shadow of britain

Chapter 785 Even among illegitimate children, there are differences.
The Metropolitan Police Service of London took this case very seriously. In order to find out the truth, Commissioner Charles Rowan transferred the case to the Police Intelligence Service for full handling and appointed Inspector Ridley King, head of the Fifth Division of the Police Intelligence Service, to lead the team.

For this reason, Rowan made a special exception and granted Ridley a week's leave.

Of course, whether Ridley himself is willing to take this leave is another question.

Regardless, the progressive young man maintained his usual efficiency, and out of fear of being implicated in a royal case and concern for his own future, he remained remarkably tight-lipped about the investigation. Apart from Sir Arthur Hastings, Ridley revealed the findings to no one.

According to Ridley's investigation report, he first investigated several of General Thomas Garth's friends and confirmed that this close advisor during the reign of George III had long served as the chief squire to the king.

As the name suggests, the Chief Attendant-Knight was an inner court position reserved for high-ranking military officers. He was entitled to direct access to royal council meetings and to accompany the king on his daily journeys, making him the most trusted chief of guard. Simultaneously, he was responsible for managing the Attendant-Knights' Office and was the head of the entire Attendant-Knights' retinue.

In terms of rank, the Chief Attendant Knight was below the Steward of the Horse, but his honorary rank was very high, usually ranking first among the royal entourage in the Royal Almanac.

In short, this position could only be held by the king's favorite or close advisor.

Thomas Garth's appointment to this position speaks volumes about George III's trust in him; he was even appointed guardian of Princess Charlotte (the former first in line to the British throne, the deceased wife of Leopold I, who died in childbirth). After Princess Charlotte's marriage, then-Regent George IV, in gratitude for Garth's long-standing loyalty to the royal family, presented him with a silver platter as a reward.

Even though he has been dead for six years, there are still many old folks in London who remember him.

But like many British nobles, Thomas Garth, though he lived to be 85, left no legitimate heirs.

When Garth the Elder died in 1829, his will was carried out by his nephew.

According to the wishes of old Garth, his property was divided into three parts, two of which were left to his two nephews, while the mansion at 32 Grosvenor Place in Mayfair was left to his illegitimate son, Thomas Garth Jr.

That's right, old Garth only had this one illegitimate son, or rather, this was the only illegitimate son he valued.

Considering the rumors, if old Garth really had an affair with Princess Sofia, then the only child they could have had would be Thomas Garth Jr., who received a share of the property.

Now that Ridley knows where the target lives, the rest of the work becomes much simpler.

Police intelligence agencies excel at tracking and surveillance, and inferring the living habits, temperament, and hobbies of their targets by observing their daily travel patterns and household waste.

Thomas Garth Jr. did not disappoint Londoners' long-held expectations of an "upper-class playboy."

According to Ridley's investigation report, this Mr. Garth would go out almost every evening at five o'clock, always wearing a burgundy velvet-trimmed coat and carrying a gold-handled cane. High-end clubs in SoHo or theater boxes in Covent Garden were part of his daily life.

Every weekend, he would bring a bunch of cronies with nicknames that were more famous than their real names to some casinos in southwest Westminster, where he would stay up all night. He was a terrible card player and had been having a bad run of luck with dice lately, but Mr. Garth never seemed to care about spending his money.

Besides that, his most frequented place was a private theater called Atlantis on Piccadilly Street. On the surface, the theater dealt with Shakespearean plays, but in reality, it had a different purpose. Some of its repertoire and social gatherings were a sanctuary for retired officers and bankrupt nobles to exchange ideas on "deep art."

Of course, Mr. Garth did not always frequent upscale places. Officers from the Fifth Division of the Police Intelligence Bureau had witnessed him entering an apartment on the south side of Oxford Street late at night with suspicious women on the street for one to two hours at a time, during which time he would often send servants to bring him champagne or mint drinks.

In short, Thomas Garth Jr.'s life was one of rampant gambling, womanizing, and debauchery, even more excessive than Elder's.

What's puzzling is that despite his extravagant spending, there has never been any news of Thomas Garth Jr. borrowing money from banks, mortgaging his property, or pawning items.

Although old Garth was quite wealthy, the main inheritance he left to his illegitimate son was the mansion in Mayfair. Bonds, stocks, and land were left to his two nephews.

If that's the case, where does he get the money for his daily expenses?
To find out the truth, Ridley went to great lengths, disguising himself and sneaking into a tavern frequented by the Garth family servants. Under the pretense of offering them drinks, he learned from them why Thomas Garth Jr. was so wealthy.

Actually, it's not accurate to say that Thomas Garth Jr. was rich. A more accurate statement is that Garth Jr. borrowed money from Rothschild Bank almost every month to make ends meet, but strangely, he never paid it back, and Rothschild never sent anyone to collect the bills from him.

If Ridley can find this place, Arthur can naturally handle the rest.

That afternoon, he went to play a game of cricket with Lionel Rothschild and found out the reason from the young master.

The Rothschilds were certainly not philanthropists, and they had no interest in helping a good-for-nothing with no future in sight.

It wasn't that they didn't collect the debts from Garth; rather, someone else paid Garth's bills every month, and this person was quite interesting, as he was Sir John Conroy, the Grand Steward of Kensington Palace.

Lionel had previously half-probingly and half-jokingly inquired with Conroy why he was helping a good-for-nothing like Gath Jr.

But Conroy's answer was rather perfunctory. According to him, he and old Garth were very close, and he couldn't bear to see his old friend's only son living such a miserable life. Therefore, even if young Garth was a good-for-nothing, he would still try his best to help him as long as it was within his power.

This claim is obviously a lie. Regardless of whether old Garth and Conroy had any relationship, the fact that he would cover sixty or seventy pounds of young Garth's debts every month, rain or shine, for four or five years in a row, is simply unbelievable.

