shadow of britain

Chapter 729: Arthur Hastings in Victoria's Eyes

Outside the Royal Box of the Covent Garden Theatre, attendants in blue and black uniforms with gold inlay stood solemnly on the scarlet velvet carpet, as if blending into the environment and adding a touch of magnificent and luxurious atmosphere to the place.

Guests passing by the door might think that there was a high-ranking royal duke sitting here, but in fact, the servants waiting here were just four little girls, or to be more specific, four little girls of German descent.

Princess Alexandrina Victoria, wearing a pearl grey satin dress with fine silver thread on the hem, and a slightly tilted round feather hat on her head that just half covered her eyes, made it hard to tell that the heir to the British throne was completely immersed in the world of La Sonnambula created by Italian singer Giovanni Rubini.

Sitting next to her were three little sisters with whom she was very close, the daughters of Heinrich von Bulow, the Prussian Minister to Britain - sisters Gabriele, Adelaide and Caroline.

Born into the Mecklenburg noble von Bulow family, although their status was not as noble as Victoria, they were still first-class aristocratic ladies.

The three sisters dress in their own unique way.

Gabriele, the eldest daughter, wore a long violet crepe dress with delicate gold thread patterns on the hem, and a small emerald brooch fixed her tulle cape on her chest. Her hair was tied into a simple and elegant bun, gently fixed with an ivory hairpin. Looking at her outstanding figure and dignified demeanor from a distance, you would never guess that she is only 12 years old this year.

The second sister, Adelaide, was obviously more lively than her elder sister. She wore a pomegranate red velvet short skirt with silver thread trim on the cuffs and a beaded satin belt around her waist. From time to time, she would secretly wink mischievously at a young gentleman sitting on the lower level of the box.

This action immediately caused little Caroline, who was sitting next to her, to cough in dissatisfaction. She also gently touched her second sister's waist with her elbow, reminding her to concentrate when watching the show.

Sitting behind them was Mrs. Louise Letzen, a royal baroness. The baroness, who came from a pastor's family in the Kingdom of Hanover, was the only adult allowed to stay in the box.

However, she did not sit side by side with the other girls. Instead, she sat quietly on the sofa chair in the back row of the box with a book in her hand.

Mrs. Letzen was a fairly typical German and a pastor's daughter.

She has traditional ideas and is very methodical about her work.

Although she is very talkative, she rarely says too much.

If Leizen spoke, it would be with reason and evidence, and would not seem inappropriate.

This was a happy and joyful time for the kids, so she obviously didn't think it was a good idea to speak up now.

Giovanni Rubini's voice is now dragging out the tragic aria: "Ah! non credea mirarti..."

Gabriele felt goose bumps all over her body when she heard this. She couldn't help but exclaimed in a low voice: "I declare that from today on, Mr. Giovanni Rubini will replace Antonio Tamburini and become the best tenor in my mind."

Adelaide curled her lips when she heard this, obviously disagreeing with her sister's opinion: "When it comes to tenor, I still prefer Manuel Garcia. I don't think anyone can surpass Mr. Garcia's performance in The Barber of Seville. No one can match his coloratura skills, and no one can even come close."

Caroline, the youngest, was not as well-informed as her sisters, but she was unwilling to be seen as an ignorant girl, so she raised her hand and expressed her opinion: "Turandot is the best opera I have ever heard, Mr. Adolphe Nouri is the best tenor, Mr. Felix Mendelssohn is the best composer, Mr. Alexandre Dumas is the best playwright, and... and... Arthur He..."

"Turandot, my God! It's Turandot again!" The second sister Adelaide rolled her eyes at her sister before she could finish her words: "You only know Turandot! I don't even know if you saw any other plays when your mother took you back to Berlin to visit your relatives two years ago! But it's not easy for your little brain to remember the entire cast list of Turandot!"

Caroline was very dissatisfied with her sister's accusation. She angrily imitated the tone of her mother when she scolded her second sister, muttering: "Adelaide, you obviously don't understand what real art is."

"You!" Adelaide's eyes widened in anger at her sister. She was just about to teach this brat why she was the older sister, but unexpectedly, Victoria, the oldest girl on the side, spoke up.

