shadow of britain

Chapter 650: Good news and bad news
Mikhail Orlov was a man of great talent, with a sturdy build, elegant manners, a majestic and beautiful appearance, and a high and prominent skull. His square forehead with tightly furrowed brows, a head full of gray hair, and sharp, bright eyes made it clear at a glance that he was a man who had spent half his life in the army.

However, his appearance is inconsistent with the melancholy and decadent temperament he exudes.

There are many people like Orlov, both in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Because of their participation in the Decembrist uprising, these officers of noble birth were exiled to the Caucasus or Siberia, and even though they did not stay in exile for too long due to their family's strong background, even after being pardoned and returned to Moscow and St. Petersburg, they no longer had the youthful look they once had.

This group of people are like lions in a cage, banging against the iron bars everywhere, unable to find a way out or anything to do, and their desire for work and the realization of their life values ​​constantly torment them. They are keen on political activities but have no place to use their talents, but are unwilling to be trapped in their studies or enjoy the happiness of family life.

Although he still holds the rank of general, he has lost his position and appeal, and is no longer the center of attention.

Such a psychological gap can easily cause a person to become mentally unbalanced, and then the accumulated anger in the heart will be imprinted on the aging appearance and temper.

They can't stand loneliness, and loneliness causes them depression. They become moody and quarrel with the few friends they have left, thinking that everyone is plotting against them.

Their growing suspicion also makes them keen on plotting conspiracies and using tricks to expose traps that do not actually exist.

That is why, when Arthur expressed interest in Orlov, Princess Helena and several other well-meaning ladies advised him to stay away from the gloomy young man who was well-known in Moscow society.

Because no one knew what would suddenly come out of Orlov's mouth, especially since everyone had heard that Orlov was recently compiling a list of chemical names and had the delusion of becoming a scholar and theorist.

Of course, Orlov was by no means a stupid man. When he was young, he was one of the clear-headed and talented people in Moscow.

However, this person always speaks incoherently and without restraint.

If it weren't for the misfortune on December 12, none of his actions would have been considered shortcomings.

Because speaking incoherently can also be seen as the speed of thoughts running faster than the speed of speech, which is a manifestation of mental agility.

Speaking without restraint means being generous, enthusiastic, straightforward, and outspoken, saying whatever comes to mind, which is a common habit of honest people.

But the human species is always like this. When Orlov fell from power, the advantages that everyone used to praise suddenly became disadvantages.

Everyone thought that Orlov was rash and careless, and that he often made mistakes. He still said what he wanted to say, but halfway through, he suddenly remembered his position and had to change his attitude. For Orlov, who had never seriously learned social etiquette, this strategic U-turn was actually more difficult to deal with than metaphysics and chemical name lists.

Sometimes he fell into a trap, and in order to get out of it, he fell into a second and third trap. For this, the once noble commander of the Guards Cavalry was criticized for being superficial and careless.

There was no more kindhearted person at the party who would atone for his verbal errors and call attention to how well he behaved.

Nowadays, everyone is only focusing on his one verbal mistake, only listening to what he says but not watching his actions, and considering his individual mistake to be more important than his overall character.

To some extent, Arthur could understand Orlov's dilemma.

He had suffered from public opinion violence from Fleet Street in London, but he was better than Orlov in that he received a lot of comfort from his friends, and his subordinates in Scotland Yard never forgot him. Although the Ministry of the Interior strictly prohibited Scotland Yard from retaliating against the news media, this did not prevent the police officers from going to Fleet Street to strictly enforce the law in order to uphold justice for their old boss.

If he hadn't had so many people supporting him, and if Arthur had put himself in Orlov's shoes, he felt that his mental state might not be much better than Orlov's.

Arthur thought that he must chat with him today, but as the center of the whole dance, his every move was in sight.

Therefore, after several failed attempts to escape, he could only sit back in his original seat and talk about his life experience in response to the curiosity of the gentlemen and ladies.

