Shadow of great britain

Codrington House in Marylebone, London, is brightly lit tonight.

After enjoying the physical experiments brought by Arthur, all the gentlemen and ladies returned to the main living room, which had been decorated as a ballroom.

The layout of the ballroom strictly adhered to the conventions of the social circle, with open doors, removed cashmere carpets, polished mahogany floors, and as many crystal chandeliers as possible for decoration and lighting on the ceiling.

Under the window, there are three long birch tables filled with various foods and tableware. The attractive-looking foods are surrounded by colorful and bright flowers.

Standing at the dining table, guests can not only appreciate the tempting aroma of food, but also feel the rich and tangy fragrance of flowers.

In the east of the ballroom, there is a temporary stage with a rose-colored curtain as the background. The stage is filled with a variety of musical instruments. Needless to say, it was prepared by Mrs. Codrington for the upcoming orchestra. .

After completing his scientific presentation, Arthur finally got some breathing space.

Mrs. Codrington was obviously very satisfied with his first display of results today, although she only had a vague sense of how important the theory of charged atoms was.

But in Mrs. Codrington's opinion, it must be quite remarkable to achieve something that could make Mrs. Mary Somerville, the first scientific lady of the Bluestocking Society, excited to the point of incoherence.

For this reason, Mrs. Codrington, a busy hostess, took the time to express her gratitude to Arthur with her husband.

After all, for such an important scientific result, it was actually not announced for the first time at the Royal Society, but at Codrington House. This is really a great honor.

If this matter spreads, it will definitely become a good talk, which will definitely be helpful in improving the bad social reputation after General Codrington's defeat of the Ottomans.

Mrs. Codrington could simply imagine the hot topics discussed at the boudoir gatherings of ladies in the London social circle for a while - the Codringtons who are enthusiastic about science, a family that is always at the forefront of the times, cutting-edge electromagnetics A close friend of the scientist Mr. Arthur Hastings.

For Mrs. Codrington, who is dedicated to helping her husband clear his name, nothing could be better than this!

Although taking over as Commander of the Portsmouth Naval Base is a good retirement job, Mrs. Codrington still hopes that her husband can be transferred directly to the Naval Headquarters in London.

Because as General Kirkland and General Smith said before, a naval commander like Gambier with mediocre combat capabilities only embarked on the fast track to military rank promotion after being transferred back to the Navy Headquarters to sit in an office. It only took ten years. He was promoted from rear admiral to admiral, and even became marshal of the Royal Navy this year.

According to Mrs. Codrington, her husband, General Edward Codrington, is more outstanding than Marshal Gambier in every aspect except for the fact that he is missing a little hair on his head. He fights beautifully and is good-looking. Beautiful, involved in science, literature, and art.

If General Codrington can be transferred to the Navy Headquarters, not only will he have a greater chance of being promoted to Admiral, but he will also be able to exert more direct influence on the Navy Headquarters and support two people who are also serving in the Royal Navy. Precious son, William Codrington and Henry Codrington.

Ever since her youngest son drowned at sea, Mrs. Codrington has been obsessed with asking her husband to bring her two remaining sons back to shore. To accomplish this, Mrs. Codrington felt that General Codrington That upright temper is definitely not going to work.

It was precisely because of this that she spent so much time and money on hosting such a dinner party.

Madam understands very well that she still has to rely on her to take charge of some matters. In a sense, scientists and ladies who mingle in upper-class social circles are actually better able to gain the attention of cabinet members.

When she thought of this, Mrs. Codrington couldn't help but feel the urge to sponsor Arthur. Although she couldn't do scientific research, it seemed quite good if she could get a little fame in the name of a sponsor. Not bad.

But she has no extra time to think about this issue in detail now, because she is flattered by the unexpected arrival of Mrs. Cowper, a popular figure in London.

As the sister of the Viscount Melbourne, who once served as Secretary of State for Irish Affairs, and the wife of the fifth Earl of Cowper, the heir to the Cowper family, the founder of the Whig party, Lady Cowper naturally has a considerable influence on the political circles of Great Britain. .

Of course, this influence is not entirely due to family reasons, but more like a strange ability engraved in family inheritance.

Because Mrs. Cowper's mother, Elizabeth Lamb, the first Viscountess of Melbourne, was a man of the hour in the London social circle.

