Shadow of great britain

Sunlight penetrates the mist and gradually fills the area of ​​single-family villas near Hyde Park.

One is a Georgian villa with red bricks and white trim - spacious and elegant, with a beautifully manicured garden in its front yard. Neighbors living nearby know that this quiet oasis belongs to Sir Arthur Hastings. Although he has moved here for a long time, he has only recently become familiar with the neighbors.

This is a young gentleman with a gentle smile on his face. Although neighbors occasionally complain that he does not often attend clubs and salons organized by nearby residents, almost everyone admits that Sir Arthur Hastings Truly the leading philanthropist of Bayswater, London.

Not only was this gentleman very elegant and measured in his speech and behavior, but he also actively participated in various official and unofficial charity donations organized by the local diocese. The vicar of the diocese did not shy away from saying bluntly during his sermon that Bayswater Almshouse The largest social donation received this year was from Sir Arthur Hastings. They received food, clothing and other relief materials worth a total of about three hundred pounds.

Such a young and rich upper-class gentleman can easily become the talk of everyone after dinner. But unfortunately, residents know very little about this gentleman's life story. The young lordship was very secretive about his professional experience and only vaguely told everyone that he worked in the publishing industry.

According to several gentlemen who work in the City, they can see Sir Arthur Hastings in the City every now and then. This model of upper class society seems to be a guest of the Rothschild family. Once, they also saw Alexander Baring, the head of Barings Bank, taking the initiative to say hello to Sir.

How did such a young man get in touch with so many big shots?

Where did his seemingly inexhaustible wealth come from?

Some people say that this knight should have been born in a down-to-earth noble family, and he was not valued in the family. However, he finally inherited the inheritance of a cheap uncle who had no descendants by luck, so he was able to So rich.

Such a guess is indeed reasonable. Because everyone knows how picky the nobles are about marriage. They would rather not get married and have children than put down their arrogance and find a marriage partner who is not from the right family.

Therefore, no matter how prominent the noble family is, there can be a lot of old bachelors and old girls who are still unmarried in their thirties and forties, and by the time they really find the right person, they will probably be at an age where they are infertile. .

What's worse is that this upper-class culture seems to be quietly affecting the civilian class's views on marriage and love. At least among the middle class, many such ‘single nobles’ have begun to emerge.

Of course, not getting married does not mean that nobles are very clean and self-sufficient, especially for male nobles. They will probably have many lovers and maybe a few illegitimate children. But unfortunately, these illegitimate children do not enjoy the protection of the law, that is, they have no right to inherit their father's property.

Therefore, in those ancient families, it often happens that after the death of an uncle, young people of the nephew generation become rich overnight.

And everyone thought that Sir Arthur Hastings was obviously such a lucky man.

However, not everyone thinks so, and some people hold another view on the source of the Hastings family's wealth.

Because they discovered that this jazz man seemed to be single at the moment. As a gentleman who is very attractive to the opposite sex, his good conversation, extensive knowledge, and strong body are all bonus points for him. Ladies of this era are always very fond of this.

Therefore, some people suspect that Sir Arthur Hastings' wealth may have originated from the widow of a wealthy businessman, marrying a wealthy widow and swallowing her massive dowry. This is also socially recognized as getting rich overnight. way.

According to various anecdotes circulating on the streets of London, there seems to be a special type of people in the society who specialize in the business of marrying rich widows, and they also specialize in choosing older assailants, sending one away and then looking for the next one non-stop. A goal.

The young lord may have just given away his last wife and has not had time to find the next one.

Whenever the ladies talked about the various speculations about the young man at a party, they couldn't help but exclaim one after another. They pressed their chests and prayed to God to protect themselves from being targeted by him.

Occasionally, gentlemen would come over and joke: "Dear, you don't have to worry about this, because your husband is still alive."

As for Arthur, who was deeply involved in the rumors of marrying a widow, he was not completely unaware of the outrageous speculations of his neighbors, but he was really too lazy to defend himself. Because based on his understanding of the nature of these gentlemen and ladies, defending would only aggravate their suspicions, and the idea of ​​marrying a widow to become rich is obviously more topical than working hard.

What's more, he found that after this rumor spread, the neighbors who liked to chat with him from morning to noon obviously deliberately kept a certain distance from him. Especially for those ladies who he could not refuse according to social etiquette, now he only needs to take off his hat and say "Good morning, madam" to make them blush and say goodbye in a hurry.

Arthur found that on the one hand, these ladies were very happy to be recognized by the 'professional hunter', but on the other hand, they were really afraid of him. One sentence can satisfy the vanity of ladies and give them a day's worth of conversation without straining themselves. Is there any better title in the world than 'Rich Woman Hunter'?

This seems to be more important than his knighthood.

After scaring away several lovely ladies and their servants by saying 'Good morning, madam' three times in a row, Arthur could finally do something he liked leisurely in the private garden.

He was wearing a dark blue pinstriped tuxedo, a light-colored vest, a white hand-embroidered linen scarf around his neck, a straw hat on his head, and a delicate copper watering can in his hand, leisurely Water those precious exotic flowers in the garden.

Every leaf is bathed in crystal water drops under his careful care, and the rose bushes bloom especially delicately under his care, exuding a fragrant fragrance. His movements are gentle and rhythmic, as if each spray is a hymn to natural beauty.

Looking around, every inch of the garden has been carefully designed, not only following the popular garden art layout at the time, but also incorporating the owner's personal artistic taste. Along the winding paths, heather hedges are neatly arranged and plants of various colors are arranged in distinct layers, creating a harmonious and vibrant picture.

Looking at this beautiful landscape painting, Arthur felt extremely happy for a moment. He was very happy that he could find something to do for himself during the period of recuperation after leaving Scotland Yard.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, preparing to feel the fragrance in the garden, but in a flash, his brows suddenly frowned. Arthur glanced and instantly found the source of his discomfort.

