Shadow of great britain

London, Westminster, Wimpole Street.

The carriage was moving slowly. In the carriage, Arthur was lighting a cigar and quietly flipping through the manuscript that Mrs. Shelley had given him.

It was a translation of "Homer's Epic" imitating Pope's style, and it was also the debut novel of the girl named Elizabeth.

Mrs. Shelley folded her hands on her knees. It could be seen from her slightly wrinkled white gloves that she seemed a little nervous.

Although the manuscript was not her work, she still couldn't help but worry about Elizabeth.

Perhaps outsiders may think that the literary circle is always full of harmony, and everyone is always polite when talking.

But an expert like Mrs. Shelley fully understands how many nuisances there are in this industry, and how difficult it is for a writer to appreciate another writer.

As for those newcomers in the literary world, what awaits them is usually countless criticism and ridicule from the seniors. And female writers are attacked in this regard far more than male writers.

Although after Jane Austen became famous, many people in the middle class have accepted the existence of female writers.

But those old-school gentlemen still don’t think that writing is what women should do. Even if they want to write, they can only write romance stories. If they touch works like Homer, they usually get a scolding.

The three great poets of the Lakeside School, Coleridge, Wordsworth and Southey, were representatives who firmly opposed women entering the literary world, and their main outlet for exporting this view was Blackwood, the authoritative magazine of British classical literature. .

The reason why Mrs. Shelley came to Arthur was because of the incompatible relationship between "The Englishman" and "Blackwood".

These two literary magazines with similar circulations perfectly represent the two opposing voices in the current British literary world.

"Blackwood" scolded "The British" for having poor taste, using vulgar words, worshiping money, and leading bad social trends.

"The British" criticizes "Blackwood" for its old-fashioned ideas, stubbornness, and sourness. It's just a combination of medieval zombies.

Although the current mainstream public opinion supports "Blackwood", as far as Mrs. Shelley knows, although gentlemen and ladies will use "Blackwood" to decorate their elegant taste in public, many people still watch it in private "British" is a bit more.

As for the reason, it's simple because the stories in "The British" are indeed more interesting to read than the gorgeous poetry and literary criticism in "Blackwood".

Moreover, some ladies who dare to express their opinions are not afraid to express their love for "The British" in public. The ladies of the Bluestocking Society are one of the famous representatives.

This group of rebellious female academics like the reasoning techniques and chemical knowledge used in Arthur's detective novels. They are also very interested in Darwin's monkey training diary in South America. As for the works of Dickens, Alexandre Dumas, and Disraeli, The works are suitable for all ages.

Moreover, "The Englishman" is not like "Blackwood" said, they are all novels with low literary quality. Heine's poems directly raise their literary taste to a higher level. Moreover, the young poet named Tennyson could occasionally come up with very good poetic sketches.

Perhaps the literary depth of "Blackwood" is beyond the reach of "The British", but similarly, the breadth of "The British" in electromagnetism, chemistry, natural history, etc. is also what "Blackwood" must look up to.

Just like the magazine's motto written on the title page of every issue of "British" says - "British" welcomes everyone with literary dreams to join us, regardless of gender, age, and even across species. consider.

Although this sentence is quite joking, Mrs. Shelley has no doubts about the inclusive review attitude of "The British". This group of warm-hearted gentlemen reached out to her in her most difficult time. "Blackwood" does not have such kindness.

Arthur turned the manuscript to the last page, then leaned back, leaned on the back of the chair and let out a sigh of relief.

Mrs. Shelley looked at the young man's face and smiled kindly: "What do you think?"

Arthur nodded slightly and said: "It's better than I expected. Although it's not as majestic as Pope's translation, her words are very delicate and contain a sacred and religious atmosphere."

Mrs. Shelley raised her hand to cover her mouth in surprise: "I really can't hide anything from you. She is indeed very interested in religion, and like you, she is a nonconformist."

"Nonconformist? You mean, she's a Catholic too?"

