Shadow of great britain

The crystal chandeliers of the Paris Opera House hang from the high ceiling, emitting a warm light that illuminates the entire theater as if it were daytime.

The surrounding walls are inlaid with exquisite carvings, and the gold foil glitters, complementing the murals on the ceiling, depicting the bizarre and bizarre scenes in "Robert the Devil", as if the audience is in that magical secret realm.

The seating area was already bustling with people, and the audience was dressed in gorgeous costumes. The men wore straight tuxedos, and the ladies attended the event in costumes, wearing long silk skirts, holding exquisite folding fans, and wearing all kinds of gorgeous feathers on their heads. and jewelry. The ladies chatted in low voices and laughed like silver bells. Their folding fans gently covered the corners of their mouths, looking particularly reserved and noble.

In the center of the stage, the thick red velvet curtain slowly opened, and the third act began.

The musicians in the orchestra pit were already in place. The conductor waved his baton gently, and the melodious music sounded, instantly attracting all the audience's attention to the stage. The actors wore gorgeous costumes, heavy makeup, and exaggerated and vivid expressions. The light shines on them, clearly displaying their every movement and expression in front of the audience.

However, just when everyone's attention was focused on the stage, a door in the box area was gently pushed open. What was first revealed behind the door was a delicate white glove, then a rose-red bow, and Arthur He slowly inserted the small notebook into his jacket pocket.

Behind him were the rebels singing wildly.

"Have a good time, gentlemen. I'm going to have something to eat in the theater restaurant. Is there anything you need me to bring?"

"Bring me Louis Philippe's head!"

"I want Carlo Alberto's!"

"Hiccup! I'm so happy here, Arthur. If it's not troublesome, you can just take my uncle's coffin and transport it back to Paris on my behalf."

Click.

Arthur closed the door gently and muttered unhappily: "I don't think the ingredients in the theater restaurant are as rich as this."

Arthur was complaining when suddenly, he found that the door of the next box was also opened.

A sneaky figure slipped out. His movements not only showed the unique insidiousness of the English, but also the gesture of closing the door showed the consistent violence of the Germans.

"Oh, August, you're actually here too?" Arthur leaned against the wall and slanted his body to greet his colleague from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "I thought the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not require fighting against gangsters, but look Judging from your disheveled appearance, I would believe you if you just returned from patrolling the alleys of East London."

Mr. Schneider was startled by Arthur's voice, and his body trembled violently. It wasn't until he saw clearly who was calling him that Schneider finally relaxed.

Even though he was caught in the act by an acquaintance, Mr. Schneider still maintained the usual demeanor and etiquette of a British gentleman.

Schneider straightened his collar politely: "The battlefield of diplomacy is certainly not less dangerous than the East End of London. Drunk ladies are much scarier than drunk Irishmen."

Arthur glanced at the box behind Schneider: "May I be lucky enough to know which villain is locked up here?"

"Oh, Arthur, it's so disrespectful of you to say that." Schneider squinted and smiled: "Furthermore, every diplomat's personal relationship is his biggest secret, because it determines what intelligence he can obtain. What position can you eventually reach in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Arthur, if you are interested in this area, you have to explore your own potential instead of worrying about other people's resources."

"Okay." Schneider didn't want to say it, but Arthur didn't force it. He just muttered: "I just said, Elder is naturally suitable for intelligence work, and diplomat is also a good choice for him. "

"Elder?" Schneider heard the name and searched for it in his mind for a long time, but he didn't have the slightest impression: "Is there such a person in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

"No, he is in the Royal Navy."

"Oh!" Schneider snapped his fingers, and his eyes lit up: "He works in the Royal Navy's Geographic Information, Topology and Statistics Department?"

"Even if it's not now, it will be in the future." Arthur took out a handkerchief and blew his nose: "After all, circumnavigation is indeed linked to geography, and his uncle is still a rear admiral of the Royal Navy, so I think he will probably be after he comes back. Was assigned to serve there."

"Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy?" Schneider asked immediately: "What is the name of your friend?"

Arthur curled his lips: "Elder Carter, I think it's not difficult to guess who his uncle is. After all, there is only one general named Carter in the Royal Navy."

"It's really not hard to guess."

As an official fan, Schneider was very familiar with these British big shots.

"Is it General John Carter? The Carter family has great influence in Ireland and can almost be regarded as a political family. General Carter's father, Thomas Carter, served as Secretary of State for Ireland and Chief Clerk of the Irish Court. He was a radical Whig. He is a party member and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity College, University of Dublin. However, there is no trace of the humility of classical literature in him. His character is rude and domineering, but he does not lack a cunning mind. He extremely hates the central government's interference in Irish affairs. And he often got in the way. Horace Walpole spoke highly of him, saying that he was a "conspirator of great ability."

Arthur was surprised when he heard Schneider commenting on the Carter family.

Although he had been a British spy dedicated to discovering all secrets since a long time ago, he had never been interested in the secrets of his old friend Elder. He only knew that Elder's uncle was Major General John Carter, but he didn't know that the Carter family was a famous Irish family.

But then again...

Arthur's eyes rolled, and a hint of evil taste suddenly emerged in his heart.

The Carter family was obviously an Irish family, but Elder had always claimed that he grew up in Nottingham and that his hometown was there. Now it seems that maybe it's true that he grew up in Nottingham, because his father died early, so he lived with his mother in her family when he was very young, but no matter what, his ancestral home can never be attributed to Nottingham.

And this guy always likes to talk about the Irish, but this may not be intentional, after all, he is more fierce in talking about the French than talking about his hometown.

