shadow of britain

Chapter 157 Seventh Madam Almak (4K4)

36 Lancaster Gate, opposite Hyde Park, Bayswater, West End.

Through the gaps in the maple leaves and the glass of the white bay window, one can see a man in a brand new tuxedo sitting at a desk on the second floor, reading a document in his hand.

A gust of wind blew through, opened the half-covered window, and also blew up the scattered brown paper bags and stacks of documents and old news clippings on the table.

Arthur didn't even look up, he just squeezed two fingers, and pulled back the file bag that was about to fly out along the edge of the window.

He stood up and closed the window again, and the Red Devil, who had come back from a walk, finally saw the titles of several documents on the table clearly.

Amelia Stewart, Sarah Villiers, Emily Cowper, Maria Molyneux Sefton, Clementina Drummond Burrell, Reza Esterhazy, Dorothea Levine.

Maybe this bunch of dazzling names will make people look confused, but if they are converted into common names of people in the social circle, these seemingly ordinary names will be endowed with colorful meanings in an instant.

They are the Viscountess of Castlereagh, Countess of Jersey, Countess of Cowper, Countess of Sefton, Countess of Drummond-Burrell, Princess Esterhazy and Countess of Living.

These are the identities and names of the seven main patrons of the social club 'Almark Restaurant' who control the access to the top social circle in London.

In the past, Arthur only needed less than half a page to fill in this kind of personal identification information, but for these seven ladies, even using a full page may not be able to clearly describe their titles and social relations.

Take Amelia Stewart, Viscountess Castlereagh, a woman from the wealthy Hobart family in England.

Her father was John Hobart, the second Earl of Buckinghamshire, and her elder brother, Robert Hobart, served successively as Secretary of State to the Governor of Ireland and Governor of Delhi in British India. After returning to China in 1812, he was promoted to the Ministry of Colonial Affairs. One of the three members of the Indian Management Council.

And her husband is Robert Stewart, who holds the two noble titles of Lord Londonderry and Viscount Castlereagh.

Viscount Castlereagh, as a top politician in British history, has served as the Chief Secretary of Ireland, Minister of Army and Colonial Affairs, and Minister of Foreign Affairs in his decades of political career.

Internally, Viscount Castlereagh participated in the promotion of the "Irish Merger Act", which formally incorporated Ireland into the territory of the United Kingdom.

Externally, Viscount Castlereagh successfully promoted the four-nation alliance of Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia, which laid a solid foundation for the victory of the Battle of Waterloo in the future.After the Napoleonic Wars ended, he exerted his influence to promote the signing of the "Paris Peace Treaty", and led the process of the Vienna Conference on behalf of the United Kingdom, setting the framework of the European Coordination System for continental European countries.

But unfortunately, maybe too much pressure has accumulated over the years.

Or it may be that in the Peterloo massacre in 1819, he had adopted a supportive attitude towards the bloody suppression policy of the then Home Secretary Lord Sidmus, which led to public opinion and liberal literati such as Shelley and Byron attacking him. , Viscount Castlereagh suffered from severe mental illness soon after, and eventually committed suicide by cutting his throat with a letter opener.

Although her husband's death greatly reduced Mrs. Castlereagh's influence in the social circle, the prestige accumulated over the years enabled her to still firmly hold a seat on the Women's Patrons Committee of the Almac Club.

Among the seven hostesses, besides the local faction like Mrs. Castlereagh, there are also foreign factions like Princess Esterhazy and Countess Levin.

It can be seen from the honorary title of Princess Esterhazy that she was born in a noble family, and she is one of the members of the "Thun-Taxis" family of the princes of the German state, and her husband Austria Paul Anton Esterhazy, Minister to England, was a prince of the Austrian Empire.

As for Mrs. Levin, although her background is not as good as that of Princess Esterhazi, she should not be underestimated either.

Mrs. Levin's husband is Count Levin, a member of the Tsarist Russian royal family who served as the ambassador of the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom, and her father is even more heavyweight.

