The Shadow of Great Britain

733: 352 733: 352 “Perhaps you should find a brighter house; the working environment here is a bit too dreadful.”

Mr.

Schneider, the tardy Assistant Undersecretary of the Foreign Office, took off his hat and hung it on the coat rack beside him, squeezed himself in between the clutter to find a spot, and pulled out a chair intended for guests to sit down.

Arthur fished out a tin of tobacco from his pocket and tossed it over: “I’ll tidy up a bit later.

I’ve not rented the house for long and should be given some time to make improvements.”

Lowering his head to look at the tobacco, Schneider joked, “In such a cramped environment, aren’t you afraid of setting the house on fire by smoking?”

“It would be just as well if it did catch fire.” Arthur struck a match and lit his cigarette, “I’ve got more than a few hot-potato files here, and a fire could solve quite a number of problems.”

Upon hearing this, Schneider laughed heartily: “It seems our headaches are quite similar, but in a way, your domestic intel is a bit hotter than my foreign intel.”

Arthur took a puff of his cigarette and casually asked, “Mr.

Schneider, since we’ll have plenty of opportunities to share information in the future, aren’t there some things you should come clean about?

The passengers who departed from Liverpool to the Azores weren’t just limited to General Napier, were they?

I may not be interested in international intel, but there’s no need for you to hide things from me so deliberately.”

Schneider didn’t take the remark to heart and joked in response, “Brother, the job at the Foreign Office isn’t as easy as you think.

If I were to leak information to you before things were settled…

and something went wrong, I’d be facing more than just a dismissal.”

Arthur asked indifferently, “Who could be that important?

More secret than General Napier’s level of confidentiality?”

Holding his pipe, Schneider chuckled, “Arthur, I don’t want you to think that I’m deliberately tripping you up.

So, since the period of confidentiality has ended, I might as well spill the beans.

The one who left port with General Napier was Pedro.”

“Pedro?” Arthur was initially startled, then quickly realized, “That Emperor of Brazil?”

“Exactly.”

Schneider nodded, “He entered the country secretly, and his departure was also classified at the highest level.

Had it not been for His Majesty’s personal visit to London to seek aid, convincing His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister to extend a helping hand to Portugal’s Liberals under the leadership of his 12-year-old daughter, we wouldn’t have decided to reactivate General Napier so quickly.”

After musing for a while, Arthur finally spoke, “That makes sense.

I already read the front-page headline of ‘The Times’ this morning.

Portugal has officially appointed General Charles Napier as the head of the Royal Portuguese Navy, and after more than a year of ambiguity, the Foreign Office has publicly announced its support for the Liberal camp led by Queen Mary in the Portuguese Civil War.

The world’s situation changes rapidly, and overnight it feels like everything is different – so much so that my thoughts can’t quite keep up.”

Schneider was well aware of what Arthur was referring to because just over a year ago, Britain’s Wellington Cabinet had expressed support for Prince Miguel, the autocratic leader of the Portuguese insurgency.

To Arthur’s confusion, Schneider simply replied with a smile, “Oh, come on, Arthur.

You’re a smart man, you know why that is.”

Arthur shook his head, “Maybe I can somewhat understand the changes within our own country, but why would King Ferdinand VII of Spain, the so-called ‘Despot King’, also turn to support Queen Mary of Portugal?

If I’m not mistaken, he was at one point ready to personally send troops to help Miguel seize the Portuguese Crown.”

“Well, that has to do with certain human factors.”

Schneider hinted gently, “When Ferdinand VII wanted to intervene in the Portuguese Civil War, he didn’t have a legitimate heir.

But perhaps God wanted to commend his piety and merits, so Princess Isabella of Spain arrived like an angel out of the blue.”

It was only then that the untouchable monarch suddenly realized his heir was also an underage female, just like Queen Mary.

If he wished to consistently enforce the ‘Salic Law’ that prohibited female rulership and oppose Queen Mary’s rule over Portugal, then his daughter, Princess Isabella, would lose her rights of succession as well.

Perhaps Ferdinand VII was a bit hot-tempered, but he was still shrewd.

Thus, without needing us to go explain to him, he had already taken the initiative to understand our diplomatic policy and reiterated to us several times that Spain had no interest in interfering with Portuguese domestic affairs.

However, if Queen Mary chose to crush those treasonous rebels, he would be quite willing to strengthen this young queen’s hand, for upholding the weak and demonstrating the Lord’s mercy and faith were long Spain’s mission.”

“That sounds much more logical.” Arthur flipped through another newspaper on the table, “But while Spain’s shift in stance is understandable, what’s happening in the German states can’t possibly be due to all those little potentates turning over a new leaf, can it?”

As a German emigrant, Schneider was naturally more aware of what had been happening in his homeland than Arthur.

He didn’t need to look at the newspaper to know that Arthur was referring to the string of events in Germany that were nearly revolutionary in nature.

The liberal speeches of Rotke and Welke at the Karlsruhe Parliament earned them standing ovations, and newspapers throughout Germany couldn’t praise their views and courage enough.