shadow of britain

Chapter 627: Encounter at the Winter Palace

"Please wait here for a while, have some tea and some snacks. His Majesty the Tsar is meeting with the French chargé d'affaires. Someone will come to inform you when everything is over."

The court attendant placed one hand on his chest and bowed slightly to Count Daramo and others, then turned around and strode out of the lounge of the Winter Palace with his head held high, holding his sword.

Arthur looked up at the spacious hall. The ceiling of the hall was very high, and exquisitely carved gold decorations set off the dark blue wallpaper. A huge crystal chandelier hung in the center of the ceiling, and the light sprinkled down, seeming to embellish the entire space into a golden dream.

From the murals hanging on the walls, one can easily see the Tsar’s aesthetic orientation. In addition to the common portraits of people, the most common scenes here are war scenes.

Among them was the Battle of Poltava, where Peter the Great defeated King Charles XII of Sweden, thus completely changing the balance of power in Northern Europe.

There was also the Battle of the Kagul River during the reign of Catherine the Great, when Marshal Rumyantsev, the 'Transdanubian Victor', completely defeated the Ottoman Empire, thereby bringing the Crimean Khanate under Russian control and establishing Russia's military presence in the Black Sea region.

Then there was the Patriotic War of 1812, in which the "Holy King" Alexander I resisted the invasion of Napoleon. Both sides deployed a total of more than 6 troops, and the Battle of Borodino resulted in the loss of more than 6 troops between the Russian and French armies in just one day of fighting.

Arthur stood with his hands behind his back and looked at the pictures on the wall one by one. Through the large gold-framed mirror placed in the corner, he could see behind him that the other members of the delegation were standing aside and talking in low voices.

Perhaps in order to prevent anyone from eavesdropping, Earl Darramore and others deliberately used the local English with a strong accent that they were familiar with to communicate.

Arthur could still understand most of the Glaswegian and Liverpool accents, but even Arthur couldn't recognize Colonel Stewart's Irish accent. He could only pick out a few familiar words with difficulty and analyze them in combination with the words of other people.

In short, Count Daramo and his companions seemed to be discussing the Greek influence in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the past few centuries, due to the long-term rule of the pagan Ottoman Empire, Greeks continued to immigrate to other parts of Europe. Russia, like Greece, is an Orthodox country, and the successive tsars have continuously introduced foreign officers and engineers. Therefore, Russia has always been the main destination for Greek immigrants.

Since these Greek immigrants had a high level of education, were numerous, and had no mother country, the Tsar felt comfortable using them. Therefore, the Greeks soon became a force that could not be underestimated in the Russian court. Some of them became generals in Russia, while others served as ministers.

The Greek base in the Russian court was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Kapodistrias, the first president of the Hellenic Republic, who was unfortunately assassinated a few years ago, once served as Russia's foreign minister.

The reason why Russia was the most resolute country in supporting Greek independence was not only because of the same religious beliefs and the old enemy relationship between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, but also because of the great contributions of the Greek immigrants in Russia behind the scenes.

Earl Dalamore and others were chatting, and suddenly Arthur heard a familiar name and a series of gossip from their conversation.

Dorothea Leven, sister of Count Benkendorf, the head of the Third Hall.

Mrs. Levene's husband was ordered by the Tsar to return to the country the year before last. However, as Mrs. Levene had lived in England for 22 years and was accustomed to the convenient life and climate of developed Western Europe, she was reluctant to return to cold St. Petersburg and instead stayed in Paris to participate in various social activities.

Because of this incident, Levin and his wife have been separated for two years.

According to Count Daramo, the Tsar seemed to be very angry about Mrs. Leven's behavior. However, since her husband, Duke Leven, and her brother, Count Benckendorff, were both ministers highly valued by the Tsar, the Tsar reprimanded Mrs. Leven and asked her husband and brother to cut off contact with her, and the matter was dropped.