"No, she believes in the Protestant Wesleyan Church. As far as I know, as long as her health allows, she basically insists on attending services at the Wesleyan chapel near her home every week. You should also know the teachings of the Wesleyan Church. They advocate seriousness. Study the Bible, live a strict religious life, and follow moral principles.

The girl not only read the New Testament, but also the Old Testament. In order to understand the Old Testament, she even taught herself Hebrew. Moreover, she is not satisfied with these. She will read Milton's "Paradise Lost", Dante's "Divine Comedy", any book related to religion, and she will also read the original version.

To this end, she learned Latin and Greek. In the process, she became fascinated by the books of ancient Greek writers such as Homer, Pindarus, and Aristophanes. Among other things, she loved the writings of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Wollstonecraft. "

Arthur took a puff of the cigarette, and the injection of nicotine made his brain start to work rapidly.

"This lady has a wide range of interests and hobbies. She is a religious fanatic, but she also likes Voltaire... Hmm... let me guess, is she also a deist? She believes that God created the world and humans, but also thinks that God didn’t continue to intervene after that and just let the world run its own course?”

Mrs. Shelley smiled and replied: "You are indeed an outstanding detective. So guess which of your works she likes best?"

"Which work?" Arthur frowned and asked: "Madam, I only have one work, that is "The Detectives of Hastings"."

"That's not true." Mrs. Shelley replied with a smile: "There is also a "St. George's Flag Rises"."

Arthur waved his hands after hearing this and said: "No, madam, you may have misunderstood, that is the work of Mr. Dickens."

Mrs. Shelley smiled slyly: "But Mr. Dickens said that the idea and plot of this work were all drawn up by you. Elizabeth wrote a letter to the editorial office, and Mr. Dickens personally told her the ins and outs of creating this story. He You are just the one who wrote it, and the context and key plots of this book were all written by you yourself.”

"This kid Charles always does superfluous things..."

Arthur smoothed his hair: "Okay, so Elizabeth likes dolphins...er, no, sharks?"

Mrs. Shelley covered her mouth and said with a smile: "This is not about sharks. Your article made her cry. She felt that her heart was touched by Elder Carter's spirit of working hard and not surrendering to fate. Inspired. Seeing Carter's struggle, she seemed to see herself fighting against fate."

When Arthur heard this, he was stunned for a long time without saying anything. It was not until the end of the cigar burned his hand that he shivered from the burn and completely recovered.

Looking at Mrs. Shelley's sincere and warm smile, Arthur felt so complicated that no matter what he said at this moment, it seemed like blasphemy.

The Red Devil put his arm on Arthur's shoulder and consoled him with a playful smile: "Look on the bright side, it's a good thing after all. Elder can use his own painful experience to inspire a paralyzed girl in pain. He can be considered a good person." It’s a good thing, even if he didn’t do it intentionally.”

Arthur's thinking direction was obviously different from that of the Red Devil. He suddenly felt that he had made a mistake in choosing to go to the fan's home with Mrs. Shelley today.

If Miss Elizabeth suddenly asked about the origin of the story, how should Arthur explain such a thing to her?

"St. George's Flag Rises" is a lie I can't tell?

Is this actually a cross-species love?

Just when Arthur was about to find an excuse to rush out of the door, the wheels of the carriage stopped leisurely.

Mrs. Shelley glanced at the white-painted apartment outside the window, nodded slightly to Arthur and said, "Mr. Hastings, we are here."

The groom opened the car door, Arthur's riding boots stepped on the watery brick road, and he felt like he was being forced to go uphill.

However, before he could express his refusal, a familiar, pleasant and crisp voice with a hint of surprise sounded in his ears.

"Mr. Hastings?"

Arthur turned around and saw that it was a noble lady traveling accompanied by a male servant.

She gently lifted her beige wide-brimmed hat, and her naughty smile could be seen through the lace brim.

"Miss Byron?"

Ada Byron was about to step forward to talk to Arthur, but as soon as she took a step, she saw Mrs. Shelley getting out of the car following Arthur.

This frightened her so much that she quickly took back the grimace she had just made. She bowed her head obediently and said, "Mrs. Shelley."

