The Shadow of Great Britain

370: Chapter 223: American, Be Confident!

(4K4) 370: Chapter 223: American, Be Confident!

(4K4) Today, after work, Arthur did not head home as usual, nor did he visit the Wheatstone gramophone manufacturing workshop in Greenwich.

Instead, he walked across Whitehall and entered a café next to Trafalgar Square.

Arthur called over a waiter in the café and casually ordered some light meals and drinks to fill his stomach.

Just as the hot cocoa was served, he heard the wind chimes hanging at the café’s entrance tinkle.

Colt, his face flush from the sun and dressed in a blue and white T-shirt, swaggered in with two holsters hanging around his waist.

As he had just entered looking for a place to sit, his gaze swept the room and landed on Arthur sitting in a corner.

He raised his hand in somewhat surprised greeting, “What a coincidence!

Mr.

Hastings, I didn’t expect to find you here.”

Arthur smiled and motioned for him to come over and sit, “Mr.

Colt, there is no such thing as coincidence in this world, only destiny.

Just as there is no such thing as gravity, only the mass of matter warping space-time.

Similarly, time is merely a construct defined by humans, yet the moments we part and meet again are predestined.”

The American lad, not yet twenty, was so baffled by Arthur’s words that he paused, but the Red Devil sitting nearby couldn’t contain himself.

Agares, who had been poring over a parchment scroll, jolted, looking up at Arthur with renewed suspicion in his eyes, “Damn it!

Are you Arthur Hastings?

I thought you were Isaac Newton!

While many philosophers are indeed well-versed in mathematics, that doesn’t mean they should master physics!

Arthur, you should go out and flirt more instead of contemplating such pointless thoughts!”

Obviously, Colt couldn’t perceive the Red Devil’s dissatisfaction and was still pondering Arthur’s previous statements, “No gravity?

No time either?

Mr.

Hastings, are you trying to overthrow the physical sciences established by Newton?

Or, is this some kind of latest research result from the British academic community?

This idea does sound very interesting.”

Arthur waved his hand, “No, no, no, that was nothing but an inappropriate metaphor from a Scotland Yard detective with little culture.

I was simply telling you that our reunion was not a matter of chance, but of certainty.

Don’t forget, I am a detective.

Do you know what a detective’s duty is?

A detective’s duty is to deduce the possibilities of the future from the clues of the past.”

Upon hearing this, Colt couldn’t help but blurt out, “Doesn’t that sound a bit like a Prophet?”

Arthur stirred his spoon, “Prophet?

Prophets have a much higher calling than detectives.

They can not only accurately predict the future but also persuade their people to avoid disasters.

It’s nothing short of mythic.”

Colt nodded slightly, “I too think it’s too fake for someone to predict everything correctly.”

Arthur shook his head lightly, “That’s not what I meant.

The mythic aspect, in my opinion, stems chiefly from the fact that a prophet’s people would actually heed the advice.”

Caught off guard by this response, Colt burst into laughter, “Is that what you were getting at?

Now that I think about it, it does seem to be the case.

Sometimes, reasoning with a group of people can indeed be quite vexing.

Speaking of which, have you heard about the custom of booing in New York theaters?”

“Booing?” Arthur inquired, “What sort of custom is that?”

As Colt requested a cup of coffee, he explained, “American theaters are quite fond of various Independence War themes, like ‘The Battle of Bunker Hill,’ ‘The Siege of Quebec and the Death of General Montgomery,’ all of which are popular plays that sell out every performance.

Whenever Washington’s name is read on stage or the actor playing Washington appears, the audience cheers in unison.

When the British King is mentioned, however, the audience invariably breaks into boos.”

Colt continued, “At the premiere of Mr.

William Dunlap’s ‘Andre’ at the Park Theatre, there was a scene where Washington orders the execution of the British spy Andre, and the character Brand, dissatisfied with this, removes the Continental Army’s cap badge and smashes it to the ground.

The audience, emotionally charged by the scene, stood up and verbally assaulted the actors and Mr.

Dunlap.

After the performance, major New York newspapers continued to hound Mr.

Dunlap, accusing him of maligning Washington and maliciously attacking the American Revolution through insinuation, subserviently bowing to the vile British.

The papers even mocked that while it wasn’t known whether Andre was a British spy, Mr.

Dunlap was definitely a British plant.

Some defended Mr.

Dunlap, arguing that his father had been wounded in the War of Independence and that Mr.

Dunlap himself had painted portraits of George Washington, making it unlikely for him to be a British spy.”

But upon hearing the painting anecdote, the crowd grew more agitated.

They brought up Mr.

Dunlap’s past where he went to London to learn painting under Benjamin Wyster, alleging that he was funded by the British Government then.

They went, “Though Dunlap seems cloaked in the Stars and Stripes, he wears the heart of St.

George’s Cross.

The Government should banish Dunlap to Canada as they did with the Tories back in the day.”

Mr.

Dunlap had to spend days and nights hastily revising the script to avoid controversy, and it took quite a while before the matter was finally settled.”