London's Mary Bonn borough, Codrington House, is brightly lit tonight.

After admiring the physical experiments brought by Arthur, the gentlemen and ladies returned to the main living room, which had been decorated as a ballroom.

The ballroom was set up in strict compliance with the usual practices within the social circle, with open doors, removed cashmere carpets, polished mahogany floors, and as many chandelias on the ceilings used for decoration and lighting.

Below the windows, there are three long birch tables filled with a variety of food and cutlery, surrounded by colorful and bright flowers.

Standing at the table, guests can enjoy not only the enticing aroma of food, but also the rich fragrance of flowers.

To the east of the ballroom was a makeshift stage set against a rose-coloured curtain, filled with all sorts of instruments, needless to say, that Mrs. Codrington had prepared for the upcoming orchestra.

After completing the scientific presentation, Arthur finally got some respite.

Mrs. Codrington was evidently pleased with his first presentation of the day, though she had only a vague idea of how important the theory of charged atoms really was.

But it must have been remarkable in Mrs. Codrington's mind that it would have thrilled Mrs. Mary Somerville, the first lady of science of the Blue Sox Society, to the point of incoherence.

For this reason, Mrs. Codrington, a busy hostess, also took time out of the gap to express her gratitude to Arthur with her husband.

After all, it is a great honour for such an important scientific achievement to be published not at the Royal Society, but at the Codrington Mansion.

If this incident gets out, it will certainly be passed on as a good talk, which will certainly be of great help in improving the bad social opinion after General Codrington's 'Ottoman defeat'.

Mrs. Codrington could have imagined for a while the hot topics discussed at the ladies' ladies' gatherings in London's social circles – the science-minded Mr. and Mrs. Codrington, the family always at the forefront of their time, and the best friend of the emerging electromagnetic scientist Mr. Arthur Hastings.

For Mrs. Codrington, who is dedicated to helping her husband wash away the stigma, nothing could get better than that!

Although taking over as commander of Portsmouth Naval Base was a good retirement errand, Mrs. Codelington preferred that her husband be transferred directly to the naval headquarters in London.

Because as Corcoran and Admiral Smith said before, Gambil, a naval commander with mediocre combat ability, only embarked on the fast track to promotion after being transferred back to the Navy headquarters to sit in the office, and it only took ten years to be promoted from rear admiral to admiral, and even became a marshal of the Royal Navy this year.

According to Mrs. Codrington, her husband, General Edward Codrington, was superior to Marshal Gambier in every respect, except for the lack of hair on his head, and was a beautiful man and a man of good looks, and was involved in science, literature, and art.

If Admiral Codrington can be transferred to the Admiralty Headquarters, not only will he have a greater chance of being promoted to Admiral, but he will also be able to exert more direct influence on the Admiralty Headquarters, promoting his two precious sons, William Codrington and Henry Codrington, who are also serving in the Royal Navy.

Ever since her youngest son drowned at sea, Mrs. Codrington had been bent on getting her husband to bring the remaining two sons back to shore, and in order to do so, Madame felt that General Codrington's temper would be no good thing.

It is precisely because of this that she will spend so much time and money to hold such a dinner.

Madame knew very well that some things still had to be done by her, and that scientists and ladies who mingled in high social circles were in a sense more noticed by the cabinet members.

As soon as she thought of this, Mrs. Codrington's heart could not help but feel the urge to sponsor Arthur, although she could not do scientific research, but it seemed good if she could share a little fame in the name of the sponsor.

But she didn't have time to think about it yet, for she was flattered by the unexpected arrival of Lady Cowper, the most influential figure in London.

As the sister of the Viscount of Melbourne, who had served as the Minister of State for Irish Affairs, and the fifth Earl of Cowper, the heir to the Cowper family, the patriarch of the Whig Party, Lady Cowper naturally had a significant influence on the political circles of Great Britain.

Of course, this influence is not entirely due to family reasons, but more like a strange ability engraved in the family heritage.

Because Mrs. Cooper's mother, Elizabeth Lamb, the first Viscountess of Melbourne, was a prominent figure in London's social circles.

The reason why her mother has such great energy is also simple, because her mother has maintained a semi-public intimate relationship with the late King George IV, who has just passed away.