Although 15-year-old Victoria is not tall, she speaks with great momentum: "Dear, if you must argue here, then I will ask you to leave."

When the three sisters of the von Bulow family heard the princess' words, they immediately shut up, but the expressions on their faces were still colorful.

Adelaide curled her lips in dissatisfaction, as if she had not yet completely withdrawn from the artistic dispute.

Little Caroline turned her head away and simply used the children's version of the feather fan to cover half of her face, as if to say, "I'm not going to bother with you."

As for the eldest sister Gabriele, she was not noisy to begin with, and by now she had already regained her calm demeanor of "an elder sister who is like a mother". She just took a sip of the lemonade in her hand and turned her gaze back to the stage.

The atmosphere in the box suddenly cooled. Victoria then realized that what she had said just now seemed a bit harsh, so she took the initiative to pick a conversation and asked Caroline, who was the least thoughtful, "You just mentioned Turandot? Is that play really as good as you said?"

When Caroline heard someone agree with her, she nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice: "Turandot is the best opera in the world. That's what my mother said."

Victoria was planning to talk more, but when she heard Caroline's answer, she immediately became unhappy: "Caroline, your mother's opinion may not be correct. My mother also likes "The Puritans" starring Tamburini very much. But in my opinion, that is the worst play Tamburini has ever sung."

Caroline obviously didn't expect Victoria to answer like this. She wanted to refute, but then she remembered that her mother once told her that she must never make Her Royal Highness the Princess angry.

Caroline, who had never encountered such a situation, was stunned. She stammered, "But...but..."

Victoria frowned. "But what? Caroline, I hope you can tell me what you think. If you can tell me why you like Turandot, I will agree that Turandot is the best opera."

Caroline racked her brains, and then a light bulb suddenly lit up in her little head. She blurted out as if she had grasped a life-saving straw: "Sir Arthur Hastings is in Turandot. I like Sir Arthur Hastings!"

"Sir Arthur Hastings?" Victoria felt that the name sounded familiar: "Well... that's a reason."

"Oh my God!" The second sister Adelaide covered her forehead and said, "Your Highness, I think you should ask her more about why she likes Sir Arthur Hastings."

Victoria was puzzled: "Isn't it because he is an outstanding singer, or a musician or something?"

Gabrielle, the eldest sister who had remained silent, spoke up while holding her teacup: "I think... I'm afraid it's not because of this."

Victoria asked in confusion: "If it's not because of this? Then what is it because of?"

Little Caroline said excitedly, "Because when I told my grandfather about Sir Arthur Hastings in Turandot, he blew his beard in surprise and said to me, 'Oh my God! I didn't expect that in addition to electromagnetism, he also knows music composition!'"

Victoria was confused by Caroline's incoherent answer: "Can anyone tell me what's going on?"

Eldest sister Gabrielle explained, "Sir Arthur Hastings is a very outstanding scientist, and he has a very good relationship with our great uncle. Caroline is usually closest to her grandfather and great uncle, and she may use this as evidence to think that she likes Sir Arthur Hastings very much."

Miss Gabrielle's words were not fabricated, for Arthur did have a close relationship with their uncle.

As for who their great uncle is...

That person, of course, was Mr. Alexander von Humboldt, President of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, who led the team to the Göttingen Electromagnetic Conference.

Their grandfather was Humboldt's brother, Mr. Wilhelm von Humboldt, former Minister of Education of the Kingdom of Prussia, a world-renowned educator and linguist, and the founder of the University of Berlin who reformed the Prussian compulsory education system.

It was well known that Arthur always liked to make friends. Since he had met Alexander von Humboldt at the European Electromagnetic Conference, he had no reason to let his brother go.

Moreover, Arthur was also responsible for the duties of the academic supervisor of the University of Göttingen, so it was reasonable for him to write to the other party on the grounds of discussing pedagogy.

As for why the Humboldt Brotherhood had a good opinion of Arthur, it was naturally because Arthur helped Mr. Alexander von Humboldt with a small favor.

The causes and consequences of this matter are really complicated to explain. To sum it up, it was actually what Mr. Alexander von Humboldt proposed at the Berlin Science Conference in 1828: He hoped that all European countries could establish a geomagnetic monitoring station in their country, and it would be best if they could also establish a research society that includes the top geomagnetic scholars in Europe.

