shadow of britain

Chapter 95 The Help of the Knights of the Round Table

In the coffee shop opposite the Greenwich Police Station, Elder and Darwin were happily exchanging the new knowledge of the past few days.

"Charles, have you read the news? The Duke of Orléans, Louis-Philippe, has inherited the French throne. Those Frenchmen are simply out of their minds. After getting rid of one king, they replaced it with a new one. So why are they making a fuss for a long time? ?”

While reading the book, Darwin replied absent-mindedly: "I remember that there are a bunch of republicans in France? Will they be satisfied with a king?"

"Of course they're not satisfied!"

Elder said: "I read in the newspaper that a group of radical republicans planned to continue to make trouble in Paris a while ago, but they were discovered before they started. Those members of them will either go to jail or go into exile. In my opinion, There may be a few French republican exiles in this café."

After Elder finished speaking, he began to squint and look at the guests in the coffee shop.

At this moment, the bell hanging in front of the coffee shop door rang, and Arthur pushed the door in and raised his hand and slapped Elder on the back of the head.

"What are you looking at, boy?"

Elder replied solemnly: "I'm looking to see if there are French people in this coffee shop."

Arthur sat down next to him and poured himself a cup of tea: "French? Even if there are, there is at most one here."

"why?"

Arthur took a sip of his tea and replied, "If there's a Frenchman here, he's just an ordinary womanizer. If there's two Frenchmen, they'll draw their guns to a duel. And if there's three Frenchmen, At this moment, there is already a revolution in the coffee shop. There is a revolution, how can you sit here and drink tea so calmly?"

After hearing this, Elder laughed loudly and said, "That's true, but we don't seem to be doing much better here, right? Although we don't make many revolutions, we have a lot of demonstrations and protests.

And speaking of duels, I remember that the Duke of Wellington published a duel letter to the Earl of Winchelsea in the newspaper last month?What provoked him? He is an old man in his 60s, why is his temper still so bad? "

Arthur curled his lips and said, "It's nothing, it's just because of the Catholic Emancipation Act.

The Earl of Winchelsea refuted the Duke of Wellington's defense of the bill in the House of Lords, and accused him of saying that the passage of the bill was a concession to the Holy See and the Pope. Wellington, who was brave and fearless at Waterloo, is dead, and now Standing in Parliament this Wellington is an out-and-out coward'.

The Duke of Wellington was furious because of this incident, so he wrote a letter of war to the Earl of Winchelsea in the newspaper. "

Darwin put down his book and asked curiously: "I remember hearing people say that the Duke of Wellington's marksmanship is stinky, while the Earl of Winchelsea is a master duelist. Isn't he seeking death by taking the initiative to find someone to fight?"

Arthur raised his eyebrows when he heard the words: "Scotland Yard thought so at first, so we sent a few policemen and doctors there on the day of the duel, and planned to rescue him as soon as the duel was over.

But it turns out that Mr. Duke is far more thoughtful than us policemen thought.

During the duel, Mr. Duke shot Earl of Winchelsea's coat, and Mr. Earl shot into the sky.

We only found out afterwards that before the duel, Mr. Duke was suddenly possessed by Shakespeare, and he wrote more than a dozen letters to Earl Winchelsea in a breath of inspiration to interfere with his opponent.

And after the duel, the two lords expressed their apologies to each other, and the doctors and police were also relieved. The only thing that might be dissatisfied is the group of British reporters who came all the way to make a big news. up. "

Darwin couldn't help shaking his head when he heard it: "As expected of someone who has fought Waterloo, it seems that the Duke of Wellington should have experienced many battles like this."

Hearing this, Elder couldn't help asking: "Speaking of Waterloo, Arthur, do you think it's possible for us to fight the French again?"

Arthur heard this, raised his head and sighed, "I called you here today because I have already fought the French."

Elder frowned and asked, "How did you get involved with the French?"

After Arthur heard the words, he went over the cases of the contract slaves and the disappearance of the Frenchman with Elder.

After listening to Arthur's narration, he couldn't help being surprised and said: "Fred still dares to do this kind of business? Kidnapping people to North America, he is so brave!"

Arthur nodded and said, "I don't think he has the guts either, so I want to ask you, shouldn't this matter have anything to do with the Royal Navy?"

Elder smiled with the corner of his mouth raised: "Arthur, what are you thinking? How could the Royal Navy do this kind of business."

Darwin nodded slightly: "Yes, I think they should still have this basic conscience."

Unexpectedly, Elder couldn't help shaking his head when he heard this, and said, "It's not a matter of conscience that the Royal Navy doesn't do this business, but because we don't have enough people. To make a sailor! And even if we kidnap a man to be a sailor, we can't tie a French sailor!"

When Arthur heard this, the clues in his mind gradually became clear.

Just as he was thinking about what was going on, Elder suddenly exclaimed: "Arthur! Fred kidnapped a Frenchman so aggressively, that person must be a wanted French republican, right? ? Calculating the time, it seems that I can really get it right."

"Republican?"

Arthur thought about it carefully, and suddenly recalled it.

He immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. If the man was an ordinary Frenchman, it wouldn't be a big deal if it fell into Fred's hands.

But if he is a French republican, once he is transported back to France, then this is a serious diplomatic problem.

The cabinet of the Duke of Wellington is currently in turmoil. If the French government arrests people in England at this time, it is estimated that the cabinet will completely collapse within two days.

Once the cabinet collapses, Sir Napeel's previous promise to reform the "Anatomy Act" will not be fulfilled, and the Greenwich Police District, where the case occurred, will also be to blame.

He hurriedly stood up, put on his bowler hat, and said to Elder: "During this time, please quickly check the cargo ships going to France and North America for me. I have to go to the Ministry of the Interior immediately."

But just as he was about to go out, the bell of the coffee shop rang again.

A familiar face stood there, that was Officer Dennis Lloyd, who was full of guilt. He had been ashamed to appear in front of Arthur since he betrayed Arthur to Willox last time.

Dennis looked at Arthur's face and struggled to clenched his fists. He gritted his teeth and hesitated for a long time, and finally made up his mind to speak.

"Arthur, I know I was sorry for you in the past. But this time is different, you must believe me. I have to report to you some things that Sergeant Jones has done during this time. That person is a bit abnormal. His part The behavior doesn't seem right either.

This involves that old bastard Willox, as well as the previous corpse selling case.Also, haven't you been with Chafred all this time?
I... I have been following Sergeant Jones privately for some time, and he went to the Blackpool Detective Agency in Whitechapel today..."

(End of this chapter)