The person who spoke was none other than Viscount Bernard, who had not been seen for two years. To be honest, Wickham was a liking of Viscount Bernard, a somewhat cute old man, who may be old-fashioned in his thinking, but who was honest and loved and hated. This was true of Viscount Bernard, and so was the Marquis of Cornwallis, the viceroy of India, for they were all the same kind of people.

Wickham prefers to deal with these veterans rather than cunning politicians such as Lord Margarny, at least without so much fancy and openness.

Seeing her father coming downstairs, Margaret Bernard slipped out of the room as if she had been pardoned. Margaret Bernard was still a nineteen-year-old girl after all, and she was really overwhelmed by the ambiguity just now, so she ran away like a rabbit.

Viscount Bernard looked at his daughter who had disappeared into the doorway, then at Wickham, and then smiled meaningfully. Wickham chuckled at Viscount Bernard's smile. The old man's eyes were not the eyes of his son-in-law, but seemed to carry some kind of warning. Everyone is smart, just a look, and Wickham understands.

"Wickham, your performance in the past two years is finally worthy of the military uniform on you. Come and sit down, and by the way, tell us what you plan to do in the future. "Viscount Bernard didn't say a word about what happened just now, and went straight to the point, and it was really a soldier's straightforward style.

Just yesterday, Colonel Aldrich, the commander of the visiting fleet, visited his old boss Viscount Berner without any delay after reporting his duties at the Admiralty, and incidentally mentioned Wickham's performance in the past two years to his old boss. After all, Viscount Bernard is the promoter of Wickham, and how Wickham behaves in the army is naturally related to Viscount Bernard's face.

After a series of battles, Colonel Aldrich's initial prejudice against Wickham has also disappeared, and at least he can give a more objective assessment. General Bernard was very happy, whether it was the raid on the royal city of the Mossi, the encounter with the French navy, the solitary escort of arms into the Xhosa tribe, or the brave attack on the enemy in Calcutta, it showed that he was not wrong. If Wickham had been a straw bag, there would have been no doubt that his reputation as a sponsor would have been tarnished.

Wickham sat down again, didn't talk nonsense, and said directly: "Viscount Bernard, I am very grateful for your recommendation to me back then. It's just that I'm not familiar with the navy, I don't know the necessary knowledge of naval aviation, I don't know how to command warships in battle, and I don't even know how to operate artillery, so Colonel Aldridge asked me to join the Marine Corps. Now that the mission of visiting the Qing Dynasty has ended, the temporary Marine Corps is about to be withdrawn, and I, the commander, have come to an end. I was thinking that maybe quitting the army would be a good option, after all, I still have a younger sister to take care of. ”

Wickham knew that it would be difficult for him to quit the army at this juncture, and he didn't have much hope. The reason why he said this was that Wickham wanted to see if he could be transferred out of the Navy.

In the next ten years, the British Navy and the combined fleets of France and Spain fought repeatedly, and even Nelson, the god of war, was hung up, and he was not interested in being cannon fodder. Going to the army may be a good errand, in the early days of the Napoleonic Wars, the British Army was completely a soy sauce role, and safety was definitely fine. But Wickham couldn't grasp Viscount Bernard's influence in the army, so he made a tentative statement.

Hearing that Wickham also had a younger sister, Viscount Bernard was obviously taken aback and asked, "You also have a younger sister, why didn't you mention it before?" ”

Viscount Bernard remembers that Wickham mentioned to him about the situation at home, both parents died, and there were no relatives, so where did this sister come from, is it the illegitimate daughter of old Mr. Wickham?

Seeing that he had caught the other man's attention, Wickham continued, "Her name is Alice Schmidt Wickham, and she is the illegitimate daughter of my father. Before he died, my father had always told me to find his daughter and take good care of her. I had just arrived in London two years ago, and I found her by coincidence, so I took on the responsibility of raising my young sister. ”

Wickham had already figured out that his adoption of Alice was not justified, a young man in his early twenties adopted a twelve-year-old girl, and others didn't want to be crooked. So Wickham made an improvised decision to make up an identity for Alice, so that his relationship with Alice was a "brother and sister" relationship, and it was justified.

Anyway, old Mr. Wickham has already gone to see God, what Wickham says is what the truth is, and DNA testing will not be available until hundreds of years, even if anyone suspects it, there is nothing to do. Although the name of an illegitimate daughter is not very good, it is much better than an orphan in the slums, and Wickham is also for the good of Alice's future, you must know that the English class concept in this era is not weaker than that of France.

Of course, the reputation of illegitimate children is not good, and the mainstream view of society is that illegitimate children have never been blessed by God, and can only be despised by others. But Wickham can't care so much, the primary purpose now is to solve the identity of Alice first, and as for the illegitimate daughter's hat, he is trying to find a way to solve it in the future.

Wickham's words, Viscount Bernard believed most of them, the atmosphere of high society is like this, after marriage, many husbands and wives play their own games, some of the more amorous guys, there are more than a dozen illegitimate children alone.

Although old Mr. Wickham was only an aristocratic butler and not up to the standards of high society, it was a breeze to play with a few maids. Poor old Wickham, if he knew that his "son" would have to arrange his own peachy news after his death, he would probably be so angry that he would jump out of the coffin.

