Shadow of great britain

In the drawing room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the long-bearded Earl Leven held a wine glass and had a drink with Palmerston.

Although both men are here in official capacities, they prefer to view the meeting as a simple chat between friends rather than a formal public meeting.

"So, what do you think of what is happening in Syria? Muhammad Ali's 30,000 Egyptian troops have become overwhelmingly powerful since they left the Sinai Peninsula. Now all of Palestine has fallen into his hands, and he obviously has not yet Satisfied, it now begins its march towards Syria.

News leaked from the Ottoman court showed that Sultan Mahmud II planned to intervene in the conflict between Ali and Abdullah, the governor of Acre, in order to make the Egyptians calmer. Henry, what do you think about this? "

Palmerston just chuckled when he heard this.

"My friend, do you believe Ali's lies? This Egyptian Pasha of the Ottoman Empire was just using that conflict as an excuse to raise his army. He was a desert careerist with ambitious goals, and this kind of careerist is It's impossible to get into a fight over a quarrel.

According to feedback from our Egyptian diplomatic attaché, his real plan was to establish an empire outside the Ottoman provinces south of Asia Minor, stretching from Syria in the east, Libya in the west, the Mediterranean Sea and the Taurus Mountains in the north, and the Arabian Sea and Southern Sudan, an Arab empire spanning Asia and Africa, including all Arabic-speaking areas. "

Earl Leven heard this and took a sip of wine.

"His appetite is indeed huge, but the civilized world will not let him succeed easily, will it? For the sake of my friends, I can tell you a piece of news. His noble Majesty, who lives in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, has no intention of Ali's death. The rapid progress in Palestine is worrying.

Moreover, he also had deep doubts about whether the Ottomans could defeat Ali from the front. After all, our powerful Russian army had fought against the Egyptian troops in Greece. They were indeed the strongest troops in the Ottoman Empire. The strongest one. "

When Palmerston heard this, he also understood the purpose of the other party's visit today.

After all, Earl Leven wanted to come here today to test Britain's tone and see if Britain intends to intervene in mediation.

But for Palmerston, it's obviously too early to talk about this.

At present, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is focusing on solving the civil war problem in its ally Portugal, and after General Codrington annihilated the Ottoman Empire's maritime power at the Battle of Navarino, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' attitude towards the Eastern issue has become increasingly cautious.

From the perspective of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Britain neither wants to see the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, nor does it want to see the Ottoman Empire unite with Ali. An Ottoman Empire that is weak but not defeated, and large but not strong is in the best interests of the UK. .

As for Ali, this careerist from Egypt has both ambition and strength. Watching him grow bigger is indeed not a good thing. But at least for now, in Ali's jurisdiction, he greatly respected the business rights of British merchants, so Britain did not intend to easily offend the Arab warlord who ruled North Africa and Crete.

Moreover, according to consistent European diplomatic principles, if Britain intervenes in the Ottoman issue, then European powers such as France and Russia will have legitimate reasons to intervene.

But Britain is obviously further away from the Ottomans than France and Russia. Therefore, when the big powers get involved, it is unclear who will take advantage.

The previous Greek independence served as a warning. When Britain, France and Russia helped Greece become independent from the Ottoman Empire, the final result was that the pro-Russian faction in Greece gained the upper hand.

If Mr. Kapodistrias, the president of Greece, leader of the pro-Russian faction, and former foreign minister of Tsarist Russia, had not been unfortunately assassinated this year, it would be hard to say whether the Royal Navy could still maintain its absolute advantage in the Mediterranean.

Therefore, unless necessary circumstances arise, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not have enough reasons and motivations to change the status quo, and Palmerston cannot persuade the cabinet and parliament to intervene in the Palestinian war.

Palmerston said: "As for the Ottoman Empire, I tend to observe it for a while before making a judgment. Ali is indeed a careerist, but I don't think he has the ability to defeat his Ottoman overlord. However, I understand the concerns of His Majesty the Tsar, Please tell him to be calm and calm, the situation is not that bad yet.

Moreover, I think your country's top priority should be to clean up those Polish rebels who do not submit to the king's rule, just as our country's current top priority is to resolve the trial after the Sven riots. Domestic instability is much more dangerous than abroad. "

Seeing that Palmerston refused to let go, Earl Leven did not continue to ask.

He just joked: "Henry, I didn't expect that you have just been engaged in diplomacy for a year and you are already so skilled in the use of diplomatic rhetoric. It seems that Dorothea's evaluation of you is really right. You He is a born diplomat. She is right, a guy who can be successful in love is generally good at the diplomatic negotiation table. This is true for Talleyrand, so is Metternich. And it is even more true for you. .”

