In the entertainment room of Apsley House at London 1, two new players have been added to the table.

Alexandre Dumas glanced at his hand, and his scalp was tingling at the sight of a small hand.

Yesterday Disraeli had just settled the manuscript fee for him, and in just a few moments, he had already lost seven or eight at the poker table.

Compared with the restless Alexandre Dumas, Arthur, who sat across from him and calmly smoked his pipe, seemed much calmer, although his cards were also not big, but fortunately he had a king in his hand, and most importantly, he had a clown devil by his side, as long as he didn't want to lose, then no one could win money from his hand.

Sitting next to Arthur were Talleyrand, who was humming a ditty, and the Duke of Wellington, who was belated, and the two old gentlemen were not so much playing cards as they were trash talking.

The Duke of Wellington's two eyes stared at Talleyrand's hand: "My old brother, you have come for a long time, do you want to see my eight marshal's staffs?" The British marshal's staff was given to me by Joseph Bonaparte during the Peninsular War, and the remaining seven were given to me by Napoleon at Waterloo. ”

As soon as the Duke of Wellington finished speaking, Talleyrand had not moved, and Dumas, who was holding his hand, took the lead.

He was about to speak, but he saw Talleyrand smile and raise his hand to pat his thigh, and then threw out a Q to suppress the duke's J.

Talleyrand spoke: "Your Excellency, I have always thought that the matter of fighting a war is too serious, so it must be handed over to a soldier like you. But I am saddened by the defeat of the war, but fortunately no one in Britain will be able to snatch eight marshal's rods from France after you. If we had known that knocking you down would be as easy as finding a lover in Paris, we wouldn't have needed Napoleon, we should have grabbed a random mob from London and went back to be king. ”

The Duke of Wellington raised his eyebrows: "Your mouth is still like this, when you heard that Paul I of Russia had died of a stroke, you just wanted to say a witty remark in front of the Russian ambassador: I think you should really think of a new reason for your monarch's death in the future, it is too boring to always have a stroke." It's because of this witty saying that the Russians have been holding a grudge against you for a long time, right? ”

"You have lived in Paris for a while, so you should understand that the French can spill their blood over a witticism," he laughed and said. The reason why I was able to mix from a cripple with no inheritance rights to my current position is because of my ability to say witty things. If you don't make me kid, you might as well kill me.

As for the Russians, I just told the truth in front of them. And you see, when Alexander I died two years ago, didn't he change the cause of death? The death of a middle-aged czar in the prime of life in a sanatorium due to ineffective medical treatment sounds much more pleasant than a stroke. It can be seen that the Russians are quite good at accepting other people's opinions. ”

As soon as Talleyrand finished speaking, not only the Duke of Wellington, but even the many gentlemen who watched them play cards burst out laughing.

Talleyrand threw out a card and raised his head at Arthur: "Young man, it's your turn, don't get distracted when you play cards with me!" Otherwise, all your wages this month will be lost in my hands. ”

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and pressed the pokers in his hand on the table one by one: "Your Excellency, it seems that I don't need to live on my salary this month." ”

"Huh?"

Talleyrand looked at the poker on the table until he counted the cards, then he knocked on the table helplessly, and muttered to the attendant beside him: "Today's luck is really bad, it's just a small amount of money." Molay, take out the money, ten pounds, oh, by the way, don't forget to put it on the embassy's account. ”

When the entourage on the side heard this, they leaned over and asked gently, "Understood, is it still hanging on the travel expenses as before?" ”

Talleyrand tasted the wine: "This month's travel expenses are a bit much, let's change the name, huh...... What do you think of the banquet cost? ”

The attendant held the book in one hand and a quill in the other: "Isn't the cost of a banquet of ten pounds a little less?" ”

"That's right." Talleyrand shook his glass of red wine and pondered, "You can write down one hundred and twenty pounds, and give ten pounds to Mr. Hastings, and one hundred pounds for us to play again tomorrow night, and the remaining ten pounds will be your pen fee." ”

When Dumas heard this, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, and the French fat man muttered, "You still make money hard!" ”

Talleyrand took out a handkerchief from his chest pocket and wiped his mouth, he shook his head and said, "Alexander, don't compare yourself to me, I can play like this because I am Talleyrand." Everyone knows that I like money, and they know that I like to make my own money, and if I don't, they're going to start wondering if I'm taking money from other countries again. A hundred pounds is too cheap compared to the ten million francs I received from Germany, and the one million gold pounds I received from Germany. ”

When the Duke of Wellington heard this, he couldn't help but quip: "But isn't most of the military intelligence that Metternich bought from you for 10 million francs fake?" ”

