Chapter 455 What Happened Today Will Have Consequences Later

In Paris, there are ears on the steps, mouths on the doors, eyes on the windows, and the most dangerous thing is to talk at the door. The last few words said to each other before leaving are like a postscript on a letter, and the secrets revealed are as dangerous to the person who hears as to the person who speaks.

——Balzac

If you want to rise to a high place, there are two ways to achieve it, that is, you must be an eagle or a reptile. Of course, there are very few people who can climb to the highest place through the third way, such as Sir Arthur Hastings. This guy on the other side of the channel looks like an eagle on the surface, but that's just because he calls his crawling posture flying.

What's even more surprising is that Queen Victoria, Viscount Palmerston, Lord Russell, Gladstone, Disraeli or other bigwigs in British politics have no opinion on this. Moreover, the praise for Sir Arthur Hastings is not limited to Britain, but even in France.

In order to reward his pioneering crawling flying skills and the complicated and incomprehensible formulas he wrote in Paris in his early years, our Emperor decided to make an exception and award the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the French Empire the title of Knight of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, which symbolizes the highest honor of France.

And if there were no great resistance, he seemed to consider electing Sir Arthur Hastings as the first foreign academician in French history and granting him the honor of "Immortal". Oh! I have to say that this is really the biggest unsolved mystery of this century (it is true for the public, but I actually know a little bit of the inside story).

——"Selected Works of Balzac"

According to reliable sources, British Ambassador Sir Arthur Hastings declined the Emperor's kindness to elect him as a member of the French Academy after careful consideration.

Sir Arthur Hastings said frankly: "It is true that I have made some insignificant contributions to both science and literature, but if the French Academy must break precedent and elect a British as an academician, then Mr. Dickens and Mr. Faraday are both better choices than me. If breaking precedent is not considered, then Joseph Liouville and Leon Foucault should be chosen for scientific contributions, and Alexandre Dumas and Honoré Balzac should be the first choice for literary contributions."

-Le Figaro, January 16, 1853

"The French Academy announces the list of new "immortals", Alexandre Dumas, Honoré Balzac and others are on the list"

Balzac: This is a supreme honor. I don't know if I deserve it, but I still have to thank Sir Arthur Hastings for his broad mind, selfless spirit, and bold recommendation in front of the members of the academician election committee without reservation.

——Le Figaro, March 22, 1853

In the Chateau Hotel in Paris, Arthur and Victor smoked face to face.

This was the second day of their surveillance mission.

Although the truth that Winnie was under surveillance was known to the world yesterday afternoon.

But the two detectives were unable to write a decent and reasonable case investigation report, so they have not closed the case until now.

Victor Hugo, a world-renowned leader in the French literary world, a flawless great writer, a playwright who could make managers of major theaters in Paris scramble for his works, and regarded as the successor of Chateaubriand, the leader of romantic literature, actually had such a unique hobby.

Although Winnie had a good relationship with Hugo, judging from the brief contact between Arthur and Winnie, even if this guy wanted to keep a secret for Hugo, with his big mouth, he would spread the news to the whole city in two days.

Hugo's reputation was not Arthur's business, but as a native Parisian, Victor had to consider these.

Since Vidocq showed his prowess in the Republican uprising that broke out on June 6 last year, Vidocq was soon hit by the double firepower of the Constitutional Daily and the Republic Daily. This made the detective, who was once regarded as a god by Parisians, suddenly fall from a crime nemesis to a sewer rat in the sewer.

If Winnie casually said that Hugo's quirks were investigated by Vidocq, then most of Hugo's admirers would not think that there was anything wrong with their idol, but would point the finger at Vidocq, an investigator with a very poor social reputation.

Citizens would definitely think that this was a conspiracy fabricated by Vidocq to attack Hugo.

After all, the Paris police had a history of this.

Although Vidocq has been retired, who knows if he continues to work for the police in private?

Although this groundless and malicious speculation is completely untenable, based on Vidocq's understanding of Parisians, things will definitely lead to this result.

