Shadow of great britain

In politics, nothing happens by chance. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.

——Franklin Roosevelt

In Paris, everyone has their own place to live. The poor can choose places like Rue Foa in the 12th arrondissement, and the rich can choose to settle down on the Champs Elysees. As the pride of the European dining culture, French restaurants have many affordable restaurants suitable for the middle class and ordinary citizens in addition to high-end options such as ‘Le Grand Véfour’ and ‘Le Procope’.

For diplomats with unspeakable secrets, Le Petit Palais hidden in the alley is a good choice.

This restaurant is located in a stone building, with a slightly swaying iron sign hanging at the door. Although the location is not very good, the owner of the restaurant still stubbornly added a lot of wooden furniture here to save face, and even hung a few seemingly true paintings on the walls with some paint peeling.

A poor pianist who looked underage played the piano piece he had just learned. Although the tune was not bad, the rhythm of the music sounded very strange. Arthur frowned and listened for a long time before he finally understood that the guy was playing Chopin's "Nocturne".

Schneider sat opposite the round table, which was partially blocked by heavy crimson velvet curtains to ensure that their faces would not be seen by outsiders.

The table was decorated with simple and exquisite silver tableware and lit candlesticks, and the swaying candlelight cast light and shadows on everyone's face.

I don't know if it's because he has been to Nightingale Mansion too much, but Schneider seems to enjoy this dim atmosphere.

Unfortunately, Arthur didn't bring a whip today, and there were few passionate Parisian ladies in this restaurant with few guests, so Mr. Schneider could only taste the cheap red wine while recalling the good memories of London to kill time.

However, their guest did not make them wait too long. Although the Germans were old-fashioned, they were always very punctual.

"What a terrible performance."

The concise statement, the cold and almost ruthless attitude, and the French with a slight Eastern European accent made the identity of the visitor self-evident.

He was wearing an exquisite long-tailed tuxedo with a long and forked tail that swayed gently with his steps.

The silk coat flickered with a light blue glimmer under the candlelight, and the well-cut coat made his already slender figure more upright.

The coat was inlaid with gold buttons, and every detail showed the Germans' extreme pursuit of details.

Under the coat was a beautifully embroidered golden vest.

The vest was made of fine brocade, with a complex pattern but not complicated, but this did not mean low-key, because from the flashing light on the vest buttons, it can be seen that each button here is made of pure gold.

The collar of the white linen shirt is high and straight, with delicate pleats on the front. A black silk bow tie is neatly tied around his neck, perfectly highlighting his usual nobility and solemnity.

The "von" in his middle name, like the "Fan" in the Dutch name and the "De" in the French name, indicates his noble status.

William von Krommel, Cultural Counselor of the Austrian Empire in France, and Head of the Austrian Empire's Intelligence Station in France.

Arthur had learned from Schneider's introduction that the von Krommel family was very different from ordinary Junker landlords like the Schneider family who made their fortunes halfway. Although this family is not as good as the top nobles in the German region, their history is equally long.

The ancestors of the von Krommel family were granted hereditary nobility in the Kingdom of Bohemia in the 12th century for their military achievements.

In the following hundreds of years, family members continued to blossom and bear fruit in other parts of Germany, and their branches successively obtained noble titles in Westphalia and Bavaria.

The branch to which Mr. Wilhelm von Krommel belongs has been rooted in Vienna for quite a long time, but the most prominent members of their family are not generals or politicians, but several musicians and composers.

When he was young, Mr. von Krommel also dreamed of becoming a great pianist, but due to the impermanence of the world and lack of talent, he ended up becoming an Austrian spy.

However, due to long-term piano practice when he was a child, although Mr. von Krommel did not become a musician in the end, he always believed that he had a high level of musical literacy, and often commented on pianists' performances in Paris newspapers and magazines as a music critic.

Mr. von Krommel took off his gloves and handed them to the servants behind him, saying to them: "You go and guard the door, I want to reminisce with my old friends."

The servant obediently put one hand on his chest and nodded slightly, then left the restaurant.

Standing beside the round table, von Krommel first looked at Arthur, then turned his gaze to Schneider: "August, you said that you found something interesting and wanted to share it with me. You better not lie to me. You know, in order to have this meal with you, I turned down a lot of important work. I am usually very busy."

Schneider warmly greeted von Kromel to take his seat, and said to him with a smile: "What were you originally planning to do tonight? Investigate the Austrian anti-government elements hiding in Paris, or collect special intelligence from the French government? "

"No, neither."

Von Cromel shook the napkin, and then tied it around his neck slowly: "I originally planned to attend Liszt's piano recital tonight. Franz Liszt was the Austrian Imperial Music Director One of the latest rising stars in the world, his outstanding work in Paris has added to the reputation of Austrian art in Europe, and as cultural attaché I feel it is my duty to attend his concerts.”

When Schneider heard this, he glanced at Arthur beside him strangely, and then said maliciously: "Oh, Liszt, he is indeed an outstanding figure, but he has many famous people. The praise he received is as good as Almost as much vilification.”

"slander?"

Von Krommel raised his eyebrows: "You must be talking about that bastard Heinrich Heine, right? He is probably the only one in Paris who is so keen to slander our outstanding Liszt. This guy wants to He wanted to blackmail Mr. Liszt, but he failed. Then he became angry and started to slander him in major newspapers in Paris, saying that those who pursued Liszt were all hired with money. , I couldn’t be more familiar with it, because when he wrote a book to slander Metternich, the reason was almost the same.”

Arthur became interested when he heard this, and he asked at the right time: "What's going on?"

