shadow of britain

Chapter 758 "The Englishman" - The Great Adventurers

As a political loser, Louis was ashamed to talk about what he had experienced in the past two years.

However, the excitement of reuniting with his old friends after so long made him willing to calm down and listen to their progress over the years.

Since Alexandre Dumas spent most of the year in France, Louis was fairly familiar with his situation.

Now, Alexandre Dumas has not only shed his status as a political prisoner, but his theater business in Paris is also thriving. Every weekend, friends from the Parisian arts scene gather at Dumas's home for various salons. On weekdays, Dumas remains as busy as ever, preparing new scripts during the day and casting, well… casting the leading lady, at night.

The only thing that gave Alexandre Dumas a headache was probably his illegitimate son, Alexandre Dumas fils.

At the insistence of Arthur and his friends, the fat man finally legally recognized Alexandre Dumas fils's identity a couple of years ago and began to take on the child's living expenses. However, Alexandre Dumas père still has no intention of marrying Alexandre Dumas fils's mother, and the poor Madame Catherine Rabe is still working as a seamstress.

In order to fight for custody of her children, Madame Rabe would hide Alexandre Dumas fils or make him escape by jumping out of the window every time Alexandre Dumas père came.

Unfortunately, because Alexandre Dumas père hired one of the top lawyers in Paris at a high price, the court ultimately ruled that Alexandre Dumas fils should be supported by Alexandre Dumas père.

However, the fat, dark-skinned man had just obtained custody of the child, and the very next day, he sent young Alexandre Dumas to the Saint-Victor boarding school in Paris.

Although this school is a renowned institution in Paris, judging from the letters Alexandre Dumas fils sent to Arthur, the boy did not seem to be happy at the school.

In his letter, he told Arthur that his classmates from high society looked down on him. These little monkeys had somehow found out about the relationship between Alexandre Dumas fils and Alexandre Dumas père, and they not only made fun of fils and his mother about it, but even gave him a nickname—"bastard." To protect his mother's reputation, fils, who never fought, even got into several fights with his classmates at school.

Of course, since he neither possessed any fighting skills nor had the clever ideas of Adam and Pinkerton, he always ended up getting beaten black and blue.

But the painful life at school was not what Alexandre Dumas fils found most unbearable; what he hated most was his father's behavior.

Every time school was out for holidays, Alexandre Dumas fils would be taken by his father to his mansion to play.

Alexandre Dumas seemed to have discovered the child's talent, and thus frequently introduced his son to Parisian celebrities in social salons.

But Alexandre Dumas fils disliked dealing with these men reeking of alcohol and women who were striking seductive poses. He especially didn't want to see Alexandre Dumas père embracing other women.

Arthur was helpless about this, because apart from sending his "nephew" some pocket money regularly, he could do almost nothing.

His busy work restricted his freedom, and every time he wrote to Alexandre Dumas hoping that he would seriously consider marrying Madame Catherine Rabe, Dumas would give a vague reply or angrily swear to God that he would never marry that seamstress.

Putting aside their previous discord, what angered Dumas the most was that Dumas fils would become somewhat distant from him after each visit to their mother. The fat man was convinced that this was because Madame Rabe had said something bad about him to Dumas fils.

Moreover, even if she didn't say anything, Alexandre Dumas was at that time deeply involved with Mademoiselle Ida Ferrier, one of the four great actresses of Paris. He not only lived with Ida Ferrier, but also planned to make her his stepmother.

Fortunately, besides finding some solace in Arthur's letters, Alexandre Dumas père's other friends in Paris, such as Chopin, Liszt, and Musset, took good care of the young man.

Upon returning to London, Arthur immediately wrote to Alexandre Dumas fils, welcoming him to visit England during the Christmas holidays. He mentioned that Adam and Pinkerton missed him dearly, and Arthur also enclosed travel expenses for himself and his mother in the letter.

This is probably all of Alexandre Dumas's troubles, but most of the discord between father and son was his own doing, so there's not much to sympathize with the fat man.

Dickens's tumultuous love life cannot be attributed to his own shortcomings.

