically, and then toasted him. To maintain unity in the finance industry, Jero Bonaparte coped with each drink, one after another.
Eventually, barely handling the bankers’ relentless socializing, Jero Bonaparte staggered away from the crowd to rest in a corner, vaguely noticing a dark figure approaching him.
Beyond that, he recalled nothing.
Jero Bonaparte, enduring a headache, tried to extract his long-numb right hand from Marchioness Aile’s clutch but inadvertently woke her with the excessive force.
Marchioness Aile slowly awakened, feeling an unusual sensation from her neck, subconsciously turning her head to find Jero Bonaparte’s arm under her head. She promptly lifted her head and apologized, "I’m sorry!"
Then, slightly embarrassed, she lowered her head?
"It’s nothing," Jero Bonaparte used his left hand to lift his numb right hand, rubbing it to restore sensation.
Seeing this, Marchioness Aile likewise used her slender hands to help Jero Bonaparte "promote circulation."
After a few minutes, Jero Bonaparte’s right hand finally regained sensation, with an enhanced tingling.
Jero Bonaparte, continually clenching and relaxing his hand, asked Marchioness Aile, "By the way, why are you here? And where exactly is this place?"
Marchioness Aile exhibited a shocked expression, full of confusion, asking, "Do you really not rember?"
Feeling the tingling in his arm subsiding, Jero Bonaparte pressed his temple to alleviate the headache from drinking, replying, "I only recall attending Baron Achille Fuld’s banquet. After that, I know nothing! Oh, there was a dark shadow!"
Marchioness Aile moved behind Jero Bonaparte, pushing aside his hand pressing his temple and personally helping him relieve his headache, recounting the subsequent events.
Marchioness Aile had noticed Jero Bonaparte’s drunken state, and despite feeling tipsy herself, approached to support his staggering form.
anwhile, Achille Fuld also noticed Jero Bonaparte seemingly absent from the main banquet hall, and hurriedly set out to locate him.
When he saw Jero Bonaparte, he found Jero Bonaparte being supported by Marchioness Aile.
Given the President’s current drunken state, returning to the Elysee Palace was definitely impossible.
It wouldn’t bode well if so lurking tabloid journalist caught him drunk and in a misstep on the way back.
With the President’s best interests in mind, Baron Axiel Fuld earnestly suggested to Marchioness Aile to settle the President in a room at his mansion.
Looking at Jero Bonaparte, who was almost about to collapse, Marchioness Aile had no choice but to nod in agreent.
Baron Axiel Fuld brought Marchioness Aile and Jero Bonaparte to a room and ordered the servant to bring two candlesticks, each with four candles.
They were placed at the bedside and on the round walnut table, illuminating the entire room. After finishing all of this, Baron Axiel Fuld left the room with the servant and closed the door.
Marchioness Aile intended to depart after helping Jero Bonaparte remove his clothing, but who knew that after taking off his pants, she would be pinned onto the bed by the drunk Jero Bonaparte, unable to move.
Already feeling a bit sleepy, Marchioness Aile, seeing she couldn’t move, fell asleep as well.
After listening to Marchioness Aile’s account, Jero Bonaparte glanced at the furnishings in the room again and said, "So, we slept at the Baron’s house for the night!"
"Exactly!" Marchioness Aile continued to press her fingers against Jero Bonaparte’s temples.
"Your husband is truly an understanding man!" Jero Bonaparte quipped to Marchioness Aile with feigned politeness, "His wife didn’t return ho for the night, yet he didn’t go looking!"
Marchioness Aile gave a flirtatious look and solemnly explained to Jero Bonaparte, "Mr. President, in Paris, if a woman doesn’t return ho, she’s either missing or out pursuing her own affairs!"
Marchioness Aile’s words suddenly agitated Jero Bonaparte’s calm heart, and he turned to embrace Marchioness Aile.
(Ten thousand words omitted in the following)
...
Forty minutes later, the murmuring ceased.
Another 20 minutes later, the door slowly opened, and a refreshed Jero Bonaparte and a blushing Marchioness Aile ca out.
The servant responsible for cleaning the corridor quickly reported the sight to Axiel Fuld.
In the living room, as Axiel Fuld was entertaining Percy, he smiled upon hearing the report from the servant and said, "Count Percy, Mr. President has awakened!"
[PS: Percy prefers to be called Count in front of others!]
As Percy was sipping tea, he quickly put down the tea set to join Axiel Fuld in welcoming Jero Bonaparte.
Upon hearing from the servant about the arrival of a "guest," Jero Bonaparte was preparing to leave unannounced when Axiel Fuld and Percy appeared on his path.
"Mr. President!"
"Mr. President!"
Percy and Axiel Fuld called out to Jero Bonaparte almost simultaneously.
"Percy, Baron!" Jero Bonaparte only then realized that the "guest" was Percy.
Subsequently, the two glanced at Marchioness Aile, who was holding Jero Bonaparte’s hand, and said in unison, "Madam!"
Marchioness Aile slightly nodded, then let go of Jero Bonaparte’s hand and said, "I must be going now!"
"Okay!" Jero Bonaparte nodded.
Marchioness Aile left alone, and Jero Bonaparte asked Percy, "Percy, is there sothing you need at the Baron’s mansion?"
"I..." Percy glanced at Baron Axiel Fuld, whose aning was self-evident.
Baron Axiel Fuld was about to excuse himself when he heard Jero Bonaparte say, "The Baron is not an outsider, let’s hear it!"
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