Even Elder's temper is quite similar to his grandfather, who is also a Bachelor of Arts and is also vulgar and vulgar. Fortunately or unfortunately, he did not inherit his grandfather's cunning mind, or rather, the cunning he inherited was used in the wrong place.

But no matter what, Mr. Carter is always his good friend, and he is also the strong and unyielding Royal Navy soldier in "St. George's Flag Flying High", the author of the famous "Robin Hood", and the humanoid creature that Darwin devoted himself to studying.

When he thought of Elder, Arthur felt much better.

He took out the small notebook in his pocket, carefully selected it, and tore off a page and handed it to Schneider.

"What is this?" Schneider took the note and glanced at it: "The young Italian army is divided into two groups, one marching from Savoy and the other from Genoa. The assembly point is in Geneva, Switzerland. The leaders of the two armies are..."

"Fuck!" Schneider quickly put the small note into his pocket. He looked around, then quickly approached Arthur and asked in a low voice: "Is the information accurate? Where did you get this?"

Arthur imitated Schneider's tone and replied: "August, although we are friends, it is impolite to inquire about the source of a diplomat's intelligence."

After speaking, he gently patted the door of the box.

Schneider was stunned at first, then nodded in understanding, with a gratified smile on his face: "Arthur, I thought it would take you some time to adapt to this job. But I didn't expect that you have already mastered it without a teacher. You can lock the social relations of young Italian leaders such as Mazzini so quickly, and follow the clues to deal with their mistresses, and then get intelligence. This workload is not small. I will definitely write to Viscount Palmerston, focusing on your achievements. It is a blessing for the kingdom to have a diplomat like you."

Arthur saw Schneider who had fallen into a fixed mindset, and could only smile helplessly.

He didn't understand why these diplomats always liked to complicate simple problems.

If you want to know the answer to a question, you don't have to choose the longest way to get the result.

Perhaps because of their profession, whether they are British, French or Austrian, these diplomats who still retain a lot of aristocratic temperament are all the same.

But for the police, whether from Britain, France, or other countries, the cops represented by Arthur Hastings and Francois Vidocq all agreed that the problem-solving process must go straight to the destination from the beginning.

They had already preset countless results in their minds, and every step they took was to verify whether their expectations were correct.

One is positive deduction, and the other is reverse deduction.

At least from the current point of view, when there is already a question, the effect of reverse deduction is temporarily stronger than positive deduction.

But no matter whether it is positive or reverse deduction, whether the result is right or wrong, whether the problem-solving process is simple or complicated, some insignificant artistic processing must be carried out when submitting reports to superiors.

Before joining the government department, Arthur also felt that these reports were useless, but after working in Scotland Yard, he finally understood how important this job was.

Although the distinguished gentlemen in Whitehall Street are smarter than ordinary people, they are actually limited in their intelligence. Only by writing a good report can they understand how the experienced British diplomats have obtained such important breakthrough intelligence under such difficult and harsh conditions.

Even if this intelligence may not be important in fact, and it may be wrong.

However, it is still necessary to take credit.

When he was in the Police Intelligence Bureau, the informants under Arthur often fooled him like this. Some informants never even went to work on the streets, and they did not think they were doing any intelligence work, but thought that their job was to eat and drink, and write all kinds of "magic novels" for their superiors to make them happy.

And after coming to Paris and communicating with Vidocq, Arthur found that it was the same in Paris.

Therefore, even if the types of work are different, Arthur feels that due to the high similarity of human nature, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is probably the same.

But compared to some diplomats who have no bottom line, even though Arthur has lowered his professional ethics very low, it is still inevitably a little higher than the average standard - after all, he has eaten the king's salt, so he might as well do something.

Apart from anything else, Talleyrand received several million francs from Austria, and the military intelligence he gave to Austria was 70% true and 70% false.

Schneider got important information about Young Italy from Arthur. The mercenary German-British gentleman quickly returned the favor and suggested: "You are here today. Do you want to meet my old friend with me later?"

"Old friend?"

Arthur blinked and smiled and asked: "August, you just told me that it is impolite to interfere in other people's social relationships."

"No, it is impolite to interfere in some social relationships. But it is not, because if you don't know some things, it may cause the overall planning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to fall into a difficult situation."

"What do you mean?"

"Young Italy, you found this line..."

"No, no, no." Arthur's eyes flashed with a cunning light, and he interrupted lightly: "August, this is the joint credit of the two of us."

Schneider didn't know that Arthur wanted to drag him into the water. He just thought that Arthur was a loyal young man.

He put his arm around Arthur's shoulder affectionately: "Arthur, you are always so friendly. Yes, we discovered it together. So, in order not to let our achievements go to waste, I think it is necessary to introduce you to an old friend of mine - Mr. Wilhelm von Kromar."

"Von?" Arthur asked: "Prussian?"

"No, worse than that." Schneider smiled: "He is an Austrian, a subordinate and minion of Anton von Appony, the Austrian ambassador to France, and the cultural counselor of the Austrian Empire's embassy in the Kingdom of France."

"Well... I think I know what he does. I have to say that the name of cultural counselor sounds much better than the name of the chief of special agents."

Arthur said this and straightened his tuxedo: "And you are right, since we are in charge of Young Italy, it is indeed necessary to get to know him as the person involved. If Mazzini and others launched an expedition, but the Austrians knew nothing about it, Mr. Kromar, the cultural counselor in France, would probably be in big trouble, right?"

PS: There is more tonight, let's see it tomorrow morning.