Palmerston did not deny what Earl Leven said.

But what made him want to laugh was that two of the three people mentioned by Earl Leven just now had an affair with his wife. As for whether there is any remaining old cripple, only God knows.

However, according to Mrs. Leven's habit of hunting European celebrities, if Talleyrand was good at this, he would probably be in trouble.

If we judge it from the perspective of ethics in a popular sense, it is probably difficult to understand the magical relationship between husband and wife like the Levins.

However, for nobles, the loyalty between husband and wife is limited to the birth of a legal heir.

Many couples who form partners through arranged marriages and do not have much emotional basis basically go their own ways after that. Both spouses basically turn a blind eye to each other's cheating behavior, as long as they don't go too far. If it is detrimental to the dignity of the nobles, then the matter should be ignored.

The two were having a lively exchange when suddenly the door to the living room was pushed open. Mrs. Levine pushed back the entourage behind her and walked calmly in front of her husband and lover.

She gently tucked the curly hair behind her ears, gently raised her hand and brought it to Palmerston, winking at him playfully.

Palmerston understood and kissed the hand: "Madam, it seems that the cold wind in Petersburg can not only preserve food, but also you look young again after returning from vacation there."

Mrs. Levine had a smile in her eyes: "Henry, if you apply this ability to please ladies in diplomacy, I don't know who can stop your unstoppable charm."

Earl Leven was leaning on the sofa with a cigar in his mouth and said, "I do know one."

Mrs. Levin lifted the hem of her skirt and leaned against her husband and asked softly: "Who?"

Earl Leven laughed and responded directly: "Muhammad Ali. Your omnipotent Henry just said that he can't solve this problem."

Viscount Palmerston coughed softly: "Your Excellency, let me take the liberty to remind you that Ali is not a problem for the time being."

Mrs. Levin also blamed her husband angrily: "My dear, how can a pagan understand the charm of a Christian gentleman? That guy only knows how to play with sand in Syria. This is not Henry's problem."

Upon hearing this, Earl Leven just raised his eyebrows and shrugged: "Okay, my considerate wife, you are right, who made you so beautiful?"

Having said this, Earl Leven took out the pocket watch in his pocket, took a look at it, and suddenly stood up and said: "It's getting late, and it's time for me to set off for the banquet. Previously, due to cholera, various club salons were closed for several weeks. How about now? It’s easy to restart, but I have to pay back all the debt I owed in the past few weeks.”

After hearing this, Viscount Palmerston stood up to see him off. Unexpectedly, as soon as he stood up, Earl Leven pressed his shoulders and pushed him back.

The earl leaned down and whispered in his ear: "No need to send her away. Take good care of Dorothea for me. When she is in a good mood, tell her by the way that I will not go back to the embassy tonight." .”

Viscount Palmerston heard this and smiled politely: "Then I hope you have a good time tonight."

Lord Leven took off his hat and said goodbye to his wife and Palmerston: "I also wish you a pleasant evening."

After saying this, he kissed his wife gently on her forehead and walked away with a smile on his face.

Viscount Palmerston watched the other party walk out of the living room, leaned on the armrest of the sofa, put a hand on his head and said: "Why do I feel that your lordship came here today not to talk to me about Egypt, but to get rid of you?" Come to me."

When Mrs. Levin heard this, her face suddenly dropped.

She shook the lace feather fan with an unhappy look on her face: "What? Aren't you happy?"

"Of course not." Palmerston realized that something was wrong and quickly changed his compliment: "Dorothea, you have no idea that your absence in London almost drove me crazy. I shut up every day When I open my eyes, all I see is your smiling face, all I hear is your voice. I miss your hugs and your cherry-like sweet lips all the time."

When Mrs. Levin heard this, she made no secret of her suspicion. She turned sideways and asked, "Really? I'm not in London, so doesn't it just give you and Emily a lot of time to be alone?"

"Oh!" Palmerston said, holding his head: "Dorothea, it seems you don't know yet, Emily is not in London during this time. She was having trouble with her brother, so she went back to the country in a rage Living."

"Ah?" Mrs. Levin said with surprise, "What's going on?"

Palmerston recounted to his old lover the ins and outs of Viscount Melbourne's extramarital affair. After listening to the narration, Mrs. Leven felt a little dumbfounded.

