The Shadow of Great Britain

229: Chapter 154: Any Unexpected Gains?

229: Chapter 154: Any Unexpected Gains?

Viscount Melbourne walked into the café, removing his hat to reveal his graying temples.

His eyes scanned around briefly before quickly spotting the lady sitting in the corner.

When his gaze landed on the beige wide-brimmed hat and the pristine white dress, Viscount Melbourne’s eyes seemed to soften considerably.

He smiled faintly, striding over in two quick steps, “Caroline, so you are here.”

Upon hearing his call, Mrs.

Caroline Norton’s body jolted as if electrified, and she abruptly awakened from her painful memories, raising her head to look at Viscount Melbourne, “William…”

Viscount Melbourne looked at her face, the makeup slightly faded from tears, and could not help but be stunned, “What… what has happened to you?”

“I…”

Caroline slightly lowered her head, remaining silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and showing Melbourne a smile as bright as she could manage, “It’s nothing, I’m fine.

After all, I shouldn’t hold too many expectations for him.

One year, two years, now it’s already the third year, and our relationship has come to this—it will never improve.

William, let us talk about something else, just like before.

Literature and poetry, things we’re interested in, enough of these depressing matters.”

Seeing her in this state, Viscount Melbourne just shook his head with a smile, “Caroline, it’s no big deal.

Marital disagreements, incompatibility of temperaments, they can all be reconciled.

You shouldn’t give up so quickly.

Initially, I and… erm… you probably know about my wife, the things she did were probably much worse than what your husband is doing now.

My wife and I had incompatible tempers and fought often, and now that I think about it, the reasons we fought were rather laughable.

She insisted on breastfeeding our children, whereas I disagreed; I wanted to send our child to Harrow School, and she disagreed again.

Coupled with my mother’s intervention, our affection dwindled over trivial matters.

Then she fell in love with Byron, proceeding with a series of hysterical actions, ending in her ruined reputation and tragic demise.

Only at the end of her life did she finally realize, lying in her sickbed and asking the servant, ‘Please call William.

In this world, only he has never failed me.’

But it was too late, everything was too late.

After twenty years of marriage, it was only at the end of life that we understood each other.

I merely held her cold, dead hand, her hair not the raven black it was when I first met her at a ball at the age of nineteen, but wilted and yellowed.

Under the sunlight, her skin seemed almost translucent.

And the tracks of tears on her face, they looked just like those I see on your face today.”

When Viscount Melbourne reached this point, he seemed somewhat sorrowful, tugging at the graying hair on his forehead, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened.

“Sorry, Caroline, I shouldn’t have spoken of these things.

I just don’t want to see you and your husband repeat our mistakes, if you could only understand each other, much of this wouldn’t matter so much.”

While Viscount Melbourne and Mrs.

Norton were conversing, Arthur and Eld nearby were nearly pricking up their ears like antennas.

Eld spoke in a hushed voice, “Viscount Melbourne truly is a romantic!

The outside world thought he never cared about the mess Lady Ponsonby made, but turns out, he was deeply hurt and thus genuinely unable to respond.”

Arthur likewise replied in a low voice, “The matter of Lady Ponsonby is bygone, but Viscount Melbourne now openly discussing his romantic history in front of a married lady seems hardly a good thing.”

Eld looked puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

Before Arthur could answer, the Red Devil had already begun mocking.

“Arthur, this fool is even more foolish than you in this regard.

Has he not sensed that Viscount Melbourne is now exuding a charisma towards women that could be deadly?

What’s worse, the recipient of such charisma is a lady unhappy in her marriage.

I predict it won’t be long before there’s considerable scandal between them.”

The voice of Mrs.

Caroline Norton came from the next table, her eyes shimmering with tears.

“No, William, you don’t understand.

It’s no longer just a matter of incompatible temperaments between him and me, we argue over everything—education, politics, literature, any topic you could think of, we always end up fighting, and… and he often lays hands on me.”

As she spoke, Mrs.

Norton dipped her finger in the water glass and daubed her face with water, revealing the bluish hue beneath her pale concealing makeup.

“This…” Viscount Melbourne was shocked at the sight, “Mr.

George Norton would actually strike you?

He is a properly trained gentleman from Oxford and Lincoln’s Inn!”

Tears streaming down, Mrs.

Norton lamented, “He’s not the refined man you imagine.

George’s temperament is far more violent and brutish than it appears, cruel and brutal, seeing opportunity and forgetting loyalty, conservative, dull, and slow-witted.

I can hardly imagine how such a person graduated from Oxford or how he ever obtained a legal license.

The Norton family’s spoiling has ruined him; he doesn’t at all resemble a gentleman of the 19th century civilization, but rather a violent military leader from the century before.

Initially, it was just arguments when he returned home at night, but now, my days too are spent amidst shouting and fighting.”

“Why is that?” inquired Viscount Melbourne.

Half crying, half laughing, Mrs.

Norton replied, “It’s because of the election, as you know, George is a Tory MP.

But in this election, the Tory Party was utterly defeated, and George also lost his constituency.

