Chapter 236: The Book of Perfume
Chapter 235: The Book of Perfumes
After explaining the next few days’ tasks to Fiona, Arthur lifted his hat to bid her farewell.
“Don’t be angry, Fiona, think of the good things; after this job, you’ll be transformed into a little rich girl. Six hundred pounds will pay you enough to buy a whole closet of nice dresses and fill your dresser to the brim, and on top of that, you’ll even have quite a bit left over, like another little house for yourself or something.”
Fiona blankly glanced at him without any good humor, “Why do you always like to ask me to do this kind of thing? Although this is quite a lot of pay, but the people under my hand aren’t stalking professionals, and they’re also all weak ladies, don’t you have half a bit of compassion for them?”
“You’re right, Fiona.”
Arthur nodded slightly as he lifted his coffee cup, “It’s precisely because none of them are professionals, and at the same time, they’re weak ladies, that the guys don’t think they’re here to stalk you, and that’s where you come in. Can you imagine a guy like me running around stalking people? If Mr. Bernie Harrison found out that I was trailing him, he would think that I was planning to find a deserted place to rob him.
However, if he found out that it was a lady, like you, that was trailing him, then he wouldn’t think that; instead, he’d think it was because he’s attractive, and he’d even stop and talk to you a little more. Believe me, I have a basis for all of this.”
“But what you’re saying is realized on the premise that you have to be good looking.” Fiona stood up and straightened her corset-bound waist and said proudly, “Mr. Hastings, you are very fortunate that the sisters under my command are all beautiful.”
“You’re right.” Arthur concurred, “Otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to catch my friend Alexander in the first place, that fat Frenchman has a pretty good eye for picking out beauties in addition to being a great writer. By the way, I almost forgot, Alexander didn’t come home again last night, did he fall into your hands again?”
“I don’t know, but as far as I know, no Frenchman should have fallen into our trap yesterday, why don’t you go up to the West End side and ask. There are those who do this kind of business over there too, I have a few business cards of acquaintances here, do you need them?”
Arthur thought about it, but finally put his hand out, “You might as well give it to me first. Let’s hope that Alexander was really just being fairy jumped and never got drunk and fell into the Thames, or else I’d have to hire someone to retrieve him from the river.”
“Salvage business I also offer here, but given the weight of your friend, we’ll have to charge twice.”
Arthur just raised an eyebrow when he heard that, “He might as well rot in the river then. I think it’s time to leave him with a lesson too, that fat bastard is really going through the motions now since he wrote half of The Count of Monte Cristo.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
Arthur leaned back in his chair, “He paid me rent in advance some time ago.”
Fiona was puzzled, “Isn’t that nice?”
Arthur said helplessly, “The problem is, he paid thirty years in advance. He also told me that if he were unfortunate enough to die young, like in a fire or something, then his ashes would have to be placed there as well.”
Hearing this, Fiona was so amused that she covered her mouth and laughed out loud, “If that’s the case, even if you don’t pay, I’ll have to send someone to fish him out of the Thames.”
“Whatever you want, but after fishing him out, you remember to burn him for me by hand. Oh yes, remember to put in more olive oil, Alexander is a great patriot, I’m sure he’ll like this French approach.”
Fiona pushed the door open and stood outside, “Mr. Hastings, burning a body is not in accordance with church etiquette, and at the same time it is illegal.”
With that, she snapped the door shut and half-carried her skirt down the stairs.
Her voice could still be heard from the first floor through the not-so-thick door panels and walls, “Mr. Martin! Is it so slow to make a dish? Mr. Hastings is starving to death staying on the second floor!”
Agareth leaned on the windowsill, his mouth breaking, “Aside from being a bit of a mouthful, Ms. Ivan is generally quite capable, Arthur, you’ve chosen the right person.”
Arthur leaned back in his chair while flipping through a book and spoke, “Didn’t you do the same? I chose the right person and ghost, if I can’t find out something this time, then I have nothing to say.”
The red devil’s eyes flickered, “Arthur, what are you looking at?”
He peered up and read the words on the page, “A variety of sweet or bitter orange blossoms are carefully blended together, then mixed with a vegetable oil extracted from the bark of the orange blossom tree, and finally distilled to produce a perfume. Hmm? Arthur, what do you mean? The shock of women’s clothing brought to you by Vidocq hasn’t ebbed by now, and after six months of contemplation, you’re finally going to try it out yourself?”
“That’s not quite true; you have to have a well-proportioned physique for women’s clothing. I am far too tall for the average London gentleman, and far too noticeable. Looking too conspicuous is not a good thing for intelligence work.” “Then what are you looking at this for?”
