When the owner of the ship turned, he saw Tangral standing behind him. Tangral appeared to be waiting for his orders, but in reality, like him, was looking at the young sailor from afar. Although these two people were looking at Edmund Dantès, the expressions and meanings in their eyes were very different......

At this point, the gramophone played, and the sound of reading suddenly stopped.

The gentlemen and ladies present were listening with relish, and they couldn't help but say to Arthur, "Mr. Hastings, which one is this?" Sounds interesting. ”

Colonel Fitzroy, who served in the Royal Navy, also asked with interest: "I like that these protagonists are sailors, but there are not too many such things written on the market at present, and most of the bookstores are now fashionable." The protagonists are all weak nobles, or other styles of romantic characters. Maybe other people like to read it, but for those of us who beg for a living at sea, that kind of book is really not interesting to read at all. ”

Elder couldn't help but criticize: "That's right, like Lytton Bullworth's Pelham; Or, The Adventures of a Gentleman", it's all about something, and I don't understand why it sells so well. and Mrs. Gore's book "Women Are So; or, Etiquette of the Day", I was really blind to the money to buy it. ”

As soon as Elder said this, it immediately attracted the rebuttal of many ladies and ladies.

"It's rude for you to say that. Both Mr. Bourvoir and Mrs. Gore were very talented writers in Britain. ”

"That's right, especially Mrs. Gore's book Women Are So; Or, the Rites of the Present", even the former King George IV read it and said, 'This is the best and most interesting book ever written.' ”

"That's right! Although His Majesty the deceased King made many mistakes during his lifetime, his literary literacy is recognized by everyone as good. He had bought all of Mr. Bulvo's published books, and kept them in every one of his residences. Moreover, when Mr. Bulwer's book The Disconnected One was not published, His Majesty sent two copies of it to his mansion, and only so that he could read the latest chapters of it. ”

With just one sentence, Elder instantly fell into a situation where he was attacked by the ladies.

When Mrs. Cooper saw this, she could only smile and relieve the young man who had urinated in her arms.

She changed the subject and asked Arthur, "Mr. Hastings, are there any more chapters to follow?" I'd love to hear the story below. ”

The drunk General Smith also said in a daze: "That's right, Mr. Hastings, if you have anything, please take it out quickly, I'm anxious to hear it." ”

Arthur saw that the atmosphere was almost hyped, so he smiled and took out a few chapters of manuscript from the bag he had carried.

He asked, "Will you circulate it yourself, or will I read it to you?" ”

The admirals shouted, "Let's read it, and everyone will sit and listen together." On the boat, when we were idle, we would often find someone to read to the boys. ”

The ladies also expressed their opinions: "The salon of the Blue Sox Club is also the same rule, scientists publish scientific research results, and writers read their latest masterpieces." ”

Hearing this, Mrs. Codrington, who is an avid Paganini fan and a new fan of Hastings, hastened to add: "Mr. Hastings is still a musician, and it seems that after the salon is over today, we will have a small meeting in private to compile the musician's own latest repertoire into the new charter." ”

Hearing this, the ladies of the Blue Sox Club unanimously said: "Agreed! ”

"Dear ladies and gentlemen, this manuscript is not my work. Who is the real author of it, or wait until I finish reading these new chapters, and then slowly introduce it to you. ”

Arthur was no longer polite, and he smiled and moved a round stool to the center of the stage.

Not only did the guests look at him expectantly, but even Mr. Moscheles and the musicians put down their instruments.

For the musicians of the symphony orchestra, the work is so comfortable today, not only because the working hours are shortened, but also because there are attractive stories to hear.

I saw Arthur sitting on a stool, reading the manuscript in his hand word by word.

He read in one sitting, from Chapter 2 Father and Son, Chapter 3 The Catalan Village, Chapter 4 The Conspiracy.

And by the time he read the wedding feast in chapter five, the manuscript in his hand had come to an end.

The guests listened to it, and when they saw Arthur stop reading, they thought that he was tired of reading, and General Smith, who was addicted to listening, hurriedly poured a glass of wine himself and handed it to Arthur.

The drunken general staggered and paced and said, "Mr. Hastings, take a sip of wine to moisten your throat, and quickly explain the rest of the story to the big guy." Damn, why was Monsieur Dantès arrested at the wedding and why did he get involved with Napoleon?

