At the centre of the connection between St James's Palace and Piccadilly Circus is the elegant, comfortable, pleasant and commercial St James's Square, and on King Street to the southwest of the square is the Olmark Club, which has fascinated countless London's socialites.

Not far from the Olmark Club stands the well-stocked National Library of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Royal Navy and Army Servicemen's Association for British officers to connect and deal with issues, and the Naval Military Club for the entertainment of the Royal Navy.

Elder looked up at the black iron number on the white wall, the postal code SW1Y 6SL.

A few simple letters are enough to explain what kind of prime location it is in.

Although the weather was not good today, dark clouds covered the sun, and there was a cold light rain on the road, and the cold wind blew and lifted the corners of Elder's trench coat.

"Ahh

Elder sneezed, and he wiped his nose with a handkerchief from his pocket, looking around dissatisfied.

"Damn! Where did Arthur go? He can't really get involved, right? I don't know how to wait for me, but I just went to a banquet once, and now I've learned to eat alone. ”

Elder cursed in his mouth, but he was at the door, and he was really a little unwilling to let him go back at this time.

Mr. Carter paced back and forth in front of the Olmark Club with his hands behind his back, and after thinking about it, he decided to wait a little longer, and maybe Arthur would find out and pick him up.

The guard standing guard at the door stared at the suspicious young man for a long time, and after a while, he and his companion glanced at each other, and finally couldn't help but come forward and ask: "This gentleman, have you received an invitation from the club, are you invited to come?" ”

"Ah......" Elder replied vaguely when he asked, "No...... That's right, I received an invitation, and I wasn't waiting for my companion to come? ”

"Your companion?" The guard pondered for a moment and politely asked, "Will I be lucky enough to know your name?" We have a record of all the people who are eligible to visit the Olmark Club. If we check correctly, you might as well go first to warm up, it's too hard to wait outside for your friends. Look at you, you're sneezing. ”

"My name?" Elder couldn't figure out whether he should tell the other party the truth or not, he hesitated for a while, and didn't speak.

Seeing that he was so embarrassed, the guard pursed his lips and asked, "Or maybe your friend's name." ”

"Friend's name ......" Elder held back for a long time, still not knowing how to respond.

When the guard saw him like this, he immediately decided that this must be another guy who wanted to enter the club to eat and drink for nothing, and the smile on his face disappeared, and he changed to a cold and serious expression.

"Sir, if you don't know what to do, then please leave here at once."

Elder was so provoked by him, the young man's arrogance suddenly rose, and he glared, "Isn't it the name of a friend?" I didn't say it because I didn't want to offend his honorific name, and I was afraid that I would scare you by saying it. I'm thinking so much about you, and you're so uninteresting! ”

The guard impatiently pulled out a small short stick from his waist: "So, who is your friend?" If you can't tell, I'll have to treat you to something delicious. ”

Elder glanced at the stick, calculated in his heart, snorted, raised his head and said, "Tell you that my friend is the famous Arthur......"

The guard raised an eyebrow: "Arthur what?" ”

Arthur ...... Belch...... Arthur Wellesley! ”

"Arthur Wellesley?" The guard was surprised: "The Duke of Wellington is your friend?" ”

Elder tilted his head weakly: "At least that's what I think, it doesn't matter if he sees it that way." ”

"Alas! I don't care about you! When the guard heard this, he immediately raised his hand angrily, ready to teach Elder a lesson.

But before his arm could fall, a large, calloused hand took the lead in grasping his wrist.

The guard looked up in amazement at the gentleman who appeared behind Elder in a neat tuxedo for dinner, wearing a monocle, combing his oily hair, and wearing a black top hat, and asked in a daze, "May I ask who you are?" ”

Arthur stretched out two fingers and took out a business card from his jacket pocket and handed it over: "I beg you to inform the owner of the club, Mr. Moscheles of the London Philharmonic Society is suddenly unwell and may not be invited to play today." I am Arthur Hastings, the pianist who came in place of Mr. Moscheles, and this is my calling card, please take a look at it. ”

The guard took the business card and looked at it, and it read-

Name: Arthur Hastings

Position: Pianist of the London Philharmonic Society No. 3 Orchestra

Even the business card is stamped with the red seal of the London Philharmonic Society.

But for some reason, the business card looks like it has just been printed, and it still feels wet when your hand is pressed against the ink.

Maybe it's too wet?

Thinking so, the guard's expression softened, and he replied with a smile, "It's Mr. Hastings, you're probably new to the orchestra, right?" I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Moscheles is unwell, but you seem to have mistimed it, and we usually have a pianist in the evening. And, why did you forget to bring other accompaniments when you came today? ”

Arthur laughed, "You misunderstood my intention, I didn't come here today to play, but to try the piano." As you can guess, I'm new to the Olmark Club, and I'm afraid I'll mess up the performance, so I audition in the afternoon when there aren't many people. ”

"Ahh I see. ”

The guard suddenly realized: "You are really interested in your work. Then please come in, I'll be with you to audition, as long as you don't mess with anything else. ”

With that, the guards gave Arthur the way, and Arthur looked at Elder who was squeezing at him, but took off his coat and threw his clothes into his hands.

