Chapter 184: Platonic Love?

Chapter 183 – Platonic Love?

Arthur, consciously or unconsciously, told Mrs. Cowper slowly about the differences between the departments in the Ministry of the Interior, and every now and then inserted a few slightly embellished stories of legendary casework.

The ups and downs of the story development, accompanied by a variety of bizarre chemical knowledge, plus some reasonable, but not beyond the boundaries of the embellishment, a variety of the original bloody horror of the detective story in Arthur’s mouth became the key to open Mrs. Cowper’s knowledge of the new world.

She listened to Arthur’s story, every time the plot development to the key point, this London noblewoman can not help but tighten the handkerchief in her hand.

“My God! So it was the innkeeper? He assisted the murderer as an accessory to kill the two prostitutes?”

“Laughing gas can be a terrible thing, and what’s even more terrible is that young people nowadays often use it as a fashionable entertainment. Who would have thought that it turns out that this thing can be used to kill people?”

“No wonder you have a deep hatred for the Body Snatchers, so it’s all because of that poor little girl. Alas …… perhaps it is time for the responsible politicians of Britannia to give some thought to the matter of the Anatomy Bill, even if the bishops are opposed to it, and I admit that it is not very fair to the poor people who die in the poorhouses. But things have to be worked out, always for the sake of the living ……”

“Whoa! Goodness! That Fred was actually killed by your own hand? Mr. Hastings, I think you might want to consider publishing this high seas chase as a novel, the story is sure to be popular.”

Just as Mrs. Cowper exclaimed, the minutes ticked by.

Perhaps it was because she was so enthralled with Arthur’s detective story that she had forgotten the gramophone she had been pining for for quite some time.

It was only when Arthur drank the last drop of water from the teapot that Mrs. Cowper sighed with a sigh of satisfaction, “I really didn’t expect that you, a young man of 20 years old, already have so many incredible personal experiences. I thought that your demonstration of the Faraday cage and the phonograph were amazing enough, but now it seems that they are nothing compared to your experiences at Scotland Yard. The praise you received in the newspapers was not overstated; you are simply a Scotland Yard legend, a living legend.”

Arthur heard Mrs. Cowper praise him so much, yet he still dared not take it lightly.

He just said modestly, “You are really flattering, I am just doing my part. It’s like what Mr. John Locke said:The only legitimate purpose of establishing a government is to protect the life, property, and liberty of the people and to provide them with guaranteed benefits.

What I do is supposed to be Scotland Yard’s duty, and your thanks to me is included in the local parish sheriff’s tax; you get the money, I do the work, all in the name of God.

And I have been promoted as an additional reward for this, and as you see, I am now a Superintendent of Police. How dare I ask for more recognition from you when I have been so richly commended.”

Mrs. Cowper heard this, and the more she looked at the lad, the better she felt, “Mr. Hastings, you may be counted among the most gentlemanly young men of twenty I have ever seen.”

Arthur glanced at the sky outside the window and got up to take his leave, “So ma’am, why don’t we call it a day? In fact, I would like to chat with you for a little while longer, but Scotland Yard has a lot of official business, and my leave was only taken until this afternoon, and now that the lunch break should be coming to an end, I have to rush back to work.”

When Mrs. Cowper heard this, she was about to stay, but then she remembered what Arthur had just told her about all the pesky rules of Scotland Yard, and she decided to let him go back after all.

“I’m sorry to hear that, but I understand you, young man, and perhaps it’s not quite right for me to say so, but I sincerely hope that you’ll soon be transferred to a department where you won’t be working for very long. The detective stories of Scotland Yard are wonderful, but from my standpoint as a man and a woman, I don’t think that spending too much time there is conducive to your getting a good marriage.”

Arthur just smiled and nodded, “Thank you for your good wishes, so until next time, ma’am.”

The manservant at the side saw Arthur get up and hurriedly fetched his coat and hat hanging on the coat rack for him.

After redressing, Arthur walked out of the Cowper mansion under the polite guidance of the old butler.

He took a deep breath, and his tense nerves were relieved, perhaps because it was raining in London today, the air after the rain did not smell of dust, nor mixed with any poisonous industrial dust and feces, it was exceptionally refreshing!

Breathing such high quality air, Arthur’s mood is also a lot better.

A wobbly traveling carriage slowed to a stop in front of Arthur, sitting next to the driver’s manservant jumped off the seat and pulled open the door, inside came out of a yawning, gray sideburns of a middle-aged man.

The man seems to be very afraid of the cold, his clothes are also wearing extra thick, silver gray plush side coat hidden inside a tuxedo, tuxedo and a sleeveless burgundy vest, and through his tight navy scarf can be seen white shirt collar.

When the man saw Arthur walking out of the Cowper mansion, he first raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but soon, as if he had thought of something, he could only suppress his curiosity, and the expression of little energy from too much sleep appeared on his face again.

Just as he was about to walk into the mansion, he found Arthur standing on the side of the road smiling at him. The man could only smile and nod in response out of politeness.

It is in this strange atmosphere that the two men brush shoulders and Arthur returns to Scotland Yard, while Mrs. Cowper welcomes her own brother, William Lamb, Viscount Melbourne.

