The night is getting deeper, and the wind is cold. www.biquge.info Charlotte Hill, who couldn't sleep for a long time, looked out at the world from the terrace of her room, wearing a long nightgown and a velvet shawl. It has been more than half a year since she came to Ireland with her family, and although the natural environment and cultural atmosphere of Limerick are very different from Thetford, she has gradually become accustomed to it. Being able to accompany her mother, reading books, playing the piano, and taking a walk every day, she has regained the peace of mind that she has not seen for a long time in this simple and quiet life. She hides her thoughts of her distant lover in her heart, but every time there is news about him, there is always an irrepressible emotion churning in her heart......

Now, he's in Limerick again, and he's quickly becoming the talk of the town. Sometimes, Charlotte knew that he was in the square a few hundred meters away, but she did not dare to approach the windowsill, and even deliberately avoided being alone in the room, what she was afraid of was not his familiar figure, but the sudden explosion of inner emotions. She prayed quietly, praying that Heaven would forgive the relationship and let it out of this whirlpool of contradictions, or let them stay together with each other for good, or let them forget each other forever.

But Heaven did not respond.

At this moment, he may be looking out from a distance, Charlotte deliberately did not turn on the light, she just stood quietly on the terrace, letting the gentle sea breeze blow her face, gently wiping away the traces of tears running down.

A car appeared on the street in front of the apartment, the bright headlights disturbed the seclusion of the night, and Charlotte's heartbeat quietly accelerated with the movement of the beam, she was not ready to see him, and she did not know how to face it, but fortunately, the street lamp outside the door reflected the figure of the Austin two-cylinder sedan of the garrison headquarters, it drove straight into the courtyard and parked in front of the apartment, the burly Duke Hill got out of the car with an angry face, and entered the door without saying a word, and the sound of heavy and hurried footsteps came from the hall, Then there was the sound of going up the stairs.

Charlotte involuntarily held her breath until the footsteps disappeared on the other side, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Nine times out of ten, my grandfather's anger was caused by him.

Charlotte didn't hate her grandfather, and she couldn't hate. As a British soldier and head of the family, he had his position and persistence, he was loyal to his country, while safeguarding the interests and reputation of the family, and he never used strong means to force Charlotte to do anything, especially after Charlotte returned from Germany, he silently endured the pressure from the Wellington family, and even volunteered to apply for transfer to the local military governor of Ireland near the end of his retirement year.

In a few moments, my grandfather's angry voice, almost roaring, came from the other end of the hallway, and he was complaining to his wife about his troubles as usual, and he could not hear his grandmother's gentle and patient relief through the door, but Charlotte knew that she was the only person in the world who could calm the bear.

When she was a child, Charlotte thought that she would become a smart and virtuous person like her grandmother, but she never thought about how difficult it would be to stay with her sweetheart.

After standing on the terrace for a long time, Charlotte still didn't feel sleepy. It felt like it was almost midnight, and suddenly someone from the garrison barracks across the street was hurrying over, and when she passed under the street lamp, Charlotte saw that it was a well-dressed officer, who should be the person in charge of duty, and this point was so hurried, there must have been a very important situation. Isn't it......

With a bad premonition in her heart, Charlotte returned to her room from the terrace, gently opened the door, and tiptoed through the hallway, creeping into the pantry next to Duke Hill's study. Soon, Duke Hill entered the study with the officer on duty and closed the door.

The thick walls were well insulated, so Charlotte went to the window, where she could faintly hear the conversation at her desk. The officer on duty said that he had just received a cipher telegram from a military cable (the first submarine cable was laid in 1850), the contents of which had only been seen by the coder and himself.

"It must be kept in absolute secrecy," Charlotte said when she heard Duke Hill instruct him with the utmost seriousness.

After a brief moment of silence, the Duke of Hill lowered his voice and instructed the officer on duty, and Charlotte was shocked when she heard the words, "Keep an eye on that man from now on until they arrive."

In this situation, who else can "that person" refer to?

