Shadow of great britain

The spacious and luxurious living room is filled with the aroma of cigar smoke and whiskey aged in oak barrels.

Perhaps because he no longer had to be distracted by the complicated affairs of Scotland Yard, Arthur even took the time to renovate the house. Bright chandeliers, classical murals on the walls, golden curtains and thick wool carpets with intricate patterns, and firewood burning in the fireplace make the light in the room softer and more layered.

On an exquisite mahogany round table were placed various silver flasks and carved glasses, which were filled with amber-colored mellow liquid, exuding an alluring aroma of wine.

Several guests in well-dressed clothes sank into the sofa and sat around the round table. Their collars were white and crisp, and their bow ties were neat. They each held a glass filled with whiskey in their hands, shaking it gently from time to time, savoring the uniqueness. The fragrance.

Their conversations were moderate in tone, full of intelligence and fun. The topics ranged from recent legislative bills in Congress, to business opportunities in the Far East colonies, to recently published fashion novels, all reflecting the broad knowledge and profound ideological connotation of these gentlemen. .

Laughter, clinking glasses, and piano tunes playing from the gramophone intertwined together to create a vivid social picture of a British gentlemen's club in the 19th century.

Lionel looked at the furnishings in the room, smiled and said: "Arthur, it seems that your body has recovered much better than I thought, and you know how to enjoy life better. Your hobby has changed from dancing with swords to Appreciating classical art may be a step back for a policeman, but for a diplomat who is about to take office, it is perfect. How did you suddenly figure this out? "

Arthur heard this, holding the wine glass and said: "It's very simple, Lionel, if a person is shot twice within half a year, one shot in the corner of the eye, one in the chest, and one foot is shot. After stepping on the dividing line between hell and heaven, your thoughts will also change. For the dead, nothing is valuable, not even gold, let alone pounds. Whether it is charity or When it comes to buying alcohol, money should go where it should go, and it should be spent wisely.”

Having said this, Arthur turned to look at Ridley again and asked, "Speaking of which, Ridley, do you still have those hot items in your pocket?"

Ledley smiled apologetically and said: "Sir, there is no hot or cold job in Scotland Yard. They are all serving the citizens. Of course, sometimes I may not be able to do all the work well. For example, if you lead a team to That night in the Tower of London, several departments of the Police Intelligence Bureau accidentally caught fire. Alas, it is still my fault that I am not capable of covering everything."

Everyone present could taste a hint of what Ridley said, but only Arthur could grasp every ingredient clearly.

When the Police Intelligence Bureau was still known as the London Regional Survey and Statistics Department, they were already collecting some information beyond their authority, such as making a private file for some big shots or future big shots.

If Arthur had still stayed at Scotland Yard, he would have had a hundred ways to respond to the Home Office investigation, but unfortunately, he has now left his private kingdom.

As we all know, no one in this world likes to live under surveillance, and British law strictly prohibits police officers from doing so. Only when the Ministry of Internal Affairs needs this group of political security police to monitor protest rallies will they issue authorization to temporarily relax control over surveillance operations.

But the status of MPs is obviously different from that of workers. If they know that in the eyes of the Police Intelligence Bureau, all people are created equal, there will definitely be trouble.

Arthur understands this, and so does Ledley, who has always been clever.

But what Arthur didn't expect was that Ledley would act so quickly. When he just received the news that Arthur had been shot, he had already burned all the top-secret files with a fire.

From this point of view, apart from being too progressive, this young man Ledley seems to have no other shortcomings.

Arthur looked at Ledley and nodded slightly: "Ledley."

Ridley sat upright: "What's wrong? Jazz."

Arthur smiled and toasted to him: "In my opinion, you will definitely become the director of the Intelligence Bureau in the future."

"Oh, really?"

Ridley raised his glass in awe and clinked it with Arthur: "Then I'll lend you a favor, Sir. To tell you the truth, I just spent a lot of money to buy your portrait from Mr. Turner. It’s hanging on the wall of my office now. I have to look at it twice every day when I open the door.”

When Arthur heard this, the wine he had just put into his mouth almost got stuck in his throat. He took out his handkerchief and covered his mouth and coughed repeatedly: "Ledley, you are going a little too far."

"Yes? I've never screamed like this before."

Ridley raised his thumb and pointed at Plunkett beside him and said: "I only bought the portrait, but Thomas bought the painting "Rain, Police and the Tower of London"."

