shadow of britain

Chapter 501 Dirty Deal

It was not difficult for Arthur to use eloquent words to glorify Schneider's shameful dark history into a case of a desperate fight with foreign spies. After all, he had already done this for Elder before glorifying the experience of this "pure" British gentleman.

For a fictional story, guns, bullets, love, misunderstandings, blood, separation of life and death, these elements that can arouse human interest can all be cleverly arranged into the plot.

After a tactful description of a male and female spy case that was like a classic Greek tragedy, Emily's impression of Schneider quickly changed.

"Two people who love each other can only become enemies who kill each other because of their different standpoints. However, she left her last tenderness to you on her deathbed and asked you to live on in her place."

Emily put her hands on her chest and shook her head. "If I hadn't heard it with my own ears, I would have thought that such stories only appeared in novels."

"Naive and silly woman! This kind of plot can only appear in novels!" Agares lay on the fireplace and threw a banana peel at Emily's head. "What kind of madness has got you into that you would believe the words of two diplomats?"

Schneider showed a sad expression without changing his expression. "Like Arthur said, she is an expert with a whip. She could have used the whip to knock down my pistol, and I thought so too. But she missed the target on purpose, and my bullet pierced her heart."

If it were in other fields, Arthur might not have much say, but when it came to a bullet piercing the heart, no one present probably knew more about it than him.

He pretended to comfort Schneider: "August, I understand how you feel. I thought that after so much time has passed, you should have gotten over your sad past, but..."

Hearing this, Schneider covered his forehead and said, "Arthur, you don't understand. This love is too unforgettable for me."

Emily heard this and tried to lure the two heavy smokers out with drinks: "Maybe a little absinthe will put you in a better mood. Mr. Schneider, I must apologize to you. I didn't know you were such a passionate person before."

"No, no." Schneider, the 'most affectionate man in Hesse', politely took off his hat and said, "Misunderstandings between people are inevitable. I'm glad that you can see something other than my German bloodline in me now. By the way, thank you for your advice. I think I may really need some wine to numb myself now."

Emily's plan succeeded. She secretly clenched her fists in joy, and then pretended to be calm and said to Arthur beside her: "Then please accompany Mr. Schneider for a drink. I have to ask my uncle to come over. I remember he mentioned a business deal with you before."

"Then I'm sorry to trouble you."

Arthur supported Schneider, who was in a state of grief, and walked towards the drink counter. However, as soon as Emily left their sight, Schneider, who was heartbroken, immediately smiled again.

He poured Arthur a glass of wine and handed it to him: "What do you think of Miss Draisaitl?"

"Miss Dresset?" Arthur pondered for a moment. "Her manners and words are elegant and appropriate, which is consistent with her educational background."

When Schneider heard Arthur's words, he just put his arm around his shoulders and laughed out loud: "Brother, are you kidding me? Don't tell me that after you came to Paris, you only attended parties and salons like this, and met guests like Miss Dresset."

Arthur leaned against the table, thinking for a long time before he raised his brows and asked, "Huh? August, you mean to say that a lady like Miss Dresset is atypical?"

"Oh my God!" Schneider punched Arthur in the chest. "Arthur, you really haven't gotten into the social circles in Paris yet! Don't you have a lot of friends in the literary and artistic circles? Have they not shown you the other side of Paris until now?"

Arthur recalled the interests and hobbies of his friends in the literary and artistic circles, and immediately understood what Schneider meant: "Although they didn't actively show it, I still passively saw some of it."

Schneider nodded slightly and said, "That's not too bad. In this case, you should understand how most decent ladies behave at banquets, especially at public dances. For many ladies in the upper class, dances are the most convenient and only opportunity to have a good time.

Only then can they give in completely to their passions and allow themselves to be kissed. The freedom of the ball allows them to do all this. The masquerade and charity balls in Munich, the series of entertainment evenings in Berlin, and the balls given by artists in Paris are notorious examples of this.

At this point, Schneider also wanted to take Arthur to see the world: "After you came to Paris, have you met with our ambassador to France, Count Granville?"

Arthur explained everything in detail: "I met him once before at Charlotte House, where the embassy is located, but Earl Granville was out for something in the afternoon, so I spent most of the afternoon drinking afternoon tea with Lady Granville. She is a very gentle and dignified lady, but she prefers to talk to me about country life and her proud children rather than social banquets in Paris. If things go well, her eldest son, Lord Granville Jr., will soon graduate from Christ's College, Oxford University, and she is worried about how to arrange her son's future."

"worry?"

Schneider said, "Why worry about this? Aristocratic education has three steps and two routes. You can either be sent to the Naval Academy at the age of 10, then drift on the sea for six years and return to the Admiralty for examinations. Then it depends on your opportunities, abilities and connections. If you are lucky, you can become a general. If not, you can become a colonial official. Or you can be more stable and go to Harrow School or Eton College first, then go to Oxford or Cambridge, and finally donate money to become an officer in the army. After serving for a few years, you can come back to be a member of parliament."