In a sense, her mother, Elizabeth Lamb, was also one of the reasons for the divorce between George IV and Queen Caroline.

Neither Mrs. Cowper nor her mother were fuel-efficient lamps, but even her sister-in-law, Baroness Caroline Ponsonby, the second Viscountess of Melbourne, had such tendencies, and even more.

It's just that unlike the sister-in-law and mother-in-law, who are mainly inclined to politics, Caroline Ponsonby's main battlefield is only one, and that is the literary and artistic world.

Or to be more specific, there is only one person whom Poundson likes than the Baroness, who has been engaged in creative work for a long time, and that is Lord Byron, the leader of the liberal literati in Great Britain.

However, with a powerful mother-in-law with amazing insight like Elizabeth Lamb, Ponsonby's small movements will definitely not escape the eyes of her mother-in-law.

Two strong women don't usually end well together, and this one is certainly no exception.

Lady Ponson first fell out with her mother-in-law because she was unwilling to abandon her son, who was born with an intellectual disability, and then gradually lost her feelings because of daily quarrels, and when she informed Byron that she wanted to elope with him to Greece, Byron, who just wanted to have fun, decisively refused her request.

Because in the eyes of the upper class of Britain, it is normal to have a lover, but if you play for real, then it is a big deal.

Frightened by her, Byron finally realized that he had touched a woman he shouldn't have touched, so he began to take the initiative to distance himself from Ponsonby.

However, this caused great displeasure among the Baroness de Ponsonby, who repeatedly confronted Byron.

And the story between her and Byron gradually spread, and for this, her mother-in-law Elizabeth scolded her in public for being a 'crazy woman who can't figure things out'.

And Lady Ponsenby's reaction to Byron's growing snub was also straightforward.

In order to force Byron to return to her, Lady Ponsonby used her clever pen to compile her affair with Lord Byron into a book called "Granarwan" and published it.

Understandably, Granarvan was an instant hit throughout Great Britain, with three reprints within a few weeks of its publication. But even so, Granarvain in London's major libraries and bookstores has been out of stock for a long time.

For this reason, another great English poet Shelley's sister-in-law, the well-read Lady Claire Claremont, had to write to her lover, Lord Byron, the prototype of the protagonist, asking him if he could get a copy of "Granarvain" directly from the hands of Lady Ponsonby.

And the angry Lord Byron had only one answer to this - damn it.

Angry, Byron quickly took revenge on the Lady of Ponsonby, and he sent a letter to Ponsonby to reconcile, but when Ponsonby rushed over, he found Byron with another woman.

Enraged, Ponsonby burned all the portraits of Byron in her collection, and took even more extreme measures, breaking the news of Byron's incest with his sister Augusta.

At this moment, Byron's reputation in England was completely burned.

For incest and private confusion are not at all a matter of magnitude in Britain, the former being a more serious act of blasphemy than a crime, while the latter can only be regarded as a loss of personal virtue at best, and even for a person like Byron, it can be passed on as a kind of affair.

But as soon as the incest hat was buttoned off, Byron had to leave England for Greece, and personally participated in the Greek War of Independence, which he donated money and materials to support, and finally died in a foreign land for Greek independence.

Byron's death shocked Europe, and the Greek government announced for the first time that it would hold a state funeral for Lord Byron, and the whole country of Greece mourned for three days.

Pang Senbi, who thought that he would have a sense of revenge for this, was not only not happy, but also had a high fever for several days.

When Byron's coffin arrived in London from Greece, a deranged woman was seen rushing into the streets, crying and fainting on Byron's coffin.

In this story, the heroes and heroines, Byron and Lady Ponsonby, both pay the price for their actions, and both suffer great sins as a result.

But in any case, this legendary story is still quite ups and downs, and it is also quite exciting.

But after finishing the story, I always feel that something is wrong, and it seems that I have overlooked an important person.

That's right, it's the second male number in this turmoil - the husband of Lady Ponsonby, the second Viscount of Melbourne, William Lamb.

Throughout the incident, the Viscount of Melbourne maintained an extraordinary calmness throughout.

