shadow of britain

Chapter 824 A Strange Prescription? A Gynecological Disease?

They are poisoning her every day, every hour.

Baron Stockmay

Arthur was leaning against the wooden railing of the seaside promenade, the tide slowly receding in the distance, revealing a large expanse of wet sand.

Several blue and white painted bath carts were being slowly pulled by horses towards the sea, the seawater lapping against the wheels and splashing up tiny waves. Children squatted on the beach collecting seashells, while several ladies wearing wide-brimmed straw hats strolled under parasols, their white skirts billowing in the sea breeze.

Elder held a tin mug filled with ginger beer in his hand. He had just come out of a nearby locker room, his shoes still in his other hand, and his calves were covered in half-dried sand.

He hummed a little tune as he walked over to Arthur, leaned against the railing, and said, "What? Still holding a grudge?"

“Holding my temper? How could I dare?” Arthur lit a cigarette. “Sir John Conroy is the Grand Steward of Kensington Palace, a favorite of the Duchess of Kent. How could I dare to offend him?”

When Elder saw Arthur's expression, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He knew perfectly well that Arthur was just like that; the more he said he didn't care, the angrier he was inside.

However, this time it's not fair to blame Arthur for being petty; it's just that Conroy's actions were really undignified.

It was originally a good thing that the entire Kensington Palace staff came to the seaside for a vacation, and everyone was in a very good mood along the way.

At the welcoming ceremony for the Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria's visit to Ramsgate, loyal local councilors and citizen representatives paid their respects. To express their welcome to the royal guests, the Ramsgate government even announced that several famous local landmarks would be renamed in their names, including Kent Square, the Royal Kent Terrace, the Kent Baths, and the Victoria Baths.

Overnight, the seaside town of Ramsgate almost became the second Kensington Palace.

In response to the enthusiastic support of the people, the Duchess of Kent, beaming with pride and full of confidence, wore a floor-length gown and loudly read aloud the warm reply that Sir John Conroy had prepared for her in his Germanic-accented English.

Conroy himself was busy running around, giving the Duchess of Kent winks and passing her notes during her speech, seemingly busier than the British Prime Minister.

Lady Leather was sitting next to Arthur in the same row. This lady, who was at odds with Conroy, couldn't help but complain to Arthur about Conroy's behavior, claiming that he seemed to be neglecting Victoria herself, even though Her Highness the Princess was the star of the welcoming ceremony.

This seemingly insignificant action was overheard by Conroy's informant nearby, and the situation escalated rapidly once the news reached Conroy. Especially after Conroy discovered that Arthur had altered Victoria's speech at the welcoming ceremony, the Grand Butler of Kensington Palace's discontent reached its peak.

Although Conroy refrained from confronting Arthur directly, considering his social standing and network of connections, he still politely invited Arthur to his presence after the welcoming ceremony and informed the University of London's provost: Kensington Palace thanks you for your continued loyal service, but there is nothing more to trouble you with. Therefore, from today onwards, whether you continue your holiday in Ramsgate or return to London to work is entirely up to you.

Compared to his polite attitude towards Arthur, Conroy was much less reserved with Mrs. Lyzen.

He clearly had no intention of showing any leniency to the daughter of the Hanoverian pastor.

As the crowd dispersed, he strode over and spoke to Mrs. Lezen in a voice several octaves louder than when he had spoken to Arthur: “Thank you so much for your guidance earlier. However, if you really can’t help but nitpick next time, you might as well look in the mirror and see how many of the things you’ve managed have been done properly.”

Lady Lezen's face instantly darkened, but Conroy had no intention of stopping, and instead became more and more aggressive: "Her Highness's speech today was personally approved by the Duchess. If you have any objections, please go and talk to her directly, instead of hiding on the viewing platform and whispering like a gossipy old woman stirring up trouble."

For the upper class, who value propriety, such words might not be heard for years, yet on that day, a whole host of them came out of Conroy's mouth.

He not only dismissed Arthur, but also sent several of his servants and ladies-in-waiting whom he considered unreliable back to London.

Although Conroy ultimately did not dare to dismiss Lady Lerzen, who had the backing of William IV and Leopold I, he still ordered that Lady Lerzen be forbidden from meeting Victoria alone from now on.

The only good news for Arthur was that Miss Flora Hastings was not among those "quarantined" in Conroy.

After all, the Grand Butler of Kensington Palace had regarded Flora as an important ally over the past few years, as Flora had sided with him and the Duchess in several disputes between Conroy and Lady Lezen.

Conroy's sudden action not only infuriated Arthur, but also terrified Fyodora, Victoria's half-sister who had come from Germany with her child.

Portrait of Fyodora, Duchess of Hornloe-Langenburg, painted in 1838 by Scottish painter William Ross.

Feodora came to England with her remarried mother when she was 11 years old, and Lady Lerzen was her nanny when she was young. She lived in Kensington Palace until she was 21, and then, with the help of Queen Adelaide, she married Ernst I, Duke of Hohenlohe-Langenburg of Germany.

In fact, given Feodora's circumstances, she could have chosen a husband with better prospects than the Duke of Hornlohe-Langenburg, who had already lost his actual landholdings. However, she was clearly just as tired of the oppressive life at Kensington Palace as Victoria, and decided to marry him after meeting him only twice.

However, things are unpredictable. Although Feodora's marriage was a bit of a mess and the couple's wealth was not great, and they could only live in the spacious but simple and old Langenburg Palace, their married life was still quite happy. In seven years of marriage, they had five children.

What Fedora was most worried about was her younger sister, Victoria.

If their brother, Prince Leiningen, was unaware of what was happening inside Kensington Palace, then Feodora was intimately familiar with the internal power struggles there.

