Chapter 113: The Unlucky Former Minister of State

Chapter 113 The Unlucky Ex-Secretary of State
In the Officers’ Mess in Portsmouth Harbor, Arthur had a delicacy in front of him that he had heard of many times but was still seeing for the first time.

The dish looked like freshly baked, toasted bread with a golden crust from the outside, but it was only when Arthur sliced through his crust with a table knife that he discovered its inner workings.

The ‘toast’ was divided into three layers, the outermost layer was a mushroom puree mixed with foie gras that had been brushed with egg wash, the second layer was a layer of dark red prosciutto that had been cured for just the right amount of time, and the center portion was a fluffy, juicy, prime filet mignon.

Because this dish was a favorite of the Duke of Wellington, it naturally got the apt name of Wellington steak in English restaurants.

Arthur sliced off a piece of steak and brought it to his mouth with a dinner fork and chewed it twice.

Elder, who was sitting on the side, raised his eyebrows and asked, “How does it taste?”

Arthur put down his fork and nodded, “It’s hard to believe that this is actually an English dish. You know, most of the cooks in the civilian restaurants in London nowadays can’t even cook a simple vegetable soup well.”

As he spoke, Arthur also cut off a portion of his steak and placed it on the empty dinner plate next to him, setting it on the edge of the window.

Seeing this, Darwin, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, couldn’t help but wonder, “What are you doing?”

Arthur drew a cross on his chest under false pretenses, “Charles, as you know, I’m a devout Catholic fundamentalist. According to the doctrine I believe in, when you get something good, you should share it. I wish I could get the seagulls of Portsmouth to share this surprise with me.”

Darwin scratched his head in great confusion; as a priest who had graduated from the Divinity School of Cambridge University, he had always been skeptical of the Catholic fundamentalism that Arthur spoke of, because of how the dogmas and guidelines sounded as if Arthur had made them up off the top of his head.

Concerned, Darwin side-stepped, “Arthur, are you sure you really believe in the right things? You mustn’t join the wrong church and go down some evil path.”

Arthur nodded slightly, “Don’t worry, Charles, I haven’t joined any church at all. I haven’t run into a priest or pastor that I find convincing until now, but yeah, I think you’re pretty good. Tell you what, once you’ve run the full orbital voyage, go find a church to be a sitting priest, and when you’re not busy you’ll do a baptism for me on the side.”

Darwin smiled and could not help but feel a little touched, “Arthur, you actually believe in me so much, and are even willing to proselytize to the state religion with my help, I …… really don’t know what to say about you. Arthur, you are really my good brother.”

Arthur picked up the tablecloth on the table and wiped his mouth, he nodded his head repeatedly and said, “That’s for sure, Charles, there’s no need to be polite with me. All of us are good brothers, even if one day you have a sudden thought and declare that you’re not a believer anymore, I’ll still stand by you.”

As soon as he finished his words, a dodo with crimson eyes whistled past the window, and with one of its claws outstretched, it grabbed the steak on the dinner plate and took off.

When Elder saw it, he couldn’t help but whistle, “Wow! Looks like the seagulls were unlucky today, and the steaks all landed in the crow’s mouth.”

Arthur glanced at him and said lightly, “Elder, I’ll bet you a penny that the steak doesn’t fall into the crow’s mouth, and it’ll probably be stuffed into the devil’s stomach.”

“You’re joking again.”

While stirring his black tea cup with a spoon, Elder opened his mouth and asked, “By the way, how in the world did you get General Codrington to think so highly of you today? Look at his look today, an old face smiling like he’s been wearing boot leather for more than a decade, as if he can’t wait to marry his granddaughter to you. If I didn’t know his identity, I would have thought that he was a psychopath who ran away from the Royal Hospital in Betlem.”

Arthur spoke as he cut his steak, “It’s no big deal, I just presented a paper at the Royal Society. Coincidentally, that paper was also co-signed with Michael Faraday, so General Codrington mistakenly thought that I possessed attainments in the field of electromagnetism comparable to Mr. Faraday’s.”

Elder frowned as he listened, and he pondered, “General Codrington is very fond of things in the field of science? Then …… Arthur, see if you can ……”

Before he could finish his sentence, he saw Arthur raise his palm to signal him to stop.

Arthur said, “My little bit of science is okay to teach you to deceive young girls who are not deeply involved in the world. But if you try to trick General Codrington with it, I’m afraid he’ll shove you into the gunnel of the Conqueror. Besides, if you really want to do some scientific research and write some amazing papers, there’s obviously a better person here to teach you than me.”