Arthur and his old friends all knew that Dickens had always secretly loved Miss Maria Bidnell. Miss Bidnell came from a banker's family. Although her father's reputation in the City of London was not as illustrious as that of the Rothschilds, compared to Dickens, who had only been successful for a few years, the Bidnell family could be considered genuine Old Money.

Therefore, despite Dickens' passionate pursuit of her and his numerous love letters, he was thwarted by Maria's mother.

She believed that Dickens, this young man, had neither wealth nor a future.

Dickens suffered for a long time because of this, and when he finally rose to fame in the literary world, had savings, and seemed to have a promising future, Miss Maria Bidnell had already moved abroad and cut off all correspondence with Dickens.

Although Dickens didn't know exactly what Maria was doing abroad, he figured it was probably to get married.

Although Dumas repeatedly tried to comfort Dickens, telling him that the Biedners were blind to the Thames and that with his current wealth and fame, it was only a matter of time before he found a girl better than Maria.

But Dickens was not a Frenchman after all, so he couldn't be so carefree, especially considering that this was his first love, making it even harder for him to move on.

Disraeli and Arthur couldn't offer much advice or comfort regarding their relationship issues.

As everyone knows, Disraeli was a man who rose to power through nepotism, and even a seasoned woman like Mrs. Sykes was infatuated with him. When Disraeli saw Dickens trip over a "roadside pebble" and be easily defeated by a "newbie monster," given Disraeli's personality, the fact that he didn't come out to mock him already showed how close their friendship was.

As for Arthur, this Yorkshire Superman with an iron heart has a standard for judging girls that is far different from that of normal people.

He really couldn't understand what was so attractive about a young girl from a banker's family; she was utterly useless except for being able to sign a couple of checks.

This kind of girl might pique the interest of his student, the naive Junker boy Bismarck.

However, this was of no practical use to a genuine York gentleman who had received his education at the University of London.

In times like these, one can only hope that Heinrich Heine, "a man as lonely as snow on a winter night," will step in.

After all, Heine had a similar experience when he was pursuing his two cousins. Among all the people, only Heine was qualified to put his arm around Dickens's shoulder and say, "Only I can understand your pain."

Oh, speaking of which, I almost forgot about two other important members of the "criminal gang" in "The Englishman".

Charles Darwin, adrift at sea, and his subjects, if they were in London, could certainly offer Dickens some comfort. Elder's repeated failed courtship experiences, in particular, were quite inspiring.

However, there was no need to rush this matter, because four years had already passed since they set sail on the Beagle in November 1830.

According to the survey route set by the Admiralty, the survey and research mission in South America has been completed. That is to say, they only have some finishing work left in Australia. After that, the HMS Beagle will head west, cross the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope, and head towards Britain at full speed.

From the increasingly restless letters of a certain primate, Arthur easily deduced that the great benefactor of the ladies of Leicester Square was only a few months away from returning to London.

What it reminds me of: My recent research subjects were a group of kangaroos, and their hopping postures reminded me of the girls on the Alhambra stage. Especially when they wore silver-white ballet tutus, their twirling was like ripples in the moonlight.

Or perhaps: The other day, Charles spotted a female koala who seemed completely uninterested in male advances. When the males started making their deep, rumbling growls, the female koala climbed to the top of a tree and pretended to be dead, motionless. Arthur, does that sound familiar? I bet it's not an uncommon tactic at London social dances.

God help it, it seems the five years of hard labor on the Beagle did not successfully transform the Elder.

But now that things have come to this, Arthur is too lazy to think about it anymore.

After all, once Elder returns to London, the Admiralty will be the first to have a headache, not him, the tutor at Kensington Palace.

He wanted to see where the Navy planned to place Elder, after all, they had made him many promises to lure him to sea. If the position wasn't good, Elder, with his uncle's protection, would surely cause trouble.

But if the given location is too crucial...

Ah……

The Classics program at the University of London is truly prestigious.

For the past two years, Louis had been on edge. Even when forced into a mud pit by artillery fire, he preferred to remain silent. Even when facing Louis-Philippe, the French police, and the gendarmes, he never showed the slightest weakness or emotional fluctuation.

