## Chapter 119: A Million Pounds, Youth Edition
Arthur glanced at Elder, then grabbed him and Dumas, who was standing beside him, and walked out of the police station door. They headed towards the coffee shop across the street.
As expected, as soon as they entered the coffee shop, they found Darwin waiting at a corner table.
Darwin seemed to be in a good mood today. He had a new hat that looked expensive, and he was sitting there fiddling with a brand new set of specimen-making tools.
Arthur pulled Elder and the others to sit down. As soon as they settled, he couldn’t help but pull out the check from his pocket and take a look.
The bright, dazzling markings on it instantly blinded him.
It was a £1000 deposit note from the Bank of England.
Arthur took a deep breath. This was more than ten years’ worth of salary for him as a Chief Inspector in Scotland Yard.
Elder, puffing on his pipe, said with a triumphant grin: “What do you think? I told you, the reward for this big deal wouldn’t be low! Arthur, with this £1000, you can be considered quite successful among young people under 30 in London.”
Arthur glanced at him, first reaching for a cup of tea, then asked: “How much did the ‘Black Thorn’ actually sell for? Colonel Fitzroy seems to be very generous.”
Elder, with a mischievous smile, picked up a donut from the plate and said: “The economy has been recovering well recently, so the Black Thorn sold for a very good price. After deducting depreciation and maintenance costs, there’s almost £5000 left over.”
Arthur took a sugar cube and put it in his teacup. While stirring, he asked: “Even with £5000 left over, Colonel Fitzroy only got £1250, and the rest has to be divided among the crew. I did help him a little bit during the fight that day, but he gave me so much, isn’t he being a bit too polite?”
He wanted to hand the check back, but Elder pressed his hand down: “Arthur, just take it. Colonel Fitzroy won’t be at ease if you don’t.”
Darwin, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but open his mouth and chuckle: “That’s right, Arthur. You might not know this, but the ‘Black Thorn’ was loaded with gold coins and smuggled goods, besides the slave contract.”
“Smuggled goods? What smuggled goods?” Elder seemed to have forgotten, his face flushed and his voice thick with anger as he scolded Darwin: “Charles, I warn you, don’t talk nonsense here! Can’t a pile of cash shut your mouth?”
Arthur, upon hearing this, didn’t hold back anymore.
He directly asked: “How much did you and Charles get?”
Elder, upon hearing this, just smiled and held up two fingers: “We can’t compare to you. We’re already satisfied with this amount. Thanks to you, Charles and I were both given loot rewards according to the military officer standard.”
Dumas, who was sitting beside them, couldn’t help but feel a little envious: “Sigh, why wasn’t there any for me?”
Elder glanced at the fat man and criticized him mercilessly: “Forget it, you’ve got your life back, aren’t you satisfied? If it were up to Fred, you would have been classified as merchandise. Sold to Santo Domingo in the West Indies, cheap labor at 20 pounds a piece.”
Arthur thought that Elder’s words would ignite Dumas’s hot temper, but the French fat man sighed in self-deprecation:
“Maybe going to Santo Domingo isn’t so bad. After all, my ancestors made their fortune there.”
Elder frowned at these words: “Your ancestors were slave plantation owners in the West Indies?”
Dumas poured himself a cup of tea and said nonchalantly: “No, my ancestors were black slaves who worked on the plantation.”
“Black slaves?!”
Elder almost dropped his jaw in astonishment.
He looked up and down at Dumas, asking strangely: “Dude, are you kidding me? You’re not even black!”
Darwin, on the other hand, had already fallen into deep thought, staring at Dumas’s appearance and physique.
As for Arthur, while he was also surprised, he felt a little understanding after a moment, and he looked at Dumas’s hairstyle: “No wonder you have curly, puffy hair. I thought even the most fashionable French people couldn’t be bothered to iron such a troublesome hairstyle.”
Dumas took a sip of tea and said: “I thought you already knew my background. After all, my surname is right here, Dumas, it’s not a normal French surname.”
Elder waved his hand and laughed: “What’s so strange about that? I met a Frenchman the other day who said his surname was God!”
Dumas glared at Elder and slammed his hand on the table: “Sir, I’m being serious!”
Elder looked at Dumas’s sturdy physique, smacked his lips twice, and then obediently picked up his teacup: “You go on.”
Dumas only calmed down then. He sat back in his chair and said: “My grandmother was a black slave sold to a West Indies plantation. Her name was Marie-Césaire Dumas. My grandfather, the plantation owner, raped her and my father was born. Speaking of which, my bastard grandfather was somewhat famous. You know the Payetrie family in France?”
Arthur thought carefully and nodded: “I have a little impression. I think I saw that surname somewhere. It seems to be from Normandy.”
Dumas nodded in amazement: “I really underestimated you before. That’s right, my grandfather was from Normandy, the Marquis of Payetrie of Normandy. He was once a French artillery colonel and quartermaster general. But later, due to his extravagance, he went bankrupt in France, so he could only run a plantation in Santo Domingo.
