shadow of britain

Chapter 702 Alexandre Dumas's Love Class
In the meeting room of the editorial office of The Brit, the gas lamps cast an amber halo on the oak ledges, and the dark green velvet curtains half-shrouded the bustle of Fleet Street.

The pillars of the magazine on both sides of the long table each had their own hobbies. Dickens was smoking a cherry wood pipe while using a pencil to outline the fat outline of a congressman on the edge of the manuscript paper. It was obvious that he was definitely conceiving some political satire novel.

Mr. Disraeli, who moved into Mrs. Sykes's house, had obviously not been sleeping well recently. He absentmindedly played with his gold-inlaid snuff box, and only when he glanced at the magazine's financial report for this quarter did he reluctantly perk up a bit.

As for Alfred Lord Tennyson, this rising star in the British poetry scene had a melancholy temperament like the drizzle outside the window. He sometimes nodded, sometimes shook his head, and mostly recited the rhymes of new poems silently.

But the most outrageous of these people was Sir Arthur Hastings.

At some point he had moved the calligraphy work of his Russian friend Bi Chulin into the meeting room of The Englishman.

He leaned back in a high-backed chair with carved patterns. Although there was a horizontal banner with the words "Only my virtue is fragrant" on his head, what he was thinking deep down in his heart was not that upright.

Fortunately, the information Fiona provided him was extraordinarily useful. When Ridley learned that his special hobby was not actually a secret, the head of the Fifth Department of the Police Intelligence Bureau made only a symbolic argument or two and then raised the white flag to Arthur, expressing his willingness to surrender unconditionally.

After all, for Ledley, spying on Kensington Palace only involves the risk of ending his political career, while the evidence in Arthur's hands does not leave any room for ending his political life.

Perhaps given Ledley's current position and social influence, the government is unlikely to mercilessly hang him for the crime of sodomy, but he will probably not be able to escape charges such as exile and hard labor.

Because even as open-minded as the Whig Party, there are also a large number of relatively conservative progressives within it. The series of disturbances caused by the Irish Church in recent months is the most powerful proof of this.

Many Whigs could not even tolerate the shaking of the status of the state church in Ireland. Can we expect them to be lenient on the issue of sexual orientation, which is considered a crime by the entire Christian world?
What's more, the Melbourne cabinet has just come to power. Given the cautious temperament of the new prime minister, it is absolutely impossible for him to stand up for Laidley, who is not related to him in any way, and thus cause the already precarious unity within the party to slide into an even more dangerous situation.

Even if all favorable circumstances occurred and Viscount Melbourne was so crazy that he was willing to support Ledley, he would not be exiled or do hard labor, but Scotland Yard would still definitely fire him.

No matter what, even though the Whig Party is in power now, the Tory tone of Scotland Yard remains unchanged.

The reason for this is naturally that Scotland Yard was an organization established by Sir Peel of the Tory Party, and its backbone is almost entirely composed of middle and low-level officers who have retired from the army.

Secondly, due to the special nature of Scotland Yard's work, such a security organization and national violence agency will not change its relatively Tory conservative style of operation even after a hundred years.

This is due to the different political philosophies between the Whigs and the Tories.

According to the Whig Party's liberal ideas, government agencies should minimize their interference in social production and life. Therefore, departments like Scotland Yard with broad jurisdiction are naturally a thorn in their eyes.

According to the Tory Party's conservative views, although many of them do not advocate the implementation of an autocratic system, this does not prevent them from preferring a centralized management method, which is why Scotland Yard was born in the hands of the Tories.

In short, if Scotland Yard follows the Whig Party, its funding will be cut, its staff will be reduced, its power will be reduced, and it will be constrained in every way.

If you follow the Tories, you will have a good life and a smooth life.

Therefore, as long as the police officers of Scotland Yard are not mentally ill, they will naturally know where to sit.

Therefore, in a department like Scotland Yard where conservatism is the right thing to do, Ledley's sexual orientation problem is much more serious than corruption and bribery, and it cannot be viewed as a simple private misconduct.