"I see, is the child still with her mother?" Viscount Bernard was a little interested in what Wickham was going to do with his illegitimate sister.

To tell a lie is to tell a thousand lies to round it up, and Wickham had to half-truth: "The child's mother has died, and I sent her to St. Margaret's School for Girls two years ago, and when I have purchased the property, I will go and bring Alice back." That's why I plan to retire from the military, because Alice has only one relative, and I can't take care of her if I continue to serve in the army. ”

When Viscount Bernard heard that Wickham had sent his illegitimate sister to St Margaret's College, he had to look up at Wickham. He had also heard of that ladies' school, which was founded by a countess, and was originally only for aristocratic girls. Later, although the admission criteria were relaxed, and the daughters of merchants, lawyers, and squires were also enrolled, the tuition fees were frighteningly high, and the tuition fees for a year would not be less than five hundred pounds!

Viscount Bernard probably knew a little about how much money Wickham had in his pocket two years ago, and it was nothing more than the income from selling the copyright of the poetry collection, which was just enough to pay for the tuition fees of St. Margaret's College for a year. A sister can do this for an illegitimate child, and Viscount Bernard feels that the young man opposite is definitely a trustworthy person. What General Bernard didn't know, however, was that most of these stories were Wickham's foolishness, far from being noble and reliable.

Thinking about it this way, Viscount Bernard became more sincere towards Wickham, and took the initiative to say: "In this case, it is really not suitable for you to continue to serve in the combat army. Otherwise, I have an old friend in the War Department, and tomorrow I will help you ask and see what vacancies are available in the War Department. ”

Hearing this, Wickham was overjoyed, Viscount Berner said this, it must be a drama, this War Department Admiralty is similar to the headquarters of the PLA in later generations, and most of the officers serving in it are no different from civilian positions, so that he can not only settle down and take care of Alice more, but also jump out of the big pit of the navy, which is simply killing two birds with one stone.

Wickham sincerely saluted General Bernard: "Thank you, Viscount Bernard, for your generosity!" The words were short, but they carried a firmness in them. Wickham knew that a position as a lieutenant was enough to repay him for saving Mrs. Bernard, but this time General Bernard still helped him, and he remembered this affection.

At this time, Wickham remembered the gift that was put aside, and hurriedly handed it to Viscount Bernard, saying: "Viscount Bernard, this is a small gift, thank you for taking care of me in the past two years." ”

Viscount Bernard smiled and took the gift wrapped in white cotton, and then slowly opened it. When the two layers of cotton cloth were fully opened, revealing the sparkling ivory and Chinese silk inside, Viscount Bernard looked unhappy: "What do you mean by this?" "General Bernard is a man of knowledge, and at a glance he knows that these two things are worth no less than five hundred pounds, which is enough to buy a captain's military position.

The reason why Viscount Bernard keeps helping Wickham is simply to be optimistic about Wickham, wanting to see where this young man can go, rather than wanting to get any benefits. Besides, the five hundred pounds seemed nothing to Viscount Bernard, who had a lot of money in the family, and the help was just a gesture of help.

Seeing this, Wickham hurriedly explained: "Don't get me wrong, Viscount Bernard, this ivory is the trophy of my operation in Cape Town, and this Chinese silk is a gift from Chinese officials, not I spent money to buy it. I would not have had such an opportunity had Mr. Bernard not recommended to the Admiralty, and these gifts were just a token of my gratitude, and I would like to ask General Bernard to accept them.

Wickham told a little lie here to get General Bernard to accept the gifts as comfortably as possible.

Sure enough, Wickham's words worked, and Viscount Bernard's face turned cloudy and clear, and he smiled: "Since that's the case, then I'll take it." ”

Since Britain started the war of foreign colonial expansion, many British officials have the habit of collecting trophies from other countries to show their rich experience and outstanding achievements. Wickham said that the ivory was trophied from Africa, and it tickled Viscount Bernard's itch, so he agreed.

Seeing that General Berner had accepted the gift, Wickham made a request with confidence: "Viscount Bernard, I have a friend from China who wants to study at the Royal Army Officer Academy in Wooddridge, and if it is convenient, ask Mr. Berner to give him selfless help." ”

When Viscount Bernard heard that he was really from China, he immediately became interested: "Oh? I heard that the Chinese are very arrogant, and I did not expect that they would take the initiative to come to our British to learn military knowledge this time. Was that Chinese friend of yours sent by His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty? ”

"Forehead......" Wickham was a little speechless, Zhang Mingxia was not sent by Qianlong, to be precise, he was still an "anti-government militant", who specialized in dismantling the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

However, Wickham would not tell Viscount Bernard about this, so as not to upset the British elite. After all, Britain, which is now anxious to trade with China, does not want to make enemies with the Manchus: "I'm afraid I'll disappoint you, Viscount Bernard." This is just a private act of my friend, and has nothing to do with His Majesty the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom, which in fact is indifferent to anything in Europe. ”

After listening to Wickham's words, Viscount Bernard quickly lost interest and felt quite bored: "When you come the day after tomorrow, I will give you the certificate of the Foreign Secretary and my letter of recommendation, and you can go back and let your friend take these things to report to the Royal Army Officer College in Woollich." ”

After doing this, Wickham also breathed a sigh of relief, and then got up to take his leave.