The Shadow of Great Britain

261: Chapter 174: Secret Report 261: Chapter 174: Secret Report Knightsbridge, southeast corner of Hyde Park, Wellington’s private residence—London No.

1, Apsley House.

Holding a goblet in his hand, the Duke of Wellington looked at Arthur, who had come back to report, with a face full of surprise.

“Young man, I thought it would take you quite a while to bring back something useful for me; how did you manage to have a breakthrough so quickly?”

Arthur replied with a smile, “A little unexpected joy.

Although it might not necessarily be very useful, given that the time for the meeting is drawing near, I believe that even the slightest piece of news should be promptly reported to you.

After all, in your hands, sometimes even the most insignificant breakthrough can help Britain gain tremendous national benefits.”

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Wellington couldn’t help but laugh, “Indeed, you really know how to speak.

How about something to drink?

I particularly recommend the Margaux Chateau from Bordeaux.”

Arthur nodded, “I haven’t served in France, so I’m not familiar with the wines there.

Since you think this wine is good, I choose to trust you.”

The Duke of Wellington, in good spirits, hummed a tune and lifted a bottle with a label of white wine from the cabinet and poured two glasses, handing one to Arthur and keeping one for himself.

He leaned back in the armchair, sipped the wine, and then asked with a smile, “Alright, lad, tell me, what good news have you brought me?”

Arthur began, “According to your command, I visited the Russian Embassy this morning and there I encountered Mr.

Klemens von Metternich, the Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire.”

“Hmm…

Metternich…” the Duke of Wellington stroked his chin, “I guessed early on that as soon as he arrived in London he would definitely go to see Dorothea; it turns out I guessed right.”

Hearing the Duke say this, Arthur did not foolishly ask why Wellington would guess that, but instead continued, “Moreover, I brought back a piece of Austrian local produce with a Russian twist from the embassy.”

“Local produce?” the Duke of Wellington joked upon hearing this, “Is that some kind of Scotland Yard’s jargon?”

Arthur smiled, “It’s not from Scotland, but rather the LPS.

Well, I might as well just tell you straight, I obtained a few personal items of Lady Lyven.”

“Lady Lyven’s personal items?” the Duke of Wellington burst into laughter upon hearing this, “What a coincidence, I also have one, and it’s quite intimate.”

Arthur was caught off guard by the Duke of Wellington, first he was startled, then he realized that the other was making a spicy joke.

Not knowing whether to cry or laugh, he struggled for a while before blurting out, “Your Grace, the item I got, it’s not made of fabric.”

“Hmm?” the Duke of Wellington raised an eyebrow, “Not fabric?

That is certainly novel.”

Arthur emphasized, “To be precise, this personal item is not Lady Lyven’s, but Mr.

Metternich’s.”

“What?!” the elderly Duke, upon hearing this, nearly spat out the wine in his mouth, “Arthur, you young man, should I praise you for your skill or scold you for your folly?

You ought to take that thing back; I have no need for that sort of collectible.”

Seeing the situation getting more complicated, Arthur quickly clarified with all due solemnity, “To be more precise, it was a gift from Metternich to Lady Lyven.”

“Oh, that’s better then.” the Duke of Wellington pulled out a handkerchief from his chest pocket and wiped his brow, “Young man, although we Britons speak rather circumspectly, when speaking in front of a military man like me, it is best to focus on the main points.

You scared me with your talk; I thought you had done some dreadful deed.”

Seeing his thoughts drifting further astray, Arthur quickly pulled out a letter and translation and pushed it across the table, “This is a love letter written by Metternich to Lady Lyven in 1818, please take a look.”

“A love letter?”

The Duke of Wellington’s white eyebrows lifted, the old man pulled out a magnifying glass from the drawer, squinted his eyes, and savored every word of the original text and the translation from top to bottom, “Metternich has quite the way with words.

No wonder he’s able to thrive in such a libertine city as Vienna, it’s no wonder so many ladies and mademoiselles are charmed by him…”

Arthur pretended not to hear the Duke’s literary critique, simply laying out the points he had prepared early in the morning.

“According to the LPS special intelligence report, we only found this letter in Lady Lyven’s bedroom.

However, from the information in the letter, we can reasonably infer that Mr.

Metternich has certainly written more than this one love letter to Lady Lyven.

However, Lady Lyven chose this particular letter for our meeting today.

Considering that this love letter was written in Brussels, Belgium, I reasonably suspect that besides reminiscing, today’s meeting between Mr.

Metternich and Lady Lyven also covered the issue of Belgian independence.

That’s why I rushed here to report to you as soon as I had the information.

Although I do not know the specifics of their discussion, I think it may be worth considering that Austria and Russia might align on this matter.”

Arthur spoke very tactfully, but the Duke of Wellington understood the implications clearly.

Although the Tory Party harbored concerns about France’s July Revolution and Belgium’s independence, the Tories were merely worried, whereas Russia and Austria were really alarmed.

As countries situated on the European Continent, these two traditional authoritarian powers have always been highly vigilant against revolutionary waves.

And as a staunch supporter of authoritarianism, it is not surprising that Metternich plans to stand with Russia against France and Belgium.

Although Wellington had already speculated, confirming Metternich’s true stance in advance was certainly beneficial.

