shadow of britain

Chapter 173
Under the night, the sky is full of stars.

In General Codlington's mansion, the banquet has come to an end.

Mrs. Cowper wore a lace wide-brimmed hat slantedly, and while dealing with the compliments from other ladies, she walked out of the black iron courtyard gate with the help of her servants.

She was about to board the carriage home that had been waiting for her for a long time, but before she arrived, she saw a middle-aged butler with a mustache, white gloves, and short blond hair walking in two steps. to her face.

The butler put one hand on his chest, bowed slightly and said, "Mrs. Cowper, our wife has been waiting for you for a long time. It's still early. If you're not busy, would you like to have a drink with her?"

When Mrs. Cowper heard this, she couldn't help but look in the direction the butler was coming from. The curtains of the luxury carriage parked across the road had been raised, and the breeze was blowing across the street. The black hair on the side, the hazy night and the dim street lights all the more reflect the beautiful smiling face that has intoxicated countless big figures who have stirred up the European situation.

"Dorothea?"

Mrs. Cowper was slightly surprised, but she didn't say much, but smiled and nodded at the butler, and then followed him into the carriage.

As she boarded the carriage, the butler quickly and gently closed the door decorated with the double-headed eagle emblem symbolizing the Tsarist Russian royal family for the two ladies from the outside.

The groom sitting at the front of the carriage straightened his back and shook the reins, and the low-key and luxurious black carriage soon started to drive slowly.

Mrs. Cowper was sitting on the crimson velvet chair, looking at the leaf-shaped necklace of blue topaz and emerald malachite on the white chest of Mrs. Levin sitting opposite, she couldn't help but be dazzled.

"What beautiful jewelry! Which master is this from?"

Mrs. Levin just smiled faintly: "It is unclear which master it is, but His Majesty the Tsar said when he gave me this thing last month, it was collected by Catherine the Great back then. One of the ornaments, so it probably came from a royal craftsman at that time, right?"

"Ekaterina the Great?"

When Mrs. Cowper heard this, she couldn't help gently holding up the pendant hanging on Mrs. Levin's chest and taking another look: "After a closer look, the style of this one is similar to the one passed down by Mrs. Castlereagh. There are really some similarities, maybe it really came from the same royal craftsman."

After hearing this, Mrs. Levin smiled and blinked: "I remember when you said that. Mrs. Castlereagh's father, John Hobart, Earl of Buckinghamshire, seems to have served as the British ambassador to Russia, right?"

Mrs. Cowper smiled and nodded: "That's right, the old Earl of Buckinghamshire stayed in St. Petersburg from 1762 to 1765. He happened to attend the coronation ceremony of Catherine II. The emerald set of Hobart's house The necklace was presented by Catherine II at that time.

When I was a guest at her home, I was lucky enough to see that necklace once.If I remember correctly, the set of jewelry consisted of an octagonal-cut emerald plus a drop-shaped emerald as the center, alternating around 14 cushion-shaped diamonds and 13 rectangular emeralds.In addition, there is a pair of emerald drop earrings.

The old Earl of Buckinghamshire had bequeathed the set to Lady Castlereagh when she married.But perhaps because it was too expensive, Mrs. Castlereagh would only appear in that set of jewelry on extremely important occasions.I have to say, that necklace and earrings paired with a plunging evening dress is a must! "

As soon as Mrs. Cowper talked about jewelry, she seemed to open up the chatterbox instantly, and even her tone was much more lively than at the dinner today.

The two ladies chatted from jewelry to outfits, and from outfits to the latest fashion trends.

Having said that, Mrs. Levin took out the red wine in the wine cabinet in the car and added some to the goblet in front of her.

"But it's really strange. There was a dinner hosted by Henry in the club today, but you not only did not attend, but also went to General Codlington's house to attend the party of the Blue Sox Club. Is it because there is something interesting here today that attracts you? got your attention?"

Mrs. Cowper smiled helplessly: "Mrs. Codrington invited me many times before, and it would be too impolite for me to always refuse with excuses. And because of my troublesome sister-in-law who joined the Blue Sox Club and Byron My lord's mixed feelings, I had some troubles with the ladies of the Blue Stocking Club.

This time I came here specially to ease the relationship with them.After all, we all live in London, we can't see each other when we look up, and those two people have passed away, so let the past pass. "

"So it's like this..." Mrs. Levin covered her mouth lightly: "But Henry is a little unhappy that you didn't come this time. Without you, he seems to have lost his soul, and he is absent-minded about everything. He also lost a lot of money at poker tonight."

Mrs. Cowper couldn't help her cheeks flushed when she heard the words. She pretended to be angry and said: "Henry is always like this, he is 46 years old, and he always plays these tempers when he has nothing to do. Besides, I'm not here, isn't it because you and Mrs. Jersey are still there Are you there with him?"

Mrs. Levin took a sip of the red wine, and in the bleak carriage, her red lips were made more vivid by the wine.

"Emily, everyone knows that he is yours. He and I are just flirting. As for Mrs. Jersey, please forgive me, how can she match your charm? Don't let Henry down."

Mrs. Cowper thought that Mrs. Levin was joking with her, but when she heard this, she immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

She asked softly, "Henry really lost his temper?"

