Chapter 1620: frog & fog (8)
While Gong Saiyi leafed through the documents, Lawrence's wife, Garcia, offered Severus a glass of Champagne.
She was about the same age as the maid, yet she seemed to glow with a pearly haze. Even though her husband had been coerced by a child of unknown origin, she remained calm and composed, as if she were used to this sort of life.
"How many couples have you handled divorce proceedings for?" Severus asked as he gazed out at the Parisian scenery.
"Hundreds." Garcia said. "Do you know why Prince Napoleon chose to divorce the Bourbon princess and marry a common Corsican woman instead?"
"Why?" Severus humored her casually.
"Because he no longer accepted his family's tradition of political marriages." Garcia smiled as she watched Severus's profile. "He chose to marry the woman he loved."
Severus gave a cold laugh. "That sounds very romantic."
"The old prince once joined Free France and even took part in the Normandy landings. Yet none of that was enough to end his exile and allow him to return to France. Napoleon returned only after his death, and his son Alexander the Great was the same. People shut out any force that threatens them, just like Charlie. Americans often treated him as another Napoleon," Garcia said softly. "At the time, many high-ranking Americans could not accept Teddy appointing Napoleon's grandnephew as Secretary of the Navy."
"What were they worried about? That Napoleon would lead America's army back into Europe?"
"They gave him a nickname: the Imperial Peacock. He once ordered the retired warship Constitution, the last vessel named by George Washington, to be sunk for target practice. It provoked intense outrage among the people of Boston. The wealthy joined forces to boycott him, and Teddy eventually had no choice but