shadow of britain

Chapter 802 An Unexpected Ally, An Unexpected Opponent?
Sending Vidocq to investigate John Conroy's finances couldn't be more appropriate.

As is well known, this Parisian detective is best at dealing with people and extracting information.

He could disguise himself as a porter, wandering the streets and alleys, pretending to be looking for work, and mingling with a few pickpockets, robbers, and their girls for pleasure. Or he could stick a small mustache around his mouth and look like a government official or a country gentry.

However, this was London after all, and Vidocq couldn't fully display his skills as he did in Paris.

Of course, this was not due to concerns about legal risks, but rather because the Breok Detective Agency was new to the area and had not yet established its own intelligence network.

In Paris, Vidocq knew everything about criminals, from notorious thieves and cunning con artists to ruthless highway robbers and petty thieves. As for extortionists, whether they were street vendors who forced buyers and sellers or great poets who were both literary critics and blackmailers, most of them could not escape Vidocq's keen eye.

More importantly, because Vidocq had worked in the security service for over twenty years, he had a clear understanding of the situation. He knew that at least several thousand people in Paris were holding parole certificates, many of whom had been prisoners during Napoleon's reign. Vidocq remembered clearly who their wives were, how many children they had, how many mistresses they had, and what crimes they had committed.

Therefore, whenever a case occurs in Paris, he always investigates this group of people first. Even if the crime is unrelated to them, this group of people usually know who the real culprit is.

In London, however, Victor lost this advantage, so he had to resort to a clumsy method.

He used the most old-fashioned, primitive, but also the safest tactic: surveillance.

As Vidocq often said, "If you don't know what he's hiding, look at which door he walks through. If you don't know who he's afraid of, look at who he bows and scrapes to."

To solve this case, Vidocq brought in several of his capable henchmen from Paris: Pan, Satir, One-Eyed Dragon, and his old subordinate from the security department, Coconut Tree. The elite of the Breok Detective Agency were all mobilized.

These four men had cars to pick them up and drop them off whenever they came to London, and all their expenses could be reimbursed with receipts. While drinking in pubs, they coldly observed Conroy's private life. They were determined to find out which ladies were throwing themselves at Conroy, who wanted to curry favor with this popular butler at Kensington Palace, where he frequented every day, and how much he spent. They even went so far as to search the garbage cans outside Conroy's properties in London.

While the detectives at the Breok Detective Agency were working like sewer rats for Sir Arthur Hastings, the Sir himself was sitting on a garden bench outside the Rose Hall at Kensington Palace, a cane across his lap, his eyes fixed on the closed glass door, his brow furrowed involuntarily.

He may look like a tutor sunbathing in the garden, ready to be summoned at any moment, but in reality, his nerves are on edge.

because……

Baron Stockmay has arrived.

Christian Friedrich Freicher von Stockma – just from the name, you can tell he was a true German, and a German nobleman at that, with "von" in his name. He was born in the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Salfelde in Germany. Of course, that might not be entirely accurate, because the Holy Roman Empire hadn't been dissolved when Stockma was born.

Stockmay's academic journey is in no way inferior to Sir Arthur Hastings's story published in the Journal of the University of Göttingen.

During the Napoleonic Wars, amidst the flames of war, he completed his medical studies at the University of Jena and the University of Würzburg, earning his medical doctorate.

After completing his studies, Stockmay, who had a deep-seated hatred for Napoleon, resolutely joined the army and became an accompanying military doctor.

At almost the same time, Leopold, who had not yet become King of Belgium, decided to go to Russia in an attempt to save his country after his Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Salfeld was occupied by French troops. He swore allegiance to Tsar Alexander I of Russia and was enlisted in the German-origin legion of the Russian army as a foreign nobleman.

Leopold served in the Russian army for eight years, during which time he not only participated in the Russian Patriotic War of 1812, but also experienced the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Leipzig with the Russo-Austrian allied forces, and enjoyed the thrill of leading Russian troops into France in 1814.

His military rank rose step by step from second lieutenant in 1808. By the time of the Siege of Paris in 1814, Leopold had become a major general in the Russian Army and had represented Russia at Allied military conferences on several occasions as the Tsar's special envoy and acting lieutenant general.

