Chapter 8 lord's suspicion

Tom was taken to a magnificent hall that he had never been before, and sat in a luxurious and comfortable chair.Earl Havert and the attendants who followed him stood upright beside him. Tom felt very sorry and asked them to sit down one by one, as if begging them. "Please sit down, sit down quickly." No one knew that the people who were persuaded to sit down did not speak, but bowed their heads in salute, with a look of fear and sincerity.Because according to royal protocol, no one is allowed to sit down in front of the prince. Still, Tom kept pleading.The Prince's uncle, Earl Haft, whispered in Tom's ear: "Your Highness, please stop trying to persuade me. These attendants cannot sit down in front of you...Your Highness, please calm down, no matter what happens Things, you just have to follow the rules as usual."

Tom blushed when he heard this. At this time, Lord St. John, the king's close minister, came in from the outside, and after saluting Tom respectfully, he said with a serious face: "Your Highness, I am here at the king's order. Your Highness, except Earl Hafter, please order everyone else to retreat." After hearing this, Tom didn't know what to do, so he turned his head and looked at Havert who was standing beside the chair.Havert said softly to Tom again: "Oh, have you forgotten the signal for people to back down? You raised your right hand to your chest, and waved your hand to signify backing down. You don't need to speak."

Tom did as Havert said, and he waved his hand slightly.The attendants immediately saluted neatly and retreated from the hall. Lord St. John then cautiously reported: "Your Majesty the King, please remember: Although you are sick, you must put the country's overall interests first. First of all, please don't speak randomly, for example, saying that you are not real. His Royal Highness, living in the palace will be very scary. In order to maintain the dignity of the prince, when you are uncomfortable or unhappy, don't forget the etiquette that the prince should observe. "In addition, His Highness, please try your best to restore the previous memory, try to remember the people in the palace, and be able to tell who everyone is. Even if you can't think of it for a while, I hope you don't say it.

"No matter inside or outside the palace, when His Royal Highness doesn't know what to do or what to say, please keep calm and calm, and ask Earl Havert or me quietly. It is best not to let everyone find out. , the two of us will be by your side to help you. His Majesty the King means that during your illness, the two of us will be by your side anytime and anywhere... Finally, from the king down, all the servants are praying God, I wish His Royal Highness a speedy recovery, this is the blessing of the country and His Royal Highness." Lord St. John finished his report in a heavy and mournful tone, then bowed and withdrew.Tom received the order, as if he had heard the final judgment, and muttered to himself: "Well, since His Majesty the King has issued such an order, then I have no choice but to follow the order for the time being."

At this time, Earl Havert asked next to him: "Your Majesty the King said just now that His Majesty will temporarily stop reading recently to avoid overwork. Then let's play some lighter games now, shall we? It's not good to look tired at a dinner party." Tom has decided to wait here for the return of the prince.Although now he has to face the situation of being embarrassed and in a dilemma. Oh, it's really hard to stay here... Therefore, Tom carefully discussed with Earl Havert: "I'm very tired now, and I still have a headache. I want to rest quietly for a while, okay?"

Earl Havert replied: "Well, do you want to rest? Yes, this is very good. I will give orders immediately." So he rang the bell, and the servants came in at once, and Earl Haft told them to help Tom into the inner room to rest. When Tom came into the inner room, he was very tired. He sat on the divan and said in a hoarse voice: "I want a drink." Immediately a servant brought a cup of water on a golden plate, and knelt at Tom's feet. Tom grabbed the glass and drank all the water in it in one gulp.The water moistened Tom's thirsty throat and looked extra sweet. Tom felt better after drinking the water, so he reached out to take off his leather shoes.

At this time, a servant saw it and ran over to take off Tom's leather shoes.Another servant also flew over to put on slippers for Tom. Tom was just about to take off his coat, when the dress-servant hurried up, undressed him, and put him into another, soft and comfortable one. Tom felt very strange and froze for a moment.No matter how big or small, there will be servants to do it for him. Tom thought to himself: "Leave those troublesome things alone, I'll lie on the couch and have a rest first." Unexpectedly, he couldn't fall asleep because of the chaos in his head.Tom wanted to calm down and think about what to do next by himself.But in a corner of the room, more than a dozen servants lined up neatly, waiting to serve him at any time. As long as he moved his hands or feet a little, they would rush over.Tom found the situation so unpleasant that he couldn't be quiet, let alone think.

