shadow of britain

Chapter 442 Two-faced

"Is the matter that serious?"

"It's not just serious, it's life-threatening."

Vidocq dragged Arthur to a small alley on the side of the road, lit a match and said: "Brother, the situation in Paris is far more complicated than you think. Although on the surface there are only royalists and republicans, but the royalists The party can be divided into the Orleans faction, which supports the current government, the orthodox dynasty faction, which supports the old royal family, and the Bonapartist faction, which supports the Napoleon family. Within the republican faction, there can be found the Feuillants and intellectuals, who are composed of aristocrats and big factory owners. The Girondins are mainly composed of small bankers, and the Jacobins are mainly craftsmen, workers, and farmers. Even within the Jacobins, there are small factions such as the Sans Sans and the Beggars. "

Arthur borrowed a lesson from Vidocq, and he asked pretending to be stupid: "So, Mr. Thiers is the leader of the Orleans faction? Just because he is the leader, he even invited the Bonapartist guys. Not even a meal."

"Oh, brother, you are still a diplomat, but you don't even have such political sensitivity."

Vidocq took a puff of cigarette: "Do you remember what Samson said before? When he was young, he was almost guillotined because he was suspected of supporting Robespierre. If you were born in France during the Revolution, I would Guaranteed the authorities will kill you within three days.”

Arthur smiled and spread his hands: "Mr. Vidocq, you know that I am an honest person. I am just saying something."

"There is no way an honest person can survive during the Revolution."

Vidocq puffed out smoke and said: "Everyone who has survived from that era to the present is a cunning and cunning fox. Although I may be a bit overgeneralized by saying this, everyone who has experienced the Great Revolution can still survive until now. Some of them have either betrayed their friends or betrayed their relatives, and most of all, they have flexibly switched camps over and over again.”

Arthur asked: "Like Mr. Talleyrand?"

Vidocq smiled and said: "His Excellency Prince Benevento can be regarded as the best one among our group. He is like a sunflower that always turns to the sun, selling crowns and buying crowns, sometimes He also concocts constitutions, charters, and restorations, and has piles of cap badges, flags, and ribbons. If that doesn't work, he also agrees to go abroad. No matter how the situation changes, he seems to have never suffered. Brother, if you want. If you continue to work in politics, you should learn more from him.”

Arthur asked: "Really? Although I have always had a good relationship with Mr. Talleyrand and I like his personality very much. But if he is really doing well, why is he not the Foreign Secretary but the French Ambassador to Britain?" Woolen cloth."

Vidocq waved his hand and said: "You can't see it that way. His Excellency the Prince did not become the Foreign Minister not because he was not qualified, but because after the July Revolution, he believed that maintaining good relations with Britain was the most important thing for France at the moment. Foreign policy, so he took the initiative to go to Britain. Moreover, although he was only an ambassador, he never paid attention to our Foreign Minister Molay, but chose to communicate directly with His Majesty the King or His Majesty's sister Adela. Of course, he would occasionally ask his niece-in-law Madame Dinno to give orders to Thiers. Although the residence of the Foreign Secretary was in Paris, in fact the entire French foreign policy was controlled by the ambassador's residence in London. customized."

If someone else had said this, Arthur might have thought about the authenticity. But if Vidocq said this, then the reliability of his words would be completely different.

Even if this detective is a layman in the field of diplomacy, after all, he once accompanied Talleyrand as a security guard to participate in the London meeting to discuss the Belgian issue. Even if he listened casually in the embassy every day, he would get more information than some professional diplomats. analysis is closer to the truth.

As a diplomatic agent, Arthur has already begun to familiarize himself with his work in advance.

Although he wanted to ask Vidocq straightforwardly about some sensitive topics about France, in order not to arouse the resentment of this intelligent detective, Arthur could only find a clever entry point that would be most acceptable to the French.

