The Shadow of Great Britain

286: Chapter 189 Intelligence Advantage 286: Chapter 189 Intelligence Advantage Outside the Coburg Theatre, even the small pub had extended its business hours because of the concert tonight.

Arthur sat on a walnut chair, one hand propping up the bar counter, while the other stirred the frothy beer in the pewter mug with a spoon, its sheen glinting like silver metal.

Tony and Pinkerton sat to his left and right, their faces still betraying traces of lingering shock.

Tony placed his hat on the bar counter and raised his mug for a sip of beer, only then did his hands cease trembling, thanks to the alcohol.

“Arthur, you have no idea how dangerous it was today.

If it hadn’t been for Fiona covering for us, we would have nearly given ourselves away.”

Upon hearing this, Arthur paused in his stirring of the mug: “Was there a problem?”

Tony began, “Everything was going fine.

We followed the original plan to have Allen, that kid, shimmy through the ventilation duct and get in.

Fiona opened Lady Liven’s bedroom for him and kept watch outside.

But nobody expected the Earl of Liven, who had been away on vacation, to suddenly return from his holiday.

Perhaps the Earl of Liven was too exhausted from the journey, for after he returned to the Embassy, he headed straight to his bedroom and fell asleep.

Luckily, that kid Allen was sharp.

He slipped under the bed before the other could enter the room, thus avoiding a mess.”

“Under the bed?” On hearing this, Arthur suddenly recalled the incredible story that Great Dumas and Tom had just described to him: “Maybe tonight before I go to sleep, I should also take a peek under my bed—it seems to have become quite a popular spot.”

“Arthur, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing much.

I just feel that I might understand why Lady Liven was in such a hurry to leave tonight.

So her husband was back.

I had thought that these high-society nobles didn’t care for such gossip.

Seems I was mistaken.”

Hearing this, Tony shook his head: “Perhaps Lady Liven’s early departure wasn’t because of that, because Allen told me that the Earl of Liven had not been asleep for long before he was woken up by a servant.

From their conversation, it seemed that a messenger had come from afar and wished to meet with him.

Miss Fiona took the opportunity to serve tea to the messenger and eavesdropped for a while.

But due to their heavy German accents, she listened for a long time, capturing only one or two keywords—one was Warsaw and the other was Poland.”

“Poland?”

The mention of this country immediately made Arthur feel something was off.

The Kingdom of Poland had been established in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars on the basis of the Duchy of Warsaw.

At the Congress of Vienna, where they divided the spoils of victory from the Napoleonic Wars, Russia, in order not to provoke too much jealousy from Britain and Austria, promised that the newly formed Kingdom of Poland was merely a part of a personal union with the Russian Empire.

Poland could retain its independent army, parliament, currency, and laws.

The Tsar of Russia, while accepting the Polish crown, would also swear allegiance to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland according to the law.

However, within a few years, Russia started imposing press censorship in Poland, and the secret police of the Ministry of the Imperial Court soon began their rampage there.

One by one, Polish underground organizations were uprooted by the Third Section of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Chancellery.

The number of banned political groups was countless, and the Poles who were executed or deported could form a line from the east of Warsaw City to the west.

Under Tsar Nicholas I, things got even worse.

Not only did Nicholas I refuse to swear an oath to uphold the Polish Constitution, but he also continually restricted the rights of the Kingdom of Poland under the union state.

Government and parliament officials were no longer elected, but directly appointed by Nicholas I.

All of the Catholic Churches in Poland were banned, and the situation for the Eastern Orthodox Churches was not much better.

All the decrees issued by the Polish Eastern Orthodox Church had to be approved and consented to by Tsar Nicholas I.

Anything that wasn’t stamped by Nicholas I was not considered the will of God.

He truly demonstrated through actions what it meant to be — “I understand God better than God Himself.”

Such was Russia’s treatment of Poland, and naturally, the Polish people were not very satisfied.

Although the ordinary Britons didn’t care much about the Poles thousands of miles away, Arthur would still occasionally see a brief commentary on the situation in Poland tucked away in the corner of The Times.

In a word, the Kingdom of Poland had countless cases of small-scale riots.

Tony might not have mentioned Poland, but this reminded Arthur of something.

Even though he hadn’t been very concerned with European history in his past life, he still knew that the relationship between Poland and Russia was primarily a zero-sum game.

It is well known that Poland, referred to as the Spear of God, has a natural opponent and enemy — Ottoman Turkey.

But, to deal with Russia, the Poles didn’t mind learning from France and allying with Turkey, becoming the obedient children of God for once.

Thinking of this, Arthur’s thoughts became clear, and he quickly asked, “After speaking with the messenger, did Earl Livonia meet with Earl Orlov from the Russian delegation?”

Listened to this, Tony was stunned, his mouth half-open, and he looked at Arthur in shock, “How…

how did you know?

I was just about to tell you.

After Earl Orlov met with Earl Livonia, he left the embassy by carriage immediately.

Chief Inspector Field decided to follow and see what was happening, and he hasn’t returned yet.”

Arthur felt a conviction in his heart when he heard this, “Orlov has most likely gone to the docks.

Something significant must have happened in Poland, at the very least, it’s a large-scale riot, or even may be like Belgium, an outright uprising.

With such a big event, Tsar Nicholas I must be eager to call his close friends back to discuss the issue, especially since he can’t trust most people in the Russian court.”

Tony, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but ask, “But…

what does this have to do with us?”

“Of course, it has to do with us!

Tony, our office operating expenses at LPS are all depending on this news.”

Arthur smiled, took out paper and pen from his jacket pocket, sat at the bar of the pub, and wrote a note for Tony, “Take this to the Duke of Wellington’s residence immediately, and tell His Grace face to face, that if Earl Orlov from Russia is missing at tomorrow’s meeting, and if the Russians are in a hurry to finalize the agreement on Belgium’s independence, then based on the intelligence LPS has gathered, we have reason to suspect that their backyard is on fire, with a massive uprising happening in Poland.”

Tony asked with some trepidation after hearing this, “Arthur, I know you’re always right…

But what if there isn’t an uprising in Poland?

If the intelligence is wrong, won’t the Duke of Wellington blame us?”

Arthur smiled, “That’s all right too.

The accuracy of the intelligence isn’t important.

We just need to provide His Grace with a possibility.

Anyhow, delaying the meeting for a few more days won’t affect Britain much.

If the intelligence is wrong, it’s just a matter of entertaining the foreign delegations for a few more days.

But if the intelligence is right…”

Getting the point, Tony finally caught on, “If the intelligence is right, then at this meeting, we’d have bitten off a piece of flesh from the Russians, and they’d have to bear it because they’re hurried to resolve the situation in Poland, so they don’t have a choice but to give in?”

“Exactly.” Arthur slowly stood up and drained the beer in his glass, “Tony, try to make a good impression when you see His Grace later.

He might even reward you with a Marshal’s baton if he’s pleased.”

A smile appeared on Tony’s face, and he joked, “Right, considering he has eight batons, giving me one shouldn’t be a problem.”