Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Three

The image of Dr. Louis Desfergus was always in Mary's mind.He saved her life, and then floated away.Fortunately, I found him again, otherwise I wouldn't even have a chance to repay him.On an impulse, Mary went to the dollar store and bought a finely crafted silver bowl, which she sent to the French embassy for Dr. Desfergus.The little silver bowl is nothing compared to the doctor's generosity and chivalry. That afternoon, Dorothy Stone said, "Ambassador, you have a doctor called Disfergus on the phone. Will you answer?" Mary smiled: "Yes, yes." She quickly picked up the receiver. "good afternoon!"

"Good afternoon, Madam Ambassador!" His French accent was full of joy. "Thank you for your precious gift. You are very kind. It would be a great pleasure to be of your service." "This cannot be summed up in the word service." Mary replied. "I really suffer from not being able to repay." The other party fell silent.After a while, he said, "Would you like to..." "Want what?" Mary demanded. "I didn't say anything, really." His voice became shy. "Say it." "Okay." He laughed unnaturally. "I wonder if you could have dinner with me some night? Well, you're a busy man, you must be..."

"I'd love to..." Mary interrupted hastily. "real?" She heard that his voice was full of joy again, and said, "That's right." "Have you ever heard of Tarrou's?" Mary had been there twice, but she replied, "I haven't heard of it." "Oh, that's great. I can show you a good look at the place. Are you free on Saturday night?" "I have to go to a cocktail party at six o'clock. We'll go together after the party." "Okay. You have two children, how about taking them with you?" "Thanks, they have a lot to do on weekend nights."

Why lie?Mary couldn't find the answer herself. The cocktail party was held at the Swiss embassy, ​​which was the highest-level reception, because the president of country A came to the reception in person. The President saw Mary and walked straight towards her. "Good evening, Ms. Ambassador." He squeezed her hand, reluctant to let it go. "I want to tell you that I am very pleased that your country has agreed to provide payment for goods to our country." "Your Excellency, we are also very pleased that your country has approved the church delegation to visit our country."

He waved his hands grandly: "The people of our country are not restricted, and everyone is free to come and go." "I know that. But, Mr. President, this is..." "Have you tried caviar? It's delicious." Louis Desfergus offers to drive Mary to the restaurant, but Mary asks Florian to drive her.She told Disfergus on the phone that she would be a few minutes late because she had to go back to the embassy to take down the conversation she had with the president of country A. Gunny on rotation.Seeing Mary, he stood at attention, saluted, and opened the door.Mary entered the office, turned on the light, and froze by the door, not daring to move.A slogan written in red paint on the wall came into view: Get out as soon as possible, or you will die!She exited the office with a pale face, and walked to the reception desk in a few steps.

Gunny stood at attention: "Ambassador, what are your orders?" "Gunny, well, who's been in my office?" Mary asked. "What's the matter, ma'am? I didn't see anyone go in." "Let me check the visitors register." She tried not to shake her voice. "Okay, ma'am." Gunny took out the register and handed it to Mary.Visitors not only record their names, but also register their visit time.She checked one by one from the time she left the office at 5:30, and found that there were about a dozen visitors. Mary looked up at the soldier on duty and asked, "Are the visitors on the register escorted into the offices?"

"Yes, Ambassador. We escort everyone who goes up to the second floor. What's wrong?" Mary ordered: "Please call someone into my office immediately, and paint off the mess on the wall!" She turned around and walked out quickly, otherwise she would feel sick and vomit. The telex wouldn't come until early in the morning. Dr. Luis Desfergus, who was waiting in the dining room, got up to meet Mary approaching. "Sorry, I'm late." Mary pretended nothing happened. He moved the chair for her: "It's okay, I received your call, and I am very happy that you can come to the appointment."

How she wished that she and him didn't meet for dinner tonight.She was restless and apprehensive.She clasped her hands, still trembling uncontrollably. He noticed her strangeness: "Madam Ambassador, are you uncomfortable?" "No," she replied, "I'm fine." Get the hell out of here, or die! "Give me a straight whiskey, please." She hated whiskey, but at the moment hoped it would calm her down. The doctor ordered wine, and then said: "It must be too difficult to be an ambassador, especially for a woman to be an ambassador in this country. People in country A don't look down on women very much."