Leopold and Stockma met during this military career. They were not only from the same hometown, but also young people who shared the same ambition to restore their country. In addition, they had spent many years together in the Russian army, so Stockma and Leopold's relationship was naturally very close.

In 1816, due to Leopold's performance on the battlefield, King George IV, who was then the British Regent, took a great liking to the young man and decided to marry his daughter, Princess Charlotte, to Leopold.

Leopold thus came to London, and Stockmay, as Leopold's private secretary and doctor, naturally moved to London as well.

Unfortunately, Princess Charlotte died in childbirth a year and a half later.

The last person Princess Charlotte saw before her death was neither her husband Leopold nor her father George IV, but Baron Stockmay.

It is said that Princess Charlotte, like her husband, greatly admired Baron Stockmay and also highly regarded his medical skills.

When she was pregnant, she tried to invite Stockma to be her physician, but Stockma, surprisingly, politely declined the honor. He clearly understood that if he accepted, many of his colleagues might become jealous of him, and his medical advice might not be adopted. However, if anything went wrong in the future, he, the foreign doctor, would be the first to be blamed.

Stockmay's approach proved correct. Soon after, he discovered that Princess Charlotte's doctors were reducing the pregnant woman's food intake and subjecting her to repeated bloodletting—a fashionable dieting method in England at the time. Stockmay privately spoke with Leopold about this, subtly expressing his disapproval of the treatment.

But just as Stockmaar had anticipated, his advice was not heeded. The dieting continued for several months, and as a result, Princess Charlotte not only endured more than fifty hours of labor pains during her delivery, but also gave birth to a stillborn boy.

At this point, the dying princess and the doctors immediately thought of Stockma, but when Stockma entered the room, Princess Charlotte was already exhausted. And the doctors, in an attempt to relieve her pain, were even feeding her wine.

Princess Charlotte grasped his hand, squeezed it tightly, and said, "They got me drunk."

After a short while, Stockma saw that the situation had stabilized, so he left the princess and waited in the next room.

Before he could even sit down, he heard the princess calling his nickname in a hoarse voice: "Storki! Storki!"

However, by the time Stockhorse reached her, it was too late. Princess Charlotte let out a dying gurgling sound, then writhed violently before her legs slowly came together, and it was all over.

Leopold had been by the princess's side for over ten hours. He had intended to go out for a short rest, but unexpectedly, he didn't even get to see his wife one last time. When Stockma came to inform him, Leopold was so weak he could barely walk, and he slumped into a chair, sitting there blankly for a long time.

Perhaps it was because of this lesson that Leopold began to rely more and more on Stockmare from then on. He even publicly expressed his appreciation for his old friend more than once: "Stockmare always advises me with the truth, even if it is the last thing I want to hear."

There have long been rumors that Stockma's advice played a decisive role in Leopold's rejection of the Greek throne in 1830 and his acceptance of the Belgian throne in 1831. After Leopold became King of Belgium, Stockma accompanied him to Brussels and served as the King's secretary for a long period.

At first glance, Stockmall seems to be another version of John Conroy, with one controlling Leopold and the other controlling the Duchess of Kent, just as the Saxe-Coburg-Salfeld family is always easy to control.

In reality, however, Stockmay was far superior to Conroy in terms of both talent and knowledge, as well as manners and cultivation, and he always presented himself as a friend and loyal subject to King Leopold.

Furthermore, Stockmare's reputation in London's social circles was far better than Conroy's. Both Sir Robert Peel of the Conservative Party and Viscount Melbourne of the Whig Party spoke highly of Stockmare, considering him a true gentleman.

At this juncture, Leopold sent Stockma to London and appointed him as the Duchess of Kent's family advisor. The reason for this is not hard to understand.

It's simply that after Leopold's recent visit to Britain, he discovered that his sister was not handling many matters properly, and that she was becoming increasingly indulgent towards Conroy. Therefore, in order to ensure that everything was in order, to limit Conroy's growing control, and at the same time, to exert Belgian influence on his niece Victoria, the Belgian king had no choice but to send his most trusted friend to Kensington Palace.

