The Shadow of Great Britain

Disraeli finally felt uneasy upon hearing that Arthur actually suspected the Conservative Party.

He simply laid all his cards on the table to Arthur, revealing the purpose of inviting him today.

Disraeli began, ”Enough, Arthur, I won’t beat around the bush with you. The reason I invited you today is by commission from some big figures in the party, although I’ve clearly told them that you’re unlikely the one who gave Her Majesty the Queen such a tasteless nickname. But you know, the primary direction in crime investigation involves two aspects. First, whether the suspect has a motive for the crime. Second, whether the suspect has the ability to commit the crime.”

Disraeli didn’t finish his statement, but Arthur understood his implication.

Because according to the two conditions for committing a crime, he indeed perfectly met both.

No matter Arthur’s stance, no matter how uncompetitive he appeared, in the eyes of outsiders, the rapid rise of Prime Minister Viscount Melbourne beside the Queen definitely threatened his position in Buckingham Palace.

Regardless, Sir Arthur Hastings is a national pillar who made significant contributions during the Ramsgate incident and the Queen’s succession.

However, after the Queen’s succession, he not only was quickly distanced but also didn’t see much change in his position.

Although all this was intentionally done by Arthur himself, in the eyes of others, it’s inevitable that they would speculate he harbored resentment over this.

Secondly, in terms of Fleet Street’s influence, even searching across the entire Great Britain Island, few can rival this Empire Publishing Board Chairman in influence.

The Empire Publishing Board he leads firmly controls ’The British’, ’Spark’, ’The Economist’, and ’Nature’, and also holds 30% shares in ’The Times’. Any rising star in British literature, who dares claim never to have received guidance from Sir Arthur Hastings?

Not to mention his own insiders in ’The British’, the three young literary musketeers of England – Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, and Eld Carter, along with Sir Arthur Hastings himself.

In terms of those who have just emerged in British literature in recent years:

Take William Answorth, who once had to pause writing due to financial problems. By chance, he was introduced by Countess of Bresington to Charles Dickens and then recommended to Sir Arthur Hastings. Merely a month after meeting Sir Arthur, he began serializing ’Rockwood’ in ’The British’, quickly making him famous.

After ’Rockwood’ was completed, Answorth began serializing ’Jack Shepherd’ in ’The British’.

’Portrait of Mr. William Answorth’ painted by Irish artist Daniel MacLise (who was involved with Mrs. Sikes) in 1834.

This novel indeed belongs to the crime novel category pioneered by Sir Arthur Hastings, primarily depicting the life of the infamous 18th-century criminal Jack Shepherd in Britain. According to Answorth himself, Sir Arthur greatly assisted him during its creation, not only sharing crime novel writing experience but also granting access to historical crime archives related to Jack Shepherd, even facilitating contact with French detective Mr. Francois Vidocq, helping Answorth understand many crime techniques of the last century through Vidocq.

Due to Answorth’s deep influence from Arthur, he is now even nicknamed ’Arthur Sigma II’ in British literature, and judging by Answorth’s attitude, not only does he not resist the title, but he is quite proud of it.

Moreover, the most prominent female poet in British literature today, Elizabeth Barrett, similarly received much support from Sir Arthur.

Even when Elizabeth was relatively unknown, Arthur had already met this paraplegic female poet introduced by Mrs. Shelley.

During Sir Arthur’s recuperation at home due to a gunshot wound in 1832, one major work he completed was organizing and publishing Elizabeth’s translations of Ancient Greek writer Aeschylus’s works ’Prometheus Bound’, along with her first poetry collection ’Blazing Angel’.

’Portrait of Miss Elizabeth Barrett (Mrs. Elizabeth Browning)’ painted by Hungarian artist Karoly Brocki in the early 1840s.

As Arthur’s status in Britain soared, many who previously couldn’t connect with him started relying on his connections to turn to ’The British’.

For example, Royal Historian Mr. George James, this author who competes equally with Eld Carter in the historical novel field, has already published several novels including ’Gypsies’, ’One in a Thousand: or the Age of Henry IV’, and ’Attila’ through Imperial Publishing over the past three years.

’Portrait of George Payne Rainsford James’ painted by British artist Stephen Pears in 1838.

Perhaps because of Imperial Publishing’s overwhelming fame, and the golden reputation Arthur established in British literature being truly dazzling, every time something comes out from Fleet Street, it’s hard not to include Arthur in the list of suspects.