London No. 1, in the entertainment room of Apsley Mansion, there are two new players on the card table.
Dumas glanced at his hand, and seeing a small hand made him feel numb.
Disraeli had just settled the royalties paid to him yesterday, and in just a short time, he had already lost a lot at the card table.
Compared with the anxious Alexandre Dumas, Arthur, who was sitting opposite him calmly and holding a pipe in his mouth, seemed much calmer. Although his cards were also not big, fortunately, he had a king in his hand, and most importantly, he There is also a clown devil beside him. As long as he doesn't want to lose, no one can win money from him.
Sitting next to Arthur were Talleyrand who was humming a tune and the Duke of Wellington who was belatedly arriving. These two old gentlemen were not so much playing cards as talking trash to each other.
The Duke of Wellington's eyes were fixed on Talleyrand's hand: "My old brother, you have finally come here. Do you want to see my eight marshal's staffs? The British marshal's staff. Joseph Bonaparte gave it to me during the Peninsular War, and the remaining seven were given to me by Napoleon at Waterloo."
As soon as the Duke of Wellington finished speaking, Talleyrand had not yet made any move, but Alexandre Dumas, who was holding a card in his hand, took the lead.
He was about to speak when he saw Talleyrand raising his hand and patting his thigh with a smile, and then threw a Q to suppress the Duke's J.
Talleyrand said: "Your Excellency, Duke, I have always believed that war is too serious, so it must be left to soldiers like you. However, the failure of the war certainly makes me sad, but fortunately, after you, There will never be anyone in Britain who can snatch eight marshal's sticks from France. If we had known that knocking you out would be as easy as finding a lover in Paris, there would be no need for a Napoleon. We should just grab someone from London. The mob goes back to be king.”
The Duke of Wellington raised his eyebrows: "You still have such a mouth. When you heard that Paul I of Russia passed away from a stroke, you just wanted to make a wisecrack in front of the Russian ambassador: I think you guys should really do it in the future. It’s too boring to come up with a new reason for your monarch’s death, always having a stroke. It’s because of this wisecrack that the Russians have held a grudge against you for a long time, haven’t they?”
Talleyrand laughed loudly and said: "You have lived in Paris for a while, then you should understand that the French can shed their blood for a wisecrack. The reason why I can get to where I am now from a cripple without inheritance Yes, it depends on my ability to make wisecracks. If you don't let me joke, you might as well kill me.
As for the Russians, I just told the truth to their faces. And you see, when Alexander I died two years ago, didn't the cause of death change? The middle-aged tsar in the prime of his life died in a sanatorium due to ineffective treatment. This sounds much more pleasant than a stroke. It can be seen that Russians are quite good at accepting other people's opinions. "
As soon as Talleyrand finished speaking, not only the Duke of Wellington, but even the many gentlemen watching their card game burst out laughing.
Talleyrand threw a card and raised his head at Arthur: "Young man, it's your turn. Don't be distracted when you play cards with me! Otherwise, you will lose all your salary this month." In my hand."
When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and pressed the cards in his hand on the table one by one: "Sir, it seems that I don't need to live on my salary this month."
"ah?"
Talleyrand looked at the cards on the table. After counting the cards, he knocked on the table helplessly and muttered to the entourage beside him: "I have bad luck today, that's all, it's just a small amount of money." .Molay, pay for it, ten pounds, oh, by the way, don’t forget to put this money in the embassy’s account.”
When the attendant on the side heard this, he leaned over and asked gently: "I understand, do you still want to pay for travel expenses as before?"
Talleyrand sipped the red wine: "This month's travel expenses are a bit too much. Let's change the name. Well... what do you think of the banquet expenses?"
The attendant held an album in one hand and a quill in the other: "Isn't the ten pounds banquet fee a bit low?"
"That's true." Talleyrand swung the red wine glass and pondered: "Just remember the one hundred and twenty pounds, give ten pounds to Mr. Hastings, and keep the hundred pounds for us to play another game tomorrow night. , the remaining ten pounds will be regarded as your polishing fee."
When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. The fat French man muttered: "You are still ruthless in making money!"
