Make France Great Again-Chapter 64 Victor Hugo

Since Princess Mathilde issued the order to cease all activities of the Bonaparte Faction recently at her mansion on Kusel Street, all the Bonaparte supporters in Paris halted their actions. They were like a viper lurking in the shadows, waiting for the two giants [the Proletariat and the Bourgeoisie] to determine a winner.

Once the giants decide a victor, the Bonaparte Faction will move again to seize the fruits from the winning side. By then, a weakened Paris will be unable to stop the Bonaparte Faction’s steps to victory.

During the Bonaparte Faction’s period of inactivity, as the temporary leader of the Bonaparte Faction, Princess Mathilde was not idle. She had her father, Prince Old Jerome, keep a close eye on the movements of the parliament together with Rue, while also using the guise of literature to invite influential and esteemed writers like Victor Hugo, Saint Beuf, Balzac, Dumas, Mérimée, and Madam George Sand, to glean more information about Cafenak from their conversations and to help her brother Jerome Bonaparte establish a good image in the literary world.

Thanks to the good image the Bonaparte Faction recently established and Princess Mathilde’s beauty, the invited literary figures of Paris did not refuse Princess Mathilde’s invitation. They attended the literary salon hosted by Princess Mathilde. The salon was held at Saint Gratian by the Angian Lake, which was Princess Mathilde’s second residence in Paris and her usual venue for hosting salons.

At 7 pm on June 27, as the sun was setting, the deep sky was dotted with countless stars.

Guided by those stars and moonlight, a deep black carriage slowly made its way to Madame Tilde’s Mansion and stopped.

As the carriage door opened, a lady dressed in a white court gown and holding an ivory fan stepped out.

When she reached the mansion’s door, the doors slowly opened, revealing Princess Mathilde in a blue gown with a string of pearls around her neck.

The lady gazed at Princess Mathilde in astonishment, then smiled and asked, "I’m not late, am I?"

"Madam George Sand, you’re the first to arrive!" Princess Mathilde warmly took George Sand’s arm and led her inside.

Like long-lost sisters, the two chatted as they walked, and the previously quiet mansion instantly buzzed with life. If one listened closely, the sounds of laughter could be heard from the second floor outside the mansion.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was already the set time of 8 pm.

In that one hour, Saint Beuf, Balzac, Dumas, and others arrived at the mansion one by one, with Victor Hugo being the only one absent.

As Victor Hugo had already surpassed the agreed timeframe, Mérimée, as Hugo’s "friend," decided to stand up and half-jokingly, half-seriously said: "Alright! Gentlemen, we can start! Only God knows how long that procrastinating Hugo will take! He might be reciting his masterpieces at some lady’s residence right now!"

Everyone at the salon smiled and turned their gaze to the salon’s organizer, Mathilde.

Sitting with George Sand at the time, Mathilde glanced at the clock on the wall, then stood up and nodded.

The literary salon officially began.

Saint Beuf was the first to open with sharp commentary on the recent surge of articles in Paris newspapers, prompting everyone present to eagerly participate, even Mathilde couldn’t help but join in.

Despite being the organizer of this salon, her literary talent was clearly not on par with the literati present, leading to some humorous mismatches during the commentary.

However, everyone present was aware of Mathilde’s skill level and did not make it difficult for her.

Even Saint Beuf, known as the "viper" of the Paris critique circle, gave a slight smile. Such a small mistake from a beautiful lady always finds forgiveness.

In the salon, Saint Beuf heavily criticized Balzac for his wordiness, remarking that he "wanted to put a punctuation mark on every word," to which Balzac only smiled. Of course, after mocking Balzac for being "money-obsessed," Saint Beuf proceeded to commend Balzac heavily.

[PS: Renowned literary figures in Paris are often paid by the line for their contributions.]

Nowhere in all of France, even all of Europe, was there another like Balzac, a human writing machine. The newspapers had a love-hate relationship with him.

They loved his talent, but hated his tendency to start new lines after just a few words.

As time passed, the atmosphere of the salon grew more and more lively.

Just as the atmosphere was approaching its peak, the servant tasked with guarding the entrance informed Princess Mathilde of Victor Hugo’s arrival.

"Gentlemen, Ladies, our main guest is about to arrive!" Mathilde gently gestured for silence.

All eyes turned towards the salon’s entrance as Victor Hugo opened the door and entered slowly.

His mischievous friend Mérimée was the first to start clapping, and the rest followed his lead.

With fatigue written all over his face, Victor Hugo couldn’t even apologize before being met with continuous applause, and he looked at everyone present with bewilderment.

"Our main guest has arrived!" Mérimée said to Victor Hugo in a comical tone.

"Mérimée, you..." Victor Hugo looked helplessly at his old friend causing this ruckus, and he walked over to take a seat next to Balzac.

"Hugo, you look exhausted! What happened?" Balzac curiously asked the tired-looking Hugo beside him.

"Alas!" Victor Hugo sighed. He first apologized for not adhering to the schedule and then explained his reasons to everyone.

It turned out that ever since the National Assembly suspended the Executive Committee and issued the order appointing Cafenak as dictator, Lamartine had dragged his Romantic friend Victor Hugo to the suburbs of Paris in an attempt to persuade the workers there to lay down their arms to prevent extreme reactions from the Parisian military and workers.

With their rudimentary weapons, it was impossible for them to successfully oppose the government.

"Were you successful?" Mathilde asked.

"No... those workers clearly wouldn’t listen to us. They took us as government lackeys! Lamartine and I were both chased away!" Victor Hugo shook his head in disappointment.

"Oh, God! It seems a massacre is inevitable?" George Sand exclaimed, using her fan to cover her slightly open mouth.

"I’m afraid so! We might unfortunately witness a massacre! One half of the Republic will kill the other half of the Republic!"