Mary forced a smile: "Tell me about yourself." As long as she doesn't indulge in the nightmare just now, she is willing to listen to anything. "I'm afraid that what I have said is not very pleasant." "You said you had secret operations in Algeria, and those stories are nice." He shrugged: "We live in terrible times. I believe that everyone goes through danger to be safe in the end. Fighting terrorists, as the name suggests, is horrific indeed. But we must destroy them." His voice was passionate. He is like Edward, Mary pondered in her heart, Edward is also full of passion for his own beliefs.Dr. Desfergus is not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death. He dares to go through fire and water for his beliefs, and he will die.

He was still talking: "...if I knew, the price of my struggle would be the lives of my wife and children..." He paused, desperately grasping the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white. "Forgive me, how can I bring you here to listen to my grievances? Let me introduce you. The lamb here is good, very delicious and tender." "Okay," Mary replied. He ordered dinner and a bottle of fruit wine.The two talked while eating.Mary's mood gradually stabilized, and she forgot the red paint threatening slogans on the office wall.She was surprised to find that she could converse with the Frenchman.Stranger still, she felt as if she was talking to Edward.It's unbelievable that she shares the same tastes and sympathy with Louis.Louis Desfergus was born in the French countryside, and Marie was born in a small town in Kansas, the United States, five thousand miles apart, but the family background was the same.Louis' father was a farmer, and after all the hard work, he finally got his son into a medical school in Paris.

"Madam Ambassador, my father was amazing." "Ms. Ambassador? That's too formal a title." "Mrs. Ashley?" "Call me Mary." "Thank you, Mary." "You're welcome, Louis." Mary wondered about his personal life.He is handsome, talented, well-spoken, and talented. There must be many women who admire and pursue him.Does he have a soulmate of his own? "Have you considered remarrying?" She couldn't help but ask such a question. He shook his head in denial: "If you have met my wife, you will know how much I like her. There is no other woman in the world who can replace her in my heart." So is Edward, Mary imagined, and no man can take his place in my heart.But Louis is too unusual.People always need a partner. This is not a matter of replacing or not, but of finding a new partner to live with. Louis said: "... Later someone asked me if I would go to country A. I thought it was something new, so I agreed." He lowered his voice. "I admit, I don't have a good impression of this country." "yes?" "I don't mean the people of this country. The people are very good. I don't agree with what the government is doing." He looked around, afraid that someone would overhear. "I am very happy, my term is coming to an end and I am going back to France soon." Mary blurted out without thinking: "There are also people who are afraid that I will not go back to the United States." "what did you say?" Mary's words flowed down like a torrent.She described various incidents that took place in the office, especially the threatening slogan painted on the wall. "This is outrageous," Louis said angrily, "do you know who did it?" "have no idea." Louis said: "Can I talk about my impressions from the bottom of my heart? Since I know your identity, I have been thinking, why do people who know you fall for your charm?" Mary listened to him with interest. "Because you have brought a beautiful image of the United States, showing beauty, wisdom and enthusiasm. If you firmly believe that your cause is just, you should fight relentlessly. You can't leave, and you can't let people with bad intentions succeed in their schemes. .” Surely Edward would encourage her like this. Mary lay in bed thinking.Louis' confession moved her deeply.He is willing to go through fire and water for his career, even if he dies, what about me?But I hesitated to move forward and dragged out my life.Mary blamed herself.No one can kill me, no one can frighten me. She opened her eyes in the dark, her hairs stood on end, and she couldn't sleep at night. The next morning, Mike Slade brought two cups of coffee.The walls were clean, and Mike nodded frequently while watching. "I heard someone scribbled on your office wall." "Have you found out who did it?" "Not yet." Mike sipped his coffee. "I've personally checked the visitor register and can't see anything wrong." "That means someone inside the embassy did it!" "It's not a traitor, it's just that someone sneaked in and did it without telling the guards." "Do you believe in the latter possibility?" Mike put down his coffee: "No!" "I absolutely don't believe it." "What is the content of the slogan?" "Get out as soon as possible, or you will die!" He made no comment. "Who wants to kill me?" "I have no idea." "Mr. Slade, I would like to hear a straight answer. Do you think I am in danger and dying?" He looked at her and said meaningfully: "Ambassador, they assassinated Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Marin Grossa. We are all at stake. Therefore, my The answer was: 'Indeed it is!'" If you believe your cause is just, you should fight on.You can't go, and you can't let people with bad intentions succeed in their schemes.