The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1625: Chapter 32: Brothers for Life (Part 3)

After returning to London, Wheatstone confidently established the first telegraph company in London, or rather all of Europe, and the world—the England Electromagnetic Telegraph Company.

Moreover, he plunged all his savings into it, building telegraph stations next to every train station in London and establishing a vast telegraph network covering the entire area.

However, just as this fellow was planning to lie on his bed and count money, he suddenly realized that the return on investment for the telegraph company was apparently not as good as he had imagined.

For most people, spending 1 shilling just to send a message from Greenwich to Hackney was simply madness.

In an effort to increase usage, Wheatstone thought about lowering the telegraph prices, but with a construction cost of 165 British Pounds per mile of telegraph line right there, how much cheaper could it get?

Ordinary people didn’t have a high demand for telegraphs, and the government departments that truly needed quick information transmission weren’t interested in a network that only covered London City, so naturally, it wasn’t long before Wheatstone found himself on the brink of bankruptcy.

In order to maintain the company’s operations, the university teaching positions that he had always looked down upon suddenly became valuable to Wheatstone.

He even once thought of joining King’s College—a notion quite disrespectful to Arthur.

Luckily, Arthur intervened decisively and promptly stopped the occurrence of this “tragedy.”

Moreover, considering their years of friendship, Arthur actively proposed that through a cross-shareholding method, Wheatstone’s England Electromagnetic Telegraph Company be incorporated under the Imperial Publishing Company. Though Imperial Publishing would consequently shoulder some debts, well…

Isn’t it right to support a friend selflessly?

Besides, whether a business loses or makes money depends on who is running it.

The acceptance of wired telegraphs is indeed low right now, but all it needs is a catalyst to change.

Furthermore, Wheatstone still had so many telegraph stations, all located in prime locations adjacent to coach stations, so the operating costs of the telegraph could completely be recouped by selling newspapers and magazines.

As for the construction costs of the telegraph lines?

Wheatstone had already paid for them, and there won’t be extra construction expenses, only some maintenance costs in the end, so Arthur had nothing much to worry about.

Initially, Wheatstone wanted to sell all his shares when he learned Arthur was willing to take over his losing business.

But first, Arthur thought he couldn’t always target one fool; sharing prosperity was the primary reason for his success today, rather than eating alone.

And second, he truly didn’t have the financial resources to swallow all of Wheatstone’s shares, even if the other party was willing to give him a 50% discount, it was still a solid 30,000 Pounds. Where would Arthur find so many Young Italians now?

Forget Young Italy, Young England was a small group within the Tory Party led by Disraeli, the Young Germans’ students were good with him in Gottingen, but as for Young Russia? Young Russia would be lucky to keep themselves from heading to Siberia, let alone provide funds for the Duke’s activities.

Arthur was simultaneously chatting with Conroy about the telegraph business and Wheatstone’s recent unfortunate circumstances while reminiscing via telegraph about the past events in Gottingen involving Gauss and Weber setting up telegraph lines at the Observatory.

When Conroy heard those names, renowned across Europe, come out one after another from Arthur’s mouth, he felt even more convinced of this authority in electromagnetism.

He contemplated to bring up the role of Miss Lily but didn’t know where to start. After pondering for a while, he suddenly remembered a suitable opportunity: “Mrs. Levin and Lady Cooper have recently often mentioned your name at Almack’s Club, saying that not one of the club’s pianists can match you. You’ve yet to visit the club since returning to London, right? There’s a gathering at the club tomorrow; are you not planning to give these two ladies a surprise?”

Arthur’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing Mrs. Levin’s name: “Mrs. Levin? Are you serious?”

Conroy knew about the subtle relationship between Arthur and Mrs. Levin, and not to mention that Mrs. Levin had always been the rumored love interest of Foreign Secretary Viscount Palmerston. The mere fact that she was the sister of Count Benkendorf, head of the Third Bureau of the Imperial Office of Tsarist Russia, was enough for Arthur, this “Caucasus criminal,” to worry.

Conroy laughed and said, “Though you encountered some troubles in the Caucasus, problems eventually need solutions, and only the one who ties the knot can untie it. If you wish to clear the misunderstanding, perhaps you won’t find a better mediator than Mrs. Levin.”