shadow of britain

Chapter 275 The Great Century (4K4)

Greater Scotland Yard, 4 Whitehall Street, Westminster, London.

Louis Bonaparte busily shuttled between the halls of Scotland Yard with a stack of documents in his arms. From time to time, colleagues passing by would raise their hat brim to say hello to him.

Although it had been a month since he came to work at Scotland Yard, the officers' curiosity about him continued unabated.

Every new young police officer who joins Scotland Yard will always ask about him intentionally or unintentionally. It is already a strange news that a member of the Bonaparte family comes to Scotland Yard to work as a police officer, let alone Louis Bonaparte. Naparta was also a strong contender for the next generation of the Bonaparte family.

Because Louis Bonaparte's brother who participated in the Carbonari uprising with him died in Italy, and his uncle, the former Spanish King Joseph Bonaparte, was already old.

The current patriarch of the Bonaparte family, Napoleon's biological son has always been frail and sickly.Therefore, this young man who has always been ignored by the Bonaparte family has quietly come to the position of the second heir of the Bonaparte family.

In other words, as long as he can stay healthy and live a long time, he has every hope of ascending to the position of leading the Bonaparte family forward.

The Scotland Yard police officers passed by Louis Bonaparte one by one. In their opinion, Officer Bonaparte was no different from usual. He was gentle and gentle. Although there was a vague aristocratic air in his gestures, he was... There is no sense of arrogance at all, so much so that sometimes people forget that he is actually a member of the royal family.

But what the police officers didn't know was that in the inner pocket of this young man's tuxedo was a warm letter that he had just received this morning.The mailing address is Vienna, the capital of Austria, and the person writing the letter is none other than his cousin, Napoleon's only legal heir, grandson of Austrian Emperor Franz I, and Duke of Lechstad of the Austrian Empire - François Joseph Charles Bonaparte.

Dear Louis:
How are you doing lately?

It's a bit funny to say that when we separated, you were 7 years old and I was 4 years old. To be honest, I can't even remember your appearance.

But I don’t know why, maybe because of the blood connection, I still miss you and everyone in the Bonaparte family in my heart.

A while ago, my uncle and aunt wrote to me, saying that they had found you in London.God bless you, luckily you were not buried by the gunfire from the Apennines.Although I am younger than you and this is not appropriate for me to say, I still hope you can live a long life.

Louis, from the perspective of protecting family members, I think it was too impulsive for you to rush to join the Carbonari uprising.But judging from a young person's perspective, I can completely understand your impulse.

Louis, regarding this matter, I even feel a little jealous of you. You can stand under the sky of the Apennines and declare freely that you are a proud Bonaparte, but I cannot do this.

There have always been very conflicting emotions about me in the Vienna court. On the one hand, they think that I have the noble blood of the Habsburg family and the blood of the Bonaparte family. On the other hand, they are unwilling to mention my father in front of me. deeds.

Yes, they almost never mentioned Napoleon's great achievements to me. From a very young age, I began to receive the education that I was a member of the Habsburg family. They taught me to hate France and taught me to be hostile to the land of France. .

I was confused for a time, and I thought about embracing the identity they gave me, but when I really planned to integrate into them, I suddenly discovered that they didn't really think that I was a noble Austrian Habsburg royal family.

While they flattered me by calling me the Prince of Austria, they secretly called me Little Napoleon.

My heart seemed to be torn apart, and I seemed to hear my soul roaring.From that time on, I finally understood that I was not an Austrian royal family, nor did I belong to the Habsburg family. I was just a noble Habsburg prisoner bound by chains.

From that moment on, I was frantically trying to make up for the missing part of my life. I was eager to know more about my father, and I was eager to know more about this land of France.But they wouldn't let me in, they wouldn't even let me in or out of the Royal Library in Vienna, in case I saw the truth that I wanted to know.

In order to obtain these, I began to take the initiative to receive military training and began to ask my grandfather to join the Austrian army.I was finally able to see the past of the French Empire from the battle examples taught by the army. On the sand table, I finally understood the glorious achievements of the Bonaparte family.

