Chapter 252: The Elegant Tastemaker of the th Century (K6)

Chapter 251: The Elegant Tastemakers of the 19th Century (5K6)

The Thames, today, is still jammed with all kinds of transportation vessels, except that the water traffic today is significantly worse than usual.

The cause of the jam was also so obvious that it only took a glance up to the east to see who was responsible for the congestion on the river.

It’s Old London Bridge, with its 19 arches, which has stood over the Thames for more than 600 years, a stone bridge rebuilt in 1209 that contains memories of the lives of dozens of generations of Londoners.

As one of the strangest buildings in Europe, Old London Bridge is not just a bridge for Londoners to cross the river, its shape is not only asymmetrical, and even its 19 arches are of different sizes, but even more strangely, there are all kinds of stores, residential buildings, and even a small church and a gateway with a traitor’s head hanging on it.

It’s not so much a bridge as it is a small residential area within the city of London, and if you wanted to, you could even live on the bridge for the rest of your life – it’s not beautiful, but the design is quirky enough.

But perhaps because of all the weird and wonderful structures that crowd Old London Bridge, its original purpose of being a bridge has been greatly diminished.

After all, not every Londoner is happy to wait to cross a narrow bridge road, and many a grumpy, time-crunched, daredevil will often choose to feel their way across through the arches underneath the bridge.

Although most Londoners are lucky enough to make it across, there are always a few unlucky ones every few days due to the rapidity of the river.

This is why London has given birth to the ‘Thames Drowning Rescuers Association’, a seemingly inane civil self-help group, which statistically shows that there is a strong demand from Londoners to rescue drowning people.

Of course, it’s not as if Parliament doesn’t know just how criminal Old London Bridge is to Londoners who need to cross the river to get to work.

Since 1799, Parliament had been studying the feasibility of building a new London Bridge, and during that time there had been a number of new construction proposals that had been applauded, but most of them had been abandoned because the local parishes were skeptical about their feasibility and the size of the land required for their construction.

After lengthy discussions, the City of London finally negotiated a compensation package with the parishes in 1824, announcing that a new 928-foot-long, 49-foot-wide, granite five-span bridge would be financed by the government and the local corporation, and that Mr. John Rennie, a renowned bridge engineer, would be responsible for overseeing the construction of the new London Bridge.

Not long ago, after seven years of construction, the new London Bridge was finally completed and opened to traffic, and the old London Bridge was considered to have fulfilled its historical mission, and after six centuries of vicissitudes, it finally suffered the same fate as its predecessor, ‘the wooden London Bridge built by the Romans in 50 A.D.’.

Yes, it was destroyed by government order.

It will be sunk by dynamite, along with the little stores and residential buildings that sit on it, into the bed of the River Thames, Britain’s true museum of history.

There it will meet Iron Age shields, Roman tiles, Viking battle axes, medieval clay pipes and Tudor leather boots.

Such historic moments are naturally filled with Londoners who love to see everything, and for some reason, they always love to go where the crowds are.

But the dynamite is obviously not long eyes, not a moment later, there are several squatting in the London Bridge arch not far from the Londoners watching the fun by the explosives generated by the shockwave was lifted into the river.

Accompanied by the embankment of the ladies and gentlemen of a burst of gasps, people only see has been waiting here ‘Thames Drowning Rescuers Association’ volunteers one by one to take off their shirts down the river to save people.

Only this group of enthusiastic gentlemen in the face of this kind of thing can not raise any good temper, the public can only hear them while swimming to save people while cursing.

“Can’t this bunch of idiots grow some brains? Don’t they know how to hide away from the crowd? One by one so close, I see this situation, I guess today also have to crash a few into the river!”

“If they listen to advice, we don’t have to guard the river every day.”

“You also do not idle, Martin they go down to the river to save people, you hurry to wash the pipe!”

“Mr. Morgan! Something’s wrong!”

“What’s wrong?”

“We don’t seem to have enough tobacco with us.”

“Fuck, it’s been a bad day. Andrew, take the money and hurry to the neighborhood store and buy a few more boxes!”

Arthur led Colt, who had just finished lunch at the café, to stand by the river.

