Chapter 175: Elder’s Waterloo
Chapter 174 – Elder’s Waterloo
At almost the same moment that Mrs. Levine and Mrs. Cowper were talking in their boudoir, Arthur was sitting at the glass window of his home, staring at the maple leaves in Hyde Park across the street and twirling his pen in boredom.
And beside him, the Red Devil was sitting at the table, and he was covering his overstuffed stomach, huffing and puffing as he hiccupped.
Agares spoke, “Arthur, you listen to me, in the future this kind of banquet, burp …… you have to go more.”
Arthur frowned and leaned back in his seat, “Agares, can you not act like you haven’t eaten in months and then mistakenly entered Bal’s dung field restaurant.”
The Red Devil had been quite content with his day, but as soon as he heard that he couldn’t help the fire that sprang up in his head.
“Arthur! What’s the matter? Today only let you see the tip of the iceberg of high society, you think you are not you? Barr? If Barr had followed you today, he would have been squatting in the toilet of the Codringtons’ house since the feast began, and you dare to compare that kind of underhanded devil with me?”
Arthur sniffed and just said comfortingly, “Alright, alright. You’re noble, you’re marvelous, and a hell that big can’t hold you.”
“Twilight zone? Are you a yin and yang?”
Agareth’s eyes widened, his corneas disliking Arthur’s nose, and he cursed, “Arthur, fuck you, don’t you fuck with me about this stuff. You have to know, without me, where would you be, without me, you’d still be farming in the Yorkshire countryside at this moment. It’s just a bit of food, see what you’re getting at, I didn’t fucking eat you.”
Agares had just finished cursing, when suddenly a gust of evening wind blew in through the window, scraping the draft paper inserted in Arthur’s pocket onto the cornea of the red devil’s eye.
“Eh? What’s this?”
The Red Devil snapped the piece of draft paper filled with mathematical calculations from his own eyes, only to see a line of elegant lines left in the few blank spaces: waking up one night, I realized that I had become famous, the Napoleon of the poetry world.
Arthur couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows when he heard this, “Isn’t that the famous line that Lord Byron left after writing Childe Harold’s Travels? It seems like Miss Byron doesn’t know nothing about her father. But I wonder how Mrs. Milbanch would feel if she knew that her daughter had written such a sentence?”
Who knows that Agareth nodded his head with great satisfaction when he heard this, “Whatever she thinks, the important thing is that you did become famous overnight. Arthur, just wait and see, sooner or later you will also become the Napoleon of Scotland Yard.”
Arthur propped one hand on the tabletop to rest the side of his face, “Why bother with sooner or later, I’ve got a French artilleryman on my hands right now, and his father was commander of the Pyrenean Legion in France.”
No sooner had Arthur’s words left his mouth than he heard someone ringing the doorbell downstairs.
He bristled with dissatisfaction and stretched himself up, “Who is it at this late hour.”
He pushed open the door and walked downstairs, who knew that Dumas, who woke up hungry in the middle of the night and was rummaging through the kitchen on the first floor looking for something to eat, had actually opened the door before him.
Standing outside the door is drunk little red face Elder, his hand is still holding a pile of banknotes.
Elder huffed and puffed, then threw the tickets on the coffee table next to the sofa, and nestled himself in the corner of the sofa with a melancholy face looking up at the stars in the sky outside the window.
As soon as Dumas took one look at his dead face, he knew what had probably happened.
With a slice of bread in his mouth, he turned his head and asked Arthur, “Is this another rejection?”
Arthur just shrugged his shoulders, “In life, there are nine out of ten things that are not as good as you want, and one out of ten thousand that you can say out loud. Is it necessary to say it so clearly?”
But Dumas was still puzzled and looked at the banknotes on the table, “But what’s with the money? Let him take the money and get out?”
Elder only felt angry when he heard this, and he opened his mouth to scold, “Alexander, can you not always think of such good things?”
Dumas sipped the carbonated water in his right hand glass and nodded, “That’s right, I don’t usually get to share such good things. You’re the only one who can stall such good things. Elder, look on the bright side, money and love, you’ve got one at least.”
Elder’s breath caught in his chest at Dumas’ expense, and he almost jerked on the spot.
He cursed, “Damn it! That money wasn’t for me. I met Mrs. Cowper’s manservant and coachman on my way back, and they told me to get Arthur to reserve a gramophone, and explained that it was very urgent. The thirty pounds before me was a deposit of sorts, and if it wasn’t enough, they would make it up subsequently. If it’s enough, then the excess is to be taken as thanks for Arthur’s help.”
Dumas couldn’t help but curse at his words, “Fuck, this is too easy to earn money! It’s true what that Rothschild kid said, Arthur, you’re always fucking lucky! This isn’t one of the ladies’ favorites, is it? Isn’t this a pure rush to give you money?”
