The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1525: Chapter 257: Russo-French Hostility (2)

——Everyone marveled at this unusual scene. Many cried, and those who didn’t tried to wipe their dry eyes, striving to squeeze out a few tears. The court was crowded, and I was to meet with Catherine, Yvonne, and Togliaska. I didn’t want to encounter anyone, so I took the back stairs to find her, but even there was crowded, courtiers complained that attendants weren’t letting them into the chapel while reportedly there were no obstructions for others.

——Yet, at the most solemn moments, people always encounter some ridiculous things. Filaret arranged the entire swearing-in ceremony. He selected a Chapter from the Imperial Chronicles as an adage, which included a line: Tsar summoned thousands of leaders, hundreds of leaders, and his eunuchs. K.A. Nareshkin said, the word ”eunuchs” could be a brilliant metaphor for high-ranking attendants. However, rumors spread in town that the Emperor planned to pray for the eunuchs during the ceremony. Consequently, Filaret eventually had to replace the word ”eunuchs.”

Although Pushkin’s letter was indeed entertaining, the staff at the Moscow Post Office clearly didn’t appreciate it, discovering that Pushkin dared to describe the prince’s oath in unofficial terms, they reported it to the St. Petersburg police.

The police couldn’t comprehend the letter’s implication but didn’t dare to decide on their own, so they presented the letter to Tsar Nicholas I.

At that time Nicholas I was already irate due to the unrest in Moscow. He scrutinized Pushkin’s letter repeatedly, unable to ascertain whether Pushkin was plotting something; he just felt it was full of irony between the lines.

Fortunately, Nicholas I finally handed the letter over to Crown Prince’s Tutor Rukovski for review. Being a friend of Pushkin, Rukovski racked his brains to cover up and eventually managed to explain to the Tsar that it was just a regular family letter, and at last, peace was restored.

Though the Tsar forgave Pushkin, Pushkin did not forgive the Tsar. The leader of Russian literature reacted indifferently since January 9th when he learned he was appointed as a low-ranking court attendant, as this position was generally reserved for those fresh, young lads; he felt the Tsar was using this position to insult him, calling it a low-ranking attendant or rather a court jester. Thus, he never expressed gratitude for the Tsar’s kindness.

Moreover, the event of postal tampering further deepened his dissatisfaction. He inquired Tsar Nicholas I face-to-face, whether the city rumors were true; it was only worse when he asked, as the last shred of hope he harbored for the Russian regime finally shattered—because the Tsar admitted without any guilt about the postal tampering and even comforted Pushkin not to worry, saying Rukovski had already explained the letter’s content to him.

Because of this, Pushkin felt a clog in his chest for several days, finally uttering ironically at a ball: ”One must admit, being an absolute monarch is truly not easy.”

Even from Arthur’s perspective, the Tsar’s behavior and way of thinking were remarkable.

Of course, it’s not as if Sir Arthur Hastings had never done postal tampering himself, but the problem is if you place Arthur in the Tsar’s position, he would never admit to doing such things.

Because he understood, from a simplistic moral perspective, it was a wrong and vile matter.

Yet the Tsar’s attitude seemed to regard tampering with mail as perfectly normal, Nicholas I redefined Russian moral standards, and such behavior, whether from the Royalist or Liberal position, indeed had a dreadfully negative impact.

Pushkin grew angrier the more he thought and finally couldn’t stop himself from sneering: ”You probably don’t know, last week the postman ’accidentally’ shredded my manuscript, and guess what the Constitutional Guard Headquarters explained? They said the seal was too hard and broke their paper cutter, fortunately, they didn’t come to demand compensation from me.”

”That’s why Gogol always says satire should be gilded.” Arthur noticed Pushkin’s hand twitching beneath the tablecloth: ”Do you remember his Marriage? The protagonist slipped the engagement ring onto a government contract...”

Before Arthur finished speaking, the club’s doors suddenly burst open; a gust of wind with snowflakes extinguished three gas lamps.

Blackwell’s deerskin boots tapped out a rhythm like a jig, and ice crystals on his nose trembled with each breath.

Arthur glanced at this hastily, impulsively arriving secretary and leisurely polished a silver fork: ”Henry, you in a rush to pluck the quails for Paris?”

”It’s worse.” Blackwell slipped out half a diplomatic report at Arthur’s side, whispering, ”The quails from Paris not only pecked at the Tsar’s wheat field but also nested in the granary...”

Upon hearing this, Arthur felt today’s tea had become considerably sweeter, he rose slowly and adjusted his collar: ”It seems today’s entertainment has ended, gentlemen, we’ll chat another day at Count Feikermont’s ball.”

Arthur followed Blackwell out of the club’s doors, and as soon as they boarded the four-wheel carriage, Blackwell hurriedly took out a sweat-dampened secret letter from his shirt’s hidden pocket.

”The Third Bureau raided the French envoy mistress’s villa in the countryside this morning. You know what this means, your plan worked...”

Arthur listened, yawning repeatedly: ”Is that all the news? The Frenchmen have several mistresses; it’s not that extraordinary.”

Blackwell replied oddly: ”Of course not just that, the key point is, the Third Bureau didn’t know the French envoy was inside the villa getting cozy with his beauty, they ran straight into each other. The French envoy raged at the Constitutional Soldiers, they were already at a disadvantage, so they could only present the search warrant approved by Count Bendendorf to embolden themselves...”

”Hmm...” Arthur analyzed, pinching his chin: ”If you truly scrutinize legally, the French envoy’s reason for anger isn’t substantiated, since the Soldiers weren’t searching the French Embassy but an ordinary countryside villa.”

”True, but regardless it’s a hardly reputable business.” Blackwell continued explaining: ”The French envoy is now utterly enraged, reportedly he wrote a letter to Count Bendendorf demanding a reasonable explanation.”

”Explanation? Does he expect Bendendorf to admit they suspect the French are funding the independence movement of the Caucasus Mountain People?” The unexpected twist disrupted Arthur’s gradual progress, yet he felt little regret: ”I must admit, I overestimated the French’s resolve. But considering the Tsar’s personality and his persistent disdain for the French July Monarchy, the French envoy is unlikely to receive any favor.”

Blackwell agreed: ”Indeed, especially a few years back when the July Revolution broke out in Paris, the Tsar even rallied Prussia and Austria to join him in suppressing the revolution; if not for the Warsaw Uprising erupting in Poland in the meantime, perhaps now Russia and France would be at war.”

Russian-French antagonism, for Britain and Arthur, couldn’t be more convenient.

And for Louis Bonaparte, confined at this moment, it was like a lifesaving timely rain.

After all, given the unstable domestic situation and adverse external environment of the July Monarchy, if King Louis Philippe of France planned to behead Louis, the Bonaparte Party’s head, presently, he indeed needed exceptional courage.

In terms of external environment, Prussia, Austria, and Russia all adopted extremely hostile stances towards France.

On Britain’s side, though Grey’s Whig Cabinet held a favorable view of post-revolutionary France, it was regrettably only favorable, and they might soon be toppled.

As for the internal environment, the Republican Party had always been a target mounted by King Louis Philippe of France for beating, and to suppress Republicans, he had to ally with the Bonaparte Party, even maintaining a conciliatory attitude toward the Bourbon-back Orthodox Party.

If the external environment stabilizes, perhaps this centrist king might consider targeting either the Orthodox Party or the Bonaparte Party. But if the Russians stir trouble with the French over the Caucasus issue, then he must weigh and choose wisely. Not to mention directly releasing Louis and his makeshift ’General Staff’; at least, he couldn’t straightforwardly push this reckless young man onto the guillotine, right?