Читать книгу: «Time Jumps. The Paradigm of Immortality», страница 4
CHAPTER 7. VERSAILLES
And here they are in Versailles, young, beautiful, dressed in luxurious fashion outfits. However, they are no longer Peter and Daria, but Count Petronel de Armand de Burlemont and Countess Dorian de Burlemont, representatives of the French nobility.
– How’s that? – Peter asked with a victorious smile.
– I don’t believe my eyes! – Daria exclaimed, beaming with childish delight.
The Comte de Burlemont stopped at the statue of the great Gaius Julius Caesar, whose cult was highly appreciated by French art connoisseurs.
– Suae quisque fortunae faber, – he recalled the saying of the great Caesar in Latin, and the Countess echoed it in the purest French:
– Each blacksmith of his own destiny…
It is hardly possible to describe the impressions of the Palace of Versailles. As soon as Countess Dorian crossed the threshold, her heart fluttered – the arrivals immediately found themselves in the thick of the events of the royal court.
– Now I’m going to see what I’ve been dreaming about all my life! – she thought.
Daria and Peter walked across the sparkling parquet floor across the hall.
The King ‘s senior chamberlain announced:
– Comte de Burlemont de Armand Petronel.
She heard his voice:
– We are happy to see you, Count, and admire the Countess, about whose beauty we have heard so much.
– Have you heard? – Daria was surprised, not daring to utter these words or even show it, but clearly flattered by His Majesty’s compliment. Peter, on the contrary, perceived these words differently: a burning jealousy pricked his heart, and a vague, cold anxiety arose in his soul…
The day after the reception in Versailles, Peter and Daria went for a walk in Paris. In the evening they went to the hotel, where they stayed for the night.
– How are you, honey? So many events! It’s nice, it turns out, to be in the role of the nobility and receive the attention of the king himself!
– I’m so stunned, I’m in an amazing fairy tale all day! Everything we have seen and heard today has deeply impressed my imagination. I feel elation, and at the same time, my beloved, I am tormented by forebodings.
Daria told Peter: it was just as dangerous to refuse the monarch as to accept his courtship favorably. Those ladies who became favorites of Louis XIV were in danger of being poisoned by competitors.
Peter thought about it, and then asked:
– Are we able to resist this? – and he answered himself: – Alas, no! Let’s not give in to despair! In any case, we are not in danger today.
– Shall we order a dinner worthy of an earl and rest from our misgivings? – Daria suggested.
– Let’s leave it as it is for now. Isn’t that enough for today? – Peter repeated Daria’s words, spoken by her in that former world.
Dasha appreciated the memory with dignity and smiled understandingly, throwing herself into the arms of her beloved. Secretly, sideways, she looked in the mirror by the huge bed in the boudoir: there were reflected two figures, female and male, similar to the actors from the movie about the three Musketeers, the treacherous Milady and the fearless D’Artagnan…
The beautiful Burgundy wine turned their heads, and they forgot themselves after love on satin sheets. When fatigue set in, Peter quickly closed his eyes and passed out. He dreamed that he was arguing with Julius Caesar about power and democracy, and Daria tossed from side to side and could not fall asleep for a long time: even during intimacy with her beloved, she could not forget the king’s gaze and felt his presence next to her with horror.
CHAPTER 8. COUNTESS DORIAN
After a sleepless night and painful thoughts, Daria initiated Peter into her plan: she would take any opportunity to have an audience with His Majesty, and then rely on the good will of the monarch. And who in the world could have predicted how the story would develop further? She secretly hoped that the king would not refuse her request related to their future fate. Peter was not so optimistic and believed that although Louis XIV was not distinguished by vindictiveness, he would hardly put up with a rival in his person. The king’s attention to his wife was fraught with imminent danger for him.
However, unfortunately, events developed so rapidly that the de Burlemont couple was not ready for this. Confirmation of this was the night arrest of Peter on false evidence of high treason. Formally, these slanders had to be considered by the court, but there was no doubt that his fate was predetermined… You can get rid of the Comte de Burlemont by bricking him up in prison.
