Shadow of great britain

Bayswater, Lancaster Gate, Arthur's mansion.

Alexandre Dumas and Elder squeezed in behind Arthur, face to face. They stared intently at the letter that was on the table and had just been taken out from the Russian Embassy. They kept urging and holding the English letter in their hands. Arthur from the German Dictionary quickly translated.

"Arthur, are you okay? If not, let me do it. You don't know how to be anxious about this kind of thing! This is your job. Please pay attention to your work, okay?"

Alexandre Dumas also echoed: "I know a little bit of German. How about I translate it? Maybe it can be faster."

Arthur glanced at the two anxious animals, and said calmly while working: "Don't you two have your own work to do? When I am usually very busy with documents from Scotland Yard, I haven't seen you. That you care so much about me."

Elder replied: "Can that be the same? Didn't you say before that the documents you handled were all highly confidential? We didn't come together to avoid making things difficult for you. You guy, why don't you understand the kindness of your brothers?"

Alexandre Dumas also nodded and said: "Yes, I have never cared about the machinations of you guys from England, but this time it involves Russia and Austria, I think I still need to take some time out of my busy schedule to learn more about it."

Agares, who was sitting aside, put his legs on the table. The Red Devil whistled: "Look, vulgar humans only care about this little thing. They may not know who the prime minister who just took office is, but Whenever he gets a chance, he has to find out if so-and-so in the neighborhood is having an extramarital affair.”

As Agares said, the reason why Dumas and Elder are inseparable from Arthur today is all because of this letter from the embassy.

At first, Arthur thought this must be important information.

But later he discovered that Pinkerton, a smart little guy, was really damn accurate at stealing. He could easily pull out an important document at the Russian Embassy, ​​but he preferred to kill Austrian Prime Minister Metternich. The love letter to Mrs. Leven was stolen.

It stands to reason that such personal items must be properly kept by Mrs. Levine. But perhaps it was because her old lover came to meet her today that Mrs. Levine specially took out this letter to relive the beautiful memories of the past with him.

But this pair of wild mandarin ducks reliving memories made Arthur miserable. He had been circling the embassy for so long, and in the end he only got this little letter, which was useless except to prove that Metternich and Mrs. Leven had an affair. thing.

Fortunately, he had arranged for backup. When the concert was held on Sunday, he could send someone to the embassy again. Next time, Arthur would have to prove whatever he said. The Bureau of London Statistics under his management In addition to investigating extramarital affairs, it has some additional value.

Arthur spent a lot of effort to finally translate the love letter in front of him, but before he could read it from beginning to end, the translated manuscript was snatched away by Elder.

Mr. Elder Carter, who is full of literary cells, recited with great emotion.

"On October 22nd, we had our first meeting at Mr. N's home. I saw that your keen insight into things that day was beyond the reach of other women. For a long time, everyone has Kudos to the ladies for their judgment, but in my eyes they are nothing compared to you."

Alexandre Dumas snatched the letter away and used his broad chest to produce a rich voice unique to a tenor.

"On the 26th, we had a common opinion for the first time on an insignificant matter. Do you remember the first time I asked you if you would be my traveling companion? You took away my seat in the car, How can you be so rude to a person? I wasn't very happy about it. But we talked happily with each other afterwards, and I liked you very much because of your kindness and simplicity."

Elder continued: "On the 27th, I was already very happy to see you. So I proposed to you that I take your carriage instead so that I can be with you. I gradually believed what those people said, They praise you for being so cute. My pride does not allow me to identify with other men, but my honesty forces me to admit that they are right."

Alexandre Dumas chanted: "On the 28th, I visited you for the first time with a solemn ceremony. When I returned home, I felt that you and I were as old acquaintances. I was not impressed by the loose appearance of the two men in your family. If I don’t complain, maybe I just love the house and the bird, but I think that’s pretty good.”

Elder held Alexandre Dumas's hand and looked at him affectionately: "On the 29th, I didn't see you."

Alexandre Dumas looked out the window sadly: "On the 30th, I felt how boring and indifferent the previous day was. My dear Dorothea, from this day on, I finally knew, and my chest was beating My fiery heart already belongs to you..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Arthur calmly picked up the tea cup and asked: "Elder, as Britain's first literary critic, please briefly summarize the thoughts and feelings of this letter. I will report to the Duke of Wellington later. Use it when needed.”

Upon hearing this, Elder held the letter, put a hand on his eyebrows, lowered his head and sighed and said word by word: "I really want to be Mrs. Levine's dog!"

Arthur said calmly: "Elder, Christmas is not here yet, please wait until next month to make a wish."

"Arthur! Damn you!" Elder shouted angrily with a red face and thick neck: "I summarized it because you asked me to summarize it! I am not making a wish!"

Alexandre Dumas nodded when he heard this and said: "That's right. Anyway, if you make such a wish, it won't come true."

"Alexander!" When Elder heard this, he immediately rushed towards Alexandre Dumas angrily.

