Chapter 295: Yes, Your Majesty (K6)

Chapter 293 – Yes, Your Majesty (4K6)

Heine support in front of the window of the second floor box, from here looking down, the coaxing Astley theater hall, already crowded with the audience from all parts of London convergence.

Those who had taken seats in the back rows and bought standing tickets on the upper steps were ordinary citizens and working families with slightly more money.

Although they are not rich, but in this kind of grand social occasions, Londoners inherent love of face and pay attention to dress decency but drive them even if they have to use the few family budget, but also must go to the Covent Garden thrift market to exchange for a set of second-hand formal wear.

Floppy hats and corsets, slim breeches and Hessian boots, linen cravats and bowler hats with frou-frou jackets or tuxedos were once upper-class options that made their way into the closet of the average family.

Although most of them only had one set of formal clothes for the occasion, as long as you didn’t look at the details and stitching of these clothes, they didn’t seem too different from the middle class sitting in the front row.

The middle class families that they envied and desperately wanted their children to devote their lives to catching up with were sitting in the front row on comfortable facecloth seats enjoying bar meals.

Most of these families are headed by men who are skilled professionals working in steel, coal, shipping, construction, banking, international trading companies, or small industrialists with retail stores, private workshops, or blacksmiths’ tanneries.

Thanks to the success of the first industrial revolution in Britain, this middle class is now expanding rapidly.
Although these middle-class families are not as wealthy as the real upper-class families, nor can they be compared with the 154 richest people in the whole of Britain who are worth more than half a million pounds, it is undeniable that they have already become the main consumer of the major entertainment venues in London.

As the Monthly Review, the literary criticism magazine that is still chasing Disraeli’s dark past and still chasing him, says, our country seems to be undergoing a change in taste. Such a change in taste is not confined to the literary field, but to the cultural field as a whole.

And one of the favorite novelists of middle-class women – Mr. Benjamin Disraeli – has taken it upon himself to poke fun at the matter in his serial novel The Young Duke: take a pair of pistols, a pack of cards, a cookbook, and a new set of moves for the square dance, and, after mixing them with half a dozen impure motives, and one immaculate marriage, divide them into three equal parts. The result is a highly sought-after three-volume fashion novel.

And in today’s Astley Theatre, the fantasies of middle-class ladies and gentlemen about high society are almost fully realized.

As they see it in the fashion novels, there are fine coats, silk stockings, flowers, opera boxes, duels, elopements, gifts wrapped in silver ribbons, eight footmen, four coachmen, horses to match the number of coachmen, imperceptible smiles, and hands that seem to hint at an unspoken conspiracy, together with a noblewoman who is weeping slightly over the chaotic affairs of her husband’s private life and who is obliged to wear a dress in order to mourn her uncle’s recent death. and the black hat she had to wear to mourn her uncle’s recent death.

Their curiosity was greatly satisfied by the presence of the great personalities on the long red-carpeted staircase leading to the boxes on the second and third floors of the Astori Amphitheater.

They scrambled around to ask their friends about them, for example, who was the old gentleman who had just passed down the stairs, straight as a sword, and what was the origin of the lady whose long dress was being held up by two footmen.

In the short space of half an hour they had already heard more resounding names than in the usual year.

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French Minister to England and former Prime Minister.

Arthur Wellesley, former Prime Minister, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and Duke of Wellington.

Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston, Foreign Secretary, and a certain mysterious lady who accompanied him whose face could not be seen.

And after these there were all sorts of uncountable socialites, and a number of members of Parliament, both Tories and Whigs, were present.

And in addition to these big names in the political circles, there were quite a few celebrities in the cultural field as well.

Those with wider social circles and interests might recognize Mr. William Turner, Professor of Perspective at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and a renowned landscape painter, who has been in the ascendant lately, as well as Sir Walter Scott, who wishes to be invited to illustrate his novels, and who had once declined the high honor of being ‘Poet Laureate’.

And, not coincidentally, the great poet Robert Souset, who had been lucky enough to fill the vacancy and be crowned with the honor after Sir Scott had refused the title of ‘Poet Laureate,’ was also present at the Astley Amphitheatre.

And with him were two distinguished poets not usually seen in London, and friends of his, two other representatives of the Lakeside school of poetry in Britain – William Wordsworth and Mr. Samuel Coleridge.

And naturally, on such an occasion, Arthur’s friends were present in full numbers, one and all.

Only they arrived in a slightly different way, Dickens came to the scene with Tennyson in a carriage early, and Wheatstone, who has always been socially inactive, came to the theater early to take charge of the scientific guidance of the stage set because he was coerced to do so.