“I don’t know, I just got it and read it. This book was brought here by Fiona, I guess I bought it casually from some roadside bookstore. I’ll talk to Mr. Martin later and put it away for her, after all, such a book isn’t exactly cheap.”
The Red Devil reached over the tome and glanced towards the cover, “Well …… The Book of Perfume, the magazine is artfully named, it sounds similar to our forbidden magic from hell.”
Arthur leaned back in his chair and spoke, “This magazine seems to be quite a bestseller among the ladies’ group, and I heard some gentlemen discussing it at a banquet a while ago as well. After the July Revolution last year, many French perfumers came to London to escape the military disaster, among them, there is a perfumer named Rui Rui, all day long in the Book of Perfume to teach people how to configure the cologne, I heard that the money is quite a lot.”
“What?” Agareth raised his eyebrows and smiled, “You can’t get enough of being Arthur Sigma in The Englishman alone? Now you want to teach the guys how to mix perfume? I’ve got a recipe here that costs only one soul, and after you’ve made it up, even an elephant would be mesmerized by the smell, not to mention a chick. Arthur, what do you think? I give this price is fair, right.”
Arthur glanced at him, “Is that your perfume?”
“Perfume is just a name, what are you dwelling on that for?” Agareth said in a serious manner, “Anyway, my formula is quite fragrant, and it does come out as water, so I don’t care about the rest.”
Arthur’s fingertips tapped on the desktop, and after pondering for a while, he suddenly spoke, “Are you sure it really works on elephants?”
Agares was originally joking with Arthur, but Arthur froze the Red Devil when he asked this question.
He alerted, “What do you want to do to the elephants, you little bastard?”
Arthur pulled out a pen and paper and said, “I don’t think much of elephants, but if you can guarantee that this formula will work on elephants and pythons, I should probably consider buying a copy and sending it to Elder. Seeing as he and I were classmates at the University of London for so many years, I feel that I should always consider something for the personal safety of my old brother. Even from the point of view of promoting the progress of science, I can’t let Charles lose the fruits of his research in a painful way.”
Agares sniffed, pinched his nose and waved his hand, “I thought it was something, Elder’s side, you still can rest assured, the administrators of heaven and hell still have a little bit of brains after all, they shouldn’t want to ask for trouble at a moment’s notice.”
Speaking of which, Agareth pressed another slap on the Book of Perfume, “That said, what are you planning on doing next? With all due respect, Arthur, I’m afraid that counting on the results of Fiona’s investigation alone will not be enough to unravel your current predicament. I find the devil more reliable than a woman. How about this, this morning’s terms still stand, and I’ll even give you an extra discount.”
Completely indifferent to Agareth’s concessions, Arthur flipped the pages of the Book of Perfume and spoke.
“I remember that Mr. Bernie Harrison seems to be a doctor and pharmacist as well, and he stepped into a political career by selling various cosmetics and recommending suitable products to various big shots as well as noblewomen at banquets.
If Fiona and the girls don’t make a breakthrough with Mr. Harrison, perhaps I should go over to Regent Street, I remember that there are a lot of stores selling makeup products there, and a celebrity in the industry like Mr. Harrison will surely have a lot of people who know him there.
By the way, Agareth, bundling doesn’t work with me. Why don’t you go and write the next issue of Britannica for me instead?
Readers have commented on how slow the Hastings Mysteries have been lately, and how the plots aren’t advancing as forcefully as usual, especially the one about King Solomon, which is just too dryly written.
You have to understand that the sales of The Englishman directly affect our standard of living and quality of life, it’s fine for me to just nibble on a bit of bread every day, after all, I’m a country boy from York, and I’ve been through worse times than this. But you’re different, you’re a noble Duke of Hell, you need to retain a high standard of living, and as an indentured servant, I’m inclined to try to satisfy you as much as I can within my ability.
But if you continue to do so, I’ll have to cut your wine quota for the month. After all, you understand, red wine from Burgundy can be very expensive when sold outside. An ordinary guy like me, who grew up rolling around in a pigsty mud pit, can’t afford to step into the consumerist trap of the crooked merchants.”
At that, Arthur got up and walked outside with the Book of Perfume clutched to him.
The Red Devil looked at Arthur’s far away background, and after a long time, he came back to his senses, he slammed the table in anger and cursed, “Hey! Arthur, fuck you! It’s just that I scolded you once upon a time, isn’t it? Why are you still holding a grudge until now?”
(End of chapter)