Ugh-- Tom sighed a long sigh, and closed his eyes in displeasure. The servants thought to themselves, should the prince let them quit?However, after a long time, the prince still did not order them to go out, so they dared not move. Tom didn't even know it was time to tell the servants to "stand off" because he had long since forgotten about it. At this time, Lord St. John and Earl Hafter, who were still in the hall, were silent for a long time without speaking.For a while they paced up and down the hall; for a while they sat motionless in chairs.At last Lord St. John spoke: "Count!... Honestly... Don't you think it's a little strange?... I mean His Royal Highness..."

Earl Havert was very surprised, staring at him and asked: "Strange? What's strange? Tell me. There is no one else here except me, so you can tell." "Well. Although it is inconvenient to say this...but I decided to say it... However, His Royal Highness is your nephew, so I hope you will not be angry after hearing my nonsense. Please forgive me first. Now, I can say frankly, from my point of view, although His Royal Highness is a little insane now, don't you think his behavior is completely changed?" "Nonsense! That's because he was sick, which caused his behavior to be a little abnormal. Now, you say this..."

"No, it's not. Listen to me to explain to you! Yes, although his speech and behavior cannot be said to be completely unlike His Royal Highness, from another point of view, even if His Royal Highness is really crazy, how could he even be mad at the King?" Your Majesty—has he forgotten what his father looks like? Also, how could he completely forget all the ceremonies and etiquettes of the royal family that he is so familiar with? Besides, why does he only remember Latin, but nothing in French? I don’t remember either, don’t you think it’s strange? Besides, there are many things that people can’t figure out—what do you think? If it is true that he is not the real prince as he said, he also said Not sure... No, no, please don't be offended, Count. It would be good for the whole nation if you would use your judicious judgment to dispel my doubts and anxieties. I personally have such doubts. , it was extremely painful. However, the more I doubt it, the more..."

Hearing Lord St. John's worrying words, Earl Havert, whose face was livid with anger, was furious, and said angrily: "Shut up! You evil fellow! How dare you say such blasphemy and heinous words to His Highness! Don't say such disrespectful words again! For this matter, what did His Majesty say just now? Have you even forgotten the imperial decree? Do you want to be sentenced to death?" Lord St. John turned pale with fright.The imperial decree clearly stated: "Whoever speaks nonsense about His Royal Highness's illness will be sentenced to death." Thinking of this, he was even more frightened, so he begged Earl Haft for mercy: "Count, I was wrong. I I made a slip of the tongue just now. I just said it to you in private. Please keep it a secret for me. I know I was wrong. I will never dare to speak nonsense again in the future, and I won’t even think about it... Please spare my life , as long as you didn’t hear anything just now. Otherwise, I will really die a miserable death.” Earl Hafter's expression softened, and he replied: "Okay. If that's the case, I'll pretend I didn't hear anything. I don't have to pursue your crazy words just now, but you must remember: In the future, you must never have similar erroneous thoughts... In short, you don't have to worry. You think about it carefully: His Royal Highness is my nephew. As his uncle, how could I not recognize my nephew? From His Royal Highness From the moment he was born until now, I have watched him grow up day by day. I will never miss him." "Well, I see." "Although His Royal Highness is crazy, it's actually not serious. It's just that he's a little bit out of his mind, which is the lightest in madness. For example, the old Baron Marais, he went crazy when he was sixty years old, yes Looking at his own face for sixty years, when he looked in the mirror, he was so surprised that he shouted: "This is not my face, who is he?" No matter what his family told him, he just didn't believe it. Others said: 'My head is made of glass. If it breaks, it will be terrible.' So he forbids anyone to touch his head. The situation of His Royal Highness is very poor compared with him. It’s mild, and it will recover soon. We must serve him with all our heart so that he can return to normal as soon as possible.” "Yes. Please forgive my nonsense just now, and don't tell others. After listening to the count's analysis, I understand everything." Lord St. John left the hall after repeatedly begging Earl Haft to forgive him for his gaffe just now.At this time, Hafter was the only one left in the hall. He paced up and down the hall alone, thinking to himself: "What? He's not a prince?... Idiot, how could he not be a prince? If it's a twin brother, That makes sense, even if you search the whole world, you probably won't be able to find two people who are so similar?... Even if there are two people who are so similar, the prince will definitely not deal with such a humble person, or even exchange Costumes. Either way, I can't believe this..." Havert continued to think: "If he is not the real prince, then he will definitely emphasize that he is a prince. Think about some noble families in the local area. Anyone who pretends to be someone else must firmly emphasize that he is a prince. is the real heir of this noble family, this is just an ancient deception. But now the situation is that the king and all the courtiers think he is the real prince, no one has ever doubted him, but he insists that he Not the real prince. If it is a fake, how can there be such a stupid person in the world? So no matter how you analyze it, the prince is crazy, absolutely right. Yes, yes, it is obvious."