From the bizarre murders at Scotland Yard, to following Faraday into the world of electromagnetism, and how he was inspired by Paganini to compose music, and so on.

All in all, there is not much truth, most of it is made up.

However, perhaps because of writing "The Hastings Mysteries", Arthur's ability to make up stories has obviously improved a lot.

A curious little story that took only a few minutes to make up amazed these Moscow celebrities who yearned for an industrial and sinful society.

A serial killer who likes to leave playing cards as markers.

Frankenstein who kept a talking monkey.

A gloomy pianist who runs an electric current through his piano.

A doomsday madwoman who applies poisonous lipstick on her lips and murders others with kisses...

Of course, no matter how vicious, treacherous, and cruel the criminals are, they will eventually be brought to justice by Sir Arthur Hastings, the master detective of the foggy city.

Just when Arthur was about to promote his masterpiece "The Hastings Mysteries" to everyone, he suddenly heard a greeting from not far away.

"Your Excellency the Duke."

Arthur turned his head and saw that the host of the ball, Prince Golitsyn, the Governor of Moscow, had arrived at some point, followed by the Moscow Police Chief and several police station chiefs.

The Duke shook off the snow and muttered, "On a good day like this, bad things keep happening one after another."

Zubkov, the governor's secretary, brought him a glass of Madeira. "Any news from Petersburg?"

Prince Golitsyn nodded and said, "Yes, the Emperor has personally ordered us to immediately close down the Moscow Telegraph and arrest the editor-in-chief, Polevoy."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar at the scene.

As a top-tier newspaper with considerable influence in Russia, the Moscow Telegraph, founded in 1825, is to Russia what the Manchester Guardian is to Britain.

Apart from the semi-official Northern Bee, Moscow Telegraph had almost no rivals in Russia. However, such a newspaper was closed down without any hesitation.

As an official who tends to be liberal, Zubkov couldn't help but ask, "Why did they suddenly issue such an order? Didn't the emperor ask for your opinion beforehand?"

Prince Golitsyn was obviously also very dissatisfied with the order to close down the Moscow Telegraph. He took off his hat and said, "I heard that the Minister of Education Uvarov handed the emperor a memorial containing excerpts of the content published by the Moscow Telegraph in recent months. After reading it, the emperor agreed with Uvarov's statement that the editor-in-chief Polevoy had ulterior motives in guiding the public opinion of the Moscow Telegraph."

Several nobles nearby couldn't help but ask, "Didn't Count Brudov and his men stop them?"

"What are you stopping?" Prince Golitsyn looked very angry. He slammed his hat on the table. "Those excerpts were made by Brudov. Plyunov was responsible for their implementation."

"What about Zhukovsky? Our prince's tutor didn't say anything either?"

Prince Golitsyn got angry when he heard this: "Zhukovsky did speak and expressed his regret. However, overall he felt that the ban on the Moscow Telegraph was deserved. Because he felt that the Moscow Telegraph was promoting Jacobinism under the nose of the government, and he also said that he didn't understand why Polevoy had become a favorite of our Moscow Police Department before. I don't understand why the Moscow police believed that the liberalism promoted by Polevoy was just a mask."

As soon as Prince Golitsyn finished speaking, Arthur saw cold sweat on the forehead of the Moscow Police Chief.

The police chief quickly explained: "Your Excellency the Duke, I assure you that we..."

Unexpectedly, Prince Golitsyn did not give him a chance to explain. He took out a newspaper from his pocket and slapped it on the table: "Come here! Fyodor Ivanovich! Read it to me, what is written here! Why didn't you tell me before this article was published!"

“I can’t read it.”

The Chief Commissioner of Police was too flustered to read aloud.

The enraged Prince Golitsyn just stared at him.

Those dull, gloomy and cold leaden eyes could make people feel like they were falling into an icy cave.