Of course, from Leopold's perspective, there is nothing wrong with what he did.

The problem is that Leopold's brilliant move ended up really bad for Sir Arthur Hastings.

His carefully crafted plans were immediately disrupted, and all the schemes needed to be rearranged.

While Conroy was indeed destined to be defeated, Arthur was somewhat confused as to whether it would be advantageous or disadvantageous for him to simply crush Conroy in the mud after Stockma arrived.

He'd been working hard for ages, but he couldn't let someone else reap the rewards, could he?
Sir Arthur is not the kind of person who would just blindfold himself and spin around without caring about personal gain or loss.

The white roses in Kensington Gardens were in full bloom, and a breeze blew through the trellises. However, when this fragrant breeze blew on Arthur's face, it always felt like someone was slapping him.

Arthur remained seated, his cane resting on his lap, his expression calm. He appeared to be lost in thought, but in reality, he could clearly hear every footstep.

He heard the glass door of the garden click softly, and then, as he expected, the unhurried sound of leather boots stepped onto the gravel path.

"Sir Arthur Hastings?" The greeting sounded deep and magnetic, with a slight German accent.

Arthur looked up and, sure enough, standing before the garden was the legendary Baron Stockma.

Portrait of Baron Stockmay, painted in 1847 by the German artist Franz Ksav Winterhalter, is now in the collection of Windsor Castle.

Arthur looked equally surprised. He stood up and bowed slightly: "Good morning, Your Excellency."

“I just came from the Duchess’s, and she mentioned that you were waiting in the garden.” Stockma nodded slightly. “I took the liberty of disturbing you for a few minutes. After all, we will eventually meet face to face.”

Arthur smiled and said, "If I remember correctly, His Majesty Leopold said that you are his most trusted friend."

“I prefer to be called ‘his former doctor’,” Stockma said in unchanging tone. “I know about fractures, infections, heart failure… If it weren’t for His Majesty’s needs, I would actually prefer to go back to Coburg and open a small clinic.”

After speaking, Stockmaa lowered his head, dusted off his cuffs, and then slowly sat down on the bench next to Arthur: "I heard that you just won the Belgian railway telegraph franchise?"

Arthur nodded slightly and replied with a smile, "Your information network is quite impressive; this matter seems to have been settled only recently."

“It’s not exactly well-informed, since it’s already all over the newspapers,” Stockma said. “If things go smoothly in Brussels, we can probably get official approval to start construction next spring.”

Stockmay's gaze did not fall on the flowers, but rather he quietly observed Arthur: "Speaking of which, I haven't had a chance to thank you in person yet."

"Acknowledgements?"

“That’s right.” Stockma smiled slightly. “After His Majesty returned from his last visit to England, he spoke highly of you. He said that Belgium doesn’t have many friends in London these days, but you are certainly one of them. You are a friend of Belgium, so naturally I want to thank you. Besides, I remember you also contributed to the London Conference on Belgian independence, didn’t you?”

Arthur smiled faintly and gently twirled his cane halfway around: "I can only say that I was merely fulfilling my duty. Your Majesty's praise is truly excessive."

“No need to be modest, you have obviously done much more than that.” Stockma shook his head: “You can get a king of a country to remember a young man and persuade him to undertake a large-scale project in just a few hours… I must say, that is rare in our time.”

Arthur's reply was very cautious; he did not reveal his intentions here: "If you mean that I have gained His Majesty's favor, then I can only say that it is His Majesty's erudition and magnanimity that have given me the opportunity to show myself."

“Hmm…” Stockma nodded slightly: “But you also know very well that His Majesty’s favor will also cause dissatisfaction among many people. In London, if you want to be a friend of Belgium, you have to withstand a lot of pressure.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "What do you mean, sir?"

Lord Stockmay gently folded his gloves and placed them on his knees: "You are a graduate of the University of London? A student of Mr. Jeremy Bentham?"

“Absolutely the real deal.” Arthur nodded with a smile. “I remember you graduated from Jena University, right?”

"Have you been to Jena?"

"I guess so," Arthur said with a smile. "I went to Jena to clean up the mess for a few Göttingen brats who were fighting there."

(End of this chapter)