shadow of britain

Chapter 690 Royal Dispute
The night had not yet completely fallen, and the sky still retained a hint of orange-red afterglow. Covent Garden was shrouded in a layer of faint gas lights and mist.

In the square, audiences walked out of the Royal Opera House in twos and threes. Gentlemen wearing black capes and holding carved canes talked softly with the ladies beside them, their skirts brushed against the cobblestones, and the sound of their heels hitting the stone slabs was crisp and rhythmic. A few boys in ragged clothes on the street corner shuttled through the crowd, nimbly avoiding patrolling policemen, and took the opportunity to sell the latest newspapers and shady pamphlets.

Several restaurants and pubs near the garden had already lit up orange-yellow gas lamps, and the warm light shone through the window lattices onto the wet streets.

From the pub came the sound of Irish musicians, mixed with the shouts of shopkeepers and the laughter of drunkards. On the other side, in the pastry shop and fruit stall, vendors were counting the remaining goods for the day, and the air was filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and the sweet taste of applesauce mixed with cinnamon.

A four-wheeled carriage drove out of the narrow street, and its wheels rolled over the cobblestone road, making a few slight noises.

A burst of white hot air came out of the horse's nostrils. The driver flicked the reins and stopped the carriage steadily in front of a low-key yet very elegant restaurant - Rules.

As a long-established London establishment that has been open for over 30 years, it was originally just a tavern serving oysters, roasts and pies.

But it wasn't long before the restaurant's founder, Thomas Rüle, keenly noticed the restaurant's good location in Covent Garden.

As we all know, Covent Garden Market is a mixed place where the theater district and the red-light district intersect, so there are often secret visits from the upper class and literary and artistic circles. Unfortunately, most of these scumbags do not want others to know that they are frequent visitors to Covent Garden, so the need to protect privacy naturally arises.

To this end, Mr. Rüle ingeniously designed several private rooms in the store with excellent sound insulation and confidentiality. He also upgraded the store's menu from commonplace home cooking to game dishes such as pickled shrimp, roasted venison, and fried grouse. It can be said that he is determined to only do high-end business in the future.

Facts have proved that Rule's bet was right this time. Since the restaurant's transformation, Rule Restaurant quickly became famous in London, and the literati and poets who heard the news further increased its popularity.

In addition to the high-quality dishes here, when Londoners talk about Rule's Restaurant, they always gossip about who the private rooms here belong to.

It was once rumored that the owner of the innermost box was the late King George IV, and after George IV's death in 1830, the box was left to his mistress, Lady Maria Fitzherbert.

Although this rumor sounds very much like a London tabloid, considering George IV's unreliable character, it may have some credibility.

Of course, not every guest can have a private room here. For tourists and most Londoners, if you want to try the fresh food at Rule Restaurant, you have to book a table at least two to three weeks in advance. This is not only because of the hot business, but also because the game provided here comes from the restaurant's free hunting grounds. Only by booking in advance and slaughtering it on the spot can the expensive price on the menu be justified.

Fortunately, Arthur and his party did not have to worry about booking a table, because one of his friends had the privilege of having a private box at the Rule Restaurant - Mr. Charles Dickens.

It is not known whether it was because of his close friendship with Darwin, or because he had been misled by Alexandre Dumas's gluttony, but after becoming famous, Dickens became a gourmet with a fondness for game.

His preference was even reflected in his novels. The Pickwick Papers describes many passages similar to the layout of Ruller's Restaurant.

At first, the restaurant owner did not regard this regular customer who often held a pen and drank by himself as a big shot. However, ever since this "Little Shakespeare" became famous in the literary world, people came to curry favor with him in an endless stream, and the Rule Restaurant was naturally the first to benefit from it. With just one private room, it was able to get the slogan of Charles Dickens' favorite restaurant.

As soon as a few people got off the car, the waiter at the door recognized this group of unusual guests at a glance.