As a battle-hardened veteran, Duke Wellington preferred to fight battles where he knew every detail about the enemy.

Up to now, he had remained undefeated in battles where he had the advantage of intelligence.

With Arthur’s prior warning, he had already determined which questions to ask during his dinner conversation with Metternich tonight and what tone to use.

If Metternich proved inflexible, Duke Wellington felt it might be necessary to discuss with this influential Austrian Prime Minister the considerable war debts Austria incurred during the Napoleonic Wars.

According to Duke Wellington’s understanding, Austria’s debt problem had reached a point where new debts were needed to pay the interest on old ones.

Indeed, Russia could also assume a portion of Austria’s new national debt, but a significant part of Austria’s old debt was held by Britain.

If Metternich dared to adopt even a slightly tough stance, Britain was ready to sell off Austrian bonds, lowering the issuance price of their new bonds and increasing their debt servicing costs.

Just by pressing this point, Duke Wellington guaranteed that the Austrians would not enjoy Christmas for the next few years.

Of course, he did not plan to confront Metternich so soon since Austria’s firm stance was also a bargaining chip Britain used in negotiations with France.

While Britain was indifferent to Belgium’s independence, Belgium could not become a pro-France regime even if it did become independent.

Whether it was the Netherlands or Belgium, they both had to be loyal little brothers to Great Britain.

And this was the central issue of his ongoing tug-of-war with Talleyrand, the French ambassador to London.

Now that he had leverage over Austria, the focus was just on resolving issues with France and Russia.

From Talleyrand’s attitude in the past few days, France’s bottom line seemed quite clear: let Belgium gain independence, and they will discuss other issues.

After all, since their defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, they have been constantly facing the problem of an anti-France alliance.

If they could tear a hole in this net, it would already be a significant improvement from before.

However, satisfying Tsar Nicholas I’s appetite might not be so easy.

A ruler with a strong desire for control, the westward-expanding Tsarist Russia naturally wished to keep France, a strong Western European country, strangled within the net.

If Austria retreated, Tsar Russia’s stance might soften, and the rest would depend on the negotiations that follow.

But just like Britain did not want a powerful France, it also did not want a Russia that spanned across Eastern and Western Europe.

Seeing Russia’s Mediterranean fleet move freely through the Dardanelles Strait was already bothersome enough, let alone their plans to expand westward by land.

Britain could not agree to this in any case.

Duke Wellington pondered, perhaps he could have the Foreign Secretary, Palmerston, engage the Prussian delegation, or maybe King William IV of Britain could write a letter to King William I of Prussia?

Although the King of Prussia was a cousin of the King of the Netherlands, when all is said and done, our King William IV also holds the title of King of Hanover, which, no matter what, is part of the German Confederation.

If we talk about geographical relations, Hanover is closer to Prussia than the Netherlands is, right?

Thinking this, Duke Wellington, putting down his goblet, stood up and said, “Arthur, you’re tasked with this endeavor.

Regarding Metternich, I shall report to the Foreign Office.

Should this London conference succeed splendidly, your efforts will undoubtedly be invaluable.”

Arthur also stood up and said, “Your Grace, such a love letter is indeed an unexpected delight.

According to my plan, later this week, LPS intelligence personnel will take another trip to the Russian Embassy.

To distract the Russian delegation, I just delivered some concert tickets to Mrs.

Livien today.

Judging by her reaction, she will surely attend this weekend.”

At this point, Arthur pulled out several tickets from his coat pocket and placed them on the table: “If you intend to meet Mrs.

Livien in person, this weekend’s concert also presents an opportunity.

I’ve reserved the tickets for you here.

If you’re busy, feel free to gift them to friends or family.

Mr.

Mozesales, Mr.

Mendelssohn, and even Mr.

Clementi will perform, and it would be a pity to waste these tickets.”

“Clementi is performing?” Upon hearing this, Duke Wellington was initially surprised, then he picked up a ticket and glanced at it: “Indeed, it’s a fine concert with highly skilled performers!”

As he said this, his gaze inadvertently caught Arthur’s name, making the Duke chuckle, “What?

Are you also in it?”

Arthur smiled, “I must be there; otherwise, giving this ticket to Mrs.

Livien would be too suspicious.

But rest assured, although I’m not a great pianist, I can manage one piece.”

Hearing this, Duke Wellington naturally slipped the tickets into his coat pocket: “Even if you can’t manage, it’s no problem, you have that ‘phonograph,’ right?

Just bring it along, I’m quite curious about that little gadget.

Is it really as magical as everyone says?

If it is, I’ll consider buying one to play with someday.”

Upon hearing this, Arthur remembered something Wheatstone had mentioned before and promptly spoke, “If you’d like one, I could have someone deliver it directly to your residence.

However, you might have to wait a while because Mr.

Wheatstone, the maker of the phonograph, has recently been overwhelmed with patent application issues.”

“A patent?

That shouldn’t be complicated,”

Duke Wellington pulled a quill from the table, wrote a note swiftly, and handed it over: “Give this to Wheatstone when he applies for the patent.

If anyone asks, say I sent him.

It should only take about a week to obtain the patent if it doesn’t get held up for a few days at His Majesty the King’s.

If it’s not settled within the deadline, come tell me, and I’ll personally inquire at the Home Office and the Lord Chancellor’s office to see what they’re up to.”