Arthur tugged at the collar of his shirt, "Elder and follow me in." ”

The guard asked suspiciously, "Mr. Hastings, who is this next to you?" ”

This time, before Arthur could speak, Elder replied: "The despicable man is Mr. Hastings' piano assistant, and you may not know that Mr. Hastings will be promoted to conductor of the orchestra in a short time, and I will take his place as the pianist." ”

The guard looked at him and wanted to say something, but he glanced at Arthur next to him, and finally swallowed the swear words that came to his mouth.

He spoke, "Sir, forget it this time, but if you come back next time, please dress up." ”

After that, the guard led Arthur into the front hall with a smile on his face, and Elder stared at his back with wide eyes, and couldn't help but scold: "Alas! Fuck, you're a janitor, what's bullshit? ”

Arthur walked into the Allmark Club and scanned the furnishings back and forth.

The hall was much more spacious than he expected, and the first thing that caught his eye when he walked in was a few bookshelves leaning against the wall, with a few coffee tables and sofa chairs placed next to the bookshelves, and a few card tables for entertainment through the mahogany flooring aisles, as well as a separate tea room, a large dining room, and a ballroom.

Not far from the ballroom is an ivory-white spiral staircase with various carved decorations, and judging by this, there must be many things on the second floor of the club that are not known to outsiders.

Maybe it's too early, or maybe it's bad weather.

At this time, the crowd in the Olmark Club was not too large, and in the spacious hall, there were only a few gentlemen who could tell at first glance that they were old gamblers, each grabbing a poker and sitting around a green cloth table with a scoreboard to play 'Cribbage'.

Of course, it's not necessarily that they don't want to experience other ways to play, it's just that in broad daylight, they can't pull out a deck of Italian tarot poker to play Tarocchi, or play Piquet with French poker.

Gamblers naturally love to experience new games, but due to the impact of the Poker Act, Britain strictly prohibits the import of foreign poker.

Although in private, gamblers will still play secretly, but in broad daylight, you still have to pay attention to the impact.

After all, taking out a deck of poker with different specifications in public can actually be regarded as smuggling strictly speaking.

In broad daylight, you should still play more British patriotic poker.

The old gentleman who was facing Arthur in the gambler looked up at Arthur, who was a little raw, threw out a J, and muttered, "I thought it was my sandwich delivered." The club is not good at this, even if there are few people at noon, at least a cook must be sent to guard it. ”

Arthur didn't say much, he just smiled and nodded at the other, and then led the guard to the piano in the center of the ballroom.

The guard politely took off his hat and said, "Please wait here for a moment, Madame Cowper happens to be here today, and I will report to him about you and Mr. Moscheles." ”

With that, the guard hurriedly turned around and went up to the second floor.

Elder looked a little nervous when he arrived for the first time, and he took his arm and pestled Arthur: "You really joined the London Philharmonic Society?" ”

Arthur took off his white gloves and sighed into his palms, trying to soften his frozen palms: "Will join." ”

"Huh?" Elder widened his eyes: "What about Mr. Moscheles?" ”

Arthur turned his head to look to the side and motioned for him to whisper, "Of course I made it up." ”

"Aren't you afraid of goofs when you do this?" Elder looked back and forth, his hand not knowing where to go: "Damn! I knew you went home and changed your clothes, so I went back and changed. I wore this to let people see me, and they thought I was running errands at a nearby restaurant. ”

As soon as his words fell, several gamblers at the table not far away greeted him: "Alas! The one over there! What about the sandwiches we ordered? ”

When Elder heard this, he couldn't help but slap him in the face: "Arthur, Arthur!" Look, what am I talking about? Fuck, these guys really think I'm a food delivery person. ”

When Arthur saw this, he just said lightly, "Think of the good thing, Elder." If you can come here, you can either be rich or expensive, you go to run errands for them, maybe these old gentlemen have taken a fancy to you, and it may be better to marry your daughter to you. Since you're not good at socializing with girls, why don't you think differently and start with their old fathers? ”

"Huh?" Elder rubbed the stubble on his chin: "This ...... It seems to make some sense! ”

"Hey! That guy over there! Aren't you a restaurant buddy? ”

"No, I am." Elder was swift like a gust of wind, he ran over and quickly took out a pen and paper from his pocket, straightened his waist, and said seriously: "I'm sorry to inform a few gentlemen, the sandwiches are all sold out, I wonder if you want to eat something else?" ”

(End of chapter)