"You just said... Mr. Talleyrand occasionally asks his niece Madame Dinnot to send letters to Thiers? Isn't... Mrs. Dinnot the wife of Mr. Talleyrand? When I went to the legation to find When Mr. Talleyrand plays cards or attends a banquet, this lady always comes out to receive guests as the hostess!"

As soon as Vidocq heard this, he couldn't help laughing.

It was obvious that he liked this topic very much.

In fact, Arthur liked it quite a bit.

Vidocq looked at Arthur with a knowing look and said: "Actually, His Excellency the Prince and his wife separated very early. I heard that it should be during the Congress of Vienna in 1815. You should know, Your Excellency attaches great importance to 'lady diplomacy', because many major events are actually negotiated at banquets and dances, and this means that he needs a lady who is of noble birth, elegant, smart, capable, young and beautiful. Come and host the salon banquet for him.

Although the prince's wife, Mrs. Grant, was also very beautiful when she was young, she was never very good at sociability and has not improved much over the years. It happened that at that time, His Excellency the Prince's niece, Mrs. Dinno, was divorcing her husband. I heard that her husband was an out-and-out bad gambler. He once gambled so hard that he had nothing left but a pair of underpants, so he came to the Prince to borrow money. As an uncle, Your Excellency never reprimanded him with words, but always gave generously.

Of course, this is probably not because of the uncle-nephew relationship, but because of Mrs. Dinno's charming face. Therefore, when His Excellency the Prince proposed to take his niece-in-law to Vienna to host his salon banquet, his gambling nephew agreed without a second thought. "

When Arthur heard this, he blinked twice: "Didn't they ask Mrs. Dinno herself for her opinion?"

"Mrs. Dinno herself?"

Vidocq laughed loudly and said: "I heard from His Excellency the Prince's housekeeper that when Mrs. Dinno heard that her uncle wanted her to accompany her to Vienna to socialize with ladies, she was so happy that she couldn't open her mouth from ear to ear. She was so happy. Regardless of his seniority, he rushed forward and hugged his uncle's neck tightly, saying coquettishly: "Dear uncle, I will go with you wherever you go." The prince took advantage of the situation and threw away his cane, just like his leg. He stopped lame and hugged Mrs. Dinno tightly in his arms. Arthur couldn't help but look disappointed when he heard this: "Mr. Vidocq, I thought there would be something more exciting." You said that stories of this level no longer have much stimulating effect on me."

Vidoc took a puff of his cigarette: "It's more exciting... let me think about it... Oh, by the way, you must not know about Mr. Thiers, right?"

Seeing that the other party came to the door, Arthur immediately asked, "Are you talking about the matter between him and the real estate developer mother and daughter?"

"Damn it!" This time it was Vidocq's turn to be surprised: "How did you know about this? Has this matter spread to London?"

"That's not true." Arthur replied: "I heard it from other guests at Mr. Thiers' banquet yesterday."

"Thiers invites you to his banquet?"

When Vidocq heard this, he couldn't help but glance at Arthur again.

He sighed rather sourly: "Brother, a year or two ago, you and I were still in about the same position. But now, you and I are simply in the same place. You have become a serious British lord." My lord, a knight appointed by the king. And here I am, fucking eating on the streets of Paris.”

When Arthur heard this, he couldn't help but give Vidocq a pat on the back and said: "Although he is not as comfortable as Mr. Talleyrand, Mr. Thiers should be doing well in Paris at the moment. Moreover, after all, he He is directly in charge of things in Paris. I will see him another day and I can give you a nice word. I believe that with your talent, it won't take long for you to make a comeback. "

When Vidocq heard this, he smiled and shook his head and said: "People like Thiers are probably not willing to have anything to do with me. However, I borrow your good words, brother. By the way, let's go back to Thiers. Well, this guy is a very special person in the current government. He is not only admired by the Republican leader, the Marquis de Lafayette, but is also regarded as a confidant by Talleyrand.

