Chapter 254: Styria’s Secret (K8)

Chapter 253 The Secret of Styria (4K8)

Scotland Yard Cells, in Louis Bonaparte’s cell.

Wheatstone, Arthur, and Louis Bonaparte were seated in unison at a small table with a bottle of wine and a plate of steamed potatoes with a small dish of salt used as a dip.

Louis Bonaparte lifted the bottle of wine, which was still half full, glanced at the label on it, and marveled, “Wouldn’t it be too extravagant to serve the potatoes with the wine of Lusaruna?”

Arthur sat on the bench and peeled the potatoes while replying, “It’s no big deal, the wine is a gift from someone else anyway. Besides, the original owner of this wine may not like how delicious the food is when he tastes the wine.”

Louis Bonaparte asked, “The original owner you are talking about?”

Arthur dipped a potato into some salt particles and threw it into his mouth, “Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, I’ve been a guest at his mansion a few times, and every time I’ve seen him pairing long-cooled roasts with all kinds of high-class wines. I even asked him why he didn’t eat hot meat, but His Excellency the Duke told me that this was a habit he developed during the Iberian War, and that due to the urgency of his marching duties and the need to arrange various things, he often ate only one meal a day. And whenever he finished his meetings with his staff, the meal he had prepared had long since gotten cold, so he accompanied his meals with good wine accompanied by cold meat, and after eating it for a long time, he fell somewhat in love with the flavor.”

Wellstone sniffed curiously and said, “Then when you went as guests, did the Duke of Wellington treat you to cold meat as well?”

Arthur shook his head, “That’s not so bad, it’s impossible for His Excellency the Duke not to know the etiquette of hospitality, even if he doesn’t care about these things, the butler would have arranged it for him. When I took Alexander to the London 1 banquet that time, the Duke of Wellington served us quite a rich dish, let’s see …… roast veal with sweet orange, anchovy salsa topped with fried sole, roast squab with lark, a bowl of thick Windsor creamy bisque, stewed rump of beef, turtle soup and raisin pudding.

By the way, the Duke of Wellington’s family also has an Indian cook, that is his early years in India to fight the second Maratha war when he brought back from there, that cook’s handiwork impressed me very much, that hand curry flavor is simply excellent, I also specially asked him for the recipe, you can also note down home to try to do, 8 ounces of turmeric, 4 ounces of coriander seeds, 2 ounces of cumin powder, 2 ounces of Fenugreek seeds plus half an ounce of cayenne pepper, as for the curry essential onion and garlic, according to your personal taste to add on the line.

Oh, and lemon juice for acidity! And the lemon juice for the acidity, don’t overdo it, the Indian cook told me that the use of lemon juice for acidity is actually a British misconception, the authentic Indian curry uses a spice mix of tamarind, sour apple, bitter melon and mango to enhance the acidity. It’s only because the variety of spices native to Britain is so scarce that even he, the most authentic Indian, couldn’t replicate the original Indian curry 100%.”

Hearing this, Louis Bonaparte’s stomach rumbled, and he could only copy a potato and ruthlessly dip it into some salt paste to quench his appetite.

Seeing him like this, Arthur simply took out half a loaf of bread wrapped in newspaper from the cloth bag he carried and placed it on the table board, and copied the small table knife on the table and plunged it into the bread’s crispy skin.

Arthur pushed the bread along with the newspaper and spoke, “My work meal today, with a bit of ham stuffed in it, is barely a specialty of Britannia.”

Louis Bonaparte stared at the loaf of ham bread for half a day, looked up at Arthur and asked, “So you’re not eating at lunch today?”

Arthur picked up the small potatoes on the table with two fingers, “I’m almost full from eating this. So go ahead and use it, Mr. Bonaparte, after all, you’ve suffered a bit of an unmerited death by having you here. But please also understand that we’re just enforcing the law here, not targeting you or your family, the Army’s work is not ours to do.”

Hearing this, Louis Bonaparte nodded his head as he sliced ham bread with a table knife, “That I understand, but you must at least inform me when, approximately, I will be released?”

Arthur leaned back in his chair and chewed on his potatoes, “Soon I guess, I heard that a lady claiming to be your mother came all the way from overseas yesterday, and incidentally brought a copy of your identification papers with her. Your eldest uncle, Mr. Joseph Bonaparte, accompanied her to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this morning, and I believe it won’t be long before your passport is issued. The day the passport is ready will be the day of your release.”

“My mother?” Louis Bonaparte was so shocked that his face turned white, and even the table knife he was holding fell on the table, “Where did she …… come from?”

