shadow of britain

Chapter 815 Three women make a drama? Two women can do it too.

As the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Hastings, Miss Flora Hastings possesses many of the characteristics of aristocratic ladies from the old era.

To many, Miss Flora Hastings was a woman of strict morals, extremely polite, and fiercely loyal to authority.

Although such a personality was not popular with the younger generation, it was enough to win her the favor of the conservative aristocracy. The Duchess of Kent valued Flora's strong sense of morality and responsibility, which is why she made her the role model for ladies-in-waiting at Kensington Palace.

If we only consider the status of ladies-in-waiting at Kensington Palace, Flora's status is even higher than that of Lady Lezen.

However, because Lezen and Victoria spent so much time together, she was the one the princess trusted more.

As for Flora...

Arthur had noticed long ago that his distant cousin's relationship with Princess Victoria seemed quite delicate.

While they weren't exactly both afraid and disgusted like they were with Conroy, their relationship was definitely not close.

Of course, Arthur guessed that this might be due to Flora's bad relationship with Mrs. Lezen.

Victoria likes Lezen so much that she will naturally side with Lezen when the two have a conflict.

The reason why these two women have fallen into such an irreconcilable conflict actually stems from a small incident.

As is well known, Lady Letzen was born into the middle class. Her father was a Hanoverian clergyman, and she herself was granted the title of Baron of Hanover by William IV for her years of loyal service to the royal family. Although Lady Letzen was always cautious, after receiving her noble title, she naturally couldn't help but show off, and she couldn't help but put on an air of superiority in her words and deeds at court.

As the head lady-in-waiting at Kensington Palace, Flora naturally couldn't stand Lady Letzen's arrogance. She would often criticize Letzen's behavior, saying some harsh and sharp things, and even referring to Letzen as "that lowly German woman" in her letters to her mother.

Over time, the hatred between the two deepened.

All this accumulated hatred finally erupted over one particular incident.

Although Mrs. Leathersen had been in England for many years, she still retained many of the dietary habits of the German middle class.

For example, her love for caraway seeds reached an unbelievable level. Almost every month, she would have someone bring bags and bags of caraway seeds from Hanover to London. She would sprinkle caraway seed seasoning on buttered bread, cabbage, roast beef, and even carry a bag of caraway seeds as a snack when she had nothing to do.

According to Mrs. Lezen herself, she would feel anxious if she couldn't chew caraway seeds for an hour.

Flora, who always valued court etiquette, naturally couldn't help but say something sarcastic. When these words reached Lady Lezen's ears, they naturally made her furious and raise her eyebrows.

As a result, the conflict between the two ladies-in-waiting intensified, and their "war" raged on and off in Kensington Palace for five or six years.

However, their relationship seems to have improved quite a bit recently.

As for why things calmed down, that's naturally thanks to Sir Arthur Hastings.

In fact, ever since Mrs. Lezen learned that Arthur was a distant relative of the Hastings family, she had begun to take the initiative to ease her relationship with Flora.

Six months ago, Arthur's inexplicable "pursuit" of Miss Flora Hastings gave Flora a glimmer of hope that she could marry without having to accumulate wealth through court politics, while she was flattered by the attention.

As a result, Flora's subconscious naturally lowered her expectations for obtaining a court position in the future, and therefore, she became less sensitive to the threat that Lady Leather posed to her in Kensington Palace.

They not only broke the tacit understanding that had lasted for years—agreeing not to speak to each other except in public—but Lady Lerzen also privately expressed her gratitude to Sir Arthur Hastings to Flora. Although Arthur never mentioned it, Lady Lerzen had learned from Baron Stockmall that Sir Arthur had played a role in her continued stay at Kensington Palace.

For Flora, Mrs. Lezen praising her cousin Arthur to her face was a sign of submission and weakness.

Although Flora remained outwardly composed, the smugness hidden in her always slightly downturned eyes was undeniable.

Of course, it would be too naive to expect two women with a long-standing feud to become friends and sisters.

However, these two ladies can still manage to greet each other with a smile and exchange a few pleasantries during their free time.

After all, the two ladies were more magnanimous than Sir Bather Hastings and Viscount Palmerston.

Just recently, Arthur bought a "trending topic" on Fleet Street to criticize Foreign Secretary Palmerston for using informal means to intervene in the Spanish Civil War, and emphasized that the Foreign Office's undeclared war by sending British volunteers into the Iberian Peninsula to support Spanish liberals was a self-deception of peace.

The very next day, Palmerston's mouthpiece, the Morning Post, published a lengthy article stating that the merger of the University of London and King's College was an inevitable trend of history, and criticizing Sir Arthur Hastings, the Provost of the University of London, for his staunch resistance to the University Education Act, which he deemed to be disregarding British higher education and lacking any sense of the bigger picture.

Although the public relations battle between the University of London and the Foreign Office is currently at a stalemate, Arthur really needs to put aside his war of words with Palmerston for now.

The streets were illuminated by London's rare afternoon sunlight, and the cobblestones of Lancaster Gate gleamed silvery-white in the sunlight.

A slow, silent sound of horses' hooves approached from afar.

It was a light, two-wheeled carriage, painted black with silver trim. The horses had glossy coats, and the carriage itself was spotless. It was slender yet unassuming.

It came to a steady stop in front of Arthur's mansion.

The coachman, dressed in a gray woolen uniform, wearing a top hat, and holding the reins, glanced back.

Following closely behind was an accompanying carriage, adorned with the Hastings family crest. Inside sat Flora, her personal maid, and an elderly butler who had served the Hastings family for many years. It was clear that while Flora was eager to meet her cousin, her entourage was arranged in a traditional manner—befitting the dignified status of a noblewoman without attracting gossip from the neighborhood.