The most important thing is that during the Bourbon Dynasty, he was an out-and-out opponent, and when His Majesty the King ascended the throne, he was the first among the literary and artistic circles to express his support for the July Dynasty. Unlike most people in the literary and art circles, he supported Bourbon when he was in power, and only gradually turned his support to the new dynasty when the July Revolution was over and the overall situation was decided. Therefore, he also has a very special meaning to His Majesty the King. Because of this, His Majesty the King was particularly generous with his grant. "

Speaking of this, Vidocq emphasized: "Actually, Mr. Dumas once had such an opportunity to rise to prominence. Because he was closer to the king. When the king was still the Duke of Orleans, Mr. Dumas worked for him. Scribe of the Secretariat. But during the July Revolution, he was too single-minded.

When the July Revolution broke out, he was so happy that he walked around Paris for three days carrying a flintlock gun. He tried his best to get the Marquis of Lafayette to first send him to Soissons to collect arms, and then asked He was sent to Vendée to organize the National Guard to prevent the Zhuan party from starting a riot. But he was busy jumping up and down, and finally lost his temper because he found that France did not realize the republican system he wanted.

After returning from the Vendée, his old boss at the Secretariat wanted to reintroduce him to the king, but the fat gentleman became too arrogant because he had written several famous plays, and he was unwilling to accept any low position. The king obviously also knew what kind of person this former little scribe was, so he was unwilling to hand over any important positions to Mr. Dumas.

In the end, Mr. Dumas only took the position of deputy commander of the artillery, and he restlessly made hate speeches against the new dynasty in the army every day, threatening to start a second revolution and completely realize republicanism in France. You should also know what happens next. It was nothing more than being wanted and fleeing the country overnight..."

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly couldn't help laughing and said: "It sounds like it's not particularly unjust for this fat man to be wanted!"

"Who says it's not?" Vidocq laughed loudly: "In France, no one cares about what you are thinking. But if you want to say it freely, then it will be a big problem. But At least things are better now than during the Revolution. At least in most cases, His Majesty the King is quite gentle now.”

The two finished smoking and chatted as they walked out of the alley. Just when Vidocq was about to stop a taxi and take Arthur on a tour of Paris, they suddenly heard a noisy scream coming from the cafe on the corner. scream.

Immediately afterwards, they saw a group of panicked gentlemen and ladies running out of it in a panic, as if something terrible was happening in the cafe.

They were about to stop a customer and ask about the situation, but before they could open their mouths, they heard a man's roar coming from the cafe.

"Alexander, you shameless, dirty bastard! I trust you so much, I regard you as a friend, but you come to pry me into a corner. Your relationship with Dorval has made me famous in Paris and in the entire literary circle. Shame on you! The most important thing is that you have the guts to go back to France!"

"Winnie, calm down! My good brother, listen to me, I really didn't mean it. Damn it, believe me, I never meant to offend you. If there is any conflict between us, it is all my fault, absolutely It's not your problem. Even if you pull the trigger and kill me, I won't have any complaints."

"What are you doing? Pull out your gun quickly. I want to have a duel between men with you openly! I don't need your apology. Today, between you and me, there is only one person who can calmly go through this. Walk out of a coffee shop!”

"Winnie, you are one of my best friends. You know, there is no way I would pull out a gun on you. I'm really sorry for you from the bottom of my heart about Doval. I...damn! I It's not a thing. I obviously know that he is your woman, but... But I just can't control myself... You also know, Winnie, I didn't mean it. Do you remember that time before? They wanted me to write a play about Napoleon, but I was not enthusiastic about Napoleon because my father suffered a lot at his hands. In order to make me obey, they tricked me into going to the theater and imprisoned me. I moved into a room connected to the actress's bedroom, and then asked Miss George, who had been Napoleon's mistress, to seduce me and let her take a bath in front of me. I couldn't hold it back, so... within eight days... The script of "Napoleon Bonaparte" has been written. Pooh... Pooh, I'm really nothing!"

(End of this chapter)