Chapter 272: Recruitment Notice (K)

Chapter 271 – Recruitment Notice (4K)

Viscount Palmerston, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, again made an important statement on Poland in the House of Commons, after the Westminster Union had exposed the brutal reprisals carried out by the Russians after the fall of Warsaw.

Viscount Palmerston: The Emperor of Russia to-day is a man of high mind, and if on some occasions the Russian Government have been too brutal to the Poles, we may take that as proof that the power of the Emperor of Russia has been neglected. On those occasions the Russian Emperor was under the influence of certain autocrats at Court, and not under the dictates of his spontaneous emotions. And the Poles should have taken a more appropriate solution to the problem before it turned into a military conflict, instead of choosing to overthrow the Emperor. I would even go so far as to say that the Poles were the ones on the offensive, since they started the struggle in the first place.

Mr. Bernie Harrison, Member of Parliament for the House of Commons, slammed the Foreign Office decision: Palmerston’s remarks have brought shame on Britain! ‘Our mission is to defend freedom!

“In strong protest, Mr. Harrison went to the residence of a Polish lady after the close of Parliament to express his sympathy and offer warm condolences.

“According to reliable sources, Mr. Harrison’s targeted support for Poland began in August.

“According to her ladyship’s own account, Mr. Harrison’s patronage has been nine times, each lasting from five to ten minutes, and the amount of each patronage has varied from eight to twelve shillings.

“Viscount Palmerston openly scoffed that Harrison was the very picture of a Tory, who talked a great deal, but when it came to the field, could not last more than five minutes.

“Former Tory Lord Chancellor, Earl Eldon, is furious at the behavior of his own MPs, according to unnamed sources.

“Former Secretary of State for the Admiralty, Croker, states that Harrison’s conduct is a disgrace to the party and that he must leave the party at once.

“An emergency meeting of the Tory caucus was called by Lord Peel at the Wyatt Club, at which it was unanimously resolved that Harrison should be dismissed from the party with immediate effect.

“Bernie Harrison makes a formal statement of resignation from the party and submits his resignation from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons, announcing his resignation from the Chair.

“The Bishop of Exeter attacks the increasingly rotten social climate: London is going to hell in a handbasket!”.

Bishop of Exeter: Bernie Harrison’s story is just the tip of the iceberg of a sinful society in which, as far as I know, 80,000 women in London are in the business of selling their bodies! As for the drunks who buy sex, there are even more! The decline of the spirit of the Church has taken away the beauty and serenity of old England, and I appeal to the faithful to devote half an hour a day to reading the Bible, for only in this way will you be able to repress the evil that lurks in your hearts.

‘London City Mission Magazine reporter travels to Scotland Yard for investigative interview on appalling number of prostitutes’

Response from Superintendent Arthur Hastings, spokesman for the Greater London Police Authority: I think the Bishop of Exeter’s appeal is well-intentioned in the interests of social justice, but there is a significant discrepancy between His Grace’s views on the number of prostitutes and the Scotland Yard statistics. If what the Bishop says is correct, then it is clearly an exaggeration to say that one in five women of the right age in London, aged 15-50, are prostitutes. On the basis of the Scotland Yard statistics and preliminary estimates, we are inclined to think that the number of prostitutes in London at the present time should be in the neighborhood of eight to ten thousand.

The Bishops of the House of Lords have used the Harrison affair to put continued pressure on the Home Office, and the Home Secretary, Viscount Melbourne, has demanded that Scotland Yard carry out a sustained campaign of remedial cleansing against such phenomena.

Arthur sat in the corner of the café, looking at Fiona as she laid one of these days’ newspapers in front of him, one after the other.

Fiona looked a little angry as she complained, “Mr. Hastings, what the hell is going on? According to reason, after we close the matter of Bernie Harrison, you should at least let us live in peace for two days. How is it that one thing leads to another, and after Scotland Yard has swept up the MPs, how is it that you have started targeting us lonely, helpless, tender women again?”

Arthur also felt a bit sorry for Fiona, after all, he also didn’t expect that halfway actually managed to pop up the Bishop of Exeter.