When Mrs. Cowper saw him arrive, the two of them briefly made a pasting salute, after which Mrs. Cowper could not help complaining, “William, didn’t you agree to take your nieces and nephews to lunch with you today? Why have you come so late?”

Viscount Melbourne said helplessly, “I didn’t expect it to drag on until this time, by rights the Prime Minister’s Questioning should have ended by twelve thirty. But today the situation is not quite the same, both sides are bickering over the matter of parliamentary reform, and even the Duke of Wellington, who has always been reluctant to speak much, is firing on all cylinders. Emily, I swear to you, I’ve never seen His Excellency the Duke say so much in one breath in my life.”

Mrs. Cowper heard the strings in her brother’s words, “This …… Henry seems to have mentioned this to me a while ago as well, saying that the Whigs would crush the Tories completely in Prime Minister’s Questions. It seems that you guys are succeeding?”

Viscount Melbourne cocked his head and pulled out his ears, “I guess it’s about right. I fell asleep in my seat when I heard Henry say he was going to launch a motion of no confidence in Wellington’s cabinet there, and there was probably a bit of bickering about it later. But that’s all irrelevant now, the Catholic Emancipation Act and the diehard opposition to parliamentary reform has offended the Duke of Wellington too many people, and the end of the Tory era is a foregone conclusion.”

“In that case ……” Mrs. Cowper’s eyes narrowed into a crescent moon in delight: “It seems that you and Henry will soon have to go away to play key roles in the cabinet, right? Henry as Foreign Secretary and you as Home Secretary?”

Viscount Melbourne looks at his sister with slight surprise, “You’re quite well-informed, you know everything about what’s going on within the party.”

“That’s for sure, you mustn’t forget what the Ormac Club is for.” Mrs. Cowper laughed, “All sorts of news travels much faster in the mouths of ladies than it does within your party, and if I wanted to, I might even be able to inquire about the ways in which the Tories are planning to strike back at you.”

“That won’t be necessary, my lovely sister. What the Tories should be thinking about now is no longer fighting back, but how to make sure they lose as few seats as possible in the next general election. With all due respect, they will lose all their religious and university constituencies at the next general election, and the archbishops in the House of Lords may well fall to us as well.”

Mrs. Cowper just shook her head as she listened, “William, I don’t want to worry about the general election. But you must promise me that you will keep a good position for your nephew in the Home Office, preferably one that will give him exercise, earn him money, and be less tiring at the same time. A place like Scotland Yard is a definite no-no; it’s an exercise, but it’s just too tiring.”

Viscount Melbourne queried, “I will naturally arrange for Mike’s affairs, but how did you suddenly remember to mention Scotland Yard?”

Mrs. Cowper said, “Didn’t you run into him?”

“Who?”

“That’s the young man who’s just gone out; he’s Sergeant Arthur Hastings of Scotland Yard. You’ve heard of him, I suppose? He’s been in the papers several times this year.”

“This ……” When Viscount Melbourne heard this, his face suddenly became a little odd, and as he looked around, he suddenly lowered his voice and asked, “Although I shouldn’t be asking about these things, but . . can I confirm something about your relationship with him?”

Mrs. Cowper only felt exasperated when she heard this, and she said unhappily, “William! Mr. Hastings and I respect each other, but definitely not to the extent that Henry and I do. Can’t you see how old he is? I could be his mother!”

“Ah ……” Viscount Melbourne heard this and just held his forehead and laughed helplessly and softly, “I’m sorry, perhaps my nerves are a bit allergic.”

Mrs. Cowper saw that he admitted his fault so quickly, so she didn’t bother much with him, and on the contrary, she was also a bit distressed by what her elder brother had suffered in these decades.

“William, although this matter shouldn’t be brought up by me, but let bygones be bygones. That woman from the Ponsonby household is dead, and although she didn’t fulfill her obligations as a wife when she was alive, at that time she at least still held the title of Mrs. Melbourne. Now, you are no longer young, but you are far from old! You have a long life ahead of you; you must consider renewing yourself; you must not let Ponsonby ruin you; the Melbourne family still depends on you!”

When Viscount Melbourne heard this, he only felt that his heart was not in the right place, “Emily, you don’t understand how I feel. Getting married or something, for me, now it’s more like a burden, in fact, not getting married is also quite good. If there is no way for two people to understand each other, why bother getting married?”

Hearing this, Mrs. Cowper couldn’t help but think of her marriage with Earl Cowper, and after a short while of silence, she sighed, “Maybe you’re right, but you’re also perfectly capable of finding a woman who can understand you now ah.”

“Well ……,” Viscount Melbourne mused for a while, and under his sister’s kind words, he finally managed to hold back a smile as he revealed the biggest secret buried in his heart during this time, “Actually, I already have a talkative female friend, but she and I are not the kind of relationship you think ……”

When Melbourne said this, the Red Devil, who had been lying on the fireplace and hadn’t left with Arthur, couldn’t help but nod his head repeatedly.

The Red Devil pushed up his own glasses and said to himself, “Right, right! I believe you that there exists platonic love between a man and a woman that does not include any physical contact. Ch, this kind of nonsense can only be said to a devil like me ……”

(End of chapter)