shadow of britain

Chapter 159
Greenwich District, on the street near Sundial Square.

Arthur was wearing a neat police uniform and sitting in a rickety carriage.

In his hand, he held a copy of "London Social Guide" bought from a second-hand bookstore, and carefully read every word on it.

Although he has been in London for five years, he has never attended any serious banquet or dance.

The reason for this is also very simple.

First, because of his personality, he prefers to stay alone in his hut and read some self-entertaining books than to get together and breathe the stale air in various social places.

Second, because his social status was too low in the past.

Half a year ago, he was just an ordinary patrolman in Scotland Yard. Naturally, such a small role would not attract the attention of the upper class.Rich and wealthy young men like Elder who are willing to hang out with him will only appear on the campus of the University of London.

Therefore, since Arthur graduated, during the time when Elder was training vigorously in the Royal Navy, his social activities were basically gatherings with a few friends such as Tom and Tony, and even drinking a bottle of wine I can't bear to order too many things in restaurants.

After all, Tom and Tony, one of them has already formed a family, and the other is working hard towards the marriage condition stipulated by Scotland Yard to 'prove that they have at least 20 pounds in savings'.

Of course, even though Arthur had been promoted to superintendent and his personal wealth was improving rapidly, he didn't think about developing in the social field at all before he accepted General Codlington's invitation.

This is because the various social rules in British society in the 19th century were extremely cumbersome. For Arthur, who was not born and bred, and was not born in a serious British middle class, it would not be overnight to fully understand these things. can be done.

Take the "London Social Guide" in Arthur's hand as an example. Even though he has worked very hard to memorize it since he went to work this morning, he hasn't fully figured it out until now.

And after reading this book, what makes Arthur most fortunate is that there are no female relatives in his family, and he himself is a single man.

In the social field, these upper-class noble ladies or women from middle-class merchant families pay more attention than gentlemen, and the communication between men and women will lead to a long list of taboos.

There are all kinds of written or unwritten rules for them to wear skirts. Skirts should be divided into various types such as dances, dinners, walks, and car rides. There are also special country clothes when visiting relatives or parties in the countryside. For grand occasions, the most gorgeous evening dresses should be specially worn.

Of course, although these costumes sound different, in fact, ladies and wives may wear black dresses most often, because in this era, they will wear black for a period of time almost every year to commemorate the deceased. Husband, parents, siblings or family by in-laws.

And when Arthur saw the next paragraph about the regulations on the relationship between men and women, he suddenly felt that his head, which was filled with various cumbersome regulations, was pressed with a heavy layer of marble.

When riding in a carriage, a gentleman never sits next to a woman who is not a relative, and needs to sit on the side with his back to the direction of the horse's travel, giving the opposite seat to the lady.And always be careful not to step on the ladies' skirts. When getting off the bus, the gentlemen should get off first and be ready to help the ladies who are wearing wide skirts and have limited mobility to get off.

Arthur didn't care much about this, since he didn't have much chance to encounter such an encounter anyway.

There have never been any ladies in the car with him, but some ordinary gentlemen.

For example, it often begins with 'Fuck' and ends with 'Shit', a top student in the Department of Classical Literature of the University of London, a master of the language of the Royal Navy sailors, and the greatest legacy of British literature in the 19th century, 'Walking on the Thames River on the Earth '—Mr. Elder Carter.

Or he has written books all his life, but in the end he is not as good as his 6-year-old son, who often claims to be peace-loving, but opens the arsenal when he disagrees with him, and takes out 3500 tons of ammunition to bomb the Tuileries Palace in Paris. And because of this doubling of his worth, he had to moisten the British curly-haired fat man-Alexander Dumas.

I also studied theology at Cambridge University for several years, but I didn’t read the Bible very much. Instead, I fell in love with Lamarckism, and thought that the priests’ creationism was the farting Pope of Science—Charles Darwin.

At most, there will be another tabloid reporter, Charles Dickens, who, although he will be hailed as the "living Shakespeare" in the future, will never be able to enter the eyes of Mr. Elder Carter, the No. 1 British literary critic.

Interacting with these people really does not require as much attention as in high society communication, unless a few of them have a sudden whim and plan to put skirts on themselves.

Just when Arthur thought he could escape, his eyes fell on the line below.

— Proper young unmarried women should not go out without being accompanied, nor should a decent lady look around for acquaintances or stop to chat in crowded streets.

—If a young woman does see her gentleman friend in the street and feels she cannot ignore it, she should reach out.

——When a gentleman finds his female friend, he cannot take the initiative to say hello, but must wait for the lady to recognize him, and then take off his hat with the hand farthest from the lady as a return gift.

——Note: If the lady stretches out her hand, it is regarded as an invitation. At this time, the gentleman needs to turn to walk with the lady instead of stopping there, so as to avoid embarrassment for both parties.The conversation between the two must also be careful not to be too enthusiastic and loud, but to discuss within the scope of etiquette standards, and the words should be as short as possible when speaking, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings and avoid irresponsible damage to the reputation of both parties. Save the blow.