After completing a full year of military education, my grandfather appointed me as the captain of the Hungarian No. 16 Company, but Metternich still did not trust me. My troops were in Hungary, but they set up my headquarters in Not far from the Royal Palace of Vienna.

But I am not discouraged. I try my best to prove to them that my efforts are effective. Maybe you know that my body is weak, but I can use my mental strength to make up for my physical weakness.I fell ill several times, but every time I recovered, I rushed back to deal with military affairs as soon as possible.

Not long ago, when the Carbonari uprising broke out in Rome and Austria announced its intervention, my aunt, who learned that you and your brother were deeply involved in the war, directly sent me a letter asking for help.

I took the initiative to ask my grandfather for help, intending to lead my troops to rescue you from the mire of Rome, but Metternich directly pressed my request.

Metternich said: Prince, your body has become so thin that anyone who sees it will feel abnormal, and you can't even make a normal voice. How can you give orders to the army?With all due respect, anyone looking at you like this would be worried.For your sake, and for Austria's sake, you'd better take a good rest.

He lightly relieved me of my military powers, plucked my feathers one by one, and made me a harmless mascot of the Viennese court again.My doctor said that the winter in Vienna was too cold and suggested that I be sent to sunny Naples for recuperation, but Metternich also bluntly refused.

I know what he is afraid of under his calm appearance. He is afraid of my heroic blood. He is afraid that as soon as my feet set foot on the land of the Apennine Peninsula, there will be calls to 'elect Napoleon II as king'.Such a situation had already occurred in France during the July Revolution last year. He could not let me, the imprisoned canary, leave the cage in Vienna no matter what.

I am writing this letter while lying on the hospital bed in Vienna. My body is very uncomfortable and my heart is bleeding, but I know that they will not be able to knock me down.

Deep in my soul, in my bones and blood, there always burns the fire of France that cannot be extinguished.

Louis, my aunt's original intention in asking me to write to you was to dissuade you from being cautious in your future actions.

But when I wrote this, I realized that I couldn't do it after all.I understand your behavior because I also know what the name Napoleon represents.

Louis, the political mission left to us by the Bonaparte family is too heavy.

Your useless brother, François Joseph Charles Bonaparte.

Written on September 1831, 9, on his sickbed in Vienna.Fragments of this letter flashed through Louis Bonaparte's mind from time to time. He still had a bright smile on his face, but no one could understand the rain in his heart.He stopped outside the door of the Criminal Investigation Department office and looked up at the windows along the corridor. It had been raining in London for several days in a row. The pedestrians on Whitehall Street were all wrapped up tightly in coats. .

Louis Bonaparte held the document against his chest. He couldn't help but murmured in a low voice: "Compared with the winter in Vienna, who is colder in London? Charles, are we doing this right or wrong?"

He lowered his head, seeming to be thinking about something.

However, behind him, he suddenly remembered a gentle voice: "Right and wrong are footnotes written by God. For a person's life, as long as he lives a wonderful life. Although I don't like Hegel, he has The sentence is still very charming. Louis, did you know? The owl of Minerva only flies at dusk."

Louis Bonaparte trembled. He turned his head and looked around. Arthur came quietly behind him at some point. He had a book under his arm and a steaming coffee cup in his hand. .

Louis hurriedly turned around and saluted him, and then handed over the document in his arms: "Superintendent Hastings, yesterday's meeting minutes and last month's crime statistics from Scotland Yard have been sorted out."

Arthur glanced at the cover of the document and nodded slightly: "Well done. It seems that you have adapted well to Scotland Yard. You can be called a pretty good police secretary. So..."

Arthur pushed open the door to the office, leaned forward with a smile and asked, "Come in and have a cup of tea. It's not good to be nervous all the time. Working at Scotland Yard is not like going to jail."

Arthur picked up the teapot on the table and poured him a cup of tea, and took out a plate of snacks from the cabinet next to him. But before they were placed on the table, he saw a few puff pastry biscuits in the snack box. A corner is missing.