"That's the problem." Arthur said, "Mrs. Granville is not willing to let her son serve in the army because she is afraid that the child will be infected with various strange infectious diseases in the rain forests of Southeast Asia or the grasslands of Africa. She knows that I used to work in Scotland Yard, so she specifically asked me if there is any future in the police industry."

"Oh..." Schneider couldn't help laughing. "It seems that the 'Royal' title of Scotland Yard has really enhanced the reputation of the police. Some nobles are even starting to inquire about serving in the police force."

“But I think this is a bad idea.”

Arthur shrugged and said, "In Britain, the police profession is not suitable for gilding. Considering Lord Granville's background, his father is a famous diplomat and a founding father of the Tory Party. He has served as ambassador to Russia and France. Therefore, expanding in the diplomatic field is obviously a better choice. Even if this young man is not interested in diplomacy, he can still follow his mother's path. The Cavendish family, the hereditary Duke of Devonshire, is a veteran family of the Whig Party. Even if he does not want to serve overseas, I think his uncle, the Earl of Northumberland, can find him a job in the Northumberland Infantry Regiment."

Although what Arthur said was true, that the profession of police was indeed not respectable in the UK, he still had his own selfish motives in not advising Mrs. Granville to let her son go to Scotland Yard for training.

The worst thing that could happen to Arthur would be to throw sand in his old nest, the Metropolitan Police.

If this place is regarded as a gilded destination by the nobles, then all his efforts in Scotland Yard for many years will go to waste. After all, it is impossible for the nobles to work as patrolmen at the grassroots level here, and the leadership being filled with nobles means that the road for "progressive youth" will be blocked.

If Radley, Plunkett, Jones, Tom and Tony couldn't get up, wouldn't Sir Arthur Hastings's bullets be in vain?
"Northumberland Infantry? You mean the Fifth?" Schneider pinched his chin and thought, "I think the problem may be here. Have you forgotten the nickname of the Fifth? The Wellington Guards, this is the Duke's permanent headquarters guard. Although serving in the Fifth does not require being transferred to the colonies, it is not only expensive to donate an official position in the Fifth, but it is also very difficult to clear the channels."

"That's true." Arthur pondered for a moment. "Perhaps after he graduates from Oxford, he can go to the four major law firms to study law and then seek a job as a judge, which would be the best fit for Mrs. Lanville."

"Who cares? He's not my son." Schneider said, "No wonder you haven't set foot in their real core area in Paris for such a long time. It turns out that you were misled by Mrs. Granville."

"what happened?"

"Of course, what I am about to say is not intended to discredit Mrs. Granville. But..."

Schneider cleared his throat. "Mrs. Granville is undoubtedly qualified as a banquet organizer and a good wife of the ambassador. But her personality is not suitable for Paris. She is just forcing herself to do things she doesn't like. She is too classical, as if she lived in the Renaissance. Although she can smile and chat for hours at the banquet, our ambassador's wife looks down on the French aristocracy from the bottom of her heart. Last year, when Earl Granville returned to London to report on his work, I heard Mrs. Granville complain privately at the banquet that most Parisian aristocrats were superficial and empty. At the banquet, she was more like a nanny than a hostess, coaxing these guests like children."

Arthur put down his glass. He seemed a little drunk, so that his usually subtle insights were exposed.

"Isn't it? From what I have seen and heard these days, they are all quite smart and knowledgeable, but they have nothing to do but indulge in sensual pleasures, leisurely time, self-intoxication, and think that all sins are just a show. They exaggerate the desire for food and drink into spiritual needs and reduce the love between men and women to sensual pleasures." "Oh, look what I heard? Arthur, you are just like a philosopher."

Schneider winked at him and said with a smile, "But listen to me, there is no good end to being a philosopher in the field of diplomacy. You can be vulgar, lustful, and sinful, but you must not pretend to be noble. In this line of work, no one buys that. Even if someone pretends to be noble, it is just to use such an appearance to attract those guys who are blinded by various desires, so that they will suffer losses and hand over information."

"I understand what you mean. But, August, I still have to tell you how ridiculous my recent experience is."

Arthur talked openly about his gains in the Paris theater: "You know what? I just watched a play at the St. Martin Theater two days ago. In fact, this play is nothing new. It just shows a couple of lovers taking off their clothes. But in order to cover up this plot, the playwright tried his best to make such a scene more complicated, not only to let the audience see it, but also to let other characters in the play see it.

As for ballet, I used to think it was a great art, and that ballet was not as popular in London as in Paris because the audiences in Paris had a higher level of artistic appreciation. But now I realize that I was wrong, and that ballet was more popular in Paris because the theaters in Paris knew how to play tricks.

"Playing tricks? What tricks?" Schneider caught the key words instantly: "Can you tell me about it in detail?"

