Chapter 192: I haven’t even gotten in the fucking car yet.
Chapter 191 – I haven’t even gotten in the fucking car yet
In the café, time flew by, as the conversation between Viscount Melbourne and Mrs. Norton gradually deepened, coupled with Elder’s additions to the upper class social relations, the white paper in front of Arthur was gradually filled with various information.
Name: George Norton
Social relations: born in the Norton family of Tory fame, youngest brother of the third Lord Grantley, grandfather of the first Lord Grantley Fletcher Norton was Speaker of the House of Commons
Social status: former Tory member of the House of Commons for the York constituency, practicing solicitor
Political leanings: Tory right-wing Conservative, former Lord Chancellor of Great Britain and active supporter of the Earl of Eldon, a leading Tory Conservative
Education: Graduated successively from Balliol College, Oxford, and Lincoln’s Inn, London
……
Name: Caroline Elizabeth Norton
Relationships: Born into the Sheridan family of merchants, her grandfather was Richard Sheridan, a famous writer of British genre comedies.
Note: Richard Sheridan was a member of the House of Commons, belonging to the Fox faction of the Whig Party, and served as Treasurer of the Admiralty in the 1806-1807 Tory-Whig Fox coalition cabinet.
Social status: unknown female author, member of the Blue Stocking Society
Political affiliation: Radical left-wing Whig
Education: Grammar school for girls in a London suburb
……
As Arthur wrote this, he suddenly stopped his pen and muttered, biting the cap, “I didn’t realize that Mr. George Norton was the previous MP for the York constituency ……”
With one eye on prying the oyster shells, Elder spoke, “Yeah! I thought you knew of him, aren’t you from York? I can’t believe you don’t even know the MP who represents your home town.”
Arthur frowned, “I didn’t vote for him, I don’t even have the right to vote, so how am I supposed to know who’s representing me. You say that as if you know who the MP for your hometown of Nottingham is.”
“Of course I know.” Elder shivered a mouthful of oyster juice, “George Bentinck of the Whigs, who was declared the winner in Nottingham just a while ago.”
“Who?”
Elder looked at Arthur’s confused expression, tilted his head back and swallowed the oyster, wiping his hands with a handkerchief, “George Bentinck, the youngest son of the Duke of Portland, a distant relative of Lady Cowper and Viscount Melbourne. Even if you don’t know him, you must know the Bentinck family, hereditary Duke of Portland. They, along with the Cavendish family, who are the hereditary Duke of Devonshire, and the Spencer-Churchill family, who are the hereditary Duke of Marlborough, are known as the three traditional ducal families within the Whig party.”
Arthur nodded as he clenched his jaw, “Churchill I do know, and later became Prime Minister.”
“Prime Minister? No, no, no.”
Elder waved his hand, “There was no Prime Minister at the height of the Churchill family’s popularity, but it’s true that John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, was about as powerful as a Prime Minister. He and Prince Eugen of the Holy Roman Empire teamed up to beat the crap out of Louis XIV of France.”
Arthur mulled over what Elder had said for a moment before coming back to his senses, “Where was I, and why did I let you derail the conversation all of a sudden? By the way, I was saying that Mrs. Norton’s husband is actually a former MP for York, and when Mr. Mill left earlier, did he say that he was planning to make a trip to York this afternoon?”
Elder sniffed and also couldn’t help but slap his thigh and exclaimed, “Ughhh! How could I have forgotten this? Does that boy Mill know the newly elected member of Parliament in York? The guy who defeated Mr. Norton?”
Arthur frowned and asked, “Do you have a list of candidates running for MP in Yorkshire there?”
“I don’t have that anywhere, but if you want it, I’ll ask at the Admiralty for you after dinner later.”
Seeing that he didn’t, Arthur waved his hand and said, “If you don’t have it, forget it, I’ll wait for the next issue of the London Gazette, the results of the general election should have been published by now, and it won’t be long now.”
The two were chatting away, when suddenly, the sound of conversation at the next table stopped.
Viscount Melbourne picked up the hat in front of the case and clasped it back on his head, gently comforting Mrs. Norton, “Dear lady, wait for my good news. It just so happens that I’m meeting with Henry at the Ormac Club today, and I’m going to ask him if he has any news of the next Royal Chancellor.
Although it is not yet known who will obtain the position, I assure you that I will ask whoever will be the Chancellor for a judgeship for the sake of your beautiful family life, and I will try to have him placed in London if possible.
By the way, why don’t you come with me? I’ll introduce Henry to you then; he’s a very warm-hearted man, and I’m sure he’ll be willing to do you that favor, too.”
“I ……” Mrs. Norton’s look looked a little constricted, “I didn’t receive an invitation from the Ormac Club, and according to the rules, I shouldn’t be able to enter that kind of place, right? The rules of the Olmac have always been strict, I heard that the Duke of Wellington was once locked out because he arrived too late …… Wei …… William, you’ve already helped me too much, the Olmac or whatever, it’s still not necessary… …”
Viscount Melbourne just smiled and extended his hand to Mrs. Norton, “It’s okay, my sister was there today. You do realize that, don’t you? She’s one of the seven Mistresses of Ormac committee, have her give you permission and you can go in.”
“That ……”
Viscount Melbourne saw that she was still hesitant and just smiled as he took her hand and got up, “It’s okay, Caroline, be confident. It’s not whether or not you’re worthy of Ormac that you need to think about, it’s whether or not Ormac will be worthy of you.”
