shadow of britain

Chapter 133 The Social Group of the Upper Ladies

The morning time is always passing by quickly, however, some people's mornings are very fulfilling, and some people's day starts at noon.

After washing up in the bathroom, Elder stretched out of the room.

As soon as he walked down the stairs, he saw the dusty Alexandre Dumas coming back from the outside with a few bulbs of garlic in his hands.

Elder smacked his mouth twice, and asked, "Why do you French people always like to eat garlic? What are you trying to do? Fresh breath?"

When Dumas heard this, he retorted mercilessly: "It's better to like garlic than girls in London. Since I came here, it's the first time I feel that French cattle are so beautiful."

After finishing speaking, Dumas went to Darwin who was reading a book on the sofa in the living room and asked: "Charles, you can tell me about that 'epilepsy' in detail later, I was a little fascinated by it last night. I I have to admit that I used to be prejudiced against the British, but it wasn’t until I met Ni that I realized that there is still something among the British that I can communicate with in human terms.”

Darwin raised his finger and scratched his side face: "Are you complimenting me?"

Dumas shook his head, pointed at Elder standing on the stairs and said, "No, I'm belittling the idiot standing over there. Of course, I have to admit frankly that his head full of pornographic waste is not completely If you put him in a suitable environment, he can at least offer a trifle knowledge of navigation."

Elder shrugged when he heard the words, and shouted at Dumas with half sarcasm: "I hope the combat effectiveness of the French navy can be as hard as your mouth."

Alexandre Dumas shot back: "I don't need you to worry about that, you have to be glad that Britain is an island, otherwise you would have become second-class citizens of France now."

"Really?" Elder countered unconvinced: "I think that even the combat effectiveness of the Royal Navy after landing can not lose to the French artillery."

"Oh! Thank God!" Alexandre Dumas clasped his hands together, as if asking God for forgiveness: "I beg you, please don't say that. In the context of France, the phrase 'British soldiers ashore' represents The meaning is not something that can be stated indiscriminately in the public."

Elder scratched his head in bewilderment, "Why?"

Alexandre Dumas glanced at him: "Have you forgotten what color the uniforms of the British soldiers are? In France, 'British soldiers ashore' is usually used by an elegant French lady to express her discomfort."

As soon as Dumas finished speaking, Arthur, who was buried in the newspaper, couldn't help but cast a glance at the Red Devil who was sitting beside him, humming a little song leisurely.

Agares caught his sight keenly. The Red Devil was taken aback for a moment. He looked down at his dark red complexion, and then pointed at Arthur angrily and shouted: "Arthur! I warn you, don't think that I I don't know what you're thinking!"

Arthur's eyes fluttered slightly, and then fell back on Alexandre Dumas.

He put the newspaper aside and asked, "So, Alexander, do you have any idea about your novel? I have to go to General Codlington's party next Sunday. During this week, you have to say anything." Write me the article."

Dumas threw the garlic in his hand onto the tea table, and then stuffed his body into the sofa in the living room.

"Why are you in such a hurry? This should be a rather long story, and I have to conceive it carefully, and such a long story will take at least half a year before I can deliver the finished product to you."

Arthur picked up his teacup and said, "You are in such a hurry to spend money, can you afford to wait half a year? Why don't I give you a suggestion, if your opening can be a hit at General Codlington's party, I can consider helping you You contact a newspaper with a good circulation, and you deliver a few chapters a week and publish them in serial form. In this way, if the reader’s response is not good, you can stop the loss in time and consider a different idea to start over.”

Dumas was stunned for a while when he heard the words, and then he slapped his thigh and stood up excitedly: "How did you come up with this idea? You get paid once for the serialization, and get paid again for publishing the book after the manuscript is finished! What a genius idea! After all, do you British know how to do business?"

Arthur nodded slightly: "By the way, what do you think about the suggestion I gave you? Just change the title of the book, don't call it "The Revenge of Edmund Dantès", it's better to call it "Monte Cristo" The Earl, readers don't care about Edmond Dantès, they prefer the earl's story to a little person they don't know.

I know that you may want to imitate Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" when you named it this way, but you may not know that "Robinson Crusoe" is just an abbreviation of the title of the book.After Defoe became famous, even such a mediocre title could sell, so publishers didn't bother to print its original name on the cover. "

"Is "Robinson Crusoe" an abbreviation?" Alexandre Dumas touched his curly head: "Then what is its full name?"

Arthur pouted, he stood up and took out an old book with a yellowed cover from the bookshelf in the living room, and threw it on the coffee table.

There was only a bang, and a burst of dust rose from the coffee table.

Alexandre Dumas put his face together, and he finally saw the full name of the first edition of "Robinson Crusoe" printed in 1719 - "The Life Experience and Amazing Adventures of York Sailor Robinson Crusoe: For 28 years, he lived alone on an uninhabited island off the coast of America, near the mouth of the Oronok River. After the shipwreck, he was washed ashore and became the only survivor. Saved by Pirates".