This is a loss of ideals and beliefs, a betrayal of the original intention and mission, and a serious violation of organizational discipline. It is of a vile nature and serious circumstances. Therefore, it must not only be dealt with seriously, but also with heavy blows!
Scotland Yard has no say in how Ledley is sentenced in court.

But within the department, he must be dismissed from his public office and stripped of his police rank!
Arthur and Ridley are both turtles who have been swimming in the pond of Scotland Yard for many years. Arthur does not need to explain this matter in too much detail, Ridley is already able to realize the seriousness of the problem.

However, while Arthur was hinting at Ridley, he did not go too far.

Not only did he not bring up the past and complain about Radley's previous evasion, but he also thanked Radley for helping to intercept David Urquhart's letter to Fleet Street during the Caucasus incident. Not only that, Arthur also gave Radley the turquoise snuff bottle that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had given him as a courtesy when he left office, and said in a beautiful way that the Caucasus was half of his credit.

Of course, different people will have different opinions on whether the Caucasus incident was a merit or a fault.

But for Ledley, Sir Arthur Hastings was able to forgive the villain's mistakes, which was a sign of a chivalrous heart.

Heavy rain was pouring down outside the window, and the roar of the printing press downstairs was suddenly interrupted by the neighing of horses.

The heavy and bulky riding boots fell, and two puddles of mud and water suddenly exploded on the stone road downstairs.

Arthur raised his sleeve to polish the steamy glass, and looked at the visitor's cloak that swelled like a black sail in the heavy rain. He couldn't help laughing: "Although this fat Frenchman has only lived in London for two or three years, he has learned the essence of British gentlemen. In such heavy rain, he didn't even open an umbrella."

Needless to say, this guest was the loyal Mr. Alexandre Dumas, who had hurried from Paris after receiving Arthur's letter.

As for the German poet standing behind him, although he hadn't seen him for a while, Arthur could still guess that dear Heinrich Heine must be cursing something in German. Perhaps he was complaining about the damn weather in London, which had soaked the manuscript in his hand into blue paste? While Heine was still cursing the weather and God, Dumas had already knocked on the door knocker with the hilt of his sword. The bronze collision sounded mixed with the rhythm of the "Marseillaise", at least that's what Arthur guessed. If it weren't for the lightning and thunder, perhaps the whole Fleet Street could hear this fat man with a strong retroflex accent singing the word "citizen" louder than the roar of a 16-pounder.

Disraeli came up to Arthur and said, "It seems that the Metropolitan Police has not been able to make this fat man behave himself."

Arthur asked, "What has he done in Paris lately?"

"That depends on how you define a crime." Disraeli curled his lips and said, "When Heine came to London last year, he told us that the Greater Paris Police Department had banned Alexander's Antony. As a result, Alexander was so angry that he ran to the censor's desk that afternoon, threw a pistol at him and demanded a duel. Fortunately, the Paris police did not take him seriously, otherwise Alexander would probably have settled in your house again."

Dickens made a bet with everyone with great interest: "I bet one shilling that the first thing Alexander will say when he comes up will be to ask for a glass of wine."

Tennyson said uncertainly: "I don't think so. The last time Alexander came to the editorial office, it was also a rainy day. At that time, he was busy bragging to us about how much he wanted to promote Miss Ryan recently..."

Before Tennyson could finish his words, the oak door was banged against.

Dumas burst into the room, bringing with him the damp smell of the West India Docks, with rain dripping down his curly temples onto the carpet. He immediately gave Arthur a warm bear hug.

"Good Lord! Arthur, my good fellow, I am so glad to see you come back safe and sound from Russia. But I am even happier that the Russian frost has finally made you wiser, and that you are finally beginning to enjoy life?"

"Enjoy life?" Everyone was stunned and looked at Arthur: "What do you mean by enjoy life?"