“William ……” Elder and Arthur had pushed their hats down and tucked their necks into their collars.
Under the gaze of two pairs of sinister eyes, Viscount Melbourne left the café with Mrs. Norton and got into the black carriage parked outside the door.
Elder saw the two of them go out, violently pushed his head out of the collar, took off his hat and slammed it on the desktop, and heaved a sigh of relief with a relieved face: ”Done! Although we didn’t see Mr. Bianchin today, it wasn’t a waste of time; we both got to see a realist family ethical play for free that wasn’t even in the Old Vic.”
But Arthur, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, obviously did not have Elder’s good mood, and he was holding one hand on the side of his eyebrow, his expression was uncertain.
A vacancy for a judge?
And it had to be in London?
What a fucking coincidence, he knew just the one that fit the criteria.
Arthur’s hand slipped, and he couldn’t help grabbing the hair at his temples and cursing under his breath, “Shit!”
“What’s wrong?” Elder asked.
Arthur pursed his lips and responded, “Elder, something big is going on. The magistrate at Westminster has just retired, and if George Norton fills his vacancy, I’m afraid there’s no point in me taking on Director Rowan, I’d better fucking resign.”
Elder scratched his head, “Is it that bad?”
Arthur cursed in a low voice, “Of course it is! Have you forgotten that? George Norton was a supporter of the former Lord Chancellor, Earl Eldon, who had pushed for the enactment of the Six Special Acts that year after the Peterloo fiasco to suppress the subsequent labor movement.
He also led the charge to outlaw political rallies and censorship of publications by the Petit Cabinet during the French Revolution, in addition to opposing the emancipation of Catholics, the abolition of the slave trade, and the amendment of the Blood Acts, and I’ve never seen him agree to anything in my life.
It was only in order to get him to relent on the revision of the Bloody Act, and by defending him every day in the House of Commons and in the newspapers, and by saying good things about him everywhere, that the old man was pleased enough to consent to sign the resolution.
Now that the Tories have gone down, and the Earl of Eldon with them, I had thought that it should be easier to pass some bills in the future, and who would have thought that, having sent away the Earl of Eldon, I should next have to face his stalwart supporter, George Norton, directly in the magistrates’ court.
To make matters worse, I had planned to recruit some students from the University of London who were capable of prosecuting to fill the police force. What is the attitude of the Tory diehards to the University of London? They won’t even grant us a Royal Charter, and how well will diehard Tory judges look at us if one of ours is on the prosecution bench?”
It was fine if Arthur didn’t say it, but when he did, Elder’s heart dropped halfway, “This doesn’t seem to be going well!”
He twisted his head to look at Viscount Melbourne, who had already gone out, and slapped his thigh, “Alas! Your Excellency the Viscount, confused! A Whig, yet he seeks a judgeship for a die-hard Tory, is he considered to be overwhelmed by love?”
Arthur hastily picked up his jacket that was resting on the back of his chair and threw his arms over his coat, “What he was swept away by I couldn’t care less, but I’ll have to follow up to find out the aftermath.”
“Where are you going?”
“The Almack Club, of course.” Arthur said, “Didn’t you hear Viscount Melbourne? They’re going there.”
Eldad bristled, hooking his thumb and middle finger into a circle and flicking the little black pearl next to the oyster shell away in disgust, “But do you have an admittance permit? The Olmec Club isn’t for just anyone.”
Arthur didn’t bother with him much, he directly grabbed Elder’s collar and lifted him up, “Don’t you care if you have one or not, when you get to the place you listen to me, if I say you can get in, you can get in.”
Elder shrugged with a skeptical look, “Huh ah? Arthur, although I’ve always looked up to you and know that you play a good hand with the sword, I advise you to better not think about killing your way in, the guards in that place are very tight. Above all, the fellows who are in charge of the defense there are armed with flintlock rifles. Arthur, you listen to me, don’t lose your life for face. But this kind of thing, generally it is not my turn to persuade you, you yourself should be clear. Alas …… by the way, you have dared to propose this, does that mean ……”
Elder’s eyes lit up, he slapped his palm and pointed at Arthur, “Right, I almost forgot about your part-time job.LPS, you are engaged in intelligence work, could it be that you want to play sneak, or did you already arrange an insider in the Olmac Club?”
Arthur looked at him with a look of an idiot, but the situation was urgent, and he couldn’t care less about what the hell was going on in Elder’s head.
Arthur dragged him towards the door, “When you get to the place, listen to me, don’t say anything, don’t do anything, do whatever I tell you to do, don’t ask why and don’t give me any excuses. As long as you can promise me to do all these things, I’m sure I can get you into the Ormac Club for a wave today.”
Elder sniffed and reached out to knock off Arthur’s hand that was holding onto his collar, he straightened his attire and spoke righteously, “It’s not so much about Ormac or not Ormac, it’s mainly about our past friendship. Arthur, for your sake, buddy this time to fight!”
After speaking, Elder again sank his head and asked in a low voice: “Are you sure you can really go in?”
Arthur didn’t say much, he reached out and stopped a public carriage, stepped into it, and slammed the door with a bang, “The Oelmark Club, please.”
Then, under Elder’s stunned gaze, the carriage brought up a splash of water and sailed away.
It was only after a while that Elder reacted, “Hey! I haven’t even gotten on the fucking bus yet!”
(End of chapter)