Arthur helped Humboldt realize both of his ideals to a certain extent.

First of all, after the European Electromagnetic Congress, the Göttingen Electromagnetic Society, led by Gauss and Humboldt, was officially established.

Secondly, during the meeting, Arthur personally met with the Duke of Sussex, the president of the Royal Society, with Humboldt's letter, and persuaded him to agree to establish the British Geomagnetic Observatory. Isn't it natural that a natural philosophy researcher like Arthur, who is devoted to science and does not care about personal gains and losses, should be respected in the circle?

Unfortunately, no matter how famous Arthur was, not a single word of it reached Victoria, who had lived in Kensington for a long time.

However, this was not because she was ignorant, but because under the Kensington system, the information Victoria could receive was extremely limited.

Before the Duchess of Kent made up her mind to hire Arthur as a natural philosophy teacher, the main people responsible for teaching her scientific knowledge were George Davis, Bishop of Chester, and Thomas Russell, Chaplain of Kensington Palace.

Perhaps such an arrangement may seem ridiculous to people in later generations, but before natural philosophy was officially called science, it was very normal for priests to teach natural philosophy.

The more traditional the aristocratic family is, the more they will adhere to such behavior. On the contrary, hiring experimental physicists to teach scientific knowledge will make the upper class feel that this is a trendy, fashionable and even radical behavior.

Arthur's scientific reputation did not reach Victoria's ears, and his literary attainments could not be presented to the princess.

At the behest of the Duchess of Kent and Conroy, Kensington Palace often scrutinizes publications sent to Kensington more strictly than the House of Commons Publications Committee.

Popular novels were strictly prohibited here, and even poetry had to be specially selected. The works of Satanist poets such as Byron and Shelley were not allowed to be presented to the Crown Prince because they were "indecent and corrupt."

Unfortunately, most of the authors of "The Limes" were successful in both the "popular" and the "indecent" aspects, so they were naturally not allowed to enter Kensington.

Victoria tried her best to figure out who Arthur Hastings was.

But the sisters mentioned this person one by one as if he was some kind of important person, but she knew nothing about him, which made Victoria feel frustrated.

She had no choice but to ask about the life of this European celebrity indirectly, hoping to reconstruct his portrait with the help of the celebrities she knew: "You mean, he is a person like Mr. Faraday?"

Little Caroline answered quickly: "My great uncle said that he was a student of Mr. Faraday."

Adelaide frowned and reprimanded her sister: "No! He is Mr. Faraday's assistant! And in literature, he is the new Walter Scott."

Gabriele was obviously more knowledgeable than her two sisters, because she often sneaked a peek at the "Libertine" that her mother subscribed to: "Adelaide, I think you have the same misunderstanding about him. Because most people think that Elder Carter is the successor of Sir Walter Scott. As for Sir Arthur Hastings, his detective novels are unique, and he is also very successful in music. His piano piece "The Bells" adapted from Paganini is still my etude."

Victoria was not aware of Arthur's scientific and literary achievements. Her attention was focused on the last sentence: "Paganini? You mean he adapted Paganini's music?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Gabriele knew that she was a big fan of Paganini. "If possible, you might ask your instrument teacher, Mr. John Searle, to tell you about that piece of music. The difficulty of "The Bells" is very high, almost a show of skill, but its pleasantness also matches its difficulty."

"The Paganini of the piano world?" Victoria's heart was pounding.

Ever since Paganini visited London a few years ago, she had been looking forward to the Italian violin genius's return to London so that she could enjoy more of his concerts. Unfortunately, since Paganini settled in Paris last year, he has never left France.

She had thought of going to Paris, but she knew very well that neither her mother nor Sir John Conroy would allow her to do what she wanted.

But if you can't go to Paris, seeing the performance of "British Paganini" in London is also a good choice.

"So... where does Sir Arthur Hastings usually perform? Drury Lane or Covent Garden?"

Gabrielle's eyes were filled with anger, and she said sullenly, "He's not performing anymore."

"Why?" Victoria asked in surprise, "Could he...have passed away?"