Talleyrand took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and wiped his mouth. He shook his head and said: "Alexander, don't compete with me. I can play like this because I am Talleyrand. Everyone knows that I like money, and Knowing that I like to make my own money, if I don't do this, they will start to wonder if I am collecting money from other countries again. Compared with the more than 10 million francs Metternich gave me, I got it from Germany Compared with one million gold pounds, the price of one hundred pounds is still too cheap."
When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help but joked: "But wasn't most of the military information Metternich bought from you for ten million francs false?"
Talleyrand shrugged his shoulders: "I didn't tell him to keep it safe! I was only responsible for giving him information. As for the screening work, I am not an expert."
The Duke of Wellington laughed loudly when he heard this, and he said to Arthur: "Do you feel now that our British government is actually quite clean?"
When the red devil, who was leaning by the card table, heard this, he couldn't help but hit Arthur with his arm, winked at him and said, "Did you hear that? The way to get rich is right in front of you."
When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and said: "I think Lord Talleyrand's method will not work in Britain. The Royal Navy's military intelligence is not valuable, because it is useless if the enemy knows it, anyway, they don't care No matter what, we can’t win.”
Arthur's words immediately made everyone present laugh again.
The Duke of Wellington wiped away tears from his laughter and said: "It seems that the Whig Party made a wise choice by letting you run the Police Intelligence Bureau. I thought at first that if you do a good job, you can't point it out, and if you do a bad job, it's a wise choice." There are also a lot of harsh tasks that a promising young man like you might not be willing to do? I didn’t expect you to enjoy it so quickly.”
When Arthur heard this, he just replied: "Actually, the work of Scotland Yard is similar, so for me, it just adds a part of the work content. It's not a big deal."
Talleyrand stood up and said: "Yes, your future job will be much easier than your current job. But your current experience is indeed essential, because there is no smart person in this world who cannot learn from it. There are no unfortunate accidents, and there are no lucky accidents that a reckless person would turn into harm.
And your current experience is just to help you identify whether you are a smart person or not. If so, you'll soon no longer have to do the difficult chores, but just talk like I do. As for the hard work of executing your speech, it must be left to the young people who want to prove their wisdom after you. "
After saying this, Talleyrand raised his head and extended an invitation to the Duke: "I heard that you have a novelty that can play a symphony by itself. Why don't you take me to see that thing? If it's interesting, maybe I should too. Buy one and take it back to Paris.”
The Duke of Wellington did not refuse after hearing this. He had a good personal relationship with Talleyrand. After getting France's promise to give up Belgium, he could be said to be completely obedient to his old friend's request: "If you You can ask Louis Philippe to give you something more, and maybe I can send someone to send you a few gramophones for free."
When Talleyrand heard this, he just raised his eyebrows and said happily: "You want to bribe me with a few gramophones? Your Excellency, you take me too cheap."
"This is different."
The Duke of Wellington said: "You see, you don't know that our Mr. Hastings is one of the contributors to the patent for the phonograph. By the way, he is also a well-known pianist and just participated in the project not long ago. The music concert that caused a sensation in London. If we ask him to do it, in addition to the gramophone, maybe we can also get an out-of-print record of the Coburg concert, which is now in various art exchanges in London. It’s almost going crazy.”
"Oh? Really?"
Talleyrand looked back at Arthur: "He is indeed an interesting young man. Well, for the sake of the record, I will consider it."
When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he couldn't help but stand up from the card table and said: "Are you going to betray the national interest for a useless record? I remember you just said in front of me that you love France more than Napoleon."
Talleyrand just laughed when he heard this: "Come on, Alexander, don't change my original words. In addition, you must not mention patriotism in front of me. I get a headache when I hear this. Every time Some people advocate patriotism, and their purpose is either to get people to pay or to donate their lives.
Because your good friend Mr. Hastings is so good at telling jokes, your wanted order has been cancelled. Live a good life in London, Alexander, and don't do nothing all day long. That doesn't do anyone any good. "
After saying this, Talleyrand and the Duke of Wellington went out together, leaving only Arthur and Alexandre Dumas in front of the card table.
Alexandre Dumas stood there in silence for a long time with complicated emotions. He suddenly turned around and found Arthur collecting the steel coins from the card table one by one.
