The Shadow of Great Britain

52: Chapter 14 The Duke’s Investigation Commission 52: Chapter 14 The Duke’s Investigation Commission The Gresham College lecture hall’s back entrance has a separate small room.

Arthur arrived at the door led by a servant, and before he could enter, he saw the door open on its own, revealing a silver-haired old man with a sturdy physique, a moustache, and a black eyepatch over his left eye.

Despite his age, the old man stood as straight as a sheer cliff, leaning on a cane, wearing a clean and severe black suit that was spotless, exuding an overwhelming aura even from several yards away.

Bang!

With a dark face and a fierce momentum, the old man swung the door in front of him open; the door hit the wall so hard it felt as if the ground shook.

Seeing Arthur standing at the door in his police uniform, he was initially taken aback but then scrutinized Arthur with his remaining keenly sharp right eye, examining every inch of him.

After looking for a while, and before Arthur could ask, the old man took the initiative to approach and heavily patted Arthur’s shoulder.

The old man began, “Peel has told me about you, talented and ambitious, and so young.

But if you could stick to tradition and convert to the state religion, your prospects could be even brighter.

Young man, you have a long road ahead.

Don’t get entangled with those liberals, or sooner or later, they will devour you completely.”

Having said this, the well-dressed old man, leaning on his cane, quickly left the scene.

A group of sword-bearing guards and attendants followed behind him, chasing after and calling out, “Your Grace, please slow down, wait for us.”

Watching this, Arthur couldn’t help but frown and ask the servant who led him there, “Was that the Duke of Sussex just now?”

Before the servant could answer, out of the cabin came another gentleman dressed in a white shirt and light purple tailcoat and with wavy brown hair.

This gentleman bore a slight resemblance to the one who had just departed, even the iron-blue color of his face had a certain parallel.

He said, “Mr.

Hastings, pay no mind to that rude man.

I think his mind was damaged back in his military days in Hanover’s Army, filled with that stubborn Deutsch spirit!”

Seeing the situation, the servant cautiously asked, “Your Grace, have you had another disagreement with the Duke of Cumberland?”

With anger across his face, the middle-aged gentleman raged, “I should never have invited my own brother to view Mr.

Faraday’s latest invention!

Napoleon’s army could blind him, but it seems they couldn’t blast open his rigid, inflexible mind!”

Realizing the mood, the servant quickly changed the subject and introduced Arthur, “Mr.

Hastings, this is the Duke of Sussex.”

Indeed, Arthur was already familiar with the Duke of Sussex’s reputation.

He is the sixth brother of the current King George IV, which also entitles him to the name Prince Augustus.

As for the one who stormed out just now, he was his elder brother, the fifth brother of King George IV, the Duke of Cumberland, Prince Ernest.

The two princes were rumored to be at odds, with Prince Ernest, a hardline Tory extremist, having a military background as an army officer and Commander of the Army of the Kingdom of Hanover, participating in numerous anti-French wars.

His years of military life also fostered a hot-tempered and obstinate nature, with a preference for force and staunch opposition to domestic reforms, advocating for the supremacy of the monarchy and maintaining the purity of the state religion.

Recently, due to Duke Wellington pressuring the King and the House of Lords to forcibly pass the “Catholic Emancipation Act,” the Duke of Cumberland fiercely attacked Wellington’s Cabinet in the House of Lords.

The Duke of Sussex, Prince Augustus, on the other hand, is the mirror image of his brother.

Since his youth, he showed little interest in military matters, so unlike his elder brothers, he did not serve in the Navy or the Army.

Instead, he spent his time studying science, the arts, and traveling the European Continent.

During his time on the Continent, he fell in love with a common noblewoman from Scotland and married her without the King’s permission.

This infuriated his father, George III, who went so far as to use the “Royal Marriages Act” to declare the marriage invalid, refusing to acknowledge the Duchess’s status as a means to force his youngest son to divorce.

But Sussex seemed not to care much about it and, moreover, was always in the House of Lords opposing his father and later his elder brother, George IV.

His proposals over the years have included but are not limited to reforming Parliament and the Church, abolishing the slave trade, and eliminating discrimination against Jews and those with different political views and religions.

In a word, in the eyes of the Duke of Sussex, everything in this Kingdom displeased him, and he thought everything needed change.

Even with the recent reform movement for the “Bloody Act,” the Duke of Sussex put considerable effort into it.

Almost concurrently with the reports about Arthur flooding London City, the Duke of Sussex seized the opportunity to submit eight hundred juror signatures collected earlier to the House of Commons to urge speedy progress on the legislation revision.

The Duke of Sussex gave his departing brother a gnashing glare before he finally cooled off, then put on a smile and turned to Arthur.

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr.

Hastings.

To be honest, I’ve long wanted to meet you.”