That’s where he bought my grandmother, raped her, and gave birth to my father – Thomas Alexandre de la Payetrie.
Later, my grandfather had a relative in France who died. To make up for the expenses of returning to France, he sold my grandmother and father. But, thankfully, he still had a little conscience, or maybe it was because he was too old to have children, so after inheriting his relative’s property, he went to redeem my father after two years.
From then on, he treated my father as his heir and cultivated him well. But you understand, after suffering so much trauma in his childhood, my father couldn’t forgive that old bastard. So, when my father came of age, his conflict with his grandfather escalated because of his new stepmother.
My father resolutely decided to join the army. He changed his surname from Payetrie to his grandmother’s Dumas, and then joined Napoleon’s army.
He rose through the ranks to become the commander of the French Alpine Army Corps with his bravery and perseverance. He fought the Austrians until they cried for their mothers. They called him ‘Black Devil’. My father even followed Napoleon to conquer Cairo. He made many achievements and honors. But later…”
Speaking of this, Dumas seemed a little resentful: “I still don’t understand why Napoleon alienated my father. Maybe it was because he disagreed with Napoleon, or maybe it was because of my father’s unique surname?
I don’t understand, but I think, with my father’s bravery, he shouldn’t have been imprisoned. I don’t understand why Napoleon refused to pay my father’s pension, and even refused to see him.
My father contributed so much to France. He should have had a decent life, or at least a decent funeral.
Instead, he died in poverty in a small bed at home. His only burial item was a walking stick he used. He even asked for the golden handle of the walking stick to be taken off and left for his family, because he felt that he left too little for his family.”
Elder, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but scold: “Napoleon is really a piece of trash! I knew it, what good could a French dwarf do?”
Dumas waved his hand: “Napoleon is Napoleon, France is France. He’s a good man, but he doesn’t deserve to be Emperor of France. No one deserves the throne of France. It was from Napoleon that I understood that no matter how good a person is, once you put him in that position, he will always become tyrannical and ruthless. That’s why I’m a staunch republican.
People like Napoleon started to become autocratic after becoming emperor. What kind of thing is Louis-Philippe? Does he even deserve to sit on the throne of France? I can’t stand this, so I was forced to flee France.”
Darwin, upon hearing this, pondered: “So, you escaped this time, but you probably can’t rest easy. From your description, the French government might not hesitate to murder you again.”
“Murder?” Elder’s eyes lit up when he heard this: “Does this mean there’s a chance to do another deal? I have to go and urge Colonel Fitzroy to get someone to fix the ‘Begle’ as soon as possible.”
Arthur glanced at Elder, took a sip of tea and said: “Even if the French are stupid, they won’t repeat the same trick. If Louis-Philippe really has such a great hatred for Mr. Dumas, he would probably just send an assassin to kill him next time.
Since he wants to catch Dumas alive this time, he’s just trying to use him to intimidate the radical republicans in the country. If he insists on doing it a second time after failing the first time, it’s no longer just a diplomatic provocation.
Besides, Sir Peel notified me that the Foreign Office has demanded that the French ambassador make a strong protest to the French government. As for how the new French government will react, that’s not something we can consider.”
Elder, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but feel deflated. He waved his hand: “It’s all that damn Codrington’s fault! He can fight with the Ottomans, but why does he have to fight with money? If he had left that pirate ship to us, we would have gotten another 70 or 80 pounds in loot rewards.”
Elder paused, then suddenly changed the subject: “By the way, Arthur, now that you have so much money, have you considered making some investment deals?”
Arthur held his teacup. Seeing Elder’s smiling face, he subconsciously covered his pocket with his other hand: “What? You want to take me to make a fortune?”
Elder said nonchalantly: “Where do I have that ability? I mean, you might as well consider buying a house. You can buy a house in London, or you can buy one in your hometown of Yorkshire.
The advantage of buying a house in London is that besides living in it yourself, you can easily rent out the vacant rooms.
If you buy a house in your hometown, you have to buy a bigger one, or you can just buy some land. That way, when it’s election time, people will come to you to buy your votes, which is also a considerable income.”
Arthur pondered for a moment, thinking that Elder’s words made sense.
Besides buying a house to rent or not, the Home Office’s current task for him is to monitor and protect Dumas 24 hours a day. But how can he do that?
He can find some police officers to accompany Dumas during the day, but at night when he’s sleeping, he can’t send a few people to guard Dumas’s room, can he?
Even if Dumas agrees, the landlord and other tenants might not agree.
He pulled out the £1000 check from the Bank of England and took a look. Then he took out the £500 Rothschild Bank draft that he had kept in his pocket for several days.
He looked up at Elder and asked: “What kind of house do you think I can buy with fifteen hundred pounds?”
(End of Chapter)