Shadow of great britain

Vidocq and Alexandre Dumas carried the oil painting, which was taller than both of them, into the office.

Arthur stood up and glanced at the painting, almost spitting all the black tea in his mouth into Dumas' face.

"Damn! Mr. Vidocq, Alexander, did you two go to the Louvre to rob? Where did you get this painting?"

The reason why Arthur had such a big reaction is because this painting is so famous and iconic.

The subject of the painting is a young woman wearing a Phrygian skullcap and half-naked top. Her right hand is raised high, holding a red, white and blue tricolor flag. Behind her were students, soldiers and workers.

If Arthur remembers correctly, the name of this painting should be "Liberty Leading the People."

Whether in art textbooks or history textbooks, it occupies its own page.

Seeing Arthur's jaw drop, Alexandre Dumas was quite surprised and said: "You actually know this painting? Oh... I almost forgot, you seemed to have visited the Louvre two days ago."

Arthur glared at Alexandre Dumas: "Alexander, Mr. Vidocq, you two must have a limit to your mischief. The Brayock Detective Agency shouldn't be so poor that it goes to the museum to steal art, right?"

Vidocq laughed loudly and said: "Brother, don't get me wrong, this painting was not stolen by us. Originally, this painting depicting the July Revolution was indeed displayed in the Louvre, but the government was worried a while ago Exhibiting this painting might stimulate republican sentiments, so the painting was returned to the painter Mr. Delacroix. It happened that Mr. Delacroix was short of money recently, and he knew that our office often met some wealthy people. customer, so please help us find a good buyer for this painting.”

"Is this painting depicting the July Revolution?" Arthur was surprised when he heard this: "I always thought this painting was about the Great Revolution."

Alexandre Dumas heard this and said: "Not all paintings holding the tricolor flag represent the Revolution. This painting depicts the battle on the bridge of Notre Dame in Paris on July 27, 1830. This female warrior is Clara Lessing, and behind her is Allaire who planted the tricolor flag on the bridge. I am ashamed to say that I should also occupy a position in this painting, because I was not far from Alaire and fired back at the government troops.”

After listening to Dumas' description, Arthur finally understood the origin of this painting.

He stared at this painting, which was comparable to a French national treasure, and hesitated for a while. Finally, he couldn't help but ask: "Who does Mr. Delacroix intend to sell this painting to?"

Vidocq said: "For a famous artist like Mr. Delacroix, his paintings have always been marketable. But the problem is that the subject matter of this painting is too sensitive. In Paris, there are funds to purchase it. People who appreciate art usually don't consider buying this painting, because it is tantamount to challenging the government and showing their republican tendencies, and those who don't care what the government thinks of them usually can't afford to buy the painting. …My suggestion to him is that he might as well consider selling this painting to some foreign collectors who have taste, financial resources, and culture.”

When Sir Arthur Hastings, who was classy, ​​wealthy and cultivated, heard this, he immediately understood why these two guys had taken so long to lay the groundwork.

He lit the fire and stared at the painting again: "Okay. So, at what price does Delacroix want to sell it to me?"

"Not much." Alexandre Dumas stretched out his hand mysteriously: "What do you think of this number?"

Arthur saw it and asked softly: "Five hundred francs?"

"The numbers are correct, but since we are selling the painting to a British guy, it's best if we price it in pounds."

"Five hundred pounds?" Arthur raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "For Mr. Delacroix's paintings, this price may not be expensive, but considering my personal financial resources... five hundred pounds, this is a whole Ten thousand francs.”

Alexandre Dumas also felt that the price seemed a bit high, but he had no intention of lowering the price.

This fat man always feels that if the price of this painting is lower, it seems that his glory in the July Revolution will also be dimmed.

"Arthur, think about it carefully. Heinrich was bragging for you in the Constitution and he dared to directly ask you to ask for 1,000 francs. Isn't it possible that a painting as big as Mr. Delacroix can't stand up to Heinrich?" Xi’s ten articles? I’d say you’re getting a bargain. If it weren’t for the difficulty of finding a buyer for this painting, everyone would definitely be clamoring for it at the price of 10,000 francs. Besides, even if you pay a high price now. , but as long as they are kept for a few years, the value of these works of art will increase very quickly.”

