The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1382: Chapter 201: A Stream of Victorious News (Part 3)

“Hmm…” Arthur pinched his chin: “It seems General Napier has been quite successful recently! Although a Portuguese Earl is not as valuable as a British one, he is now practically the leading figure in the Portuguese Navy, which is much better than enduring grievances at the Navy Department.”

“Who wouldn’t agree?” Blackwell said with a smile: “If I were him, I wouldn’t come back. Everyone knows His Majesty the King doesn’t favor him, while Emperor Pedro of Brazil now practically treats him as his most relied-upon minister. The young queen is not yet of age, so everything is controlled by her father. If General Napier continues to stay in Portugal, it’s not only possible for him to become an Earl, but he might even be ennobled as a Duke and appointed Prime Minister.”

Arthur muttered: “The premise is that he must not be like General Cochrane, if it weren’t for his bad temper, Cochrane’s status in various South American countries would be unimaginable. He alone is a founding hero of Chile, Peru, and Brazil. But his rebellious nature made figures like Saint Martin of Chile, Bolívar of Peru, and Pedro of Brazil dislike him. Nevertheless, this bad temper is almost a common ailment among geniuses. Even if you disapprove, there’s nothing you can do about it, as you still need him for war. Yet once the war is over, they nitpick any flaw to send you back to where you came from.”

Blackwell extracted a report from the documents: “Sir, take a look at this, the whispers from the Foreign Office. They say the French are seeing the Portuguese Autocratic Faction unable to hold on and seem ready to side with the Liberals. Talleyrand has also passed information to the Foreign Office; the French seem interested in achieving reconciliation through the Portuguese Civil War and getting Spain and Portugal on board to sign an alliance treaty.”

“An alliance treaty?” Arthur pondered for a moment: “Against the Holy Alliance of Prussia, Austria, and Russia?”

Blackwell nodded slightly: “No one has explicitly stated it, but that’s essentially the case. The Russians have been too arrogant in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Ottoman region over the past few years, especially by forcing the Ottomans into signing a secret treaty aiming to control the Bosporus Strait. The French have long been uneasy about this since they have traditional interests in the Mediterranean. On our side, back then, the domestic situation was caught up in parliamentary reform, followed by the Portuguese Civil War, so we overlooked it. Now that Viscount Palmerston has come to his senses, he realizes he suffered a great loss. And do you know about the incident with Consul David Eckett in Constantinople?”

“David Eckett?” Arthur recalled the name: “I don’t think I know this guy. What, did he do something disrespectful to our Foreign Secretary?”

Blackwell truthfully shared the information he’d gathered recently: “How should I put it to you? Sir David Eckett is considered an eccentric. After graduating from Oxford University, he happened to encounter the Greek War of Independence, and inspired by Byron, Shelley, and others, he went to Athens to join the British volunteers supporting Greek independence. But something happened during the war, perhaps the actions of the Greeks disgusted him, causing Sir David to lose all hope in Greece. He not only stopped supporting Greek independence but began sympathizing with Greece’s suzerain, the Ottoman Turks, and developed an intense resentment towards their mortal enemy, the Russians.

After returning from Greece, Sir David joined the Foreign Office and actively requested to be sent to the Near East for a series of diplomatic tasks. After working for several years across the Near East, he was transferred to the embassy in Constantinople to serve as First Secretary, and he was promoted to Consul this year. Originally, the clause concerning the Bosporus Strait in the secret treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire was confidential and not publicly stated. The embassy in Constantinople went to great lengths to find out from the Ottoman court. Upon learning of this, Viscount Palmerston thought it was too embarrassing and planned to pretend ignorance initially and recover from it later.

However, upon discovering that Viscount Palmerston was saying nothing about the secret treaty, Sir David flew into a rage. Without informing the Foreign Office, he leaked the news directly to “The Times” and accused the Foreign Secretary of being a traitor to Britain and a coward too soft on Russia. Because of this, now the front pages of all major London newspapers are filled with speculation about Viscount Palmerston accepting bribes from Russia. Viscount Palmerston is in a terrible predicament due to his actions, and he has demanded that our embassy in Russia immediately lodge a stern protest with Saint Petersburg.”

Saying this, Blackwell’s expression suddenly turned somewhat peculiar: “Sir, this afternoon, the ambassador is likely to notify you of this news and you might have to accompany the Earl of Dalmo.”