Because Mrs. Levin's father is exactly: a good buddy of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, a German-born Tsarist-Russian meritorious general in the anti-French war, a feudalist iron fist who suppressed the Decembrist uprising, and a man who could only dispatch Cossack cavalry without tanks Commander of the Gendarmerie, superficially the Director of the Third Department of the Imperial Office of the Russian Empire, secretly assisting the Tsar in the administration of police and secret agents, the guiding light of Scotland Yard, the French military and police shouting invincible, Chun Doo-hwan's senior, Pinochet's leader has always thought that monitoring thoughts is troublesome, so it is better to directly eliminate the Russian Imperial Cavalry General, Count Alexander Hristoforovich Benkendorf.

As the saying goes, I am a hero, my son is a good man, and my wife is beautiful and beautiful.

Mrs. Levin not only fully inherited her mother's excellent lineage, but also got a delicate and beautiful face.What's more, he is better than blue and has inherited his father's expertise in spy work.

As a well-known courtesan in London's high society, Mrs. Levin made full use of her appearance and status advantages. She not only succeeded in becoming the first foreign patron of the Almark Club since its establishment in 1765, but also as a German-Russian , she also quite faithfully included the German waltz in the ball options of the Ormark Club.

When her husband stays in London, Mrs. Levin can perform her duties as a good wife and mother, and when Earl Levin is away, she will meet with Austrian Prime Minister Metternich and Viscount Palmerston who are on business trips to London from time to time. A little extra twist in a boring life.

And by virtue of her close relationship with these most important politicians in Europe, she has obtained a lot of "surprise intelligence" for Russia.And within the Russian court, she was considered politically at least as important as, and in some cases more than, her ambassador husband.

Even the current Tsar Nicholas I often exchanged letters with her and sought her advice on some issues, and the Tsar's attention also highlighted her influence in the diplomatic world.

Arthur flipped through the personal information of the seven ladies one after another, as well as the gossip and past experiences about them cut from various old newspapers.After watching for a while, he finally couldn't help but wonder.

"If Elder hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that there are so many women who should not be underestimated hidden in little London. This Mrs. Levin, in particular, is full of mystery. It seems that Elder The street tabloids that De usually read are not completely useless, if it weren't for them, I would not be able to determine how many politicians have maintained close relationships with Mrs. Levin beyond the normal social distance."

Hearing this, the red devil's eyes were full of malice. He smiled and asked, "Arthur, are you sure? This woman is far more complicated than what you read in the newspaper. It's better to stay away from her, otherwise you will be wiped out by her in the end, and you will still be stupid not knowing what happened.

I admit that you belong to the very capable category among human males, but Mrs. Levin's methods are far tougher than you think.Finally, I will give you another truth, capable women are always good at discovering the weaknesses of capable men.

Especially with regard to the ability to conspire, men and women are not at the same level in manipulating this matter. As far as matters related to conspiracies are concerned, the danger of women is many times greater than that of men. "

When Arthur heard this, he leaned his head back on the chair: "What you said, why does it sound familiar to me? It seems to have seen it somewhere..."

He frowned and thought for a while, then snapped his fingers, stared back at the Red Devil and said, "Agares, how could you plagiarize the sentences in the book of Alexander? It's not that he wanted to promote "The Count of Monte Cristo" Style, some inspirational short sentences that were specially recorded in the portable notebook?"

Hearing this, the Red Devil shook his fingers in dissatisfaction: "Arthur, you must first know where Alexander's inspiration comes from. Providing inspiration for writers is also one of my abilities as a devil."

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but exhale from his nose: "Oh, is it? I think you want to leave a mark in history, right? You should also be able to see that there is something good about that fat man's soul, so you just Can't help stuffing something of my own into his pen? Agares, I really don't know, so the devil also has this kind of vanity."

But the Red Devil didn't take Arthur's sarcasm at all, instead he took it as a compliment.

Agares pushed his glasses proudly: "Arthur, don't forget that the devil is a collection of desires. So, do you want to find a chance to go to the Almark Club? With all due respect, Blue Sox Club Although the ladies of the school have a different style in the academic sense, if you want to get ahead, you still have to find a chance to squeeze into the Almark Club."

Arthur heard this, glanced at him, and said: "Agares, as long as you get carried away, you will leak all your ulterior motives. Didn't you persuade me to leave Mrs. Levin just now?" Farther away? Are you trying to push me into the Almac Club again now?"