Colt looked at the scene of the embankment below and just felt his three senses being shocked.

These gentlemen, who spent their spare time participating in social welfare activities, were busy giving artificial respiration to people who had fallen into the water, while all men, women and children pulled out pipes and took a hard dislike to their asses, and then smoked cigarettes with lung cancer style inhalation, and were busy spitting smoke rings into the pipes.

Colt’s upper and lower lips quivered as he watched for half a second, before he gave a heartfelt compliment.

“This new technology is not visible where we are, although the guys have known for a long time that tobacco possesses very high medical value, and absorption through the intestines does possess high efficiency. But to come up with the idea of using a tube to help a fallen person absorb the medicinal effects of tobacco may seem simple, but it is indeed a marvelous idea. As much as I hate to admit it, I still have to say that the current Britannia represents the most advanced civilization in the world.”

Arthur stood by his side and nodded without blushing when he heard this, “That’s right, we in Britain do. Perhaps you could also consider opening a similar medical device company in the United States after you return home and bring back a bit of advanced civilization to them.”

Colt pondered for a while, but eventually shook his head and gave up, “That’s just it, I’m still more interested in firearms, the gap between this kind of medical equipment and firearms is still too big.”

Arthur said calmly, “No no, I don’t think there’s really any difference between the two.”

Colt was curious, “How does that sound?”

Arthur took out his pipe and lit it, took a drag and said, “Your Colt revolver and this intestinal therapeutic device, to put it bluntly, are just opening eyes on the guys, although the principle is slightly different, but the results are still highly consistent.”

Arthur was smoking a cigarette, but unfortunately Andrew, a member of the Society who had climbed up from the embankment, soon spotted the London gentleman who was carrying a large quantity of medical supplies.

Andrew said eagerly, “Can you sell me some of your tobacco, sir?”

Arthur’s hand cupped the iron box full of tobacco, hesitated for a moment, then politely persuaded, “I bought this tobacco in Jermyn Street, St. Domingo’s genuine goods, will it be too wasteful to use it for intestinal therapy?”

Hearing this, Andrew responded righteously, “What are you talking about, sir? This is saving the lives of the general public of London, besides, it’s not like we’re not paying for it, if you’re not selling it, please hurry up and make way, I’m going to the back of the store to stock up.”

Arthur sniffed and was about to give way to him, but then his eyes caught a glimpse of the volunteers who were rescuing people who had fallen overboard in the floodwaters of the Thames, and something suddenly popped into his head.

He took the other man’s hand and slapped the cigarette case into it, “As an old smoker, it’s very hard for me to part with my favorite, though. But as an upright Scotland Yard police officer, I feel that I do have the obligation to safeguard the lives of the general public. To tell you the truth, in the past two days I have met with a case of a drowning man who died tragically, and if that lady had happened to meet you at the time, I think she would have been saved.” Hearing this, Andrew couldn’t help but regret, “I’m sorry to hear that. In the end, it’s our association that is so short of manpower, although we have people on duty on the Thames every day, at best we can only take care of the riverbank from Covent Garden to the vicinity of the West India Docks, so I’m guessing that the lady you’re talking about surely didn’t fall into the water in this area, right?”

Arthur’s eyes widened slightly when he heard this, “Sir, are you sure that all people who fall overboard in this area are saved?”

Andrew shook his head, “Of course not, but as long as they fall into the water in this area, our association will have statistics. Moreover, you just said that the lady fell into the water recently, and in our association’s statistics for the last half a month, there were no cases of drowning victims’ deaths, so that’s why I’m certain that the lady you’re talking about definitely didn’t fall into the water in this area.”

Hearing this, Arthur couldn’t help but reveal a smile as he continued to press on, “But I’ve heard that when a drowning victim dies, the body is usually washed downstream by the river, could it be that during this period of time, no bodies were found washed down in the area from Covent Garden to the West India Docks either?”

“Washed down?” Andrew returned, “That’s certainly true, every day. But having been in our line of work for a long time, we can basically tell the difference between the duration of drowning and the duration of drowning. Those washed down the body basically look at a glance can distinguish, as for the specific situation I will not be able to describe you, the body soaked for a long time that presents the state is really disgusting.”

