Arthur glanced at Held, then dragged him and Alexandre Dumas out of the police station and into the café across the street.

Sure enough, as soon as he entered the café, he found Darwin waiting in the corner seat.

Darwin looked in the same good mood today, with a new hat that looked like it was worth a lot of money, and he was sitting in his seat fiddling with a new set of taxidermy.

Arthur pulled Elder and the others into their seats, and as soon as he sat down, he couldn't help but pull out the check in his pocket and glance at it.

The bright and dazzling mark on it suddenly shook his eyes.

It was a £1,000 deposit note from the Bank of England.

Arthur took a deep breath, which was more than the salary he had paid for ten years as a police inspector in Scotland Yard.

Elder smirked his pipe and asked, "How's it going?" I just said, after doing this big business, the remuneration must not be low, right? Arthur, with this 1,000 pounds, you can also be regarded as a small achievement among young people under the age of 30 in London. ”

Arthur glanced at him, first reached out for a cup of black tea, and then asked, "How much did the 'Black Thorn' sell for?" Colonel Fitzroy's move is too generous, isn't it? ”

Elder smiled and picked up the doughnut on his plate, and said, "The economic recovery has been good recently, so Black Thorn sells for a pretty good price, deducting depreciation and maintenance costs, and a surplus of nearly 5,000 pounds. ”

Arthur picked up a sugar cube and put it in his teacup, stirring it and asking, "But even if there is a surplus of 5,000 pounds, Colonel Fitzroy will only take 1,250 pounds, and the rest will be divided among the crew." Although I helped him a little in the battle that day, wasn't it a little too polite for him to give me so much at once? ”

He tried to hand the check back, but Elder pressed his hand back, "Arthur, you can take it." If you don't take it, Colonel Fitzroy won't feel at ease. ”

When Darwin heard this, he couldn't help but smirk, "That's right, Arthur." You may not know that in addition to indentured slaves, the Black Thorn also contained a lot of gold coins and contraband. ”

"Smuggled goods? What contraband? Elder seemed to have amnesia, and he blushed and reprimanded Darwin: "Charles, I warn you, don't talk nonsense here!" Bundles of bills, can't you keep your mouth shut? ”

When Arthur heard this, he was not polite to him.

He asked straight away, "How much did you and Charles take?" ”

When Elder heard this, he just smiled and stretched out two fingers: "We can't compare with you, we are already very satisfied with this number." Thanks to you, Charles and I are both trophy rewards distributed according to officer standards. ”

When Dumas heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little envious: "Alas, why is it not assigned to me." ”

Elder glanced at the fat man and criticized mercilessly: "Come on, you've picked up a life, and you're still not satisfied?" If Fred had intended, you would have been classified as a commodity. Sold to Saint-Domingo, West Indies, for 20 pounds a cheap labour. ”

Arthur thought that Elder would ignite Alexandre Dumas's violent temper, but who knew that the French fat man sighed self-deprecatingly.

"Maybe there's nothing wrong with going to Santo Domingo. After all, my ancestors still made their fortunes there. ”

Elder frowned when he heard this, "Your ancestor was a slave estate owner in the West Indias?" ”

Alexandre Dumas poured himself a cup of tea: "No, my ancestors were black slaves working on the manor. ”

"Black slaves?!"

Elder almost dropped his jaw when he heard this.

He glanced Alexandre Dumas up and down and asked strangely, "Dude, are you kidding me?" You're not black either! ”

Darwin, on the other hand, had already begun to look at Alexandre Dumas's appearance and physique and fell into deep thought.

As for Arthur, he was equally surprised, but after a moment, he glanced at Dumas's hairstyle with some understanding: "No wonder you have unkempt hair." I said that no matter how much the French pursue fashion, they can't put so much effort into perming such a troublesome hairstyle. ”

Alexandre Dumas took a sip of tea and said, "I thought you knew where I came from." After all, my last name is here, Dumas, and it's not a normal French surname. ”

Elder waved his hand and laughed, "What's so strange about this? The last time I met a Frenchman, he said his surname was God! ”

Hearing this, Dumas glared at Elder and snapped up: "Sir, I'm talking to you seriously!" ”

Elder glanced at Dumas's strong physique, smacked his mouth twice, and then obediently picked up the teacup: "You continue." ”

Alexandre Dumas was relieved, and he sat back in his chair and said, "My grandmother was a slave who had been trafficked to the plantations of the West Indies, and her name was Marie Setset Dumas, and he was raped by my grandfather, the lord of the manor, and gave birth to my father. Speaking of which, my bastard grandfather is still a bit famous, do you know the French Payetri family? ”

Arthur thought about it carefully, nodded and said, "I have a little impression, I seem to have seen this surname somewhere, it seems to be from Normandy." ”

Alexandre Dumas nodded in surprise: "I really underestimated you before." That's right, my grandfather was from Normandy, the Marquis de Payetri, Normandy. He served as an artillery colonel and quartermaster general in France. However, due to profligacy, he went bankrupt in France, so he could only go to Saint-Domingo to run a plantation.

