Shadow of great britain

Mr. Dubrese's home is very different from the judge's mansion Arthur had seen before.

Whether in London or Paris, the judges' mansions usually shine with an ancient luxury, and even their mansions themselves are qualified as antiques.

There are crystal hanging lamps carved into leaf shapes, Damascus silk, silk produced in Jiangnan, China, Ottoman and Persian carpets, gold-painted furniture, and servants wearing ancient livery.

Although the tableware they use may not be as shiny as the furniture, and most people's tableware looks a bit ugly, in the eyes of those who know the business, this is also a manifestation of status. Because only those old family heirlooms will have a dark luster.

In the middle of the dining table is a large glass cup for holding fruits, surrounded by exquisite porcelain produced in Sussex. Although the dishes carefully prepared by the chef may not taste to the guests' taste, the shape of the dishes must be exquisite.

But there was no such arrangement in Dubrese's home. The walls and ceiling of the master bedroom were whitewashed with lime. There was a big bed for sleeping, a crude wardrobe, a walnut desk, and an armchair.

The bookcase in the room looked like it had not been cleaned for a long time, so there was a lot of dust on the top, but the bookcase was filled with various neatly stacked documents, including diaries, court documents, and food purchase invoices.

The reception room outside the bedroom was even more simple. There was nothing except a table and a few small wooden stools that only appeared in schools.

Although there were no outstanding houses in the area of ​​Foa Street, if it was a few years ago, Dubrese's room would not be so shabby.

At that time, his wife had not passed away, and Mrs. Dubrese, who was frugal and managed the household, would always keep the place in order.

After his wife passed away, Mr. Dubrese did not choose to remarry, so now there are only him and a male servant who has followed him for many years.

This may be the biggest reason why Mr. Dubris finally decided to take the risk and wield the iron fist of revenge on the world after a lifetime of hard work.

Arthur took a lot of effort to convince the nervous court judge of his diplomat identity.

As for Louis, he did not expose himself in front of Dubris. On the contrary, the young man who claimed to be the new leader of the Bonapartists was hiding himself as much as possible. He had no special affection for the royalists, nor did he have any special disgust, but he was very happy to know what these people thought in their hearts.

Dubris told Arthur and Louis about his experience, then he took a long breath and drank the warm coffee in the cup.

These days, he has been holding these words in his heart. Although for intelligence officers like Arthur, keeping secrets alone can only be regarded as basic cultivation, for an honest man who has never been engaged in intelligence work, every minute and every second of burying such a dangerous secret in his heart is extremely difficult.

Dublis finished his coffee and was silent for a long time before he spoke: "You said you were a British diplomat and had connections with the royalists, so I can assume that you wanted to bribe me to work for the British?"

Arthur did not speak, but took out the cigar box and handed it to Dublis, indicating that he could take one.

Dublis did not smoke, but he stared at the cigar box for a long time and finally took one out of it.

Louis skillfully struck a match, first lit a cigar for himself and took a puff, then handed the burning cigar to Arthur and Dublis, asking them to borrow a light.

Arthur exhaled a long puff of smoke: "Mr. Dublis, why do you think that British diplomats must work for Britain?"

Dublis was choked by the cigar and coughed repeatedly, his tears flowed out, "Cough cough cough... Could it be... Are you a spy from other countries left in Britain?"

"Spy?" Arthur squinted his eyes and smoked: "Not yet, but if necessary, I can be."

"What do you mean by this?" Dublis didn't quite understand what Arthur said: "Neither serving the motherland nor serving the enemy? Are you just messing around in the British Foreign Office?"

Arthur shook his head and said: "You are an upright judge, so you probably can't understand the thoughts of people like me. But I'm not complicated, I can even say that I'm simple enough to be recognized at a glance I see through it. I can be the most loyal diplomat of the British government, or I can be a spy sent by the French government to the British Foreign Office. In the final analysis, I serve neither my motherland nor the enemy, but myself. "

Dubris was somewhat disgusted with Arthur's remarks: "You sound a bit like a bastard."

Arthur did not deny it, he just responded lightly: "I agree with your point of view, but I have to add that I have always been fair in dealing with things. I once died heroically for the British government, so I don't owe them anything. On the contrary, they owe me a life. Moreover, I said that I don't owe the government anything, not that I don't owe Britain anything. After all, I have lived there for many years, and even the most ruthless people will have some local feelings. "

Although Dubris didn't know what the so-called "owe me a life" actually meant, he could barely understand Arthur's metaphor. Because he also believes that the French government owes him a fair apology, that's why he wants to take revenge on the people in power in this country.

Dubris asked curiously: "So you are doing this for revenge? Can you contact the royalists in France to help you revenge against Britain?"

"No, no, no." Arthur shook his finger again: "I'm not a revanchist. I love peace, and I don't support terrorist attacks. The reason why I got involved in this matter is entirely because I want to do it. Make some achievements.”

"Well..." Dubris thought for a moment while holding the coffee cup: "Bombing the King of France to death is indeed an amazing feat for an Englishman. But I think you are a little late. If you are It would have been much easier to kill Louis Philippe when he was in exile in England than it is now.”

Arthur deliberately did not talk about the assassination issue, but vaguely blurred the attitude of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and led the topic in another direction: "I already knew that money can't buy it, but Mr. Dubris, you should also know , whether it is you or the royalists, you are in a very dangerous situation now. Assassinating the king is an extremely serious crime, and the process of going to the guillotine is irreversible in order not to expose the relationship between you and the royalists. The easiest way is to move them all out of France."

