After Ambassador Girard left, Charles returned to the living room and found a figure helping the servants clear the table.
A warmth spread through Charles' heart. He coughed, walked over, and softly said to the figure:
"Diana! You can confidently leave these things to the servants. There's no need for you to do them yourself."
"Hehe! These teacups for distinguished guests were specially purchased by you from New Orleans. I don't trust their handling of the most precious porcelain pieces. If even one were broken, you'd be heartbroken for half a day."
The graceful figure turned around; it was countess Diana Rogers, who had become increasingly mature.
Upon seeing Charles standing behind her, she immediately returned a sweet smile.
Charles affectionately leaned in to kiss Diana, then pulled the beauty to sit on a nearby chair.
"Actually, with our current wealth, these porcelains are no longer that precious. The reason I use them is that I believe such good things shouldn't be hidden away. Only by truly using them can one fully enjoy the pleasure of owning precious items. If using them means being constantly worried about breaking them, then I might as well just keep them in a cabinet to look at."
"Hehe..." Diana covered her mouth and let out a clear laugh. "Alright, then I won't interfere. Feel free to use them. Do you want to bring out some of my father's antique porcelains as well?"
"That's not necessary. After all, those are your father's things; I just appreciate and play with them occasionally. By the way, you haven't been able to contact your father yet, have you?" Charles tightened his grip on Diana's hand.
Watching the servant leave with the tea set tray, Diana simply leaned slowly into Charles' embrace.
"No! Not yet. I wonder if Father will receive the letter this time when it's sent back to England. I haven't been able to contact him for so long, and I'm really worried about his safety. The British army fleet retreated so quickly back then; could something have happened?" Diana looked up at Charles anxiously.
Her delicate lips parted and closed. Her clear, bright eyes were filled with melancholy and worry, prompting Charles to lovingly lean down and kiss her.
"There shouldn't be any accident. I once asked the captured British General, and he said that when they retreated from Boston, they basically didn't leave behind any nobles loyal to the British king. The fleet returned to England smoothly via Canada. Not being able to contact him now might be because his address in England has changed," Charles consoled her.
This was understandable. Although earl Rogers was a traditional British noble, his main assets were in America. Even if he took a large amount of hard currency when he left, it wouldn't have been too much. After returning to England, with his original source of income from prosperous lands gone, his standard of living would certainly change, making a change of address very likely.
"I hope the envoy Britain sends for negotiations will know something about my father's situation. Otherwise, I'll be truly restless. I really shouldn't have been so willful and run off then. Not only did I suffer, but I also caused my family to worry," Diana said with a melancholic expression.
As she grew older, she naturally became more sensible and more willing to consider others.
"You can't say that!" Charles quickly tried to reassure her. "If you hadn't run off then, how would you have met me? How would we have our current feelings? So, even though you suffered a little, I am very happy!"
"Hmph!" Diana pouted and lightly punched Charles' chest, her melancholic expression visibly relaxing.
"Haha! Don't worry, I will definitely ask the British envoy who comes for negotiations about your father's situation. Even if he doesn't know, I will use formal diplomatic channels to have them help search. No matter what, I will definitely get you an answer.
Of course, the best outcome would be if that envoy knows your father and can invite him to our wedding to officiate. Otherwise, if you're unhappy, then I'll be unhappy too." Charles smiled, lifted Diana's face, and kissed her again with doting affection.
"Hehe..." Diana let out another clear laugh.
Love was indeed the sweetest medicine. Under the comfort of her beloved Charles, countess Diana quickly emerged from the shadow of worrying about her father and family, returning to her usual calm.
"Oh, right! My dear, you asked someone to collect some French newspapers last time. They've been delivered. I've picked out all the articles about you and organized them in the study. Do you want to go take a look?" Diana suddenly remembered something.
"Yes!" Charles immediately stood up eagerly.
Some European newspapers used to be brought to America by frequent merchant ships, but this irregular "delivery service" stopped after Britain blockaded the American coast. However, French newspapers could still be transmitted to Pittsburgh via New Orleans. Charles hadn't paid much attention to these newspapers before because he was still slowly learning French.
This time, Ambassador Girard and others mentioned his reputation in France, which made him think of the newspapers and very eagerly want to see their contents.
This was not only to understand the situation of his biological mother but, more importantly, it was the curiosity of a young man seeing himself in the newspaper and his eagerness to know how others evaluated him.
Charles and Diana walked hand-in-hand to the study.
The arrangement here still followed its original layout. Although Charles lived here, he was not the owner. Even if he married the owner's daughter, he felt it would be inappropriate to arbitrarily change the layout before officially receiving the castle as a dowry.
Anyway, ever since his White House was built, Charles felt that the comfort of living there far surpassed that of this stuffy castle, and his covetousness for the castle was no longer as strong as before.
Accompanied by Diana, Charles browsed through the newspapers one by one, interspersed with a few newspapers from Spain and other European countries. However, after Diana's selection, every single one contained content about Charles.
