Shadow of great britain

Viscount Melbourne walked into the cafe and took off his hat to reveal his gray temples.

His eyes looked around first, and soon he spotted the lady sitting in the corner.

The moment his eyes touched the beige wide-brimmed hat and white dress, Viscount Melbourne's eyes seemed to soften a lot.

He showed a smile and walked forward in three steps: "Caroline, so you are here."

When Mrs. Caroline Norton heard this call, her body trembled as if she was electrocuted. She suddenly woke up from the painful memory and looked up at Viscount Melbourne: "William..."

Viscount Melbourne looked at the makeup on her face that had faded due to tears, and couldn't help but said in shock: "You...what's wrong with you?"

"I……"

Caroline lowered her head slightly. She was silent for a while, then took a deep breath and smiled as brightly as possible at Melbourne: "It's nothing, I'm fine. After all, I don't have high expectations for him. One year, two years, now it's the third year, the relationship between me and him is like this, it will never get better. William, let's talk about other things, just like before, literature and poetry, Talk about something that interests us and stop talking about depressing things.”

When Viscount Melbourne saw her like this, he just shook his head and smiled: "Carolyn, it's not a big deal. In fact, between husband and wife, if there are incompatibility of personalities, they can all be reconciled. Don't give up so quickly. It turns out that I and...well...you probably know my wife, and what she did may be much more serious than your current husband.

She and I also have different personalities and often quarrel. Now that I think about it, the issues we quarrel with are actually quite ridiculous. She insists on breastfeeding her child, but I don’t agree. I want my child to go to Harrow School, but she doesn’t agree. . Coupled with my mother's intervention, our relationship was slowly wearing away just because of these trivial matters.

Then she fell in love with Byron, did a series of hysterical things, and finally ended up ruined and dead because of him. It was not until the end of her life that she finally woke up. Lying on the hospital bed, she said to her servant: Please call William over. He is the only one in the world who has never let me down.

But it's too late, everything is too late. They have been husband and wife for twenty years, but they have to wait until the end of their lives to understand each other. I just held the hand of her cold corpse. Her hair was not as black as when I first met her at the dance when I was nineteen years old, but withered and yellowed. Under the sunlight, her skin seemed to be translucent.

The tears on her face were exactly the same as the ones I saw on your face today. "

Viscount Melbourne seemed a little sad when he said this. He grabbed the gray hair on his forehead and it seemed that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were getting deeper.

"I'm sorry, Caroline, I shouldn't have told you this. I just don't want to see you and your husband make the same mistakes again. If you can understand each other, many things are not a big deal."

While Viscount Melbourne was talking to Mrs. Norton, Arthur and Elder, who were sitting not far next door, almost raised their ears as antennas.

Elder lowered his voice and sighed: "Viscount Melbourne is such a sweetheart! The outside world thought that he didn't care about the things that happened to Baroness Ponsonby at all. After a long time, it turned out that he was heartbroken, so There is no way to respond.”

Arthur replied with the same low voice: "The matter of Lady Ponsonby has been revealed, but now Viscount Melbourne takes the initiative to talk about his love history in front of a married lady. I'm afraid it's not a good idea. matter."

Elder asked suspiciously: "What's wrong?"

As soon as Elder finished asking, before Arthur could reply, the red devil had already started taunting him.

"Arthur, this kid is really stupider than you in this regard. Doesn't he feel that Viscount Melbourne is now releasing a kind of charm that is fatal to women? What's worse is that the person who receives this charm She is still a lady in an unhappy marriage, and I think it won’t be long before there will be a lot of big news between them.”

Mrs. Caroline Norton's voice came again from the next table, her eyes sparkling with tears.

"No, William, you don't understand. There is more than just a disagreement between him and me. We quarrel about everything, education, politics, literature, as long as it is a topic you can think of, we will always quarrel, and... And he often attacks me."

Having said this, Mrs. Norton dipped her fingers into the water glass and applied it to her face. After the pale concealer makeup faded away, her blue eyes were revealed.

"This..." Viscount Melbourne was shocked when he saw this situation: "Would Mr. George Norton actually hit you? He is a serious gentleman who has been strictly trained by Oxford and Lincoln Lawyers!"

Mrs. Norton cried while wiping her tears: "He is not as gentle as you think. George's temper is far more violent than he looks on the outside. He is perverse, rude, brutal, cruel, unscrupulous, conservative, stupid and slow." .

I simply can't imagine how someone like him graduated from Oxford and obtained the qualification to practice law. The Norton family's education spoiled him. He didn't look like a civilized gentleman living in the 19th century at all. On the contrary, Like a violent military leader that only existed in the last century.

Originally we only argued when he came home at night, but now, I even spend the day arguing and fighting. "

Viscount Melbourne asked: "Why is this?"

Mrs. Norton didn't know whether she was angry or aggrieved. She was crying and laughing at the same time: "Of course it's because of the general election. As you know, George is a member of the Tory Party. But in this general election, the Tories were completely defeated, and George was also lost. his constituency.