Arthur poured himself some more wine. "It wasn't anything new. There was a frivolous tune, an actress without underwear, and old dancing shoes thrown to the audience at the curtain call. August, you have no idea how horrible this experience was. I was almost trampled to death by the audience who were scrambling for the dancing shoes. They fought until the shoes were torn to pieces. What surprised me most was that the newspapers later gave more space to the report on the scramble for dancing shoes than the July Revolution and the Republican uprising last year."

Schneider's mouth was dry, and he drank a whole glass of absinthe in one gulp: "I guess that issue of the newspaper must have sold very well."

"It's more than just newspapers." Arthur fished out a ticket from his pocket. "That ballet is also very popular. I heard that their tickets are sold out until next month, but I have an extra one here that they gave me."

"Oh!"

The ticket seemed to have magic. Wherever Arthur's fingers holding the ticket moved, Schneider's eyes would turn there.

"Who gave you this ticket?" Schneider was too embarrassed to ask for it, so he could only hint, "Arthur, you really have a bunch of good friends."

"You know that." Arthur put the ticket back into his jacket pocket. "I have some friends in the literary and artistic circles. As I said before, they did show me another side of Paris, although it was only passive. However, Auguste, thank you very much for your advice. I will take the initiative to integrate in the future, such as visiting the backstage of the theater."

"Backstage at the theater?!"

Schneider rolled his eyes and covered his head. Under the stimulation of alcohol and words, the diplomat looked like he was going crazy.

He raised his finger and pointed at himself: "Arthur, um, I...I..."

"Oh, of course." Arthur put his arm around Schneider's shoulders. "Of course you should come with me. As far as I know, there are quite a lot of dance shoes backstage. The theater shouldn't mind you taking two pairs back as souvenirs."

"Oh, Arthur!" Schneider patted his chest. "Having a friend like you is the greatest luck of my life. Fortunately, you didn't get beaten to death under the Tower of London. You are really the most upper-class person I have ever met. Of course, please believe me, I am not complimenting you like this just because you took me backstage. I just think you are an outstanding person."

"I believe you, August. You never lie."

Arthur nodded and said, "These are just some trivial personal preferences. They don't mean you are a womanizer. Just like the famous saying left by Frederick William I of Prussia who loved to build an army: 'The most beautiful girls or women in the world are meaningless to me, but tall soldiers - these guys are my weakness.' You are just like Frederick, a person with simple interests, but your hobbies are exactly the opposite of his."

"Yes, that's right, Arthur, you really know me well."

"Young man?" Schneider and Arthur were chatting so happily that they didn't notice Miss Emily Dresset walking up to them.

It's just that the two British people spoke too fast, and Emily, who was not very familiar with English, could only grasp some fragments from it.

Emily's mind was a little dazed, and she almost suspected that she had heard it wrongly.

But before she could think any more, her old uncle, who had been asked to help her, had already smiled and dismissed her.

"Sir, oh, Mr. Schneider is here too. I almost forgot that you are colleagues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs now. But it doesn't matter. Let's get the business done first, and then I will entertain you two."

While inviting everyone to take their seats, the uncle started talking about the royalties promissory note: "The royalties have been paid. However... our company has not yet established a cooperative relationship with the remittance bank you mentioned the other day. This bank seems to be a new bank, which was established not long ago?"

Arthur hadn't spoken yet, but Schneider, who was standing next to him, took the lead in taking the responsibility of explaining.

"Mr. Draisaitl, I know you may be doubting the reliability of this new bank. But please rest assured that this bank is our exclusive bank for foreign exchange remittances."

"We?" Draisaitl's eyes widened as he heard this. "You mean... the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? If I remember correctly, don't special funds for government agencies usually come from the Bank of England?"

“There are always special circumstances.”

Schneider was so carried away by the dancing shoes that he didn't even realize how big a pit he had stepped into. "Besides, the Bank of England's business scope is not that wide. Perhaps for the Ministry of the Interior, the Bank of England is obviously enough. But for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relying solely on the Bank of England is far from enough. We have to occasionally use the Rothschild Bank account or other trustworthy channels."

"Um……"

Although Mr. Draisaitl is not involved in politics, the financial circle is not far away from politics, so he can certainly understand Schneider's implication.

This little-known bank is most likely used by the British Foreign Office to do dirty work.

Their common tactic is to use small banks to avoid scrutiny from the Ministry of Finance and, by the way, avoid the eyes and ears of foreign governments.

This also explains why this small bank does not have complete business procedures.

Most people would be scared and at a loss when hearing this news, but for a veteran like Dresset, this was a good opportunity to get close to the British Foreign Office.

Money laundering for government agencies is a business that is sure to make money.

When she thought of the opportunity to make a fortune, the old uncle's heart was beating like her niece's. "Although it's rude to say this, I insist that even if you two want to find a safe and secret channel, it shouldn't be such a simple new bank. If you need it, we can also help you."

(End of this chapter)