Dumas grinned, then looked at his friends with a reproachful look: "Can't you see? Arthur has been troubled by love lately."

"Lovesick?"

After Dumas said this, everyone who was originally in low spirits due to the bad weather immediately straightened their backs.

"This……"

"Arthur didn't tell us..."

Dumas unceremoniously pulled his chair away and put one arm on the desk: "Arthur, do you want to do it yourself, or should I speak for you?"

Unexpectedly, Arthur just waved his hand and said, "Alexander, we can talk about other things later. Let's hold the board meeting first."

"That won't do!"

Dumas was so happy that he could hardly stop smiling. He thought Arthur was just too embarrassed to speak up. "What's the big deal? You were simply conquered by Miss Marie Taglioni's dancing steps and grace. It's not something shameful. Although Miss Taglioni's appearance is not first-rate, her temperament and talent are rare in the world. Miss Taglioni is highly sought after both in Paris and Vienna. To be honest, I am one of them. I remember that it was 1827, when the 22-year-old Miss Taglioni first appeared on the stage of the Paris Opera. The first time I saw her perform, I knew that sooner or later she would become famous in Europe..."

"Marie Taglioni?" Disraeli suddenly interrupted Dumas's reminiscence: "Are you sure?"

Dumas gave Disraeli a rather dissatisfied look for ruining his mood. "Benjamin, of course, I am not the kind of person who speaks without thinking. This is what Arthur admitted to me in a letter. He said that when I took him to the Paris Opera House to watch the ballet "La Sylphide", he had been conquered by Miss Taglioni. But at that time, he was not sure about the feelings in his heart until he went to Hanover and Russia. As time went by, this strange emotion not only did not weaken but became stronger. Including his voluntary resignation as a diplomat. On the surface, it was due to diplomatic incidents, but in fact, he missed Miss Taglioni so much that he was eager to return to Paris or London to watch Miss Taglioni's performance again."

Disraeli, who knew the inside story, had an expression on his face when he heard Dumas's detailed description.

He raised his elbow and nudged Arthur beside him. While everyone was gossiping, he asked in a low voice: "Is it necessary to go to such lengths just to get into Kensington Palace? Don't you have a good relationship with Faraday?"

Arthur shook his head slightly, with a melancholy smile on his face that he couldn't tell whether it was real or not. "After all, Mr. Faraday doesn't work at Kensington Palace, and I can't predict whether the Duchess of Kent would want to hire a natural philosophy teacher. But Miss Mary Taglioni is Princess Victoria's dance teacher. If I can get some inside information from her, or even indirectly highlight the importance of natural philosophy, then that would be..."

Disraeli got goose bumps when he heard this: "Excuse me, Arthur, but this is really a bit mean."

Arthur stared at her and said, "Maybe. If someone else said it, I might be able to accept it."

"Hmm?" Disraeli paused, then turned to look at Arthur: "Arthur, what do you mean?"

Arthur looked at him helplessly: "Benjamin, do you really want me to explain the matter so thoroughly?"

"Alexander!" Disraeli suddenly raised his voice, his snuffbox turning in his fingers. "You said just now that Arthur admitted his admiration for Miss Taglioni in his letter? But as far as I know, doesn't the ballerina have a sweetheart? If she does... unless our Sir Arthur intends to elope to Greece like Lord Byron, this unrequited love will probably turn into the morning mist on the Thames."

Dumas was talking about the anecdote of Marie Taglioni applying rose petals to her feet backstage at the Paris Opera House. Hearing this, he slammed the table so hard that the line of the congressman's belly that Dickens had just sketched became the coastline of Cornwall: "By God, Benjamin, you always like to speculate about romance with the philistine eyes of a Londoner! Your harsh words are sharper than the executioner's axe when Eleanor Arden robbed the execution ground for her lover! Regardless of whether Miss Taglioni has a lover, even if she does, what can it do? Dorval's lover back then was still Winnie, but that didn't stop her from falling in love with me again. Don't be too decisive about love!"

(End of this chapter)