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Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 11
Dr. Gold stirred and opened his eyes.- I fell asleep?"Yes, Michael," the vicar nodded. - You talked too long and overtired. Get some more sleep.But Gold shook his head.“I haven't told you even a tenth of what I should. And I don't have much time.The priest, knowing from experience that it was useless to argue with a friend, settled himself comfortably in his chair and prepared to listen.- As a child, I was cowardly and weak, - after a moment of rest, Gold continued, - and during the time that I told you about, and later - you will soon see this - I did a lot of meanness thanks to my fears. Because of them, I raved about the idea of becoming immortal. And although I had no doubt that the wish I had made would come true, this did not add to my courage.“You are too hard on yourself, dear friend,” interrupted the vicar.- Unfortunately no. Well, something, but I have learned to soberly evaluate my qualities and actions in four hundred years.- It turns out that the sorceress-sorc
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 12
After burying his father, Rene, with a heavy heart, began to sort things out. He arranged in the office of the provost the inheritance, which included a new house on the rue Saint-Paul and his father's glove business. René decided to leave the manufacture of gloves to the apprentices, and he himself looked forward to September, the date when Captain Dupe would accept him into the ordinance company. After the death of his father, Rene felt terribly lonely. Trying to forget himself, he spent whole days embroidering gloves made by apprentices, but the work did not bring him peace. Rene was depressed that he could not save his father, he felt responsible for the death of Claude. The only thing that was a little comforting was that in the stampede and horror that gripped the crowd, he was not afraid, did not panic and did not run when his father needed help, on the contrary, he tried to break through to him and save him. Remembering the dangerous situations that arose in his life, Rene was
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 13
Francis began his reign by deciding to retake the Duchy of Milan, which had been lost to Louis. He publicly announced that he would personally lead the army. Hasty preparations for the march began. The ordinance company of Captain Dupe was one of the first to act, at the beginning of August.Jacques Tillon and his best friend Henri Chretien were in the same detachment with Rene. Oddly enough, Rene and Henri quickly developed a good relationship. On the long march to the Alps, they supported each other, while Tillon kept aloof, looking sullenly at René.For almost a month the army reached the northern foothills of the Alps. The scouts sent by Francis returned with sad news: all convenient mountain crossings are occupied by the Swiss hired to protect Milan by the dukeMassimiliano Sforza. Francis developed a plan of incredible audacity, and the next morning his troops began crossing the Alps along the Argentière Pass, which was completely unsuitable for this. The road was laid among the
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 14
Two weeks later, when René was leaving the barracks, a ragged boy ran up to him and handed him a note. Unfolding it, Rene read with surprise: “Would it be nice for the beautiful Monsieur Legrand to visit the White Rooster tonight?” His heart was beating with joy, he looked at the boy and nodded. The boy immediately ran away. Rene went to the rue Saint-Nicolas, where there was a tavern.Approaching the "White Rooster", he saw the carriage and the same coachman sitting on the box. Noticing Rene, he descended to the ground, bowed low and said:- The lady is waiting for you, sir.- What is your name? Rene asked.The coachman bowed again.- Xavier, sir.Rene nodded and went up the already familiar back stairs to the second floor. Once in a narrow corridor, he saw several doors, one of them was ajar. He pushed her and ended up in the same room as two weeks ago. Madeleine lay on the bed, her eyes glittering mysteriously in the candlelight. Rene looked at her and felt that he was losing his h
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 15
With the onset of summer, Rene, as planned, left the service in the ordinance company. He again took up the glove trade, but, unlike his father, he perceived it not as a matter of life, but as a step towards something more important. He thought about opening a glove shop separate from the workshop and about joining the guild of merchants, which had great weight in Paris.Rene walked around the city in search of a suitable place for his shop. At first he wanted to buy his old house on the Rue Saint-Denis, but then he abandoned this idea, deciding to find something closer to the quarters where the nobility lived.Once during such a search, passing by some inn, Rene saw Madeleine's carriage. His heart skipped a beat and seemed to stop. He approached the carriage - it was empty. Rene went into the tavern and looked around. The hall was lined with roughly knocked together wooden tables, behind which townspeople, peasants, military men sat on benches. In the opposite wall, a niche was visib
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 16
Gold pressed his lips and sighed heavily. He seemed to be gathering his strength before telling something very important to him.“It happened,” he began, clearing his throat, “at the end of July 1524. The summer was hot and dry, sometimes in one or the other end of the city wooden houses caught fire. I remember walking home after a workshop meeting. Turning down a small street, I suddenly heard screams and smelled smoke. I quickened my pace and soon reached the house, enveloped in the flames of a fire. People were rushing around with buckets, there was noise and bustle. But there was little benefit from this, the house burned so badly that there was no way to put it out. Some daredevils rushed inside the house, but immediately ran out, choking and coughing.Moving to the other side of the street, I looked up and saw with horror that a girl of five years old was standing on a small balcony of a burning house. Fear froze on her face, she did not cry, did not call for help, she simply lo
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 17
That March day, Genevieve gave him a couple of deniers and sent him to the grocer's. François ran out into the street and thumped his boots on the cobblestones. Hearing someone call to him, he turned around and saw Andre, the ten-year-old son of their neighbor, Madame Bugeaud. The boy overtook François, and they walked side by side.“Oh, it would be summer already,” Andre muttered, wrapping himself in a cape, and suddenly, for no reason at all, asked, “they say you will soon have a new dad?”- What-oh? François was surprised.- Well, how. That gentleman who visits your mother is obviously going to marry her, we all think so. A prominent guy, you will not say anything. And what a cloak! Not like my rag.François was silent, trying to comprehend what he had heard. So Genevieve has a boyfriend? He felt a burning jealousy. However, this was to be expected, she had been alone for too long.Andre looked at him in surprise.- You didn't know anything?- Nuu ... how can I tell you ... Tell me
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 18
François went to Montferrand, where Anna de La Tour lived. As we moved east, there were fewer and fewer villages on the way, and on the third evening after leaving Limoges, Francois could not find a single settlement where one could stop for the night. After spending the night in the field and eating the remnants of cheese, which he was provided with in the last village he passed, he continued on his way.By evening, a forest appeared ahead, huge and dark. The road went straight through it. Before reaching the forest, exhausted and hungry, François settled down for the night. For the whole day he did not meet a single village. “What should I do now?” he thought. “The forest, apparently, is rather big, it may take several days to go through it, but there are probably no villages there. What will I eat? And where will I sleep?”With these gloomy thoughts, he imperceptibly fell asleep, and in the morning, hungry and chilled, he cautiously moved towards the forest.He was walking down the