Mrs. Levin nodded slightly: "It's his birthday in two days, why don't you think of giving him some ingenious little gifts to calm him down? I just have nothing to do tomorrow, so why don't I accompany you to the street to pick things up? "

When Mrs. Cowper heard this, she just pondered: "Dorothea, what do you think of me giving him a gramophone? And a record of Paganini's etudes adapted from "La Campanella"?"

"Gramophone? Record?" Mrs. Levin asked puzzled, "What is that?"

Seeing that she didn't understand, Mrs. Cowper smiled and explained to Mrs. Levin what she had seen and heard at the banquet today.

When Mrs. Levin heard this, she suddenly seemed to remember something, and she couldn't help but said, "Ah! I seem to have seen the Mr. Hastings you mentioned."

"Have you seen him?"

"Well, he came out before you." Mrs. Levin winked at her friend, and teased playfully: "He is tall and tall, and his chest muscles seem to be very strong. His whole face is sharp and angular, and he looks refined. And he's still a young man in his 20s..."

Mrs. Cowper laughed and said, "Dorothea, don't you have a crush on him? I remember that you don't seem to like such tender ones."

"Um……"

Mrs. Levin brushed the broken hair that was beating against her ears behind her ears: "Oh, Emily, I always look at people after I get in touch with them. Whether they are tender or not is not the most important factor I consider. And, Why do you think Mr. Hastings is young? Emily, being young does not mean young, although the young gentleman looks very polite and is an outstanding scientist, he behaves like a Standard British gentleman, but..."

"but what?"

Mrs. Levin lowered her voice, clutched her chest, and leaned forward. She said mysteriously in her friend's ear: "I assure you, Mr. Hastings must have killed someone, and there must be more than one person. If you If you are deceived by his good-looking appearance, you will definitely suffer a lot in the future."

"Killed someone?" Mrs. Cowper asked in surprise, "How did you find out?"

"It's very simple." Mrs. Levin pursed her lips and said with a smile: "Because he has an aura close to my father, no matter where he stands, he will always stand like a straight sword involuntarily. Movements are like waving blades.

Although he has tried his best to soften his temperament, if he catches a glance inadvertently, he can still feel the danger hidden in his eyes.If you hadn't told me he was a scientist, I'd have thought he'd rolled out of the Napoleonic wars. "

When Mrs. Cowper heard this, she couldn't help covering her mouth: "Dorothea, you are so accurate! Mr. Hastings's job is the superintendent of Scotland Yard, and he is also a very capable man." The young superintendent, you may not know, he is only 20 years old this year, and he climbed to this position completely by himself. Not long ago, he also participated in the sea rescue mission of the Frenchman.

Today I heard from Colonel Fitzroy, the captain of the Beagle, that he saw Mr. Hastings kill seventeen pirates alone at sea.He also said that if Mr. Hastings wanted to go to the Royal Navy, he would be a general sooner or later. "

"Ah... so he is also a Scotland Yard police officer?" Mrs. Levin was slightly surprised.

Mrs. Cowper wondered, "What do you mean by that?"

Mrs. Levin said: "It's nothing. In fact, at the club dinner today, Henry also brought two police officers from Scotland Yard as companions. One is the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department and Colonel Charles Rowan, and the other is Deputy Minister Sir Richard Mayne."

When Mrs. Cowper heard this, she couldn't help laughing and said, "What's going on? The senior police officers of Scotland Yard are taking advantage of Sunday to rest, so they all came out to relax?"

Mrs. Levin didn't answer directly when she heard the words, she just smiled and said: "Who knows? But I think they need to relax, especially Mr. Hastings. I just remembered that there seem to be several large pieces in Scotland Yard this year. The cases are all supervised by Mr. Hastings. He is so busy with work on weekdays, he also takes time to participate in Mr. Faraday's scientific research, and even helps his friends promote new works.

By the way, is the "The Count of Monte Cristo" you just mentioned really that good-looking?There is also the matter of the gramophone, which makes me a little curious.Why don't we go to that Mr. Wheatstone's musical instrument shop some other day and buy two? "

When Mrs. Cowper heard this, she suddenly remembered: "Dorothea, I will forget about it if you don't mention it! Almost all the guests at the banquet tonight want to get a phonograph back. If we want to take advantage of the If you buy something before Henry's birthday, I'm afraid it won't work to order directly."

After hearing this, Mrs. Levin also understood that the problem was a bit tricky: "Have you left Mr. Hastings' business card? Why don't you send someone to ask him directly? Isn't Mr. Wheatstone his friend? Let's let him Come out and help with the reservation, so that Mr. Wheatstone can directly prepare the next gramophone for us."

Mrs. Cowper thought for a while, and suddenly said: "It's not too late. My carriage is empty right now. I'll let them bring the money to Mr. Hastings to make a reservation. God! I hope Scotland Yard The young lad should not be too regular in his work and rest, he'd better not go to sleep now."

Mrs. Levin couldn't help pursing her lips and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter if he sleeps. What we are afraid of now is that he will not sleep at home tonight."

Mrs. Cowper couldn't help laughing and said, "Dorothea, you..."

(End of this chapter)