At a time when the whole of France was already in a state of restlessness, even the upper echelons of the country were not alone, and they were also planning, worrying, and encouraging for their own future.

The Duke's Palace of Treville was already brightly lit and full of friends.

The long dining table was filled with people, and servants were constantly shuttling back and forth, serving exquisite dishes one after another. These guests were all nobles from famous families, and they were also the backbone of the royalist party.

Since the outbreak of the revolution in February, the Dukes of Treville and his family have made their position so direct and practical that they no longer intend to hide their position, and often hold meetings of royalist officials in their homes, and the banner of orthodoxy has been openly eraught.

The Duke of Treville, who was sitting on the throne, still expressionless, gently picked up the wine glass in front of him.

"Cheers to His Majesty the King, and to Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess!" He toasted softly.

"Cheers!" The others likewise raised their glasses.

His Majesty the King he was talking about, of course, could not have referred to Louis-Philippe, who had left France in a hurry, but to King Henri Charles of France, the rightful heir of the Bourbon royal family, the leader of the royalists, who gave him the title of Henry V.

Her Royal Highness the eldest princess is Henry's aunt, the only living of Louis XVI's children, and the oldest of the living members of the Bourbon family.

At this time, he was usurped and exiled by Louis-Philippe. Her Royal Highness the eldest princess and her nephew are residing in Schloss-Frohsdorf, Austria, however, they certainly do not intend to give up their birthright to rule France. For many years, they had kept a close eye on France, waiting for the day when they would return to the throne and restore the orthodoxy of the Bourbon dynasty.

Since the name of the dinner party is actually a political gathering, of course, everyone here will not forget to discuss politics.

While eating, they kept chatting about the recent political developments and discussing the future action strategy of the royal party.

As they chatted, a group of aristocrats couldn't help but complain about the financial frenzy and chaos that had recently swept the country. And there are also complaints about the new provisional government.

"Our family has also suffered a lot in the recent turmoil, the bank is close to closing, and the public debt cannot be repaid. We can only watch ourselves robbed! What the hell is this government for! There was anger in the speaker's tone. Those people can talk a lot, but they can't do anything! ”

"In my opinion, this is just the beginning, and I'm afraid it will be even worse in the future." The Duke of Navarran was equally indignant. "Everything sucks. This country has been punished by God and turned into the hands of the mob! It has gone further and further into the abyss of hell, and only we can save it......"

His words were unanimously agreed by the participants.

"Of course we have to save this country, but leave it to the king's majesty to rule, but this cannot be just lip service." The Duke of Treville's voice was still very cold, sounding like a basin of cold water on everyone, "All we can rely on is action. All we can believe in is strength, don't we? ”

After his words came out. There was a brief silence in the hall, and the prestige of the Duke of Treville among the crowd was evident.

"Yes, you're right, we can only accomplish our goals by strength." Duke Navarran nodded, "And not for a moment." ”

"That's fine." Duke Treville nodded calmly.

Then he turned his head and glanced at the other attendees.

"The reason why I have brought you all here is to inform you that I have recently received such an offer from the gentlemen of the Orleans faction......"

"The Orleanists?" The corners of one of the attendees' mouths twitched slightly, as if they had heard some dirty words, "What do you have to say to this group of nasty embryos?" ”

As a royalist, it is of course full of hatred for the Orleanists who support the Orleans family for so many years.

"While they may indeed be nasty, at least for now, they may be useful to us." The Duke of Trevil glanced at him again, silencing him.

"What did he say?" Another asked.

The others also cast their eyes on the Duke of Trevile, full of doubts and expectations.

The Duke took another sip of wine unhurriedly, and only respoke after whetting the appetite of the others.

"Those gentlemen asked me...... Now, can we put aside our old grievances and work together – and to that end, they can accept the throne of King Henry V. ”

His words caused a burst of stunned exclamation.

The Duke of Tréville immediately explained in detail.

"Their proposal was that Monsieur d'Orleans had become increasingly ill since he had left the throne and fled France, and that he would probably die within a year or two. And after his death, these Orleanists were able to accept our king as their adherent. ”

After listening to his explanation, even louder exclamations came and went in the living room, and everyone looked at each other in surprise.