Eldad scorned, “Come on! Alexander, get a taste for it! Don’t always apply your French mind to such things. At Mrs. Cowper’s age, she could almost be Arthur’s mother, can’t you think of anything else in that brain of yours filled with erotic scraps?”
Dumas didn’t get angry at that, he just said back, “Since you put it that way, I won’t lend you my newly purchased magazines.” When Elder heard this, he sat up from the sofa with a start, “On what grounds! I still told you about that place!”
Dumas sipped his carbonated water as he returned, “Nothing, simply that I don’t deserve it.”
No sooner had he said this than the sleepy-eyed Darwin came down the stairs in his pajamas as well.
He rubbed his eyes while speaking in a disgruntled manner, “What are you guys fussing about? Go to bed early and get up early in order to have plenty of energy.”
Elder was furious when he saw him, “Sleep, sleep! Day after day you just know how to sleep, what’s the use of sleeping so early every day? Look at your hair, it’s almost gone from your sleep.”
Darwin was still good, but when he heard this, he immediately ran out of a stomach of fire: “Ugh! Damn you, Elder, what do you mean? Going to the banquet today, so many ladies and young ladies are there, you don’t blame others for not giving you a chance when you’re not capable of striking up a conversation yourself.”
“Exactly.” Dumas raised an eyebrow, “It’s not a crime for English men to be bald, don’t look at Charles who seems to be very mousy, last time I saw him on a date with a beautiful lady in a restaurant.”
Elder was thunderstruck when he heard this, and he collapsed on the sofa in pain, he cried out and prayed, “My God! What sin have I committed that You would punish me so?”
When Arthur heard this, he could not help but speak, “What kind of sins? If you are sincere, I suggest that you immediately go to the church and find a priest to confess, and if you really can’t open your mouth, you should at least atone for your sins to the goat.”
When Elder heard this, he blushed red, and he emphasized again and again, “Arthur, that was not my fault! That was the devil tempting me!”
Agareth was just passing by the parlor, but when he heard this, he angrily picked up the draft paper and threw it at Elder’s face.
The Red Devil shouted and scolded, “Put your mother’s ass on the line!”
Elder was first stunned when he was hit in the face by the ball of paper, and then he bent down to pick up the ball.
He unfolded the small ball of paper and saw the line of beautiful handwriting, Elder, who came from the Department of Classics and Literature, finally utilized his academic skills that he hadn’t used for a long time, and saw at once that something was wrong.
“Lord Byron’s sentence …….”
He looked at Arthur with a skeptical face, “This …… this is what she sent you?”
Arthur relieved, “I stole it, and for the sake of your physical and mental health, I think you’d better choose to believe it.”
“Whoa! God!” Elder snapped to his knees covering his analgesic heart, “Arthur, when did you hook up with her?”
“It’s not as bad as you think, it’s just that Mrs. Milbanky asked me to look after her for a while.” Arthur spoke up, “Elder, just think about it and smile.”
Elder’s eyes glistened with tears as he recited Byron’s lines, “This is the saddest of all stories-more sad than sad, for it actually makes us smile.”
When Arthur heard this, he just held his forehead and said, “Say you, wouldn’t you have moved out of these things earlier?”
Dumas sniffed and just shook his head, “Arthur, it’s useless for you to talk to him about this. It’s like what Democritus said – stupid people can only gain wisdom through misfortune.”
He had just finished saying this, when suddenly, another ringing bell rang outside the door.
Arthur walked up and opened the door, only to see a butler standing outside with short blonde hair, white gloves, and a tuxedo.
The butler spoke shyly, “May I ask if Mr. Hastings is home? I’m Mrs. Levine’s butler, and we didn’t make our words clear when Mr. Toelder-Carter came to take a message just now. Apart from booking that marvelous gramophone and record for Mrs. Cowper, your ladyship has just heard whether Mr. Hastings is going to give a recital in the near future? If this is indeed the case, Mrs. Levine would like to book an additional ticket for Mr. Hastings’ recital. Please forgive me for apologizing here if I am intruding.”
The butler had just finished his words, and before Arthur could reply, he heard Elder, who was leaning against the sofa, shivering and speaking, “Mrs. Levine?”
At the end of his words, Elder hiccupped and jerked over.
Arthur glanced at him and returned with an apologetic face, “The matter of the recital is currently undecided for the time being, and Mr. Hastings should need to continue discussing with Mr. Moscheles of the London Philharmonic Society. But please rest assured that the matter of reserving tickets for Mrs. Levine is already on my mind.
Until this matter is resolved, however, I would be grateful if you would step aside, as I feel that my greatest need at this time may still be to book an emergency bed for Mr. Elder-Carter at the nearby St. Mary’s Hospital at once.”
(End of chapter)