However, Count Daramo heard the gossip from somewhere, perhaps from some big mouth during his trip to Paris, that Mrs. Leven, who was mentally devastated, had found someone who could comfort her soul.

Of course, this person was not the short Thiers. Although he was also very good at making women happy, he did not attack Mrs. Leven this time.

The person who won the favor of Madame Lieven was Thiers' cabinet colleague, François Guizot, an equally talented historian, former professor at the Sorbonne University, and current Minister of Education of the July Monarchy of France.

From Earl Daramore's gloating tone, it seemed that he was making fun of Viscount Palmerston's missteps in love.

However, based on what Arthur had seen at the Allmark Club and his understanding of the Cupid from Ireland, Viscount Palmerston might not be too sad about this matter.

Because the old British Baby's love business has always been busy, even though he is well versed in time management skills, there are always times when he is unable to do so.

In a sense, Mrs. Leven's love affair actually helped to relieve his burden.

If one had to pick a clown in this matter, Arthur felt that Austrian Chancellor Metternich should have been elected with a high vote.

After all, during the London Conference that year, Arthur sent someone to steal the love letters that Metternich wrote to Mrs. Leven in his early years.

Although this diplomat who was highly skilled in European affairs and a statesman who was a rival of Talleyrand had remained persistent in his love for Madame de Levene over the years, even after she left Viscount Palmerston, she did not rush to Vienna, but instead threw herself into the arms of Guizot in Paris.

Ah!
Perhaps I should write a letter to Heine to tell him about this good thing.

But on second thought, Arthur was worried that writing a letter might irritate Heine, because Heine's love story with his two cousins ​​was even more ridiculous than Metternich's. Perhaps this was the racial talent of the Germans. Metternich was not good, and Heine was not much better.

But then again, Mrs. Leven is indeed a top figure in the European social circle. Look at her list of lovers and suitors, the Duke of Wellington, Viscount Palmerston, Metternich, Guizot, her husband, the Duke of Leven, and her brother, Count Benckendorff...

You can find representative figures from every country, including Britain, France, Russia and Austria.

Maybe she wasn't the most powerful woman in Europe, and she couldn't start a war.

But if everyone wanted to quell a war, they would most likely have to pass the message through her, just like what happened at the Congress of Vienna after the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Arthur listened to a string of gossip, and the old spy's fingers trembled involuntarily.

He developed a good habit since school days: once he found some new knowledge, he would write it down immediately and review it several times after class to make a deeper impression.

Arthur subconsciously pulled out the notebook from his jacket pocket. Just as he was about to start writing, he caught a glimpse of the gazes of Earl Daramo and others. He smiled calmly and said, "I want to go smoke for a while. Anyone want to join me?"

Earl Daramo and others were chatting excitedly, and they all declined Arthur's invitation.

Arthur saw that his goal had been achieved, so he walked to the three-meter-high door and asked the guard, "Excuse me, where is the smoking room?"

"It's the first left turn ahead."

Arthur nodded in thanks and walked towards the smoking room humming "Katyusha". As soon as he pushed open the door of the smoking room, he saw a young man who looked about his age sitting on the crimson velvet sofa.

The two of them simply nodded politely, which was considered a greeting to each other.

Arthur struck a match and lit his pipe. Through the white smoke, he couldn't help but look at the smoker a few more times.

Judging from his attire, he should be a staff member in the Winter Palace, perhaps the Tsar's attendant, or a clerk in the Tsar's office.

If it were just for this reason, Arthur might not have paid so much attention to him, but the smoker's appearance did not look like an ordinary Russian, nor did he look like a British, German or French.

His curly hair, coupled with his shiny black skin.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

For some reason, this reminded Arthur of a fat French friend of his.

Curiosity was like a wildfire, igniting Arthur's spy spirit. If he didn't find out the truth, he would suffer one more day.

Arthur sucked on his pipe, taking one puff after another, until the third puff of smoke came out, and the old spy finally couldn't hold it in any longer: "You don't look like a traditional Slav. Are your ancestors immigrants?"

