shadow of britain

Chapter 812 is about Victoria's wedding, isn't it? What does this have to do with me, Arthur Hastings?

As someone aspiring to be a Talleyrand-style politician, Arthur always strives to master all the secrets, to know in advance what the world will need afterward, and to carefully consider what words to use to describe the events to come and the established facts to be described.

However, he was not a true prophet, nor could he arrange all the events in the world.

Therefore, there will always be unexpected events that deviate from his original plan and cause immeasurable impact.

The secret affair between Victoria and Lord Elphinstone is one such case.

Arthur had to admit that things had developed beyond his initial expectations.

William IV's gloating and blatant instigation, coupled with the overreaction at Kensington Palace, led to a terrible consequence: he had not seen Victoria in person for nearly six months.

Since that incident, all of Victoria's regular classes have been suspended, and Kensington Palace no longer receives visiting celebrities. In recent months, the only people who have visited Kensington Palace are the Duchess of Kent's relatives from Germany and potential blind dates that she and Conroy deem suitable.

Of course, these past few months haven't been without any good news either.

The only good news was that Mrs. Leigh was not ultimately dismissed by Kensington Palace.

Of course, this wasn't because the Duchess of Kent had suddenly changed her mind, but because she felt pressure from William IV and Leopold I.

Although neither king stated it explicitly, their implied meaning was that if Lady Lessen were dismissed, William IV would immediately consider reducing the royal allowance allocated to Kensington Palace. Leopold I went even further, intending to immediately cut off his sister's allowance, which had previously been three thousand pounds a year plus coverage of all travel expenses. But if Lessen left, he would give her nothing at all.

In short, the Crown Prince's love affair scandal seems to have temporarily subsided, and Mrs. Leachn has retained her position at Kensington Palace, so all is well.

However, there is a problem here.

Where has Sir Arthur Hastings gone?

Due to the overreaction of the Duchess of Kent and John Conroy, and due to their decision to close Kensington Palace.

In the past six months, Arthur's only channel to exert influence over Victoria has also been shut down.

Being suddenly excluded from court politics drove Arthur almost mad, although he outwardly maintained his indifferent attitude, going to the University of London on time from Monday to Friday to preside over academic affairs, presiding over the company's regular meetings on Saturday as chairman of the board of directors of Imperial Publishing Company, and attending various social balls and salons on Sunday.

His life seems quite fulfilling, but only he knows how empty he truly feels inside.

Over the past six months, this University of London provost has felt so empty that he has prioritized family ties above all else.

Of course, his kinship did not refer to the elders and folks of Yorkshire.

The provost of the University of London, the honorary advisor of Scotland Yard, and the chairman of the board of Imperial Publishing Company devoted almost all his resources to one goal: to please his frail, eccentric, but well-informed distant cousin, Miss Flora Hastings.

At first, he would send Flora some Englishman magazine every now and then, and occasionally a hardcover edition of Tennyson or Heine's poetry, wrapped in kraft paper.

Later, he began to visit them in person.

Initially, it was only once every two weeks, then it developed into once a week. On one occasion, he even delivered several baskets of greenhouse grapes and two bottles of Château d'Yquem to the side entrance of Kensington Palace when he was "on the way" there. The servants then handed them in, saying they were "for the Duchess of Kent, Her Highness the Princess, and my cousin to help them relax."

His lavish attentions led to the terrible rumor that Sir Arthur Hastings was pursuing Miss Flora Hastings throughout London's high society.

The Marquis of Hastings was quite pleased with this rumor.

After all, it's not uncommon for aristocratic circles to arrange marriages between cousins ​​in order to preserve wealth and the purity of bloodlines.

Moreover, his sister Flora was already 30 years old after her birthday in February 1836. If she didn't get married soon, she might end up as a lady-in-waiting for life.

Therefore, whether for the sake of his sister's lifelong happiness or to definitively confirm that Arthur Hastings was a member of the Hastings family, the Marquis of Hastings was fully willing to arrange this marriage.

Moreover, the Marquis of Hastings had always felt indebted to his sister.

Because the Hastings family had been mired in financial difficulties for a long time after the death of the first Marquess of Hastings, Miss Flora Hastings, despite being a noblewoman, did not have any dowry estate or substantial private property. This led to a serious problem: Flora was in an awkward position of being "neither good enough nor bad enough" in the marriage market of British high society.

