The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1313: Chapter 176: Arthur Hastings? Artur Hestinogov!_3

At the very least, he possesses a certain degree of management experience, as well as a wealth of experience in cultural arts and scientific research. Even without considering the connection with the Earl of Dalhousie, just assessing ability and resume alone, Arthur Hastings stands in a rather advantageous position among the other candidates.

Therefore, Viscount Palmerston simply went with the flow, pleasing the Earl of Dalhousie while extending a favor to Arthur.

Regarding this newly acquired opportunity, Arthur did not exhibit much enthusiasm; he merely felt a sense of relief in his heart.

The position of Göttingen University Supervisor, while also prestigious, ultimately does not belong to the rank of Britain’s civil servants.

If the Earl of Dalhousie hadn’t remembered this outstanding graduate of the University of London, it’s probable that he really would have been forgotten in Hanover by White Hall and transformed into a thorough Kingdom of Hanover official.

Although his rank was not low, he didn’t want to stay here, for he understood deeply that perhaps in a few years, students graduating from the University of Gottingen would one by one climb above him.

Why doesn’t his surname have a ”von”?

Would Arthur accept the instruction of a greenhorn like Bismarck?

The pig keeper of York couldn’t tolerate such a treatment.

However, Fiona evidently valued this appointment more than Arthur, especially today, as she absolutely didn’t want to leave his side.

Perhaps it was because, after drinking last night, Arthur had shared his conversation with Shubinsky on the way home, and this Russian girl, long residing in London, unexpectedly learned that the Cultural Counsellor in Russia is equivalent to a Fourth Rank Civil Servant.

Fourth Rank Civil Servant!

This was a position her gambling-addicted father wouldn’t even dare to dream of!

It might be hard for an ordinary person to understand why Russian women, like Russian men, are so passionately enthusiastic about official ranks.

But if you delve into the relevant clauses of Russia’s ”Table of Ranks,” it’s not hard to understand their feelings.

Because the ”Table of Ranks” explicitly stipulates that the status of an officer’s wife ascends and descends according to her husband’s rank. The unmarried daughter of a First Rank official is higher than the wives of all officials below Fifth Rank; the unmarried daughter of a Second Rank official is higher than the wives of all officials below Sixth Rank, and so on, until the unmarried daughter of a Tenth Rank official is higher than the wives of all officials below Fourteenth Rank (the lowest rank).

The ”Table of Ranks,” repeatedly scrutinized by her father since she was young, seemed to possess an extraordinary magic. All of Russia depended on official ranks; people didn’t inquire about what one knows, what one has done, or what one can do, but rather, what one’s rank is. The pursuit of rank was the only passion for Russians, akin to the life-giving treatment of electrotherapy for the body and soul.

Hearing news of a rank promotion to First Rank could heat one up more than downing several huge buckets of vodka, inciting a desire to walk thousands of miles in the snow.

Such emotions made it so that even years later, merely hearing the word ”Fourth Rank Civil Servant” would spontaneously evoke Fiona’s latent obsession with ranks from some unknown corner.

Perhaps fearing Arthur’s wantonness in Russia, or worried that the impulsiveness of this Scotland Yard detective might anger the unpredictable Tsar, Fiona felt it necessary to give Arthur a thorough lesson in Russian culture.

She deliberately chose an interesting topic to pique Arthur’s interest: ”Do you know what my name is?”

”What is your name?” Arthur was stupefied by Fiona’s question: ”Aren’t you Fiona? Or are you her twin sister?”

Fiona glared at him in mock anger: ”I indeed had a younger sister, but she died at five. But that’s not my question, can’t you think a bit more normally?”

”Fiona Ivan?” Arthur’s tone was obviously lacking in confidence, even though he was quite sure that should be the answer, but the old cop deeply understood that women’s questions are never that simple: ”Is that name false?”

”No, it’s not false, but it is modified.”

Fiona proudly introduced: ”To be precise, my name should be Fiona Ivanovna Fokosova. Fiona is my given name, Ivanovna is my patronymic name, meaning ’daughter of Ivan,’ and Fokosova is my surname, meaning ’female of the Fokos family.’”

After speaking, Fiona seemed to deliberately test Arthur, asking: ”Do you know how your name would be read if you were born in Russia?”

Such a little question certainly wouldn’t stump Arthur, as he had studied Russian history. For him, perhaps the only difficulty lay in the tongue-twisting Russian pronunciation.

He was pondering when the Red Devil, who had just gotten up as well, took off his nightcap, yawned, and blurted out: ”АртурАгаресовичХастинговов (Artur Agaresovich Hestingov).”

Although Arthur was rather dissatisfied with the Red Devil for adding ”Agares” to the patronymic without permission, he couldn’t deny that aside from that, the Red Devil’s answer was flawless, especially with the accurate Russian pronunciation.

Arthur omitted the patronymic part, mimicking Agares’s pronunciation and repeating it once.

Sure enough, Fiona’s face lit up with a delighted expression.

”That’s right, Artur Hestingov. It would be even more complete if you added your patronymic.”

Fiona deliberately directed the conversation toward the ”Table of Ranks” that unsettled her: ”So, Mr. Hestingov, you must know one thing: if you were born in Russia, you would now be a distinguished Fourth Rank civil servant. Even if you are a university student, a talented young man, do you know that in Russia, even if you are a top graduate of the university and manage to be promoted to a higher rank each time, how many years, at least, would it take for you to reach such a position, to become a Special Grade Civil Service Advisor of Fourth Rank?”

”How many years?”

Fiona happily gave him a peck, wrapped her arms around his neck, and said: ”Darling, it would take no less than twenty years!”