The reason why her mother has such great energy is also very simple, because her mother has maintained a semi-public close relationship with the late King George IV who just died of illness.

In a sense, her mother Elizabeth Lamb was also one of the reasons for the divorce between George IV and Queen Caroline.

Neither Mrs. Cowper nor her mother were fuel-efficient, but what is even more commendable is that even her sister-in-law, the second Viscountess of Melbourne, Lady Caroline Ponsonby, has this tendency, and even more so. And nothing less.

However, unlike her sister-in-law and mother-in-law, who mainly focus on the political world, Dame Caroline Ponsonby has only one main battlefield, and that is the literary and art world.

Or to be more specific, Baroness Ponsonby, who has been engaged in writing novels for a long time, likes only one person, and that is Lord Byron, the leader of the liberal literati in Great Britain.

However, with a powerful and insightful mother-in-law like Elizabeth Lamb, Baroness Ponsonby's little moves will definitely not escape her mother-in-law's eyes.

Putting two strong women together usually doesn't end well, and this time is certainly no exception.

Baroness Ponsonby first had a quarrel with her mother-in-law because she did not want to abandon her son, who was born with mental retardation, and then gradually wore away their relationship because of daily quarrels. When she told Byron that she wanted to elope with him to Greece , Byron, who just wanted to have fun, decisively rejected her request.

Because in the eyes of Britain's upper class society, having a lover is normal, but if you are serious about it, it will be a big deal.

Byron, who was frightened by her, finally realized that he had touched a woman he shouldn't have touched, so he began to actively distance himself from Ponsonby.

But this caused extreme dissatisfaction with Baroness Ponsonby, who repeatedly confronted Byron.

As a result, the incident between her and Byron gradually spread. For this reason, her mother-in-law Elizabeth even publicly scolded her as a "crazy woman who can't understand what's going on."

And Baroness Ponsonby's reaction to Byron's increasing neglect was straightforward.

In order to force Byron to return to her, Baroness Ponsonby used her ingenious writing to compile her love affair with Lord Byron into a novel called "Glenalvan" and published it.

Unsurprisingly, "Glenalvan" became a hit across Great Britain upon its publication, and the book went through three reprints within just a few weeks of its publication. But even so, "Glenalvan" is still out of stock in major libraries and bookstores in London.

For this reason, the sister-in-law of another great British poet Shelley, the eager-to-read Lady Clare Clairmont, had to write to her lover, Lord Byron, the prototype of the novel's protagonist, asking him if he could directly read from Ponsonby. The prince got a copy of "Glenalvan" in his hands.

The furious Lord Byron had only one reply - this damn novel.

Full of anger, Byron quickly launched his revenge against Lady Ponsonby. He wrote a letter of reconciliation to Ponsonby. However, when Ponsonby rushed over happily, he found that Byron was with another woman. Together.

Furious, Ponsonby burned all the portraits of Byron in her collection, and took even more extreme measures. She directly broke the news of Byron's incest with his sister Augusta.

At this time, Byron's reputation in Britain was completely destroyed.

Because incest and chaos in private life are not things of the same magnitude in Britain. The former is a more serious blasphemy than crime, while the latter can only be regarded as a loss of personal morality at best. Even for a person like Byron, it can be passed down. Become a romantic affair.

But once the incest label was slapped, Byron had no choice but to leave England for Greece, and personally participated in the Greek War of Independence that he supported with donations of money and materials, and eventually died in a foreign country for Greek independence.

Byron's death shocked Europe, and the Greek government immediately announced that it would hold a state funeral for Lord Byron. The whole country mourned for three days.

Baroness Ponsonby, who thought she would feel a great revenge, was not only not happy, but also had a high fever for several days.

When Byron's coffin arrived in London from Greece, people only saw a crazy woman rushing to the street, lying on Byron's coffin and fainting from crying.

In this story, the hero and heroine Byron and Baroness Ponsonby all paid the price for their actions and suffered great sins as a result.

But no matter what, this legendary story is still full of ups and downs and quite exciting.

But after telling the story, I always felt that something was wrong, and it seemed that an important character had been overlooked.

That's right, it's the second male figure in this turmoil - Baroness Ponsonby's husband, the second Viscount Melbourne, William Lamb.

Throughout the entire incident, Viscount Melbourne maintained an extraordinary calmness.

