At noon on Sunday, just after lunch, Amand took Joseph to a café near the Bishop's Palace. The Bishop's Palace was the private domain of the Duke of Orleans, the eldest son of the old Duke, His Grace Duke Charles, who also had "Joseph" in his name, had transformed all the corridors of the Bishop's Palace into various stores and cafes. Because these places were the private territories of the great nobles, the kingdom police were not authorized to enforce the law here, so it became a place where commoners could freely enter and leave "outside the law".
In this way, this place became the center of illegal activities in Paris, and there was no one of them. All kinds of smuggling, contraband, and meetings of organizations conspiring against the Church and the King often took place here. This was a major meeting place for the later famous Jacobins.
The Duke of Charles, who provided all this and who later succeeded his father as the new Duke of Orléans, was himself a relative of the king and one of the largest feudal lords of France, but a staunch liberal and a devoted follower of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was a firm believer in the Enlightenment and advocated the establishment of an mínzhǔ, a secular constitutional monarchy in France, as well as the abolition of feudal covens and slavery.
Amand took Joseph and sat down at a window seat in the café. The afternoon sun was shining through the window on a bright red rose placed in the center of the table.
"It looks like we're a little earlier than Mr. DeNardi," laughed Amand. Amand laughed.
A waitress came up and said, "What would you like to order, gentlemen?
"Two coffees, please," Amand said.
The maid went back and soon came with a tray and placed two cups of coffee in front of them.
"Six sous." The maid said.
Duke Charles rented out the stores for very low rent, but he also had his requirements that the prices of the goods in these stores must be relatively cheap. Sometimes the Duke himself would put on his pants and pretend to be an ordinary man, wandering around the cafes, bars, and other stores.
Amand put eight sous coins into the waitress's tray. The waitress said thank you and turned around and left.
"Joseph, you can't stay in your own house, you have to come here often, you can meet all kinds of people here and learn more about things. Amand took a sip of coffee.
Joseph was about to answer but saw the door of the cafe was pushed open, an about forty years old, wearing a gray tweed short top of a man came in. As soon as he entered, he stretched his neck and looked in all directions.
Amand raised an arm and waved it at him. Then he said to Joseph: "This is Captain Denali, he is blinder than the brown bears in the Ardennes forest, he can't see very well from a little distance.
Thenardier has seen them, they stride over, their own hands pulled over a chair, in the two men sat down next to the laugh: "Amang, my eyes are indeed and brown bear blind, but my ears and nose also like the brown bear as sensitive, you say that my words, I heard them all. Haha ．．．．．． Well, this is Mr. Bonaparte, right? I am the director of the Dragon and Rose Theatre Company, Henry DeNardi. You can just call me Henry.
As he spoke, Denardi extended his hand to Joseph.
Joseph reached out and took his hand, saying, "Joseph Bonaparte. I am Amand's classmate ．．．．．．"
I'm a friend of Amang's." "A dead friend. Armand added from the side.
"You can also just call me Joseph," Joseph said. Joseph said.
"I think Amand has already told you why I'm here," Joseph said. We've required a well-educated playwright for a long time," said DeNardi. I've been thinking about Armand for a long time. But this guy, Amang, is lazy, does a lot of things, ask him for a favor, and always has to wait a long time. The idea you gave us last time was great, especially during the curtain call, the audience's applause almost lifted the roof. In addition, I read some of your translated scripts, and with Amand's recommendation, Joseph, I think you can take over Amand's role completely. I just don't know if you're interested in coming to my small theater company to work part-time as a scriptwriter.
The door to the cafe was once again opened while the men were discussing ways to work together. This is also a normal thing, the cafe is a place where people come and go, it is the most common thing for people to come in and go out, they don't even bother to look there.
A middle-aged man in his thirties wearing a black hat with green eyes and a light red beard wearing long pants walked in. He looked in all directions and saw Amang and the others at once, and came straight over and said, "Amand, I didn't expect to meet you here.