"Oh, no..." Adelaide said, "Your Highness, you can't curse him like this, he is still alive and well. Although he almost died once, but then he..."

Mrs. Lezen, who had been sitting on the sofa reading a book, suddenly stood up and interrupted, "Girls, your topic has gone too far."

There was once a bizarre story circulating in London about a police officer who came back to life. This story was obviously a good topic of conversation after dinner, but Mrs. Letzen did not intend to let this street rumor that might shake her faith fall into the ears of the princess.

Victoria turned her head and asked Mrs. Letzen, "Dear Letzen, do you know Sir Arthur Hastings?"

Mrs. Letzen nodded slightly. "I once accompanied the Duchess to a banquet at the Allmark Club and had the honor of listening to his performance. He is indeed a talented young gentleman and he is well-liked by everyone. Of course, I mean, except the Duke of Cumberland."

"The Duke of Cumberland?" Victoria shuddered at the thought of this evil royal uncle. "Does he hate Hastings?"

"Hastings is a Catholic, and you know that the Duke of Cumberland hates all Catholics. And Hastings is close to the Duke of Sussex, so he has even less reason to like Hastings."

When Victoria heard this, she couldn't help but speak in a sympathetic tone: "That's terrible, he will definitely be scolded badly by his uncle in private."

"Maybe." Mrs. Letzen said here and looked at her watch: "Your Highness, I think we should go back. Dinner time is coming soon. The Duchess is going to entertain an important guest today. If you are late, she will be furious."

When Victoria heard this, she looked at the stage below reluctantly: "Okay, but can't we..."

"We can't." Mrs. Letzen refused before Victoria finished her question: "This is a very important guest, and I think you will be happy when you see him later."

"Really?" Victoria got up from her seat in disappointment. "You say that every time."

"But this time it's different." Mrs. Letzen came forward to help the princess straighten her clothes. "Weren't you and the three Miss von Bulow just discussing Sir Arthur Hastings? He is today's guest, and he may become your new teacher."

"What?!" the three Miss von Bulow exclaimed in unison.

Mrs. Leizen saw this and reminded them: "Three ladies, although I shouldn't lecture you, this way of speaking is not the manners that young ladies should have."

After being taught a lesson, the three young ladies immediately lowered their heads and obeyed the instruction obediently: "We understand. Thank you for your instruction, ma'am."

However, Caroline, the youngest, soon regained her spirits. She grabbed the corner of Leizen's clothes and asked, "Madam, can we go to Kensington together today?"

Mrs. Letzen hesitated: "I...I don't know, but if your mother agrees, I don't think the Duchess will refuse."

When little Caroline heard this, she smiled happily and said, "Mom will agree. Usually when we want to go to other places, she always refuses, but she never objects to going to Kensington."

Mrs. Leitzen was so amused by this honest eight-year-old girl that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Well, even so, I think we should send someone to the Prussian Embassy to ask Mrs. Blough for advice first."

Upon hearing this, little Caroline immediately lifted up her skirt and pushed open the door of the box: "Hans! Go home and tell mom that we are not going home for dinner today, we are going to Kensington."

The reserved elder sister Gabriele, contrary to her usual practice, did not stop her younger sister. After all, she also wanted to meet Mr. Arthur Sigmar, the author of "The Hastings Mysteries", which was her number one "Englishman" work.

As for the second oldest sister, Adelaide, she was not willing to go home alone for dinner since her elder and younger sisters were going to Kensington.

Mrs. Letzen helped the group of young ladies put on their cloaks one by one. While the audience was still immersed in Roubini's infectious singing, she took Victoria's hand and led her downstairs, occasionally reminding her, "Your Highness, please stay, the stairs are a bit steep."

As the group and the von Bulow family's servants walked out of the theater gate, they saw a carriage decorated with the royal emblem slowly approaching on the street.

The car door slowly opened, and Conroy stepped down with a stern face. He glanced at the ladies of the von Bulow family, and his cold eyes made Victoria tremble a little, but fortunately, he finally turned the conversation to Mrs. Letzen.

"Leitzen, did you get my and the Duchess's permission to bring them to the theater?"

(End of this chapter)