Not only that, he even once stood up to support his wife at the cusp of the storm, hoping to maintain the reputation of the Melbourne family.

He held on for several years, until he couldn't hold it anymore, and under the pressure of public opinion and the threat of his mother, he divorced Baroness Ponsonby, ending his twenty-year marriage.

His attitude made everyone in London, from noble members to ordinary people, discuss whether he was not interested in women, or why he could tolerate his wife to such an extent. As a decent nobleman, Viscount Melbourne Why did it take twenty years to get divorced?

Of course, no one can guess why Viscount Melbourne did this, but the only thing that can be understood is that Viscount Melbourne is very lazy and does not compete for everything.

His desire-free state is not only reflected in the handling of his wife's extramarital affairs, but also during ordinary parliamentary meetings.

In that battlefield where the Duke of Wellington, Lord Peel and other politicians were at war with each other and sparks were flying, Melbourne, who was charged with the important task of charging for the Whig Party, would usually choose to find a comfortable corner to lie down and sleep soundly, snoring loudly. .

And he didn't just do it in parliament, he did it in sermons, debates among colleagues, and even dinner parties.

This behavior of Viscount Melbourne naturally won high praise in the parliament. Whether it was Whig or Tory members, they all praised Viscount Melbourne as the most educated member of Parliament in the whole of Great Britain, because no one had ever heard of it. He cursed in Parliament.

Perhaps it is precisely because of his attitude that even when the Tories were in power, he would not be excluded from the cabinet due to partisan reasons. This is also an important reason why Viscount Melbourne can serve as Minister of Irish Affairs.

After talking about it in such a long way, we have to go back to Mrs. Cowper, the sister of Viscount Melbourne.

The reason why Mrs. Codrington attaches so much importance to Mrs. Cowper's arrival is because a female writer like Baroness Ponsonby who loves literature was also a member of the Bluestocking Society.

Therefore, in order to avoid the embarrassment encountered by her sister-in-law, Mrs. Cowper usually politely declined invitations to banquets from members of the Bluestocking Society.

However, she was actually willing to visit the Bluestocking Society meeting today, which was a great honor to Mrs. Codrington.

Of course, perhaps there is also the reason why her sister-in-law, Baroness Ponsonby, died two years ago.

Perhaps because of this, Mrs. Cowper began to consider whether to spread her influence to the Blue Stockings.

Arthur hid in a small corner of the lounge, pinching an onion ring while listening to Elder telling him these upper-class gossip stories vividly.

After listening, he couldn't help but said to Elder: "Elder, maybe you can consider becoming a novelist. If you compile these things you know into a book, I'm sure it will be a big hit in London. .”

Elder waved his hands quickly after hearing this: "Don't be joking! Don't you remember what happened to Baroness Ponsonby when she wrote "Glenalvan"? It was because of Mrs. Jersey's disapproval of her image in the novel. She was dissatisfied, so she angrily expelled Lady Ponsonby from the Allmark Club, and many banquets did not dare to invite Lady Ponsonby to visit. I still want to hang out in London, can you not? You always give me such bad ideas."

Arthur just smiled when he heard this. He picked up the handkerchief on the table and wiped the oil on his hands.

"If you are worried about the negative impact these things will have if they are published, then wouldn't you just not publish them?"

Elder frowned and said, "How can I make money without publishing?"

Arthur smiled and took out a brown paper bag from the bag he carried with him and handed it to Elder: "When you go back, write everything you know into a manuscript and put it in this. Each of your stories will be Treated as archived material. It will not be seen by anyone except those who should see it.

Moreover, I guarantee you that every time you write such a piece of material, the compensation you get will not be too cheap. Although this may not be as good as the income brought by the publication of novels, it is better than safety and stability. "

Elder looked at the brown paper bag. There were just a few words printed on it - London Regional Provisional Bureau of Survey and Survey Statistics.

He raised his brows and whistled: "What do you mean, it turns out that this is what you are investigating? Tell me directly, how much money have you prepared?"

Arthur shook the red wine glass gently, and the aroma of red wine was fragrant.

"How much money I can prepare depends on how much useful information you can provide me. Elder, you have to know that only departments that are useful to the top can gain a more important status.

Only with status can I have funds. With funds, I can give more to you.

So, what information do you think would help me increase my importance? "