Arthur glanced at Agares, who was lying on the sofa in the office, holding his stomach and burping. He calmly picked out the cookies, then turned around with a smile, put some snacks on the table, and asked, "What's wrong? Mood?" Not good? In fact, when I first came to Scotland Yard, I was just like you. I put on a bad face every day when I went to work. This place always finds ways to cause trouble for people. "

Holding the tea cup, Louis Bonaparte lowered his head and smiled first, then shook his head and said: "No, sir. After experiencing the failure of the uprising and fleeing, I feel that although this kind of life is not easy, it will not make me My face is full of sadness. Sometimes I even feel that it’s quite easy to work without having anything to do. I have something to do and a full schedule, so that I don’t easily think about it and I feel more relaxed mentally.

Take for example the fact that you asked me to collect information on the Bernie Harrison case. Although it seems like a small thing, I really feel that my efforts have paid off.I'm a little embarrassed to say it, but this may be the first thing I've done in so many years.

This makes me feel very satisfied and as if I have really accomplished something on my own, even though my contribution is only very small. "

When Arthur heard this, he just joked: "Louis, this is not a small matter. For Scotland Yard, this is a huge matter. In addition, the intelligence you collected is not insignificant. Only those who are truly capable can Only talented people can do this work. A big shot with the power to formulate policies will naturally have a bunch of people to give him advice. As for him, he only needs to choose one of these options, and even if things go wrong in the future, he only needs to Just put the responsibility on the person who came up with the idea. But as the executive and the person who made the suggestion, if we mess up, who can we let take the blame for us?"

When Louis Bonaparte heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Did you think of this yourself?"

Arthur blew on the hot coffee: "No, but I have found many practitioners in history. You may not know that when I was studying at the University of London, I was in the history department."

When Louis Bonaparte heard this, he couldn't help but put down the documents in his hands and asked with a wry smile: "Sir, to be honest, although I have been with you for more than a month. But the longer I stay with you, the more I feel It is impossible to see clearly what kind of person you are. Newspapers and magazines, police officer evaluations, street news, and practical operations, different sources of information, your image is completely different, sometimes even completely opposite and contradictory.

If all this is true, you are both an upright police officer eager to help the weak and an expert in traps who devise conspiracies.You are both a police thug defending Tory interests against reform and a progressive zealous for Whig values.You are both an impassioned piano player and a reclusive Frankenstein who loves to be alone.You are an arrogant scholar who occasionally spits out philosophical quotes, and you are a local scoundrel who can drink and dine in a pub with the filthiest gangsters in London. "

At this point, Louis Bonaparte sighed and asked: "So, sir, are you so fickle?"

When Arthur heard this, he just sipped the hot coffee and said, "Louis."

"Well, what's wrong, sir."

Arthur raised his eyes and smiled at him: "I have never changed, what has changed is this era."

When Louis Bonaparte heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then said in astonishment: "What has changed is the times?"

Arthur leaned back on the chair, crossed his fingers and said: "Speaking of which, I received a letter from a friend from South America yesterday. He is a very good naturalist. Although he is not a philosopher, I feel that sometimes The explanations naturalists use to explain the world are more promising."

"Did he say anything?"

Arthur looked at the drizzle outside the window and said: "Louis, this world is not about the survival of the strong, nor the survival of the wise, but the survival of the fittest."

When Louis heard this, he just thought for a while, but before he could think clearly, there was another knock on the door of the office.

"Enter."

Tom pushed the door open and came in. He saw Louis and looked at Arthur, his face suddenly became a little ugly, and he looked like he was hesitant to speak.

Arthur asked: "What's wrong?"

Tom thought for a while, and then said cryptically: "Arthur, over at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Viscount Palmerston has summoned you. He seems to have something to talk to you about."

Arthur picked up the hat on the table and put it on his head, straightened his clothes and said, "Did you tell me what it was about?"

Tom glanced at Louis, hesitated for a long time, and then reminded: "It seems to be about a magazine article, and some other things. I heard from the messenger that Viscount Palmerston seemed to be concerned about the recent support for Poland on the ground in London. His remarks were a bit unhappy."

(End of this chapter)