It was there that he bought my grandmother and raped her to give birth to my father, Thomas Alexandre de la Payetri.

Later, one of my grandfather's relatives in France died, and he sold my grandmother and father to make money for the journey back home. But fortunately, he still had a little conscience, or perhaps because he was too old to have children, so after inheriting the property of his relatives, he went to redeem my father again after two years.

Since then, he has groomed my father as an heir, but you know, my father couldn't forgive that old bastard in his heart after being hurt so much in his childhood. So, when my father became an adult, the conflict between him and my grandfather was also intensified because of his newly married stepmother.

My father was determined to join the army, he changed his surname from Payette to my grandmother's Dumas, and then joined Napoleon's army.

With his courageous spirit and indomitable courage, he rose all the way to the position of commander of the French Alpine Legion. He beat the Austrians who cried dad and called his mother, they called him 'black devil', and my father also followed Napoleon in the conquest of Cairo, and he made many feats and honors. It's just that later......"

Speaking of this, Alexandre Dumas seemed a little resentful: "I still don't understand why Napoleon alienated my father, maybe because he disagreed with Napoleon, or because of my father's unique surname?"

I don't understand, but I don't think my father should have been imprisoned for his bravery, and I don't understand why Napoleon refused to pay my father's pension, not even to see him.

With my father's contribution to France, he deserved a decent living, or at least a decent funeral.

Instead of dying in poverty on a small bed at home, the burial goods were only a cane that he usually used, and even the golden handle of the cane was asked by him to be taken down and left at home, because he felt that the property he had left to his family was too little. ”

When Elder heard this, he couldn't help but scold: "Napoleon is really not a thing!" I knew what good things a French dwarf could do? ”

Hearing this, Alexandre Dumas waved his hand and said, "Napoleon is Napoleon, France is France." He was a good man, but not worthy of the Emperor of Farancy. No one is worthy of the position of Emperor of France, and it was only from Napoleon that I learned that no matter how good a man is, if he is placed in that position, he will always become tyrannical and ruthless, and that is why I am a staunch republican.

People like Napoleon began to become arbitrary when they became emperors, and what was Louis Philippe, who was also worthy of the throne of France? I just couldn't get used to that, so I had to flee France because of his persecution. ”

When Darwin heard this, he pondered and asked, "So, you have escaped this catastrophe, and I am afraid that you will not be at ease for the time being." Judging from your description, it is not certain that the French government will not murder you again. ”

"Murder?" Elder was stunned when he heard this: "Does this mean that it is possible to do another vote?" Then I'll have to rush Colonel Fitzroy to get someone to fix the Beagle. ”

Arthur glanced at Elder and took a sip of his tea: "No matter how stupid the French are, they can't do it again." If Louis Philippe really had that much hatred with Mr. Dumas, he probably would have sent a killer to kill him next time.

Since he wanted to get Mr. Dumas back alive this time, he was only planning to use him to assert his authority over the ultra-republicans in the country. The first time it didn't work, and if you insist on going a second time, this is no ordinary diplomatic provocation.

Moreover, Sir Peel informed me that the Foreign Office had ordered the Ambassador to France to lodge solemn representations and protests with the French Government, and that it was not for us to consider how the new French Government would react. ”

When Elder heard this, he couldn't help but be a little discouraged, and he shook his hand and said, "It's all General Codrington!" It's okay to get along with the Ottomans, why should he get along with money? If we leave that pirate ship, we will probably be rewarded with seventy or eighty pounds of loot. ”

When Elder said this, he suddenly changed his words: "That's right! Arthur, with so much money in your pocket, have you ever considered doing something about investing in the business? ”

Arthur was holding the teacup, he saw Elder smiling, and subconsciously covered his pocket with his other hand: "What? You're going to make me rich? ”

Elder grinned, "Where do I have that ability?" I mean, why don't you just think about buying a house? You can buy a house in London or in your hometown of Yorkshire.

The advantage of buying a home in London is that you can easily rent out your vacant room in addition to living in it.

If you buy it in your hometown, you have to buy a bigger one, or you can just buy some land. In this way, when the election period comes, someone will come to your door and beg you to sell your votes, which is also a lot of income. ”

When Arthur heard this, he pondered for a moment, and felt that what Elder said seemed to have some truth.

Not to mention buying a house to rent out or not to rent, the Ministry of the Interior now gives him the task of monitoring and protecting Dumas 24 hours a day, but how easy is it to do this?

During the day he could get some police officers to accompany Dumas, but at night when he went to bed, he couldn't send a few more people to stay in Dumas's room, right?

Even if Dumas agrees, the landlord and the rest of the tenants may not agree.

He took out the cheque for a thousand pounds from the Bank of England and looked at it, and then pulled out the Rothschild Bank five-hundred-pound draft that he had been holding in his arms for several days.

He looked up at Elder and asked, "What kind of house do you think you can buy for fifteen hundred pounds?" ”

(End of chapter)