I didn’t ask any more questions. After all, I was involved in his financial situation, but no matter how much he lost, he wanted to suffer like us.
At first, the Great Depression didn’t have a great impact on the C? te d ‘Azur. I heard that two or three people lost a lot of money. Many villas opened in winter, and several were ready to sell local hotels. Monte Carlo Casino frequently complained that business was rather bleak. It was not until the third year that the C? te d ‘Azur really felt the power of the recession. At that time, a real estate agent told me that there were 40,000 properties for sale from Toulon to the Mediterranean coast of Italy, and the shares of casinos plummeted. Big hotels tried to attract customers, but the business did not improve. All of them came to be too poor to spend money because money can be spent. Businessmen are shrouded in gloom, but the difference between them is that Eliot neither fired people nor deducted their salaries, but continued to entertain nobles with wine and food, bought a new car, and paid a large tax on imports from the United States. Eliot even generously funded bishops to organize charity dinners for unemployed families. He lived as if the financial crisis had not swept across most of Europe and America
I happened to know later that Eliot didn’t go to England at that time, except for buying clothes for two weeks every year, but he would still stay in the Paris apartment for three months in May and June every autumn, because those friends wouldn’t visit the blue coast in summer at that time. Of course, the blue coast in summer is swimming, but I think the main reason is that he can take advantage of the summer to wear bright clothes without worrying about the usual system. He wears colorful pants, red, blue, green and yellow, with contrast color vests. If he is praised by others, he will show off.
That spring, I stayed in Paris for a day on my way back to La Cape, and invited Eliot to have lunch. We had an appointment at the Ritz bar, but we couldn’t see many drinking music. On the contrary, American students were very deserted. We had a cocktail first and then ordered lunch to eat Eliot. Finally, we accepted coming to America. After dinner, he suggested going to the antique shop. Although I said that I didn’t have any money, I was still willing to accompany us through the Vendome Square. He asked me if I could accompany him to the Sherfan store to ask if he had ordered some clothes before.
Ok, he said that when the clerk left to get his pants, he told me that my head was embroidered with my own style.
I brought my underwear, except that it is made of pure silk. It looks similar to what I usually buy at Macy’s, but it was the two wrong letters E that caught my attention that embroidered the earl’s crown coat of arms, but I didn’t
Good, good. Eliot said that when the vest is ready, send it together.
We walked a few steps away from Eliot’s shop and turned to smile at me.
Did you see that coat of arms? Honestly, I asked you to accompany me to Sherfan. I forgot about it a long time ago. I should not have had a chance to tell you that the Pope has restored my ancestral title.
What did you say? I didn’t care about politeness and asked in surprise.
Eliot otherwise picked his eyebrows.
Don’t you know that my mother is descended from the Earl of Loria, who followed Philip II to England and married a maid from Queen Mary?
Is that the bloody Mary?
I think heretics would call her Eliot in this way. She said stiffly, I should not have told you that I stayed in Rome in September of 1929. Actually, I was reluctant because there were few people in Rome at that time, but fortunately, my friends in the Vatican said that the economy was about to collapse and strongly advised me to sell the number of American stocks at hand. After all, the wisdom of the Catholic Church has accumulated for 2,000 years. I have no doubt that I sent a newspaper to Henry Mathurin, asking him to sell my stocks and buy gold to preserve the value, and also sent a newspaper to Louisa. Henry Mathurin asked her to sell the stock and asked me if I was crazy. He also said that he would never sell it unless I was sure. I immediately shot the newspaper to him again, and his tone was very firm. His horse did it and repaid poor Louisa after it was done. It was a terrible loss for not listening to me.
Your brother had a good time when the stock market crashed.
An old friend, an American, said that you shouldn’t be here, but it was very appropriate for me. I didn’t lose anything, but I made a lot of money. After a while, I bought back the stock I sold with less money. I can say that all this is an act of God and I think I should do something to give back.
Oh, so how do you give back?
Well, as you know, Mussolini returned to a large area of Ponty swamp, and I learned that the Pope was worried that the residents had no place to go to mass. Generally speaking, I built a small church with the same Roman church style as the one I saw in Provence, and every detail was not perfect. I have to say that the church was dedicated to Saint Martin, because I was very lucky to find a stained glass head for Saint Martin’s deeds. Saint Martin gave the robe in half to a naked beggar, and the symbolic meaning was in line with the church, so I bought it and embedded it in the altar.
I didn’t interrupt to ask him what the similarities are between St. Martin’s charity and his behavior. When he was selling stocks, he made huge profits. Today, giving money to the emperor is more like paying an intermediary, but the symbolic meaning is mostly not that I can understand Eliot.