— A gentleman should not smoke in front of a lady, nor should a lady go up and chat with a gentleman while they are smoking, as this is likely to cause the other party to snuff out a good cigar, both are inappropriate Performance.

When Arthur saw this, he couldn't help but took out his pipe and muttered, "Fortunately, I smoke cheaper."

And when his eyes continued to move down, he finally began to understand why the old housekeeper of the Rothschild family strongly suggested that he hire some experienced servants when he visited that day.

—If the reader of this book moves to a new home, especially to an upper-class neighborhood, it should be remembered that the servants who send you out will go around and leave business cards in the neighbors' letter boxes.

——The person who receives the business card will usually return the business card or visit the mansion directly within a week, which will help to enhance your reputation in the place of residence and your influence in the social circle.

——If it is a lady who moves to a new house, or the adult male in the family cannot visit the new neighbor normally for some reason, the lady should travel in a carriage, and your manservant will carry the business card and pass it on to the master.

——A married lady who changes her surname should bring one business card with her own name on it and two business cards with her husband's name on it. If there are unmarried daughters or renters at home, they should also hand over their business cards.

——Note: The name of the unmarried daughter should be written below the mother's business card.

Arthur looked at these dense regulations and felt goosebumps all over his body.

It seems that it is far more difficult than he imagined to reasonably integrate into the upper-class social circle and use this to expand his sources of information and influence.

He closed the book and rubbed his sore eyes.

Agares sat on the seat opposite him and crossed his legs: "What? Finished it so soon?"

Arthur shook his head quite frankly: "I'm not as good at reading and memorizing as you think, especially these things related to tedious etiquette. It's not easy for me to read."

The Red Devil snapped his fingers when he heard the words, and a thorny cane suddenly appeared in his hand. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to use this thing as a pointer.

The Red Devil knocked on the cover of the "London Social Guide" dissatisfied, and urged: "Arthur, this is not acceptable. If you can't handle Codrington's banquet, how can you squeeze into the Almark Club in the future?" In addition to these, you also need to learn to dance, German waltz, Viennese waltz, French square dance and salon dance, British Regency dance, Scottish roll dance...

Oh, by the way, you'd better learn the traditional British male dances-the ancient Roman sword dance and the mollis dance, these two dances are just right for a master swordsman with both strength and skill like you. "

Arthur said helplessly: "Let's learn slowly. Anyway, this is the first time for me. Didn't the old butler of the Rothschild family say that Mrs. Codrington is a member of the 'Blue Sox Club'?
The Blue Sox Club has always been tolerant towards young scientists, and also granted some privileges to scientists. After all, I can even show up at banquets in blue socks, and there should be no problem with a little mistake in etiquette.

Besides, wouldn't Elder be there tonight?Although that kid has always been out of tune, he is still the noble young master of the Carter family. He must remember these basic social etiquette clearly.If I'm unsure, I'll just ask him. "

Hearing this, the Red Devil couldn't help covering his mouth with a smirk and said, "Arthur, are you sure?"

Arthur originally had some expectations for Elder, but when the Red Devil asked this question, he lost his mind in an instant.

He always liked to rely on his own knowledge and strength to do things. This was the first time he relied on the strength of others, and this time the object was still Elder, which made Arthur feel guilty no matter how he thought about it.

He covered his forehead, gritted his teeth, and said, "There is a saying in the East called 'I am born to be useful', and the Western "Bible" also records that 'When God closes this door, he will definitely open another for you. A door', Elder can't be an exception beyond the East-West system?"

The Red Devil didn't answer when he heard the words, he just turned around in a circle, and in an instant he saw him change into a black dress with exquisite details.

He straightened the red bow around his neck and said to Arthur.

"According to social etiquette and your close relationship with Codrington, I suggest that you arrive at Codrington's mansion between 03:30 and [-]:[-] in the afternoon.

My price is quite fair, one soul for one dance, a little more expensive for social etiquette crash, ten souls for you.If your balance is insufficient, I can also accept credit, but interest must be calculated. "

Having said that, the Red Devil rolled up his sleeves, glanced at his watch, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Arthur. Now, you still have two and a half hours to think about it."

Arthur looked at Agares, and couldn't help but shook his head: "Agares, if you continue to maintain this appetite, I won't be able to support you soon."

The Red Devil clasped his fists on his chest and pretended to compliment him: "Oh! My dear Arthur, you must not underestimate yourself. As long as you are hard-hearted, you little villain is invincible."

"Invincible?"

Arthur shook his head. He pointed to the looming factory outside the car window, and on the muddy ground outside the factory, there was a group of workers playing football with smiles and mud ideas on their faces. destination of the line.

He came here specially to count the guns, ammunition and other weapons stored here by the Greenwich Police District when the workers rioted a few days ago.

The Red Devil glanced out: "Isn't it just a group of football and entertainment workers at the Woolwich Arsenal? What are you pointing at them for?"

Arthur shrugged helplessly: "According to my understanding and memory, I am not invincible, but the team formed by the Woolwich Arsenal workers, their 'Arsenal' is invincible."

(End of this chapter)