shadow of britain

Chapter 167 Expansion of Information Channels

Codrington's mansion in Marylebone, London, is brightly lit tonight.

After admiring the physical experiments brought by Arthur, gentlemen and ladies returned to the main living room which had been decorated as a ballroom.

The arrangement of the ballroom strictly followed the usual practice in the social circle, with open doors, removed cashmere carpets, polished mahogany floors and as many crystal chandeliers as possible for decoration and lighting on the ceiling.

And under the window, there are three long birch tables filled with various food and tableware. The attractive food is surrounded by colorful and bright flowers.

Standing at the dining table, guests can not only appreciate the tempting aroma of food, but also feel the rich and tangy fragrance of flowers.

And in the east of the ballroom, there is a temporary stage with a rose-colored curtain as the background. The stage is filled with all kinds of musical instruments. Needless to say, it was prepared by Mrs. Codrington for the upcoming orchestra. .

Arthur finally got a little respite after finishing the science presentation.

Mrs. Codrington was obviously very satisfied with his first demonstration of the day, although she had only a vague sense of how important the theory of charged atoms was.

But in Mrs. Codrington's opinion, it must be quite a feat to excite Mrs. Mary Somerville, the first scientific lady of the Blue Sox, to incoherent results.

For this reason, Mrs. Codrington, a busy hostess, took the time to express her gratitude to Arthur with her husband.

After all, it is a great honor for such an important scientific achievement to be published for the first time not at the Royal Society, but at the Codrington House.

If this incident gets out, it will definitely be a good talk, which will definitely be of great benefit to improving the bad social reputation of General Codrington after the "Ottoman crash".

Mrs. Codrington can almost imagine the hot topics discussed in the boudoir gatherings of the ladies in the London social circle for a while-the Codrington couple who are enthusiastic about science, the family who are always at the forefront of the times, the cutting-edge electromagnetic A close friend of the scientist Sir Arthur Hastings.

Nothing could have been better for Mrs Codrington, who is dedicated to helping her husband clear the stigma!

Although taking over as the commander of the Portsmouth Naval Base is a good job for the elderly, Mrs. Codrington still hopes that her husband can be transferred directly to the Naval Headquarters in London.

Because just like what Kirkland and General Smith said earlier, a naval commander with mediocre combat capabilities like Gambier embarked on the fast track of military rank promotion after being transferred back to the Navy headquarters to sit in the office. It only took ten years He was promoted from rear admiral to admiral, and even became a Royal Navy admiral this year.

In Mrs. Codrington's opinion, her husband, General Edward Codrington, was superior to Field Marshal Gambier in every way except for the lack of hair on his head. Beautiful, dabbling in science, literature, and art.

If General Codrington can be transferred to the Navy Headquarters, not only will he have a greater chance of being promoted to Admiral, but he will also be able to exert more direct influence on the Navy Headquarters, supporting and supporting the two soldiers who are also serving in the Royal Navy. Baby sons William and Henry Codrington.

Ever since her youngest son drowned at sea, Mrs. Codrington has been obsessed with getting her husband to bring the remaining two sons back to shore. To accomplish this, the lady feels that it is up to General Codrington to That blunt temper is definitely out of play.

It was also because of this that she spent so much time and money to hold such a dinner party.

The madam understands very well that some things still have to be done by her. In a sense, scientists and wives who are in the upper-class social circle are actually more able to get the attention of cabinet members.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Codrington couldn't help but feel an urge to sponsor Arthur. Although she can't do scientific research, it would be nice if she could gain some fame in the name of a sponsor. not bad.

But she didn't have time to think about this issue for the time being, because she was flattered by the unexpected arrival of Mrs. Cowper, a famous figure in London.

Lady Cowper, as the younger sister of the Viscount of Melbourne, who once served as the Minister of Irish Affairs, and the wife of the fifth Earl of Cowper, the heir to the Cowper family, the founding father of the Whig Party, naturally has an influence that cannot be underestimated in the political circles of Great Britain .

Of course, this kind of influence is not entirely due to family reasons, but more like a strange ability engraved in the family heritage.

Because Mrs. Cowper's mother, Elizabeth Lamb, the first Viscountess of Melbourne, was a man of the London social circle.