Von Cromel snorted disdainfully: "I clearly remember that in the early days, although he often made some inappropriate remarks in his books, at most they were some such as 'Germany treats ignorance as a virtue' "One person's stupidity is more unbearable than the wisdom of the collective" and other sarcastic remarks.

But after the Prime Minister ordered all his publications to be included in the book and newspaper censorship list, this guy went so far as to complain about hemorrhoids and urinary incontinence every day. It would be wise for him to hide in Paris after what he did. If he dares to go to Vienna, our people will let him feel what real incontinence is like. "

At this point, von Kromel couldn't help but uttered a curse word: "But this Jewish son of a bitch, he may not be good at other things, but every time he finds something is wrong, he runs so fast. ! I heard that he has recently applied for special subsidies from the French government. If he gets political asylum from Paris, it will be even harder to arrest him in the future. "

Schneider laughed and said: "That's not something you should worry about. After all, he doesn't scold Austria as much as he scolds Prussia."

"You are right."

Von Cromel took a sip of wine: "So Prussia is more willing to discredit him than we are. I heard that they plan to announce this guy in major German newspapers as soon as Heine applies for French subsidies. Treason. Hasn’t he always claimed that he is a man of integrity? However, it is extremely ridiculous that such a man of integrity takes aid from foreign countries and slanders his motherland in newspapers every day.”

Arthur was stunned.

Even a guy with a wild imagination like him would never have imagined that Heine could do such a big job.

But what should I say? This seems to be in line with this kid's character.

He really wanted to make Germany progress, but why not take money from France if he could?

However, once he gets the money, how outsiders view him is another matter.

After all, from a certain perspective, he is indeed uniting with foreign forces to disrupt the German states.

Whether it is Austria or Prussia, these two regional powers in Germany have difficulty dealing with France.

Von Crommel put down his glass and then asked: "Sir, please forgive my forgetfulness. It seems that we have never met before, right? August, why don't you introduce it to me?"

Schneider introduced with a smile: "This is Sir Arthur Hastings, a legend among the London police. It is precisely because of his outstanding work that he has now been transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue to shine."

"Arthur Hastings..."

Von Cromel recalled this name, and he always felt as if he had heard it somewhere.

Suddenly, he frowned, and the provocative article Heine published before appeared in his mind: "With all due respect, although I know it is absolutely impossible, I still want to confirm that you should not be a member of "Black The Sir Arthur Hastings mentioned in "Stingsmania"?

Arthur smiled and raised his glass: "This is not presumptuous, because you are right."

When Von Cromel heard this, the expression on his face seemed to freeze: "You..."

Arthur added: "Yes, Heinrich Heine is my friend."

"I..." Von Cromel paused for a long time and suddenly asked: "Then you should know who I am, right?"

"Of course I do, but I think you may not know my job." Arthur smiled and replied: "Let me remind you, I used to be a policeman. After I came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I still did the same job, but Changed the name.”

"Ah..." Von Cromel thought for a moment and quickly came to the conclusion: "Are you a spy? Oh, no, that's too rude to say. It should be said that your social circle is quite wide. You want to Too many sacrifices at work to even care about making friends with Germany’s famous public toilets.”

After saying this, Von Cromel apologized very regretfully: "I'm sorry, Sir, this should be our job. Letting this mobile public toilet come to your territory is really causing you to worry too much."

"Well...actually, I think it's not bad." Arthur replied: "Because I have always used coins before, so he has never told us anything about us."

Von Cromel couldn't help but be amazed when he heard what he said. He praised: "It seems that August is right. You are indeed a rare talent. If the police in Vienna are half as flexible as you, they will be as smart as you are." Not to be scolded by that guy every day as 'a bunch of well-trained dogs who can't smell anything except Metternich's hemorrhoids'."

Arthur coughed: "You must know more about him than I do. One thing I'm curious about is, as a well-known poet, why does he always go to the Lower Third Road?"

"Xia Sanlu? Although I don't like him, but to be fair, he is not always like this."

Von Cromel commented: "From what I know of this gentleman, when he starts a three-way attack, it usually means that he is in a situation where he is very angry and has nothing to do with you."

Arthur nodded slightly and said: "It seems that it may be necessary for us to exchange information about Mr. Heine in the future. This will be very helpful for our future work."

"No problem, it's just a mercy for you to take over this bad guy who can't get rid of him." Von Cromel sighed: "If you can help correct his bad temper, I believe our Prime Minister Metternich will Very grateful to you.”

Arthur smiled and waved his hands: "This can't be called showing mercy. In our industry, we need to communicate more. When I was a policeman at Scotland Yard, I often talked with Vidocq from the Paris Security Department. Sir, exchange information on criminals. You may not know that not only these annoying poets, but also thieves and robbers often commit crimes across borders."

Von Krommel smiled and waved his hand: "You don't need to distinguish them too much. In my opinion, they are all the same. Maybe the poet's crime is more serious. After all, thieves and robbers They can harm a few families at most, but a poet can harm a country. Their destructiveness is much greater than ordinary criminal crimes."

Arthur did not continue. On the contrary, he took out the prepared documents: "However, in order to thank you for agreeing to exchange Heine's information, I feel it is necessary to let you know about an anti-government incident that may be about to occur in northern Italy." Activities. By the way, do you know the organization Young Italy?”

"Young Italy?" Von Krommel couldn't help but stand up when he heard the name: "You said that the gang of rebels in Young Italy are planning to cause trouble in Italy? They only have a few people? Who gave them the courage!"

Arthur nodded slightly: "Although the current intelligence is not completely certain, based on reasonable speculation, they do seem to have such an intention. As for who gave them the courage, it's hard to say, because generally speaking, according to the current Foreign policy, we have no intention of destroying good diplomatic relations with the French government.”