"Ah ．．．．．． Mr. Phillip." The first time I saw him, I saw him.
"Why don't you introduce your two friends to me? The Phillip gentleman asked.
"Ah ．．．．．． Mr. Philip," Armand seemed a bit flustered, he hurriedly stood up to introduce two other people to Mr. Philip, "This is my classmate Joseph, Joseph Bonaparte. This is ．．．．．． This is Mr. DeNardi, the director of the Dragon and Rose Theatre Company ．．．．．．"
The first thing you need to do is to get to know the person you are talking to.
"There is no need to be so polite, everyone sits down. Mr. Philip said, "Let me introduce myself, I am a friend of Mr. Lavasi, Amang's uncle, so I know Amand. I have nothing to do today, so I came here to sit down, and I saw Amand, so I came to see him. Well, what are you all talking about?
"Mr. DeNardi is the director of the Dragon and Rose Theatre Company and a friend of mine. He needs to find a playwright with a high artistic appreciation. My classmate Joseph fits the bill, so I introduced them here. Amand replied.
"The Dragon and Rose Theatre Company?" Philip laughed, "Ah, the one who performed "The Governor of the Island", right? Well, it was a good show, I went to see it. Especially when the final curtain call, your Sancho suddenly stood up straight and was the tallest member of the cast, which was interesting. But the best thing is your intention, noble people may not be smart and upright, but lowly people can also be noble. The script is good! Who wrote the script?
Although he did not know the origin of this Mr. Philippe, he could tell from Amand's attitude and the fact that Philippe claimed to be a friend of Amand's uncle Lavoisier that this Mr. Philippe was not as common as he was dressed. He was most likely a man of great standing, even ．．．．．． A suspicion sprang up in the mind of De Nardi.
So he replied respectfully, "Mr. Philip, I made the script myself, and then Armand helped me to revise it, and it was completely different.
"Ah, Armand, it's good to hear that you've done something else that's meaningful. Philippe laughed, "Mr. De Nardi, well, Joseph, you were Amand's classmate, so I'll call you Joseph too. Drama is a great art that can influence many people and educate many people. I hope to see more good works from you in the future.
At this point, he stood up, raised his hat slightly, and said, "I see a friend of mine is here. I'll excuse myself.
With these words, he left their table and walked over to the other side.
Seeing that Philip had gone away, Thenardier lowered his voice and said: "Amand, this Mr. Philip ．．．．．．".
Amand also lowered his voice and said: "He is the owner of this place, His Royal Highness Louis-Philippe Joseph, Duke Charles. I didn't expect to meet him here.
"This is His Royal Highness Duke Charles?" Joseph was also surprised, "I don't think he's a great nobleman at all.
"His Grace is a different kind of nobleman, he and the Queen are the two extremes. Amand whispered.
Joseph had not studied history in his previous life, and he had only a cursory knowledge of the Revolution that would soon follow, but not of the crucial role played by the Duke, later called "Philip the Equal," in the Revolution. The only figures he could remember were the so-called "Jacobin triumvirate" of Robespierre, Marat, and Danton.
However, Joseph did not want to have too deep a connection with these people at this time, because the situation was too chaotic in the period after the Revolution began, and it was dangerous to be too close to whomever John beheaded Luke today and Matthew tomorrow. Joseph even planned to find an excuse to hide back in Corsica before the Revolution began.
The three men went on to discuss the modalities and rewards of their cooperation and then said goodbye to each other.
When they returned to their quarters, they saw Father Jean-Jacques approaching with a letter: "Ah, Joseph, you're back? Well, your brother has sent you a letter.
Joseph hurriedly took the letter, thanked Father Jean-Jacques, and went back to his room. Sitting down at the table by his small window, he picked up the small table knife that was placed on the table, cut open the envelope, and pulled out the letter and read it.
The contents of the letter were in fact what Joseph had known for a long time, that Napoleon had gotten the recommendation smoothly, and that in about a month, that is, about November 20, he would be able to leave for Paris.