Arthur, who had long ago checked him and his mother out, said blandly, “From what I have been told, she is from Rome. Ever since your mother found out that you and your brother had sneaked off to Rome to join the Charcoal Burners uprising, she was distraught and immediately set off from Switzerland with the intention of fetching you both back. But she searched through the war zone in the midst of the flames of war, but could not find you two anywhere. Or your uncle to send her a message, she realized that you fell in London, so this again busy from Rome to run over to want to bring you back. But ……”

Arthur said here suddenly paused for a moment, “Your mother, the beautiful Mrs. Ottens de Beauharnais has been asking our Foreign Office for the past two days if they have seen your second brother, the once King Louis II of Holland. It is from your lips that I have come to see you today to ask for an answer.”

Louis Bonaparte heard this, only feel a heart in the throat, his upper and lower lips trembling, silent for half a day before he told the truth: “I …… my second brother he, he contracted hives in the process of fleeing, and fell ill and died in Fowler … …”

Arthur’s eyes widened slightly when he heard this, “That …… I am sorry to hear. But I thought it might be better for you to present the news to your mother in person, as I guess there must be a lot of story in it. Mr. Bonaparte, would you like me to arrange a meeting between you and Mother this afternoon?”

“Don’t!” Louis Bonaparte rushed to call a halt when he heard this, “You …… Scotland Yard had better simply lock me up for a few more days, and I …… I’ll spend the next couple of days thinking about exactly how I should explain this to my mother. ”

Arthur heard, slightly nodded, he patted the shoulder of the side of Wheatstone, signaling him to get up with himself, so that Louis Bonaparte alone to have a good quiet.

Wheatstone looked a little intolerant, he comforted: ”Louis, if the mood is bad, at any time you can find me to talk, of course, you come alone. I …… I live next door to you, and it will be the same when I go out, we are neighbors.”

Arthur took Wheatstone out of the door, before leaving also did not forget to remind a sentence: “If there is any need, directly call the guards here on it, as long as it is not any excessive requirements, we try to satisfy you.”

With those words, he brought the cell door with him.

Just after walking out, Arthur let out a long breath of relief, he turned his head and saw a few manuscripts underneath Wheatstone’s armpit, he couldn’t help but curiously said, “What’s that?”

Wheatstone, still thinking about what happened to his new friend, absentmindedly returned, “Wasn’t I locked up here for the past two days? There’s not much to do anyway, so why don’t I just make up the papers for the few experiments I did before.”

“Yeah? Can I take a look?”

“Take it.”

Arthur took the manuscript and scanned it, only to see that it was written all in French.

If it were more than half a year ago, Arthur would definitely not have been able to read it, but due to the temptation of that first edition French version of The Human Comedy that Vidocq had brought to Alexandre Dumas, coupled with Alexandre Dumas’ more than half a year of intense remedial lessons, Arthur’s understanding of the French language had long since been not only confined to the expletives commonly used in cursing people.

Thankfully, Arthur’s French teacher, a well-known 19th century key politician, had a grasp of political vocabulary unmatched by the average beginner, which helped him to understand the manuscript at hand.

As Arthur flipped through the manuscript, he spoke, “Charles.”

Wheatstone drifted off, “What is it?” Arthur looked up and asked, “Do you want to be exiled to Elba or St. Helena?”

“Exile?” Whitestone was startled, “Arthur, are you getting out of line?”

“No, Charles, it’s not me who’s going overboard.”

Arthur pointed to the title of the manuscript and asked at Wheatstone, “Look at it, The Political Dream. Charles, are you going to tell me that the experiment you are engaged in is the establishment of the First French Empire? If that’s the case, we have a good theoretical basis for exiling you to those two islands, according to the norms of British case law.”

It was then that Wheatstone responded, “This isn’t my manuscript, damn it, I must have gotten the wrong one, it’s Louie’s.”

Arthur handed the manuscript back and shrugged his shoulders, “Well, you can give it back to him when he’s in a good mood, and by the way, suggest again that he change the name of this yet-to-be-book manuscript to something like Make France Great Again or something, which would be far more provocative than Political Dreams. Well …… at least, I think that fat bastard Alexander will fall for it.”

“Fall for it?” Wheatstone asked with a raised eyebrow, “Are you saying Louis is a liar?”

Arthur just laughed, “Liar talk, if he’s a liar, it’s relatively safe in turn. What worries me the most is the possibility that he believes it himself.”

Wheatstone just shook his head when he heard this, he didn’t comment on Arthur’s words.

Mr. Wheatstone, who had a strong sense of self-management, went back to his cell rather consciously, and only left a comment, “It’s too complicated, it seems that I’m still not suitable to go to the Royal Society to be the president of anything, it’s fine for me to engage in some research that I like.”

Arthur didn’t object to Wheatstone’s opinion, he stood there and was preparing to leave, but Agareth who had been standing behind Arthur and manipulating the pipe heard this, but at this moment he couldn’t help but flap his tongue and laugh.

“Ah! Arthur, don’t say that. You have to realize that for the most part, the leader of the crowd is usually just a lead agitator, but his role is not to be taken lightly. The leader usually has a strong and persistent willpower, a rare and extremely powerful quality that conquers all, in other words, only the most extreme can become a leader. But even then, the so-called leader often starts out as a leader, who is first hypnotized by the theory and then wants to teach it to others. It goes on from generation to generation, for many generations.”