Hearing this, Plunkett quickly clarified: "Sir, don't listen to this boy Ridley's nonsense. I can't afford such an expensive painting. It was Mr. Turner who took the initiative to paint this "Rain, Police and London" "Tower" was presented to Scotland Yard, but we didn't have the nerve to accept it directly, so everyone raised some symbolic money as a reward for giving it to Mr. Turner to show respect for him. However, the painting has not been sent yet. In our hands, it is currently participating in the annual exhibition of the Royal Academy of Art, and we will not receive it until the exhibition is over."

Arthur always felt strange after hearing this. After all, in his happy hometown, only portraits of dead people were hung on the walls.

But then he thought about it, he had almost died once anyway, so there was no need to worry too much about such a small detail.

Alexandre Dumas, who was sitting aside, didn't know what to think when he heard this.

If this were France, Alexandre Dumas would probably not forgive him for opening fire on protesters. But the problem is that this is Britain, and what makes him even more unexpected is that the people in power in this country actually retreated in the face of the raging public anger. Wellington's action of ordering the Tories to turn back collectively allowed the parliamentary reform to be successfully voted on. , and London has also returned to order, a situation that is simply unimaginable in France.

It was the same June, the same riots, the endings of London and Paris, but the fate of Britain and France were completely different. In London dozens died from chaos and bullets, while in Paris more than eight hundred were killed in battles with dragoons and policemen alone.

Britain's parliamentary reform was successfully passed, but France's path to republicanism still has no end in sight.

It has to be said that Alexandre Dumas felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. Although he didn't want to admit it, deep down in his heart, he was still shaken. Maybe this time, let this damn spy chief really do the right thing.

If Arthur really died and lay quietly in the coffin, Alexandre Dumas would not hesitate to lay flowers for his friend and write a eulogy for him to express his memory. However, this kid's life was so hard that he survived even being shot in the heart.

Therefore, Alexandre Dumas, who was troubled by ambivalence, never came to see Arthur once while he was recovering from illness.

If Louis and Lionel hadn't dragged him over, maybe this fat French man with a bold temperament would have planned to have a cold war with Arthur for a while.

Now that he saw that his friend no longer had the pale complexion caused by excessive blood loss, Alexandre Dumas suddenly felt relieved.

Political matters are indeed too complicated. He had to admit that his understanding of Britain was not as profound as Arthur, a native York boy, but his republican views on France were still unshakable.

Alexandre Dumas pretended that nothing happened and joked as usual: "Arthur, you don't care about money, but money is rushing towards you. Don't you plan to treat everyone to a meal tonight to have some fun?" ?"

Arthur stared at the fat French man with a smile on his face until he felt guilty, and then he said: "Alexander, if you want me to treat you to dinner, do you have to choose a time when I am rich? I have never noticed it before. You are such a gentleman."

Hearing this, Alexandre Dumas also breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his glass and clinked it with Arthur: "It was before, it is now. You know, I am thirty years old now."

"Oh?" Arthur smiled: "Are you not a republican anymore?"

"No, of course I still am." Alexandre Dumas took a sip of wine and glanced at the amber liquid in the glass: "But I'm afraid I'm not as pure as before."

Upon hearing this, Louis poked Alexandre Dumas, narrowed his eyes and smiled: "So, you are planning to stand on the same path as me?"

Alexandre Dumas shook his head and said: "That's not what I meant. Louis, no matter what, your republican emperor's statement is still too far-fetched for me."

Louis shrugged upon hearing this, but he was not discouraged: "Well, maybe when you are thirty-one, your views will change again."

Alexandre Dumas was choked by Louis' words and couldn't speak for a long time. He really wanted to speak out to regain some ground. Lionel, the young master of the Rothschild family, hurriedly came out to act as peacemaker.

He took out the check folder from the inner pocket of his tuxedo and changed the subject.

"Arthur, I have to say that you were really courageous that day at the stock exchange, and by the way, I followed your courage. Although it was very risky, judging from the results, the ending was not bad. You Neither the Treasury, the Home Office nor Scotland Yard intend to pursue the matter of embezzlement of public funds, and Britain's public debt has now returned to its normal track.

Therefore, after deducting the relevant taxes and fees and the full repayment of public funds and the profits generated by public funds, you still have a floating profit of 28 points. Your principal is 8,500 pounds, which means that your current personal assets have reached 10,160 pounds. This is not a small sum of money. Among the rich circles in London, you are currently number one. "

Lionel smiled and placed a thick stack of checks in front of Arthur, but Arthur did not directly receive the money in his arms. Instead, he appropriated 5,500 pounds and pushed it back to Lionel. .

Lionel was stunned when he saw this: "What are you doing?"