I was lucky enough to show the photo to the Pope later. The Pope told me that I had a unique eye at a glance. He also said that he was very happy to meet someone who was loyal to the church and had profound artistic cultivation on a windy day. It was really unforgettable for a lifetime. It wasn’t long before I received a notice from the church that the Pope was going to give me a title. It was really a shock to an American citizen. I didn’t think the title was ostentatious, except in the Vatican. Of course, that was a must. I forbid Joseph to call me an earl. I think you would keep it a secret for me, but I don’t want to make it public I hope the Pope, I don’t attach importance to this honor, so I embroidered the heraldry on my intimate clothes. This is out of respect for him. Frankly speaking, I am still honored to hide this title at the bottom of a fine-grained shirt.
Let’s say goodbye. Eliot said that he would arrive in the C? te d ‘Azur at the end of June, but he didn’t show up. He had arranged to send people from Paris and then arrived by car at a leisurely pace. But unfortunately, he received a report from Isabel that his mother’s illness had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. Eliot’s sister had a good family concept, so he took the first boat in Cherbourg and returned to Chicago from new york. He wrote to tell me that Mrs. bradley was seriously ill and thin. She might last for a few more weeks, at most, but in his opinion, He said that the high temperature in Chicago was not as unpleasant as expected, and he didn’t care about the lack of decency, because he was also concerned at that time. He said that the reaction of American compatriots to the Great Depression was too disappointing for him. He came, and they knew how to watch some Eliot’s words. After all, the losses were borne by others, and he was now sitting in the past without wealth. I’m afraid he didn’t qualify for this harsh letter. At the end, he asked me to send a message to a few friends. I must remember to tell everyone why his villa was not released this summer.
Within a month, I received a letter from him again saying that Mrs. bradley had passed away. The words in the letter were sincere and touching. I knew that he was actually kind and affectionate even though he was snobbish. Otherwise, I would not have expected that he would write this letter in such a decent, sincere and simple way. It seemed that Mrs. bradley’s funeral was a bit chaotic. Her eldest son was a foreign official. Because he was away from Japan, he had to take a vacation to return to China. When I first met the bradley family, he sent the Philippines and later transferred back to Washington to take an important position in the National Academy. He came to Chicago with his wife when his mother was dying, but he had to go back to Washington immediately after the funeral. In view of this, Eliot felt it necessary to stay in the United States and handle all the affairs. Mrs. bradley divided the property equally among the three children. She lost a lot in the stock market crash in 1929. Fortunately, they later found a buyer for Marvin Farm. In Eliot’s letter, the farm was called Dear Louisa Township.
He wrote that it is sad for a family to be reduced to selling their ancestral property, but many of my British friends have been forced to do so in recent years, so my nephew Isabel has to be brave enough to accept it calmly in the face of the law. This is what the gentry should bear.
They also sold Mrs. bradley’s house in Chicago. Fortunately, our ancestors planned to tear down that row of houses and turn it into a multi-storey apartment building. However, Mrs. bradley was stubborn and determined to die in her own house, so the plan was not put into practice. Mrs. bradley died before her feet, and the horse was agreed, but even though this inheritance still enabled Isabel to make ends meet.
After the stock market crash, Gray tried hard to find a job, even went to a brokerage firm that barely survived the financial turmoil to see if he could be an office clerk, but he hit a wall everywhere. He also sent resumes to his old friends, and the salary for the job position was no matter how humble, but he still sank into the sea. He tried his best to stop the damage but suffered from anxiety and humiliation, which finally led to a mental breakdown. Now he has a severe headache, and he can’t move around for 24 hours. Later generations are like a wet rag. Isabel thinks the best way is to move to South Carolina. The state farm asked Gray to take good care of himself. I thought that the farm could earn 100,000 yuan a year by selling rice. Now the oak forest in the barren moor attracts wild duck hunters at best, but they can’t find buyers everywhere. They will go there after the Great Depression. Now they plan to stay there for a while until the economic situation improves and Gray finds a job.
I will never allow Eliot to write that an old friend’s life is no different from that of a pig. Isabel has no maid to wait on the children and no nanny to take care of two black women, so I will let them live in my apartment in Paris first, and then I will arrange for someone to help them when the economy of this great country improves. In fact, my cook is a good cook. After all, it is not difficult for me to find someone else to help. Isabel can buy clothes or have some fun for her family, which means that I will stay in the blue sea a lot. Shore, old friends, I hope you can meet more often. According to the situation in London and Paris, I’d rather live in the C? te d ‘Azur and meet people with similar interests there, but I still go to Paris for a few days from time to time and don’t mind having a big meal at the Ritz. It’s gratifying that I finally said what I meant. Isabel Gray will bring them with her when the necessary things are arranged. Alas, the quality is poor and it’s hard to tell whether it’s true or not. It will be sold in another week. I think they will live in their hometown until the end, so I will take them to the Delecque
Eliot is snobbish, but who can deny that he is also the most kind, considerate and generous giver?
chapter four
one
After the Matulin family settled in the spacious apartment on the left bank, Eliot was able to return to the C? te d ‘Azur at the end of the year. The design of his house here was based on his own convenience, so he could not accommodate four families, so he was willing to live with them. I don’t think he was upset about this. After all, he knew that his niece, nephew and son-in-law were alone, but he held a small banquet. He was painstaking about it, and it was really difficult to arrange it if he had to count them in every time.