Those of lower status than the Hastings family couldn't afford to marry her, while those of higher status looked down on this proletarian female official.

However, if Sir Arthur Hastings were willing to relieve the Hastings family's immediate crisis, that would be a different story.

First of all, although Arthur’s lineage is highly questionable, in the eyes of the Marquess of Hastings, his distant cousin, Sir Arthur Hastings, is a true descendant of the Earl of Huntington.

Secondly, although Arthur was far from meeting the Earl of Darmo's standard of the middle class, in London, Sir Arthur Hastings was, if not a big shot, at least a minor one. Therefore, he had no concerns about his finances.

More importantly, he didn't seem to value things like dowry.

If he truly loves Flora, he might just give up all his dowry in a moment of joy.

Of course, even if Arthur didn't want it, the Marquis of Hastings would still provide his sister with some property. After all, he still wanted to maintain his position in the British aristocratic circles. If people found out that the Hastings family didn't contribute a single penny to the marriage of their daughter, what would become of the Hastings family's reputation?
Even so, choosing to marry Arthur would certainly mean a much lighter dowry burden compared to marrying other noblemen.

Miss Flora Hastings's reaction was also very interesting.

At first, she didn't take Arthur's attentiveness seriously. Perhaps because she knew about her family's financial situation, she had long been accustomed to her fate as a proletarian court lady, ignored during the social season, and was determined to dedicate the rest of her life to the ruthless court politics. Perhaps she would eventually be able to get married, but that would have to wait until she had saved up enough dowry for herself in court politics.

After all, such stories are not uncommon. In aristocratic circles, marriage is never a matter of free love and mutual affection, but rather a matter of property.

As long as you have money, you can still get married even when you're sixty.

When William IV was thirty years old, the prince had considered marrying Miss Wickham.

The Wickham family was just a country gentry family in Hampshire. They were not royalty, or even nobles. Moreover, Miss Wickham had such a strange temper. But just because she was the only daughter of the Wickham family, she had a lot of land in Hampshire, Surrey and Oxfordshire, and could collect 15,000 pounds in rent every year. So even the prince intended to marry her.

If it weren't for William IV's brother, George IV, threatening him with the Royal Marriage Act, telling him that if he dared to marry a commoner, he would immediately lose his right to the throne, and the death of George IV's only daughter, Princess Charlotte, in childbirth, which gave William IV hope of ascending the throne, he might actually have married Miss Wickham.

Flora originally aspired to become a self-reliant version of Miss Wickham, but Arthur's sudden overtures gave her a glimmer of hope.

She initially thought that Arthur's weekly visits, bringing books, wine, and fruit, were simply due to the polite way of referring to him as a "distant cousin."

It wasn't until Arthur sent her a scarf she had mentioned casually that she suddenly realized she might be being pursued.

This made her feel both flattered and flustered. She began to look in the mirror frequently, and started having her maids comb her hair in advance. Occasionally, she would subtly mention "her cousin's insight" and "the future of the Imperial Publishing Company" at court balls.

She wasn't without suspicion about Arthur's motives for approaching her, but she wasn't exactly unhappy about being approached like that.

However, just as she began to enjoy the feeling of being pursued more and more, Arthur suddenly disappeared from her sight as if he had vanished into thin air.

At first, Flora thought that Arthur might be busy with work these days, after all, her capable cousin had so many important responsibilities.

The students at the University of London never gave him a moment's peace, the Imperial Publishing Company's publishing business required him to handle each item one by one, and the business of the English Electromagnetic Telegraph Company in Belgium was also progressing steadily. According to The Economist, it seems that the first telegraph line is about to be completed. I wonder if he will have to go to Brussels for the opening ceremony...

Flora counted the days: one day, two days, three days, four days... one week, two weeks, three weeks... one month...

Even if...

Even if he really did go to Belgium, shouldn't he be back by now?

Where has my cousin gone? This was Miss Flora Hastings’s biggest worry in July 1836.

Yes, where is dear Sir Arthur Hastings?

He didn't go anywhere; he just stayed at home.

It wasn't some kind of feigned indifference, nor was it because he went to Belgium.

Instead, he suddenly discovered that, without him noticing, the rumor that "Sir Arthur Hastings is pursuing Miss Flora Hastings" had spread like wildfire through every ball and salon in London.

