The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1192: Chapter 132: Uninvited Guest (Part 2)

Heine and Mendelssohn heard the news, and although disappointed, they knew that in such matters one cannot force people.

However, although they hit a wall at the Italian Theatre, Heine quickly came up with a new solution.

At the time in Paris, the opera stage had three great tenors: Giovanni Rubini, Adolphe Nourri, and Gilbert Dupre.

Since Rubini’s path didn’t work, perhaps it was worth trying to invite Nourri and Dupre.

Among them, Nourri had once crossed paths with Arthur.

Back then, when Arthur, the Great Dumas, Heine, and Andersen were dining at the Waai’er Restaurant, they ran into Nourri, who was meeting with Mazzini and Garibaldi.

However, since Heine wasn’t too familiar with Nourri, he naturally led Mendelssohn and the others to find the Great Dumas.

The Great Dumas had fought alongside Nourri during the July Revolution of 1830, so there was some revolutionary camaraderie between them.

Additionally, since opening the theatre, the two also had financial ties, so Heine naturally assumed that the Great Dumas could probably handle Nourri.

With Heine’s suggestion, the group quickly headed to the Great Dumas’ privately owned theatre—the Historical Theatre on Temple Avenue.

According to Mendelssohn, when they burst into the backstage of the theatre, the fellow was lounging in a chair, whispering sweet nothings with his recently favored actress, Miss Mary Dolores.

The Great Dumas, upon seeing the group arrive, was startled at first, but the seasoned black gentleman soon regained his usual composure.

He warmly welcomed the visiting friends and said that since they were there, they shouldn’t rush off, and they should all dine at his home that night as he had recently hired three chefs.

After Mendelssohn expressed their intentions to the Great Dumas and explained the love story of Mr. Schumann and Miss Vic, the Great Dumas exclaimed that this was practically a modern ”Romeo and Juliet” and offered to help in any way he could.

When the Great Dumas learned that they needed his help to contact Nourri for assistance, he told everyone that Nourri had hastily left Paris after performing the ballet ”The Fairy” at the Historical Theatre the previous night.

The Great Dumas had originally intended to invite Nourri to dinner, but he declined, explaining that his cousin was getting married in Montpelier in a few days, so he was in a hurry to attend the wedding, according to this chief tenor of the Paris Opera House and professor of dramatic lyrical performance at the Paris Music College.

However, the Great Dumas jokingly said he didn’t buy Nourri’s story and asked Heine if he remembered what happened when they dined with Arthur at the Waai’er Restaurant. Nourri’s ties with Young Italy coincided with the timing of an uprising in Italy, so he might well be off transporting ammunition for Young Italy under the guise of attending a wedding.

The Great Dumas’ speculations were not without foundation, as Nourri had quite a history in this regard. Not only had he participated in the July Revolution with the Great Dumas, singing ”La Marseillaise” while defending the barricades, but he was also involved in the Belgian revolution of 1830.

On the night before the Belgian Revolution of August 24, 1830, Nourri was in Brussels, the Belgian capital, debuting ”The Dumb Girl of Portici.” In the drama, Nourri’s character, Masaniello, sang a duet called ”Amour sacré de la patrie” (Sacred Love for the Homeland).

Due to Nourri’s passionate performance—perhaps it was intentional—the duet resonated strongly with the audience, particularly its patriotic sentiment. During the play, the audience began to stir, and by the end, their restlessness transformed into anger towards the Dutch rulers of Belgium.

This mood spread throughout Brussels like a prairie fire, becoming an uncontrollable blaze overnight.

To claim that Nourri ignited the Belgian revolution might be an exaggeration, but this chief tenor of the Paris Opera House certainly played a role in inflaming the situation.

The Great Dumas explained Nourri’s whereabouts to Heine and the others, but then paused suddenly, realizing something was amiss with a jolt.

The Italian revolution had occurred, Young Italy was agitating for conflict, and with such significant events unfolding, why was Nourri involved while he, Alexandre Dumas, remained idle in Paris?

The Great Dumas, flustered and hurried, was ready to send off his guests, but everyone present knew his intentions.

They all tried to dissuade him, but none succeeded.

That afternoon, the Great Dumas arranged for the next few days of work at the Historical Theatre, then got into a carriage intending to head south to Italy, to the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.

Heine, seeing him set off for trouble, quickly jumped into the carriage; Mendelssohn and Liszt joined to aid.

But the Great Dumas was prepared; he wasn’t going alone, bringing along the three new chefs.

Perhaps his training from Scotland Yard paid off, for the Great Dumas, cunningly managed to bind Heine, Mendelssohn, and Liszt to his plan.

However, he was not planning on forcibly recruiting these friends for his cause; instead, when the carriage left Paris, he planned to drop them off at a rural inn to prevent them from spoiling his plan.

But unexpectedly, just shortly after leaving Paris, upon passing the first village, they encountered the tenor who had captured their imaginations—Mr. Adolphe Nourri.

The Great Dumas jumped off the carriage and hurried over, immediately asking Nourri about the Italian revolution.

The weary Nourri was startled by the Great Dumas’ questions and motioned for him to speak quietly.

Then, he pointed towards his carriage and whispered a few words in the Great Dumas’ ear.

In a flash, everyone saw the excitement fade from the Great Dumas’ face, replaced by an inexplicable gravity.

After a brief exchange with Nourri, the Great Dumas jumped back into the carriage, telling Heine and the others that he was not going to Italy but was instead going with them to Gottingen.

As they jostled along the journey, no matter how they questioned him, the Great Dumas refused to say a word.

It wasn’t until they crossed Prussia and entered the Kingdom of Hanover that the Great Dumas confessed: ”The Italian revolution failed. Mr. Nourri’s carriage carried members of Young Italy whom he rescued from the border. Heinrich, you even know one of them. Do you remember the name Giuseppe Garibaldi? We once dined together; he drank with me, Louis, and Arthur.”

Only then did everyone understand what had transpired.

But for Heine, traveling with the Young Italy members wasn’t the worst part.

The worst was that Heine, this poet wanted by Prussia and Austria, was dragged back into Germany by the conniving Great Dumas.

Though surely the Kingdom of Hanover wouldn’t arrest him, Heine’s heart remained uneasy throughout the journey to Gottingen.

Upon hearing this, Arthur’s eyes widened in disbelief, and in a hushed voice, he asked, ”This is complete madness! Heinrich, Alexander, where are those Young Italy guys now? They couldn’t be in your carriage, could they?”

Mendelssohn, knowing this was a miscalculation, shyly smiled, ”Sorry, Arthur, we didn’t expect things to unfold this way. But don’t worry, we’ve hidden them well; they’re lodging in an inn right next to the Gottingen police station.”

Fiona covered her mouth in shock, ”Next to the police station? Don’t tell me you bought into that rubbish about the safest place being the most dangerous?”

Arthur gritted his teeth and cursed, ”No need to say more; this braindead idea must have come from the scoundrel Alexander. Felix, take me to see them immediately!”