After they settled in Paris, it was absolutely beneficial for them to adapt to a life of literature. Besides, the two girls have reached the age, and I also found a school near the apartment. The quality is absolutely not to mention.
So I didn’t meet Isabel until the next spring. At that time, I had to stay in Paris for a few weeks because of work, so I rented two rooms in a hotel near Vendome Square. This hotel is not only convenient to live, but also has a certain mood. It is an atrium mansion with a history of nearly 200 years. It is even more difficult to satisfy if you don’t pay attention to the pumping system. The bedroom is painted white iron bed with old-fashioned white bedspread, simple mirror closet, but the living room furniture is antique. Although it is uncomfortable, the couch and armchair are all gorgeous in Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte. The house decoration with fancy aesthetic feeling makes people go back to the French novelist’s time. I stare at the glass-covered imperial clock and think of a beautiful woman with ruffled hair. Maybe she looked at the clock and waited for Hasnek to visit her home. Hasnek is a Balzac pen character with adventurous spirit. In one novel, she climbed from obscurity to prosperity, and another Balzac pen character doctor, Pian Xun, may have visited here to consult a lawyer from other places in Paris, but she was affected. Wind-cold aristocratic widow feels the pulse and feels the tongue. Dr. Pi Anxun is a real person for Balzac. When he died, he also said that Dr. Pi Anxun saved me. Maybe at that table, a spoony woman with her hair in a petticoat wrote a letter to a heart breaker lovingly, or a bad-tempered old gentleman wrote an angry letter to a spendthrift in a green coat and scarf.
On the second day after I arrived in Paris, I asked Isabel if it was convenient to visit at five o’clock in the afternoon, and to have tea and catch up. After all, we haven’t seen each other for ten years. Isabel was reading a French novel. As soon as she saw me, she got up, shook my hands and greeted me with a warm and charming smile. She was alone several times, but once I saw her attitude, I immediately felt that we were like old friends who I hadn’t seen for a long time, not ordinary ones. Ten years passed and the gap between girls and middle-aged men was shortened. I no longer realized that we were two. Age disparity, she has become sophisticated, and a lot of compliments are properly handled. Within five minutes, we talked frankly and without awkwardness. It’s a childhood friend’s habit to meet regularly, and Isabel’s gestures exude grace and calm charm.
But what surprises me most is the change of her appearance. As far as I can remember, she looks bright and strong, but she is close to the edge of obesity. I don’t know whether she noticed it and tried to lose weight or whether it was a postpartum accident. Fortunately, she is slim, fashionable and graceful. She is dressed in black. I took a glance and found that her silk gift was ordered by a high-end jewelry store in Paris, which was neither too simple nor gorgeous, but she was casual and trusting. Although Eliot was born to wear famous brand materials for her ten years ago. Mary Louise of the Florimon family can’t say that she is not elegant anymore. Now she is not elegant, even painted with pink nails. Her facial features have become delicate. I also find that her nose bridge is the most straight and beautiful I have ever seen. The theory is that there is no wrinkle on her forehead or light brown eyes. Although her skin is not as radiant as a girl’s, it is meticulous. Obviously, it is because of frequent application of lotion and cream massage that her skin is more tender and translucent, which makes her thin cheeks look pale. Light rouge lipstick was properly painted, while bright brown hair was cut ear-high and curled. She didn’t wear a ring. I remembered Eliot’s saying that she sold her jewelry. Her hands were not small, but they looked good. At that time, women wore short dresses during the day. She wore light yellow stockings and her legs were slender, which caused many women to look good. Isabel’s biggest shortcoming in her childhood appearance was that her legs were very beautiful today. In fact, she used to rely on her youthful and energetic characteristics, but now she really became beautiful. What discipline did she observe and how much she suffered to get this beauty seems to matter.I can’t help but think that she has been sculpting art for many years. These four months in Paris are equivalent to the final finishing, that is, Eliot’s strict standards, and I have to praise her changes. It seems really shocking to people who are easy to please here.
Gray was playing golf in Mott Fontaine. Isabel said he would be back soon.
You have to meet my two daughters. They just went to Dululi Park to play, but they are going home soon. Both children are very good.
We gossip a lot. She lives in Paris. It’s quite comfortable for her family to live here in Eliot. Before she left Paris, she introduced some friends to them, so they are now in a good circle. Eliot wants them to follow his example and have a wide range of banquets.
It makes me laugh to death. We are poor but rich.
Is it really that bad?
She giggled and I couldn’t help recalling her charming little smile ten years ago.
Gray is penniless now, and I earned almost as much as Larry before. I didn’t want to marry him at first, and I thought I couldn’t live on this money. Who knows that it’s ridiculous that I still have two children, right?
I’m glad you know how to laugh.
Have you heard from Larry?
Me? I haven’t heard that I haven’t seen him since you came back to Paris. I know some of his former contacts and asked them about Larry, but it was many years ago. No one knows anything about him. He seems to have evaporated.