The reason why her mother can have such great energy is also very simple, because her mother has maintained a semi-public close relationship with the late King George IV who had just died of illness for a long time.

In a sense, her mother, Elizabeth Lamb, also played a role in the divorce between George IV and Queen Caroline.

Mrs. Cowper and her mother are not easy-going lamps, but what is even more commendable is that even her sister-in-law, Lady Caroline Ponsonby, the second Viscountess of Melbourne, has this tendency, and even more so. And nothing less.

It's just that unlike her sister-in-law and mother-in-law who are mainly inclined to the political world, Lady Caroline Ponsonby has only one main battlefield, and that is the literary world.

Or to be more specific, there is only one person that Lady Ponsonby, who has been engaged in novel creation for a long time, likes, and that is Lord Byron, the leader of the liberal literati in Great Britain.

However, with Elizabeth Lamb as a powerful mother-in-law with astonishing insight, Lady Ponsonby's small actions must not escape the eyes of her mother-in-law.

Two powerful women don't usually end well together, and this one was no exception.

Lady Ponsonby first had a stalemate with her mother-in-law because she did not want to abandon her son who was born with mental retardation, and then gradually lost her relationship because of the daily quarrels. When she made the decision to tell Byron that she wanted to elope with him to Greece , Byron, who just wanted to have fun, rejected her request decisively.

Because in the eyes of the British upper class, it is normal to have a lover, but if you play it seriously, then things will be a big deal.

Byron, who was frightened by her, finally realized that he had touched the wrong woman, so he began to take the initiative to distance himself from Ponsonby.

But this aroused the extreme dissatisfaction of Lady Ponsonby, and she confronted Byron repeatedly.

As a result, the story between her and Byron gradually spread. For this reason, her mother-in-law Elizabeth even scolded her in public as a "crazy woman who can't figure things out".

Lady Ponsonby's reaction to Byron's growing indifference was also straightforward.

In order to force Byron to return to her side, Lady Ponsonby used her wonderful pen to weave her affair with Lord Byron into a novel called "Grannarwine" and published it.

Not surprisingly, Granalvan was so popular throughout Great Britain that it was reprinted three times within a few weeks of its publication.But even so, "Granalvan" in major libraries and bookstores in London is still out of stock for a long time.

For this reason, the sister-in-law of Shelley, another great English poet, Ms. Claire Claremont, who is eager to read, had to write to her lover, Lord Byron, the protagonist of the novel, asking if he could read directly from Ponsonby. The duke got a copy of Granalvain.

To which the exasperated Lord Byron had only one answer--this damned novel.

Full of anger, Byron quickly took revenge on Lady Ponsonby. He wrote a letter of reconciliation to Ponsonby, but when Ponsonby hurried over, he found that Byron was with another woman. Together.

Furious, Ponsonby burned all the portraits of Byron in her collection, and took even more extreme measures. She directly broke the news of Byron's incest with his sister Augusta.

Now, Byron's reputation in England was completely destroyed.

Because incest and private life chaos are not of the same magnitude in Britain at all. The former is a more serious act of blasphemy than crime, while the latter can only be regarded as a loss of personal morality. into a romantic affair.

But once the hat of incest was off, Byron could only leave England for Greece, and personally participated in the Greek War of Independence supported by his donations, and finally died in a foreign country for Greece's independence.

The death of Byron shocked Europe, and the Greek government immediately announced that it would hold a state funeral for Lord Byron, and the whole of Greece mourned for three days.

Lady Ponsonby, who thought she would feel revenge for this, was not only unhappy, but even had a high fever for several days.

And when Byron's coffin arrived in London from Greece, people only saw a crazy woman rushing to the street, crying on Byron's coffin and passed out.

In this story, the heroes and heroines, Byron and Lady Ponsonby, both paid the price for their actions and suffered terribly for it.

But in any case, this legendary story is quite ups and downs, and it is also very exciting.

But after finishing the story, I always feel that something is wrong, as if some important person has been overlooked.

That's right, it was the male number two in this turmoil—the husband of Lady Ponsonby, the second Viscount of Melbourne, William Lamb.

Throughout the incident, the Viscount Melbourne maintained an extraordinary calmness from beginning to end.

