The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1604: Chapter 24: Scotland Yard’s Bad Seed (Part 2)

The earnings from pulling a job with Arthur were enough to keep Schneider just and honest for twenty years.

So, are the middle-class families, those with incomes over 300 Pounds, better off than families like Schneider’s?

Not exactly, because people’s desires expand step by step, and there’s never a day when they’re fully satisfied.

This upper echelon of the middle class often has the highest probability of going bankrupt.

This is partly due to their lifestyle standards, always aiming to align with the upper class.

The house has to be large, so large it resembles a castle. Mr. Audley End from Essex County detests the smell of the kitchen and the dirty dishwater, so he built the kitchen 250 yards away from the dining room.

Yet he wants to eat hot meals, so he built a railroad specifically for delivering dishes in his mansion, making every mealtime feel like a train station arrival.

On the other hand, as soon as these folks get a little money, they like to invest in something. Whether it was the 1826 stock market crash at the London Stock Exchange or the collective default of South American bonds, they never managed to avoid it!

Although Arthur exhibits some of these bad habits, he doesn’t encompass all these characteristics.

He knows that with his current financial capabilities, and his secure position at the top of the middle class, should he deign to lower himself to attend social gatherings in Chelsea, Kensington, and Islington, he would surely be the central figure for an astonished and flattered crowd.

However, after meeting figures like the King of France and the Tsar of Russia, he just feels standing with these nouveau riche is quite degrading, and their flattery does not stir him at all.

He doesn’t wish to go to the noble venues, and the middle-class salons eagerly await but never see Sir Arthur Hastings’ patronage. So, where should this fellow be placed?

Truth be told, this old man’s favorite places are around Pantone and the streets near Leicester Square.

What kind of reputation does this area have in London?

Well, let’s say if you’re a tourist from out of town, you could hail a horse-drawn cab and pour your lonely thoughts of the long night into the driver’s ear, and there’s a 90% chance they’ll take you to this place.

Licentious, cunning, incorrigible, this is Leicester Square, the nest of London’s streetwalkers in the 19th century.

Of course, don’t think that just because these young ladies look delicate, you can entertain ideas that contradict the free trade ethos.

Besides the ladies, swindlers, robbers, and thieves also abound in these streets.

In fact, in internal Scotland Yard documents, suspects are often referred to as ”Leicester Square adventurers.”

As you see, Arthur is a Leicester Square adventurer.

Of course, so is his friend Mr. Eld Carter.

Even Disraeli’s political opponent, that ”Lumberjack” Gladstone whom he looks down upon, frequently ventures to Leicester Square.

The only difference is, each of these gentlemen has their unique reasons for their adventures.

Gladstone, ever the same, comes here to persuade women to reform.

For that, he nearly got himself into big trouble.

A tabloid reporter once witnessed this rising star of the Tory Party conversing with a strange woman in Leicester Square and assumed Gladstone was there for a dalliance. The reporter threatened Gladstone, demanding money to keep quiet, or he’d make the story public the next day.

As for Mr. Carter, his reasons for coming here are indeed indescribable.

Readers wanting to know more about this are encouraged to circle the first of next month on their calendars and head promptly to the nearby train station to queue for the latest magazine ”Spark” from the Empire Publishing Company by horseback.

In his new work ”The Mad Knight of Leicester,” Mr. Eld Carter will delve deeply into how this square, filled with hotels bearing foreign names, is indeed a den of vice.

In Leicester Square, what kind of sparks will erupt between exiled Poles, Italian opera minor actors, mediocre French ballet understudies, German musicians, impoverished home tutors, translators, and managers of small gambling houses?

Arthur stands at a corner of Leicester Square, lingering in front of a mobile food cart labeled ”Prince of Wales.”

No one knows why, but these food vendors love giving their stalls names that showcase patriotic spirit—names like ”King William,” ”Jack United,” and even the once-detested ”Iron Duke,” have now become prime golden labels displayed on carts.

But there must be a reason vendors insist on this; although Arthur hasn’t verified it, if they persist in doing ”patriotic business,” it’s most likely because ”patriotic business” truly helps boost their sales.

These street foods don’t actually taste much worse than what’s sold in stores; at least Arthur can’t tell the difference, not to mention that what they’re selling is so cheap.

On the streets, just one penny will buy a piece of fish and a piece of bread, which is indeed a fine choice for a Scotland Yard patrolman who doesn’t have time for a proper meal.

But just because the food is cheap doesn’t mean Arthur buys everything; for example, he wouldn’t dare buy a meat pie from the street.

Will’s pie might be delicious, but only if you are sure... it doesn’t contain cat meat, or something even more dreadful...