He sank down on the chair, stretched his arms towards the ceiling, and seemed to be venting his dissatisfaction: "Okay, Arthur, laugh at me, laugh at France. Whatever you say in the future, I won't refute it. Look. , such a person can actually dominate the French political arena for decades! However, many people in France still regard him as a role model in life and workplace. France, this beautiful and rich land, is really rotten to the core. "
Usually when encountering this kind of situation, Arthur would definitely step on Alexandre Dumas, but today he was uncharacteristically not sarcastic.
"Don't be so pessimistic. People like Mr. Talleyrand can get away with it no matter where they are. You may not believe it, but I think if he had been born in Britain, he might have become Prime Minister. . If the Duke of Wellington had had some cunning and tact like his friend, he would not have stepped down now."
When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he couldn't help frowning and said: "Arthur, what do you mean? Why do you seem to admire him when I hear what you say? Why do you want to treat a criminal who takes bribes and a shameless person who betrays the country?" Have a good impression?"
"Why?"
Arthur put the last note into his coat pocket: "Because I think there are not many capable people in this world who can satisfy their own selfish desires while also taking into account part of the collective interests. Do you think France has Talleyrand?" It's unfortunate, but I think this is France's luck. Because for a long time to come, France may no longer have such outstanding diplomatic activists.
Of course, you can also say that I was complimenting him and saying something against my will. Because as Mr. Vidocq said before, whether it is Louis XVI, Robespierre or Napoleon, they are all dead, but Mr. Talleyrand is still alive. If I curse Napoleon, he won't be able to climb out of the coffin and do anything to me, but if I curse Talleyrand, it's very likely that Mr. Vidocq will come with the coconut trees tomorrow night to cause trouble for me.
But the most important thing is that he canceled the arrest warrant of a fat friend of mine and lost ten pounds of my gambling money. I am very grateful to him for both aspects. "
When Alexandre Dumas heard this, he took a deep breath first. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. In the end, he could only sigh helplessly: "Alas..."
Seeing that he was in such a low mood, Arthur just patted him on the back, smiled and said: "Alexander, don't worry about this kind of thing. Even if you really want to do something, you have to start with the most basic things. Start by, say, picking up your pen.
Before a moment of truly historical significance, a moment when human stars shine, there will inevitably be long years passing by in vain. At this critical moment, things that usually happen slowly and side by side are compressed in this way. One brief moment that determines everything manifests itself. This moment makes an unchangeable decision for generations to come. It determines the life and death of a person, the survival of a nation, and even the fate of the entire human race.
But you also have to understand that in every revolution, the one who wins is not the first person, not the person who is always at the forefront, but always the last person, always the person at the back, the one who seizes the revolution as a trophy. Man, such weirdos will suddenly appear during any major world change. As Mr. Talleyrand said, the chameleon is the heraldry of politics, and I think that surviving to the end is the secret of politics. "
When Alexandre Dumas heard this, the fat man looked at the falling rain outside the window and the dim light in the dark night, and just remained silent.
Seeing him like this, Agares just leaned on Arthur's shoulder and curled his lips: "What a stubborn fat man. Idealist? The meaning of idealism is that you don't know the weight of the world and don't know how much you weigh."
Seeing this, Arthur could only shake his head. He walked towards the door of the entertainment room. He paused for a moment. After thinking about it, he decided to close the door for Alexandre Dumas.
Unexpectedly, before the door was closed, the voice of a fat French man suddenly sounded in Arthur's ears.
"Arthur."
"What's wrong?"
Alexandre Dumas took a coin from his pocket and flicked it toward him. It was the gambling money he lost to Arthur today.
Alexandre Dumas took a deep breath and said, "You have to live until the end!"
In the crack of the door, only one black eye with red light could be seen. The black eyes gradually narrowed, looking like they were smiling but also suspicious.
After a long time, Dumas responded with the same gentle and polite voice as always.
"Thank you for your blessing, Your Excellency Dumas."
Alexandre Dumas raised his eyebrows and said, "So?"
Arthur put a hand on his chest, bowed slightly and said, "I'll try my best."
(End of chapter)
