shadow of britain

Chapter 468: Assassin the King and Killing the King

Miss Dresser looked around, surrounded by gentlemen who took off their hats to the king and ladies who lifted their skirts and curtsied.

They were tall, short, fat and thin, and dressed in different styles. It was not until this moment that Miss Dresser realized that people with aristocratic temperaments would not stand out in a crowd.

But is this the reason why she can't find Arthur?
Naturally not.

In Paris, where the average height of men is between 1.65 and 1.7 meters, it is actually quite easy to find a young man who is ten centimeters taller in the crowd.

If you don't see the swineherd from York at a glance, it only means that he is probably not here.

King Louis Philippe of France enthusiastically took the younger brothers of the Bonaparte family and announced to everyone that he would welcome Napoleon's coffin on behalf of France.

This explosive news immediately caused an uproar. Supporters of the current government who had known about it for a long time applauded the king's wise decision without hesitation. Those who had been favored by Napoleon also felt satisfied.

As for the orthodox royalists, most of the orthodox ones who were able to come to the banquet were unwilling to publicly express their feelings. They would only shout the slogan of restoring Bourbon when the situation was inevitable.

The most uncomfortable people present were undoubtedly the republicans like Alexandre Dumas.

Louis Philippe usurped the fruits of the July Revolution, and exchanged the blood of the insurrectionists for his throne. Until now, he actually publicly praised Napoleon's achievements and planned to return his body to France.

When Alexandre Dumas heard the news, he felt as if he had eaten a fly, and almost vomited out the wine in his mouth.

He didn't like Napoleon, not only because of his republican beliefs, but also because of his family background. His father, General Dumas, was really punished by Napoleon. If it weren't for Napoleon's prejudice, it would be impossible for Dumas to be in Alexandre Dumas III. He died in poverty when he was only 2 years old.

He held the wine glass and wanted to say something, but looking around at his friends, most of these French romantic literati were happy because of Louis Philippe's decision.

Upon seeing this, Alexandre Dumas couldn't help but murmured: "Liberal Romantics? Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Balzac and Vigny are all orthodox royalists. Although Hugo has made some progress, but in the face of Napoleon's Sometimes, I still can't help but praise him. Ha! This is French romanticism. In the end, you still have to find a master to flatter you. "

Alexandre Dumas's soliloquy did not attract too many people's attention. The fat man glanced at the jubilant crowd and then at Louis Bonaparte, who was waving and smiling at everyone on the steps. He only felt hot all over. , as if he was ill.

He grabbed his collar and fanned himself, but he still felt uncomfortable after all, so he walked straight towards the door of the mansion, hoping to get some fresh air away from this place.

As he walked away, he cursed in a low voice: "This is simply not like staying with the reactionary policemen in London. At least he will not harm France."

Perhaps God sensed Alexandre Dumas's prayer. As soon as he walked out of the mansion hall, he met the London reactionary note he was thinking about outside the door.

Arthur and Vidocq were leaning against the carved iron door of the Kaido Sai Mansion, smoking cigarettes, and Vidocq's envious words could be heard from a distance.

"Look, brother, look at these carriages. Each one is expensive. When my detective agency makes a lot of money, I will also get a gold-painted carriage like this and hire a good one." The groom took me around Paris every day."

Arthur's opinion was different from Vidocq: "Mr. Vidocq, it's too expensive to keep a carriage. You have to keep two horses and pay the wages of a groom. When I was working in London, , I went to the racecourse and asked, a low-grade camel grain horse costs 100 pounds, if it is the kind of horse used to pull a cart, it can be sold for 200 pounds, and a standard cavalry horse must cost 300 pounds, and a skilled groom in London. , his annual salary requires 70 pounds for two horses, plus the cost of customizing the carriage and the cost of feeding the horses. Even if everything is based on ordinary standards, it will cost pounds, which is a lot of money. Ten thousand francs.”

Vidocq waved his hands indifferently and said: "Brother, don't look at me now. It's because I lost money in the paper mill and playing card business. If I hadn't invested in it honestly, I would be in trouble now. I should have a savings of 150,000 francs, so it’s okay to buy a carriage for 10,000 francs.”

Having said this, Vidocq turned to Arthur and asked: "Although I can't afford a carriage now, you should have the capital! But why didn't I see you when I went to London before? Where’s the stable at home?”

"When you went there, my salary was one hundred pounds a year. Although I made a small fortune before, buying a house and stocks already cost me seven hundred and seventy-eight pounds. Besides, even if I didn't buy a house, I wouldn't be able to get it. Spend half of your savings to buy a carriage. It’s not like Scotland Yard doesn’t have carriages for patrols. It’s quite suitable to ride in that one.”