But at that moment, he did smile.

It wasn't the fake smile of a diplomatic occasion, nor the gentle yet firm smile presented to the Bonapartists, but rather a slightly boyish smile that would emerge only after being surrounded by friends, old memories, and a familiar tone of voice.

When he heard that Alexandre Dumas fils had been forced to jump out of a window, that Disraeli was having a good time in love, and that Mr. Carter, whom he had only heard of but never met, had written a letter claiming that a kangaroo's hopping posture was better than that of a ballerina, Louis felt a sense of relief. He even forgot to change the cigar in his hand that had long since gone out.

He smiled and looked at his friends at the table, his gaze inadvertently falling on Arthur.

This was his superior and old friend whom he had always respected.

Arthur Hastings, a graduate of the University of London, a symbol of Scotland Yard, an acquaintance of Whitehall and Downing Street, and the Göttingen Chair Professor…

Louis had heard about Arthur's recent misfortunes and thought his old friend would be devastated after the Caucasus incident. But to his surprise, Arthur had suddenly become a guest of honor at Kensington Palace and a mentor to the Prince of Wales.

Every step this person takes is as steady as walking on railway tracks, yet he always manages to appear in the most unexpected places.

Thinking of this, Louis couldn't help but recall the advice Arthur had given him. He paused slightly, and even his smile faded a bit: "Arthur, I must apologize to you first."

As soon as he said that, the room suddenly became quieter, and even Dickens lowered his teacup.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything.

Louis coughed lightly and continued, "That year in Paris, I did suspect you... well, someone handed me several reports that seemed to indicate you were colluding with Talleyrand. I must admit, I was somewhat skeptical at the time, and I even thought for a moment that you and Thiers were plotting against me."

At this point, he chuckled self-deprecatingly: "But now that I think about it, I was probably too sensitive back then. I'm sorry, I had just returned to France at the time, and apart from restoring the glory of the Bonaparte family, my mind could hardly hold anything else, not even well-intentioned advice from some mentors and friends."

Arthur's eyelids twitched when he heard this. He hadn't expected that the person who had tipped off Louis would have found out about his deal with Talleyrand.

Although his deal with Talleyrand did not involve any threat to Louis's personal safety, Talleyrand only asked him to send Louis to Paris so that Louis could represent the July Monarchy government in bringing back the coffin of his uncle Napoleon from Saint Helena, thus helping Louis-Philippe's government stabilize the Bonapartist faction.

But the feeling of having his plan partially exposed still made Arthur feel very uncomfortable, especially since the guy who exposed his plan dared to add fuel to the fire, saying that he planned to join forces with Thiers to kill Louis, which was simply unbearable.

Arthur didn't respond immediately. Instead, he picked up the black tea beside him, took a sip, and then slowly said, "You were indeed reported."

Louis's expression froze for a moment, and everyone held their breath in tension.

“But I didn’t do it.” Arthur put down his teacup and said calmly, “You should know that at that time I was on the orders of the Foreign Office to contact the young Italian. Besides, putting you to death is not in Britain’s interest at all.”

"Then do you know who it is?"

Arthur shook his head, half-jokingly replying, "I don't know. I was at the Russian embassy at the time. To be honest, I was shocked when I learned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that you might be staging a coup in Strasbourg. I wanted to write you a letter to advise you, but before I could send it, Alexander's letter saying you had been arrested had already reached St. Petersburg. But... if you want to know who it was, I can ask the little tail following you around; they might know something."

After speaking, Arthur pointed to two passersby reading newspapers outside the window.

Everyone glanced out the window in astonishment. Before they could even figure out what was going on, Louis's face darkened: "Sorry, this is my fault. I didn't even realize I was being followed."

“Those two men…” Dickens scratched his head, his furrowed brows gradually relaxing: “Wait! We seem to have seen them at the docks.”

Arthur stood up calmly: "The Foreign Office men, Mr. August Schneider's men. Or, to put it another way, Benjamin, both of them will be your subordinates from now on."

(End of this chapter)