The Shadow of Great Britain

275: Chapter 183: Monkey’s Tricks (4K2)_2 275: Chapter 183: Monkey’s Tricks (4K2)_2 Perhaps it was the night that brought out a wildness even in the usually gentle and somewhat feeble Tom, as he nodded with a smile.

“To be honest, it’s much better than being on duty.

Here I have to use my brain and learn to write documents, but at least it’s not a psychological burden.

But when you’re on the front lines, it’s bad enough that your body is tired, but you also have to deal directly with the poor, just like us.

Raiding the Russian Embassy is always better than driving away the roadside vendors all day.

But…”

Tom said this, suddenly glancing with some reluctance at the French fat man sitting next to him, bound hand and foot, even his mouth gagged with a cloth.

He pointed to the Great Dumas next to him and asked, “But, Arthur, can you tell me why, when you go to play at a concert, you also had to bring Mr.

Dumas along with you?”

No sooner had Tom finished speaking than the Great Dumas, already weak from his fierce resistance, suddenly perked up.

He jerked forward uncontrollably, nodding at Tom, then kept jerking his head towards Arthur.

His eyes bulged like pocket watches, and from his mouth came a series of muffled sounds.

Although his pronunciation was unclear, Tom could still make out what the Great Dumas seemed to be saying: “Arthur, are you fucking crazy?

If I had known I would end up like this, I might as well have let the pirates capture me!

Get this cloth off me, you’re fucking suffocating me!”

Upon hearing this, Tom, somewhat amused yet exasperated, turned to Arthur and suggested, “Arthur, maybe we should just take the thing out of his mouth, he can’t run away anyway.”

Arthur just took a drag of his cigarette and said, “There’s a reason I’ve gagged him.”

Tom looked at the Great Dumas, whose face was bright red with agitation, and hesitated, “But…”

Seeing Tom like this, Arthur just sighed and said, “Alright, Tom, this is on you.

Listen carefully.”

With that, Arthur reached out and removed the cloth stuffed in Dumas’s mouth.

No sooner had the cloth left his mouth, before Dumas could even catch his breath, the carriage was filled with his loud curse: “You bunch of donkey-fucking British lobsters, I fuck your…”

However, before the word ‘mother’ left his mouth, Arthur had already stuffed the cloth back into it.

Arthur, expressionless, calmly said to Tom, “So, you see?

I thought at one point I could truly touch his heart, but the emotions of the French are generally unreliable.

Emotionally, they are even more extravagant than Britain’s upper class.”

Tom cast a complex glance at Dumas and then questioned Arthur, “I don’t mind keeping his mouth gagged, but why on earth bring him to the concert?

Isn’t this fatty just excess baggage?”

Arthur replied, “I originally didn’t plan on bringing him, but earlier, Francois Vidocq from France had seemingly made a criminal threat.

He said he planned to make a big move on the day of the concert.

Considering this fatty’s head has a bounty from the French Government, I thought it prudent to be cautious.

After all, if we were to lose him during the London conference, it would be a huge embarrassment for Britain.”

Upon hearing this, Dumas blew his nose repeatedly, and after a series of unclear French chants, he finally managed to mumble something Arthur could understand: “You bound me just for that?

I told you already, Mr.

Vidocq won’t kidnap me; he’s my friend.

Besides, what about human rights in Britain?

Are you not the ones always talking about that?”

Arthur, listening to this, simply responded dryly, “Those friends in the underworld who got dealt with by Mr.

Vidocq thought the same as you.

In my opinion, Mr.

Vidocq doesn’t act perhaps only because the price isn’t right.

I’ve heard that Mr.

Vidocq’s annual salary at the Great Paris Police Headquarters is 6,000 Francs.

For those six thousand Francs, he can put away eight hundred friends in a year, while your head is currently worth two to three thousand British pounds.

Alexander, although you are a playwright deeply devoted to literary endeavors, always lavish with your finances, surely you must know the exchange rate between British pounds and Francs is one to twenty?