Alexandre Dumas sneaked out from behind Arthur: "Is the bus for private use?"

Arthur turned his head and glanced at Alexandre Dumas: "Alexander, that's not a private bus. I only take it when I'm doing my daily patrols during working hours. I usually take a taxi when I'm off work. At best, you can only criticize my patrol. The area is relatively free.”

Alexandre Dumas was not polite to Arthur. He took out the iron box of tobacco from Arthur's pocket and poured it into his pipe: "Your private secretary will be patrolling to St. Helena soon." , Aren’t you going to ask about it? If he goes to Napoleon’s exile, who will go to Hanover with you to take office?”

Arthur smiled and replied: "It's not a big deal. Welcoming Napoleon's coffin is obviously much more important than following me to Hanover. Besides, I won't stay in Hanover for long. When Hanover's new constitution is passed, I will have to Went to St. Petersburg.”

Alexandre Dumas raised his eyebrows and lit the fire: "You want to go to Russia? Arthur, you are better than I thought."

"what happened?"

Alexandre Dumas took a puff of smoke and said: "I thought you were going to put up with the Liverpool matter, but I didn't expect that you actually planned to go directly to Petersburg to settle accounts with the Tsar. Since you are so kind, you need me Teach you how to make explosives?"

Arthur waved his hand and said: "No need, Alexander. As Mr. Talleyrand said, the tsar usually died of a stroke. I have no intention of changing Russian traditions. I respect the traditional etiquette of the Russians very much. Russia The matter should be resolved by the Russians themselves."

"Oh... it's like Greece?" Alexandre Dumas puffed out a puff of smoke: "I didn't expect that not long after you joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you learned the techniques there."

Arthur didn't know what the fat man's fault was today. He thought about assassination every day. He said: "Alexander, I have a little trouble with the Russians, but it's not enough to kill the king." . Besides, even if I really want to do this, there may not be any Russians who will take my order.”

Alexandre Dumas chuckled: "If Tsar Nicholas I hadn't always distrusted France, you could have considered hiring a French assassin. French assassins have always been the best. Both gentlemen and ladies are proficient in this art. For example, assassination François Lavalec of Henry IV, who assassinated Charlotte Corday of Marat..."

When Arthur heard this, he added: "And Arno Dorian."

"Yes, there is also Arno Dorian..." Alexandre Dumas was stunned when he heard this. He held his chin and thought for a while, and then asked Arthur: "Who is Arno Dorian?"

Arthur shrugged: "Forget it if you don't know."

Speaking of this, Arthur suddenly remembered the conversation Mr. Coconut Tree had with him after the assassination in Liverpool.

He smiled and winked at Vidoc: "It seems that business in Paris is indeed more difficult than in London. Although we will also encounter such assassinations, the frequency is far less than in France. Now that I think about it, you security guards The reason why the department is so familiar with assassination cases is because it has been involved in the investigation of such cases before. "

Vidoc stretched and said: "Cases of this level usually do not fall into the hands of the Security Department, but we do run errands for big shots. When the Crown Prince Duke Berry was assassinated, we were tortured. "It's been a while."

As soon as Vidocq finished speaking, he suddenly heard a steady and neat footsteps coming from behind him. Everyone looked back and saw that it was King Louis Philippe who came.

There was a slight smile hanging on the corner of his mouth, and his cheerful look told people that he was in a good mood.

Louis Philippe walked halfway and suddenly stopped. He looked at Vidocq's face and said with interest: "This man looks somewhat similar to me."

Paris Police Chief Zhisouquet, who accompanied the king, quickly explained: "Your Majesty, this is the prototype of the play "The Paris Detective" that will be performed at the Opera House recently, the former head of the security department Francois Vidocq."

"Oh, so it's him?" Louis Philippe recalled: "I have heard of this name and heard that he does a good job in the security department?"

When Vidocq saw the king arriving, he was flattered and saluted: "Your Majesty, it is a great honor to see you."

When Zhisoke saw that the king was interested in Vidocq, he implicitly changed the topic to the other side.

It is true that Vidocq is a rare talent, but his work in the security department is too open-ended.

The unclear budget management, all kinds of strange trapping methods, and his group of capable generals with criminal records.

Although Vidocq has made a lot of achievements by relying on these, for Risoke, who is committed to standardized management, such an uncontrollable person must not be invited back.

