Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Madame Recamier's salon was reconvened on Mont Blanc Avenue, and the number of guests who came here was also amazing.

However, there were few generals who came to support the event this time, mainly social figures.

There were also diplomats from some countries, and Solovyov happened to sit close to the secretary of the British Embassy.

"Hello, my friend from Russia. If a reckless guy provokes you, don't kill him."

"The premise is that he doesn't use a knife to kill me."

"Yes, this way of dying is stupid enough."

The two laughed together, and they did think that sometimes, they should find some jokes that are not so funny.

"Charles Stuart, I should have been in Vienna, but the embassy in Paris always needs someone to deal with the French. You know, they are very difficult to deal with. I envy your skills."

"There are more duelists in Paris than permanent secretaries in London, and you happen to be an embassy secretary. If you don't become a professional diplomat in the future, you may have to go back to be a permanent undersecretary, right?"

Charles Stuart heard it and realized that this Russian lieutenant colonel was very familiar with the United Kingdom's system and even spoke very well.

"It's better to be a secretary abroad. In London, it's a hassle to be questioned by the undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Just think about the permanent secretary having to write letters or communicate with so many embassy secretaries in person. This is simply a disaster."

And this embassy secretary will serve in embassies in St. Petersburg and Paris many times in the future, and even serve as an ambassador.

Of course, he doesn't like to stir up political topics and is a relatively gentle diplomat.

As for the hostess of the salon, Madame Recamier, she is still on her sofa as always, which is a very classic posture.

"But today's topics are only about fancy words, which is meaningless. You will get hypnotized if you listen to them too much."

"But we don't have to go up and talk. You have to know that we are a group of permanent secretaries from various departments."

Stuart already had a picture in his mind. You have to know that many of these diplomats are from Oxford and Cambridge, and the art of speaking of these one of us is indeed like this.

Soloviev's mind is a group of Tang monks chanting sutras, and Stuart's mind is probably these people's long and difficult sentences.

They both thought of the same thing and couldn't help but feel a headache.

"Michael, you should go to London and be an assistant to Count Vorontsov. You know us British too well. You must have a way to deal with the secretaries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"I don't want to, it's better to stay in Paris."

Fortunately, the next part is the banquet. This time, the salon on Mont Blanc Avenue reopened and indeed invited famous chefs.

Many dishes are still special dishes that appear in the "Food Yearbook".

But Solovyov still prefers borscht, but French cuisine often doesn't make such affordable dishes.

Moreover, French chefs often modify bad ingredients instead of adding salt as good ingredients, which is indeed a bit scary.

However, the pomp in the French salon is actually smaller than the banquet at Prince Alexander Kurakin's house.

The pomp and luxury of the prince's banquet hall in his own house are two choices in Paris.

When Russians enter Paris in large numbers to consume in the future, this kind of pomp will probably be brought over.

"Excuse me, I have to go to the Paris Opera tonight."

"You are good at drama adaptation and creation, do you like opera too?"

"Art knows no borders or forms of expression, and you should not regard us Russians as rough people. You will know when you go to St. Petersburg. It is just another paradise in the ice and snow."

By the way, it also exudes the lifeless and rotten smell of the upper class. Solovyov knew that he couldn't say this.

In the area between the 8th and 2nd arrondissements in Paris, the Paris Opera House was also performing the latest opera. He had tickets, but he went there alone.

Even if he brought Adela back, she could only appear as a servant, and as for Silvia. Although he knew that Prince Borghese was a fool, Solovyov did not intend to provoke him. After all, this man would become Napoleon's brother-in-law in the future, and a Russian diplomat did not need to find such trouble.

However, he overlooked an important person in this logical chain, that is, Polina.

Even if she could not appear in social occasions, Polina began to appear in the theater as soon as she returned to Paris, and also lived in the mansion that her brother had just bought for her in the 8th arrondissement. While raising her children, she also had to look for a suitable man.

Although Leclerc died, she was really sad. After all, it was not easy to find such a tolerant husband, but she was like this, always looking for food.

Today, she was also at the Paris Opera House, and in the box.

Here you can not only see the performances on the stage, but also the actions of the people under the stage, which can be seen very clearly.

Today she only brought a female companion with her. She was leaning on the sofa in the box, watching everything in the theater.

With the education she received and the fact that she was displaced when she was a child because of her third brother Lucien's nonsense, her greater advantage over others was her beauty. There were many people who coveted her body. She was also a carnivore and was always eyeing the prey in the theater.

But she was also afraid of her second brother Napoleon. Although the First Consul was very indulgent to his sister, Leclerc had just died and was still in mourning.

In this regard, Napoleon proposed that after Paulina had gone through a year of mourning, he would find an outstanding young man as her husband. If she had someone she liked, as long as his status was decent, it was not impossible to consider.

In fact, Napoleon intended to let Paulina marry a young man with a certain status in Italy for political considerations. This was a way to win over the Italian upper class.

People from the island of Corsica knew Italians too well. From the names of their family, it can be seen that even though Paulina was born French, she was called Pauletta before she was 13 years old.

If Soloviev knew about it, he might have to associate it with the striker of Portugal's golden generation. Who is not a fan? It's just that none of these teams have one now.

Paulina was indeed sitting there, waiting for the prey to appear.

