The chatty Jero Bonaparte and Prince Albert arrived at the Louvre Grand Hotel at 11:55. From the carriage, Prince Albert pointed at the Louvre Grand Hotel, looking at Jero Bonaparte in confusion, as if asking what Jero Bonaparte ant.
"The Louvre Grand Hotel, the best hotel in all of Paris!" Jero Bonaparte introduced the Louvre Hotel to Prince Albert, then invited Prince Albert and others to enter the hotel.
When the Jero Bonaparte couple and the Victoria couple entered the hotel’s lobby together, Emile Pereire, a shareholder of the Paris Industrial Bank and the behind-the-scenes boss of the Luxembourg Hotel, along with the entire hotel staff, stood in two straight rows to bow and greet the Monarch of the French Empire and the Monarch of the Kingdom of Britain.
"This is Mr. Emile Pereire, the manager of the entire hotel!!" Jero Bonaparte warmly introduced Mr. Emile Pereire to Albert and Victoria.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness!" Emile Pereire bowed slightly again to Prince Albert and Queen Victoria.
"Mr. Emile, I’ve long admired your na!" Prince Albert extended his hand and said with a smile.
"Your Highness, you overpraise !" Emile Pereire, shocked by the honor, extended his hand to tightly shake Prince Albert’s.
"How could it be! I’ve heard of the great na of Mr. Emile Pereire for a long ti!" Prince Albert continued to tell Emile Pereire, "The Industrial Bank you and your brother founded, in just over five years, has beco one of the major banks in all of France! Such a skill, I’m afraid I will never achieve in my lifeti!"
"Your Highness, as the saying goes, every profession has its specialization!" Emile Pereire humbly replied to Prince Albert, "My brother and I have only co this far by relying on the governnt’s policies and a stroke of luck!
But you and Your Majesty the Queen are the Monarchs who make policies; without the policy-making Monarchs, where would we be now!"
Prince Albert smiled gently, quietly receiving Emile Pereire’s praise.
Standing next to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria also smiled and lightly teased, "You French bankers have quite a way with words!"
"Your Majesty, the essence of a banker’s job is to deal with clients and satisfy their needs! If we lose even the basic ability to communicate, our bank might risk collapse by the next day!" Emile Pereire humbly responded to Queen Victoria.
At this mont, Jero Bonaparte interrupted the mutual flattery, "Alright! Everyone, let’s stop the mutual complints! It’s almost ti to dine!"
Emile Pereire quickly led the Victoria couple and the Jero Bonaparte couple to a Baroque-style restaurant on the third floor of the Louvre Hotel.
Inside the restaurant, Jero Bonaparte and the Victoria couple, arranged by Emile Pereire, sat at a round table.
The round table had 18 seats in total; Jero Bonaparte and Prince Albert sat together, Victoria and Augusta sat together, while Victoria’s children were arranged on the other side of the round table.
After everyone was seated, Jero Bonaparte glanced at a spot two seats away from him. Smiling, he beckoned to Albert Edward, "Edward, co over here too!"
Upon hearing Jero Bonaparte’s call, Albert Edward stood up but suddenly glanced at the slightly displeased Prince Albert, and he sat back down.
"Jero, let Edward sit there!" Prince Albert said sternly to Jero Bonaparte.
"Albert, educating children in this way is not right!" Jero Bonaparte responded to Prince Albert, "Besides, Edward is already fifteen; he is already half an adult! Many rural children his age are almost marrying!"
"However, from his words and actions, I do not see the slightest trace of maturity! He is always so frivolous..." Prince Albert couldn’t help but respond to Jero Bonaparte.
Hearing his father, Albert, speaking so unreservedly in front of others, Albert Edward felt an unprecedented sense of grievance, wanting to beco the pride of his father and mother; he wanted to study hard, but he found himself not suited for study.
Even if he studied harder, he still couldn’t compare with his sister.
And his father and mother always compared him to his sister, and such days made him feel very uncomfortable.