The police chief could not bear the pressure, so he had to bite the bullet and pick up the newspaper, replaced the Russian letters with French, which the prince understood more smoothly, and slowly read aloud: "On the Criticism of Kukolnik's New Work..."

Just by hearing the title, Arthur knew roughly what the problem was.

Kukolnik was a court writer for the Tsarist Russian court. Last month, he published a historical drama titled "The Divine Hand Saves the Motherland."

Just from the name, you can tell that the main theme of this drama is nothing more than praising the Russian monarchy, mythologizing Russia's performance in defeating Napoleon in the War of 1812, and then proving that the Russian monarchy is not only the choice of history, but also the choice of the people, and even the choice of God, etc.

All in all, this drama is not very interesting and can be considered an advanced version of "The Russian Strongman Drives Out the French".

Although Arthur bought a copy, after quickly flipping through it, he had no desire to read it again.

However, even though it is not nutritious, Polevoy actually dared to write a critical article about the play and even published it in the Moscow Telegraph!

Such a heinous crime is bound to be punished.

Prince Golitsyn's anger is not difficult to understand. "Moscow Telegraph" is a Russian publication. Although the prince knows some Russian, he seldom speaks it and rarely reads Russian magazines.

Therefore, he always left the work of newspaper and periodical control and censorship to the police station, and he himself did not interfere much.

But he didn't expect that the police work in Moscow was so lazy and caused him such a big trouble.

What made the Duke even more angry was the arrogant attitude of the gendarmes who came from St. Petersburg with the emperor's order.

He had always disliked the spies from the Third Bureau, and every day he was thinking about how to teach these lackeys of Benkendorf a lesson.

Who would have thought that before he could figure out how to deal with the gendarmes, the gendarmes had already caught the policemen under his command.

If it had not been for the presence of so many guests, especially the British guests, Prince Golitsyn would have certainly sworn at the police chief early in the morning.

Duke Golitsyn suppressed his anger, walked up to Arthur and apologized, "Sir Arthur, as the host, according to social etiquette, I should have stayed here to accompany you today. But I'm sorry, I have official duties to attend to, so I have to excuse myself today."

Arthur waved his hand and said, "Of course it's business that matters. The ball is just a daily pastime. How can this be considered rude?"

Prince Golitsyn was obviously very angry, but he couldn't vent his anger. In addition, he lost face in front of the guests today, which made him feel aggrieved.

He told his secretary Zubkov, "You will accompany me for the next two days. Don't worry about the work at the procuratorate for now."

Zubkov nodded slightly: "Understood, Your Excellency."

After Prince Golitsyn had made all the arrangements for the evening, he turned his head and glared at the police chief behind him: "When you find Polevoy, bring him to me immediately. I will question him and give him some instructions. As for all the documents in the editorial office of the Moscow Telegraph, sort them out, seal them up, pack them in boxes and send them to St. Petersburg intact. The emperor said that he wants to see everything personally."

After saying this, Prince Golitsyn was about to leave, but suddenly he paused, as if he remembered something. He then gave another instruction: "All actions must be carried out ahead of the gendarmes!"

The chief of police hurried to catch up with the prince. He whispered, "What if the commander of the gendarmerie, Volkov, insists on taking Polevoy away? After all, the emperor's order is to arrest him and take him directly to the Petrograd Fortress. The gendarmerie may not agree to let us take him to your house."

Upon hearing this, Prince Golitsyn glanced coldly at the police chief and said, "That's a problem for you to consider. What I want is to bring Polevoy to my house so that I can interrogate him first. As for how the gendarmerie will explain, that's a problem you have to solve. However, Fyodor Ivanovich, I warn you, if I don't see Polevoy today, you'll be in big trouble!"

The chief of police scratched his head, pretending not to understand what Prince Golitsyn meant: "You mean, let us go against the Emperor's will?"

"I never said that." How could Golitsyn let him control me? "I only said I wanted to see Polevoy. Fyodor Ivanovich, you created this mess yourself, so find a way to solve it yourself!"

(End of this chapter)