Two days later Daria was standing in front of the king, confident that His Majesty would listen to her words:
– Sire, let my husband stand trial, and then he will easily prove that he was the victim of erroneous accusations. The Count has never conspired against Your Majesty. He just couldn’t do it…
– I don’t understand you. Kindly express yourself more clearly, – Ludovic’s face assumed an interested expression.
– Sire, I will tell you a secret… a secret that any sane person can hardly believe. Nevertheless, without fear of being accused of mental illness or witchcraft, I beg you to listen to my words and not rush to reject them without due attention.
The contemptuous irony of the king did not bode well, but Daria continued.
– I am in despair, Sire. But the truth is that my husband and I are your guests from the future. We arrived in France from distant Russia during the reign of Your Majesty from the twenty-first century…
The King frowned and calmly said:
– I assumed that everything would come down to witchcraft and magic.
He headed for the exit, and then, stopping, addressed her:
– I can only promise to clarify some circumstances concerning your husband. I will ask you not to leave Paris for the next ten days.
Daria realized: apparently, the king had already decided for himself the fate of the count.
CHAPTER 9. PARTING
Thanks to the patronage of a nobleman from the royal entourage, who clearly sympathized with her, the Countess de Burlemont achieved the almost impossible: a meeting with Count Petronel in the Bastille prison, from which only a few came out alive, and dozens and hundreds of people disappeared without a trace, who got there only at the behest of the king, without any investigation or trial. In the very place that was terrifying only at the mention of him.
At noon on the twenty-third of July, the carriage with the Comtesse de Burlemont stopped not far from the prison gates. The fortress was a huge quadrangle with eight towers twenty meters high and a deep moat. A suspension bridge is thrown over a moat filled with water. After crossing the bridge to the gate, Daria handed the Duke’s letter to the commandant through the window. At least half an hour of agonizing waiting had passed when the bolts rattled and the heavy door, studded with metal strips, opened. Daria, dressed in a black robe and a black hat with a veil, followed two jailers through a narrow corridor with many bars with locks and went out into the courtyard of the building. Her escorts led her along a cobblestone path to one of the five-story towers, where another supervisor, a portly, gloomy-looking one, let her in. The two of them went down a narrow staircase to the underground chamber where Peter was imprisoned. Keys rattled, and the narrow door to the casemate opened.
– Fifteen minutes, – the fat man said triumphantly, reveling in his little power, and slammed the door from the outside, leaving the prisoner and the Countess alone.
When Daria crossed the threshold of this dungeon, she felt sick from the smells and darkness. Dampness permeated the walls and the floor, strewn here and there with straw on the cold sand. Peter was sitting on an iron bed attached to a long wall. Light penetrated into this room from the corridor through two narrow openings located at the very bottom of the door, and painted his prison uniform in gray tones.
– Petronel! Daria exclaimed and rushed to him in despair. The prisoner looked exhausted and depressed.
– Dorian! – Peter found the strength to hug her. Then he pulled away and stared in surprise at the beautiful face that reflected both the joy of meeting and the shock of what he saw. His voice, as before, remained as euphonious. – How did you get in here?
– My beloved, my heart breaks from what I see. My friends helped me arrange our meeting, I got an audience with the king and appealed to his Majesty for a sense of justice. You may be released soon, but it will be possible only by a court decision.
Peter listened attentively to Daria’s words, lowering his head. Then, looking at her as if he had seen her for the last time, and with a calmness that betrayed the full horror of his situation, he asked:
– Do you really believe I’m going to get out of here? The reason is not in me, but in your beauty and the brightness of the feelings that it causes. The king’s sympathy for a married woman is a death sentence not only for the Comte de Armand de Burlemont.
Peter looked at Daria and smiled. She was suddenly afraid.
– What should we do? – she exclaimed. There was no trace of her former determination. – Darling, I have revealed to the King the secret of our time travel, but it does not seem that such explanations could be taken seriously.
– If we don’t change the course of events, we won’t see each other again. – Peter spoke as if he had thought it over for a long time. – My fate is sealed, and no one can change it. Your fate as a favorite of Louis XIV is so unique and unpredictable that I have not the slightest right to ask you to give it up. Ahead of you is success in society, golden mountains, dangers and imminent oblivion. But there is another scenario…
– Which one? Daria exclaimed, experiencing conflicting feelings, but still sincerely wanting neither to leave nor to betray her beloved.