……

As soon as it was dawn, Bernd Goebel gently opened the corner of the curtain as usual. At the behest of the German Navy's spy service, the 24-year-old, who had dual British and German citizenship, had been in Limerick for more than five months. In order not to be conspicuous, he and his companions lived in hotels rather than rented houses, and they tried to converse in English, both in front of people and in their rooms, and disguised themselves as traveling poets and freelance painters.

The windows are facing the town square, and the British garrison barracks are also in view. Seeing that there was nothing unusual in the distance, Goebel skillfully set up his binoculars, and in the garrison barracks, the British soldiers had already gone out to exercise, and the day after day of parade training was nothing new, except for the occasional nearby children watching from outside the fence. Next to the barracks was the apartment of the local military governor, Duke Hill, where the sentry had changed their guards, the gardener was watering the meadow, and the porch windows of the apartment were as they were.

Looking down to record the time and situation in his notebook, Gobert was about to pull the curtain up, when he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure flashing on the street corner ahead. Although the man had her head bowed, her face covered with a hat, and she was wearing a very ordinary plain dress, Goebel spent two to three hours a day observing her movements for more than a hundred and fifty days, and the outline of her body often appeared in her dreams.

How did she end up here?

Goebel was amazed that in the apartment she sometimes sat alone in front of the window playing the piano or in a daze, and when she left the apartment, she was always with her mother, as had never been the case for a long time. Today this is ......

In her sight, she looked forward and backward, left and right, and walked along the corner of the wall, and her walking was particularly abnormal.

Driven by a strong intuition, Goebel woke up his companion in the room to stay on top of his guard, putting on his coat and hat and hurried out the door, speeding down the hallway with light steps. When he arrived at the hotel lobby, he deliberately slowed down, walked past the reception desk casually, stopped at the door for a moment, and quietly observed his surroundings. There were already three or two pedestrians on the street, their clothes, movements, and demeanors all matching their ages and appearances.

Sure that there was no danger, Gobert lowered the brim of his hat, crossed the street diagonally, followed her for a while, and then lowered his head and said in English: "Miss Charlotte Hill, please don't turn around, keep walking." I'm Prince Joachim's man, I have no ill will, you seem to need help? ”

When Goebel spoke, Charlotte was startled unsuspectingly, and her steps almost stopped. Hearing Goebel's words clearly, she continued to walk forward, and then whispered, "Thank goodness...... But how do I know that you are indeed his? ”

The situation was sudden, and Gobert didn't have time to think about it in advance, so he had to react on the spot.

He was a man of great wisdom, as if he had been sent by God as an apostle. His hair was the color of polished bronze, his eyes were like pure sapphires, he was about 5 feet 8 inches tall, and his voice was round. ”

Charlotte thought for a moment: "Many people know about these situations. ”

Goebel hesitated: "Based on the assignment I have been given, I should not have been in contact with you, so there is nothing clear to prove my identity to you, but I swear that I did work for Prince Joachim, and I met with him not long ago." In fact, he came to me just to see you, though only through a telescope......"

Charlotte also hesitated for a moment: "Okay, this gentleman, he is in a very dangerous situation now, please find a way to inform him and let him return home as soon as possible." ”

Goebel was taken aback, and in the blink of an eye, various possible scenarios came to his mind. Although ensuring Prince Joachim's personal safety was not part of the Naval Intelligence Service's explicit mission directive, it was a matter of course for Goebel and his companions to protect him in his status, status, and significance.

"Can you elaborate on that?" Goebel asked.

"That's all I can tell you." Charlotte replied, "He must be allowed to leave Ireland as soon as possible." ”

With that, Charlotte quickened her steps and turned the corner of the street. Seeing a policeman in front of him, Goebel turned to the other side at the corner of the street and circled back to the hotel. Telling his companion about the situation just now, the spy agent, who was also very young, was dumbfounded.

"The point is that we don't know where His Royal Highness is now." Goebel tangled. For reasons of secrecy, their activities in Ireland were relatively independent and there was no direct connection with Hubert's shipyard.