Now without a proper job and also facing immense pressure within the Tory Party, they knew George might lose, but they didn’t expect him to lose so thoroughly.

Because of losing his constituency, several Tory Party leaders are now doubting whether George holds enough capability to continue as a Tory candidate.”

Arthur, ousted from his party and without a job in parliament, naturally vented all his pent-up anger and surplus energy on me.

He didn’t take any legal cases either, so there was no income.

With no chance at being a Member of Parliament, I really don’t understand where he gets the gall to lose his temper at me.”

Upon hearing this, Eld at the next table couldn’t help but change his expression.

“Norton hitting his wife?

That story is even more thrilling than the internal strife at Scotland Yard.”

Drinking his coffee, Arthur said, “I do indeed wish to confront Minister Rowan head-on, but alas, in this matter, force can’t resolve the problem.”

“Why don’t you teach Mrs.

Norton the Fiore Style?

I remember at General Cordington’s banquet, Mrs.

Norton was there too, wasn’t she?

She seemed downcast and spoke little; turns out there were problems at home.”

“You just realized she was there?

I thought such a flourishing young lady in her twenties would definitely leave a strong impression on you.”

“Arthur, that’s where you misunderstand me.

The way I identify ladies is not merely by looking at their faces, but through their aura.

‘Smell to know a woman’—do you understand?”

“Hmm, no wonder you always contemplate swimming back from the Thames River every time we bet; you must have taken a liking to the Thames’s aura.”

“Arthur!

That’s none of your business!”

The banter between Arthur and Eld clearly did not capture Viscount Melbourne’s attention; he was deep in thought about how to solve his intellectual friend’s predicament.

Viscount Melbourne was silent for a while, then suddenly spoke, “Losing his parliamentary seat, his status in the party is definitely going to decline.

It’s normal for him to be frustrated, but hitting someone is indeed unacceptable.

However, I still advise you not to be too impulsive.

You two could…”

While dabbing the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief, Mrs.

Norton interjected, “William, please stop.

I’ve made up my mind.

I really can’t stay with him any longer.

Even if we can’t divorce right away, I want to separate.”

“Separation won’t solve the problem…”

Viscount Melbourne found the issue thorny and after a moment’s contemplation, he sighed, “Here’s an idea.

You should know that the Whig’s coming into power is already decided.

Based on party opinion, I will be appointed Home Secretary in the Cabinet.”

“If George is willing to renounce his political views and leave the Tory Party, I might not be able to spare a Ministers’ spot in the Home Office, but I can consider finding him a position as a Civil Servant.”

“With something to do, he won’t need to spend all his energy quarreling with you.

You both can be busy with your careers, and during this time, both of you can have some time to cool down.”

“Civil Servant?” Eld’s face turned green when he heard this.

He glanced at Arthur, “Damn it!

Arthur, Melbourne isn’t planning to give your position to that idiot George Norton, is he?”

Arthur appeared quite calm, “Don’t worry.

A former MP who also holds a legal practice license would definitely look down on my annual salary of 150 pounds as a Scotland Yard detective.”

Sure enough, just as Arthur finished speaking, Mrs.

Norton’s voice rang out.

“William, I really appreciate your help, but you don’t understand George, letting him leave the Tory Party is no problem.

But unless you’re willing to appoint him directly as the Deputy Secretary in the Home Office, he definitely won’t accept the position.

“He doesn’t want to do any groundwork; he dreams daily of being someone important, wealthy.

Besides an MP, the most powerful and wealthy positions are judges, which is why he became a lawyer.

He joined the law society with the hopes of being a judge one day.

Before we were married, he used to boast to me that he would one day become Britain’s Lord Chief Justice.

“But I was too naive; I actually believed his words then.

I was completely taken in by his sweet talk, and all this mess is my own doing.

William, I don’t deserve your sympathy.”

Hearing this, Viscount Melbourne just clenched his teeth and held Mrs.

Norton’s hand in his.

After a moment of astonishment, Mrs.

Norton’s cheeks instantly flushed with a rosy hue.

“William…you…”

With a resolute voice, Viscount Melbourne said, “Caroline, trust me.

Since he wants to be a judge, then I’ll help him find a judgeship.

But I have one additional condition: if he wants this position, in addition to leaving the Tory Party, he must also promise me that he will never lay hands upon you again.”

“William…” Mrs.

Norton looked up at Viscount Melbourne’s face, her eyes misting over again, but this time from joy, “I…I really don’t know how to thank you.”

“No, you don’t need to thank me.

I’m doing all this willingly,” Viscount Melbourne said cheerily, “Caroline, do take care.

You can’t end up like my wife; you must live happily, live clearly.”

Upon hearing this, Eld covered his face with his hands, “My God!

Am I entitled to hear the rest of this story if it’s not for a fee?”

Across from him, Arthur, who had already pulled out pen and paper from his canvas bag and was writing furiously at the table, practically smoked his pen dry.

“Absolutely not.

Of course not.

Eld, even from the love story between Ponsonby and Melbourne, one can see Melbourne is a decent man.

However, from the angle of Darwin’s Origin of Species, I suspect the content ahead is likely to be not suitable for children.”