Your head is worth a full sixty thousand Francs, enough for Mr.

Vidocq to work ten years.

With so much money upfront, who wouldn’t be tempted?

As for the human rights issue you mentioned, Thomas Paine, the man who wrote ‘Human Rights’, was indeed great, but after he finished that book, he was pursued by the government and had to flee to France to join the Great Revolution.

Britain may have nurtured the ‘Human Rights,’ but unfortunately, at this point in time, we can’t accommodate them here.

If you want to talk ‘Human Rights,’ I might consider sending you straight back to France.”

Dumas, overwhelmed by Arthur’s words, struggled for a long while before managing to grunt out, “At least take this damn cloth off my mouth, will you?”

Arthur glanced at him, “Of course you can remove the rag, but you have to promise me no swearing.”

Great Dumas was furious, even his bushy hair seemed to stand on end, “I promise!”

Once Arthur heard this, he reluctantly removed the item from his mouth, “By the way, let me correct you, this is not a rag, but a sock sponsored by Eld’s friendship.”

“Ah?

Arthur, you son of a…”

Before Dumas could finish, his mouth was sealed again instantly.

Seeing his emotions run so high, Arthur knew better than to push this big fellow too hard, otherwise, he would definitely end up being cursed in his books.

He soothed him gently, “Alexander, just bear with it for a bit longer.

Once we get to the theatre, you’ll be safe.

Tonight’s show is quite splendid, I’ve prepared a nice little box for you, where except for not being able to move freely before the show ends, all other treatments are top-notch.”

The carriage carried on through their conversation, crossing Waterloo Bridge and advancing along Waterloo Road.

About ten minutes later, the carriage leisurely stopped in front of the Coburg Theatre, surrounded by red-brick theaters.

By then, the theater’s entrance was already crowded, filled with the rich scent of perfume and the chatter of gentlemen and ladies.

Amidst the crowd, a few malicious eyes occasionally flashed by, belonging to the big league of pickpockets and thieves who had come from various districts of London upon catching the news.

Correspondingly, among the crowd, there were quite a few solitary women adorned with pitiful, delicate makeup, yet they were not proper noble misses but high-class prostitutes waiting for their clients.

In such occasions, there was always a need for their business.

Like just now in front of Arthur, one was being consulted.

“Oh!

Lady, I…

hehe, no no no, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean to intrude, I have no ill intentions.

You see, I’m well-educated, though you might not realize it, I actually graduated from Oxford.

Hehe, yes, that’s right, with my educational background I certainly have a respectable job, I work for the Royal Navy, and my income is not bad either, living near Hyde Park with plenty of people usually keen to please me.

Like some police inspector from Scotland Yard, playwright from France, priest graduated from Cambridge, and also a magazine editor-in-chief and a newspaper journalist.

Oh, you wouldn’t know, these people are really annoying.

They always beg me to handle some troublesome matters for them, but although helping is bothersome, it always pays off in the end.

Look, I happen to have two tickets here, box tickets, all gifted by those people.

Sadly, my lady companion tonight is not feeling well and couldn’t come on time.

Ah, it’s her loss indeed and has left me somewhat sad.

But since she can’t make it, I have no female companion to join me tonight.

If that’s the case, I’d really look bad in front of my friends.

Looking at you, so beautifully made, like the twinkling stars in the night sky.

I wonder if you could kindly accompany me to the concert tonight?

Honestly, seeing you irresistibly reminded me of a verse from Lord Byron — young men are full of vigor, just as spring rivers are abundant.

I…

I would like to get to know you better.”

Arthur looked at that familiar face, his eyelids twitching slightly, his feet that had just stepped off the carriage retracted back.

Behind him, Great Dumas also peeked out for a moment, and then hurriedly sat back down again.

Arthur closed the carriage door, coughed gently, and apologetically addressed the coachman, “Sir, please head to the back entrance of the theatre.

The monkeys at the main entrance are a bit too much.”