shadow of britain

Chapter 636 British Club

The stately oak door of the English Club, with its brass knocker, had been polished to a high shine, reflecting the faint winter sunlight.

Arthur brushed the thin layer of snow off his cloak and followed the servant into the main hall.

As the door opened, a burst of hot air mixed with the aroma of tobacco and black tea rushed towards me.

The club's lobby was as exquisitely decorated as ever, with several oil paintings depicting English countryside scenes hanging on the walls and oak bookshelves filled with classic works shipped from London.

It can be seen from these works that although "The Englishman" has a large circulation in Britain, the subject of fashion novels is ultimately not as good as classical literature in highlighting its style.

Shakespeare's classic works "Hamlet", "Othello", "Macbeth" and "Henry V" are all available. Milton's "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained" are also must-read books here. Walter Scott, the founder of British historical novels, is also very popular here. His "Ivanhoe", "The Marriage of the Younger Brothers" and "Kenneth Worth Castle" are all placed in a prominent position on the bookshelf.

The arch-rival of "The Limey", "Blackwood", won a great victory in Russia. Arthur saw the figures of the three giants of the Lake School with just a casual glance.

William Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads, Samuel Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and Robert Southey's The Lady of the Lake were listed just below the works of Byron and Shelley.

In the hall, several gentlemen were chatting animatedly around the tea table near the fireplace.

Arthur heard some discussions about Maslenitsa. The Austrian counselor, who had met him once before, was waving a cigar and said jokingly, "The Russians really love festivals. They burn scarecrows with such fanfare every year, as if winter would run away in fear."

Another younger gentleman added: "But I have to admit that their pancakes are really good. I tried some this morning. The golden pancakes with caviar are definitely the most anticipated thing in the festival."

Arthur smiled slightly, took off his hat and nodded to them as a greeting, then was led by the waiter to the reading room nearby.

The atmosphere here was much quieter, with several club members each reading a newspaper or a book.

Arthur's eyes swept over the latest newspapers on the table - last month's The Times reported the fluctuations in London's financial markets with eye-catching headlines, while the Moscow Telegraph was all about Maslenitsa and even had a whole page on how to make the most authentic pancakes.

"Sir, what do you need?" the waiter asked respectfully.

Arthur nodded and said, "A cup of Earl Grey tea and some pancakes. I want to try that 'golden as the sun' kind of thing they say."

When the waiter heard Arthur's choice of tea, he couldn't help but smile and asked, "Twinings or Jackson's Earl Grey?"

"Twinings, I think." Arthur sat on the sofa next to the fireplace and picked up the newspaper. "Although our Prime Minister Earl Grey used to be a fan of Jackson Tea Company, he has now switched to Twinings. And I also feel that the citrus flavor contained in Twinings Earl Grey tea is stronger than Jackson's."

The waiter bowed slightly and said, "I understand. Please wait a moment."

Arthur said again: "Where is Mr. Pushkin? Why don't I see him?"

The waiter replied, "Today is the first day of Maslenitsa, which is also a day for meeting. According to Russian tradition, people have to visit relatives and friends today, and Mr. Pushkin is no exception. But don't worry, he went to the club yesterday to say hello and said that you might come today. You can chat with other gentlemen in the club, play cards, and have lunch. Mr. Pushkin should be done by three or four in the afternoon at the latest."

When Arthur heard this, he finally understood why there were so few Russians in the huge St. Petersburg British Club.

It turned out that most of the locals had gone to visit relatives, and the only foreigners like him and the Austrian counselor who had no relatives in St. Petersburg came to the club early in the morning on such a day.

Of course, not all diplomats have nowhere to go today.

For example, Arthur's boss, Earl Daramo, and the Austrian envoy, Count Fekelmont, and other heads of diplomatic missions from various countries, were basically all invited to attend the court ball hosted by the Tsar today.

However, it is not uncommon for the second-in-command to be invited to the ball, but that is basically a special case.

For example, since the former U.S. Minister to Russia, James Buchanan, has stepped down, the counselor can only temporarily perform the duties of the minister in the capacity of chargé d'affaires in Russia.

Arthur couldn't help but sigh that this "meeting day" of Maslenitsa divided the local diplomatic circle into two distinct categories: the big shots were invited to the Tsar's ball to drink and mingle, while "replacement diplomats" like him could only hang out in the club for a day, waiting for the social party at night.

He looked at the newspaper in his hand again, trying to immerse himself in the turbulent analysis of the London financial market.

However, the sound of discussion by the fire would occasionally enter his ears, pecking in his mind like a naughty little bird.

