The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1186: Chapter 130: The Incorrigible Hastings

How do you spell Arthur Hastings? A, S, S, H, O, L, E. What? No, this is not a spelling mistake.

——Charles Wheatstone

The sun set in the west, and the sky of Gottingen was filled with fiery clouds.

After finishing a day of courses, the university students of Gottingen rushed like lost donkeys to the entertainment venues scattered throughout the city, and the number of guests in the Black Bear Tavern increased.

After seeing off the invigorated Ohm and bidding farewell to the dropout crisis of Siemens, Arthur finally had the time to entertain two old friends who had traveled all the way from London.

Fiona asked the servant to bring out the tea leaves and silver teapot she brought from London and requested the tavern owner to boil water to make a pot of tea. Wheatstone curled up in the corner of the dining table; despite being the chief tycoon of the British scientific community due to the gramophone, he showed not a hint of noble temperament.

If others didn’t know, they might think he’s some poor relative of the British lady sitting opposite the dining table.

Arthur’s seat was right next to Wheatstone, and he deliberately sat in the exit position, in case this fellow suddenly sprung up to escape.

Others might not pull such absurd acts, but Arthur knew the temperament and character of his old friend well. After all, dear Mr. Wheatstone was the kind of person who could pick locks, open doors, and climb walls just to avoid a Royal Society report speech.

The Royal Society’s routine lectures already put him under that kind of pressure; for Wheatstone, the upcoming European Electromagnetic Conference at Gottingen University was undoubtedly an even more severe test.

Since Arthur sponsored the Royal Society’s special lectures, plus his deep personal relationship with Faraday and good personal ties with the President of the Royal Society, the Duke of Sussex, the Royal Society responded very positively to the European Electromagnetic Conference led by Arthur.

The Royal Society delegation list was sent to Gottingen University by mail a few days ago, and the President of the Royal Society, the Duke of Sussex, explicitly stated that, considering the stability in the Kingdom of Hanover or scientific exchange, he should personally attend the conference.

Along with him, the Royal Society scientists also included: Michael Faraday, Peter Ball, William Sturgeon, Charles Babbage, etc.

As for the French Academy of Sciences, perhaps to thank Arthur for this year’s special trip to Paris to present the Copley Medal to Poisson, Mr. Francois Arago, the lifetime secretary of the Academy, warmly expressed in the reply letter that the delegation led by him would be a luxurious lineup including France’s most outstanding electromagnetic researchers such as Simone Poisson, Andrey-Marie Ampere, Jean-Baptiste Biot, Felix Savar.

As for the Scandinavian Countries of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, their delegations will be lead respectively by the most outstanding electromagnetic and electrochemical scientists from each country, Hans Oersted, Johan Berzelius, and Christian Bore.

As for the local German side, Gauss successfully invited his friend, the Director of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, Alexander von Humboldt, and many electromagnetic researchers from Prussia through his personal connections.

Weber contacted his mentor when he studied at Halle University, Johann Schweigger, the editor-in-chief of the “Chemistry and Physics Magazine” that published Ohm’s erroneous papers and the inventor of the galvanometer.

Look at this long list; seeing these names together made Arthur’s calves tremble, let alone this cowardly fellow Wheatstone.

“Charles, to meet so many outstanding electromagnetic researchers at one time, you must be very happy, right?”

Wheatstone wasn’t buying into Arthur’s behavior of raising awkward topics; he firmly protested.

“Do you know how I came to Gottingen? I was kidnapped by a bunch of thugs! You damned East District thug, you actually incited them to pick the lock of my house door and carry me, along with my quilt, onto a carriage! Even worse, that largest thug gang in London, Scotland Yard, turned a blind eye to my kidnapping! I originally moved to Regency Crescent for peace and good security. If I had known the police ignored that place, I would have rather slept in the sewers of Greenwich!”

“Oh, Greenwich’s sewers?” Fiona picked up the teapot to pour tea for them one by one: “If you lived there, I could skip the lock-picking step. Mr. Wheatstone, next time you speak, you should at least find out the current Police Superintendent of Greenwich first.”

Wheatstone asked cautiously: “What’s the name?”

Fiona pushed the teacup in front of him: “Tony Eckhart.”

“Damn! Tony is now the Police Superintendent?” Wheatstone slapped his face with his hand: “Arthur, you bastard, you and Scotland Yard are really a nest of serpents and rats!”

Arthur picked up his teacup and sipped lightly; the flavor of Twinings tea was still so familiar and nostalgic: “Charles, you can’t say that, I also know Scotland Yard is a nest of serpents and rats. But His Majesty the King specially gave Scotland Yard the Royal title to prevent everyone from saying that.”

Wheatstone looked at Arthur with irritation: “Right! Yes! It’s all my fault, I thought you were reformed after retiring from Scotland Yard, but now it seems that even at Scotland Yard, you were only exploiting legal loopholes. But since you left there, you don’t even bother with loopholes anymore! You wait; once I return to London, I’ll spend a hefty sum to hire the best lawyer in the country to sue you in court! I don’t believe that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland doesn’t exist fairness and justice!”