The Shadow of Great Britain

And nowadays, for Arthur and Dickens, gaining influence among the lower classes is far more important than earning those meager bucks.

However, regardless of this, if any small theater dares to take the risk, Arthur must show them how many eyes Lord Black actually has.

After all, the pirates he caught back then, many of them are still not released today.

Arthur gently tapped his fingers on the rim of his coffee cup.

He knew very well that if it came to a real showdown on the keyboard, he was no match for Liszt.

But the stage in Paris is just the stage in Paris.

As the saying goes, one minute on stage takes ten years of practice off stage.

If you can’t compete with others on stage for that one minute, then you’ll have to ponder the issue off stage.

He folded the newspaper and pushed it in front of Great Dumas: ”Alexander, are you familiar with the people at the ’Constitutional Newspaper’?”

”’Constitutional Newspaper’?” Great Dumas didn’t react at first: ”I do know their editor, why, do you want to publish an article to rebut Liszt?”

”I indeed have that idea.” Arthur sipped his coffee: ”But before that, I plan to meet with Talberg first. I heard that Liszt has been looking for his troubles since last year?”

When Heine heard this, he got excited: ”It’s not just trouble! The things Liszt said were simply not human. He was originally living in Geneva with Countess Mary de Agou at the time, but once he heard the news of Talberg causing a sensation in Paris, he immediately left Mary and rushed back to Paris, and he even published several articles in the ’Music Bulletin’, saying things like: ’Such empty and mediocre works can actually have a huge effect. The public insists on lumping our names together, as if we were fighting for the same crown in the same arena, which makes me deeply regret’—such nonsense. At the time, both I and the editor of the ’Music Review’, Fetis, couldn’t stand Liszt’s petty behavior, and we argued with him in the newspaper.”

Arthur hesitated for a moment: ”Fetis? Are you talking about Fetis, the head of the Royal Brussels Conservatory?”

Heine nodded: ”That’s right, it’s him. Before being invited by Leopold I to Belgium, he had always been residing in Paris. Even now, he returns to Paris every holiday.”

Upon hearing this, Arthur had a rough idea: ”I originally didn’t want to get involved in a dispute with Liszt, but Mr. Talberg is my friend and also my junior. He can insult me, but he cannot treat Mr. Talberg like this out of jealousy.”

Unlike Arthur, Eld’s focus was not on music; on the contrary, he was very concerned about the Countess who accompanied Liszt to Geneva: ”Heinrich, is this Mary, the Countess you mentioned, in an open relationship with Liszt?”

Great Dumas, engrossed in what he was hearing, almost spat coffee on Eld’s face: ”You, besides being concerned with trifles below the belt and ropes at the Navy Department, do you care about anything else?”

”Quite the opposite.” Heine raised his hands to interrupt: ”Mr. Carter’s focus is quite precise. Liszt is indeed such a lowly character. Can you imagine? Countess Mary de Agou abandoned her husband and her enviable social reputation for him, and many people around are laughing at her, but Mary doesn’t care. She has paved a bright path for Liszt, which is not merely to be a skilled performer but to settle down and become a composer capable of winning immortal acclaim. Yet Liszt is still scheming on how to make himself more popular, raising his status through Mary...”

Hearing this, Great Dumas couldn’t help but interject: ”Heinrich, you sound like you’re a worm in Liszt’s stomach. How do you know these things? Did you eavesdrop from under Liszt’s bed?”

”Don’t interrupt!” Heine angrily slapped the table: ”You need to trust the judgment of a Liszt scholar like myself who has studied him for years. Think about it, while the affair with Countess Mary de Agou ruined her reputation, what loss did Liszt suffer? On the contrary, in the noble salons, his name was constantly mentioned! When did he become famous? When did he become a sensation? Liszt is just a scheming guy!”

Eld commented: ”This sounds just like Lord Byron.”

”Don’t insult Byron by comparing him to Liszt! Compared to Byron, he’s just a clown dancing on the piano!”

Heine, full of righteousness, gritted his teeth and denounced Liszt’s various misdeeds: ”Think about it, if he had any regard for Mary, how could he have hurriedly left her behind and rushed back to Paris the moment Talberg became famous there? Look, this year, has anyone seen Liszt and Mary travel together? They used to be glued together every day. That foolish woman, all she wanted was to live the ideal life with Liszt, but she failed to see Liszt’s true nature. This guy is highly ambitious, always looking for opportunities to stand out, willing to use all forces to create momentum. Just like I wrote in the ’Music Bulletin’, charity donations are one of his means. He loves applause too much, loves fame too much, just wait and see, it won’t be long before the woman by his side is replaced by another Countess.”

By the time Heine finished, his hand had shredded the croissant on the table into crumbs, scattering them everywhere.

When he turned to look, he noticed Arthur had been silent all along, so Heine couldn’t help but ask: ”Arthur, what are you thinking? If you want to curse Liszt, just curse him, bottling things up corrupts the heart. If I were you, I would’ve already gone to block Liszt at his doorstep with a whip!”

Arthur slowly raised his eyes, his gaze circling among the few people at the table before finally resting on the half-cold coffee.

His fingers lightly tapped the cup’s rim, as if counting beats.

A moment later, he suddenly laughed, with an unexpectedly relaxed tone: ”Heinrich, I’m pondering, did you just mention that the seat for male guests beside Countess Mary de Agou is currently vacant?”