Arthur heard here, couldn’t help but feel out another cigarette case from his pocket and patted it on the other party’s palm: “Thank you for your enthusiastic help, good citizen, these two paragraphs you just said are very important to me. I will visit your association again if there is a subsequent need. There are also a couple of mints in this cigarette case, so remember not to tire yourself too much while you are helping others, and remember to keep your breath cool at all times.”

Andrew, puzzled by this passage from Arthur, merely raised his eyes to take note of the gentleman’s appearance, and then poured out his thanks, before tumbling down the Thames embankment again in his haste with the tin box of tobacco.

Arthur watched him walk away, and then patted the shoulder of the American boy Colt beside him: “Well, Mr. Colt, while I’m in a good mood, let’s go for a cup of tea in the neighborhood, and by the way, you’ll tell me more about that revolver of yours with the drum magazine. I heard Mr. Guard say earlier how that pistol of yours still seems to blow up easily.

Why don’t you think about improving the primer-impact action, or adding a spiral-bore barrel? By the way, I haven’t asked yet, what is the caliber of your pistol? It would be great if it could match the conical tipped shells, my needs are still quite unique, there are some missions that don’t have that much opportunity or time to fire, it’s best to be able to kill in one shot.”

……

In the evening, in a cafe near Whitehall Street, elegant crystal chandeliers emitted a soft orange glow, and melodious music accompanied by a phonograph spread to every corner of the cafe.

Sir Pierre held a silver spoon and stirred the cup of coffee in front of him, as he listened to the music, he opened his mouth and laughed, “The Bells is of course excellent as a piano practice piece, and is very popular at dances, but its tempo is too intense, and is obviously not suitable for an environment such as a café. Arthur, perhaps you could ask Mr. Moscheles or Mr. Mendelssohn for some classical compositional advice, and then your vinyl sales would surely go up considerably. I know you can do it, Arthur, you always surprise me with your records, whether it’s The Bells or the one you gave me the day before yesterday.”

Arthur took his hat off and placed it on the edge of the table, of course he knew what Sir Peel was talking about when he said records.

Only it wasn’t music that was recorded there, it was a private conversation between Bernie Harrison MP and George Norton, the ‘fraternalist’ husband, at a party.

Of course, Arthur had done some editing so as not to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings.

So, the record recording that Sir Peel heard was limited to the part before those two conspirators talked about Viscount Melbourne, the Home Secretary, and Mrs. Norton. However, that information, was also enough for him, the leader of the party who was committed to reuniting the Tories.

Arthur chucked a cube of sugar into his coffee cup, “Your Excellency, are you satisfied with my new tune? Speaking of which, you probably don’t know that I’m actually quite shy, and I don’t dare to take my new work to others for audition. For one thing, many of my friends don’t have the ability to appreciate art. Secondly, because they don’t have any influence, so no matter whether they say good or bad, they can’t represent the public’s mainstream evaluation, that is, they don’t have any reference.

Because of this, I would like to think of the new tune to let you take the lead in listening, you not only have the experience and appreciation also represents the British old-school gentleman’s taste in art, but also the British new wave of forces to observe the forefront, if you think that this tune is good, then it shows that this thing is really good, if you think that this thing is bad, then take it out to the surely no one will pay attention to it. I’d like to apologize in advance here, I’m so sorry that I took it upon myself to bother you with something so inconsequential.”

When Pierre heard this, he first recalled a few key words in Arthur’s words, but of course what he cared about the most was for the record, which he was the first to try out.

Pierre smiled and raised his hand to show Arthur not to care, “Arthur, although I don’t have as much taste as you say, but if you want to hear my opinion, I am certainly willing to share some of my shallow opinions, you know, I always like to give advice to young people.”

Hearing this, Arthur smiled back and nodded, “As you know, I have always enjoyed taking advice from others as well.”

Sir Pierre laughed loudly and cheerfully twice as he spoke, “Of course, if it wasn’t like this, how could we talk together? Looking back now, it was a wise decision to let a musically talented young man like you form the LPS in the first place.”