When Arthur heard this, he just hit the fire and took a drag on his cigarette and said, “Is the leader you’re talking about Jesus?”

The Red Devil, who had been standing behind Arthur, smiled even wider when he heard this, “Wow, my dear Arthur, you’ve finally felt something. I guess you feel it too, right? Whether religiously, politically, or religiously-politically, the essence of human leaders is the same thousands of years down the line.”

Arthur glanced back at him, “No wonder you demons don’t even talk about religion much anymore, I have to say, you’re still quite adaptable to the changing times as an old businessman from hell.”

The red devil took off his hat in acknowledgement, “I am flattered, but then again, have you ever considered establishing your own papal state?”

“A papal state? Then you may be barking up the wrong tree.” Arthur pointed to Louis Bonaparte’s cell, “The man who could build a papal state is sitting right here.”

……

In the Director’s office at Scotland Yard, Director Rowan, who had just finished his lunch, leaned back in his chair holding a copy of the letterhead he had just received from the Wyatt Club, the seat of the Tory caucus, and read it.

Knock knock.

“Come in.”

Rowan looked up and saw Arthur entering the door and couldn’t help but flash a smile, “Arthur, I don’t know how you did it, but you did a good job. Sir Peel has just written and Bernie Harrison is willing to drop his lawsuit against Scotland Yard, however, he has a small request there as well.”

Arthur sniffed, “I suppose he wants Scotland Yard to stop continuing the investigation into that murder while he drops the case?”

“That’s right.” Rowan leaned back in his chair, “So it looks like you’ve pulled his little tail?”

“The evidence I have so far won’t whack him, but it’s enough to get him in trouble. And the information obtained by the London Police Intelligence Service won’t sit well with him, but it will make the Tories lose confidence in him.”

Rowan nodded, “I’ve also seen the case leads you submitted, both the Marsh Arsenic Test Method and that paper on using hair for autopsies are extremely practical and creative. And I’ve gotten my hands on something interesting lately, so if I put those papers out there again along with the news of the murder, it won’t just be Senator Harrison’s political career that will be ruined, but his perfume and cosmetics business as well.”

With that, Rowan slid a couple of clippings down the desk to Arthur’s eyes.

Arthur picked up the clippings, only to see that they were all advertisements about arsenic-containing cosmetics, and the one who published these advertisements was none other than Congressman Harrison’s cosmetics company.

–For a long time, arsenic has been described as an appalling element, and ladies have been fascinated by all kinds of whitening cosmetics, but at the same time they have been afraid of its toxicity. But when Mr. Harrison set out on a trip to Austria a few years ago, he found a group of villagers in the Austrian region of Styria who fed on the ‘poison’, and who were often ridiculed by villagers in other nearby areas as people who ate rat poison.

–With curiosity, Mr. Harrison stayed in this village for several days in a row, and he was surprised to find that these villagers swallowed small doses of arsenic almost every day, which they sprinkled on bread or lard and used as a seasoning. And according to Mr. Harrison’s calculations, the amount these villagers had taken in a week’s accumulation had long since exceeded the lethal amount. However, these villagers not only did not have any physical problems, on the contrary, all of them had rosy cheeks, men’s bodies were strong, women’s bodies were voluptuous, and even their sexual ability was enhanced. And judging from the various young men who stepped through the threshold of the Styrian villagers’ homes to propose marriage, this is by no means a false statement.

–Mr. Harrison also interviewed a local milkmaid, and according to this lovely and charming lady’s own account, she was originally horrified by the trend of the big guys serving arsenic, but then by a stroke of luck she started to follow the trend. After a few months, she began to become plump and round, the way her suitors wanted her to be. But when Mr. Harrison, who had completed a trip around the Mediterranean, returned a few months later, he found that the lady had died after a tragic illness.

–Yes, arsenic in moderation can increase one’s attractiveness, but overdosing on it can lead to death. Mr. Harrison followed up on this issue for a long time and finally found out the balance between human health and beauty and abundance not long ago! Eight years of tracking research, dozens of pharmacists comprehensive verification, cosmetics titan Mr. Bernie Harrison’s latest work!
–Allow me to introduce to you, the best product of 1831 from Bernie Harrison Cosmetics & Drugs, the fragrance of roses from the Mediterranean coast, the secret of Styrian villagers’ baby-like skin, the biggest discovery of the year in women’s oral health care – Styrian’s Secret. -The secret of Styria. Currently available in London pharmacies and cosmetic stores for only 1 shilling a bottle, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Let’s unlock the beauty of the last century!
When Arthur saw this, he just couldn’t help but mutter, “Ripping off women and wanting them dead, Mr. Harrison is so cruel.”

Extra is in the middle of the night, so get up tomorrow and read it

(End of chapter)