The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1641: Chapter 40: Victoria’s Secret

After attending a private ball hosted at Kensington Palace, Arthur thought it would be difficult to receive another invitation from them in the near future.

Unexpectedly, just a week later, he received an invitation from the Duchess of Kent.

In her letter, the Duchess lavished praise on Arthur’s outstanding contributions to society, and stated that the purpose of inviting him to Kensington Palace this time was mainly to introduce her and Princess Victoria to the latest developments in the field of Natural Philosophy. She also expressed interest in Arthur’s travels throughout Europe and the latest criminal investigation techniques from Scotland Yard.

In short, what Arthur introduces at Kensington Palace is not important, but his acceptance of the invitation and willingness to visit is extremely important.

With such courtesy from the Duchess of Kent, Arthur had no reason to refuse.

For this, he even canceled a poker game with Talleyrand, the French Envoy.

Arthur has been having a rough time lately, and Talleyrand hasn’t been any less embroiled in affairs.

Some time ago, Queen of Belgium, Louis Philippe of France’s eldest daughter Louise de Orleans publicly complained about Talleyrand: Talleyrand had accepted bribes from the King of the Netherlands, so he vigorously favored the Dutch in the division of territory and the sharing of national debts between the Netherlands and Belgium.

Regarding the Queen of Belgium’s criticism, Talleyrand lamented, ”A daughter married is like water poured, just became Queen of Belgium, and doesn’t consider herself as France’s Princess anymore.”

On the other hand, Talleyrand vehemently refuted the rumors about him accepting bribes from the Dutch and reminded the French Government and Belgian people: ”Belgium’s ability to gain independence primarily relied on the support of France and Britain. And in terms of France, I was the one who made the most efforts for Belgium’s independence. The marriage proposal between the French and Belgian royal families was also first proposed by me. How could I have taken money from the Dutch?”

Were Talleyrand’s words reasonable?

Of course, they were reasonable.

But does this prove he didn’t take money?

Based on Arthur’s understanding of this old man who just celebrated his 80th birthday in February this year...

Hard to say!

Supporting Belgian independence is Talleyrand’s political stance.

As for how much territory and foreign debt Belgium finally gains independence with, that depends on the ”relationship” between Belgium and Talleyrand.

Obviously, this time Belgium was not on the right path, or at least not as much as the Dutch, so don’t blame Talleyrand for favoring the Dutch in territorial division and debt issues.

After all, when it comes to the art of eating from both ends, Talleyrand claims the second; no one dares to claim the first.

Diplomatic novices like Arthur Hastings play with small stakes like Young Italy, all doing business with figures like Schneider and Shubinsky.

And Talleyrand? Twenty or thirty years ago, he was already having a feast among the governments of Britain, France, Russia, America, and Austria, not to mention he generally collaborated with figures like Napoleon, Metternich, and Jefferson, and most importantly, these people sought Talleyrand for business.

Though everyone is ”making friends,” the value of Arthur’s friendships indeed isn’t as high as the old cripple’s.

During card games these days, Arthur has often been mocked by Talleyrand because of the Caucasus incident. This Prince Benevento of the First French Empire, the Imperial Deputy Elector, said he couldn’t believe that Arthur Hastings, who even bullets couldn’t kill, would be tripped by a small stone in the Caucasus.

The most angering part is Arthur couldn’t refute him because no matter how he argued, the appearance of the matter was indeed so.

Sir Arthur could only resolve in his heart to strive hard, determined to quickly return to the center of power, and remove the title of ”political failure” from his head.

Because who knows how many years that old thing Talleyrand has left, he might kick the bucket any morning and go to see Napoleon.

Arthur deeply loathed Talleyrand’s mockery regarding the Caucasus incident, but this didn’t affect the profound friendship of this cross-generational relationship. Not only because Arthur once helped Talleyrand make money, but also because both had a poor relationship with Viscount Palmerston.

The animosity between Arthur and Palmerston needn’t be detailed here, as for Talleyrand, he obviously looked down on this arrogant British Foreign Secretary and scoffed at Palmerston’s attempts to achieve a prominent position in European diplomacy.

In Talleyrand’s view, Palmerston’s ability to have influence in Europe was only because he was the British Foreign Minister, once he leaves this position, he becomes nothing.

Such a person actually tries to surpass him and Metternich, which is simply laughable.

With Britain’s strength as a backing, even if a pig is placed in the position of Foreign Minister, the pig can do the job well, who knows, Sir Arthur Hastings might do the job even better than Palmerston.

Talleyrand is intent on seeing Palmerston embarrassed, he frequently sends people to inquire for news from Palmerston. Once successful, he sends confidants to the London Stock Exchange to profit.

Talleyrand has been busy like this for three years, only to find that three years of effort couldn’t compare to Arthur’s single Caucasus.

Once a master takes action, it’s immediately evident.

Even when Arthur was the Police Superintendent at Scotland Yard, he managed to ruin Chief Inspector Clements, who was determined to make a fortune following Palmerston.