Chapter 140: The Royal Society’s Frankenstein’s Monster

Chapter 140 – Frankenstein of the Royal Society
“Sir, the total fare is one shilling and four pence.”

Arthur pulled out a few coins from his wallet and handed them to the coachman, then pulled open the door and got out of the car.

For him, the biggest convenience he got after being promoted from police inspector to superintendent was probably the fact that the fare to Gresham College by public carriage became cheaper.

The Red Devil covered his nose, trying not to let the perfume that hung around in the air escape into his nostrils, as he grumbled, “Aren’t you all done with your electrical thesis? Why do you have to come here? Instead of soaking me in this puddle of human perfume, which is more pungent than the Thames, you should have drowned me in the cesspool of Bal!”

Arthur lit his pipe and stomped the spent match on the sole of his shoe as he took a drag and spoke, “Come on, if you can’t stand the smell of this, why don’t you just not follow me to General Codrington’s party this weekend. If that old butler of the Rothschild family didn’t lie to me, there should be many noble women at the banquet. Their perfumes must be equally expensive for them, who value their honor. Of course, expensive naturally also means a stronger odor.”

Hearing this, Agares gradually understood somewhat.

“So, the reason why you made a special trip to the Royal Society today was to find Faraday to teach you some scientific experiments that can be performed at the banquet?”

Arthur glanced at him and asked rhetorically, “What else? I couldn’t perform the Hastings Force that I did at Tauer Hamletz for them live again, could I? After all, that experiment required a piece of twine for tying up their wrists and a flintlock pistol, and the preparation for the experiment was just too exciting, it would have scared the ladies and gentlemen all to death.”

When the Red Devil heard this, he couldn’t help but rub his palms together and laugh, “Wow! My dear Arthur, you may have underestimated the endurance of those noble ladies. A good portion of them are far worse than you can imagine, compared to them, perhaps you, the little villain, are considered clean.”

Arthur listened and simply stared at the devil as he spoke, “While I’m not sure what you’re going to say, I’m guessing that what you’re about to recount later on might be of interest to Elder.”

“And what about you?”

Arthur didn’t hold back, he nodded his head and said, “Actually, I’m pretty much the same, so if you have to talk about it, I’m certainly willing to wash my hands of it.”

Agareth smiled at his words and couldn’t help but playfully extend his palm at him, “Tell you what, one soul. If you agree, then I’ll start you off by telling you about Lady Hamilton, that Horatio Nelson’s mistress, who has taken the aristocratic circles of Britain by storm.”

Arthur nodded slightly at this, he clenched his chin and pondered for a moment, then he spoke, “Perhaps it would be better if I listened to it at home. After all, this is the mistress of Horatio Nelson, the Soul of the Royal Navy, and I’m sure Elder would be willing to give his soul to hear the story.”

At the end of his sentence, Arthur looked up at the Gresham College in front of him, where, as he could conclude from the successive waves of people exiting the room, a science lecture should have just ended.

But what made Arthur feel a little curious was that today, in addition to a large number of beautiful ladies and gentlemen who were extremely displaying their gentlemanly manners at the entrance of Gray-Sham College, he could actually see a few military police standing at the entrance on duty.

Before Arthur could walk up, the leader of the military police already took the lead in greeting him.

“Mr. Hastings, do you remember me?”

Arthur shot a glance at the other party, it was good that he had a good memory, which didn’t let the atmosphere go down awkwardly.

“I think I’ve seen you before, you’re Corporal John of the 10th Royal Infantry, right? I remember you, you made quite an impression on me during that body theft.”

When the other party heard this, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud, “No wonder the newspapers say that no criminal can escape your eyes, you really have a good memory.”

Arthur snickered, “To be able to deploy the guard company of the 10th Royal Infantry Regiment for guard duty, is there some big shot visiting the Royal Society today?”

Corporal John smiled back, “You’re quite the guesser, worthy of being a Scotland Yard sleuth, and yes, the Honorable Henry Goulburn, Chancellor of the Exchequer, made a special visit today. Sir Peel has proposed setting up an annuity for the scientists of the Royal Society, and His Excellency Goulburn came over today to find out their standard of living so that he can set a suitable standard of disbursement.”

Arthur was pleased to hear this on the one hand, as he had long felt that the income of the scientists currently working at the Royal Society was simply too low.

Faraday’s black formal dress that he wore only during his lectures was washed white, and the edges of his sleeves were even worn out with a few small cracks, and his relatively low standard of living was completely disproportionate to his contribution to the field of physical chemistry.

Even Faraday such a reputation and long in the field of application of scientists like this, not to mention those who specialize in the theoretical field of scientists. In other words, even as strong as Isaac Newton, back in the day, mainly rely on his official income of the Royal Mint Director, scientific research to bring him almost all the benefits of honor, not material.