What's worse is that Vidocq doesn't want to stand against Hugo's supporters. After all, there are many wealthy gentlemen and ladies among the admirers of this great writer, and these people are exactly the customers that the Breaux Detective Agency wants to develop.

However, if Vidocq keeps these little privacy for Hugo, how can he explain it to Winnie?

In fact, no one is following you. You think someone is monitoring you, which is completely unfounded?

Out of the professional ethics of a detective and the professional ethics of being paid for work, Vidocq feels that he can't do that.

Besides, it wouldn't matter if he was alone, but there was a British colleague beside him.

If you are so conciliatory, won't it mean that Scotland Yard will look down on the security department?

In such a tangled mood, Vidocq spent the morning calmly.

In fact, the adjective "calm" is not accurate, because except for the room they were in, the situation in other rooms was completely different from "calm" just by listening to it. It was simply a fierce battlefield, with gunfire flying. The Battle of Austerlitz!

The Battle of Austerlitz brought together French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Russian Emperor Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II.

Although there may not necessarily be three people in the next few rooms, Arthur is sure that the soldiers commanded by the three emperors may not be as many as the gentlemen and ladies in other rooms. The scene of the battle between the 73,000-strong French army and the 86,000-strong Russian and Austrian allied forces may not be as exciting as the scenes in the next few rooms.

Arthur supported his chin with one hand, took a puff of cigarette, and suddenly asked: "Mr. Vidocq, what stage do you think the battle has reached."

Vidocq closed his ears and listened carefully, and there seemed to be a contented breath and exhausted exhale coming from the next door: "It's snowing lightly, and Napoleon is riding his horse to inspect the battlefield. This Battle of Austerlitz, with France's glorious victory came to an end. Afterwards, Austria and France should sign the Peace of Pressburg. Francis II announced his withdrawal from the anti-French alliance and gave up his title of 'Holy Roman Emperor'."

Arthur turned his pipe upside down to clean the ashes: "I have different opinions from you. In my opinion, this time should be the victory of Alexander I and Francis II. Of course, I am not questioning Napoleon's ability, but after all, it is difficult to fight with two fists." As you know, this is the fourth time this morning. No matter how powerful Mr. Hugo is, he must have some restraint."

Vidocq heard this and took a sip of coffee: "When I heard Mr. Hugo bragging about nine times on his wedding night at a gathering of Parisian literati, I just thought he was bragging, but now it seems that I must I apologize for my arrogance at the time. What I experienced this morning made me understand that some people cannot speak lightly.”

Arthur put a sugar cube into the tea cup: "I just think that Mr. Hugo's behavior of telling others that he would write in the hotel in the morning is really too cunning. In just one morning, four different women came to him The secret cabin. I now seriously doubt that Mr. Hugo and his wife Adele have reached this point because his needs in this area are too strong, so his wife is tired of it."

Vidocq did not comment, he just turned around and asked: "Arthur, tell me the truth, when you were conducting 'raid inspections' in London, did you ever meet anyone who was comparable to Mr. Hugo?" ?”

Arthur picked up the tea cup and thought for a while: "There may not be anything comparable, but I know there is a reverse Hugo. That is our former member of the House of Commons - Senator Bernie Harrison. If you use the "Times" To introduce it as a news headline, it would be "Bernie Harrison's targeted funding of Poland only lasts three to five minutes at a time."

After hearing this, Vidocq almost choked on the scalding coffee. He covered his mouth and laughed: "It seems that the citizens are really right. These politicians only have three minutes to do things."

Arthur drank the black tea, shook his head slightly and said, "Mr. Harrison hasn't even had the heat for three minutes now. He is already completely cold."

"Huh?" Vidocq heard the implication of Arthur's words: "You mean? He died on a woman's belly?"