Zhisouquet said: "Mr. Vidocq has been fighting in the Ministry of Security for thirty years. During the imperial period, he was appreciated by Napoleon and Police Minister Fouche. During the Restoration, he was relied on by Du Plessis and others. , If he hadn’t reached the age where he should retire, I would have considered keeping him for a few more years.”

Risokai's words were so beautiful that most people sounded like they were praising Vidocq for his outstanding abilities.

But for those familiar with French politics, Zissouquet's words were tantamount to a death sentence for Vidocq's police career.

Being admired by Napoleon and Fouche shows that Vidocq is a Bonapartist.

Being relied upon during the Restoration period indicates that he may be leaning towards the orthodox faction.

Both the inner and outer meanings of Zhisokai's words reveal the subtext that "Victork has a problematic political background."

In Britain, there are many people who can thrive between the Whigs and Tories, such as Viscount Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary, Sir George Canning, the former Prime Minister, and so on.

But in France, a place where politics comes first, especially in this sensitive period, if a person's composition is questionable, all his abilities and achievements can be denied.

Although Louis Philippe was much more enlightened than the overthrown Charles X, no matter how enlightened he was, he could only guarantee that he would not take the opportunity to engage in political revenge or directly threaten the lives of the Bonapartists and Orthodox parties. But it is naturally impossible for him to reuse people from other factions.

As expected, Louis-Philippe heard Zissequet's words and did not continue to ask questions. Instead, he apologized politely and said: "Vidoc, with your achievements, it is completely natural for the theater to write so much about your life." It should be. But considering that your appearance is somewhat similar to mine, if the "Paris Detective" is performed as scheduled, I am afraid that it will cause some unnecessary troubles and the parliament will ban the show. "

"Of course, Your Majesty." Vidocq bowed his head slightly and responded respectfully: "I am a policeman. Of course I understand these things. For the sake of public interest, that scene is indeed not suitable for release."

Louis-Philippe was quite satisfied with Vidocq's answer. He turned to Zissoke and asked: "Is Mr. Vidoc's retirement package confirmed? What is his retirement annuity?"

Zisoquet replied: "Six hundred francs a month."

"For such a hero, six hundred francs is still a bit small." Louis Philippe said: "Thirty years of service, I think it should be worth the price of eight hundred francs per month. The extra two hundred francs are an extra "

When Vidocq heard this, he quickly responded: "Your Majesty... six hundred francs is already your favor. I dare not pray for another two hundred francs, as long as the Grand Paris Police Department can guarantee my retirement annuity. If it is distributed on time every month, it is already a blessing from God.”

Vidocq's strange words fell on Louis Philippe's ears, and the pear king immediately understood what was going on.

He just glanced at Zissequet beside him, and the Paris police chief had no choice but to stand up and explain: "Vidoc, the office has been reorganized recently, and the budget has not been reported to the city hall, so the financial Your annuity has just been stopped. It will take at most one month for your retirement annuity to be replenished."

After receiving Zisuoke's assurance, Vidocq immediately nodded and bowed with a smile: "Sir, I'm not asking you for money, I just want to know the reason. I'm finally relieved that you can explain it in person."

Since the king was by his side, Risoko could not get angry easily, so he had to bring the topic to Arthur: "Your Majesty, this is the bloodhound of Scotland Yard you mentioned earlier, 'Ironheart' Arthur Hess. Sir Tings.”

Arthur was about to take off his gloves and salute, but when he heard Risoko calling his nickname to his face, he almost stumbled to the front lawn.

"Uh...nice to meet you, Your Majesty."

Louis Philippe didn't care about Arthur's rudeness, but found his reaction quite interesting: "Sir, are you still injured?"

Arthur took off his hat and joked: "It's probably because the wound on his chest has moved."

Louis-Philippe laughed when he heard this. Perhaps Arthur had helped to connect Louis Bonaparte before. The most noble man in France at present felt more and more pleased with this British young man.

"Talleyrand said before that you were a very interesting young man, well suited to the banquet climate in Paris. Now it seems that he was right. Not all Britons have a sense of humor like yours. After the Revolution, I I have lived in the UK for more than ten years, but I have never met many interesting people like you. "

When Arthur heard Louis Philippe complimenting him so much, he was about to be polite with the king, but unexpectedly he suddenly felt a chill creeping up his back.

The cold night wind blew, and the chaotic sound of horse hooves sounded, and Arthur's nose seemed to smell a strong smell of black gunpowder.

He suddenly turned his head and looked outside the gate of the mansion. A carriage higher than the wall was speeding past. On the roof stood two young men wearing windbreakers, black cloth masks, and holding six-hole flintlock pistols.

"Louis Philippe, you bastard! God has sent us for you!"

(End of this chapter)