On the other hand, this is also enough to see Wellington’s cabinet is currently sick and anxious. From the enactment of the Beer Act to diplomatic victories on the high seas, and now the intention to spend money to enlist the scientists of the Royal Society.

It may be true that the Duke of Wellington is a military commander who is not very good at offense, but it would appear that there is a reason why the many marshals of France could not break through his defenses.

Arthur mulled over the reason for Chancellor of the Exchequer Goulburn’s sudden visit to the Royal Society, but he had just tasted some hint of what was going on when he saw a sudden commotion sparked in the surging throngs of people inside the Academy.

Accompanied by exclamations of surprise from the ladies and a few shouts of ‘get him’, Arthur saw a young man in a neat suit scrambling to pick his way through the throng of people and stumbling out the door.

Arthur glanced at him slightly and almost recognized him as his old friend Elder of similar stature, he had thought that perhaps this was Elder doing something he shouldn’t have done again at the lecture and so igniting the gentlemen’s wrath.

But when the young man ran closer, Arthur realized that the fellow was actually wearing a pair of oval gold-rimmed glasses and had a much softer-looking face than Elder.

Could it be a thief?
Arthur thought of this, and his instincts as a Scotland Yard police officer forced him to subconsciously stretch out his foot.

Only a thud was heard, and the man instantly fell to the ground, followed by four or five Royal Society apprentices who were familiar with Arthur swarming up from behind and pinning the man to the ground.

The young man struggled hard while screaming in fear, “Don’t! Please, don’t take me back, I don’t have the guts to stand on the podium of the Royal Society, much less stay in that little dark room you have prepared for me.”

Arthur looked at the situation and couldn’t help but ask, “What the hell is going on here?”

The apprentices looked up at Arthur before voicing in surprise, “Mr. Hastings? Alas, it’s thanks to you today, or else we’d have to let this gentleman get away again! He has stood us up several times already, if we let him slip out again this time, the president and the ladies and gentlemen who will come to the lecture tomorrow will definitely not spare us.”

“Escape?” Arthur had thought that this man pinned to the ground might be a criminal, but listening to them, not only was this guy not a criminal, but he was also a special guest invited by the Royal Society to give a lecture.

He took a look at the man, he had a quiet look, and his age was in his 20s, so young to have such a high achievement, why did he listen to the tone of the apprentices, as if they still hated him with a passion?

The apprentices also saw Arthur’s misgivings, they separated a few people to bring the young man back to Gresham Academy, while the remaining one was embarrassed to explain to Arthur.

“This can’t really be blamed entirely on Mr. Wheatstone. After all, not everyone is as well-versed in lectures as Mr. Faraday is, and while giving a lecture at the Royal Society is a supreme honor, at the same time it also puts an invisible pressure on the speaker.

Moreover, Mr. Wheatstone was the shyest person I had ever met in my life, and we had invited him to give lectures several times before, but he would always sneak out before the lecture began.

In order to allow Mr. Wheatstone to give a normal lecture, Duke Sussex also specially modified the Royal Society’s lecture regulations, requiring the speaker to arrive one day in advance, and after arriving at the venue, they must also be confined in a small room specially prepared for them by the Royal Society, and only when the lecture is over will we formally release him from the room.

But I didn’t expect that even with all our preparations, Mr. Wheatstone would still be able to find a way to slip out unnoticed during our shift change. I now even have some doubts that if Mr. Wheatstone hadn’t chosen to study science in the first place, perhaps he could have inherited the mantle of Jack Shepherd, the King of Thieves of London in the last century, after all, Shepherd only managed to break out of prison five times in his entire life, and Mr. Wheatstone is now very close to breaking that record.”

Arthur took a drag on his cigarette and looked up at Mr. Wheatstone, who was being dragged along by his apprentices in front of him with a terrified expression and physical behavior that was close to being out of control, and he couldn’t help but be a little curious, “What field is this gentleman studying? Perhaps I can ask him for advice, and also ease his tension in the process.”

Arthur was happy to help, and the apprentices were of course happy to make it easy: “Thank you for your enthusiastic help, Mr. Wheatstone comes from a family of musical instruments, and was originally a musical instrument maker, so his field of study naturally falls in the field of optics and acoustics. If you can calm him down, I’m sure he’ll be willing to teach you what he’s mastered.

After all, you know, shy people are always easy to make friends with. And that ten-thousand-voice cylinder that Mr. Wheatstone has come up with does have a bit of interest.”

After dinner last night, I thought of lying down for a while and fell asleep. Once I opened my eyes, it was already four in the morning, this chapter is finished there is still a chapter owed, the morning should be able to make up for it.

(End of this chapter)