Not only that, he even once stood up to support his wife on the cusp, hoping to maintain the reputation of the Melbourne family.

He lasted for several years, until he couldn't stand it any longer. Under the pressure of public opinion and the threat of his mother, he divorced Lady Ponsonby and ended his 20-year marriage.

His attitude made everyone in London discuss whether he was not interested in women, or why he tolerated his wife to such an extent. As a decent nobleman, Viscount Melbourne Why did it take 20 years to get divorced?

Of course, no one can guess the reason why the Viscount Melbourne did this, but the only thing that can be understood is that the Viscount Melbourne is very lazy and does not fight or grab everything.

His state of wanting nothing is not only reflected in the handling of his wife's extramarital affairs, but also in the usual parliamentary meetings.

On the battlefield where politicians such as the Duke of Wellington and Sir Peel are at war and sparks are flying, Melbourne, which is responsible for the charge for the Whig Party, usually chooses to find a comfortable corner to sleep and snore loudly .

And he didn't just do it in parliament, he did it in pastor sermons, peer debates, and even dinner parties.

This behavior of the Viscount Melbourne has naturally won high praise in the parliament. Whether it is a member of the Whig Party or the Tory Party, they all praised the Viscount Melbourne as the most educated member of Parliament in the whole of Great Britain, because no one has heard of it. He cursed in parliament.

Perhaps it is precisely because of his attitude that even when the Tory Party was in power, he would not be excluded from the cabinet due to party reasons. This is also an important reason why the Viscount of Melbourne was able to serve as Minister of Irish Affairs.

Having said so much, I have to return to Mrs. Cowper, the sister of the Viscount of Melbourne.

The reason why Mrs. Codrington attaches great importance to Mrs. Cowper's arrival is because Lady Ponsonby, a female writer who loves literature, was once a member of the Blue Stocking Club.

Therefore, in order to avoid the embarrassment encountered with her sister-in-law, Mrs. Cowper usually politely declines the banquet invitations of members of the Blue Sox Club.

However, she was actually willing to visit the Blue Sox Club today, which is simply giving Mrs. Codrington enough face.

Of course, there may also be reasons for the death of her sister-in-law, Lady Ponsonby, two years ago.

Perhaps because of this, Mrs. Cowper began to consider whether to spread her influence to the Blue Sox.

Arthur hid in a small corner of the lounge, holding a piece of onion rings, while listening to Elder telling him the gossip stories of these high society.

After listening, he couldn't help but said to Elder: "Elder, maybe you can consider becoming a novelist. If you compile the things you know into a booklet, it will be a big seller in London." .”

Elder waved his hand quickly when he heard the words: "Don't be joking! Don't you remember the end of Lady Ponsonby's writing "Grannarwine"? It was because of Lady Jersey's image of herself in the novel. Dissatisfied, so she angrily expelled Lady Ponsonby from the Almark Club, so she dared not invite Lady Ponsonby to visit many banquets. I still want to hang out in London, can you not Always give me such bad ideas."

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled, and he picked up the handkerchief on the table and wiped the oil on his hands.

"If you are worried about the bad influence that these things will bring after they are published, why don't you just not publish them?"

Elder frowned: "How can I make money if I don't publish it?"

Arthur smiled and took out a brown paper bag from his carry-on bag and handed it to Elder: "When you go back, write everything you know into a manuscript and put it here. Every story of yours will be Treated as archived material. It will not appear to anyone except those who should see it.

And, I assure you, every time you write such a material, you will not be paid too cheaply.Although this may not compare to the benefits brought by the publication of novels, it is better than safety and stability. "

Elder looked at the brown paper bag, which simply printed a few words—London Temporary Survey and Statistics Bureau.

He raised his eyebrows and whistled: "I mean, so this is what you're investigating? Just tell me, how much money have you prepared?"

Arthur held the red wine glass and shook it lightly, the aroma of the red wine was tangy.

"How much money I can prepare depends on how much useful information you can provide me. Elder, you have to know that only the departments that are useful to the above can gain a more important position.

Only with status can there be funds, and with funds, I can distribute more to you.

So, what information do you think would help me raise the profile? "

(End of this chapter)