Tennyson two hands holding a glass of wine, looking downstairs on the steps of the passing of a big shot, excited even the wine in the glass are shaking.

“My God! Souset, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Scott, a poet laureate, a poet who refused the laureate, three representatives of the Lakeside School in full attendance, what on earth is going on here today, and I’d go so far as to say that a half-century’s weight of British poetry is sunk into the Astley Theater tonight!”

Although Dickens is not as excited as Tennyson, but in the face of a crowd of literary bigwigs, this year ago or court clerk ‘small writer’ can not help but be apprehensive: “I originally thought that this is just an ordinary show, I did not expect to actually attract so many social celebrities! …… My novel stage play premiere can get such a grand opening, also …… really dipped into Arthur’s light.”

Tennyson looked at the smile on Dickens’ face that was harder to see than crying, and couldn’t help pursing his lips and saying, “Charles, is it stressful?”

“Hoo……” Dickens exhaled continuously, “It’s impossible to say that it’s not stressful. So many big names and great poets are staring at it, in case my stage play is not successful, it can be …… Alas, Alfred, I’m finished!”

Dickens had just finished saying this when he heard the door of the room behind him being kicked open with a bang.

Dumas led Disraeli scurrying into the room with his head held high, and while walking he also introduced the group, “Come on, Charles, Alfred, you two get to know each other, this is Mr. Heine, the new author of our ‘Englishman’. I just had a brief chat with him, he’s not a bad guy.”

After saying that, Dumas then opened the wine cabinet in the room and poured himself a glass to quench his thirst.

Seeing him in this state, Tennyson couldn’t help but hold back his laughter and asked, “Alexander, aren’t you nervous at all? Charles is almost fainting from fear right now. There are quite a few big names here tonight, and he’s afraid that the premiere of Pickwick Extravaganza won’t be a success.”

Dumas sniffed disdainfully and waved his hand as he leaned back on the sofa, “Charles, you just have less experience. Benjamin and I just almost put our lives on the line, so what can you do if you have a bad performance in a stage play? If the play is staged badly, it’s the audience who will have a hard time, what does it have to do with us who wrote the script, anyway, we’ve already received the money for the tickets.”

Disraeli also sat on the sofa and took off his hat and fanned himself vigorously: “Charles, you do not know that just now the situation, if Tom and they come one step later, it is estimated that Alexander and I will have to be hanged in front of the London docks of the Tyburn gallows, just like the year was hanged as Captain Kidd.”

Dickens froze at this, “What did you two do?”

Dumas took a sip of wine, “Nothing, just brought thirty pounds of black powder and nine guns.”

“What?!”

Tennyson and Dickens heard this and were directly shocked on the spot by his audacity. Dickens staggered, “What are you doing with that thing?”

When Disraeli heard this, he briefly explained his previous plan with the group.

After hearing the narrative, Heine couldn’t help but admire and stick out his thumb at Dumas, “Mr. Dumas, I didn’t believe you before when you said that you had led people to shell the Tuileries Palace. But now, that story doesn’t seem so exaggerated to me.”

“Is Arthur fighting a sword fight today, or a marksmanship duel?”

“Hell! How should I know?” Dumas put down his glass and raised an eyebrow, “I knew he had planned to bring two forks.”

“The kind that family meals make?”

“How could that be? A dinner fork can’t even pierce a jacket. Arthur was going to borrow it from the septic man.”

The words of the crowd had just reached this point when suddenly a shout of joy was heard from downstairs.

The group stretched their heads to see that a burly, white-haired old man with a navy blue cape and a sailor’s red face was standing high up on the stairs greeting the spectators, “Enjoy your ale, enjoy this duel, enjoy this night of merriment, and, in short, have a good time, all of you, have a good time, my subjects!”

“My God! It’s His Majesty the King!”

“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“Of course there is no mistake; I have seen him several times by the Thames, where he often walks with the Queen.”

“Have a good time too, Your Majesty!”

“Your Majesty, I’m going to place my bets, which side do you think will actually win this duel today? I’ll listen to you!”

William IV’s toast drew a burst of cheers from the audience, and from this simple reaction it could also be seen that this sailor king was indeed more popular with the citizens of London than his brother, George IV.

The cheers of the audience also made William IV, who always liked to be in the limelight and had a few drinks before coming to the theater, laugh a lot, and just when he was going to continue to make a few more remarks to his people, the attendants who were responsible for protecting the king’s safety were sweating profusely.

