The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1841: Chapter 119: London University’s Connections Span the Globe

”Did Scotland Yard agree to it?”

Once Eld’s curiosity is piqued, it’s really hard to stop him from asking questions incessantly.

The sudden revelation of the royal scandal made even the oxtail soup at Simpson’s Café taste bland to Eld today.

Arthur didn’t hide all the details from Eld, or rather, he hadn’t completely figured out what had happened last night.

Officers Colly and Hoot, who caught Victoria and Elphinstone in the act, were given a leave of absence by Scotland Yard early this morning. Minister Rowan ordered the two officers to keep their mouths shut. Recently, all officers involved in undercover patrols near Kensington Palace were questioned by the department. The queries mainly revolved around whether they had noticed any unusual activities around Kensington lately.

Compared to Arthur, Rowan was more concerned about the existence of any assassination or kidnapping plots targeting the Crown Prince.

From Rowan’s perspective, if Victoria could so easily slip from Scotland Yard’s sight, then who knows if she might be kidnapped by criminals in the future?

If Scotland Yard were not involved, that would be one thing, but now they had sent undercover officers under the guise of ”voluntary overtime.”

In such a case, if something goes wrong, Scotland Yard would certainly be held accountable to some extent.

To resolve this issue, it naturally requires more personnel.

Arthur, being a retiree, naturally agreed wholeheartedly with Rowan’s decision, given that as the actual head of the Kensington undercover police team, he would welcome more officers under his command.

If not for Scotland Yard’s strict regulations on firearms, Arthur would have planned to equip this undercover team with sufficient firepower.

He spent the entire morning arguing with Rowan at Scotland Yard about arming the undercover officers, but Rowan refused to budge on the matter. Let alone approving four or five Baker Rifles, he didn’t even allow Hastings-type revolvers from the Police Intelligence Department to be taken out.

Fortunately, Arthur did not have high hopes for this matter in the first place. Having worked with Rowan for three years, he knew this senior officer always advocated maintaining a low-violence approach for the police force. Like Sir Robert Peel, Rowan consistently upheld the view that police officers should be seen as civilians in uniforms.

Yet, this wasn’t entirely bad news for Arthur, as Rowan’s stance demonstrated that the head of Scotland Yard did not view officers as a special branch of the Army, but rather as an independent department. Given this, it was understandable for Rowan to act by the book.

Arthur vaguely assured Eld: ”Scotland Yard? I still have some influence there, and this matter doesn’t really relate to them. Even if I didn’t find Rowan, he hadn’t intended to broadcast anything; Scotland Yard isn’t Fleet Street.”

Eld crossed his arms, deep in thought: ”This... I really didn’t expect it, Elphinstone dared to do it... Tsk, Arthur, do you think they are in mutual affection, or is Elphinstone persistently chasing Princess, that made Her Highness...”

Arthur wiped his mouth with a napkin: ”How should I know? Young passions always come so suddenly. I knew before that Her Highness didn’t like the young men from the Dutch Orange-Nassau family, found them clumsy and unattractive. But... Elphinstone... honestly, I don’t think he’s handsome or charming, even less so than the princes of the Orange-Nassau family. I suspect there must be some misunderstanding in Elphinstone’s case, how could Her Highness fall in love with him? It seems absurd.”

Eld pondered for a while, then smacked his lips: ”Don’t be so sure, I think this is probably not a misunderstanding at all.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his now-cooled coffee: ”Oh? Then tell me, why isn’t it a misunderstanding?”

Eld leaned back on his chair, the ”Nottingham Love Saint” analyzed with confidence: ”Think about it, who is Her Highness the Princess? She isn’t an ordinary girl, born noble, raised in Kensington Palace like a doll, always watched over by Conroy and her mother. The men she can interact with are either obedient servants or sycophantic flatterers with no personality. To have her choose one of them for romance? It would be insufferable for her.”

A somewhat individualistic ”flatterer” shrugged, choosing to let Eld continue speaking.

Eld continued: ”But Elphinstone is different, he’s Scottish, stubborn, and fiery-tempered. You know Scottish nobility, there are hardly any who conform.”

Regarding Scottish nobility, Eld wasn’t just making things up.

In the British nobility circle, the history of Scottish nobility not conforming to the norm is long-standing.

Those old Scottish nobles, be they from the Highlands or the Lowlands, most firmly believed in their bones that they were the true aristocrats of the British Isles.

To them, Britain does not equal England, and the Hanover Dynasty does not equate to the legitimate monarch.