Chapter 134: The Date

 Upon hearing Joseph's request, Fouché paused for a moment and then smiled, "I understand. But Mr. Bonaparte, you'll be returning to Toulon soon, and this seems a bit far for a meeting, doesn't it?"

Joseph also smiled and replied, "It's a bit far, but there's not much we can do about it."

"Mr. Bonaparte, I saw that girl at Armand's funeral, and she seemed like a good person. To maintain composure in such a situation, she'd make a good wife. But, Mr. Bonaparte, why don't you find a way to bring her back to Toulon?"

"She still has her parents in Paris, and they are ill," Joseph shook his head. "We'll figure something out later."

"Oh, by the way, I need something from you," Fouché said.

"What do you need?"

"I need some 'sweet melons'," Fouché said. "Don't look at me like that; I don't plan to cause trouble in Paris. You know, the work I'm doing now often involves dealing with some gangsters, people who can do things that ordinary folks can't. But many times, you have to let them know that you have the ability to cause trouble. Otherwise, they won't take you seriously, and sometimes they might even want to eliminate you."

"I see," Joseph said. "Come to my place the day after tomorrow, and I can provide you with some. But Mr. Fouché, you need to be careful when dealing with these people."

"I need 'sweet melons' mainly for intimidation. The best form of intimidation is to do nothing," Fouché chuckled.

"You're an expert in that regard. Oh, by the way, does Miss Fanny know you?"

"I saw her at Armand's funeral, but I doubt she noticed me."

"I have something for her the day after tomorrow, and I'd appreciate it if you could give it to Miss Fanny. You'll have a chance to meet her, and I'll rely on you to take care of her in the future," Joseph said with a smile.

After bidding farewell to Fouché, Joseph's business in Paris was almost complete, with only the date the following day remaining. For Joseph, going on a date with a girl was not an unfamiliar experience, but meeting a girl in a cemetery, whether in this life or the last, was indeed a first. In the previous life, if he had asked a girl out and sent her a message saying, "Are you free? If not, would you like to take a stroll in the park?" he would have probably been blocked immediately.

The next morning, Joseph brought a bouquet of flowers and arrived at Fanny's home in a light carriage. He parked the carriage and knocked on Fanny's door.

It wasn't difficult to take Fanny out of her home, and in fact, the Marquis was pleased that someone was interested in dating his daughter. Though by modern standards, Fanny was still quite young, in this era, she could already be considered a spinster.

As Joseph led Fanny, they quickly found Armand's grave under Fanny's guidance. The grave was still relatively new, with a gravestone that read: "Playwright, Republican Soldier, Author of Spartacus, Armand Lavasie."

Joseph removed his hat, placed the bouquet of flowers in front of the gravestone, and stood by Fanny, who was silently shedding tears.

"Armand, I'm sorry it took me so long to visit you," Joseph said. "The situation in France right now, to be honest, isn't very good. Everyone's struggling, but rest assured, I'll take care of your family for you."

As he spoke, he reached out and held Fanny's hand.

Fanny didn't say anything but continued to cry silently. Joseph didn't know how to comfort her, so he offered her a handkerchief.

Fanny took the handkerchief but suddenly burst into tears.

Joseph understood that she had been holding back for too long, and this outpouring of emotions was likely a relief for her. He reached out and gently stroked her hair. Unexpectedly, Fanny hugged him tightly, burying her head in his chest and sobbing uncontrollably.

Joseph felt a bit awkward, but he looked at Armand's gravestone and reached out to embrace Fanny. After crying for a while, Fanny gradually stopped and raised her tear-stained face from Joseph's chest.

"Sir, I'm sorry, I..." she began.

"It's okay; you can think of me as your family, as a brother," Joseph said sincerely. However, when a man tells a woman to think of him as a brother, it usually means there are no ulterior motives. But if he says he hopes she thinks of him as a brother, that's a different story. He might be harboring less-than-noble intentions.

Joseph likely had some of these less-than-noble intentions, so he continued to stroke her hair and said, "Look at your tear-streaked face. You cried like a little kitten. When we go back, your father might think I've been mistreating you."

While saying this, Joseph took the handkerchief from her and wiped away her tears. Then he hugged her again.

Fanny cried for a while before gradually stopping. She pulled away from Joseph's embrace, and Joseph knew she needed that release. She had leaned her head on his broad shoulder, a safe place to lean on.

After a while, they heard some commotion nearby. It seemed that someone was approaching. Fanny was startled, and she quickly pulled away from Joseph. They both looked in the direction of the noise and saw a few people heading elsewhere.

"It's probably others here to pay their respects, like us," Joseph said.

"Not like us... we've been here for a while already," Fanny whispered. "We should go back."

"Alright," Joseph said. He turned back to Armand's grave and said, "Armand, we're leaving now. We'll visit you again in the future."

Then he took Fanny's hand and turned to leave the cemetery.

Joseph thought, "If Armand, this overprotective brother, could see someone hugging and comforting his sister by his grave, he would probably be furious enough to crawl out of the grave." He couldn't help but glance back, but of course, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. After all, we're writing a historical novel, not "From Dusk Till Dawn."

The two of them left the cemetery and got back into the carriage. The midday sun was strong, so Joseph raised the carriage's canopy and drove back.

Perhaps tired from crying, Fanny fell asleep quickly on the swaying carriage. She rested her head on Joseph's shoulder and held onto his arm.

After a while, the carriage reached the city hall area, where it became more crowded and slowed down. The noisy surroundings woke Fanny, and she quickly sat up, adjusting her appearance. They were close to her home.

At that moment, a newsboy ran past the carriage, holding a stack of newspapers and shouting, "News, news! Victory on the Belgian front, our forces win, General Joubert wounded."

Joseph saw that it was crowded up ahead, so he stopped the carriage and called the newsboy to buy a newspaper from him.

"What's happened on the front?" Fanny asked.

"I'll check... Ah... the news is not very clear, but it seems our forces have defeated the Austrians again, though General Joubert was wounded in the battle. It doesn't specify the extent of his injuries. Let's hope it's not too serious," Joseph said.

The news in the newspaper was accurate, but the details about Joubert's injury were indeed not clear. In reality, Joubert had been wounded by a "sweet melon" thrown by one of his own men.

After the Thermidorian coup, the production of military supplies had been severely disrupted and damaged. Joubert's army was increasingly short of "sweet melons." On the other hand, the Austrians always had plenty of "sweet melons" to throw. So, Joubert had suffered a series of defeats.

However, more recently, new munitions factories had started operating, and new "sweet melons" with various brand names began to flow into the army. With a sufficient supply of "sweet melons," Joubert launched a counteroffensive and once again defeated the Austrians, forcing them to retreat. However, it was in this battle that a French soldier, not surnamed Bonaparte, threw a "sweet melon" toward the enemy. Unfortunately, the fuse of this particular "sweet melon" seemed faulty, and it exploded in his hand as he pulled the fuse, killing him instantly. Even General Joubert was injured, as a piece of shrapnel hit him.

Of course, Joseph learned these details from Fouché after the events.