The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 860: Chapter 5 Second-Class Secretary

The room in the Nightingale Mansion was decorated with heavy red velvet and golden wallpaper.

On the sofa by the fireplace sat two gentlemen in loose bathrobes, each holding a glass of half-finished beer.

Schneider lifted his glass, and with two gulps, his Adam’s apple moving, a full glass of deep brown, malt-scented porter beer vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

“Ah…”

Schneider put down his beer glass and leaned back on the sofa with satisfaction: “Before discovering the Nightingale Mansion, I never imagined that after being hosted, taking a bath, and then having a full glass of cold beer could be so enjoyable. Arthur, you were not exaggerating; you can’t find a better place than this in all of London.”

The beer Arthur ordered appeared to be much lighter than Schneider’s dark porter. Compared to the strong malt flavor and slight bitterness of the dark porter, he still preferred the light ale with a refreshing taste, lighter bitterness, and a hint of citrus aroma.

Arthur did not hurry to respond to Schneider but savored the aroma of the beer passing through his teeth.

As a civil servant with an intelligence background, Schneider could tell something about this young man just from the two-thirds full glass in Arthur’s hand. This pure Briton from Germany smiled and spoke.

“Arthur, sometimes I really suspect, could it be true what they say, that you were really a pig farmer from the countryside of Yorkshire?”

“Oh?” Arthur wiped his mouth with a handkerchief: “August, I assure you, you won’t find a better pig farmer on Whitehall Street than me. The old gentleman who hired me back then even wanted to marry his youngest daughter to me. He saw right away that I had the ability to manage a thousand pigs, and that I could make a career out of it.”

“Hmm…” Schneider speared a piece of bacon from the plate in front of him and said: “That old gentleman had quite the foresight; his prediction has indeed come true.”

Arthur took the freshly made handmade coffee ice cream from the tray held by the attendant beside him and casually asked: “But why do you doubt my farming background?”

“Heh, it’s simple.”

Schneider smiled and said: “The way you eat and drink doesn’t resemble someone who rose from the social bottom layer. Even if you did start from there, you must have had a significant period of wealth in your childhood. Look at your dining manners, does that look like a farmhand? You are practically like a noble. And not just any British noble, but a Roman noble. Because not only are your manners refined, but you also have a Roman-like love for bathing. I heard from Miss Yvonne that you proposed the construction of the small bath at the Nightingale Mansion?”

Arthur shrugged and, lifting the porcelain dish with the ice cream, spoke: “What’s wrong with bathing? August, don’t you enjoy it as well?”

“Ha ha ha.”

Schneider laughed and said: “Arthur, you know how to enjoy yourself, but it’s best not to let the moralists hear you. You’re a student of history, so you should know how those historical moralists viewed the Romans bathing.

They said the Roman bathing culture represented indulgence, luxurious excess, moral decay, and unrestrained lust, which were significant reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire. The promiscuous custom of mixed bathing led to the loss of combat effectiveness among Roman soldiers, moral degeneration, the spread of venereal diseases, and a decline in Roman birth rates. The love affairs in the baths supposedly damaged the masculinity of Roman soldiers.

Moreover, due to several plagues from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, most public baths in London were closed because of moral censure. Fortunately, Parliament and the Church now have many other concerns, or else if they knew that bathhouses were making a comeback in London, they would likely start making a fuss again.”

Arthur heard this and said nonchalantly: “In my opinion, the small bath at the Nightingale Mansion is still too small. To build a Roman-style bath, there should at least be a cold pool, a hot pool, and a sauna. However, August, you’re not wrong; having a pool to bathe in London is already quite satisfying.”

Schneider jokingly said while cutting bacon with a fork: “You’re right, brother, take it slow. Besides, even if there are no public saunas in London, you can always build one at home. You are now a knight, what’s wrong with having a sauna at home? It’s not like the bishops can carry the Bible to your home to impose moral discipline, right?”

Arthur glanced at the bacon on Schneider’s plate and suddenly asked: “Speaking of which, August, are there public baths in Germany?”

“Hmm… you asked the right person.”

Schneider chewed on the bacon and said: “You should know the German Confederation comprises 38 political entities, including empires, kingdoms, and duchies. Although nominally operating under the name of the Confederation, with a Confederal Parliament and recognizing the Austrian Empire as the Confederation’s head, the organization is very loose, with each state retaining full sovereignty.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Prussia within the Confederation is always looking to challenge the Austrian Empire’s leadership, so most Confederal decisions are essentially just for show. Although people often say the German customs are more conservative than Britain’s, in reality, except for Prussia and Austria, most other German states are in a state of political fragmentation, with fierce conflicts of interest between the nobility and merchants.