Dubris laughed at himself: "It is true to say that, but it is so easy to move out through the border. Since the government has frequently accepted political refugees from various countries in recent years, we now spend every year resettling foreign exiles. The funding has exceeded three million francs. In order to alleviate this problem, the border inspection specifications have become extremely strict. Whether you want to enter or leave the French border, it is not that easy. "

When Louis heard this, he couldn't help but interjected: "How can it be more difficult than going to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies? When I wanted to enter the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, I encountered fourteen full-body searches on the way, and when I went through After going through many difficulties and dangers, when I finally arrived at Naples Customs, they actually asked me to hand over all the books I had with me.”

Dubris said in astonishment: "You can't even bring books into the Two Sicilies?"

"It's not just books." Louis said: "Any printed matter published outside the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies will be detained at the customs. When the customs officials in Naples discovered that I was carrying books with me, they immediately slapped the table angrily and sprayed me with anger. Tumo Xingzi, look at their attitude, as if I have committed such a serious crime that I should be hanged tomorrow."

Dubris weighed the standards of both sides, then shook his head hesitantly and said: "Although the current situation in France is not optimistic, we have not yet reached the level of the Italians. However, I still need to remind you. , even if I issue fake ID documents for you, there is a high chance that they will be intercepted when crossing the border.”

Arthur had expected that Dubris would give him such an answer, and he did not want this honest judge to risk his head to save other people's lives.

On the one hand, sacrificing other people's lives to save another group of people is extremely immoral.

On the other hand, a living justice is always more valuable than a dead one.

"What if I say that I am not here to ask you to help forge identity documents, but to add a few inconspicuous names to the deportation order that is about to be issued?"

"Deportation order?"

"That's right."

Arthur took out a thin document from his jacket pocket and pushed it on the table: "According to the intelligence we have received, due to the financial pressure brought by the political refugees you just mentioned, as well as protests from Austria and other countries, The French government is planning to expel some political refugees and underground organizations from Italy. This deportation list should include members of organizations such as the Carbonari Party and Young Italy, although the specific contents of the list are not yet certain. The only thing that is certain is that this list should include hundreds of people. I think it is normal for a few temporary new members to be included in such a long expulsion list, right?”

When Dubris heard this, his eyes lit up.

Why didn't he think of this good idea?

But in an instant, Dubris had another suspicion in his mind: "Young Italy? I remember this organization. Aren't they the same group as the Carbonari Party in Italy? Moreover, both organizations received aid from the July Monarchy government. . These people are a group of republicans, and they are also extremists among the republicans. Conceptually, the two parties are simply incompatible. According to the past practice of deportation, all deportees will be put on the carriage at the same place. Then they escorted us out of the country. If they identify our infiltrated members as strangers on the spot, wouldn’t they expose their secrets on the spot?”

"About this, I think you don't have to worry."

Arthur reassured: "Compared to the Carbonari, Young Italy is slightly stronger. Unlike the Carbonari and other groups, Young Italy has no ceremonies, assembly ceremonies and oaths, nor does it have cloaks, daggers and blood cups. I happened to have some friendship with their leader, Mr. Mazzini. As far as I know, Mazzini called Young Italy an apostolic organization, and their doctrine was completely different from that of the Carbonari.

In their propaganda publications, suffering Italy was a Christ-like sufferer, and the mission of Young Italy was to restore the glory of the Roman Empire and give Italy a new lease of life. The barbaric Austrians were the persecutors of the Roman Empire, and their barbaric rule indeed produced countless martyrs for this holy cause. You see, the members of Young Italy were just as devout believers in God as the Royalists.

It's just that because you two have different missions, you are given different names. However, from my perspective as a Catholic believer, the French Royalists and Young Italy are simply a pair of brothers made in heaven. At least at this juncture, you must unite to deal with the current crisis. This is not only the best option at the moment, but also what God wants to see most at this time. "

Dubris always felt that the reason given by Arthur was a bit far-fetched, so he retorted: "But..."

Arthur shook his head slightly and said: "The words just now are for my French farmer brothers. The next words are for you."

"Me?" Dubris was confused by Arthur, but he then remembered that this was a diplomat who 'served himself', so he planned to listen to what else he had to say.

Arthur did not look at Dubris this time, but turned to look at Louis.

He saw that Louis still didn't understand, so he took out a small notebook and pen from his pocket and pushed them in front of him.

Only then did Louis wake up from a dream: Arthur was following the teaching procedures of the Metropolitan Police Department. New police officers should take careful notes when receiving teaching.

Arthur's eyes turned to Dubris: "Mr. Dubris, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course." Dubris nodded.

Arthur stirred the spoon in his coffee cup: "Do you support Louis XVI?"

"of course not."

"Why?"

"Because he turned the country into such a mess, I rarely heard words of praise for him when I was a kid."

Arthur nodded slightly: "Then do you support Louis XVII?"

Dubris shook his head again and said, "No."

"Why?"

"Because there are simply too many Louis XVIIs on the market. There are at least 10 or 20 people across Europe claiming to be Louis XVII, but I bet not one of them is genuine."

"Very good." Arthur showed a smile: "Then you support Louis XVIII and are willing to sacrifice your life for his royal family?"

Dubris pondered for a moment, but he still gave a negative answer: "No."

"Why?"

"Louis XVIII was a good king, but that's all. I won't oppose him, but I won't be so devoted to him."

"Then do you support Charles X?"

"That's even more impossible, he is simply a tyrant!"

Arthur picked up the coffee cup and gently blew away the white hot air: "In that case, are you a royalist?"

"I..." Dubris half-opened his mouth. He stared at Arthur, unable to say that sentence. He hesitated for a long time, and could only ask helplessly: "I'm not a royalist, so that can't be done. A republican, right?”