He folded his hands across his chest and bowed his head, saying, "Mr. Dickens, the box is ready, please follow me."

Dickens nodded slightly and winked playfully at the old friends behind him. Then he saw Arthur and others holding ebony canes walking into the restaurant.

In the central hall of the restaurant, customers in gentleman's suits were chatting in the dim candlelight. The tables were filled with silver tableware and exquisite porcelain wine glasses, and expensive Bordeaux red wine and cream soup could be seen everywhere.

But none of this had anything to do with them, because their destination was the private box upstairs.

The four followed the waiter up the red velvet-carpeted stairs, their footsteps echoing on the wooden staircase.

There are several oil paintings hanging on the walls of the stairs. One of them depicts a deer hunting scene in the English countryside. In the painting, a knight holds a shotgun high and a hound leaps beside him, which is very lifelike.

Dickens joked: "I bet the deer in this painting will appear on our plates tonight."

Disraeli raised his cane and pointed to a portrait hanging opposite him, saying, "Fortunately it is not this person who appears on the plate."

Everyone turned their heads to look, and saw that it was a portrait of the late King George IV. Although the painter had tried his best to conceal the big belly of this pleasure-loving king, it was still not difficult to tell from the tight buttons of his shirt that the former supreme ruler of Great Britain did not manage his body very well.

Arthur couldn't help but curl his lips and said, "The portrait is hung here. It seems that the previous rumors about His Majesty may not be all fabricated."

As soon as they entered the box, the warm smell of fire instantly hit them. The fireplace was burning brightly, and the flickering flames complemented the crystal chandelier on the ceiling.

There was a long table in the room, covered with a crimson linen tablecloth, candlesticks with flickering flames, and exquisite silverware and crystal wine glasses lined up. As soon as the few people took off their coats and sat down, before they could even start chatting, the waiter began to serve appetizers, game pie, pickled shrimp, foie gras, and freshly baked rye bread.

Disraeli raised his glass first, with a smile that he couldn't hide in the corners of his eyes: "Then let's raise our glasses to the only man in this box who has died once, Sir Arthur Hastings!"

Arthur was leaning his cane against the side of the chair. Hearing this, he tapped the silver wine glass with his fingers, raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked at him without comment.

"Three days." Disraeli shook the red wine in his hand. "You know what? In our Christian country, three days is a very symbolic period of time. Of course, since the Archbishop of Canterbury has already set the tone, I can't say that you must have gone to meet St. George during those three days."

Dickens nearly spit out his wine, immediately put down his glass and covered his mouth to hold back his laughter, while Tennyson half covered his face with his palms, with a rare teasing in his eyes.

If it were a few years ago, Arthur would probably feel embarrassed by such teasing, but now he has long been accustomed to it: "Fortunately, you only suspect that I went to meet St. George. If you suspected that I went to meet with the late King George IV during those three days, then it would not be Viscount Palmerston who was anxious to summon me this afternoon, but Baron Motley, the Lord Chamberlain, and Baron Willoughby Deresby, the Lord Chancellor of Ceremonies."

Disraeli smiled and said, "What if he saw her? He was unable to deprive Princess Victoria of her inheritance rights when he was alive. Can his words be more effective after his death than when he was alive?"

"Disinheritance?"

When Disraeli said this, even Dickens and Tennyson put down their knives and forks, and everyone turned their eyes to him: "Benjamin, have you heard any royal secrets?"

As soon as everyone's eyes were focused on Disraeli, the Jewish boy's dramatic personality involuntarily came to the fore.

He sounded as if he was talking about a trivial matter: "Nothing, I just heard an interesting story from Mr. Beau Brummell."

Everyone knows that Beau Brummell served as the royal fashion consultant during the reign of George IV, and this well-known old playboy in London happened to have a close relationship with Disraeli, the new fashion expert.

Although Disraeli kept saying that he only knew some gossip, everyone knew that at least 99% of the royal secrets that came out of Brummell's mouth were credible.