“Who?”

Arthur pointed across the room at Darwin as he gushed at Elder, “If you can get your arms around Charles, I guarantee you’ll immediately replace your uncle as the Carter family’s most productive figure.”

When Elder heard this, he first swept a disdainful glance at Darwin, then glanced even more disdainfully at Dickens beside him.

With a big grin, he spoke up and asked, “Which Charles are you talking about?”

Arthur flashed a hand at Elder, then leaned back in his chair and spoke, “Whichever one you can hold, I think they’re both fine.”

Both Charles heard this and almost in unison, they returned, “Arthur, you’re really lifting me up. I still need to learn more than you.” When Arthur heard this, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows and said at Elder, “Nah, Elder, take a good look. This is the reason why people can be big shots, they are all exceptionally humble while studying seriously.”

Saying this, Arthur turned his head and rushed at Dickens and asked, “Charles, you said earlier that something went wrong with the passing ceremony, what exactly is wrong with it?”

Dickens sniffed, put down the knife and fork in his hand, and let out a long breath, “Arthur, you don’t know, it’s fortunate that you weren’t in charge of the defense of the opening ceremony today, or else this black pot would definitely have to be held on top of your head.”

Hearing this, Darwin couldn’t help but ask, “The train derailed?”

Dickens shook his head, “Worse than that.”

Elder clenched his jaw and spoke, “The Duke of Wellington, who attended the ceremony, derailed?”

Dickens hesitated, “It did have something to do with the Duke of Wellington.”

Elder sucked in his breath, “The Duke of Wellington wouldn’t have cheated on his wife with William Huskisson, the former Secretary of State who attended the ceremony with him, would he?”

Arthur was a little hard of hearing, “I don’t think that kind of relationship should exist between the two of them, if they were really that good, there would be no need for the Duke of Wellington to specially run to use the passing ceremony to find Mr. Huskisson to reconcile.”

Dickens sighed, “That’s right. The two of them would have wanted to use this opportunity to announce to the outside world that the Huskisson faction would return to the Tory camp.

Things would have gone well too, with the two Excellencies boarding the first train together, and the Duke of Wellington being excited by the incredible speed of the ‘Northumberland’ train.

I heard from my colleagues who went to report that Mr. Huskisson was thrilled by the success of the opening of the railroad, and the Duke exclaimed excitedly from the train, ‘That’s a great speed,’ ‘This thing flies as fast as a cannon ball’ ‘It runs just a little slower than the French’.”

Elder sniffed and couldn’t help but cover his mouth, “Isn’t this great? It sounds like the opening ceremony was very lively!”

Dickens nodded, “If things had gone on as they were, it would have indeed been a very perfect opening ceremony. But to my surprise, after the train arrived at the station, the Duke of Wellington was originally standing on the carriage talking to Mr. Huskisson underneath.

But just then, the late departing ‘Rocket’ train suddenly arrived, and at that moment Mr. Huskisson was standing on the tracks. He saw the ‘Rocket’ coming toward him and fell straight to the ground in terror.

Although the ‘Rocket’ had tried very hard to apply the brakes, in the end it inevitably knocked Mr. Huskisson over ten meters.”

Hearing this, Arthur couldn’t help but take a deep breath, “What happened to Mr. Huskisson afterwards?”

Dickens sighed mournfully, “Don’t mention it. Although Mr. Huskisson was carried onto the train and taken to a nearby hospital as fast as possible to be rescued, he still died a few hours later due to blood loss.

Those Huskissonite MPs were outraged by this, and some of them wondered if Mr. Huskisson’s death was a conspiracy.

They questioned why none of the police and railroad engineers present warned Mr. Huskisson not to stand on the tracks, nor did they inform him that there was another train arriving behind him.

The Duke of Wellington has his hands full because of this, and Scotland Yard and the railroad company, under pressure from the Huskissons, have launched an investigation into Mr. Huskisson’s death.

So, Arthur, you are really very lucky today. When I heard the news at the time, I thought you were finished. Only later did I realize that the head of Scotland Yard, who manages the safety and security of the venue, has actually been temporarily replaced, which is really thankful.”

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly looked up at the coastline outside the window as he asked.

“Who is the supreme commander of Scotland Yard leading the security work for the opening ceremony today?”

Dickens heard this and pulled out his notes from his bag, he flipped through a few pages before he answered with certainty.

“Ah! Found it, the person in charge of today’s opening ceremony at Scotland Yard is Superintendent Taylor Clemens.”

(End of chapter)