Mrs. Leven asked: "Why is Viscount Melbourne always involved in these things? It was the troubles between his wife and Lord Byron before, and now it is the extramarital affair lawsuit. I remember that he seems to be a very decent person! Why does God always Do you like teasing him like this?"

Palmerston tightened his collar and said mysteriously: "Really? I don't think William is very decent. It's just that he has higher requirements for his partners."

"Higher?" Mrs. Levine immediately became interested when she heard this: "What kind of woman does he like?"

Palmerston said: "Well... he is a person who likes to read. Ever since what happened to his wife, he has spent almost all his spare time on reading. It seems that he wants to Use this to escape reality. And despite his usual lazy attitude, he is actually a rather picky person. He is only interested in women who can keep up with his knowledge. But unfortunately, his knowledge is too He is very knowledgeable, so in the end, there will always be only a few women who can chat with him."

Having said this, Palmerston stood up and sat next to Mrs. Leven: "But... Dorothea, why are you asking about this? Could it be that you are interested in our great scholar William?"

Mrs. Levin wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction: "I don't mean to offend, but I am not interested in His Excellency the Viscount. I have never lacked suitors, and most of my suitors are very knowledgeable, but I have no interest in recruiting someone like him. It’s a strong lineup like the Royal Society.”

When Viscount Palmerston heard this, he just pretended to be pitiful and said: "Oh, Dorothea, hearing you say that, I suddenly feel worried that I may lose you at any time."

Mrs. Levin was amused by his words. She raised her lace gloves and rubbed her lover's face fiercely: "Compared with those who are knowledgeable at the beginning, I still prefer to cultivate those who are mediocre at the beginning but have great achievements." Talented. Although he is indeed shallow sometimes, I believe that with his talent and hard work, he will one day become the Foreign Secretary."

"My dear, this is all thanks to your support. At least half of my position as Foreign Minister belongs to you."

When Palmerston said this, he took Mrs. Leven into his arms: "But since you have helped me to this extent, why don't you help me again?"

Mrs. Leven snuggled lazily in Palmerston's arms, twirled her fingers around her long hair and said, "Henry, you are so greedy. I'm just a woman, what can I do?"

"No, dear, you must not say that." Palmerston said with a smile: "Look, the end of the year is coming soon, and I want to add another highlight to the work report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. . I hope to be able to proudly announce to you in front of all my cabinet colleagues that due to my unremitting efforts, Britain has now penetrated deep into the heart of the Russians!"

Mrs. Leven's face turned red when she heard this. She rolled her eyes at Palmerston and said, "Henry! You are a shameless guy. Is this something you can say at a cabinet meeting?"

Palmerston smirked and put his hand on Mrs. Leven's shoulder: "Dorothea, are you so shy? This is not like you!"

Seeing his appearance, Mrs. Levin couldn't help but think of the blow to his excessive self-confidence: "It's not that I'm shy, but I think what the predecessors have done is really nothing to brag about. Before you, Wellington The Duke has already been there."

But Palmerston didn't care about this. He didn't care at all: "My dear, this is different. Although the result is the same, the means between me and the Duke of Wellington are different."

"how to say?"

Palmerston raised his eyebrows and smiled: "As we all know, I am good at attacking like a storm, while His Excellency the Duke is good at impregnable defense. But his defense was broken by you, and I broke through your defense, so in the end In the end, I still win.”

Mrs. Levin pursed her lips and finally accepted Palmerston: "Okay, for Poland's sake, I will..."

Unexpectedly, when Viscount Palmerston heard the word Poland, he immediately said reflexively: "Poland? What Poland?"

Mrs. Levin reacted after hearing this: "Oh, sorry, dear, it was my slip of the tongue. I almost forgot that you know nothing about Poland. But having said that, I still have to express my ignorance. Thank you, so you must have prepared a wonderful night for me tonight, right?"

Viscount Palmerston smiled and nodded: "Of course, ma'am."

He stood up and walked to the phonograph placed in the hall, lifted the needle and placed it on the record.

Not long after, a burst of soothing and beautiful music sounded in the living room.

All gentlemen and ladies who frequent concerts can tell that the music played is the work of Chopin, currently the most popular pianist in London - "To Hastings".

Viscount Palmerston bowed slightly, smiled at Mrs. Leven and extended an invitation: "Madam, would I be honored to invite you to dance a waltz?"

"certainly."

Mrs. Levin stretched out her slender arm and gently placed her palm on Palmerston's palm: "This song is a tribute to the friendship between Britain and Russia."