Make France Great Again-Chapter 788 - 779: The Terrible Father-Son Relationship
The chatty Jerome 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 Jerome Bonaparte in confusion, as if asking what Jerome Bonaparte meant.
"The Louvre Grand Hotel, the best hotel in all of Paris!" Jerome Bonaparte introduced the Louvre Hotel to Prince Albert, then invited Prince Albert and others to enter the hotel.
When the Jerome 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!!" Jerome 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 name!" Prince Albert extended his hand and said with a smile.
"Your Highness, you overpraise me!" 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 name of Mr. Emile Pereire for a long time!" Prince Albert continued to tell Emile Pereire, "The Industrial Bank you and your brother founded, in just over five years, has become one of the major banks in all of France! Such a skill, I’m afraid I will never achieve in my lifetime!"
"Your Highness, as the saying goes, every profession has its specialization!" Emile Pereire humbly replied to Prince Albert, "My brother and I have only come this far by relying on the government’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 moment, Jerome Bonaparte interrupted the mutual flattery, "Alright! Everyone, let’s stop the mutual compliments! It’s almost time to dine!"
Emile Pereire quickly led the Victoria couple and the Jerome Bonaparte couple to a Baroque-style restaurant on the third floor of the Louvre Hotel.
Inside the restaurant, Jerome Bonaparte and the Victoria couple, arranged by Emile Pereire, sat at a round table.
The round table had 18 seats in total; Jerome 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, Jerome Bonaparte glanced at a spot two seats away from him. Smiling, he beckoned to Albert Edward, "Edward, come over here too!"
Upon hearing Jerome Bonaparte’s call, Albert Edward stood up but suddenly glanced at the slightly displeased Prince Albert, and he sat back down.
"Jerome, let Edward sit there!" Prince Albert said sternly to Jerome Bonaparte.
"Albert, educating children in this way is not right!" Jerome 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 Jerome Bonaparte.
Hearing his father, Albert, speaking so unreservedly in front of others, Albert Edward felt an unprecedented sense of grievance, wanting to become 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!" Jerome Bonaparte forcibly interrupted Prince Albert’s speech, then said to Prince Albert, "Albert, your method 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 sometimes 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 me.
I only hope he can live his life happily!
So don’t impose too much pressure on him!"
After speaking, Jerome Bonaparte beckoned to Albert Edward, "Come over! Don’t be afraid of your father!"
Under Jerome Bonaparte’s call, Albert Edward came over to him, keeping his head down, not daring to look at his father.
"Sit next to me!" Jerome Bonaparte patted the seat beside him and said to Albert Edward.
Albert Edward slowly sat down beside Jerome Bonaparte, feeling a warmth he experienced for the first time.
After a while, Emile Pereire appeared in the restaurant again.
He was holding a bottle of opened wine in his hand.
"Your Majesty, let me pour the wine for you!" Emile Pereire filled their glasses with red wine one by one, then, at Jerome Bonaparte’s instruction, poured freshly squeezed juice for the princes and princesses.
As the table was filled with dishes, Jerome 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 Jerome Bonaparte’s urging, raised their glasses to toast to the friendship between Britain and France.
After a drink, Jerome Bonaparte and the others began to dine.
The entire banquet lasted about an hour before it concluded. After dining, Jerome 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?" Jerome Bonaparte asked Albert.
"Of course, we’re friends!" Prince Albert replied to Jerome Bonaparte.
"In that case, there’s no such thing as trouble among friends!" Jerome 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 moment, Victoria said she wanted to visit the Paris Veterans Hospital and the Palace of Versailles...
"That’s fine!" Jerome 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 Jerome Bonaparte.
"Alright then!" Jerome Bonaparte shrugged.
Then Jerome Bonaparte called Emile Pereire over again, ordering him to properly arrange accommodations for the Victoria couple and the princes.
If anything went wrong, Jerome Bonaparte would hold him accountable.
Emile Pereire assured that he would properly accommodate Queen Victoria and her family.
Then, Jerome Bonaparte bid farewell to Albert, indicating he would come early the next morning to accompany them to the Century Exposition.
Prince Albert and Queen Victoria personally escorted Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta to the hotel entrance. Jerome Bonaparte and Augusta then departed the Louvre Grand Hotel by carriage.
On the way back to the Tuileries Palace, Empress Augusta told Jerome Bonaparte about her and Victoria’s discussion in the carriage.
"Victoria asked me if we would be willing to form an alliance through marriage!" Empress Augusta told Jerome Bonaparte.
"Marriage alliance?" Jerome 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 Jerome Bonaparte.
"Did you promise them?" Jerome 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!" Jerome Bonaparte mumbled quietly.
He certainly did not want the Victoria family’s hemophilia to be passed on to future generations.