The Red Devil rubbed his hands with a smirk: "Oh! My dear Arthur, you don't understand. Whether I am persuading you to go or not to go, I am thinking about you. I am worried about you when I advise you not to go. You fell into the colorful pomegranate skirts of those mature ladies, and thus ruined your own reputation, and even your hard-earned formal life was completely ruined.

But I advise you to go, because I think that all people are always a little curious.Although the wives are scary, if you are caught by them, not to mention walking on the ground on the road to promotion in the future, even if you don't want to work hard at all, those wives will see you for the sake of your handsome face and strong figure Come on, it's not impossible to agree to you! "

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help curling his lips: "Agares."

The Red Devil smiled and said, "What's wrong?"

"Fortunately, I signed the contract with you. If Elder heard what he said just now, sooner or later he would be cheated out of his pants by you."

Unexpectedly, when Agares heard this, he was not proud but ashamed. He frowned and shook his finger ironically: "Arthur, you can question my bad intentions, but you can't question my choice of partners. His vision and ability. With all due respect, among the 72 pillars of demons, the only one who can pee with Elder is Asmodeus, who is as lustful as he is.

It is true that I want the soul of the contractor, but if it is Elder who signed the contract with me, I am afraid that his soul will eventually fall into the hands of Mrs. Levin.I have no interest in helping the contractor find a woman to redeem the mortgaged soul. "

Arthur smoothed the hair that fell in front of his eyes and put it back on his head, revealing his hairline which was lower than the British standard.

"Now I know that your requirements are higher than those of the Department of Classics, University of London. It seems that it is indeed a miracle that Elder can receive education in this life."

Agares then asked again: "So, Arthur, are you interested in Almark Club?"

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief, staring at the red devil's gleaming red eyes and said, "It seems that there are indeed many good things that interest you! This is the first time I've seen you be so active."

The Red Devil smirked and said, "Oh! My dear Arthur, aren't you interested?"

Arthur nodded and said: "Of course I'm interested. However, not everyone can go to this exclusive club on King Street. According to the information I have learned, although there are very unique dances held there every Wednesday night , but the Almark Club has been a very private organization since its founding in 1765.

Only those who have been approved by a committee of seven female patrons and paid 10 guineas a year as a membership fee are eligible to set foot there.In addition, I have to learn all kinds of strange rules there.

So, at present, although I can barely squeeze in financial resources, but to obtain the approval of the Women's Patrons Committee, it is not something that can be solved by handling a few cases. "

When the Red Devil heard this, he immediately showed a triumphant expression of success in his plot, filled with joy.

"Oh! My dear Arthur, have you forgotten who you are? You are Professor Agares' most proud villain apprentice. As long as you want anything, I can satisfy you conditionally."

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help frowning and said, "Agares, conditional satisfaction is not satisfaction, it is a normal transaction. So, to be the apprentice of the most knowledgeable professor in hell, you still have to take advantage of it in the end." Less than any cheap.

Hmm... now I seem to understand why you were easily kicked out of hell by Baal.Maybe it's because you're too stingy, so when Baal kicked you out, the other devils didn't want to help you. "

Hearing this, Agares couldn't help pushing his glasses: "Arthur, you have to understand that even Britain's "Apprentice Morals and Education Act" only guarantees apprentices' right to education for two hours a day, and the rest I still have to continue to work honestly for ten hours. Compared with your bill, I am willing to deal with you on an equal footing, which is already very worthy of recognition."

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Arthur stood up and stared at the red devil without saying a word, he just sighed.

The Red Devil was baffled by him, and he asked, "Why are you sighing?"

Arthur looked at him with a complicated expression and said, "Agares."

The Red Devil frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

Arthur patted his phantom, and sighed to the ceiling: "Capitalism has killed you!"

After saying that, he locked all the documents on the desk into a drawer, and then left the room with big strides.

Agares was stunned for a while before he realized what happened. He yelled angrily at Arthur's back: "Arthur! The soul that exists here with me, you ask me to calculate the interest for you, I You wouldn’t even be willing to ask you to talk about a business even if you were asked to pay a shilling. What I signed with you is an equal soul exchange contract, not a fucking contract of slavery in Tsarist Russia!”

　There should be another chapter later

　　
　
(End of this chapter)