Arthur raised his eyebrows and glanced at Vidocq: "The result was correct, but the process was not as outrageous as you thought. If they had asked me before taking action, I might have considered arranging such a romantic death for him. Even if he can't die under the skirt of a noble lady, I will let him drink a bottle of perfume, with a slightly red blush on his face, and die with the fragrance. "

Vidocq laughed playfully: "Is this some new murder method that I haven't heard of before?"

Arthur chuckled and said, "Mr. Vidocq, perfume is poisonous. Do you want some?"

Vidocq did not check whether the perfume was poisonous, because before he could say anything, the sound of the bed board shaking came from the wall at the other end of the room.

Vidocq slapped himself on the forehead and cursed in a low voice: "Damn it! That guy Balzac woke up!"

Arthur took out his pocket watch and took a look: "Don't worry, Mr. Vidocq, look at the time, it should not be far from the final Waterloo. When the time comes, all these Napoleons will have to be exiled to St. Helena Island."

Vidocq leaned over the small hole and glanced at the next door: "Don't be sarcastic. I see that Hugo and his female companion are both dressed. We must seize the opportunity to prevent him from starting the next war." , France can no longer afford another war."

Arthur put on his hat, picked up his cane and pushed open the door: "Now I finally understand why Napoleon hates Mr. Talleyrand so much, because he always opposes Napoleon's continued war."

Vidocq also put on his hat and walked out: "You'd better pray that Mr. Talleyrand doesn't know this. As far as I know, his mind is actually very small."

"So what?" Arthur knocked on Hugo's door nonchalantly: "I just made one hundred thousand francs for him."

Under Vidocq's dumbfounded eyes, Hugo's door was opened, and the person who opened the door was a pretty lady who knew at a glance that a spring rain had just arrived.

She bowed politely to Arthur and Vidocq, and then passed directly between them.

Hugo, who was arranging his vest in the room, didn't seem to take this matter to heart. He saw Vidocq, smiled warmly and raised his hand to greet him: "Mr. Vidoc, are you Are you here to borrow a room? I won’t be here in the afternoon or evening, so you can use it as you like.”

Knowing the inside story, how could Victor dare to take advantage of Hugo? The old Parisian fox philistine responded: "Victor, you are still as generous as ever, willing to help old friends who are in deep financial difficulties. But please allow me to refuse. "I am a dignified and proud person. Although I left the security department, I will soon find a career that suits me."

Hugo laughed and invited the two of them into the room: "In my opinion, you are suitable to be an actor. You have experience, emotions, and endless legendary experiences. If you are willing, I can write a story for you right away. This play will tell the story of your years in the security department. When the theater manager chooses the role, I promise to recommend you to play the male lead. "

Vidocq did not refuse directly when he heard this, but reminded Hugo in a way that did not break the window paper: "I am not good at acting, and I prefer watching theater to acting. But if, I mean If the female lead is played by Mrs. Dorval, the lover of Mr. Vinnie, I think I would still be willing to take on the role. After all, who can refuse to stand on the same stage as the most popular actress in Paris?"

Hugo didn't seem to hear the implication of Vidocq's words. He sat carelessly on the chair next to the writing desk and joked: "François, I advise you not to have any thoughts about Dorval. Pooh thinks very much of her." Tight. Didn't Alexander take Doval to London before for a kiss? Winnie was furious because of this incident. He not only criticized Alexander's drama in the newspaper, but even planned to find him for a duel. "

Arthur heard this and continued with a smile: "Mr. Hugo, you don't know something, but their duel is actually over."

Hugo turned to look at Arthur. He patted his head and said, "I almost forgot about you just now. Are you a friend of Mr. Vidocq?"

Arthur smiled and replied: "I am not only a friend of Mr. Vidocq, but also a friend of Alexander. If you are willing, I also hope to make friends with you."

"Who are you?" Hugo seemed to have guessed something.

Arthur stretched out his hand and said: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hugo. I am Arthur Hastings from London, one of the reviewers of "The Englishman". We had previously published "Red" by Mr. Stendhal. We had exchanges with Hei in the letter.”