The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1089: Chapter 92: The Paradox of Nobility and Pettiness (Part 2)

From abolishing the corrupt army system to establishing the General Staff Headquarters, from creating the predecessor of MI5, the London Police Intelligence Bureau, to coordinating the establishment of an entire British intelligence system, from combating the despicable practice of selling positions and titles to nurturing the British pride in its permanent civil service system, his presence is seen in every corner of historical documents.

For half a century, he has been the foremost servant of this global empire spanning five continents and four oceans.

Before he came to this world, the British had nothing but the poorhouse.

But after his graceful departure, the British had pensions, medical subsidies, and universal suffrage.

He changed Britain, yet humbly insists he only did three small things.

He warmly told the children present at the Royal Society’s Christmas public lecture day that his contributions and mistakes should be judged by history.

But the next day, he classified all documents about himself as the highest level of official secrecy.

This is Sir Arthur Hastings, the rogue gentleman, the rogue knight, the first commoner of Britain who thrice refused a noble title, the secret liberator of the Italian people, the behind-the-scenes savior of the British people, a contradiction of nobility and baseness, the great, The Shadow of Great Britain!

— Romano Ugolini ”The Secrets of Italian Unification: The Three Axes of London, Paris, and Rome”

Garibaldi and Great Dumas argued for a long time about the issue of that Egyptian Port Director, but neither could persuade the other.

However, this did not affect the relationship between the two.

Because in terms of personality, Great Dumas and Garibaldi had very similar temperaments, both being republicans and disdainful of hiding their political views. According to the current laws in France, the words they exchanged in just this short meeting would be enough for hundreds of life sentences of hard labor.

The more Great Dumas and Garibaldi talked, the more they found common ground, and they drank glass after glass of wine.

The two robust men stood shoulder to shoulder, appearing even more intimate than newly acquainted young lovers.

Louis, initially somewhat restrained, quickly joined their ranks after two glasses of wine.

The three of them, under the cover of the penetrating singing of the actors on stage, each holding a glass of wine, hopped and sang anti-government political songs in the private box. If at this moment an ordinary Parisian suddenly barged in, he would surely be so terrified as to turn pale and lose strength in his legs, thinking he had accidentally stumbled into some terrorist’s public gathering.

But Arthur was not afraid of this, and the reason was simple: first, he was not a Frenchman, second, he was a British diplomat. As a diplomat, even as just a second-class secretary, he still enjoyed judicial immunity in Paris.

In other words, even if the three drunkards in front of him ended up in prison, it would not affect Arthur assuming his position in Hanover.

If the incident had any impact on him, it would just be to anger the French Government, resulting in no chance of a position at the Paris Embassy in the future?

Although Paris is the preferred destination for countless diplomats since it hosts endless banquets and charming Parisian ladies, Arthur was not attracted by this.

Although Parisian ladies are indeed more beautiful than London ones, they weren’t beautiful enough to make him want to attend social dinners back to back.

Moreover, Paris also had the bothersome French Academy of Sciences, with Ampere, Poisson, Guy-Lussac, Coriolis, and so on. Just looking at these names, Arthur just wanted to stay far away from them.

Whether Great Dumas could read minds or it’s just that men’s little brains often held only half-learnt matters is unknown.

Just as Arthur thought about the differences between Parisian and London ladies, Great Dumas had already started to chuckle and inquire from Garibaldi about the charm of Arab ladies.

”Giuseppe, do Egyptian ladies really wear black robes and veils all day as described in books?”

Garibaldi did not shy away from the question, being a young man with an excess of hormones, naturally attentive to the local ladies upon arriving at a new place. Moreover, Garibaldi had his own views on the attire of ladies from various countries.

”Egyptians dress very differently from Europeans, although in Paris, men’s attire is mostly the same, with a four-cornered hat on top, black shoes on their feet, and clothing usually made of black velvet. However, there isn’t a specific dress code, and everyone can choose their attire as long as it’s within the boundaries of custom.

No matter how one dresses, it can be according to one’s preference, as long as one pays attention to cleanliness. In Paris, except for the very poor, others don’t have fleas or other pests on them. But Egypt is quite different; their clothing habits are peculiar, as everyone wears the same uniform. Perhaps due to the hot weather, they only wear one layer of outer clothing. The more particular ones wear an extra vest layer, but most have just a vest under the robe.

Perhaps due to a lack of water and the dry climate, even the wealthy in Egypt don’t change underwear several times a week like Parisians do, so many have lice and such. Egyptian women’s attire is not as elegant as French women’s as they mostly dress simply. Moreover, you won’t see the kind of indecent women seen at Parisian banquets there.

Though their attire is simple, Egyptian ladies hide something special under their robes. Perhaps because their dress is strictly regulated, Egyptian women like wearing jewelry, even though these ornaments can usually only be seen by their husbands. Gilded earrings, gold bracelets, lightweight silver necklaces, and various jewels—oh, and they like wearing anklets too...”

”Anklets?” Great Dumas suddenly imagined Bastille prisoners wearing massive iron chains, smacking his lips: ”Chains that thick, can the ladies move around?”

Garibaldi waved it off: ”Alexander, you misunderstood; the anklets Egyptian ladies wear are very thin silver ones, unlike the kind issued in prison.”

Great Dumas imagined it again, quickly dry-mouthed, downing another glass of wine, then turned to Arthur: ”Arthur, I think when you return to London, you might suggest to Miss Fiona to introduce this project.”

Arthur, holding his wine glass, leaned over: ”Oh, come on, Alexander, you couldn’t even wear such a silver chain; your ankle is practically as thick as the waist of the ladies.”

At this point, Arthur, not waiting for Great Dumas to get angry, tossed the topic back to Garibaldi. The British old spy surprisingly found that talking about women seemed to pair unexpectedly well with wine. The more Garibaldi drank, the better the chances of extracting from him Young Italy’s next moves.

”Giuseppe, speaking of which, since only Egyptian ladies’ husbands can see what’s under their robes, how do you know they like wearing jewelry?”

Garibaldi whistled: ”This brings us to most people’s misconceptions about Egypt. As early as Ancient Egypt, there was a profession called dancer, which you can find in many old Egyptian murals. This profession has not disappeared even today; these dancers usually perform in temples or noble households. Their attire is far more revealing than that of the girls on the streets of Paris. Various colorful pieces of jewelry make them shine like jewels.

Oh, have you heard of belly dancing? That’s the trump card of Egyptian dancers. It’s said this dance originated from Ancient Egyptian religious rituals, partly to showcase women’s fertility and nurturing nature, and partly to express humanity’s infinite reverence for life and nature.

Ancient Egyptians believed that the human body was an important part of offering to the gods, and thus also full of divinity. For example, full hips, the exposed navel, soft waist, and deliberately swaying ’triangular part’ were to express their yearning for passion and harvest, and reverence for human reproduction and survival.

In many high-end restaurants in Egypt, you can watch free performances by Egyptian dancers by ordering a few drinks or a meal. Although these restaurants are usually not cheap, having traveled all the way to Egypt, if you don’t see them, wouldn’t it be like you’ve come for nothing?”