The reports on Charles, from a temporal perspective, primarily provided timely coverage of the Defense of Philadelphia. The four to five months of the war, from the initial siege to his becoming the defender of Philadelphia and defeating British army commander General Howe, were all reported in detail. Most newspapers also highly and positively regarded Charles,
considering him a figure who turned the tide, saving the American Revolution.
It was evident from the newspapers that after this war, Charles instantly became famous, and content about him rapidly increased. Even many past deeds related to Charles, which hadn't been prominently reported due to his obscurity, were brought up again.
These mainly included his past study experiences in France, as well as events such as the Iroquois conquest and the promotion of steamships. Regarding the conquest of Ohio, French newspapers, for reasons unknown, did not report much.
Ambassador Girard had previously mentioned Charles' mother's family. The newspapers indeed mentioned it, but the content was very sparse.
However, it was enough for Charles to learn about his biological mother through the newspapers. She was the daughter of a French hereditary count's family and also had a count husband. She must have given birth to Charles while on vacation in America. It was just a pity that this lady already had a count husband. Therefore, the original Charles was indeed an undisputed illegitimate child.
However, heroes often face difficulties due to their humble origins during their growth. But once they become heroes, no one cares about their background anymore. Charles was like this; in these newspapers, not a single one mocked or ridiculed his illegitimate status.
Basically, they considered Charles' growth a miracle. The transformation from an illegitimate child to a key founding father of a new nation was a spirit and power truly worthy of praise. Even the countess was praised by the romantically inclined French newspapers.
"Alas! It seems it will be quite difficult for my mother to attend our wedding and officiate for us," Charles shook his head and placed the newspaper on the desk.
"My dear, don't be sad. With your current status and position, absolutely no one would dare say anything about this matter," Diana hugged Charles from behind, resting her cheek against his, and comforted him with great concern.
Hearing Diana's heartfelt words of comfort, Charles was momentarily stunned.
He wasn't the real Charles, so he naturally wouldn't care too much about being an illegitimate child, and as for what others thought of him, he paid even less mind. Those who care about others' opinions are usually the weak.
If this had been before he gained power, he might have worried that his illegitimate status could negatively affect his acquisition of power and position, but now that he had such a position, why worry about the opinions of those weak individuals?
—
"Haha! Diana, you don't need to worry. I won't care about the opinions of those people. If my mother doesn't attend, then let her not attend. Anyway, even without their witness, I'm already impatient to marry you soon!" Charles' face showed a hint of a proud smile.
He deliberately leaned back, allowing his back to feel Diana's soft, prominent chest as much as possible. He even subtly shifted his body to enjoy the sensation of friction.
Diana naturally noticed Charles' little movements, but she was currently worried that Charles might be sad because of his identity and his mother's relationship. As long as she could comfort her beloved, what was a little advantage taken? Diana not only didn't shy away but bravely hugged Charles even tighter.
"I think any mother would want to attend her son's wedding, especially when her son is so outstanding." Although Diana's hands didn't loosen, her face was already completely flushed.
"Mm! She should see her beautiful daughter-in-law!" Charles passionately turned his head and kissed Diana. The girl's shy and sweet appearance was simply too endearing, and he couldn't help but say emotionally: "I love you, Diana!"
"I love you too, my dear!"
Their lips met in a deep embrace.
The recent reappearance of the powerful French Navy off the American coast has rekindled hopes for the resumption of American maritime traffic, which had been interrupted for a long time. Many ships are already eager, preparing to set sail for Europe to engage in maritime trade once the French Navy finishes delivering heavy artillery and returns to Philadelphia to declare protection for maritime traffic.
Although Charles did not have his own merchant ships to go directly to Europe, he had already planned to purchase his own large ocean-going vessels, and even a dedicated pier, to sell Pittsburgh's specialty products such as ironware, textiles, furs, and steam engines through ports to Europe and even the whole world.
As the first action delegated before formal maritime trade, he sent his former translator, Moulton, to France. In addition to formally inviting his "mother" to attend his wedding, he also took the opportunity to survey the French business environment and see if his Pittsburgh products could find a large market in France.
It was a slight pity, however, that the eagerly anticipated great naval battle between the British and French navies did not occur smoothly when the French Navy sailed north to New York. The five large British Navy battleships, along with numerous cruisers, seemed to have known in advance about the arrival of the stronger French Navy fleet and had retreated, remaining unseen.
As long as the threat of the British army fleet was not eliminated, American ships could not set sail with peace of mind. Therefore, this departure date was repeatedly postponed and never materialized.
Soon after the American Ambassador arrived, Ambassadors from Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia, and other countries also successively arrived in Philadelphia via the West Indies route, landing in the south and successfully traveling by land.
Compared to the French Ambassador, who had the protection of a powerful navy, the Ambassadors from these countries not only lacked substantial backing but were also of a lower diplomatic rank. However, as a nascent United States, it still received these Ambassadors with the highest protocols. After all, although they had not formally allied, they were all informal allies, fighting against Britain in various parts of the world.
However, the Spanish Ambassador, on the very first day of his arrival, pulled the French Ambassador Girard and proactively went to Independence Hall of the Continental Congress, demanding multilateral talks with Jefferson.