Arthur took a sip of wine: "Lionel, you are too forgetful. You lent me 5,000 pounds of my 8,500 pounds principal. If you are willing to do such a high-risk loan business, you should naturally get a high return." . The principal of 5,000 pounds will be returned in full, and you deserve the 10% profit for half a year."

Lionel heard this and was about to refuse, but Arthur immediately added.

"Lionel, you treat me as a friend, so I treat you as a friend. You trust me, so I trust you. You don't refuse my high-risk borrowing request, so I don't accept your free gifts. In a friendship, the best relationship is a mutually beneficial and win-win situation. I don’t want this trivial amount of money to affect our relationship. Everyone wants money, but for me, The remaining 4,660 pounds will not be spent in a lifetime."

When Lionel heard this, he suddenly shook his head slightly. He looked at Arthur's face and couldn't help laughing: "Arthur, you are really different from ordinary people."

Unexpectedly, Alexandre Dumas looked at the 4,660 pounds left on the table, but couldn't help frowning: "Why is there only more than 4,000 pounds left? I remember when you were in Liverpool, you were..."

When Louis heard this, he waved his hand slightly towards Alexandre Dumas: "Alexander, you have been away from public affairs for too long. Liverpool's money is not only yours, mine, Heinrich's and Arthur's, but also It belongs to a series of your Excellencies who are linked to this matter. If this were not the case, how could Liverpool's urban renewal plan be passed so smoothly, and how could the businessmen of Liverpool be so grateful to Arthur? I can only take what I deserve. That’s all.”

Hearing this, Alexandre Dumas looked at the 5,500 pounds in front of Lionel, leaned on the sofa and grinned: "Arthur, why can you give up so much money so easily? 5,500 pounds, this is 110,000 francs, you can part with it because you have done similar things a long time ago."

Lionel put the stack of checks in his arms and said half-jokingly: "Yes, Alexander, I have told you before, our Sir Arthur Hastings is not an ordinary person. I am very glad that I can be like this." As a friend of a noble man, he is much easier to get along with than those old men who smell like copper."

At this point, Lionel suddenly changed the subject and said: "However, Arthur, since our friendship is so deep, I can't help but want to share an anecdote with you. I think if you want to recuperate, , maybe you can consider Wales or southwest England, where the air and sunshine are very good, not as cold and humid as London. More importantly, I heard that the Parliament seems to be considering approving the construction of a road starting from London Paddington. There are 171 miles of railways connecting all key towns in southwest England and Wales. So, after you come back from Hanover and want to go on vacation there, the transportation will be very convenient."

"Oh?" Arthur swung his glass: "This is really a great project. Am I lucky enough to know who the chief engineer is in charge of building this railway? To be honest, the train is certainly a great new invention. But I also have to consider the safety of travel, and if I were not a well-known engineer, I would be very worried about the quality of this railway."

Lionel smiled and said: "You don't have to worry about this at all, because the chief engineer of this project named 'Great Western Railway' is naturally also first-rate - Isambard Kingdom Blue Mr. Nel. If you still remember that I once suggested that you buy his shares in the Road and Bridge Company, this name should not be unfamiliar to you."

Arthur nodded slightly, counted out another three thousand pounds from the check and handed it into Lionel's hand: "I have always valued this gentleman very much. Although I have not seen him in person, this surname alone is enough to win him over." Investors have gained their trust.”

Seeing this, Louis and Alexandre Dumas on the side also donated generously: "To build such a project, there must be a lack of start-up funds. Although we are French, as long as we are for the people, France and Britain should be no different."

Even the cash-strapped Plunkett and Ledley couldn't help but feel a little itchy when they saw this, but stock investment has never been for the poor policemen of Scotland Yard, even if they are now police officers. One is a police inspector.

More than a year ago, one of them was an ordinary police sergeant and the other was a police officer who was obsessed with progress. It was impossible for them to save so much money for stock investment in a short period of time.

Arthur casually took out two checks for one hundred pounds from his hand and gave them to them.

"Sir, what are you..."

Arthur said calmly: "Remember to pay me back when I come back from Hanover."

When the two saw this, they couldn't help but stand up and salute: "Of course, Sir Hastings, we believe you will be back soon!"

Seeing this, Arthur smiled and held their shoulders and said: "Okay, let's save these words for when I come back. Now, take me to meet our old friend, the pure British gentleman of German origin. , Mr. Schneider, Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I am a newcomer, so I have many things to ask him before taking office. Where is he now?"

Ledley said with a smile: "Where else can he be? That guy is obsessed with the sex experience parlor run by Miss Fiona. He goes to get whipped whenever he has time every weekend. I guess he will now My son is right there. If it's convenient for you, can I take you and the three gentlemen there now?"