Under everyone's repeated and strong requests, Disraeli finally spoke reluctantly: "It's actually no big deal. I heard that when Princess Victoria was just born, her father, the Duke of Kent, had her fortune told by a fortuneteller. The gypsy witch said: This child is destined to become the queen. The Duke of Kent not only believed in this prophecy himself, but also told this prophecy to many people.

The Duke originally intended to name his daughter Elizabeth, but on the naming day, George IV, who was then the Prince Regent, suddenly announced that he would attend his niece's baptism. According to convention, the names of royal family members usually need to be approved by the reigning monarch or the Prince Regent. So, the Archbishop of Canterbury asked the Prince Regent what name he wanted to baptize the child with at the ceremony, and the Prince Regent's answer was: Alexandrina.

Dickens pondered and said, "Well... although this name is not British enough, considering that the princess' godfather is Tsar Alexander I, it is reasonable from a commemorative perspective."

Disraeli sneered and said, "It would be great if that were the case. Because the Duke of Kent asked on the spot whether his daughter could have another name, such as Alexandrina Georgina, or Alexandrina Elizabeth. As a result, the Prince Regent was silent for a long time with a stern face, and finally said: 'Then use her mother's name, Victoria, but her name must begin with Alexandrina!'"

When Disraeli said this, even the dumbest guy would understand that George IV probably didn't like his little niece.

The Duke of Kent wanted to name his daughter Georgina or Elizabeth, because both names easily reminded people of famous monarchs in British history. But George IV insisted on using Alexandrina, which clearly wanted the public to think that his niece had a strong foreign element.

On the surface, this was just a baptism ceremony, but in reality it was a conspiracy among royal family members for the throne and the favor of the people.

Dickens shook his head and said, "I only knew that George IV and his brothers did not get along, but I never thought they did not get along to this extent."

Disraeli added fuel to the fire, "More than that, because he has no legitimate heir, every time he hears that his brothers have legitimate children, he will be sulking for days. And, Charles, don't think that the Duke of Kent's side is all victims. A few years ago, before His Majesty the King ascended the throne, didn't Queen Adelaide give birth to four children?"

"But didn't all four of those children die?"

"It is indeed dead." Disraeli snorted. "Do you know how the Duchess of Kent reacted when she heard that her child had died? She was so happy that she couldn't be happier! Originally, Queen Adelaide often went to Kensington Palace to accompany the Duke of Kent after his death, but when this kind and kind sister-in-law lost her children, the Duchess of Kent actually laughed out loud."

When Dickens heard this story, the hair on his hands stood up: "Could the family relations within the royal family be so bad?"

Tennyson was quite indignant when he heard this and said, "I originally had a good impression of her. Everyone said that she was different from other members of the royal family. But according to what you said, her behavior is really too bad. No wonder His Majesty hates her so much... I used to think that he was just a shameless old guy who liked to bully widows."

Arthur had met William IV several times. He recalled: "I can't say that His Majesty is such an elegant man. Whether he speaks English or French, his accent is very strong Hanoverian, and he often says 'that's another matter'. If you don't know him well, you will probably think he is a very vulgar nobleman, but if you like him, he is indeed a very sincere and generous old man. I still remember that the Duke of Wellington once told me that when His Majesty was serving in America, General Nelson had a high opinion of him. He participated in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and did not get any special treatment on the ship. He didn't even bring a cook with him. He cooked his own meals."

Disraeli also spoke up: "I heard that when North America was fighting for independence, George Washington wanted to kidnap him?"

Arthur scratched his chin. "It's not kidnapping, at least that's not what the Americans think. Mr. Washington Irving told me that George Washington's original words at the time were: It is obvious that rescuing Prince William will cause a great shock to the British command. I authorize you to complete this task by any means necessary, and you can do whatever is convenient. Moreover, I believe I don't need to remind you again that you must not insult or harm the prince personally."

(End of this chapter)