shadow of britain

Chapter 817 The Imperial Publishing House mobilizes its entire staff

The London sky was not yet completely dark, but the shadows of the trees in Hyde Park had already quietly grown longer.

In a townhouse across from Hyde Park, the living room is lit up.

Arthur held a newspaper in one hand and fiddled with a deck of cards in the other, the silver card box sitting in the center of the red beechwood round table.

As for Elder, who had just come home from get off work, he buried his face in a novel with a red cover. Every two lines, he would look up and glance toward the kitchen to prevent Becky, who was busy in the kitchen, from discovering his little hobby.

But reading like this is too tiring. It took him ten minutes to finish just two pages. Normally, ten minutes would have been enough for him to get to the main point, but now he hadn't even seen a glimpse of the male protagonist.

Elder sighed in disappointment, then pulled out his pocket watch and complained, "Damn it! It's almost seven o'clock, why aren't Benjamin and Charles here yet?"

Arthur turned to a new page in the newspaper and asked casually, "I know Benjamin, but which Charles are you talking about?"

“Of course it’s Charles, my first love who’s already married,” Elder replied. “That bald guy from Cambridge is still back home, all lovey-dovey with his fiancée cousin. Didn’t you see the letters he sent? It seems like he’s planning to get married.”

"You mean that letter?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, as if recalling something amusing. "I think marriage is probably still a long way off."

"What? Is the letter he wrote to you different from the one he wrote to me?" Elder pondered for a while, a surge of anger at being betrayed by his old friend rising in his heart: "That bald guy, I spent five years with him on the ship, day and night, and he actually kept something from me!"

Arthur waved his hand and said, "Come on, he didn't hide anything from you. He mentioned in his letter to me that he was considering marriage, but instead of the letter to you, he also attached a 19-page scientific research report to me."

Elder asked curiously, "What investigation report?"

"If you're interested in the 'Scientific Analysis Report on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Marriage,' go to the storage room and get it for yourself. It's in the second drawer of the cabinet by the window, the top one."

"What?!" Elder exclaimed, rushing into the storage room. "That Charles guy, is he planning to publish his marriage like a research paper?"

He rummaged through drawers and cabinets for a while and quickly found the investigation report that Darwin had summarized using scientific analysis methods.

Elder solemnly held the report in both hands and read aloud in a clear, tenor-like voice: "I believe the main benefits of marriage are as follows. First, children. If God wills to grant us children, whether boys or girls, they will become my life partners. (Parentheses: mainly friends in old age. After all, by then, besides children, who would be interested in a decrepit old man? Therefore, I believe children are far better than pets like cats and dogs.) Second, after marriage, you have a family, someone to take care of the house, you can hear beautiful music at home, and you can chat with women anytime, anywhere. These things are definitely beneficial to one's health..."

Elder read two or three pages in one go. After downing a cup of tea and clearing his throat, he continued, “After recounting so many advantages, it’s time to talk about the disadvantages of marriage. Good heavens! To live a life like a worker bee, working, working, and working some more, is simply unbearable. But the thought of living alone all day in a smoky, filthy house is even more unbearable. Imagine sitting on the sofa with a gentle, loving wife, warming yourself by a fireplace, reading or listening to music—how wonderful that would be…”

Elder frowned as he read this, and asked Arthur, "Wasn't this supposed to be about the downsides of marriage? How come he's suddenly talking about its good points? In the end, isn't he just trying to betray us gentlemen of the Pickwick Club?"

As a seasoned reader who had carefully studied Darwin's calligraphy, Arthur pointed Elder in the right direction: "Turn to page nine, on the benefits of celibacy."

Following Arthur's directions, Elder turned to page nine and read line by line, his expression gradually shifting from caution to suspicion, and then from suspicion to offended anger.

"One of the advantages of single life is that you don't have to worry about trivial matters, whether you have enough firewood in the evening, or being interrupted while reading by things like, 'Honey, the curtain rod is broken.' A child needing a bath, a pet scratching the sofa, a servant quitting, your mother-in-law coming over—even whether there's too much or too little salt in the food can become a family crisis. Another major advantage of single life is the freedom to go wherever you want; no one will care if you stay out all night or stay in a gentlemen's club until the early hours. You can even, like one of our friends, spend all day in Leicester Square without worrying about your wife exposing your lack of respectability. How can I work if I have to walk with my wife every day? Alas! After marriage, I can't learn French, I can't go to continental Europe, I can't go to America or take a hot air balloon ride, and I can't travel alone in Wales. Arthur, in that case, I might be worse off than Elder…"

Elder slammed the investigation report on the table: "What do you mean, 'not even as good as Elder?!' What does this bald guy mean? What does he take me for? A benchmark for the lowest level of human civilization?"

Arthur snapped the newspaper to a new page, not even looking up, and said, "Haven't you always touted yourself as a pioneer of the limits of free living? A Byronian hero?"

“That’s what I said myself!” Elder roared. “When I said I was a prodigal son, it was a joke, it was class. But when Charles said I was, that’s utter nonsense.”

He waved the Darwin report: "Look at me, going in and out of Leicester Square all the time? When have I ever gone in and out all the time? I did it on a plan! A planned inspection of London's nightlife ecology is a kind of... an anthropological study."

“Anthropological research?” Arthur pondered for a moment. “Yes, you even did classification and statistics and published a monograph. But, Elder, the scientific community does not encourage your behavior of exaggerating experimental results in your monograph.”

Elder certainly understood what the book Arthur was referring to was.

The Hillbilly Mentor: More London Party! Enjoy the Metropolis!
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He shamelessly said, "I did the classification statistics to avoid duplicate survey results, which would affect the accuracy of the final research results! Besides, Charles invited me to go, and he even personally showed me the way a few times!"