However, after thinking about it for a while, they quickly figured out the mystery.

The artillery fire of the three days in Paris destroyed the July Dynasty, but it was not enough to destroy the entire system that the dynasty had once established, and most of its ruling institutions were still preserved after the Revolution, while many officials and parliamentarians were still in power. In other words, although the composition of the government was extremely chaotic because of the revolution, the original rulers, that is, the supporters of the July Dynasty, still had great influence and power.

However, as vested interests of the previous dynasty, after the new government came to power, they were definitely regarded as the target of public criticism and became the target of attack, and they certainly will not be willing to withdraw from the stage.

In order to maintain their power and influence, they came up with the idea of temporarily merging the royal party and the Orleanists to regain power in France.

"A surprising proposal, but it's in line with what this group of people have always done when they see the wind and rudder." After thinking for a while, the Duke of Navarran also spoke again, although there was a hint of disdain for the old enemy in his tone, but there was no resistance, "So, what are their conditions?" ”

"They can support His Majesty to re-ascend to the throne, but they hope that His Majesty will retain their throne when he comes to power, and that His Majesty will retain the property rights, concessions, and other special benefits that they have received from Monsieur d'Orleans...... "The Duke of Treville's account fluctuates without fluctuations," and ...... They also hoped that His Majesty would marry his future children into the Orleans family so that the two families could become one. If His Majesty had no children, they hoped that His Majesty would make the Count of Paris, the grandson of Monsieur de Orleans, his direct heir. ”

[In November 1846, Henry V married his cousin, Marie Teresa, daughter of the Duke of Modena, and the two never had children, and the main branch of the French Bourbon family was officially declared extinct with Henry's death in 1883.

After Henry's death, according to the theoretical rules of succession, the Orleans family, which was closest to the Bourbon lineage, was supposed to inherit his political position, but a large part of the royalists still refused to accept the Orleans family at that time. 】

His words once again caused a commotion in the living room, and this time the commotion was even more infuriating.

"Phew! This group of nasty embryos is so beautiful to think! To serve these usurpers as lords, I would rather die! One of the attendees shouted out.

"That's right! How much has this group of obscene embryos caused us to suffer in the past ten years? Now they want to run to us and wagging their tails and beg for mercy, and they want to touch our light? Think beautifully! Another nobleman cursed, "These bastard embryos deserve to die!" ”

The main members of the royalist party were the big landowners represented by the old aristocracy, who had already suffered enough and accumulated enough hatred in the policies implemented after the establishment of the July Dynasty; The supporters of the Orleans faction, on the other hand, were the bourgeois nouveau riche who emerged from the Revolution, and their differences would never end with the abdication of Louis-Philippe himself, nor would they forget the past enmities because of this.

Their differences stemmed not only from the ideology of orthodoxy or not, but also from their own positions and interests, and the nobles remembered how they were suppressed by the July Dynasty at that time, and how their hereditary privileges were deprived by the July Dynasty (the House of Lords seat changed from hereditary to the king-appointed, the primogeniture was abolished, and the economic policies of those who attacked the large estates); And those who supported the July dynasty would not like a repeat of the Bourbon policy in any case, nor would they want the die-hard aristocratic supremacists to come to power.

Therefore, the road to the convergence of the two factions still seems to be extremely heavy and long......

Seeing this group of excited looks, the Duke of Tréville shook his head secretly, he already knew in his heart that this proposal could only get such a result from his "fellow party", and among this group of people who clinged to the glory of the past, few people were willing to think that what politics needed most was compromise.

Shouldn't there be a temporary compromise for the sake of coming to power? If you can regain power, wouldn't it be a matter of one sentence to renege on the agreement when the time comes?

He whispered in his heart.

Just then, his granddaughter, Charlotte, hurried into the hall, then walked up to him, and whispered a few words in his ear.

After hearing this, the Duke frowned.

Then he turned to look at his comrades.

"Gentlemen, I have already conveyed to you what has just happened, and we can discuss it later, and now I have more important news to tell you."

There was still no anger on the duke's face.

"From a friend in England, there has just been a message. Louis Bonaparte was about to return home. (To be continued......)