He spoke, “I’m sorry, Fiona, I didn’t mean to trash your business either. I assure you that this is really just a coincidence. But since the bishops have made their request, Scotland Yard will have to carry it out. For your safety, please keep the beautiful ladies on your staff as far away as possible from Claremont Gardens on the Thames, North Woolwich Park in Greenwich and Highbury Barn Gardens during this time. Also, I regret to inform you that the Alhambra Concert Hall and the bars, concert halls and clubs on the streets of the Fodder Market have also all been placed under key observation.”

Fiona took a sharp, deep breath when she heard this, and even her already not-so-small eyes looked a few degrees wider than usual: “Mr. Hastings, is this Scotland Yard locking up all of several of the West End’s big, mobile pin-ups?”

Arthur smiled and nodded, “I still remember what you mentioned to me before, that Eugenie from the Chelsea district, if I remember correctly, quite a few of her girls should be operating within these areas, right? It’s sort of payback for the Harrison case, Fiona, and it’s not just me in this case, the officers at Scotland Yard are very grateful to you.”

“Wow. ……”

Fiona first froze when she heard this, and then her entire body relaxed, her watery eyes blinking, and more than a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth, “My dear, it seems that I misunderstood you earlier. I told you, with your eyesight, how can you look at Eugenie’s kind of goods. There are plenty of pretty ladies in London, why would you have to choose a French village girl when you can have any?”

Arthur heard here, and spoke again, “But …… Eugenie is going to get hit hard this time, and your side shouldn’t take it too lightly. Here in the East End, we’re also going to be doing a strong sweep of Hackney’s Hoxton Hall and Wilton Music Hall. Starting tomorrow, both places will be manned by one or two squads of officers during business hours.”

“What?!”

Fiona was shocked to hear, her face blubbering, “Mr. Hastings, these are two of the easiest places for girls to earn money in the East End. Anyone who can afford to go to a Shakespearean stage play or a concert at the Grand Theater is a high-class fat fuck. The girls might have to cut their monthly income by more than half if it was less.”

Arthur savored the bitter coffee and looked out the window at the thin raindrops and spoke, “For the past few months Scotland Yard has been receiving reports that someone is doing a forced sale in the East End. If the guests watching the theater do not agree to do business, they will be blocked into the alley and beaten up severely by the strong men following the girls. Fiona, do you have any clue about this matter?”

When Fiona heard this, she just laughed softly, “Mr. Hastings, look at what you’re saying. The reason we sent people to follow the girls is all for their protection. You have patrolled the streets of the Eastern District before and should know how dangerous the environment there really is. If the girls go out alone, they might run into a few bad guys. If our escort has a run-in with someone, it will definitely be because he spoke out against the girls and intended to humiliate them.”

Arthur, of course, did not believe this defense of hers, and he spoke, “As I agreed with you earlier, violent crimes will never be tolerated. The only references the courts use when deciding cases are the black eyes and broken ribs of the gentlemen who reported them. This small-scale cleanup of the Eastern District is to be taken as a warning of your recent activities, and if you don’t want to incur larger-scale scrutiny, it would be wise to heed the Cabinet’s call to respect the freedom of trade when doing business in the future.”

Fiona only sighed when she heard this, “Alright Mr. Hastings, it’s all up to you, you’re the one who can really run things. Speaking back it’s lucky for that boy, if you had spoken even one morning later he wouldn’t have escaped a good beating this afternoon.”

Arthur sniffed and raised an eyebrow, “Kid? What boy?”

Fiona looked unhappy and said, “A weirdo, a weirdo who likes to persuade windswept women to get off the streets. Holding a Bible in his left hand, holding a cross in his right hand, and wearing a plain black suit. When they see our girls in the East End, the immodest men get horny and the decent ones pass quickly through the streets.

But this guy was the only one who, instead of talking business or running away, was spouting his compassionate moral speeches to our girls. Heh, when I first heard about it, I just assumed that the kid was just out of the blue, mostly another straw man looking for moral fulfillment from us. I was about to send someone to teach him a lesson, but I didn’t realize that someone else in my girl actually tipped him off and let him escape in time.”

Arthur spoke up, “Since he’s escaped, there’s no need for you to keep going after him, right?”

Fiona said indignantly, “I would have thought the same way you did. After all, we’re only here to earn money, so as long as he doesn’t come to impede business, then this matter will be considered to be over. But this brat doesn’t know what he was thinking, but two days ago he actually started running to stir up our business again.

