The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1578: Chapter 14: The Publishing Empire of “British

Inside the meeting room of the “Britons” editorial office, the gas lamps cast an amber glow on the oak shelves, while the dark green velvet curtains half-shielded the hustle and bustle of Fleet Street.

On either side of the long table, the pillars of the magazine each had their own hobbies. Dickens, with a cherrywood pipe in his mouth, was sketching the contours of an overindulgent parliament member on the edge of his manuscript with a pencil, clearly working on a satirical political novel.

Meanwhile, Mr. Disraeli, having recently moved into Mrs. Sikes’ residence, apparently hadn’t been sleeping well. He absentmindedly toyed with a gold-encrusted snuffbox, only reluctantly snapping to attention when his gaze fell upon the magazine’s financial report for the quarter.

As for Alfred Tennyson, this rising star of Britain’s poetry scene exuded a certain melancholy, much like the drizzle outside the window. Sometimes nodding, sometimes shaking his head, he was likely silently reciting new poetic rhymes.

Nevertheless, the most outrageous of them was Sir Arthur Hastings.

The Russian friend’s ink piece by Bichulin had somehow found its way into the meeting room of the “Britons.”

Lounging in a carved high-back chair, although he bore the banner of “Virtue Above All,” the thoughts in his mind couldn’t be considered entirely righteous and open.

The good news was that the intelligence Fiona provided was extraordinarily useful. When Ledley learned that his peculiar penchant wasn’t much of a secret, the Police Intelligence Department’s Section Five leader only symbolically protested for a moment before raising a white flag to Arthur, conveying his unconditional surrender.

After all, for Ledley, spying on Kensington Palace’s intelligence only carried the risk of ending his political life, whereas the evidence Arthur held would unquestionably end it with no room for recourse.

Perhaps with Ledley’s current position and social influence, the government was unlikely to execute him mercilessly on the charge of sodomy, but it’s certain he’d not escape charges like exile and hard labor.

Because even the Whig Party, as enlightened as it is, contains a considerable number of relatively conservative progressives. The series of troubles stirred up over the Ireland Church issue in recent months is the most powerful proof of this.

Many within the Whig Party can’t even tolerate challenging the National Church’s status in Ireland. How could they be expected to turn a blind eye on an issue of sexual orientation, deemed a crime by the entire Christian world?

What’s more, with the Melbourne Cabinet having just taken office, given the cautious nature of the new Prime Minister, he would never step forward for someone as distantly unrelated as Ledley, risking already fragile party unity slipping into a more dangerous state.

Even if, taking a step back, all favorable conditions occurred, and Viscount Melbourne went so far as to support Ledley, ensuring he wouldn’t be exiled or face hard labor, Scotland Yard would still undoubtedly dismiss him.

In other words, no matter how extensively the Whig Party currently holds power, Scotland Yard’s Toryism foundation remains unchanged.

This is largely because Scotland Yard was established through the efforts of Sir Peel of the Tory Party, with its core strength composed almost entirely of mid- to low-ranking officers retired from the Army.

Additionally, due to the particular nature of Scotland Yard’s work, even after a hundred years, such a public security organization, a national violent apparatus, will not change its relatively Tory, conservative operational style.

This attribute stems from the differing political philosophies of the Whig Party and the Tory Party.

Under the Whig Party’s liberal stance, government agencies should reduce interference in societal production and life as much as possible. Therefore, departments like Scotland Yard, with their extensive jurisdictional power, naturally become eyesores to them.

In contrast, the Tory Party’s conservative perspective, while many within it don’t advocate authoritarianism, doesn’t prevent them from favoring centralized management methods. This preference is why Scotland Yard could be born under the Tory Party’s leadership.

In short, if Scotland Yard were to align with the Whig Party, it would face budget cuts, personnel reductions, power shrinkages, and obstacles at every turn.

But following the Tory Party means enjoying prosperity and unlimited glory.

Thus, as long as the officers of Scotland Yard are thinking straight, they naturally know which side to align with.

Therefore, in a department like Scotland Yard, where conservatism is considered right, Ledley’s sexual orientation issues are far more severe than corruption and bribery, and cannot be simply regarded as a private indiscretion.

These are matters of lost ideals and convictions, betrayal of original missions, serious violations of organizational discipline, with malicious nature and severe circumstances. Not only should they be handled sternly, but also with heavy blows!

The courts might adjudicate Ledley, but Scotland Yard has no say in that.

However, within the department, he must be dismissed and stripped of rank!

Both Arthur and Ledley, perennial figures in the Scotland Yard pond, don’t need Arthur to spell things out clearly for Ledley to realize the gravity of the situation.

Nevertheless, even as Arthur hinted to Ledley, he didn’t push things to an extreme.

Not only did he not bring up past issues, criticizing Ledley’s previous evasions, but he also thanked Ledley for intercepting David Eckett’s letters to Fleet Street during the Caucasus incident. Moreover, Arthur gifted Ledley the Turquoise Snuff Bottle, which the Russian Foreign Ministry had ceremonially presented to him upon his departure, saying that half the credit for the Caucasus belonged to Ledley.