Speaking of this, Alexandre Dumas encouraged again: "To be honest, if I hadn't just bought a theater in Paris, I would have bought this painting with my own money."

Upon hearing this, Vidocq quickly dissuaded him: "Alexander, I advise you to be careful. If you hang this painting in the theater, your business license may not be granted."

Arthur couldn't help but shook his head and said: "Alexander, do you think I am the Count of Monte Cristo in your novel? Edmond Dantès can spend 6 million francs a year in Paris, but buying a villa can I casually gave the agent a tip of 5,000 francs, but I can't be that rich. Two bottles of ordinary French wine only cost 1 franc, and a high-end dress shirt sold outside the Louvre only cost 4 francs. Mr. Delacroix's paintings are very good, but if you ask me for 20,000 bottles of red wine and 2,500 high-end shirts, this is really too much."

Seeing that Arthur was unwilling to let go, Alexandre Dumas had to use Heine as an example: "Arthur, I am not the only one who agreed on this painting. Heinrich also wrote a poem about this painting and praised it specifically. Woolen cloth."

"Then why didn't Heinrich buy it? Or, after he finished writing the poem, he made a special trip to send a bill for 1,000 francs to Mr. Delacroix? Just like what he did to Liszt Like that?”

"Then I don't know." Dumas shrugged and said, "You can ask him personally after he comes back from rowing. However, I think Heinrich wrote the poem for this painting without too much money involved. considerate."

Arthur frowned and said: "Heinrich went boating? Did he have an appointment with any lady today? Didn't he forget that he should hand in the manuscript of "On the Romantics" today?"

Hearing what he said, Alexandre Dumas was quite discouraged and said: "According to my observation, Heinrich has probably not gotten over his infatuation with his two cousins. The person who went boating with him was not a lady, but A young poet from Denmark. But that doesn’t matter, Arthur, are you sure you don’t want to buy this painting? Mr. Delacroix’s works are not available every morning.”

Seeing that he was about to leave, Arthur walked forward with a smile and took Dumas's shoulder: "Alexander, I just said that my financial resources are insufficient, but this does not mean that I cannot find a good buyer for this painting."

"Huh?" Alexandre Dumas turned around and asked, "Have you met any other rich people in the past two days?"

"It's not someone I met in the past two days, but someone I've known for several years."

"Your Highness?"

Arthur nodded slightly and said: "Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, President of the Royal Society of Arts, President of the British Federation of Freemasons, and President of the Royal Society. I dare He said that he must be interested in this painting, and the price he can give is definitely much higher than that of me, the second secretary.”

Alexandre Dumas thought for a moment: "This...are you planning to write a letter to His Highness the Prince?"

"It doesn't have to be so troublesome. Your Highness the Prince will usually entrust others to do the work of collecting art." Arthur picked up the black tea cup and leaned on the sofa: "When I first met His Highness the Prince, our friend Lionel Rothschild was beside him. At that time, he was introducing the Brazilian turtle specimen that he had worked so hard to obtain. Alexander, do you understand what I mean?"

When Vidocq heard this, he couldn't help but whistle. He smiled and shouted to his subordinates sitting at the front desk of the office: "Mr. Gao, One-eyed Dragon, you two take a business card of Sir Hastings to Rothschild." If the bank manager asks about the reason for the loan, bring him to the office to see Sir himself. "

Hearing this, Alexandre Dumas also understood what Vidocq meant. He curled his lips slightly and said: "It seems that Mr. Delacroix's painting has no worries about selling it now, and Lionel spent a lot of money, so he has to thank You are the go-between."

Arthur picked up the newspaper again lightly and said: "The value of money is different for people at different stages. You think Lionel spent a lot of money, but he may not think so. Rothschild If you directly pay a few hundred pounds to the Duke of Sussex, it would be an insult to His Royal Highness, but if it is a painting by Mr. Delacroix, it is an appreciation of art. Alexander, you have to change. It's an old concept. Many bankers in Paris haven't turned this corner in their heads, so everyone calls them nouveau riche. But Rothschild has already touched this threshold, so three of his family members have been named nouveau riche in Austria. noble."