– We have the opportunity to return to the twenty-first century together. To return to where they came from, and, perhaps, by those who left that time. But – listen carefully – if only one person, you or I, decides to make a time jump, the car will move with him, and the second one will not be able to return. This is irreversible. I think you won’t judge me: I want to avoid death, so I’m flying. But you are free in your decision…
Daria sank down on the bed next to Peter without strength. After a short silence, she asked:
– I’m desperate to have to make such a cruel choice, because I only love you. But will you be able to understand and forgive me if I stay? It is unlikely that my words will soften the bitterness of separation, but I swear: the reason is not affection for someone, even if it can connect me with the king of France. I choose a Time and a way of life where, alas, there is no place for the person I adore, and no one can replace him for me. I may regret it later…
– I’ve already forgiven you, because I love you too. I will feel happy if your dream comes true, even when I leave you. Know, Dasha, that you are always with me: your eyes, your kindness, the feelings that you gave me…
– Petya, I will never forget you. And I’m sorry again…
She began to cry, clinging to his chest. The lock on the cell door grated, and the jailer, without wasting words, pointed to the countess with his hand to exit.
An hour later, when the Comtesse de Burlemont was safe in the Hotel du Beautrin, a prisoner disappeared from the Bastille fortress without a trace. When the loss was discovered, the commandant raised all the guards on the ears, but the fugitive could not be found anywhere. The Paris police have been notified of the escape of a dangerous criminal and all possible measures have been taken to find and detain him.
CHAPTER 10. DEJA VU
Peter escaped from the dungeon of the Bastille, expressing his desire with the phrase “I want to go back”, and, having moved to another dimension, made a jump to 2021, crossing the gap of four hundred years and two thousand kilometers. When his ability to think returned, he felt like he was sitting on the couch next to his old parrot friends. The clever girls Grunya and Borya looked with obvious bewilderment at the guest who had fallen to them from nowhere, and bowed their heads in his direction in surprise. Their cohabitation in a cage precluded the ability to speak humanly, but undoubtedly: each of them would be able to express a common firm opinion:
– Peter is a fool, Peter is a fool!
Peter telepathically caught the thought floating in the air:
– Really, would a reasonable person leave his beloved, a count’s title and a royal court in beautiful Paris? – And then he answered with conviction: – No, everything was done correctly. The Bastille is not a Louvre or a sanatorium.
He looked around once again in a new setting: a rural hut, this is my first time here. Undoubtedly, the time machine had the function of sanity and, moreover, a well-developed sense of humor, placing it in a space causally related to the initial starting events. A kind of deja vu.
– I wonder who is the mysterious developer of this miracle that ignores the laws of nature? Nature itself? – Peter pretty much strained his thinking apparatus, but due to natural limitations, he immediately got lost in the wilds of abstract logic.
Having a unique experience of moving, he knew: first of all, you need to evaluate your current image. Kalinkin walked up to the battered trellis and studied himself carefully for several minutes. The mirror reflected a tall young blond man with a pleasant face, blue eyes and a short haircut – the spitting image of Paul Bettany. Light, three-day unshaven, a suit made of soft gray fabric, a white shirt with a small blue check, a brown belt on the belt and the same brown soft shoes. And what about the English language, the car did not give this bonus? Peter stood in the tribune pose and began to recite nursery rhymes:
– It is cold and still, the wind is away,
And a little Jack Frost is busy today…
In assessing his talents, he was objective: he had not advanced far, not at all Cockney, pronunciation of the type “English with a dictionary”, at the level of Pyotr Mikhailovich. A good reason to reflect on how the newly-made handsome man easily parted with the image of the pensioner Kalinkin, and how wonderful it is to feel young! The miracle machine intuitively determined that there was no need for a foreign language in the village. And here she is, a wonderful barrel, standing on legs in the corridor. As a convinced idolater, Kalinkin leaned towards her in a theatrical pose: thank you so much for the appearance and outfit, the spitting image of a dandy, if only the local boys, sensing an outsider, would not fuck off. Ask for what? And don’t walk down our street! Kalinkin put his hand in his pocket – and there, according to tradition, the Russian currency rustles. Normal course!