Lionel didn't care about the specific reasons why Conroy was so interested; after all, someone was eager to give money to the Rothschilds, and he couldn't very well stop them.

But seeing how interested Arthur was in this matter, Lionel gave Arthur another piece of information for free.

It is said that the Rothschilds did not never ask Garth Jr. for payment; in fact, they did ask him for payment once in 1830.

However, at that time, not only did Garth Jr. not repay the money, he also made outrageous remarks to Lionel. He ranted that the Rothschilds were nothing but a bunch of lowly Jews with a few copper coins in their pockets, and he also clamored for them to go and collect the debt from Princess Sophia.

The hot-blooded young Lionel almost couldn't resist and planned to secretly arrange for someone to put the boy in a sack and throw him into the Thames.

But at the crucial moment, his father, Nathan Rothschild, was cautious. Fearing that young Garth might actually have some connection to the royal family, he arranged for lawyers to pursue legal action, hoping to use the court trial to probe the other party's background. As it turned out, his father actually found out.

He had just sent someone to transfer the case when John Conroy came knocking on his door two days later.

He not only paid off the three hundred pounds bill owed by young Gas, but also told Nathan that if young Gas ever owed money again, he shouldn't rush into debt litigation, but should just go to Kensington Palace to find him.

Conroy's only request was that the Rothschilds' monthly loan to Gath Jr. should not exceed £100.

Now, the whole truth has come to light.

Little Gas is definitely Princess Sofia's child, and the reason Conroy was able to gain Sofia's trust was mostly because he helped resolve the troubles of this illegitimate child, allowing Little Gas to live his dissolute life in peace and also preventing him from flaunting his controversial lineage.

Furthermore, considering Princess Sofia's upbringing and her romantic history, the 58-year-old princess, having lived a long and secluded life in the palace, has developed a naive and timid personality. Therefore, in her eyes, the exposure of her illegitimate child was a devastating event. It's no wonder that she is so devoted to Conroy, even gifting him a large house worth £4000, given how well Conroy handled the situation.

Arthur was thinking about Princess Sophia, his mind still a jumble of thoughts, when he suddenly heard a series of light footsteps.

His expression froze slightly.

"Ahem!" Flora Hastings suddenly coughed lightly, and subtly tugged at his sleeve.

Arthur then came to his senses and looked in the direction of the sound. Sure enough, he saw two familiar figures walking slowly toward him from the other end of the garden veranda—the Duchess of Kent was walking in front, while Leopold I followed behind her with a slight hesitation.

The Duchess's eyes still showed traces of tears, her eyes were red, and she clutched the handkerchief tightly in her hand.

As soon as she reached the entrance to the Rose Hall, she spotted Arthur and Flora standing under the pillars.

She was taken aback at first, clearly not expecting them to already be there.

But then, as if she suddenly remembered something, a look of awkwardness and hurried realization crossed her face.

“Ah…Sir Arthur,” she unconsciously adjusted her handkerchief, her voice slightly trembling, “today is…is it the day you give your lesson?”

Arthur bowed politely.

“Indeed, Madam. I only intended to wait in the corridor before class, and I did not mean to disturb your private conversation with His Majesty Leopold. Please forgive me.”

Arthur remained calm and composed, his words carefully chosen, neither admitting to having heard anything nor deliberately avoiding the topic.

The Duchess of Kent remained silent for a moment, her gaze briefly shifting between Arthur and Flora, as if she understood that they had indeed overheard quite a bit.

Her eyes, which were already red, trembled slightly as if touched by something.

"So...you all heard it?" Her voice lowered, her tone revealing a vulnerability she rarely showed to outsiders.

Arthur nodded slightly, his tone gentle to the point of being tender: “I have heard some of it. But please allow me to say something, madam, in my opinion, the eagerness and dedication of all mothers in the world when they are working for their children need not be concealed or shamed.”

The Duchess paused, momentarily speechless. She simply wiped her eyes lightly with her handkerchief and forced a smile: "You're quite the talkative young man. But then again, you are, after all, Delina's grammar and rhetoric teacher."

Just then, Leopold, who was standing to the side, slowly stepped forward and nodded to Arthur.

“Sir Arthur Hastings, I’ve heard of you.” He said in English with a slight German accent, “I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time, but I haven’t had the right opportunity. Since returning to London recently, Delina has been talking to me about you, saying you’re a patient and kind man. It’s not easy to get such a compliment from my niece.”

Arthur bowed to him: "Your Majesty is too kind. It is my honor to be able to do my part for Her Highness Victoria."

Leopold nodded slightly but said nothing more. He seemed still immersed in the aftermath of his argument with his sister, though his expression softened slightly.

The Duchess of Kent also mustered her spirits and said, "Deline... should still be in the music room. Go find her. Today's lessons will proceed as usual; I won't be there to accompany her."

Arthur nodded slightly: "Of course. Well then... Your Highness, I'll take my leave now."

He had just turned around, thinking he had finally escaped this time, but before he could take a step forward, he heard Leopold's voice behind him again.

Sir Arthur.

"Hmm?" Arthur turned around. "Is there anything I can do for Your Majesty?"

Leopold smiled and waved his hand: "It's nothing to do. As I just said, I've been wanting to meet you for a while now. This isn't just a polite remark. After you finish teaching Delina, please stay at Kensington. I'd like to invite you to dinner and we can chat about things we're both interested in."

Upon hearing this, the Duchess of Kent, wondering what her brother was up to, asked, "Leo, what are you planning?"

Leopold didn't mince words, saying, "It's nothing, you can come along anyway. You may not know, but with Sir Arthur Hastings' talent and ability, it would be a real waste of his abilities to just be a governess."

(End of this chapter)