Not only that, but he even stood up for his wife on the cusp of the storm for a time, hoping to maintain the reputation of the Melbourne family.

He lasted for several years, until he couldn't stand it anymore, and only then divorced Lady Ponsonby under the pressure of public opinion and the threat of his mother, ending his twenty-year marriage.

His attitude made London, from the aristocratic parliamentarians to the common people, all talking about whether he was not interested in women, otherwise why could he tolerate his wife to such an extent, as a decent nobleman, why did the Viscount of Melbourne last for twenty years before divorcing?

Of course, no one can guess why the Viscount of Melbourne did this, but the only thing that can be understood is that the Viscount of Melbourne is very lazy and does not fight for everything.

His desirelessness is not only reflected in the handling of his wife's extramarital affair, but also in the usual parliamentary meetings.

In the battlefield where politicians such as the Duke of Wellington and Sir Peel were swelling and sparks scattered, Melbourne, who was tasked with charging the Whigs, usually chose to find a comfortable corner to nest up and snore like thunder.

And he did it not only in parliament, but also in pastors' sermons, peer debates, and even dinner parties.

And this act of the Viscount of Melbourne naturally won high praise in Parliament, whether it was the Whig Party or the Tory, they all praised the Viscount of Melbourne as the most cultured member of parliament in the whole of Great Britain, because no one had heard him curse in Parliament.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this attitude that even when the Tories are in power, he will not be excluded from the cabinet because of party reasons, which is also an important reason why the Viscount of Melbourne can be the Minister of Irish Affairs.

After saying such a big circle, it has to fall back to Lady Cooper, the sister of the Viscount of Melbourne.

The reason why Mrs. Codrington attached so much importance to Mrs. Cooper's arrival was because Lady Ponsonby, a literary authoress, was also a member of the Blue Sox Society.

So in order to avoid the embarrassment of her sister-in-law, Mrs. Cowper usually politely declined invitations to banquets from members of the Blue Sox Society.

However, the fact that she was willing to visit the Blue Sox Society today was simply enough to give Mrs. Codrington face.

Of course, there may also be a reason why her sister-in-law, the Lady of Ponsonby, died two years ago.

Perhaps because of this, Cowper began to consider whether to spread his influence to the Blue Sox.

Arthur hides in a small corner of the lounge, pinching an onion ring while listening to Elder tell him these stories of high society gossip.

After listening, he couldn't help but say to Elder that he said, "Elder may consider making a home." If you compile a book of all these things you know, you're guaranteed to sell them in London. ”

Hearing this, Elder hurriedly waved his hand: "Don't be joking! Don't you remember what happened to Baron Ponsonby when she wrote "Granarvan"? At that time, because Lady Jersey was dissatisfied with her image in the room, she directly expelled Lady Ponsonby from the Allmark Club in anger, and many banquets did not dare to invite Lady Ponsonby to visit. I still want to mess around in London, can you please not give me such bad ideas all the time. ”

Arthur just smiled when he heard this, and he picked up the handkerchief on the table and wiped the oil on his hands.

"If you're worried about the bad effects of publishing this stuff, why don't you publish it?"

Elder frowned and said, "How can I make money if I don't publish?" ”

Arthur smiled and took out a brown paper bag from the bag he was carrying and handed it to Elder: "When you go back, write everything you know into a manuscript and put it here, and every one of your stories will be treated as archival materials." It doesn't appear in front of anyone's eyes except those who should see it.

And, I assure you, you won't get paid too cheaply for every piece of material you write. Although this may not be as good as the benefits of publishing, it is better to be safe and stable. ”

Elder looked at the brown paper bag, which was simply printed with a few words—the Provisional Bureau of Surveys and Surveys of the London Region.

He raised his eyebrows and whistled: "I said, it turns out that this is the kind of thing you investigated?" Tell me directly, how much money do you have prepared? ”

Arthur held the red wine glass and shook it gently, and the aroma of red wine was fragrant.

"How much money I can prepare depends on how much useful information you can give me. Elder you must know that only the departments that are useful to the above can get a more important position.

Only with status can I have funds, and with funds, I can give you a lot of money.

So, what information do you think can help me increase my importance? ”

(End of chapter)