The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1482: Chapter 240: My Money!

The carriage rolled over Yelinka Street, and ice crystals on the iron-cast axles dripped melting snow like blood beads.

Arthur held a cigar in his mouth, his hands restlessly flipping through the summary of “The History of Little Russia” that his secretary had organized for him yesterday.

Yes, indeed, although this British Lord had praised the book highly in front of the Minister of Education, in reality, he had only read the preface and the first volume.

However, this does not mean that Gogol’s “The History of Little Russia” is not well written, but rather that Arthur was tied up with affairs in the Caucasus.

Because the cunning Sir David Eckett insisted on playing hide and seek with the British Embassy, it forced Arthur to delay tackling the six-volume Ural Mountains of “The History of Little Russia.”

“What are you reading?” Baron Dantes, sitting opposite Arthur, patted his gloves: “Are you afraid that His Majesty the Tsar will give you a hard time? Reviewing at the last minute? Rest assured, His Majesty isn’t the sort to make things difficult for others. Besides, he’s just in a bad mood today and wants to chat with you. As a Briton, it’s actually fine if you don’t understand Russian history, especially since ‘The History of Little Russia’ is unfamiliar even to many Russians.”

Arthur looked at the tsar’s close attendant before him, closed the book, and teased him about his identity: “If someone else said this to me, I might not believe it, but since you say it, I take it seriously. However, I still haven’t figured out why a Frenchman like you ended up in Russia, swearing allegiance to the Tsar.”

“Do you even need to ask?” Baron Dantes took a cigar from the box Arthur handed him: “It’s simply because I didn’t want to serve Louis Philippe’s new government.”

Arthur chuckled: “Well, there are quite a few people in France who don’t want to serve the Orleans Party, but I still can’t fathom how an Alsatian could become a Chouan. It’s like a Vendee person claiming to support the Republican Government. Both seem very odd.”

“Ha!”

Baron Dantes commented unreservedly: “You must have read a bunch of crooked books written by the ‘dwarf’ Thiers, so you only remember that ‘La Marseillaise’ was composed in Strasbourg, Alsace, and that generals like Kleman and Kleber from the Great Revolution were Alsatians. But what you don’t know is—there were quite a few Alsatians opposed to the Jacobin Party and supportive of the legitimate Bourbon Royal Family. After the Great Revolution broke out, tens of thousands of Alsatians fled east to Germany and Austria. After the hypocritical Republican Government allowed these people to return to their homeland, they found their land or homes had been confiscated. Since the National Assembly abolished religion, many Alsatians ran to Swiss monasteries for ‘pilgrimage’ for baptisms and weddings. With so many reversals, what’s so strange about an Alsatian becoming a Chouan?”

Arthur, hearing this, still somewhat regretfully said: “But the government now isn’t even the Republican Party. I remember you graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy, and staying in France might also have led to a good career.”

Baron Dantes heard this and shook his head slightly, his blond hair trembling in the cold wind: “In France, never harbor wishful thinking. Besides, I have already sworn allegiance to Charles X, representative of the Bourbon Dynasty, and, based on the principle of loyalty to one master and the knightly conduct and nobility’s dignity, I cannot accept a usurper as the ruler of France.”

Arthur asked: “Do you still retain French citizenship then?”

“I do.” Baron Dantes took a puff of smoke and admired the scenery outside through the gray glass: “The July Monarchy Government permits me to serve abroad while retaining my citizenship.”

“If given the chance, would you return to France?”

Baron Dantes teased: “If someone told me today that Louis Philippe and his inevitably short-lived dynasty had perished, then I would pack up and head back to Paris today.”

“Wouldn’t you return to the Netherlands?” Arthur winked at Baron Dantes.

The two of them got along well in St. Petersburg; Arthur’s “Thiers’ Private Story” often made this young French nobleman laugh heartily.

Arthur joked: “Come on, don’t keep it from me, old chap! I’ve heard about it, I thought everyone called you Baron Dantes because you had a baronial title in France, but I didn’t know your baron title actually came from the Dutch court plenipotentiary representative Baron Van Heekren Tot En Heijzen.”

“Your information is quite well-informed.”

Baron Dantes admitted with grace: “Baron Van Heekren Tot En Heijzen has always treated me well, but I was quite surprised when I first heard he intended to name me his heir. I swear to God, I never coveted his property or title, but we really got along well. I was a young Russian arriving alone in St. Petersburg, and he was a solitary Dutch elder, but we shared common interests, always finding conversation subjects, whether it was hunting, military, history, or heraldry research. I’ve always regarded him as a respectable elder, but I really didn’t expect him to intend to adopt me under his wing.”

Arthur half-jokingly envied: “Ah, a windfall, and it happened to land right on you. I heard that Baron Van Heekren Tot En Heijzen specially took you to Alsace late last year to discuss this face-to-face with your father. So, is this settled?”