A few of my good-hearted girls were afraid that I would send someone to beat him up, and actually wanted to do his business for free, so that he could hurry up and leave after he finished having fun. But that son of a bitch not only refused, but also advised those girls to leave my ‘devil’s den’. Doesn’t he think about what we’re going to eat if we don’t do this?
Take Bernie Harrison, for instance. Defina gets eight or ten shillings a time for a job with him, which is as much as a textile factory girl earns in a week. If De Fina hadn’t run into me, she’d be lying dead with lung disease in some factory!”

Hearing this, Arthur suddenly remembered something: “That boy you mentioned, is his name Gladstone?”

Fiona frowned: “You …… you sent someone to follow me? Or did someone else report it to you? How did you know his name?”

Arthur just smiled, “Fiona, don’t forget, I’m a detective. It’s only natural that I know a lot of things. But if you’re struggling with Mr. Gladstone, then leave him to me to solve.”

“How do you intend to solve him?”

Arthur leaned back in his chair and spoke, “Have you forgotten that Scotland Yard has been undergoing a purge recently? Since Mr. Gladstone’s willingness is so high, I don’t think Scotland Yard would mind hiring him on a temporary basis to do a psychological session for all the lost sheep that will be arriving.”

“Psychologizing?” Fiona scoffed at that, “Why do you men always like to do such boring things? If you guys really want to put them out of their misery, why don’t you marry her?”

Arthur picked up the hat on the table and fastened it to his head, gathering his tuxedo around him he spoke, “I don’t know, that’s why I never do such things, perhaps that’s a question you should take to Mr. Gladstone.”

Fiona raised an eyebrow, “And if I am inclined to ask you?”

Arthur lifted his hat in a soft farewell, “Because relationships are not charity, so you can’t just give out charity. Farewell then, Fiona, while the girls are not busy for a while, you might want to start preparing in advance for the off-course handicap of the fencing tournament.”

With that said, Arthur chucked another ticket out of his pocket and placed it on the table, “Scotland Yard has a celebratory dinner lined up for today, so the officers should be upset if I’m late. Order what you want to eat yourself, and if it exceeds this amount, it’s fine to hang it on my tab.”

With those words, Arthur took a step and pushed the door out of the cafe.

It wasn’t long before Fiona saw Arthur through the window with a pipe in his mouth and a black cloth umbrella bathing in the London midday rain.

She shook her head around her carefully braided ponytail and sighed as she stood up and knocked on the café window glass.

Arthur noticed the rattling and looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

Fiona just skimmed her lips and shook her head as she gesticulated at him, “This umbrella is so ugly, it looks like a black mushroom when you hold it up.”

Arthur just raised his hand and tapped the handle of the umbrella, exhaling smoke back, “What do you know, Fox brand umbrellas, these are expensive.”

Obviously scolded, but Fiona felt quite amused instead, she spoke up and said goodbye, “Scotland Yard always has such distinctive tastes, so enjoy your meal Mr. Hastings.”

Arthur ignored her and simply reached out to stop a car.

A spray of water was swept up by the tumbling wheels and the carriage lifted off and disappeared around the corner of Trafalgar Square.

Fiona stared in the direction Arthur had left until she was sure she couldn’t see him anymore, and only then did she feel relieved to pull out the newspaper pressed at the bottom of the pile on her desk.

It was a copy of The Times, except that Fiona was never interested in current affairs commentary; it was the advertising section in the far corner of the paper that caught her attention.

The advertisements began with the usual suspects: Twinings tea bags, Wheatstone phonographs, and the suspicious marriage announcements that had suddenly appeared.

At the very end, however, there was a job advertisement.

–“Urgently required one or two housemaids, excellent wages, twelve shillings per week, board and lodging provided.

–Job Requirements: Mending and laundering of daily laundry twice a week, regular daily cleaning of three floors of the house and other household chores.

–Location: 36 Lancaster Gate.

-Contact: Mr. Arthur Hastings.

Fiona held her coffee cup and gently blew away the rising hot air, and said with some reproach and regret in her distress: ”Mr. Hastings, if you want to find a housemaid, why don’t you come to me? I’ve got a lot of girls here who want to be good, and at twelve shillings a week with board and lodging, that’s a good enough offer, I think.”

(End of chapter)