The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1686: Chapter 55_2

Princess Esterházy even complained that if she had known earlier that Sir Arthur Hastings was willing to condescend to teach children, she would surely have invited him to her home to teach them first.

Compared to Arthur’s image, the former Home Secretary Viscount Melbourne’s image seemed quite dirty.

The Duchess of Kent still remembers how a few months ago she talked to this Whig aristocrat at a private dinner at Buckingham Palace.

At that time, he was gentle and elegant, his language well-measured, showing the dignity and cultivation expected of a middle-aged Whig gentleman.

She recalled that Viscount Melbourne specially praised Victoria for her intelligence, saying her speaking style had the eloquence of Charles Fox, which momentarily made her feel somewhat favorable towards this Home Office leader.

But now it seems all of this was nothing more than the usual empty words at a White Hall banquet.

She could even imagine Viscount Melbourne’s demeanor when he received news of Officer Cali’s death—not angry, but frowning, sighing, then ordering his secretary to draft an ambiguous reply, putting the matter ”on the agenda,” to be ”examined by the committee,” and finally to disappear without a trace.

She used to think he was ”gentler than Peel, more refined than Grey,” and that his unfortunate marriage with ”Caroline Ponsonby, the madwoman infatuated with Byron” was not to be blamed on this gentleman.

When the Grey Cabinet collapsed and King William IV commanded Melbourne to form a cabinet, the Duchess of Kent even wrote him a congratulatory letter.

Looking back now, she felt she was truly blind!

No matter how gentle and refined he is, this time Viscount Melbourne, this sleepy-head of the House of Lords, went too far!

The Duchess of Kent calmly sorted out the curriculum in her hand, her movements slow and elegant, but the anger in her heart was already burning brightly.

She is not naive, nor does she naively believe that a gentleman of the political realm would lose sleep over a widow’s letter of petition, nor does she expect the former Whig Prime Minister to expend even an ounce of energy over the death of a lower-ranking officer.

But she is after all someone with a good memory, who never forgets those who lent a hand during her life’s difficult moments; and who notes with cold eyes those who stood by in others’ times of trouble.

To openly criticize Viscount Melbourne, the leader of the Whig Party, the Duchess of Kent asked herself honestly and knew she couldn’t. After all, to stabilize Victoria’s position as Crown princess, she still needs the support of the Whig Party.

But that does not prevent her from appreciating those young people who ”do good deeds without asking for a future.”

News reports say Sir Arthur gave 200 pounds in relief money to the Cali family, so she intends to double that amount, giving him a raise of 400 pounds, built on the 1,000 pounds annual salary recommended by Conroy.

What an outstanding young man he is!

Early this morning, as Sir Arthur was just stepping into Kensington Palace, the Duchess of Kent had been waiting for him to speak about those glorious deeds he personally experienced a few days ago, but this young gentleman did not mention a word, instead going straight to Rose Hall to start teaching without delay, as if nothing had happened.

Seeing Arthur’s attitude, out of respect for his professional integrity, the Duchess of Kent also had to sit patiently here supervising her daughter’s class.

However, the Duchess of Kent feels that if Arthur does not voluntarily mention it after today’s class, she will have to initiate the conversation with Arthur.

After all, she just instructed the kitchen to prepare refreshments in advance; she plans to have a good chat with Arthur, satisfying her curiosity and, by the way, rewarding this gentleman who played a major role in the theft case.

Rose Hall was quiet, only the sound of the pen tip scraping paper could be heard, along with the occasional crackling of embers in the stove.

Arthur was softly commenting on a slightly redundant paragraph of parallelism in Victoria’s draft: ”The sentence structure is nice, but the emotion is piled a bit too much. ’We are willing to brave danger for freedom’ is sufficient, adding ’not bowing to tyranny’ seems excessive.”

Victoria nodded and whispered, ”Understood, Sir.”

By then, there was a faint sound of footsteps at the door.

The attendant standing by the door quickly approached and whispered in the Duchess of Kent’s ear: ”Madam, Sir Charles Rowan from the Royal London Metropolitan Police Hall, with several senior officers, is paying a visit. They claim the police investigation is over and are here specifically to return the stolen property to the palace.”

The Duchess of Kent immediately straightened up; the surprise on her face was quickly replaced by a genteel joy.

She stood up, smiled gently, and turned to Arthur: ”Sir, it seems our lesson needs to be temporarily interrupted.”

Having been precisely timing their arrival at Kensington Palace, Arthur slightly frowned and asked, ”Your Highness, what happened?”

”Your old colleagues have arrived.” The Duchess of Kent called upon Victoria: ”Delina, you too should come to meet these heroes who have retrieved your beloved writing box.”

At her mother’s call, Victoria stood up swiftly, seeming somewhat apprehensive. She hesitated to place the quill in the holder, capped the ink bottle, and carefully pressed the partially-written draft paper beneath the book.

Lady Leisen fetched a shawl for her, placing it smoothly and naturally over her shoulders.

”What should I say?” Victoria asked softly, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, appearing somewhat nervous.

Although she often is introduced by her mother to various social celebrities, she has never met so many people at once, let alone today’s guests who are police officers.

”Speak what you want to say.” Arthur’s pace was steady: ”Haven’t you been learning how to write speeches for three weeks? No need to be as formal as a speech, but the central idea is the same.”

”You mean, like your speech?” Victoria murmured softly, fearing her mother walking ahead would hear: ”Are we here for Britain? Or, the time spent with you is the sunniest period in my life?”

Arthur blushed with what Victoria said, and pretended to be calm: ”Your Highness, where did you see this speech? I don’t recall my curriculum including this material.”

”Do you remember Gabrielle?”

”Of course, the eldest daughter of the Prussian Envoy Heinrich von Blo, your friend; haven’t I met her at Kensington Palace?”

Seeing the rare awkwardness on her teacher’s face, Victoria could not help but chuckle softly: ”Gabrielle found it; she heard I was learning to write speeches lately, so she dug out your speech from back then. She also emphasized this speech is very hard to come by, not even in the newspapers.”

Rather than the difficulty of finding the speech, Arthur was more concerned about where a young girl discovered his old personal material.

”Not in the newspapers, not in magazines, so where did she find it?”

Victoria replied, ”She said it was given to her by Mr. Zhongma. They often go to the West District to watch plays, hence they have known Mr. Zhongma for a long time. She said Great Dumas is very easygoing and kind, not at all like a grand playwright. She told Mr. Zhongma she is a loyal fan of Arthur Hastings, so Mr. Zhongma gave her the speech, which she always kept at home, pressing it at the bottom of the cabinet. Had it not been for me telling her I was learning to write speeches, I wouldn’t have known her collection contains such valuable items.”

As they were chatting, they reached the atrium.

Upon reaching the atrium, sunlight streamed through the dome windows, casting on the row of upright figures. Sir Charles Rowan wore a deep blue uniform, silver buttons reflecting a solemn cold light in the sun; beside him were Hutter, Colly, and several plainclothes detectives, one of whom held the neatly wrapped ornate box.