As a promising young man, a ship's first mate and acting captain, there was no need for him to do such a self-destructive thing.

I guess someone must be framing him! This must have been the work of the ship's accountant, Don Grass, who wanted to replace Mr. Don Taise as the new captain, do you think I was right? ”

General Corcoran also nodded in agreement: "That's right, don't you hear this very clearly?" This is the game that people made for him, just like the time I did back then!

I had a lot of success and a bright future, but one day, a bitch-raised stockbroker approached me and told me that there were a few good stocks worth buying and that they would definitely appreciate in the future. I was just so fucking young that I believed his bullshit!

Less than a month later, I was sued in court for manipulating the stock market for £139,000, and my fucking charges were so easy to find!

Then I was expelled from the Navy by the bunch of fools at the Admiralty, and my ranks, positions, medals and honors, and my seat in the House of Representatives, were all cleaned from top to bottom. I was forced by them to go to South America to make a living!

These fucking shit behind their backs are all fucking virtuous! Bring the seed to face me head-on! You see, if you don't blow up the bomb boat, it! ”

When General Codrington heard this, he hurriedly comforted: "All right, Thomas, you have been rectified because of this temper. If you hadn't gathered your subordinates to run to Mr. Birdt's mansion to support him, and wounded a few officers sent by the War Department to arrest him, how could those people have thought about you? ”

Corcoran glared and said, "Birdt is my brother, I don't support him, who supports him?" Besides, his case is also very unclear, who can say clearly what is inside? After all, there have been more bastards who have been framing and playing conspiracy these years! ”

Corcoran was emotional, and the Ladies and Ladies over there had a different focus than he did.

Mrs. Milbanch could not bear to say, "What a misfortune it is for the hero, Mr. Dantès, who was clearly in love with Miss Plum Tess, to be taken away on such a festive day as the wedding ceremony. Miss Plum Tess's cousin, Fernand, was too much of a thing, and he had a crush on Plum Tess, so he was unwilling to fulfill them, so he joined forces with the ship's accountant to frame Mr. Dantès. ”

Mrs. Cowper also blinked her moving eyes, and the fluttering eyelashes also explained her mood: "Okay, Mr. Hastings, don't sell it, gentlemen and ladies can't help it, you can read it quickly." ”

When Arthur heard this, he just shrugged his shoulders helplessly, and he smiled: "I'm sorry, everyone. It's not that I don't want to read it, it's that I don't know what's going on, because my friend Alexandre Dumas only wrote about it. If you want to know the details of what happened, you can only listen to him break it down next time. ”

"Huh? How can you get stuck here? ”

"Oh! O my God! Mr. Hastings, will you be able to sleep well tonight? I can't sleep anyway. ”

"No, you can make up a paragraph later."

"Wait, is this an unfinished film? Alexandre Dumas, I seem to have heard this name somewhere. ”

"Ahh This is the Frenchman who was rescued from sea by the Royal Navy and Scotland Yard, right? ”

"No wonder the story is set in France, and the plot is related to Napoleon, now I can understand it."

When Colonel Fitzroy heard this, he gradually came back to his senses: "Mr. Hastings, I remember that Mr. Dumas seems to be living in your house now, right?" ”

Arthur smiled and nodded, "That's right, Alexander lives in my house." ”

Miss Ida Byron, who had been immersed in the question before, heard this, and said with a pen in her hand: "Then please please urge him more, so that he can quickly write out the plot later." The story is stuck here, which is more uncomfortable than not being able to solve a math problem. ”

When Arthur heard this, he just raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Don't worry, I'll put Alexander in a Faraday cage when I go back, and then put a high-voltage electricity on him outside." If he doesn't finish the manuscript, I won't let him out. ”

Elder thought about the scene and shuddered, and muttered, "It would have to be you." ”

Mrs. Somerville also sighed: "I said so, but I can't hear the story behind it, I only feel itchy in my heart, and I don't have the mood to dance." ”

"Mr. Hastings, I ...... I am certainly not a figure of such importance as His Majesty, and I cannot force Mr. Dumas, but, if possible, when the manuscript is later forth, will you allow me to take a copy? ”

"Mr. Hastings, I want a copy too!"

"That's right, the price is not an issue, I just beg you to let Mr. Dumas write quickly. He has now opened my purse and he can pull the bill out of my pocket with just a touch of his pen. ”

When Arthur saw this, he knew that he had achieved his propaganda purpose.