He took off his gloves and uprooted the few plants in the garden that were left over from the Alexandre Dumas era: "Damn it! I thought I had cleaned them all, but I didn't expect there were a few garlic bulbs left here."

He casually placed the garlic on the small round table in the garden, and as soon as he lay down on the chair, Miss Becky Sharp, the maid who was cleaning in the front room, duly handed over a silver tray with a cup of just a glass of wine on it. Brewed Ceylon black tea and a copy of the day's Times.

Arthur took it with a smile, thanked him, and asked: "Becky, do you think the work here is heavy? If necessary, I can hire a few more people. Since Alexander moved, such a big The house always feels empty every day.”

Becky held the tray and stood aside and shook her head slightly: "Sir, the work here is quite easy. You don't have many clothes. Although this house is not small, it is not dusty like an urban area or a house." There are so many houses facing the streets in the countryside, and you don't need me to cook lunch and dinner, so I am pretty relaxed every day except when I am busy making samovars and cleaning.

I heard other girls in our village say before that they not only have to do the jobs I mentioned, but also help take care of the children. There are as few as three or four, as many as seven or eight. They do laundry, cooking, and shopping on the streets. It can't be less, and they don't get as much as me. How can I have the shame to complain to you about the heavy workload? "

Arthur opened "The Times", sipped his red tea and said: "Well...Becky, what should I say? In fact, I don't just consider the importance of the job. Maybe you don't know, but after a while I will You may have to leave London and go to Hanover, which is estimated to take at least a year. Although the security in Bayswater has always been good, I am always worried about leaving you alone at home.

Or, if you want, I can give you a long vacation while I go to Hannover. I'll give you an advance of one year's salary in advance, and you can take the money home to rest, or do something else. Leave your home address with me, and I will notify you to come back to work after I return to China. "

Arthur thought this condition was quite good, but when Becky heard this, her face turned pale with fright, and judging from the trembling look on her lips, the girl seemed a little angry.

"Je...Sir, um...is there something I didn't do well in my job?"

"No." Arthur didn't know that he had offended the other party. He drank tea and read the newspaper: "On the contrary, I think you have done a good job. Although you are only eighteen years old, there should be no one better than you in the whole of London." A more capable eighteen-year-old girl.”

Becky was relieved when she heard this. She was finally sure that this was probably the Lord's weird temper again.

Becky explained: "Sir, if you really recognize my work, then don't let me go home. I know you mean well, but if I just go back to the village, those people will look down on me. Yes. They would chew on me and say that I must have been fired and that I was a lazy woman who was not diligent. For a maid, there is nothing more humiliating than this."

Arthur made a joke after hearing this: "Becky, don't worry, it's not a big deal to be fired. I was fired by Scotland Yard, or it was a direct order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Didn't you notice? I was fired from Scotland Yard. On the day I left, the whole of Fleet Street was filled with a jubilant atmosphere, and the pens of these reporters and newspaper editors were much more vicious than the tongues of the villagers."

Becky said helplessly: "Sir, you can't make fun of everything. But I think it might be a good thing for you to leave Scotland Yard. It's so dangerous there. I don't want to lose such a good owner like you."

Arthur laughed loudly and said: "Becky, you have actually lost it, but I don't know why, but you survived inexplicably."

Agares on the side picked up the head of garlic on the table, threw it into his mouth and chewed: "Are you sure it was alive for no reason? Arthur, you little bastard is such an ungrateful, shameless, and heartless guy. But , that’s it, I quite like it, keep it up.”

When Becky recalled the scene where Scotland Yard informed her that Arthur had died in the line of duty, her lips turned pale with horror: "You are always like this, or rather, men are always like this, you like to go to dangerous places to watch the fun. Fortunately, God bless you, you survived, you were in a coma for three days and then you opened your eyes again, it was like something out of the Bible, like the resurrection of Jesus."

Arthur waved his hands gently and said: "Becky, you must not say that, I am not resurrected. You must know that in our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, resurrection must pass parliamentary legislation, state church review, and report to the Privy Council. After that, His Majesty the King and all your Excellencies must stamp and approve it before it can be passed. If you do not go through this process, even if you are resurrected, it will be illegal.

Although most of our domestic rules are judged in accordance with common law and require precedents, the judges also unanimously believe that in matters such as resurrection, the principles of Roman law should be followed, and the laws before 1832 That single example cannot be used as a general basis. "

Becky blinked when she heard the words. She understood it seriously for a while, and finally shook her head in frustration: "Sir, I don't understand."

Arthur shrugged his shoulders and said: "It seems that in addition to hiring a few more people to guard the house, I have to find a tutor for you to train before leaving. Becky, you have to be more serious, otherwise you will not be able to be a maid." He’s been doing this job for a long time.”

Becky was stunned for a long time after hearing this. Just as she realized that something good had happened to him, she heard the ringing of a bell coming from outside the garden fence.

Two black carriages stopped in front of Arthur's house, and a few familiar faces got off them.

Lionel Rothschild, who held his checkbook between two fingers and smiled and shook it gently at Arthur,

Alexandre Dumas, who has recently been deeply harassed by his illegitimate child and an old lover,

Louis Bonaparte, who had noble blood but had no use for him,

Inspector Ledley King, Director of the Fifth Division of the Police Intelligence Bureau of the Royal Metropolitan Police, is no longer under Arthur but is still very progressive in front of him.

And for his outstanding performance on the night of the London riots on June 5th, he was personally commended by His Majesty the King and commended by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and was promoted to Superintendent. The head of the covert operations department and sharpshooter of the Police Intelligence Bureau of the Royal Metropolitan Police - Thomas Plunkett.