The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1505: Chapter 249: Russian Gentlemen of the West_2

Shubinsky, upon hearing these words, seemed to understand something. He took the cigar offered by Arthur and lit it, “I see now, my dear friend, I wondered why you were so concerned about that young Herzen. So, it was Herzen’s father, Ivan Alekseyevich, who sent you here, and you’re here as a persuader?”

Arthur half-truthfully confessed to Shubinsky, “That would be about right. You know, back when I was in Leipzig, I got to know a few young people, Herzen, Ogarev, Sartin, Ivan Obolensky. They’re all students from Moscow University. When I got to Moscow during Carnival, being unfamiliar with the place, I remembered the address Herzen had given me. So, I excitedly went to his house to visit.”

Shubinsky recalled that he wasn’t home at the time, and turned to Arthur with an apology, “My friend, it was my fault. I was visiting my in-laws in St. Petersburg with my wife at the time, otherwise, you wouldn’t have had to lodge elsewhere. But you managed to become friends with Herzen’s father, that’s unexpected. He has a bit of a temper, many people say he’s difficult to get along with.”

Arthur replied subtly, “I don’t think so. If he is difficult to get along with, it’s probably because people don’t suit his taste. If you can really have a good conversation with him, he would be a great friend. You see, Duke You Subofu and Count Komarovski adore him, and General Bachmetev and Governor of Essen are sworn brothers with him. Nobles like him, who served in the Imperial Guard in their youth, have many old buddies who have risen to high ranks now. So, even if he’s hard to get along with, why not just tolerate him more? At most, you’d just have to listen to some old ramblings and endure some of his outdated ‘glorious memories’. And I think his memories about Paris and Moscow in 1812 are not necessarily so boring, at least I enjoyed them.”

Shubinsky’s boot suddenly made a sharp tremor on the malachite floor, like a bear struck by a bullet.

He paced as if contemplating, then suddenly leaned in to whisper, “My dear Arthur, you’re not asking me to write in the interrogation report that Mr. Herzen’s interest in Saint-Simonianism is just like a cook’s love for Celestial Mechanics, are you?”

Arthur leisurely trimmed his cigar ash with a silver cigar cutter, sparks dropping onto the gilt cover of the Exile Register, “I heard that last week, the lead ballerina of the Petrovsky Theater used Social Contract Theory as the latest trend in corset ads.”

“But those students aren’t dancers!” The Constitutional Soldier Colonel’s nails dug deep into the leather chair back, “Yesterday, young Golitsyn seized a French poem from a young man’s home, saying something like ‘when Caesar’s laurel wilts, the wild wolf of Romulus will rebirth in the snowstorm,’ isn’t this clearly alluding to the Decembrists?”

Arthur tapped the malachite table with his pipe, startling the candles in front of the Madonna into flickering, “Dear, have you seen a real revolutionary? Those desperados behind the barricades of Paris, their boots stained with the blood of City Hall officials. But these young gentlemen you catch…”

Arthur casually took an example, “Take that young man named Sartin, for instance. Chasing a girl, he would even mess up Pushkin’s To the Sea in a love letter, mistaking ‘free elements’ for ‘self-element’, like a grammar teacher’s last words before fainting.”

Shubinsky’s medals suddenly jingled, like an invisible hand plucking a copper bell.

He sneakily drew out a yellowed slip of paper from the Bible’s insert on his desk, “Look at this, it was found in Ogarev’s desk drawer!”

Arthur squinted to decipher the scrawled writing, “Thursday night at seven, the usual place, remember to bring the script of Dikanka Suburb Night Talk… Ha, is Mr. Gogol with hemorrhoids now in fashion?”

“The key is on the back.” The Constitutional Soldier Colonel’s nose tip was beaded with sweat, and even Shubinsky felt guilty, “Look here — Three hundred rubles gathered, enough to order the French original of Spirit of Law from Switzerland!”

The fireplace suddenly popped a spark, almost igniting Shubinsky’s carefully tended mustache.

In his flustering to douse the flame, Arthur leisurely flicked cigarette ash onto the Exile Register, “If I may remind you, the Moscow University Library currently holds twenty-seven copies of Spirit of Law, one of which is a unique copy with Empress Catherine’s handwritten notes.”

“But those are Russian translations!” Shubinsky hopped about clutching his singed mustache, “The French original…”

“Priced at forty-five rubles at a St. Petersburg foreign bookshop.” Arthur, like performing a magic trick, pulled out a wallet from his pocket and placed a receipt in front of Shubinsky, “This is a receipt for a book I helped the Earl of Dalmo purchase last month. While it wasn’t Spirit of Law, I can assure you they have many French originals. Of course, maybe they won’t next month, but at least before the new decree passes, they’ve been selling them regularly.”

The Constitutional Soldier Colonel slumped into the seat as if his bones were removed, mumbling vaguely, “Young Golitsyn insists this is for secretive activities…”

“So, you’re still happy to be led by the nose by him?” Arthur then said, “I remember you told me earlier that your son would be sixteen in a few years, and you plan to send him to Germany to study. You even asked me whether Berlin University or University of Gottingen would be better.”

“Of course, I remember you telling me that University of Gottingen had top-notch education.”

“That’s not the point, the point is if your son wishes to gain real knowledge at Gottingen, then the remittance you would receive from him every month should be enough to buy up the entire Swiss bookstore.”

Shubinsky chuckled bitterly at these words, “Enough, I might not have this worry in the future.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Perhaps you don’t know yet.” Talking about work going poorly and life more so, Shubinsky sighed, “The Tsar has just signed an order commencing this year, banning Russian nobility from residing abroad, and government institutions also prohibit recruiting Russian students who graduated from foreign universities. So now you understand? Sending children to study abroad now is tantamount to ruining their future.”

Arthur was quite surprised to hear this, although he already knew the extreme nature of the Tsar, but he didn’t expect Tsar Nicholas I to cut so decisively.

“Ha…” Arthur self-mockingly jested, “It seems in Russia I’ve become illiterate after all. I haven’t been to any Russian university, and I don’t have a British high school or primary school diploma.”

“You? What are you worrying about?”

Shubinsky, also dissatisfied with the policy, cynically made a roundabout jab at the new policy, “Didn’t you hear what I had said earlier? The government institutions do not hire Russian students who graduated from foreign universities, but they didn’t say anything about not hiring foreign students who graduated from foreign universities! You need to know, our Tsar is very, very fond of Germans. Certainly, he is quite fond of non-Republican Frenchmen as well, like your friend Baron Dantes. Not sure what merits he recently achieved, perhaps gained favor from some influential lady, but I heard he is about to be promoted to Guard Cavalry Major. If you are also inclined towards serving Russia, I think the Tsar would be very happy. After all, in Russia, it’s always foreign priests who chant the best sermons.”