"Stop!" Jero Bonaparte forcibly interrupted Prince Albert’s speech, then said to Prince Albert, "Albert, your thod of education only causes them to have rebellious feelings and can easily lead to an uncomfortable psychological state. (Historically, Prince Albert visited Cambridge to talk to his son and died from a cold he caught there)
I still say what I said before: we have to admit that sotis a little talent is indeed needed!
All the child needs is not to do anything out of line!
Take myself, for instance, I do not aspire for my son to surpass .
I only hope he can live his life happily!
So don’t impose too much pressure on him!"
After speaking, Jero Bonaparte beckoned to Albert Edward, "Co over! Don’t be afraid of your father!"
Under Jero Bonaparte’s call, Albert Edward ca over to him, keeping his head down, not daring to look at his father.
"Sit next to !" Jero Bonaparte patted the seat beside him and said to Albert Edward.
Albert Edward slowly sat down beside Jero Bonaparte, feeling a warmth he experienced for the first ti.
After a while, Emile Pereire appeared in the restaurant again.
He was holding a bottle of opened wine in his hand.
"Your Majesty, let pour the wine for you!" Emile Pereire filled their glasses with red wine one by one, then, at Jero Bonaparte’s instruction, poured freshly squeezed juice for the princes and princesses.
As the table was filled with dishes, Jero Bonaparte raised his glass to Albert and Victoria: "To the friendship between Britain and France, cheers! Children, you join in too!"
Victoria, Albert, and their children, at Jero Bonaparte’s urging, raised their glasses to toast to the friendship between Britain and France.
After a drink, Jero Bonaparte and the others began to dine.
The entire banquet lasted about an hour before it concluded. After dining, Jero Bonaparte asked Albert if he wanted to go anywhere in addition to the World Exposition, and he and Augusta would accompany them!
"There’s no need!" Prince Albert shook his head and refused, "I don’t want to trouble you too much!"
"Albert, aren’t we friends?" Jero Bonaparte asked Albert.
"Of course, we’re friends!" Prince Albert replied to Jero Bonaparte.
"In that case, there’s no such thing as trouble among friends!" Jero Bonaparte responded to Prince Albert.
"Alright then!" Prince Albert nodded and turned his gaze to his wife, Victoria, "Victoria, is there any place you particularly want to visit?"
After thinking for a mont, Victoria said she wanted to visit the Paris Veterans Hospital and the Palace of Versailles...
"That’s fine!" Jero Bonaparte nodded to Victoria and then glanced kindly at Albert Edward and the children sitting opposite, asking, "Where would you like to go?"
The children didn’t speak; they didn’t know where would be best to go.
"The children just need to go with us!" Prince Albert said to Jero Bonaparte.
"Alright then!" Jero Bonaparte shrugged.
Then Jero Bonaparte called Emile Pereire over again, ordering him to properly arrange accommodations for the Victoria couple and the princes.
If anything went wrong, Jero Bonaparte would hold him accountable.
Emile Pereire assured that he would properly accommodate Queen Victoria and her family.
Then, Jero Bonaparte bid farewell to Albert, indicating he would co early the next morning to accompany them to the Century Exposition.
Prince Albert and Queen Victoria personally escorted Jero Bonaparte and Augusta to the hotel entrance. Jero Bonaparte and Augusta then departed the Louvre Grand Hotel by carriage.
On the way back to the Tuileries Palace, Empress Augusta told Jero Bonaparte about her and Victoria’s discussion in the carriage.
"Victoria asked if we would be willing to form an alliance through marriage!" Empress Augusta told Jero Bonaparte.
"Marriage alliance?" Jero Bonaparte was taken aback, "I recall that Victoria’s youngest daughter is not more than 7 years older than our son!"
"Exactly!" Empress Augusta replied to Jero Bonaparte.
"Did you promise them?" Jero Bonaparte asked Augusta again.
Augusta shook her head, "No! I said we’d consider these things when the children grow up!"
"That’s good! That’s good!" Jero Bonaparte mumbled quietly.
He certainly did not want the Victoria family’s hemophilia to be passed on to future generations.
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