Like Victoria, she was used to Conroy's oppression, so she couldn't help but tremble whenever the Irishman lost his temper. Feodora, who had come all the way from Germany with her children, was afraid that Conroy would take the opportunity to dismiss Mrs. Leather, so she hurriedly wrote a letter through a courier to the Duchess of Fürth-Nonceberland, who was in London, pleading with her to use her influence to help resolve the issue.

After arriving at Ramsgate's beach, that was all Arthur knew.

After all, he had already been asked to leave by Conroy. Although the hotel he had booked was not far from Albion House, where Victoria and the others were staying, this was not London. Ramsgate did not have Scotland Yard police at his disposal. In fact, Ramsgate did not even have a police station, let alone Scotland Yard police.

As for the highly common profession of thugs and hooligans, Ramsgate might have a few, but if those guys had the ability to get into the Albion villa, would they still need to continue being thugs? Wouldn't it be better for them to run for senator?

Therefore, during this period, the only way Arthur could find out about the interior of the Albion villa was to ask his dear cousin Flora Hastings during his evening walks.

Flora didn't hold back from her cousin; she told him everything she knew. However, perhaps because she had deliberately tried to keep her distance from Conroy after hearing Arthur's words, although she vaguely sensed that Conroy seemed to be plotting something, she didn't have enough details to piece together the truth.

All he knew was that the Duchess of Northumberland had come all the way from London a few days earlier, but when Conroy noticed that the Duchess of Northumberland was trying to speak well of Lezen, she soon received the same treatment: as Victoria's appointed lady-in-waiting, she had never seen Victoria alone again, nor could she gain any insight into her current feelings.

Conroy's actions naturally enraged the granddaughter of Lord Clive, the "Conqueror of India." According to Flora, the Duchess of Northumberland was so angry that she turned pale and trembled. However, she maintained her composure and coldly submitted her resignation to the Duchess of Kent, vowing never to suffer such humiliation again.

Putting all these worries aside, Ramsgate's vacation life was quite satisfying.

The vast ocean stretches out to France on the other side. The towering, magnificent white cliffs fail to showcase their beauty on a calm, sunny day; their true charm is revealed only when they stand firm amidst raging storms and torrential rain.

When I have some free time, I sometimes go shopping on the street and I can hear the residents talking about Victoria.

According to longtime local residents, Victoria first came to Ramsgate for vacation when she was four years old.

Whenever this is mentioned, the locals would point to the beach in front of them and vividly describe it to the tourists: "It was on this noble beach that she wore an ordinary straw hat and played with the other children without any worries. Of course, sometimes she would ride on the back of a little donkey. I heard that the donkey was a gift to her by the Duke of York."

In addition, Mr. Lewis, the owner of the "Hall of Curiosities" shop, Mr. Burgess, the founder of the local library, and Mr. Cramp, the owner of the seafood restaurant, all claimed that Her Highness the Princess was a regular customer. Charles Fisher, the pharmacist in the market, also claimed that Her Highness the Princess had visited his pharmacy and even added a royal coat of arms to the pharmacy's signboard.

Perhaps the claims of the previous gentlemen are questionable, but the claim of pharmacist Fisher is based on solid evidence, because Kensington Palace did indeed send someone to his pharmacy to purchase medicine not long ago.

As a veteran police officer who started his career in the criminal investigation department, Sir Arthur Hastings never overlooked any clue related to a case.

He immediately went to Mr. Fisher's pharmacy and subtly inquired about which medicines Kensington Palace had purchased from him.

Fortunately, Fisher never intended to hide this matter from the beginning. Even if the customers who came to buy medicine didn't ask, he would still launch into a long explanation of the order that made him the "Royal Medicine Supplier." As for those like Arthur who took the initiative to inquire, Fisher spilled the beans, even placing the purchase order directly in front of Arthur.

Laudame, valerian root powder, lemon mead tea, aromatic benzoin tincture, and a small amount of ergosterol.

Although Arthur is not a professional doctor, he has worked in the police force for a long time, handling numerous murder cases and the Liverpool cholera outbreak. He also studied chemistry with Faraday at the Royal Society for a period of time. Therefore, he has some understanding of the effects of some basic medicines.

Laudam, also known as tincture of opium, is a variant of opium flavored with saffron and cinnamon. It was a very common pain reliever and sedative in 19th-century Britain, and almost every household kept one or two bottles in their medicine cabinet.

Aromatic benzoin tincture is an inhaled medication used to reduce inflammation in the respiratory tract, and many perfumers also add it to perfumes to adjust the fragrance.

Valerian root powder and lemon mee balm tea were common sedatives in the Middle Ages and are still very popular today. Many women use them to brew tea to relieve stress.

But ale...

This is a relatively new product; it's a medicine invented by a French doctor more than ten years ago, supposedly mainly used to treat gynecological problems...

But Arthur really didn't know what specific gynecological problem it was.

Regardless, the news that someone at Kensington Palace is suspected of having a gynecological disease is shocking enough.

Besides the ale, Arthur was also puzzled as to why Kensington Palace was purchasing so many tranquilizers. Was there some problem between Victoria and the Duchess of Kent? Had their nerves become so tense that they needed to take so many tranquilizers to relieve their anxiety?

Arthur was completely baffled by this.

What puzzled him even more was that Dr. Clark, the physician at Kensington Palace, had been sent back to London by Conroy the week before last. If that was the case, who had prescribed these medications for them?

However, as one of the most outstanding police officers in Great Britain, Arthur knew that he had to let the experts handle things.

To determine the specifics of the problem at Kensington Palace, it's necessary to consult with professionals for assessment.

And the only professional doctor Arthur knew and trusted was actually just that one…

(End of this chapter)