Arthur raised his eyelids in surprise and asked, "Are you sure you're going to see the bald guy?"

“Of course,” Elder said weakly. “He went to the old bookstore next to Leicester Square. I just happened to go around to the front of it, but at least we are geographically colleagues.”

Seeing his guilty look, Arthur didn't bother teasing him anymore in front of Becky.

He changed the subject, saying, "Speaking of which, have you met Charles's fiancée?" "Once." Elder's tone immediately became more assertive upon hearing this. "Last year, when I first returned to Britain, I visited Charles's house. At the time, Charles was reluctant to tell me who his fiancée was. But I inquired around town and finally found out. You know what, Arthur? Although Charles says she's his fiancée, it turns out the old man isn't even engaged yet."

"who is it?"

Elder couldn't help but get angry at the thought that Darwin would soon be able to eat cabbage: "I don't know what kind of luck that kid had. Ha, his little girlfriend, you'll be shocked when I tell you."

Elder tapped the teapot on the table with his finger: "See this?"

"teapot?"

"Yes, and also wrong."

"Ceramics (China)?"

"Very close."

"Charles is going to marry a Chinese girl?"

Elder rolled his eyes: "Arthur, can you be a little more realistic when you're making riddles? Why don't you just say Charles is going to marry Princess Victoria?"

Arthur said, "If Charles has the ability, then I wholeheartedly support it."

“Alright, I’ll just tell you directly.” Elder cleared his throat: “Our old friend, Mr. Charles Darwin, a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, the chaplain of the HMS Beagle, a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Linnean Society, is considering proposing to his cousin, Miss Emma Wedgwood, the granddaughter of Mr. Josiah Wedgwood.”

Portrait of Mrs. Emma Darwin, painted by British artist George Richmond in 1840.

As soon as Elder mentioned the surname Wedgwood, Arthur immediately understood why he had brought up the ceramic teapot earlier.

Because that valuable ceramic teapot was produced by Wedgwood, one of Britain's most successful ceramic manufacturers.

The reason Arthur replaced all the porcelain in his home with Wedgwood was because when he was a diplomat in Russia, he saw that Nicholas I used tableware that was all custom-made by Wedgwood.

Or, to be more precise, that set of tableware was a family heirloom of the Romanovs, an order placed by Catherine I, the grandmother of Nicholas I, with Wedgwood. Moreover, besides the Russian royal family, the British royal family has also been a major client of Wedgwood. Since the last century, Wedgwood has been the British royal family's porcelain supplier.

Although Arthur wasn't the Tsar, and probably never would be, and wasn't even a middle-class man earning £40,000 a year, this York swineherd still wanted to see if the Emperor's golden hoe was really better than his iron one.

Therefore, with the idea of ​​wealth redistribution in mind, Arthur placed an order with Wedgwood shortly after returning to London.

Of course, he didn't order as many as the Russians, and he didn't dare choose the same style as Empress Catherine's.

When Arthur heard the news that Darwin was going to marry the Wedgwood family's daughter, it was like a bolt from the blue.

If he had known earlier that Darwin had connections, he wouldn't have been in such a hurry to place the order.

Arthur said indignantly, "That Charles kid, he's really good at hiding things. I really thought his family was just an ordinary clinic owner..."

Elder rolled his eyes and said, "Who says otherwise? Charles, that kid, his family is indeed doctors, he didn't lie about that. But he didn't mention that his grandfather was once invited by George III to serve as the royal physician, but his grandfather didn't like London, so he declined the king's invitation. And you know what? His grandfather and James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine, were close friends. They even founded a natural philosophy organization called the Moon Society, which has a bunch of members of the Royal Society. His grandfather, his father, his maternal grandfather, his uncle, they were all members of the Royal Society. We almost got fooled."

Most of Elder's words went unheard by Arthur, who was still heartbroken over the exorbitant price he'd paid for the Wedgwood china: "Charles, Miss Wedgwood... what is he hesitating about? Elder, I think we should write to him immediately and urge him to take office. If the telegraph line weren't still out of service in Shrewsbury, I'd send him a telegram right now."

“Who says otherwise?” Elder picked a grape and popped it into his mouth. “Charles, a guy like Charles Darwin, marrying Miss Wedgwood is all thanks to the good deeds I’ve accumulated for him during my five years of devout pilgrimage at sea. I don’t understand what this bald guy has to hesitate about. But… Charles probably knows what he’s doing. I heard him say he’s planning to take his cousin to Margate Beach for a vacation next month.”

"Margate? Kent?" Arthur couldn't help but have wicked thoughts as soon as he heard the name. "Hmm... Come to think of it, I'm going there for recuperation next month. My heart hasn't been feeling well lately..."

“Really?” Elder seemed to remember something else upon hearing this. “Oh, right, isn’t Alexander bringing his son to Britain for a holiday next month? I don’t think there’s anything worth staying in London. I’ve wasted my vacation days this year. Why don’t we go to Margate together and stir things up for Charles? Oh, and what about Charles, the one who got married to his first love? Mr. Dickens, let’s take him along too. There are plenty of rich young ladies going to the beach for a holiday at this time of year. If he can snag one, she won’t be any less attractive than the banker’s daughter who’s got him all smitten.”

“Hmm…” Arthur tapped his fingertips on the table. “What about Benjamin? Are we just going to leave him alone in London?”

“Benjamin, ah…” Elder couldn’t help but feel jealous when he thought of that Jewish boy: “You don’t need to worry about him. On such a nice vacation day, Mrs. Sykes has already arranged their ‘mini honeymoon’ trip for the two of them, hasn’t she?”

(End of this chapter)