The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1656: Chapter 45: Chaos at the Alhambra

The Alhambra Theater under the night sky looked dreamlike and unreal.

Strings of bubble lights swayed gracefully on the wrought iron decorations of the porch. The red carpet at the entrance still carried the lingering fragrance of elegant ladies’ skirts. Arthur supported Disraeli, who was still rubbing his eyes, as they passed through the bustling crowd to enter the gilt-framed glass double doors.

The guards at the theater entrance immediately recognized this pair of familiar patrons, bowing and nodding as they ushered them in, completely oblivious to the heavy makeup on Disraeli’s face.

They went straight up to the third-floor box section, and before they even entered the usual box reserved for the board members of Imperial Publishing, they heard the sound of a heated argument inside.

“This is the beginning of a coup! Just wait and see, today that old sailor can dissolve Parliament, and tomorrow he can burn the charter!”

Dickens passionately proclaimed, slapping the armrest, his face flushed red, causing one of the buttons on his burgundy vest to pop off.

Since Arthur had known Dickens, it was the first time he had seen him so furious.

“Charles, stop talking about restoring royal power.”

Great Dumas lazily leaned back in his chair, holding the theater’s provided binoculars, watching the ballet dancers rehearsing below: “Look on the bright side, at least your King is King William IV, not Louis Philippe, nor any Bourbon.”

“Then what do you say we do now?” Dickens jumped up: “We are writers, we are journalists, we must speak out! Have you thought about how to write tomorrow’s editorial?”

“Write?” Great Dumas rolled over with his belly sticking out: “How about writing a tragedy? Let’s call it ‘Twilight of the Blue Lobster.’

Heine poured himself a glass of wine: “‘Twilight of the Blue Lobster’? Alexander, aren’t you mistaken? I think it’s good for Scotland Yard. If Britain’s royal power is truly restored, Arthur will more than likely once again rise from the sea level.”

He cleared his throat, as if to clear it, or perhaps to remind everyone to pay attention.

Then, in a deep and clear voice, he recited a verse in German.

“I will write a new song for you, a better song, friends! We will establish a Heaven on earth in this mortal world.”

Just then, the door suddenly opened.

Disraeli wiped his nosebleed with his cuff, ignoring Heine.

Arthur placed Disraeli on the sofa, stretched and said: “Here we go again, Heinrich, you’re talking about revolution again?”

At these words, Disraeli sat up straight disdainfully: “Let him talk, the problem with this little Jewish German is too much poetry and too little action. No matter how high he sings, when election time comes, the Tory Party will still capture half the kingdom. Can the Heaven in his poetry withstand the squire’s carriage of the Tories?”

After speaking, Disraeli disapprovingly scolded Dickens: “Charles, I really didn’t expect you to remain a supporter of the Whig Party to this day. Why don’t you tell me, what good has that bunch of ink-stained, money-reeking fake nobility done in Parliament in the past two years?”

Dickens retorted indignantly: “Benjamin, doesn’t the complete abolition of slavery count as one of their achievements?”

“Yes! Abolishing slavery, the Whig Party is just so great! Pfft!”

Disraeli spat: “Just because of the abolition of slavery, Parliament now has to shell out twenty to thirty million pounds to compensate those slave masters. This huge financial burden has caused the government budget to be seriously overspent. Therefore, they had to introduce the new English Poor Laws to make up for the deficit by reducing social welfare. If there are any more bright ideas like that, the poor in Britain will soon have to survive on potatoes and seaweed!”

Dickens’ face flushed from anger to pale upon Disraeli’s sarcasm, yet he insisted: “The new English Poor Laws are certainly bad policies. My ‘Oliver Twist’ is about the new English Poor Laws, but just because the new English Poor Laws have issues, it doesn’t mean abolishing slavery was wrong! And besides, that member of your party, Gladstone, what the hell was his speech about? Not only did he openly defend the slave system, but you Tories even sat below applauding him, aren’t you ashamed?”

To Dickens’ accusation at Disraeli, it seemed to leave him indifferent: “Gladstone has always been a bastard; you’re just realizing this now? Didn’t you previously think that guy liked to persuade streetwalkers to reform and often went to slums to investigate, so he was a righteous gentleman? Their family has three thousand slaves working in plantations in the West Indies. Why do you think he defends slavery? After slavery was abolished, their family received quite a bit of compensation. In Liverpool, that slave master’s den, he is now revered as a hero!”

Arthur leisurely poured himself a cup of tea, watching his two friends argue until their faces flushed.

Although to people of later generations, someone who supports slavery while advocating for the rights of the poor seems odd.

But in fact, in the political scene of the 19th century, people with similar views were not uncommon.

The most interesting among them was a speech Arthur had read in a newspaper some time ago.

It was a speech by Mr. William Cobbett, the founder of ‘Poor Man’s Monthly Political Magazine,’ opposing the new English Poor Laws. The speech was impassioned. Just reading the text, one could imagine Mr. Cobbett waving his arm, and the workers responding in unison during the speech.