Alexandre Dumas was obviously prepared for his attack. The fat Frenchman fought and retreated all the way, broke open the door and ran away. Elder gave full play to the fine tradition of the Royal Navy that when it encountered a French ship, it would pursue and fight fiercely. He ran out after him.

When the Red Devil saw this, he couldn't help but slapped the table and waggled his tongue and laughed wildly: "Arthur, you just heard it, this is Metternich, the big man who dominates the destiny of Austria and has been in Europe for decades. He is like this Anyone who is so fascinated by a woman's skirt and is willing to kneel down and be a dog can become a big shot in Europe. What's impossible for you, a rare bastard and villain in the world?"

Arthur picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

"Agares, you don't need to praise me so much. Whether I can become Metternich or not is not important at all, and I will not look down on him because of this love letter. After all, it is normal for people to have seven emotions and six desires.

As Lord Byron said, love for the sake of being loved is human. Love for love's sake is God. Hmm... Maybe it's not appropriate to bring out Lord Byron here. After all, his own private life is also a mess, but that's the meaning. "

The Red Devil leaned on the chair, picked it up with his fingertips, and a gust of wind blew by, sending the love letter to his fingertips: "But joking aside, how are you going to explain to Wellington later? You said that after all your efforts, you finally broke through the good news between Mrs. Leven and Metternich?"

Arthur crossed his arms and said: "Maybe I don't need to inform the Duke of Wellington about this kind of thing. Aren't there always rumors that he and Mrs. Leven are not on good terms with each other? Well... Putting it this way, I suddenly feel that maybe It’s not a bad thing to steal Metternich’s love letter today. If I got a love letter from the Duke of Wellington, then I wouldn’t know how to face him.”

The Red Devil laughed and said, "What's not easy to face? Didn't you act quite naturally when you faced Viscount Melbourne and Mrs. Norton at the Allmark Club that day?"

Arthur raised his eyebrows and said: "Then how can it be the same? Mrs. Norton and Viscount Melbourne seem to be physically innocent at least for now."

The red devil rubbed his hands and smiled evilly: "Oh! My dear Arthur, so you don't care about the mental aspect?"

As soon as Arthur heard this, he knew that the other party must not be holding back anything. He replied: "Of course not, but Agares, you know, I am a Scotland Yard policeman. The police have to provide evidence when handling cases. We at Scotland Yard It’s not like the Third Office of the Imperial Office of Tsarist Russia. You can be exiled to Siberia just for having the idea of ​​​​rebellion.”

Agares said with a bad smile: "But... my dear Arthur, whether it is cheating or not is not something you, an outsider, can determine at all. If you are not involved, you naturally have no say."

Arthur was originally planning to drink tea. When he heard this, he suddenly paused in picking up the teacup.

His brows furrowed slightly, his eyes stared directly at the red devil, and asked: "What do you mean by this?"

"It's not interesting." Agares smiled: "I'm just chatting with you and stating a fact."

Arthur looked at him and thought for a long time, but couldn't figure out what the red devil was referring to.

As far as he knew, there were far more than one couple engaging in extramarital affairs, and one person could even be involved in several couples.

Instead of worrying about these unattainable matters, it is better to find ways to solve the most urgent London meeting at the moment.

Although he now has the support of Lord Brougham, the decision-making power of whether to abolish the Bureau of London Statistics as a temporary agency is still in the hands of the Viscount Melbourne, and even if it is not abolished, he still needs the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide funds for the activities of the Bureau of London Statistics. .

Now that he is no longer in charge of a specific police district, the Criminal Investigation Department currently under his jurisdiction is a small department with only four people, so the office expenses at his disposal are naturally stretched.

Even for the future development of the Bureau of London Statistics, Arthur had to let Viscount Melbourne and even the entire cabinet see the value of the Bureau of London Statistics. Only in this way could he easily ask for money.

Arthur held the copy of Metternich's love letter in his hand and read it over and over again. It wasn't until his peripheral vision focused on the signature that he suddenly tasted a hint of it.

——1818.11.28, written in Brussels.

The capital of Belgium, Brussels?

Arthur held his chin and thought for a moment, then turned around and sure enough, he still couldn't avoid the Belgian question.

Mrs. Leven must have received many love letters from Metternich, but today she only took out this one to recall, which was obviously not an unintentional move.

Did she want to use the opportunity of recalling the love letter to extract Austria's attitude towards Belgian independence from Metternich?

Arthur's eyes suddenly stopped at one of the paragraphs in the love letter.

——Our correspondence should be on a large scale. Everything you don’t know within a month can be seen in my letters. You will always know me better than anyone else will know me at any time. I hold you tightly, you are who I am. No beauty or happiness in the world can be a substitute for you. Dorothea, my happiness is you, you are my happiness.

When Arthur saw this, he couldn't help but muttered: "If this is not the sweet talk of the old gangster, then maybe Mrs. Levine can really pry something out of his mouth."

After saying this, he couldn't help but rub his temples: "Your Excellency, as long as you have Metternich's three-thirds skill in writing love letters, you don't have to ask me to find out information for you."