This monstrous string of sentences fills up almost the entire cover, and an uninformed reader might well think that the publisher is saving paper by letting the story begin on the cover.

Seeing this, Alexandre Dumas finally stopped insisting. He wiped the sweat from his brow and changed his words: "Okay, then I will listen to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a sound of shaking the doorbell outside the door - ding ding ding.

Elder yawned and opened the door, and in front of him was an old gentleman in a tuxedo.

The old gentleman took off his hat with a smile, and then asked, "Is Mr. Arthur Hastings at home?"

"you are?"

"I am the steward of the Rothschild family, and I have been sent by our young master Lionel Rothschild to deliver a hunting invitation to Mr. Hastings. If he is not available, please send this letter Pass it to him, and tell Lord Hastings that Master Lionel will meet him near Marble Arch next Sunday morning at eight o'clock."

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help standing up and walking to the door. He saw that the other person's face was familiar at a glance, as if he was the servant who followed Lionel in the real estate transaction hall that day.

He smiled and stretched out his hand to invite the other party in: "If you're not busy, why don't you come in and have a cup of tea first."

The old butler smiled and nodded to accept Arthur's invitation. He stepped into the living room, first glanced at Dumas, who was leaning carelessly on the sofa, and then observed Darwin, who was meditating on a notebook of natural history. A preliminary judgment has been made on the identities of several people.

After a few people greeted briefly, Arthur took out a white porcelain teacup from the cupboard and refilled the tea for the old housekeeper himself.

Seeing this, the old housekeeper couldn't help persuading him tactfully: "Mr. Hastings, in my opinion, it's better for you to hire a servant who can provide simple housekeeping services. There are six rooms in this house. You and your My friends live in four rooms, and the other two can just hire a coachman and a housekeeper. If you find it troublesome to hire servants yourself, we can also 'recruit' for you.

The social circle near Hyde Park is not too low. If guests come to your home and you, the host, are busy with your work and have no time to entertain them, it is likely to reduce your social reputation. "

Arthur heard the words, and of course understood what the other party meant, he nodded with a smile.

"Thank you very much for your suggestion. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will seriously consider it. But right now I really don't have time to be distracted. You should know that Scotland Yard has been handling several major cases recently, and it has to monitor public opinion all the time. I am away from home most of the time, and it is really rare to have free time like today.

With such a busy schedule, I haven't had the opportunity to explore the social field yet. For example, you just said that Lionel wants to invite me to go hunting outside the city next Sunday.Although I have always wanted to go to the forest with him to hunt rabbits and chat, but I have already made arrangements for next Sunday, I am really sorry. "

"You have plans for next Sunday?"

The old butler was slightly surprised at first, but after a while, not only was he not disappointed and angry, but he gave Arthur another high-level look in his heart.

He smiled and asked: "Although it's impolite to ask, but I don't know what activities you plan to participate in next Sunday? If it's a date, or to get acquainted with friends, I happen to know a few good restaurants , may be able to recommend it to you."

Arthur didn't intend to hide anything from him, on the contrary, he even wanted to ask something from the old Rothschild butler.

Because he really had no idea about the party that General Codrington would hold next Sunday.

Before that, he had never been to any high-class gatherings, and he didn't know what to prepare for.

If the old butler is willing to give some advice, it would certainly be great for Arthur.

He asked, "Do you know Admiral Codrington of the Channel Fleet? He is going back to London for vacation next week, so Mrs. Codrington plans to hold a party at home, and I just received the invitation."

"Ah... Mrs. Codrington..." The old butler immediately understood what was going on when he heard this: "I probably know why General Codrington invited you. Does he want you to be at the party?" Tell them about the newly emerging field of electromagnetism?"

Arthur smiled and took a sip of his tea. He joked, "Did someone in Rothschild also receive the invitation? Why do you know such details?"

The old butler chuckled: "No, you may have been busy with official duties before, so you don't know much about the social circle in London. The ladies and ladies in London are divided into many groups, and Mrs. Codrington is one of them Leaders of well-known groups.

It has to be said that the ladies of that group generally have quite interesting and eccentric personalities, and it would be no surprise that they would invite an up-and-coming scientist like you.After all, they have been doing this kind of thing since the 60s and [-]s of the last century. "

Arthur was also a little curious when he heard this: "So, what kind of group does Mrs. Codrington join?"

The old butler took a sip of his tea. He knew that it would be quite a struggle to explain this group to Arthur.

he asked.

"You know the 'Blue Stocking Club' founded by Mrs. Motto - no card games in my salon, no more talking about whose daughter can't find a husband, whose servant has eloped, I don't want to pass the time boringly, we want to talk about something meaningful.

If you want them to leave a good first impression on you, I suggest that you choose to wear a pair of daily blue socks on the day of the party, because the lady of the society is like the name of the group - blue Hosiery Club.Neither the white silk stockings favored by the upper class, nor the noble and elegant black silk stockings, the ladies in that society are quite rebellious. "

(End of this chapter)