The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1408: Chapter 211: Luck So Bad Even Drinking Cold Water Chips Your Teeth (Part 2)

”No, you can’t do it, dear, because the Neva River is already frozen.”

Agares laughed heartily, his tail wagging even more enthusiastically.

It was clear that the Red Devil was quite pleased with his own wit.

Arthur slapped his forehead, feeling that lately, misfortunes had been piling on.

The news that a British citizen had illegally entered Russia was already a headache.

And this British citizen happened to be Sir David Eckett, the First Secretary in Constantinople, an Oxford alumnus who had cultivated deep friendships with King William IV and several British political figures during his university years.

Moreover, Sir David went to the heavily blockaded Caucasus Mountains to connect with resistance leaders, sympathizing with the Circassians who opposed Russian rule.

Most importantly, none of these decisions were reported to the Foreign Office or the Constantinople Embassy, nor did they receive approval from any minister.

In other words, Sir David Eckett’s actions were completely rogue!

Arthur thought that posing as a Russian imperial envoy in desperation was daring, but compared to the headstrong Sir David, it was child’s play.

The British Embassy in Russia, upon learning of Sir David’s entry into the Caucasus, immediately dispatched people to trace his whereabouts.

But such efforts were largely in vain.

Britain’s presence in the Caucasus was virtually nonexistent, and even if they had informants there, searching for one person in the vast and rugged Caucasus Mountains was like finding a needle in a haystack.

There were even those in the embassy who believed Sir David might have already perished in the Caucasus.

Fortunately, based on the recent reaction of the Russian government, they seemed unaware that a British diplomat had stealthily crossed their blockade and successfully entered the Circassia region in the Caucasus.

For the Foreign Office, Sir David dying in the Caucasus was preferable to him being captured alive by the Russians.

Because a living Sir David would serve as undeniable evidence of ”Britain’s meddling in Russian internal affairs.”

No one likes to clean up a mess, especially someone else’s mess.

On this matter, the embassy in Russia and the Foreign Office maintained a high degree of consistency in their stance.

However, although most people wished Sir David would perish soon, as long as there was no definitive news, his fate hung over everyone like the Sword of Damocles.

To understand how urgent Viscount Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, was, one only needed to look at his order to the embassy in Russia—to bring Sir David out of the Caucasus alive, or if necessary, bring him out dead.

And in the week that followed, the search for Sir David could only be described as a nightmare.

Where is Sir David?

No one knew.

But, who was with Sir David?

Besides the Circassians, there was a correspondent from ”The Times,” James Langworth.

Speaking of Mr. Langworth, he was actually an old acquaintance of Arthur’s.

Back when Arthur was conducting a sting operation on Bernie Harrison at Scotland Yard, Langworth was there accompanying the noted journalist of Britain, ”Jupiter” Thomas Barnes from ”The Times,” for a live interview.

However, at that time, he was just a junior reporter assisting Thomas Barnes.

After that live interview on the ’British sausage-making craft,’ Langworth seemed to have an epiphany, and in the following years, published several well-known reports, including a feature on the cholera epidemic and a long-form column on parliamentary reform.

At the beginning of last year, with the expansion of ”The Times”’ commercial reach, Langworth, favored by editor Thomas Barnes, took on a groundbreaking role by being appointed as the correspondent for ”The Times” in the Ottoman Empire at Constantinople, fully responsible for news collection and editing in the Middle East and Central Asia.

It was well known that Western journalists always rushed to where the news was, but the only ones that outran them were Hong Kong journalists.

Unfortunately, in those days, Hong Kong didn’t have journalists yet, so in long-distance runs, British journalists, especially those from ”The Times,” naturally took the lead as the best runners.

Langworth, somehow having heard about Sir David Eckett’s exploits, risked his life to board the boat with Sir David to obtain first-hand information from the Chelskaya region, temporarily becoming a war correspondent and naturally went missing together with him.

When Viscount Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, learned of this, he was so shocked that he practically hinted to the embassy in Russia—once Langworth was found, he had to be shot on site.

Every British politician understood that if a journalist like Langworth were to return alive, Fleet Street would undoubtedly create a huge scandal for Viscount Palmerston and the Foreign Office.

After all, not everyone was like Arthur—what kind of newspaper headline hadn’t Arthur seen? What kind of criticism hadn’t he faced?

Although still young, Arthur was already battle-hardened and experienced.

To know, ”Jupiter” Thomas Barnes of ”The Times” was far superior to James Langworth, yet Arthur conversed and laughed freely with him.