That same morning, Lionel woke up somewhat late.
It was only after the bells of the nearby cathedral had chimed nine times that he drowsily sat up.
It wasn't just because it was the weekend and there were no classes at the Sorbonne; more importantly, the sincere love story between Helena and Sir Simmons had truly been too mentally taxing.
The past two days were merely an appetizer, and Frenchifying the story would require a great deal of time to refine the concept.
He planned to relocate the entire story's setting to 18th-century France, and the characters' names, identities, relationships, and environment would all need reasonable rewriting.
The story is set in the late reign of Louis XVI (after 1785) to the early French Revolution (1789).
The protagonist's name is Gérard Simmons, from a wealthy bourgeois family; his father is a spice merchant with a modest fortune.
Through massive loans to the royal family or bribing powerful figures, he obtained the tax farming rights for a large area in Lyon, becoming immensely wealthy.
Later, he also dabbled in colonial trade and financial speculation.
Monsieur Simmons' wife is named Léono, from a historical but declining military family; her family agreed to the marriage for money.
She represents the decency (even if faded) of the old regime and orthodox Catholic morality.
His main mistress is named Helena Pannes, once a maid in a minor noble family.
She was expelled from the castle for illicit relations with her master and married by the honest pastry chef Francisco Pisto, who was soon killed by Simmons, who coveted Helena's beauty.
He has another mistress named Élisabeth de la Bouteille, the widow of a winemaker who inherited a fortune.
...
The protagonist, Gérard Simmons, is an upstart spice and wine merchant who amassed wealth by catering to the aristocracy and the church, earning tax farming rights.
He is rich, lecherous, and cunning, dreaming of joining the ranks of the nobility.
His mansion, "Simmons Manor," becomes a stage where local high society and the lower classes intersect: eroticism, lies, violence, money, and hypocritical virtues intertwine within it, much like a miniature Versailles...
The entire novel will be divided into three parts:
The first part is called "Seduction and Ascent": It will describe how Simmons seduces Helena and causes the death of her pastry chef husband, Pisto, bribing the parish doctor and magistrate with money for this purpose.
Simultaneously, he uses his family's spice business to navigate aristocratic circles, establishing corrupt relationships with Verigny, the city hall clerk, and the impoverished Baron Durval, participating in smuggling, speculation, and the auction of church assets, accumulating huge profits.
Finally, after offering a large sum of money to Louis XVI in Paris, he obtains tax farming rights.
The second part is called "The Limits of Lust": Having become the wealthiest man in the locality, Simmons builds maid quarters, a small chapel, secret rooms, and a garden gallery within his mansion.
He indulges in carnal desires, secretly meeting with Helena, Élisabeth, and the newly acquired singer Margot day and night, even touching maids, laundresses, and sparing no friend's wife.
Yet, on the surface, he is a "pious gentleman" who funds monasteries.
The third part is called "Decline and Punishment": Due to excessive indulgence and complications from syphilis, Simmons' health deteriorates, yet he remains addicted to mummy wine and carnal pleasures.
At this time, France enters a financial crisis, the church investigates donation accounts, the city hall appoints a new official, and Durval and Verigny both turn against Simmons, reporting his illegal operations and bribery.
Finally, Simmons dies suddenly, his mansion is seized, Helena dies of illness, Élisabeth retreats to a convent, and Margot is abandoned by the nobles and becomes a street singer.
Ultimately, "Simmons Manor" is reduced to ashes in the raging fires of the French Revolution.
Just as the ending ultimately returns to "karma," this French version, regardless of how much erotic content it contains, must eventually align with contemporary French morality.
The purpose of writing it this way is not to avoid risks, but to please readers—while erotic content is universally popular, the final moral critique and return to values can somewhat alleviate people's guilt.
After all, what is receding in people's hearts nowadays is merely the authority of the church, not God itself or the values the church represents.
He believed that Gabriel of The Clamor newspaper would not be able to resist the temptation to publish this novel, because Gabriel had a thoroughly capitalist nature.
"With 100% profit, they will dare to take risks; with 200% profit, they will disregard the law; with 300% profit, they will trample upon everything in the world!"
A bestselling novel brings publishers far more than 300% profit.
Especially in the 19th century, when the royalty system was not yet perfected or widespread, many great authors' debut works were often bought out by publishers for extremely low prices.
For example, Balzac's first published novel, The Heiress of Birague (co-authored), only earned him 400 francs; his independently published The Chouans only brought in 1,000 francs.
Forty years later, Flaubert's Madame Bovary only earned him 800 francs in manuscript fees—fortunately, he adopted a licensing system, giving the publisher exclusive rights for only five years.
And how much profit can a bestseller truly generate for a publisher?
Both "Charpentier" and "Lévy" were tight-lipped about it, but indignant writers estimated it to be no less than 50,000 francs.
Established authors were different.
One afternoon in 1830, Hugo was chatting with Hugueneau, the owner of the Hugueneau Bookstore, saying he wanted to write a novel:
"The story is set in a medieval cathedral, with impulsive students, exotic beauties, deformed freaks, corrupt nobles, hypocritical priests,"
and then asked the owner,
"How much is this novel worth?"
Hugueneau, without a word, immediately handed Hugo five thousand francs in cash and a promissory note for ten thousand francs, promising to pay "the remaining half" after receiving the manuscript.
This means that Notre-Dame de Paris brought Hugo 30,000 francs in direct income.
What Lionel wanted to get from Gabriel certainly wouldn't be a "sky-high price" of 30,000 francs for a young author, but it also couldn't be as low as 400 francs—everything would depend on the negotiation between them.
Lionel went to the communal washroom to freshen up, then returned to his room to dress neatly, preparing to go downstairs and out.
As he passed the second floor, he heard a strange woman's voice from Petit's home, cold, sharp, and scathing:
"We have plenty of girls like this at 'Swan Castle'; your asking price is too high!"
Lionel stopped, looked towards the door, and saw a short, thin middle-aged woman with a prominent aquiline nose standing opposite Petit's mother, while little Petit crouched on the floor between them, bewildered.
It was then that Lionel remembered Petit had told him that her family was going to send her to ballet school this week—the middle-aged woman seemed to be there to "collect children."
Thinking of Petit's possible fate, Lionel's heart sank.
(End of Chapter)
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