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Voltaire was a recognized leader and mentor of the French bourgeois Enlightenment in the 18th century, and he was known for defending civil liberties, especially freedom of belief and judicial justice.
In 1734, Voltaire, in order to escape the French authorities, went to the home of the Marquis de Chatré.
The Marquis of Chatré was a general who fought outside the country for many years and rarely returned home unless there was an urgent matter at home.
Emily was 27 years old, a well-educated and knowledgeable woman, fluent in many languages, living in high society, fond of dressing, extraordinary temperament, and a famous female scientist at that time. She married the Marquis de Chatré at the age of 19 and had three children.
Considering Voltaire's safety, Emily and the Marquis de Chartrey, after consulting with the Marquise, arranged Voltaire in the Palais de Cirré, a house built by Emily's ancestors, 250 kilometers from Paris, next to the border of the Duchy of Lorraine. At that time, the Palace of Sire, sparsely populated and almost only the ruins of the broken walls, was an excellent place of refuge, far from the hustle and bustle of the world, and as long as he was hunted by the French authorities, Voltaire could cross the border to reach the Duchy of Lorraine, and the French authorities had no right to arrest him.
Voltaire heard that he was going to be placed in a desolate, decadent Palace of Sire, and planned to leave after a dodge. He also felt that it was inappropriate to always trouble the Marquis of Chatley, and it was even worse to always trouble Emily, the married woman.
However, after Emily brought him here, he had fallen in love with the place since the first sight of the surroundings of the Palace of Sire. With beautiful mountains and rivers, a quiet environment and fresh air, it is a good place to live and write. Here, not only could he easily evade the authorities' pursuit of him, but he could also calm down and continue to write articles to express his thoughts, attacking the dogma of the Catholic Church and the French education system at that time. Not only did he fall in love with the place, but he planned to stay longer.
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"Dear Marquise de Châtelet, I request that the Palace of Sire be renovated and prepared to stay here permanently, will I have your permission?" Voltaire asked Emily for advice.
Emily agreed without hesitation.
Voltaire was so pleased that he immediately invited workers and designers to build a large number of works here. Soon, the inside and outside of the Sire Palace were renovated.
After the repair of the Siray Palace, Emily, who rarely came here, also stayed here for a long time, and brought a cook, a gardener, a nanny, except for the necessary social activities, which had to be left and could not go out, and the rest of the time was here.
Peaceful environment, carefree life. Voltaire was with Emily every day, he wrote, she did experiments.
Every morning and evening, they went for a walk in the woods; every time they ate, they were together.
From strange to familiar to acquaintance, they know each other more and more, and feel more and more that each other is their soul mate.
Voltaire was deeply fascinated by Emily, who was young and beautiful, knowledgeable and temperamental. Voltaire was a recognized mentor, and his words and deeds and thoughts made Emily addicted to it.
The Palace of Sile became their nest of love.
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Although the Palace of Sire is remote, they do not hide from the public, nor do they indulge in the moon before the flower, they are still active in their respective careers. During this time, Voltaire's career has grown greatly, and Emily has published On the Nature and Spread of Fire.
Their cohabitation was not even condemned by Emily's husband, the Marquis of Chatley.
French high society soon learned of Emily's cheating. Although people talked about it a lot, when they knew that the object of her derailment was Voltaire, they actually felt forgivable, not only stopped talking nonsense, but also praised her.
In this way, they lived in a high-profile life in the Palace of Theire of Sile for nearly 20 years.
The Marquis de Châtelet still rarely returned home, and even when he did, he did not interfere with their lives, as if he were a guest of the house, and Voltaire was the man of the house. Of course, as long as the Marquis of Chatley was at home, they still had scruples and restraints.
When Emily was 44, she became pregnant.
The Marquis de Châtelet was absent for a long time, but Emily was pregnant, and no matter how many mouths she had, Voltaire could not get rid of it. If this matter is passed out, it will definitely become a huge scandal, which will have a huge impact on Voltaire and On Emily's career.
"Everyone knows we live together, so why can't we have children?"
"Indeed, how can we not let our love crystallize and be born brightly and righteously. Let the child bear my last name. ”
"There is no way to do it, although people can turn a blind eye to cohabitation, but they will never forgive pregnancy outside of marriage."
"What to do? Do you want to get rid of the child? ”
"Let the Marquis go home and convince him that this is his own child."
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Sure enough, a letter from Emily called the Marquis of Chatley, who had been fighting for many years, back home.
After the return of the Marquis of Châtelet, the comrades who had experienced life and death on the battlefield with the Marquis, friends and relatives who could or could not beat the eight rods came to the Ciré Palace, and they gathered together every day, remembering the glory years, talking about their current lives, chatting in the north and the south, drinking with big glasses, singing all night long, and dancing gracefully.
Time flies very quickly, and three happy weeks pass in a flash. When the time limit for leave came, the Marquis of Chatley left home and went back to the army. Soon after, he received a letter from Emily telling him about the pregnancy. The Marquis of Chatley, who had received the letter, naively believed it and was so happy that he held a celebration.
This year, Emily was 44 years old and an advanced maternal age. Although she has already had three children, she has no fear of childbearing. But as a 44-year-old mother, anyone knows that there are still very big risks to take, and Emily, as a scientist, will not be unaware. Sure enough, the child had difficulty giving birth.
Emily, who was lucky enough to pass the door of the dystocia, gave birth to a lovely daughter.
Just when Voltaire was trying to get the happiness of her beloved daughter, Emily fell ill with puerperal fever and died 6 days later.
Voltaire, who had lost his lover, was devastated, and in just a few days he experienced a huge turn from the peak of happiness to the hell of grief.
He wrote to a friend: I have lost not only my lover, I have lost half of myself, I have lost the soul in my soul...
Voltaire left the Palace of Sire in despair.
He never married.
Emily was the only woman Voltaire loved in her life, but until the end, she was someone else's wife. This is really a sad point in Voltaire's love.
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Author: Wei Wei
Editor-in-charge: August Famine
Participation: Flowers in full bloom
Image: Network (intrusion and deletion)