Peter left the house and, descending into the front garden, approached the fence: the forest was black on the horizon, cottages and country houses were scattered closer, beyond the meadow. The place is unfamiliar, I have not been here before. The pastoral picture was broken by the sound of an engine: a black Renault Duster jumped out from behind a turn of a dirt road, mercilessly dusting, and braked at the very gate. A dense brunette of about forty years old, dressed in high rural fashion, fell out of the crossover: a bright striped sleeveless jacket and elegant black leggings, frankly tight-fitting bulges and concavities of the body. The manners of a fashionista are clearly not aristocratic, such a person can also hit the head with a bag. She quickly jangled the alarm keyring and asked Peter:
– Hey, what are you doing here? – boldly she began her attack right at a gallop. And stopping about three meters from Peter, she continued the interrogation. – Who is this?
Peter was in no hurry to answer and looked appraisingly at the hostess of the house. It is easy to see that his appearance made a strong impression on her, but the level of aggression did not decrease from this. To defuse the situation, he gently replied:
– Thank you for taking care of Grunya and Borya. By the way, greetings from Dasha.
The brunette raised her wide painted sausage eyebrows in surprise and came closer:
– Is Daria back?
– Not yet, I left first.
– Where is she?
– In bed with Louis the Fourteenth, – Peter flashed through his brain, but he answered peaceably: – In Turkey, on vacation.
– Were you there too? It doesn’t look like… – The lady did not take her incredulous gaze off him and automatically identified: “stranger.” Indeed, all this was very strange, not to mention the fact that Peter’s appearance, outfit and manner of conversation were a complete dissonance with the local standard.
– I rested for five days, so we agreed from the very beginning, – he continued to compose. – And she’s for a full two weeks.
– It doesn’t look like a southern tan. Are you Peter?
– Yes, that’s right. Did Daria tell you about me?
– My name is Natalia. Yes, she said that she had a new acquaintance, a cute brown-haired man. And you’re blond.
– I burned out in the sun, – Peter was not at a loss, having given out complete nonsense, and thought: – Wow, these women…
Everything looked silly and doubtful. However, Natalia didn ‘t show it:
– Okay, why are we standing here. Come in, – and the first one resolutely headed for the house. Peter followed the hostess, noting the energetic gait and, of course, automatically assessing her advantages, accessible to the view from behind, somewhere four plus.
– And what is this? – she stared at the new object in the corridor, and then looked questioningly at the guest. – Where is this from?
There was a version that this barrel is an antique value, which was acquired today in the village with the assistance of Daria.
– Yes, yes, it is Daria, – Peter stressed, noticing a positive reaction to her name.
– Actually, I came to check on the birds, Dasha asked for it very much, she was worried… and then they called about this device, said it was urgent, so I asked them to deliver it here. But how did you get into the house?
– I couldn’t get through to you, I climbed through the window…
The further Peter fantasized, the more ridiculous the story became, however, it did not seem to bother the hostess in the least. After making sure that the house was in order and everything was in place, she changed her anger to mercy, sat down on a chair, lit a cigarette, and new, playful notes appeared in her low, confident voice.
– It’s not so important, – she reasoned, – where this incomprehensible dandy came from to visit her, the main thing is that Dasha is far away…
– Are you hungry? I’ll edit and sew something right now, – she said allegorically, wanting to seem original. – By the way, where did you buy such a beautiful suit?
– In Antalya. In the evening we went for a walk with Dasha, walked along the boulevard, went into the salon. There are good discounts in the season.
– So you came straight to us from St. Petersburg?
– Yes, exactly. I left my suitcase at home and took a taxi straight to you.
Peter was thinking how to get out of this situation: it is impossible to leave without a barrel – shaped device, it is more expensive to open the secret of time travel to this lady. To shorten the distance, too. Funny assholes in a cage, jumping from pole to pole, were in solidarity with him.