He smiled and bowed slightly with one hand on his chest, "Thank you for your support, I think my friend Alexander will be very happy when he finds out." But ladies and gentlemen, don't be in such a hurry, for in two weeks Alexander will have his own story column in the newspaper. If you don't mind, you can leave me a business card, and when you decide which newspaper it is serialized, I'll send someone to let you know one by one. ”

Arthur said this, looked up at the sky outside the house again, and said goodbye: "It's not early, I'm done with the science presentation, and it's time for me to go home." I'm sorry to all of you, but I should know that I'm a Scotland Yard police officer, and I'll have to arrive at the Metropolitan Police Department by 8am tomorrow morning. ”

Mrs. Codrington remembered the little request Arthur had made with her, and she hurriedly nodded, "It's all right, Mr. Hastings, we can understand. The work requires it, and this is also something that cannot be helped. ”

When Arthur heard this, he smiled and nodded his head and took off.

But before he could get out of the ballroom, he saw Miss Ida Byron winking at him.

She shoved the scratch paper into his hand, and then said to him, "The music played on the gramophone is good, but I think you can play it better." ”

Arthur nodded thoughtfully, "You know art very well, Miss Byron, because I think so too." ”

With that, he paced out, but before he could get out, a man called out to him again, and it was Mr. Moscheles.

Mr. Moscheles chased after him in a hurry, shouting, "Mr. Hastings! London Philharmonic Society, do you want to stop thinking about it? You only need to attend two concerts a month when you come to us. What you may not know is that since Mr. Paganini led that concert craze, musicians are now earning more than they can earn.

I assure you that with your talent, you will never earn any less than you would in the Metropolitan Police of Greater London. Well, why don't I go back and discuss with a few members of the association, and as soon as you are in place, we will give you an appearance fee according to the standard of a skilled pianist.

You should earn between ten and fifteen pounds for one concert, and three hundred pounds for twenty-four performances a year. And this level of income will continue to rise in the future, if you are a little more diligent, it will definitely not be a problem to exceed a thousand pounds of annual income in the future, I really implore you to seriously consider my suggestion. ”

Arthur wanted to reject Moscheles' proposal, but when he heard that the income of musicians was so high that it could even reach several times that of the police officer, he hesitated a little when he came to his lips.

"This ......"

Seeing his hesitation, Moscheles instantly understood that there was a drama in this matter, and he hurriedly added: "Or, even if you don't want to work full-time, you can make a cameo once in a while and do some part-time performances, and we will definitely not treat you badly in terms of treatment." ”

When the Red Devil, who had been eating and drinking in the ballroom, heard this, he took out the handkerchief pinned to his chest and wiped his oil-stained mouth, and said, "Arthur, what are you hesitating about? You can earn ten pounds for a part-time concert, which is almost as much as you can earn for a month at Scotland Yard. It's not a big deal to take advantage of your break time to get a side hustle, it's not a company or a business, and it's not against your Scotland Yard housekeeping regulations. ”

When Arthur heard this, he thought about it for a while, and finally held Moscheles' hand: "Mr. Moscheles, you may not know, music has always been my dream, thank you for giving me the opportunity to touch my dream." I think that when people are young, they should still work hard, and sometimes they are too realistic to be a person. ”

When Moscheles heard this, a hanging heart finally relaxed, and he shook Arthur's hand heavily with a smile on his face.

"You're right, Mr. Hastings. Well, then, as soon as you have time, come to me at the London Conservatoire on another day, and you should have passed by there when you came, not far from General Codrington's mansion, near Baker Street. ”

"Okay, I'll see you then, Mr. Moscheles."

Arthur let out a sigh of relief, and just as he felt that he was finally coming to the end of his tiring journey, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a low-key carriage parked in front of the mansion.

There was a reddish glow in the corners of his eyes, and he always felt as if someone was watching him through the curtain of the car window.

But before he could think clearly, he heard the impatient hired coachman of the London high-class carriage rental company who had been waiting for him for a long time speak: "Mr. Hastings, may we go back?" ”

Arthur hesitated, but ultimately did not make it to the luxurious carriage across the road.

He got into his carriage and straightened his collar in the cold wind of the autumn night: "Let's go, let's go back." ”

(End of chapter)