"Ada?" Mrs. Shelley was also surprised by the girl's appearance: "Didn't your mother travel with you today?"

Ada shook her head and said, "I'm an adult and can go to social dances. So naturally, my mother doesn't need to keep an eye on me every day."

Mrs. Shelley seemed a little dissatisfied when she heard this.

In terms of the control of her children, perhaps because they were both saddened by poets, she has similar views to Ada's mother, Mrs. Milbank.

Just as Byron and Shelley were close friends who talked about everything, so the wives of the two poets had become very close in recent years.

For the little girl Ada, Mrs. Shelley almost regarded her as her own daughter.

Mrs. Shelley said: "You should listen to your mother's opinion more. There are many terrible guys in this society. Silly girls like you can easily be deceived by them if you are not careful."

When Ada heard this, she immediately became mischievous. She pretended to be innocent and asked: "This... you are right. There are indeed many bad guys in this society. For example, the person next to you, I read in the newspapers these days Everyone seems to be attacking him, both the Times and the Guardian say he is a heinous villain. Come to me quickly, I'm afraid he will attack you later."

Mrs. Shelley's face darkened instantly when she heard this: "Ada, you can't just believe what is in the newspaper. You have to feel the quality of a person for yourself, and sometimes you can't trust it just by feeling. , it still takes time to see people's hearts. In short, the good or bad of a person cannot be judged from the evaluation of others. Mr. Hastings is a very good police officer and an upright gentleman. You must be Apologize to him for what you just said."

"All right……"

Ada lowered her head, still secretly observing Arthur's reaction from the corners of her drooped eyes.

Naturally, such a small move could not escape Arthur's eyes, but he had no intention of interceding on behalf of the other party. Instead, he looked at the young lady's chest with great interest.

Ada noticed Arthur's hot gaze, her face suddenly turned red, and she quickly took a step back: "Mr. Hastings, what are you looking at?"

"That..." Arthur pointed to the book she was holding on her chest and asked, "What is that?"

"Which one?"

Ada looked down and felt her face was burning, as if there was a flame burning: "This is the data that Mr. De Morgan gave me. I want to take it back for statistics."

"Mr. De Morgan? Data?"

Arthur suddenly slapped his head and remembered something: "I almost forgot that Mr. De Morgan was your tutor before. So, the document in your arms should be the cholera document assigned to the University of London by the Central Health Commission. Case statistics document, right? Are you assisting the government?"

"Well... it's just a little hobby. I can put the mathematical knowledge I have learned into practice, which makes me happy."

Ada said with wandering eyes: "Of course, it is also an important reason why Mr. De Morgan allowed me to attend his class at the University of London. So when he said that the Central Health Commission and Mr. Arthur Hastings of Scotland Yard commissioned When the University of London compiled daily statistics on cholera cases, I agreed without a second thought.”

When Mrs. Shelley heard this, she couldn't help but glance at Arthur beside her, and then glared at Ada with an angry look, and then said: "Ada, you are such a naughty girl."

Ada's face flushed with shame: "You were too eager to teach me a lesson."

Arthur took off his hat and bowed slightly: "Miss Byron, thank you very much for your help in government work. Cholera statistics work is a complicated matter, and your joining will definitely make the work a lot easier."

Ada blinked and asked doubtfully: "Is that all?"

Arthur thought for a while and then added with a smile: "I'm also very grateful that you don't hate me. There are enough people in London who hate me now. I'm very happy that I didn't lose another beautiful and moving supporter. If next This is my first opportunity to invite you to dance, I hope you will not refuse me."

After hearing this, Ada nodded with satisfaction: "I have no reason to refuse a gentleman."

Seeing this, Mrs. Shelley turned her head and said to Arthur with a smile: "The misunderstanding has been resolved. Now it's time for us to meet your other supporter."

She was about to knock on the doorbell, but Ada suddenly followed her. She looked at the suspicious apartment in front of her, then at Mrs. Shelley and Arthur, and asked suspiciously: "Can I take the liberty of asking?" By the way, do you and Mr. Hastings have any special arrangements today?"