The companion came up with an idea: "Shipyard, I think he is most likely at Hubert's shipyard." Even if he is not there, he can find out where he is going through the people in the shipyard. ”

"It's urgent, that's all we can do. However, how do I get the people in the shipyard to believe what I say, it's a troublesome question. Goebel scratched his head in distraught, "I can't delay for a moment, I'll go to the shipyard first, and you go to the telegraph office to send a telegram to the headquarters, so that they can also find a way to contact His Royal Highness the prince and remind him that he is in danger." ”

Hurried out again, Goebel went straight to the hotel reception, rented a bicycle for five pence, and rode with all his might towards Hubert's shipyard. Not far from town, a car approached. The moment they crossed paths, Goebel clearly saw a memorable face in the back seat of the car.

"Hey, park, park!"

He shouted loudly, but the car was already in the distance, and it was useless for him to wave his hand as hard as he could.

"Damn it!"

Gobert smashed his fists in frustration, and in desperation, he had to turn his head and pant after him.

In that "lightning benz", which sold well in Europe, Natsuki sat with Gaunt Messner, chief operating consultant at Hubert Shipyard. In recent years, relations between Britain and Germany have become increasingly tense, and businessmen from the two countries have withdrawn a large amount of investment from each other's countries, but in Ireland, German capital has increased instead of decreasing, and the number of businessmen, managers, and technicians from Germany has increased day by day, and their frequent and close communication with the locals has become an irrepressible situation for the British authorities. Thanks to the good operating conditions, Hubert Shipyard continued to expand its production capacity and became the largest company in Limerick. It has always worn the hat of homegrown capital and has the resounding sign of John Holland, but the fact that the complete set of German equipment, the standard German process and the large number of German technical consultants cannot be concealed, and the British cannot turn a blind eye to it, and Natsuki is not a person who hides the bell. He knew that once the war began, the British authorities would find an excuse to monitor, control and even forcibly confiscate the assets of Hubert's shipyard, so from the end of 1913, except for the funds to maintain the operation of the shipyard, the rest were transferred back to Germany in the name of investment. In addition, as an honorary member of the International Rowing Federation, Natsuki accepted an invitation from Hubert Shipyard to serve as a special advisor to the shipyard for a fee, receiving a generous consultant salary and using it for local charity.

According to the itinerary plan, Natsuki will leave for China in two days. He will also be attending several events, visiting some local celebrities and meeting with leaders of the independence movement in County Clare.

Early in the morning, I came out of the shipyard and went to the residence of Hugh Fir, a local confectionery merchant, for a walk with the old gentleman and then breakfast.

"The Faith family has been in the confectionery business for generations and their sign is a household name in County Clare and the surrounding area. Interestingly, in order to compete with the British sweets, the Faith family has been operating at low prices and small profits for many years, so the annual turnover is hundreds of thousands of pounds, and the members of the family still live in the old manor in the suburbs, dressed and fed very modestly. ”

Xia Shu said: "It is not surprising that one person is so good, and it is rare to continue for several generations. ”

"Yes, they are well respected locally, have a good business reputation, and there has never been a dispute over lending." Messner said.

"Then ......" Natsuki's words came to an abrupt end at the beginning, because he saw a familiar figure at the entrance of the street next to him. It's been two years, they haven't met again, they haven't hugged again, but in that good time, they were together day and night, inseparable, even if they changed their clothes and changed their hairstyle, the silhouette of their bodies, the feeling of breath, Xia Shu could distinguish it from everyone at a glance.

You didn't see the dazzle, did you? Is it really her? How could she be alone on the street at this time?

A series of questions made Natsuki miss the best time to shout "stop", and after thinking about it, the Goebel team observed Duke Hill's apartment day and night, and if there was anything abnormal, they would report it in time, so they put away their suspicions.

The Firth family's home was on the other side of Limerick, and the "Lightning Gallop" drove Natsuki and Messna through the city, soon arriving at the old manor house on the banks of the River Shannon.

(End of chapter)