"Yes!" Alexandre Dumas mocked: "Those who give money directly are the nouveau riche, while those who bribe with works of art are the nobility."

"Wrong." Vidocq said with his pipe in his mouth: "Alexander, the biggest difference between the two is whether you have connections."

"Whatever you guys say."

Dumas sat down next to Arthur. He fumbled in his arms for a long time and took out a few pages of letter paper: "Arthur, come and take a look at this. Heinrich discovered a rising star for our "The Englishman", and he The Danish friend we went boating with.”

Arthur put down the newspaper and took the manuscript. As soon as he took a glance at it, he couldn't help but frowned and said: "Collection of poems? Although Heinrich has always had a good taste, the competition in the poetry column of "The British" is not generally fierce."

As Arthur said, as the most valuable subject matter in classical literature, poetry has always been the focus of many literary giants.

Even in a magazine like "The Englishman" whose main business is popular literature, the poetry column still sits on the two mountains of Heine and Tennyson, and behind them, there are still people with disabilities. Miss Elizabeth Barrett of Caine. The most important thing is that the anonymous poet Mr. "Lionheart" Elder Carter still sends back several impromptu masterpieces from South America from time to time.

Moreover, compared with novels and dramas, whether foreign poetry can be welcomed in Britain does not only depend on the level of poetry to a certain extent. The level of translation also greatly affects its final display level.

The reason why "British" dared to publish Heine's poetry collection as an agent was because Heine had long been famous in Europe, and many readers had already read the original German and French translations of the poetry collection, so it was impossible to publish his works. How much risk to take.

But this young poet from Denmark is not only not famous in the UK, but also although his manuscript has been thoughtfully converted from Danish to French, Arthur still found a lot of awkward places after reading it roughly.

From a commercial distribution perspective, this is definitely a substandard work.

Arthur held his forehead and read the manuscript over and over again, but no matter how he thought about it, he didn't think these poems had much sparkle. The worst thing was that they were not even as pornographic as Elder's collection of poems. Violence, that is, not topical.

"Alexander." Arthur said regretfully: "If this manuscript was written in Danish, then every line would definitely be a beautiful poem, but after being translated into other languages, it loses its original charm. Of course. , It’s not that I don’t believe in Heinrich’s vision, but if his friend can come up with some novels, it may be more consistent with the publishing attributes of “The British”.”

Hearing Arthur's reply, Alexandre Dumas seemed to have figured it out early in the morning, and smiled as if his conspiracy had succeeded: "Arthur, this is what you said. If he can write a story, then you have to publish it for him. In fact, he did adapt a short story based on Spanish folklore during this period. Heinrich had previously helped him submit the manuscript to "The Constitution", but it was politely rejected for various reasons. Of course, this was not because he wrote it. Not bad, but out of some political considerations, just like Mr. Delacroix’s paintings.”

"Can I see it?"

"Of course." Alexandre Dumas took out the manuscript he had prepared from his arms like a magic trick: "Look at what he wrote."

Arthur took the manuscript and glanced at it roughly, but felt that there was always an indescribable flavor in this Danish boy's wording.

If we comment on "Blackwood" with its usual acerbic tone, it would be that the entire article reveals a sense of youthfulness and childishness.

But the more Arthur looked at it, the more he felt that this story seemed familiar.

——Once upon a time, there was a king. He likes new clothes very much. Most of the money in the treasury was spent on his clothing. He didn't care about the army, he didn't care about national affairs, and he didn't even like going for a walk. He just likes to change new clothes from morning to night, almost every hour...

Alexandre Dumas leaned on the sofa and recommended: "These days, you can find a lot of poets, playwrights and novelists in Europe, but good fairy tale authors are not available everywhere. Arthur, Hein and I Rich thought that this young man named Hans Andersen was a great talent. Of course, we admire him not only because this article "The King's New Clothes" looks like a satire on Louis Philippe. government."