The voice of the Austrian counsellor was particularly striking; he seemed to be telling some risqué stories of the Petersburg court.

"Have you heard? Many people in the town are talking about the affair between the young Princess Suvorov and Count Wittgenstein."

"An affair?"

"Well... although there is no conclusive evidence, some people noticed that Suvorov was wearing some new diamonds, and they said behind her back that it was a gift from Count Wittgenstein. However, others said that the diamonds seemed to be given in accordance with his late wife's will. Because his late wife and Suvorov were very good friends. Prince Suvorov and his wife quarreled endlessly over this matter."

"Ah... No wonder the Queen called Suvorova to the palace a few days ago and gave her a lecture. Was it because of this?"

"Not only the Queen, but the Tsar also reprimanded Suvorova. Suvorova burst into tears and she kept defending herself while crying, saying, 'Your Majesty, I am young, I am lucky, and I have always been praised by others, so I am envied' and so on."

"Oh! Even if we exclude the diamond incident, Suvorova's behavior can be called indecent. I have always felt that this lady is not very smart and is a reckless and frivolous woman. I hope this incident can serve as a warning to her and she will not cause any trouble in the future."

"Do you know anything about Princess Turkistanov?"

"Are you talking about the princess who died in the palace under mysterious circumstances?"

"Alas, there are not so many ambiguities. This matter is very clear. Turkistanova has been a court lady for a long time. She had an affair with the former Tsar Alexander I and Prince Golitsyn, and the latter made her pregnant. The princess confessed this to the emperor, and the Winter Palace took necessary measures to let her give birth in the palace to avoid public suspicion. When Queen Maria came to read the Bible to her, she found her lying on the bed unconscious. Later, she was moved to another room and died there. When the queen learned about this, she was very angry and punished several court doctors. Prince Golitsyn felt that the Tsar and the queen had joined forces to kill his lover, so he made the matter public. Everyone in Petersburg knew about it, and the Winter Palace couldn't even celebrate Maslenitsa in peace."

Arthur listened to the gossip while calmly flipping through the newspaper in his hand, pretending that he was not interested in these court anecdotes.

But in reality, he wished his ears could extend a few inches further so as not to miss any details.

"This happens every year in the Winter Palace." The Austrian counselor shrugged. "His Majesty the Tsar is also troubled by these romantic affairs. However, the Maslenitsa ball can always make people forget their troubles temporarily - at least I heard that this year's ball is more luxurious than last year's."

"Yes." Another gentleman agreed with a smile, "This year, a huge ice sculpture was erected in the center of the ballroom. It was carved from the natural ice of the Neva River - a double-headed eagle with outstretched wings, symbolizing the majesty and glory of Russia."

The waiter came over with Arthur's pancakes and Earl Grey tea, and carefully placed the plate in front of him: "Your pancakes, Twinings Earl Grey tea." Arthur smiled and thanked him, then took a sip from the teacup. He closed his eyes slightly, feeling the rich citrus aroma spreading in his mouth, along with the gentle tea aroma, which seemed to make the noisy club quieter all of a sudden.

At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a cold wind swept in with snowflakes. Arthur looked up and saw a familiar figure wearing a heavy cloak, walking in quickly.

It's Pushkin.

"Sir Arthur!" Pushkin saw him at a glance, took off his hat, revealing his iconic curly hair, with a warm smile on his face: "I thought you would sleep until the afternoon."

Arthur put down his teacup, stood up and shook his hand. "Mr. Pushkin, it seems that you have had a busy Maslenitsa."

"I'm so busy that I feel dizzy." Pushkin said with a smile, "I finally found an opportunity to hide here."

"Are you going to the social party tonight?"

"You mean the one held in the palace?" Pushkin asked the waiter for a cup of tea. "If it is not necessary, I don't want to attend. There will be many villains who have a bad relationship with me, and it will be embarrassing for me to go there."

Arthur asked, "Are you talking about Bulgarin, the editor-in-chief of the Northern Bee, Polevoy and Svinin of the Moscow Telegraph?"

"No, I would rather cooperate with Bulgarin and his group than those who showed up tonight." Pushkin asked, "Do you know Arakcheev?"

Since Arthur had done an in-depth investigation into the Russian military settlement system, he was certainly familiar with the name of the inventor of the system: "I remember he was your Minister of War, right?"

"That's a complete villain."

Pushkin kindly warned: "If you go to the party, remember to keep your distance from him, so as not to ruin your good mood. You have no idea how bad his stinky mouth can say. Can you imagine someone saying in front of the crown prince that the emperor always returns to the queen in a disheveled state after doing something?"

