Chapter 128: Arthur’s Farewell Gift

Chapter 128 Arthur’s Farewell Gift

Looking south from the top attic of Arthur’s residence, across the street was the prestigious Hyde Park.

Hyde Park was once an ecclesiastical estate given by the King’s Grace to Westminster Abbey before the 16th century.

However, in the 16th century, King Henry VIII officially broke with the Holy See under the pretext that he was getting a divorce, and he led the English Catholics out of the Catholic Orthodox Church into the camp of the National Church of England, and declared himself the supreme religious leader of England.

In addition, all Catholic monasteries in England were dissolved by his order, so it was only natural that the Westminster Abbey estate was returned to the Crown.

Hyde Park was returned to the Crown, and Henry VIII transformed it into a Royal Park and a Royal Deer Park.

During the reign of Charles I, who had his head chopped off by Cromwell, Charles I ordered the royal gardens to be opened to the public in order to curry favor with the citizens of London, a tradition that continues to this day.

Hyde Park is not a small area, more than 360 acres, and the park in addition to a variety of green trees, fountains and sculptures, there are many interesting sites.

For example, today Arthur and Disraeli met in the northeast corner of Hyde Park, there is a special area known as the ‘speaker’s corner’.

In the Speaker’s Corner, almost every afternoon, you can see people here to express a variety of political views.

The content of the speakers’ speeches can be said to cover a wide range of life situations.

It’s not uncommon to see slavery advocates and anti-slavery fighters foaming at the mouth, or clergymen dreaming of a return to the Middle Ages talking about ‘I have a dream’, as well as fans of Byron and Shelley a few meters away, atheists screaming about sweeping God into the dustbin of history. the dustbin of history.

Of course, the venue for such heated exchanges of views was naturally populated by representatives of London’s tabloid press calling for the abolition of stamp duty on newspapers and shouting ‘raise the flag of the war on no stamps’, as well as by pub owners and brewers who had recently become anxious about the Beer Bill.

In a place like this, filled with a thousand and one opinions, it was only reasonable that Mr. Disraeli’s speech should fail to interest the others.

And at the south end of Hyde Park there was an even more weighty venue.

It was the site of the Cavalry Battalion in Hyde Park, which housed the old unit in which Superintendent Clemens had served, the Regiment of Close Quarters Cavalry, which was under the direct command of the War Office.

The regiment had a long history, having been formed in 1658 in Bruges during the Restoration of Charles II, and had begun under the official title of ‘His Majesty’s Loyal Cavalry Guards’, and was politically homogeneous, with all the members of the regiment being die-hard royalists in exile.

After 1788, the Cavalry Regiment had lowered the social status qualifications for recruitment, no longer requiring officers to be of noble birth, and was derided for being ‘no longer a bunch of gentlemen but a bunch of cheesemongers’.

Although the social composition of the regiment changed, the ideological traditions of the Regiment of Close Guards Cavalry were apparently passed on well, and after the reorganization they continued to suppress the 1810 riots in the Piccadilly area of London as well as their predecessors had suppressed the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, for which they were awarded the ‘glorious’ title of ‘Butchers of Piccadilly’. and was awarded the ‘honorable’ title of ‘Butcher of Piccadilly’.

Arthur stood under the maple tree in Hyde Park, the bright and soft white moonlight poured down, illuminating the half-red maple leaves stepped on by his pitch-black riding boots, and in the branches of the tree above his head hung Clemens, whose eyes were bulging, whose skin was white, and whose body was gradually stiffening.

Clemens’ body was hanging on a thick hemp rope, and when the wind blew, it couldn’t stop swaying slightly with the wind.

In his coat pocket, there was a letter with a postmark that he had not yet had time to send.

Arthur smoked a cigarette, he slowly exhaled a puff of white mist, through the smoke and the gap between the tree branches, he could vaguely see the marble arch not far ahead.

As he looked at the scene before him, everything always seemed so familiar.

He remembered how he had hanged the body-snatcher in the churchyard not long ago.

Scotland Yard officers on duty this evening in the Bayswater area had surrounded the area and they were isolating the crime scene from the outside world as Arthur had instructed.

Sergeant Field glanced at Arthur, who was leisurely smoking a cigarette, and looked as if he wanted to say something.

For some reason, he was somewhat intimidated by this superior who was of similar age to him, although the Scotland Yard officers who had befriended Arthur were all right in praising Inspector Arthur Hastings for treating people very kindly.

Most importantly, he was able to bring benefits to the group, and all of Scotland Yard’s front-line patrol officers had received a twenty-five percent pay raise because of Inspector Hastings’ efforts.

Yet Field always had the feeling that underneath his gloriously erect figure lay dark places that were unimaginable to the common man.