– So when will you pick up the birds, today? – Natalia pumped the situation with enviable perseverance. She clearly liked this dandy for his unconventionality, she had not had a man for a long time, and it was not bad for Dasha to set horns: she envied her, beautiful and farcical, everything was too simple for her – both with friends and lovers. And she has to support herself alone, and help her mother…
– As you say. I can spend the night at Daria’s house, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you, but I can’t pick up the antiques today – it’s too late, and I’m tired from the road. Maybe we can arrange everything tomorrow morning?
Natalia mentally approved the course of his reasoning. She was really lonely, even if today would be a small festive evening, not like the others. Let him stay…
– You are like snow on my head! – she smiled pleasantly. And then she asked with an innocent expression on her face: – Would you like a drink?
That was the key moment: if Peter had answered in a different way, events would have unfolded unlikely. But he politely declined the offer with a soft smile:
– No, thanks. And you?
– I can’t drink alone, – Natalia answered unexpectedly harshly. In her words, one could hear the demonstrative position of an ascetic, and a reproach for refusal, and the offended chastity of a decent woman. The fountain, alas, was not expected…
They talked little at the table, avoiding eye contact, responding only to the questions on duty: more bread, salt, with or without gravy? Peter rightly praised Natalia for a delicious lunch, we lit a cigarette together. We chatted on neutral topics: about the weather here and in the Mediterranean, what is interesting in Turkey, how was the flight. There was an awkward pause.
– Don’t you want to do men’s business? – the hostess provocatively, slightly narrowing her green eyes, looked at the guest. Obviously, she had a course of action for any response. If “yes”, then you can, without losing dignity, develop this topic up to the consent to intimacy, and “no” – worthily retreat, flirtatiously playing with the instincts of a man, portraying a touchy. But Peter broke the slender female strategy, as if he did not understand the depth of the question, and asked:
– What do you mean?
– The toilet doesn’t drain well in the bathroom, can you fix it? – Natalia’s voice sounded poorly concealed, caustic mockery.
– A strong move, checkmate, – thought Peter. He is nearly an English lord, elegantly sent to load shit. And they offered bounty – a heavenly pleasure… He had a choice, but he dodged it. Not inflamed, you know… this is the price of female hatred for unfulfilled hopes and treacherous refusal.
– We need to see. Do you have any work clothes?
Finally went to bed. Natalia coldly wished good night to the space, defiantly making a bed for the guest on the kitchen sofa, and herself, stung, went into the room. Which is quite understandable: if there is no harassment for a long time, there is a malaise. And Peter stretched out with pleasure on a cold sheet and remembered Dasha – delicate, sensual and so dear, mentally thanking her for the symbolic lock in his heart, which she created with her love, the key to which no woman can now pick up.
The next morning, after hastily drinking tea, they began to gather. While Natalia was communicating with the taxi service on her mobile, Peter quietly left a couple of thousand on the trellis, and they said goodbye: she got into her car and went to a beauty salon in the center of the village, where she worked as a manicurist and administrator in one person. And he, after waiting on the street for the ordered car, barely pushed the barrel into the trunk with the help of the driver and asked for a ride first to the store where Daria used to work, and already there Peter would surely remember the way to her house.
– To visit us? – the taxi driver, a lively young boy, asked on duty, seeing a new face in his native places. He couldn’t stand city boys who beat off girls and buying up everything around, and even more so dudes like this. And the cargo is very strange, it will be necessary to ask Natalia on occasion: what for and how much…
– Yes, it’s good here, – Peter answered diplomatically and vaguely. – I need to stop by the store for a minute.
The driver smiled approvingly, portraying understanding and cordial hospitality. Entering the store, Peter, against all logic, caught himself thinking: how wonderful it would be here, behind the counter, to see Daria again… After quickly buying groceries and, most importantly, batteries – avoiding the previous mistake – he returned to the car.
Well, here’s Daria’s house. Peter opened the door: it is quietly, not any soul. Together with the taxi driver, they brought the barrel up the steps and left it standing in the corridor. For additional efforts, the driver received a generous tip, which he was satisfied with. How does Peter know that the taxi driver is familiar with Daria’s husband, and is already dialing his mobile phone number purely out of friendship – yesterday he drove him here from the railway station.
