The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1710: Chapter 65: The Queen’s Guide (Part 2)

”What?!” Victoria seemed to have heard some kind of outrageous injustice. Ever since that speech, this future queen seemed to feel an indescribable weight among the support of the citizens, and being able to meet the expectations of her subjects made Victoria very proud.

She found it hard to bear the low salary Faraday received: ”This amount is much less than what was spent on repairing the Kensington Stables last year! Faraday is the most beloved natural philosopher in Britain, and he is doing such difficult work. How can the Royal Society treat him like that?”

”Indeed.” Arthur slapped his head: ”Oh, no, Your Highness, I must apologize to you. I forgot to tell you that besides the 100 pounds salary, Mr. Faraday can also receive free heating coal in winter, and the Royal Society even selected a rent-free room for him at Gresham College as his residence.”

”How big is the house Mr. Faraday lives in?”

”Hmm...” Arthur paced within Rose Hall, seemingly measuring the length and width, and suddenly spoke: ”About one-tenth the size of here.”

After hearing this, Victoria was silent for a few seconds, and she was furious.

Lady Leisen stood quietly by her side as always, without interrupting or showing any emotion.

She held a notebook as usual, but her eyes moved slightly, as if noticing a subtle shift in Victoria’s tone.

”So...” Victoria suddenly straightened up: ”The smartest person in our country might live to a standard lower than a postmaster?”

Clearly, Arthur was the one who stirred things up first, but now he was trying to play the good guy.

Arthur opened his mouth to comfort her: ”Your Highness, there’s really no need for you to worry about such things. If Mr. Faraday wishes, he can earn more than 1,000 pounds anytime. Previously, I represented the University of London and invited him to be our Professor of Experimental Physics, with an annual salary of 1,200 pounds, but Mr. Faraday still declined. For scholars like Mr. Faraday, the material enjoyment is far less significant than the achievement gained from progress in scientific research.”

”But, even so... 100 pounds is just too low...” Victoria grumbled unhappily: ”Can’t they give him a raise? So he can get 1,200 pounds without leaving the Royal Society. And not just Mr. Faraday, other scientists, like those scholars and professors at the Royal Observatory, should also receive better pay.”

Arthur gently shook his head: ”Oh, Your Highness, I advise you to abandon this idea.”

”Why?” Victoria looked quite surprised because she knew Arthur himself was a natural philosopher: ”Don’t you think you deserve high salaries?”

Arthur chuckled: ”I certainly wish for a high salary and hope other scientists in poverty can also receive enough remuneration for their scientific endeavors. But, Your Highness, if you raise the salaries at the Royal Society and the Royal Observatory too high, you can’t be sure if the people in those positions will still be scientists.”

Victoria blinked, as if she didn’t immediately grasp the unspoken meaning behind Arthur’s words.

”Not scientists... who would they be then?”

”You will understand in the future,” Arthur casually made an analogy: ”For instance, not all the members of the Royal Society are necessarily philosophers or researchers in natural philosophy. There are always many oddities in the world.”

Hearing this, Lady Leisen’s lips moved slightly, almost as if she was about to laugh but quickly returned to her usual composure.

She certainly knew who Arthur was hinting at. Sir John Conroy had recently been placed on the provisional member list of the Royal Society, and as long as he could pass the review by the committee of the Royal Society, this time next year he would be an esteemed member of the Royal Society.

And given Conroy’s arrogant demeanor recently, often tossing around scientific terminology in conversations, he must be quite confident about passing the committee review.

Lady Leisen never got along with Conroy, and although she didn’t dare criticize Conroy to his face, Arthur’s harmless ”Conroy joke” was quite pleasing to this lady tutor.

Therefore...

Arthur’s recent joke was something Lady Leisen naturally wouldn’t go out of her way to record in the Crown Prince’s daily entries.

If the Duchess of Kent sees this joke, she would inevitably hold a grudge against Arthur, something Leisen would not want to see happen.

After all, in a vast place like Kensington, there weren’t many who dared joke about Conroy.

In this moment when Conroy hopes to kick her out of Kensington, having more people like Arthur gave Leisen more confidence to continue staying in Kensington.

Noticing the atmosphere subtly stagnating, Lady Leisen closed her record book, gently coughed, and spoke slowly and unhurriedly: ”Your Highness, Sir Arthur’s words, though somewhat excessive, are not without insight.”

Her English accent, although mixed with a bit of Hanover’s German flavor, seemed particularly steady at this moment, as if deliberately slowing the pace.

”The membership list of the Royal Society has indeed been expanding in recent years,” Lady Leisen continued: ”I’ve heard even the cousin of the priest from the Kensington parish was once nominated. Of course, at least his letter of recommendation quoted Boyle, so he’s not entirely ignorant of science.”

Arthur gently pursed his lips without speaking, a tacit approval of this helping hand.