Arthur smiled back, “Sir, you should remember that I promised you that I would bring my musical talent there. In my opinion, commanding the Police Intelligence Service is actually not much different from composing an octave note, and paying attention to the harmony of the tone at all times, there is no need for some unwanted murmurs, which is the most important thing.”

Sir Peel nodded slightly, “That’s right, I agree with that, and that’s the problem in that new recording of yours, part of the murmur in it just sounds too harsh, and the notes in it are not harmonized enough for a piece of elegant music that is to be taken out for the public of Britain to enjoy.”

Arthur probed, “So, what do you suggest?”

Sir Peel said, “Arthur, I appreciate your musical abilities, but there are still some gaps between this piece and The Bells, and there are some overly high end and advanced techniques used in it that may be difficult for the public of Britain to understand. I don’t blame you though, it’s always the case with new stuff, it takes a while to gain public acceptance. But for now alone, I don’t think it’s ready to be released to the public.”

Hearing this, Arthur voiced his approval, “Your Excellency, that is why I found you. I also think that the piece is not yet mature, but as you know, I cannot complete the revision of the score by myself. It’s not just that I can’t find the time, you should know that Scotland Yard officers have been hanging around the Thames for a while now, and the officers are complaining that our uniforms are dirty and smelly from the Thames water.

By the way, speaking of which, I have to trouble you with one more thing. Do you have any recommendations for familiar perfumes that are a bit more affordable? Director Rowan said that he’s planning to purchase a little bit of it in a while and give it out to the guys as a benefit.”

Hearing this, Sir Pierre picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, “Arthur, even if you don’t say so, I’m planning to send some perfume to Scotland Yard to console the officers. Your work has been hard and tiring lately, that I know. It’s only right that officers should be in the mood, especially since swimming in the Thames is not supposed to be your job description.”

Arthur finally put his heart halfway down when he heard Peel’s assurances, and he turned to ask, “Was it your personal opinion that you just stated, or the opinion of the whole of London’s old-school gentry?”

Pierre returned, “It’s my personal opinion, but I think that even the most old-school and typical London gentleman like Earl Eldon probably can’t accept that new tune of yours. So just don’t worry, I’ll take care of the perfume. High-end perfume sells for a lot of money because it is of high quality and the aroma is popular with the public, not because of the brand or label attached to it. Arthur, you have to understand that.”

Hearing this, Arthur took a sip of his coffee, savored it for a moment, and then whirled around and spoke, “So, the perfume …… of the House of Commons, no, the label on the perfume gets ripped off? Scotland Yard officers don’t really use much of a label, officers take perfume to deodorize, and with a label on it we use it rather psychologically.”

Hearing this, Sir Peel sensed a hint of something wrong and asked, “You got the formula for the perfume?”

Arthur nodded, “Just got hold of a part of it, but from the ingredient list I’ve gotten so far, it does seem like there’s something added in there that shouldn’t be there.”

When Sir Pierre heard this, his eyes widened slightly by a circle, and his fingers on the table trembled gently, so it could be seen that although he still maintained the good upbringing of an authentic gentleman, in his heart, he was probably already furious.

Sir Pierre clapped his hands, summoned the manservant accompanying him, and took the coat and hat from his hands to redress fully.

While organizing his attire, he spoke at Arthur, “Arthur, in this matter, I have to make it clear to you that I really don’t know anything about it.”

“Of course.” Arthur laughed, “If it were not so, I would not have asked you to try out the new song.”

Pierre nodded slightly, “I’ll give you an answer in a week about the perfume. After all, there is no way for one song to make me completely decide whether or not to break the purchasing contract with the old supplier that I have chosen for a long time. And in this case, I have to get the unanimous consent of the rest of the gentlemen, I don’t like it, but if they like it, I can’t force myself to go against their wishes. Of course, I certainly don’t want to hear a discordant murmur, but if a murmur must be played, it must come only after all the attempts of the gentlemen have been declared null and void.”

Arthur rose to his feet at these words, he pressed one hand to his chest and saluted with a smile, “Then I shall await your good word.”

(End of chapter)