They couldn’t stop persuading, ”Your Majesty, let’s go to the box first. Although Scotland Yard has already enforced gun control in the vicinity, this place is crowded with many people, and there are still quite a few drunkards out and about, so in case they get in the mood, taking their fists can also hurt you.”

Hearing this, William IV frowned in dissatisfaction and said, “You guys are underestimating me! I thought that when I was serving in North America, Britannia was at war with that group of rebels! You guys should know that, right? I even participated in the Battle of New York and personally fired three artillery shells at Long Island! I’m telling you the truth. Gambier was captain of the Cape St. Vincent at the time, and I served under him. If you don’t believe me, go back and ask him!”

Seeing that the king had lost his temper, the attendants had to say, “Marshal Gambier told us all about your glorious deeds. He also spoke of your valor in battle, and even the great Admiral Horatio Nelson spoke highly of you, and I remember what he wrote in his naval evaluation of you – that at your post you outperformed most men. But this is not a war, Your Majesty, we’re just here to see a show, you don’t need to risk a pre-war pep talk for the audience, do you?”

William IV couldn’t help but sigh when he heard his attendants mention the name Nelson, “Alas …… Nelson, if he were still alive, it wouldn’t have been Gambier’s turn to be the Royal Navy Marshal. If I have to give a man a hand on a ship, then I would only be willing to turn the helm for Horatio Nelson.”

As he was speaking, Sir George Elliott, the Royal Servant at Arms, who had been selected by the Royal Navy, suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the upper and lower strings of colored flags hanging below the second-floor compartments and spoke, “Your Majesty, what do you see there?”

William IV turned to look at the string of colorful flags, just a little sad mood suddenly swept away, the sailor king clapped his hands and applauded: “Good! Good! Dare to play these two strings of banners, it seems that the young man from Scotland Yard must win today!”

And with the king’s turn, the audience also found the two strings of colorful flags that did not know when to hang up.

The spectators in the crowd who had served in the Royal Navy could not help but stand up and follow the loud applause, and in the midst of their hoots and hollers, the rest of the audience finally understood the meaning of these two strings of colored flags.

The upper string was the Royal Navy’s purpose and combat creed – to fight every enemy, England!

The bottom one is the last order of battle issued by Horatio Nelson, and the Royal Navy’s current battle flag – England expects everyone to do their duty.

Amidst the cheers and the fervor of the theater, Arthur, who was on the stage making final confirmation of the dueling grounds, suddenly saw Sir George Elliot, beside the King, waving at him.

When Arthur saw this, he simply took off his hat and smiled weakly.

Sir Elliot leaned down and softly informed the king, “Your Majesty, that would be the protagonist of today’s duel – Superintendent Arthur Hastings. I had a meeting with him once at General Codrington’s banquet.”

“So he and Codrington know each other?” William IV smiled broadly, “So he must be able to read the two strings of semaphore?”

Sir Elliot smiled back, “I think he would have been able to read them. In case you don’t know, he’s also been involved in high seas pursuits with the Royal Navy, and Fitzroy, the captain of the Beagle, said of him that his skill at picking up battles is not even inferior to that of Admiral Edward Rotheram.”

William IV’s spirits perked up considerably when he heard this, and he asked, “Not inferior to Rotherham? This isn’t lying, is it? I’ve seen Rotheram’s knife skills before, and he’s the only one in the entire Royal Navy who has the ability to take a frigate and fight a battlecruiser in a pickup battle.”

Sir Elliot just smiled and said, “I don’t know if it’s an exaggeration or not. But as you can see, the dueling banners are out, and you know what that means in the Royal Navy.”

William IV laughed at this, he took off the sword on his waist and raised it high, shouting at Arthur on the stage, “The order for the duel has been given, and I am not asking you to drag a ‘St. Anna’ back to me like Admiral Rotheram, but if you can defeat that Parisian Sword Saint. Young man, this sword is yours!”

At the end of his words, William IV didn’t talk much, he directly hung the gleaming, gold-plated saber inlaid with rubies and crushed diamonds below the king’s portrait behind him.

William IV patted the gorgeous white wall engraved with all kinds of reliefs behind him, and announced in a loud voice to all the audience in the theater and Arthur on the stage: “Young man, as you can see, the sword is hanging here. If you’re able, just come up and get it!”

Arthur just smiled softly at the sight, and as the audience watched, Arthur half-kneeled on the stage and responded aloud, “As you wish, Your Majesty.”

There’s also a chapter of allies to add a little later

(End of this chapter)