After enduring for a long time, he finally couldn’t help but open his mouth and inquire, “Inspector Hastings, aren’t you going to inspect the body?”

Arthur glanced at him and shook his head with a smile, “I’m off duty, although I don’t mind working overtime on cases for the sake of the public. But Hyde Park is not my precinct.” Fielder heard this and pondered it for a moment, he always felt as if there was some deeper meaning in that statement.

He asked tentatively again, “But aren’t you going to inspect the letter that was stuck in Superintendent Clemens’ pocket? The men are curious about that letter.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow, “What do you suppose it was?”

“My guess?” Fielder froze, “A suicide note? Or, perhaps, a probate of a will dividing property?”

Arthur nodded slightly, “I’m with you on that one, I’m guessing it was a letter of resignation.”

“A letter of resignation?” Fielder thought for a moment, “Are you saying that you think Superintendent Clemens committed suicide because he couldn’t handle the pressure of failing in his job?”

Arthur shook his head when he heard this, “It doesn’t matter if he committed suicide in fear of a crime, what matters is that the group wants him to commit suicide in fear of a crime. Charles, you remember that when the group wants a person to live, he may not necessarily live. However, if the group wishes for a person to die, then he is bound to die.”

Fielder’s head was spinning at Arthur’s words, “Why is that?”

Arthur paused for a moment, as if he couldn’t answer that question either.

But when he was silent for a moment, he still gave a paraphrase that he felt was more appropriate, “Because people are social.”

Hearing this, Officer Felder nodded thoughtfully, but soon, he turned to ask, “So, do we notify the news media? Or do we just keep this under wraps?”

Arthur poured out the ashes from his pipe and lifted his toes to gently crush the sparks on the ground a little bit, “That’s not for us to decide. Exactly how to do it depends on the decision of Director Rowan or someone higher up in the hierarchy than him.”

Fielder heard this, and then looked at the Speaker’s Corner not far away, which was known to be the area with the freest speech in the whole of Great Britain, but in contrast to Arthur’s words, it looked so much like a behind-the-scenes scene with a strong sense of irony.

He asked with a bitter smile, “But didn’t we say we wanted a free press? Publishing censorship has only just been liberalized, and I’m afraid that if we do this, we won’t be meeting the public’s expectations of government departments, will we?”

Arthur smiled and patted Field’s shoulder, “Charles, I’m glad you think so. But you must also understand that where there is light, there are shadows. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press only exists when the government believes it is safe in its own right, so you understand that the Duke of Wellington’s cabinet is not stable right now.

We are the police of Scotland Yard, and Scotland Yard’s first priority is to protect the public’s life and property, and the first thing we have to do to do that is to maintain the stability of the social order. Actually, I wasn’t supposed to say these things to you, but I think you’re a very nice person, which is why I’m telling you something I shouldn’t.

Do you know General Codrington? It’s okay to look up his resume. It’ll help you in the future. Charles, you’re still young, some truths that are harmful to the stability of society, then don’t publicize them. Unless these truths are already so numerous that they affect the happiness and interests of the vast majority of people, there are things that should still be dealt with internally.”

When Felder heard this, he always felt as if it was somewhat familiar.

He thought about it for a while, then suddenly came to a realization, “I almost forgot where you came from. You graduated from the University of London, and you are a follower of Jeremy Bianchin? I remember the last time I passed through Westminster, I once heard his supporters on the side of the road in the midst of ranting about utilitarianism.”

Field expected Arthur to nod in the affirmative, but instead he saw him shake his head slightly.

Field saw his eyes glow with a pale reddish shimmer.

“Mr. Bianchin’s ideals are certainly noble, but humble as I am, I can only partially draw on them. For a Scotland Yard policeman, you must first consider how you should long survive in this environment. I can’t raise such great ideals and visions as Mr. Bianchin’s, I can only do my best to become the shadow on them.

People like Mr. Bianqin are responsible for telling mankind how the world should move forward, they are responsible for guiding mankind to find the light. And a small and insignificant person like me is responsible for reminding people not to forget what exists behind the light. If someone dares to remove the light, something like me will be unleashed.”

As Arthur spoke, he couldn’t help but look up at Clemens’ face, which was horribly grim from death.

White moonlight poured on the side of Arthur’s face, and on this side of the light, Arthur’s calm face was seen, while on the side of darkness, Arthur’s pupils that were flashing red as well as the corners of his mouth that were gradually lifting up.

Arthur took off his hat, and with one hand drawn across his chest, bowed slightly toward Clemens’ body.

Behind him was the floating silhouette of a smiling Agareth.

“Superintendent Clemens, I apologize for not being able to see you off in person.”

(End of chapter)