Chapter 44: Lecture at the Royal Society

Chapter 44 The Royal Society’s Lecture

No. 4 Whitehall Street, Arthur, fully dressed in police uniform, walked out from the Greater London Police Headquarters.

Along with him, there were also a group of police inspectors in charge of other police districts in London, all of them exchanged information about the work laid out in this morning’s police meeting, and every now and then they also joked with each other for a couple of sentences.

Most of the police inspectors are in their thirties, and among them, the young Arthur looks particularly eye-catching.

The old police inspectors also took great care of this young man who was climbing up the ranks like a rocket, but their words still revealed a sense of distance and politeness.

Everyone knew that the young man was a favorite of Robert Peel, the Home Secretary, but the feeling of being treated in a special way made Arthur feel uncomfortable.

Agares, for his part, looked wistfully at the smiling old police inspectors as he reminded Arthur.

“It’s all a sham, just look at their eyes, no amount of warm smiles can cover eyes that write the truth. These guys are downright jealous and want to strangle you.

Arthur, it’s not good for you to climb too fast! You’ve got enemies on all sides. Why don’t we think of a way to strike first and teach them a little lesson?”

But Arthur had long been immune to the Red Devil’s provocations.

If he really did what Agares wanted, he would have probably killed a battalion from four years ago until now.

He grudgingly dealt with the big offers from the old police inspectors, but fortunately it didn’t take long for the inspectors to return to their respective police districts in the public carriages that came and went once they were out of Scotland Yard.

Arthur let out a long breath, but before he could adjust his mood, Elder, who had been waiting across the street from Scotland Yard for a long time, already greeted him with a smile on his face.

Elder took two tickets out of his pocket and waved them in front of Arthur: “Arthur, what do you see here? Tickets for the Royal Society’s lecture! I had to go through a lot of trouble to snatch them from my cousin.”

Arthur, of course, knew the subtext of the boy, and he raised his hand to stop a passing public carriage.

“I see, I’ll pay for all your meals today.”

Elder followed Arthur into the carriage and laughed loudly, “Righteous enough! But I won’t let you suffer either. Didn’t you specifically instruct me to find lectures on chemistry and pharmacology before?

This time I’ve asked around, and today’s speaker is an extremely prestigious chemist. It will definitely satisfy you!”

The carriage rattled to a start, and Arthur’s head bobbed along with it.

“Elder, you must be sure this time. I remember the first time you took me to see a play at the Little Theatre, it was promised to be some high art, but in reality the performances didn’t seem very civilized.”

Elder sniffed and coughed cheekily.

“Arthur! Doesn’t art or artlessness still depend on the eyes with which you scrutinize it?
You have to look at it dialectically with a critical eye, what kind of message does it reveal that beautiful ladies are too poor to wear blouses?
There must be some kind of problem with the way we function as a society!”

Arthur glanced at him, “Is that why you disappeared immediately after the show?
While it’s true that something is wrong with society, your mind isn’t working as well as it should.

And you let your aunt catch you in the act, and in the end, you’ll still have to get help from me to fish you out!”

When Elder heard Arthur reveal his scars, he burst into a rage and said, “Arthur! You fucking I’m a law-abiding citizen!”

“A law-abiding citizen can go into the smuggling business?”

“What’s the difference? Smuggling is as bad as hanging me. You’re insulting my name!”

Arthur looked at Elder’s righteous look and sighed softly, “Forget about the past, when I go back to the Royal Society to listen to the lectures, you won’t get me any more questions that I can criticize, right?”

“Where can it be ……”

Elder greased his lips and was about to open his mouth to say a couple of words in a yellowish accent, but before he could open his mouth he saw Arthur take off the speed cuffs that were hanging from his cowhide belt.

Arthur stared at the handcuffs and said to himself, “I really can’t arrest you for smuggling. But if you are engaging in obscene pornography at the Royal Society ……” Hearing this, Elder hurriedly raised his hands in surrender and gave Arthur a salute.

“Don’t you mess around! I’m taking you over there this time in good faith, without any hint of personal selfishness. This time it’s really a chemistry lecture. That scientist is famous, I remember his name …… is Michael …… Michael something or other ……”

Arthur tentatively asked, “Michael Jackson?”

When Elder heard it, he slapped his thigh and shouted, “That’s right! It seems to be Michael Jackson, I told you he was famous, look you know him!”

Arthur took a deep breath, “Elder.”

Elder looked happy, “What? No need to thank me, just buy me dinner.”

“I’m going to have to fucking cuff you today!”

“Ugh! Arthur! You fucking did it!”

The carriage traveled slowly through the streets, through the crowds of people and the streets and alleys of London, and after an unknown amount of time, it finally arrived at today’s destination – Gresham College, located in the north-eastern part of London.

The carriage door opened, and Elder, whose hands were locked behind his back by handcuffs, stumbled and was pushed out of the carriage.

He stumbled and stomped forward twice, nearly hitting his nose on the vermillion brick wall of the college.

Arthur politely took off his hat and thanked the coachman, then pulled two shillings from his pocket and handed it over.

“It’s not a good place to get a cab, so please wait here for us for two hours, after which we’ll need a ride in your car, and we’ll pay double the price for the return trip.”

The driver was happy to make this easy money, and he took off his hat and saluted back, “No problem, Mr. Officer.”

Arthur had just gotten out of the car, and hadn’t even gotten his footing on the ground when he heard Elder’s angry growl.

“Arthur! Would you look at what’s going on here? I told you today’s keynote speaker was named Michael, and you still don’t believe me!”

Arthur looked up to see that Elder was in front of a signboard used to introduce the speaker for today’s lecture.

He was bouncing around angrily and his mouth wasn’t too clean, “Get the fuck out of my handcuffs. Most of the people who come to the lecture are London ladies, how am I going to get a chance to spend time with them if you let them see me like this?”

Arthur scanned around and realized that Elder was really right.

Although it was still early, there were already many carriages parked outside the main gate of Gresham College, and ladies and girls wearing beautiful pleated dresses and silky white gloves could be seen everywhere.

Some of them stepped out of the carriages with their long dresses under the assistance of private drivers, and there was also a servant at the side with a small broom to clean up the horse manure and garbage on the side of the road for her so as not to tarnish her white and beautiful long dress.

Some were holding a fan over their mouths, talking with their familiar friends.

There was also a part that glanced at Elder if at all, and couldn’t help but show a hint of a smile that made Young Master Elder extremely angry.

Arthur also knew that he couldn’t let him lose all of his face at this time, or else this kid would no longer take care of him for half a year.

He walked forward and skillfully followed Elder’s wrist with a force, and the handcuffs returned to his hand.

Elder covered his reddened wrists and twisted them, then discontentedly pointed at the display board beside him and cursed at Arthur.

“Arthur, look at what’s written on it. Read it carefully, today’s keynote speaker: Michael Faraday!”

(End of chapter)