Arthur wasn't one to be easily swayed by rumors, but this time he had to admit he had indeed stumbled.

Initially, he only wanted to win Flora over and use her position at Kensington Palace to open the door that was gradually closing between him and Victoria.

He admitted that he had indeed sent her several books of poetry, and that he had also given her a few baskets of grapes and a few bottles of Château d'Yquem on his way, but he swore that he had never uttered a single word of love, let alone mentioned marriage. It wasn't that he was unaware of Flora's subtle changes in feelings for him, and that he did indeed want to take advantage of these emotions.

In order to obtain information from Flora about a channel to Kensington Palace, he even tolerated Fiona's occasional strange remarks, as well as the teasing and mockery from his friends such as Elder, Dumas, and Dickens.

However, he still did not anticipate Flora's attitude towards marriage, nor the subsequent changes in events.

Sir Arthur Hastings, the mastermind behind Scotland Yard, the miracle worker at St. Martin's Cathedral, the head of Fleet Street, the savior of young Italy, and the liberator of the Caucasus, who hadn't even flinched under the Tower of London, was terrified by a small note handed to him by a well-meaning noblewoman.

If it's for the sake of a distant cousin relationship, then you should express your feelings sooner rather than later. If it's for marriage considerations, please respect the other person's reputation.

After all, he was a swineherd from the countryside of York, and he certainly misjudged how aristocratic society interpreted things.

In this circle, if you consistently and moderately court an unmarried noblewoman for six months, and she happens to be over thirty and still unmarried, then don't blame others for arranging a "good match" between you two.

What's most frightening is that this "good match" is also logically remarkably self-consistent:

Cousins, family unity, close emotional ties? Yes.

Is Arthur's family background questionable? Well, he's surnamed Hastings, so he's practically a relative.

Miss Flora Hastings is a proletarian lady-in-waiting? Arthur doesn't care, that's fine.

Sir Arthur Hastings has a complicated reputation? Then you should marry him as soon as possible; a man like him needs a family background to keep him in check.

He himself also delivers books, visits, and sends flowers every week.

If this escalating rumor isn't stopped in time, and this unhealthy trend of believing everything one hears isn't curbed, then in the end, when the Marquis of Hastings brings a large group of his brothers to discuss a proper marriage with him, he will have no reason to refuse.

Sir Arthur Hastings was not forbidden from marrying.

It's not that he doesn't like Flora.

Or rather, he has never "liked" anyone.

Ultimately, he's not a romantic at heart.

He is a politician, or rather, a political opportunist.

He was afraid of getting married. Not because he was afraid of wearing the wrong dress on the wedding day, not because he was afraid of having nowhere to hide when they argued in the future, and certainly not because he was afraid of his wife checking the accounts and forcing him to cut ties with his cronies at Nightingale Mansion.

What he feared was that once he started a family, he would lose one of his bargaining chips.

His life had long since deviated from the coordinate axis of personal happiness.

He spent twenty years climbing his way up from a workhouse in Bradford to the University of London, Scotland Yard, the Foreign Office, and the publishing industry, stepping on others' heads with precision, ruthlessness, and no mercy. He was dealt a winning hand precisely because he never let emotions get involved.

For Arthur, marriage, though seemingly glamorous, is actually extremely dangerous.

Whoever you marry, you have to stand on their side.

Whichever side you choose, you must lose the other.

If things really come to that, Arthur isn't necessarily unwilling to abandon one side, but to be forced to take sides just for the sake of Kensington Palace intelligence feels like a losing proposition no matter how you look at it.

Not to mention, once Flora marries him, according to court custom, she will almost certainly leave Kensington Palace and become his "good wife".

In this way, even the intelligence value of Kensington Palace is lost.

Jingle Bell!Jingle Bell!
At dawn, the sound of bells rang out in the Lancaster Gate mansion, and Becky, the maid, hurriedly opened the door as always.

“Hello, may I ask who you are... from Kensington Palace? Miss Flora Hastings sent you? To see Sir Arthur Hastings? The Sir... uh, he's not here. Yes, he just went out a short while ago, perhaps Fleet Street, perhaps the University of London, or maybe he went hunting... Alright, then leave the letter here, and I'll pass it on when he returns..."

(End of this chapter)