He now has no serious job, and he is also under great pressure from within the Tory Party. The Tories knew that George might lose, but they did not expect that George would lose so completely. Because of the loss of the constituency, several big figures in the Tory party are now beginning to doubt whether George has enough ability to continue as the Tory party's parliamentary candidate.

He was frustrated within the party and lost his job as a parliamentarian, so naturally he could only vent his anger and extra energy on me. He didn't accept any job as a lawyer, he didn't earn a penny, and he couldn't become a member of parliament. I really don't know where he got the courage to get angry at me. "

Elder at the next table couldn't help but change his expression when he heard this: "Congressman Norton beat his wife. This story is more exciting than your internal fight in Scotland Yard."

Arthur took a sip of coffee: "I would like to have a head-on confrontation with Director Rowan, but in this matter, force cannot solve the problem."

"How about you teach Mrs. Norton Fioreliu? I remember that day at General Codrington's banquet, Mrs. Norton seemed to be present, right? At that time, I saw that she was depressed and didn't talk much. It turned out that she was at home. Something went wrong."

"You just remembered that she was there? I thought you would have a deep memory of such a gorgeous lady in her 20s."

"Arthur, this is why you don't understand me. The way I identify ladies is not by looking at their faces, but by the smell of their bodies. Do you understand that I know a woman by her scent?"

"Haha, no wonder you always think about swimming back from the Thames River every time you make a bet. It turns out that you like the smell of the Thames River."

"Arthur! This is none of your business!"

The quarrel between Arthur and Elder obviously did not attract the attention of Viscount Melbourne, who was concentrating on how to solve the problem for his intellectual friend.

Viscount Melbourne was silent for a while and suddenly said: "If he loses his parliamentary seat, his status in the party will definitely decline. It's normal to be angry, but he really shouldn't hit people. But I still suggest Don't be too impulsive, you two can..."

Mrs. Norton wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and said: "William, please stop trying to persuade me. I have made up my mind that he and I really can't be together. Even if we can't divorce for the time being, I will Separate from him."

"Separation won't solve the problem..."

Viscount Melbourne only felt that the problem was difficult. He pondered for a moment and suddenly sighed: "How about this. You should also know that the Whig Party is a foregone conclusion. According to the opinions of the party, I will serve as Minister of the Interior in the cabinet.

If George is willing to give up his political views and quit the Tory Party, although I cannot give him a position as parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, I can consider finding him a job as a affairs officer.

He has something to do, so he doesn't have to focus all his energy on quarreling with you. You are both busy with your own careers. You two can take advantage of this time to calm down. "

"Secretary?" Elder's face turned green when he heard this. He glanced at Arthur: "Damn it! Arthur, are Melbourne planning to give your position to that idiot George Norton? ?”

Arthur seemed very calm: "Don't worry, a former member of Parliament who is also qualified to practice law will definitely look down on me, a Scotland Yard superintendent with an annual salary of 150 pounds."

Sure enough, as soon as Arthur finished speaking, Mrs. Norton's words rang out over there.

"William, I'm very grateful to you. But you don't understand George. There is no problem in letting him quit the Tory Party. But unless you are willing to appoint him directly as the permanent undersecretary of the Home Office, he will definitely not be willing to take up the post.

He doesn't want to do those grassroots jobs. What he thinks about every day is to be a big shot with status and wealth. Besides the members, the most powerful and wealthy person is the judge, which is why he is a lawyer. He went to the bar in order to become a judge one day. Before we were married, he would brag to me every day, saying that he would one day become the Chief Justice of Britain.

But I was so stupid. I actually believed his words at that time. I was deceived by his sweet words. I brought all this on myself. William, I don't deserve your sympathy. "

When Viscount Melbourne heard this, he just gritted his teeth and held Mrs. Norton's hand in his palm.

After a moment of astonishment, Mrs. Norton's face turned red almost instantly.

"William...you..."

Viscount Melbourne said decisively: "Caroline, you believe me, since he wants a judge, then I will help him find a job as a judge. But I also have an additional condition. If he wants this job, As well as quitting the Tory Party, he must promise me that he will not touch you again from now on."

"William..." Mrs. Norton looked at Viscount Melbourne's face. Her eyes were filled with mist again, but this time the reason was joy: "I... I really don't know how to thank you."

"No, you don't need to thank me. I do all this for you willingly." Viscount Melbourne smiled cheerfully: "Caroline, you have to be good. You can't be like my wife. You have to live. Be happy and live clearly.”

When Elder heard this, he couldn't help covering his face with his hands: "Oh my God! If I don't pay, am I qualified to listen to the following plot?"

Opposite him, Arthur had already taken out a pen and paper from his canvas bag, and was writing so fast in front of the case that the tip of his pen was almost smoking.

While transcribing key information, he denied Elder's question: "No, of course not. Elder, although from the love story between Baroness Ponsonby and Viscount Melbourne, we can see that Viscount Melbourne has a good character. . However, from the perspective of the origin of species studied by Charles, I think the following content will most likely be inappropriate for children."