Arthur couldn't help but frown when he heard this. If what Pushkin said was true, then Arakcheev was not only a bad guy, but also a rotten guy.

Even Elder would never say such insulting words to his parents in front of the child.

Arthur replied: "I am more surprised that he was not severely punished for saying such things."

Pushkin said helplessly: "In fact, he has not been punished. At least he is no longer as important as he was during the reign of Alexander I. Although the emperor still retains some of his duties, he no longer has much real power. He even moved out of St. Petersburg and lives in the family estate in Novgorod. In recent years, we can only see this old guy on occasions like Maslenitsa."

At this point, Pushkin seemed to remember something and continued, "And I find that you seem to have a misunderstanding about Russia, just like the Austrian ambassador, Count Fekelmont. I will tell you something, and you will probably be as surprised as he is."

"what's up?"

"A few days ago, there was a ball at Count Fekelmont's house. Zhukovsky caught Skariazin, a member of the regicide party, and forced him to tell the whole story of the March 3 incident (the court coup that assassinated Paul I in 11). At this time, the emperor came in accompanied by Count Benckendorff. He happened to see the prince's tutor and the murderer of his father having a friendly conversation. At that time, Skariazin took off the scarf with which he killed Paul I.

Afterwards, I spoke to Count Fekirmont about this. He told me that he did not know about the crimes that Skariazin had committed, and if he had known, he would not have invited this man to the banquet. However, the count was still amazed at the strange things that happened in our upper class society. The late emperor Alexander I was surrounded by the murderers of his father.

However, I think this is precisely the reason why Alexander I did not nip the young conspirators who participated in the Decembrists in the bud during his lifetime. According to various sources, the Holy King knew about the activities of the Decembrists, but he remained silent to a considerable extent and acquiesced to their private collusion. Because in Russia, almost all tsars had to be patient and tolerant of these groups that secretly plotted to kill the king.

As for the present emperor, he is perhaps the first emperor in Russian history who has the power and possibility to kill the regicide party or the group that plotted to kill the regicide."

Speaking of this, Pushkin's emotions seemed somewhat complicated.

Although he was not included in the list of Decembrists, in fact, he maintained a good relationship with the leaders of the Decembrists.

The main reason why he did not take part in the uprising was simply that he was not in St. Petersburg that day but in exile.

In order to protect Pushkin, the leaders of the Decembrists reached a surprising tacit agreement that they did not include Pushkin's name in any contact documents. They also concealed their plans from Pushkin during the preparation period before the uprising to prevent him from being involved.

After the failure of the uprising, no matter how Count Benckendorff questioned, none of the Decembrist leaders, such as Pestel, Ryleyev and Kakhovsky, gave in and no one admitted that Pushkin had participated in the Decembrist movement.

Because of this, although Benckendorff was determined to kill Pushkin, a poet who had close ties with the Decembrists, he could not produce any evidence, so he had to give up.

The new Tsar Nicholas I, taking into account the domestic impact and adhering to the principle of making the best use of resources, pardoned Pushkin, who had great influence among Russian liberal elements, and returned him from exile to Moscow in order to quell the aftermath of the Decembrist uprising.

They hoped to win over this famous national poet through a conciliatory policy, so that he would lower his profile and serve the Tsar's court well.

However, as things stand, although Pushkin accepted the Tsar's kindness and education, his reform was not successful.

But for Arthur, he didn't care whether Pushkin's transformation was successful or not, because what worried him more than Pushkin's successful transformation was that he discovered a hidden danger that he had never noticed before.

Although they were all men of letters, Pushkin's political inclinations were significantly different from those of Heine and Herzen of Moscow University.

Heine and Herzen are both typical liberals, so it is always very easy to discuss issues with them, because you don't have to worry about them leaking something to the government that shouldn't be leaked. Even if they do leak, they may be the first to suffer.

If we use the examples of factions in Russian literary circles, Heine and Herzen both belong to the typical Western school.

What about Pushkin?

Arthur suddenly recalled the debate between Pushkin and the Western representative Chaadayev that he had read in the newspaper before.

At that time, he thought Pushkin was simply trying to complete the task assigned to him by the Tsar.

However, through observations in recent times and information heard from all sides, it seems that although the Tsar would censor Pushkin's works, Pushkin could freely choose the subject matter he wanted to create.

Moreover, the conversation just now basically explains Pushkin’s position.

If he were placed in Russia, Pushkin might be considered a left-wing liberal, but if we analyze it carefully, Pushkin is definitely not a pure Westernist. His positions in many aspects are the same as those of the Slavophiles.

In other words, this is not a liberal, but a nationalist.

(End of this chapter)