## Chapter 195: A Solid Background, But Don’t Touch
The alleyway outside the Olmack Club, Arthur leaned against the white wall, silently smoking.
He pondered over his casual conversation with Viscount Melbourne, pulling out his pocket watch and glancing at the time.
It was 4:45 PM. He had completed his mission, and Eld should have come out by now.
But he waited and waited, and finally, Arthur grew impatient. He pushed himself off the wall, patted the dust off his sleeve, and prepared to leave.
As he reached the alleyway entrance, he saw Eld, his face flushed, walking towards him.
Eld waved, “Arthur, how was it?”
Arthur leaned against a lamppost on the side of the road, “Nothing much. I just had a brief chat with my future boss. I gave him a friendly reminder that there are more than just me among the senior officers of Scotland Yard. Even our boss, Rowan Hall, was personally chosen by Sir Peel.
I believe that with the Viscount’s intelligence, he should clearly understand that unless he intends to completely demolish and rebuild Scotland Yard, it’s impossible to completely erase Sir Peel’s mark from Scotland Yard.
As long as Viscount Melbourne remains neutral in the factional struggles within the Metropolitan Police, I’ll have time to play a slow game with Rowan Hall.”
Eld pulled out his pipe and asked, “What about George Norton’s position as Magistrate of Westminster?”
“That?” Arthur tossed a matchbox towards him, “That’s not looking good. Viscount Melbourne seems determined to do this. I don’t understand what good it would do to secure a decent job for Mr. Norton. He denies it’s out of love, so maybe it’s out of friendship? Or perhaps there’s something else we don’t know about?”
Eld took a long puff of his pipe, exhaling clouds of smoke, “So you didn’t get anything out of him? You just managed to get acquainted with Viscount Melbourne?”
Arthur shook his head, “Of course, you know how British social customs work. He doesn’t trust me yet, so he’s not willing to talk openly. And the worst part is, after I finished playing, I had a one-on-one conversation with him on the second floor.
If there had been ladies present, maybe I could have coaxed some useful information out of him. You know, in the presence of ladies, gentlemen always quickly shift the conversation to high-brow topics like history, politics, and philosophy, even if they were just discussing some unspeakable vulgarity a second ago.”
Eld chuckled, “That’s true. In any social gathering with ladies present, those old bastards could make a fart sound like an economic crisis.
Whether they are learned or not, in front of ladies, they have to throw in some Shakespeare, or Plato and Aristotle.”
Arthur, who was perfectly fine, felt a bit weird when he heard this, “Are you talking about me?”
Eld, not caring much, waved his hand, “No, no, no, Arthur. You’re thinking too much. You’re different from them. You always talk like that, whether in front of ladies or gentlemen. But how did you come up with these strange theories?”
“How did I come up with it?” Arthur leaned against the lamppost, raising an eyebrow as he recalled, “I don’t quite remember how I reached that conclusion. But I came up with it while chatting with Eliza at the graduation dance. You know, I don’t know how to dance, and neither does Eliza, so we talked all night at the dance.”
Eld, hearing this, chuckled strangely. He put his arm around Arthur’s shoulder, “Eliza can’t dance? How did you come to that conclusion? I bet you Eliza can dance, and she probably dances well.”
“Why do you think so?”
Eld, full of mystery, said, “Think about it. Our school, although quite rebellious, doesn’t restrict women from attending lectures. But it’s also relatively cautious and conservative in admitting female students. Eliza, as an unmarried lady, attends every lecture without missing a single one. What do you think this means?”
Arthur glanced at Eld, whose gossip instincts were overflowing, and lit his pipe again, “What does it mean?”
Eld covered his mouth with one hand, “It means she’s either rich or noble. She either comes from a wealthy merchant family or a noble family. Most importantly, her family’s education must be relatively relaxed and she is dearly loved. Do you remember what happened to Professor Dumps, that idiot, when he tried to get his hands on her? That old bastard lost his life.”
Although Arthur didn’t know how Eld connected these two events, he couldn’t tell him: “Professor Dumps’ case was actually done by me.”
Arthur skillfully diverted the topic, “Speaking of which, how was your day?”
“Me?”
Eld didn’t answer directly. Instead, he tugged at his pocket, and a clinking sound could be heard, the sound of coins colliding.
“Alright,” Arthur put out his cigarette, “To be honest, even if you didn’t hook up with a rich girl, you should have made more than you did in the Royal Navy in this short period of time.”
“We still have some time before night. What should we do next? Should we call Alexander and find a theater to watch a play?”
“Hmm…” Arthur shook his head slightly, “We definitely need to call Alexander, but we’re not going to watch a play. We need to find him a magazine that’s willing to serialize ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’.”
Eld asked, “But do you know anyone at the magazine?”
“I don’t, but Mrs. Norton does.”
Arthur pulled out a business card from his pocket, “As a reward for booking a phonograph for Mrs. Norton, she introduced me to the editor of Blackwood’s Magazine. Mrs. Norton, although she’s not a famous writer in the whole of Britain for the time being, still has some connections in the literary circles.
At least she has better connections in the literary circle than our parliamentary candidate, Mr. Disraeli. With this connection, I believe Blackwood’s will be willing to receive us.”
Having said that, Arthur reached out and hailed a carriage.
As the carriage wheels turned, Arthur and Eld quickly left King’s Street and disappeared in front of the Olmack Club.
But not long after they left, a dusty black carriage, with some mud splatters on the body, slowly stopped in front of the Olmack Club.
The carriage door opened, and a tall, middle-aged man stepped out of the carriage with ease.
A simplified straight-line tailcoat, linen shirt, exquisite bow tie, and black, close-fitting trousers tucked into leather boots, paired with his meticulously groomed hair and top hat, anyone who saw him would think that he was a meticulous gentleman who paid great attention to detail.
As soon as he stepped out of the carriage, the guard at the Olmack Club hurriedly stepped forward and asked, “Mr. Brumham, why are you here today?”
Brumham smoothed his white gloves, which were slightly wrinkled. He didn’t seem in a hurry to go inside, “I was planning to take a good rest after returning from York. But I happened to meet the son of a friend on the way, and he brought me some not-so-good news. So I feel like I need to rush to the club to find Mrs. Cowper, or directly talk to Viscount Melbourne. Are they both here today?”
The guard smiled and said, “You’re in luck today, both gentlemen are inside.”
“That’s great.” Brumham brushed the dust off his trousers and was about to step inside.
But before he could, he bumped into Viscount Melbourne and Mrs. Norton, who were about to go home.
Viscount Melbourne, seeing this potential savior who was likely to be promoted to Chief Justice, couldn’t help but smile and say, “Mr. Brumham? Congratulations on your victory in York. I was just about to talk to you about something.”
Brumham paused when he heard this, but quickly nodded with a smile, “You’re willing to have a casual chat with me, I’m always happy to oblige. But I wonder in what capacity you intend to talk to me?”
Melbourne naturally understood the other’s subtext. He first asked his servant to hail a carriage for Mrs. Norton, then turned to Brumham and said, “I hope it’s as friends.”
Brumham nodded slightly, “It just so happens that I have a few things I want to discuss with you.”
Melbourne laughed and joked, “Also as friends?”
Brumham shook his head slightly. He smiled and shook Melbourne’s hand, “You guessed wrong, sir. I hope it’s as the founder and chairman of the board of trustees of the University of London that I talk to you.”
(End of Chapter)