The smoker was not shy about his background. On the contrary, he was quite willing to talk about it with others: "My background is much more traditional than the new nobles like Orlov who rose to prominence during the reigns of Catherine the Great and Alexander II. My ancestors had already made their mark during the reign of Peter the Great. Do you think a family that has become a Russian aristocracy for centuries is an immigrant?"

At this point, the smoker paused. "But if you insist that I have some immigrant blood in me, I won't refute it. Because my great-grandfather was indeed born in East Africa. He was a prince of Abyssinia. When he was seven years old, he was abducted by the Ottomans to Constantinople, and then taken back to Moscow by the Russian ambassador to be presented to Peter the Great. He started as a guard and secretary to the Tsar, and then was sent to France to study military engineering. After returning to his country, he was entrusted with important tasks and led the construction of the fortresses of Kronstadt and Rogelvik and the Ladoga Lake Canal. During the reigns of Elizabeth I and Peter II, my great-grandfather was an important official in the court. He finally retired with the rank of general. You should know the weight of this title."

Upon hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but exclaimed: "Your great-grandfather sounds like a legendary figure, and your life story is more and more similar to that of a friend of mine. You are simply the Russian Alexander Dumas."

"Dumas?" The smoker was just chatting casually, but when he heard Arthur mention Dumas' name, he immediately seemed to remember something and asked symbolically: "Are you Sir Arthur Hastings?"

"How do you know my name?"

"So it really is you!"

The smoker smiled and held out his hand. "I heard about this from a little Russian. You should know who he is. He has been suffering from hemorrhoids lately. By the way, let me introduce myself. I am Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin. You are right. I do have some similarities with Dumas. For example, we both have Alexander in our names."

"Pushkin?"

Arthur just felt that the chance encounter with Pushkin was ridiculous. He had been planning to establish contact with Pushkin through Gogol's introduction. Who would have thought that Pushkin would come to him just while he was smoking a cigarette.

It seems that although smoking is harmful to health, it is quite helpful for work.

Arthur lowered his voice and said, "I heard from Gogol earlier that you were pardoned by the Tsar and returned to Petersburg. I thought you were probably living in an apartment under strict surveillance by the Third Bureau. I didn't expect that you were working openly in the Winter Palace?"

Pushkin smiled helplessly: "As for surveillance, I am indeed being monitored. But apart from the fact that I need to apply to the Tsar and the Third Bureau for permission to leave the city, at least I am free to travel around Petersburg."

"What about going abroad?"

Pushkin shrugged. From his eyes, it can be seen that he was very dissatisfied with this matter: "I am forbidden to go abroad. Although they did not say it explicitly, I applied to go to Western Europe for inspection before, but was rejected several times. A few years ago, I heard a translator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentioned his experience in the Orthodox Mission in BJ, so I wanted to go to China as a special envoy, but they did not agree."

"Translator? Missionary group?" Arthur suddenly became interested: "Don't the missionaries speak Chinese? Do they need a translator?"

"No, you misunderstood. The translator from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was originally a missionary. But, anyway, this is quite interesting."

Pushkin laughed and said, "The translator was originally a missionary, but as a priest, he was an atheist and was not interested in missionary work. Therefore, his behavior directly angered the Tsar, who recalled him and exiled him to Siberia. He stayed in Siberia for three or four years. If there had not been a shortage of people who knew Chinese in the palace, he would not have been so lucky to be pardoned and return to Petersburg."

An atheist priest?

Arthur couldn't help laughing when he heard this word.

He didn't expect that this advanced product had not yet appeared in the UK, but had already been born in Russia.

He used to think that this thing should only exist in France, such as the "People's Bishop" Mr. Talleyrand.

Arthur asked, "Since he is an atheist, why does he have to make things difficult for himself by becoming a priest?"

Pushkin smiled and blinked his eyes: "Don't you understand? The priesthood is a family tradition in his family. This is not a path he chose himself."

(End of this chapter)