Or rather, she had actually lowered her standards considerably, because in Flora's view, unless she was invited by one of Arthur's female elders or attended a social banquet hosted by a court lady, it would be almost impossible for her to visit a single man's home without a married female companion.

Fortunately, Arthur still retained some questionable Hastings family blood, which allowed Flora to convince herself to take this step.

After all, they are relatives. Although she is not married yet, as the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Hastings, she does have an obligation to maintain good family ties.

Of course, whether this saying existed within the specific aristocratic circles, and whether Flora had this obligation, was something the York-born swineherd couldn't possibly know.

Since Miss Flora Hastings has felt obligated to do so since last night, then so be it.

The carriage door opened, and Flora stepped down, holding onto the armrest covered in dark red velvet.

It was clear she had dressed up carefully today. She wore a dark blue outfit, with a velvet cloak embroidered with delicate iris vine patterns in silver thread on the shoulders. On her head, she wore a wide-brimmed hat with gray feathers, the feathers tilted slightly, looking like a soft gauze curtain.

As soon as she got out of the car, her personal maid stepped forward and gently lifted the dark blue hem of her skirt with both hands.

Having already been notified, Becky quickly informed Arthur, then opened the door and stood by the cobblestone path in the garden to greet him.

She was so nervous that she didn't know where to put her hands.

Although Arthur often had friends visiting his home, everyone knew that Arthur's friends were mostly free-spirited and unconventional individuals.

Whether it was Dumas, Disraeli, Dickens, or Heine, Arthur's friends were mostly from middle-class backgrounds and didn't care about such grand receptions or elaborate travel arrangements. Most of them would simply hail a horse-drawn carriage and ring the bell at the door upon arrival. Sometimes, when they had nothing better to do, they would even walk over in groups of three or five to freeload off the guests.

Of course, Arthur's friends included many who were particular about etiquette, such as Lionel Rothschild. These people always made an appointment beforehand and were rarely late. However, when they came, they mostly asked Arthur to go hunting or play cricket, so Becky usually didn't need to serve him.

By now, everyone should have figured out the problem.

That is, most of Arthur's friends are male, and his female friends in the Blue Stocking Society usually only meet Arthur at the regularly held science salons, and do not come to his home as guests.

Therefore, Becky had almost no experience in entertaining female guests, or rather, in those days, it was rare for women to visit male friends alone. Let alone unmarried noblewomen, who were the most troublesome. Although nominally visiting alone, they actually always brought a large entourage to avoid suspicion.

Becky had absolutely no experience in how to entertain her or settle her entourage.

Becky stood on the path, wiping her hands repeatedly on her apron, trying not to make her fingers, which were red and swollen from the morning's cleaning, look too unsightly.

Flora slowly approached and couldn't help but glance at the maid's movements.

Becky felt flustered by her gaze and quickly bowed, saying, "Miss Hastings, please... please come in."

She had assumed Flora would pause there, wait for her to fully open the front door, or perhaps cough lightly to indicate her displeasure.

After all, she hadn't been in the domestic service association for nothing. She had heard from the female stewards there about how formidable the court ladies were. They said that the ladies would command servants with just a glance, and a single rebuke, like "Did your mother teach you to serve tea like this?" was enough to make the girls in the kitchen cry all day.

Becky felt completely numb at the thought.

"Don't be nervous, young lady. I'm just here to visit relatives, not to supervise palace affairs."

Becky paused for a moment, then looked up and met Flora's smiling eyes.

Becky nodded hastily, her voice trembling, "Yes, Miss, thank you for your understanding."

Arthur was coming down the stairs at that moment. He casually put the book he was carrying on the cabinet and greeted them with a smile: "Flora, how are George and the others doing lately? I haven't visited them in a while."

“Darling, everything is fine, thank you for your concern.” Flora arrived at the entrance but did not rush in. Instead, she turned back slightly to wait for the old butler to approach before stepping into the living room, led by Becky.

Arthur pulled out the sofa chair with the wine-red velvet cushions for her, while Flora very elegantly took off her cloak and handed it to the maid to hang on the coat rack.

Taking advantage of this break, Arthur also took a seat.

He casually picked up the teapot and poured two cups of tea, one Earl Grey and the other Silver Needle White tea infused with dried rose petals. In the end, without any suspense, he pushed the latter to Flora's side.

Flora glanced at it but didn't say thank you. She simply picked up her cup, took a sip, and the frown that had been weighing on her face for nearly a month eased.

“Arthur,” Flora said, holding her teacup with a hint of concern, “have you been incredibly busy lately? George said you haven’t gone hunting with him for two months, and even Aunt Margaret has started asking if you’ve gone on a trip abroad.”

Arthur gently placed the teapot back on the silver tray: "I wouldn't call it tourism, but I've really been hesitant to go out lately. I swear to God, even if I just step into a coffee shop near Downing Street recently, Palmerston and his gang will think I'm plotting a coup."

"So you've really been plotting a coup lately?" Flora looked up, half-jokingly, "and you don't want them to find out?"

“No, I wouldn’t dare.” Arthur raised his teacup and gave her a slight toast. “I’m just planning how to make them think I’m not planning a coup, so I’ve chosen to stay home and not leave the house.”

Flora scolded, "Isn't it most dangerous for you to stay at home? Your friends are either publishing novel political articles or putting forward absurd ideas every day. I've seen them in The Economist. How could you let the Napoleonic family serialize 'Napoleon's Thoughts' in it for months on end?"

(End of this chapter)