There was really no suitable candidate among the people present, not to mention the relatives of her dead husband. Thinking about the fact that Davout was already bald before he was 30, and it was even more obvious now, she had no interest.

Polina was very picky in choosing men, which was her usual practice. She had criteria for judging from head to toe, but she was often hungry and did not choose what to eat, probably because of the "instinct" of a hunter, which was a bit scary.

Although she would let go of some "prey" that rejected her on weekdays, she would not give up easily for some special ones, and even tracked and captured them.

Solovyov felt the pressure when he sat in his seat. Although this was definitely not related to death, it was like a hunter catching prey, and his instinct was to defend.

However, this kind of danger might be different from what he had encountered before, so he didn't care much.

After all, from the Paris Opera House, you can directly walk to the Avenue de l'Italie and the Avenue de Montmartre, and soon you can return to his apartment on the Avenue de Montmartre.

If there are special circumstances, he can go directly to the embassy, ​​after all, he also has a room there.

What Polina saw in the box was the back of his head. After all, after taking off his hat, he had braids and a handsome face. There are indeed not many young men who impressed her so deeply.

"Interesting prey, Madeline, you have to keep a close eye on him."

"Madam, that man is a Russian officer. I heard that he is a good duelist. He must be a dangerous playboy."

The little maid was obviously very careful, and she was also thinking about Polina's safety.

"No, he looks harmless and will not hurt people easily. Madeline, you are always so careful. I think there is no one more careful than you in Paris. This kind of person is a beast that will not show its fangs and claws before encountering prey, and will not hurt girls. Even if you follow behind him, it doesn't matter."

As for today's opera, it is still the same. In fact, Solovyov came to the theater today because he didn't want to stay in Madame Recamier's salon for too long, which would easily arouse suspicion.

After all, Fouché's minions are all over Paris, and they will also collect intelligence on British and Russian diplomats in the city.

He also needs to do his best to disguise himself as a harmless person, so he has to continue attending events and his personal life.

As for the lover problem, it is actually easy to solve. Silvia is coming to Paris with her daughter. Although they cannot get married, they are very happy when they are together.

What's more, the door of Prince Borghese's house is probably the only one that is clean. Silvia's problems are trivial. She is very trusted by the prince. After all, she is pregnant before marriage and has a child, which makes people feel more at ease.

Although he knew that Paulina was staring at him behind him, it was only for a moment, and he even mistakenly thought that someone was watching him secretly.

Therefore, after the show, he took a carriage to leave, so that he could move faster.

"Sir, where are you going?"

"I'm going to 205 Montmartre Street."

But at this moment, because Madeleine was the one tracking him, Soloviev didn't feel any danger.

"Maybe sometimes intuition can be wrong."

He thought so, and after arriving at Montmartre Street, he looked around and saw that no one was following him.

Madeleine also took a carriage and followed behind. She even saw Soloviev enter the apartment.

No. 205 Montmartre Street is where the victim of the famous injustice in Paris often lived.

"That's easy. I can do what the lady asked me to do."

After she went out for a while, she got off the car at a nearby street corner, then walked back and handed the letter written by Polina to the landlord.

"Miss, who are you going to give this letter to?"

"A gentleman living here, Mikhail Solovyov, is a Russian diplomat."

"I'm here to see you, Miss, who sent you?"

The landlord also knew that although Solovyov had begun to appear in the social circles of Paris with his real identity and there were many guests coming here, it was relatively rare for a girl to deliver a letter.

Although Solovyov was keen on having his hired maid Adela and the maid Jeanne here deliver letters, he would not let them deliver envelopes like this. They were all invitations and letters that needed to be communicated, asking them to do specific things, and no one would come.

If he had registered with a pseudonym, Madeleine's letter might not have been delivered.

However, because he felt that he was famous in Paris for duels and plays, it was meaningless to use a pseudonym.

When going to places outside Paris, this identity could sometimes be used, but the idiot Cadoudal exposed him once in Nantes.

"Sir, do you have any questions?"

"Do you have any impression of this official residence in the 8th arrondissement?"

"It's on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. Before the Revolution, many dignitaries lived there. I still have some impression of No. 39. It was the property of the Duke of Charloster. It should be nationalized now."

"Nationalized?"

"Yes, after the Duke died, there was no one to inherit the property, so it was naturally nationalized."

You know, the French sent nobles to the guillotine much more diligently than the Russians shot them. Some patriots and philanthropists among the Russian nobles could leave with their important property. The last Count Stroganov family who left had a decent ceremony. Even more than 20 years later, many Russian nobles moved back. There was even a princess who joined the party in the UK. You read that right, this is the princess of the Dolgorukov family, and she has the blood of the empress.

As for the signature of the letter, it was also written very clearly, inviting him to the official residence of Charloster for a chat on a certain day.

The letter of this lady seems to have many grammatical errors, and she should not be a native speaker of French. At the same time, there is another problem, that is, she did not reveal her identity, which also makes people feel strange.

In Paris, there are many things that need to be paid attention to.

However, the other party's words still reveal the meaning of request. In other words, this lady is not hostile.

He thought of the ladies in Paris, even the beauties like Madame Recamier who dress to highlight their figures, are actually very reserved and innocent so far, but he let down his guard a little.

After all, no one can imagine what Pauline Bonaparte wants to do.