Talleyrand shrugged his shoulders: "I didn't tell him to be true either!" I'm just in charge of giving him information, and I'm not an expert in screening. ”

The Duke of Wellington laughed when he heard this, and he said to Arthur: "Do you think that our British government is actually quite clean now?" ”

When the Red Devil, who was leaning against the card table, heard this, he couldn't help but pestle Arthur with his arm, and squeezed his eyebrows at him and said, "Do you hear it, the way to get rich is in front of you." ”

When Arthur heard this, he just smiled and said, "I don't think Your Excellency Talleyrand's trick should work in Britain. The military intelligence of the Royal Navy is worthless, because it is useless for the enemy to know about it, and they will not win anyway. ”

Arthur's words immediately made everyone present laugh.

The Duke of Wellington wiped his tears and said: "It seems that it is indeed a wise choice for the Whigs to let you run the Police Intelligence Bureau, I thought at first that this kind of work that you can't take out if you do a good job, and you will be criticized a lot if you do it badly, maybe a promising young man like you is not willing to do it?" I didn't expect you to enjoy it so quickly. ”

When Arthur heard this, he just replied, "Actually, the work at Scotland Yard is similar, so for me, it's just a part of the work, and it's not a big deal." ”

Talleyrand got up and said, "That's right, your future work will be much easier than your current job. But your present experience is essential, because there is no unfortunate accident in this world from which a wise person cannot learn a lesson, and there is no unexpected lucky event in which a reckless person can turn it into a hurtful accident.

And your current experience is only to help you identify yourself as a smart person. If so, you'll soon be free from the hard chores and just a few casual words like I did. As for the hard work of executing the speech, it will be left to the young people who want to prove their wisdom after you. ”

After that, Talleyrand raised his head and invited the duke: "I heard that you have a novelty here that can play its own symphony, why don't you take me to see it?" If it's interesting, maybe I should buy one and take it back to Paris. ”

The Duke of Wellington did not refuse when he heard this, and he had a good personal relationship with Talleyrand, and after receiving a promise from France that he was willing to give up Belgium, he could be said to be obedient to his old friend's request: "If you can get Louis Philippe to give something more, maybe I can send someone to give you a few gramophones for free." ”

When Talleyrand heard this, he just raised his eyebrows and said, "A few gramophones want to buy me?" Your Excellency, you also think of me as too cheap. ”

"It's different."

The Duke of Wellington spoke, "You don't know, our Mr. Hastings is one of the contributors to the patent for the phonograph, and by the way, he is also a well-known pianist, who has just participated in the musical recital that caused a sensation in London. If we had asked him to do something, we might have gotten a copy of the out-of-print record of the Coburg concert in addition to the phonograph, which is now going crazy in the various art markets in London. ”

"Oh? Is it? ”

Talleyrand glanced back at Arthur: "Sure enough, it's an interesting young man." Well, for the sake of the record, I'll think about it. ”

When Dumas heard this, he couldn't help but get up on the card table and said, "You plan to sell the interests of the country for a useless record?" I remember that you had just said in front of me that you loved France more than Napoleon. ”

When Talleyrand heard this, he just laughed: "Come on, Alexander, don't change my words. In addition, you must not be patriotic in front of me, I have a headache when I hear this. Every time someone advocates patriotism, the purpose is either to make the people pay money or to donate their lives.

For the sake of your good friend Mr. Hastings, who is so good at telling jokes, your wanted warrant has been lifted. Live your life in London, Alexander, and don't spend your days doing something you don't have. That's not good for everyone. ”

With that, Talleyrand went out with the Duke of Wellington, leaving only Arthur and Alexandre Dumas at the table.

Dumas stood there and was silent for a long time, but when he turned around, he found that Arthur was collecting the steel hammers from the table one by one.

He sank into his chair with his ass outstretched, his arms stretched out against the ceiling, as if to vent his displeasure: "Alright, Arthur, laugh at me, laugh at France." I won't refute what you say in the future. Look, this is the kind of person who can run through the political arena in France for decades! However, in France, there are still many people who regard him as a role model in life and in the workplace, and the beautiful and rich land of France is really rotten to the bone. ”

In the past, Arthur would have to step on Dumas's feet, but today he was uncharacteristically unsarcastic.

"Don't be so pessimistic, a man like Mr. Talleyrand, no matter where he is, can get along. You may not believe it, but I think if he had been born in Britain, he would have become Prime Minister. If the Duke of Wellington had had the cunning and tactfulness of his friend, he would not have stepped down at this time. ”

When Dumas heard this, he couldn't help frowning and said, "Arthur, what do you mean?" Why do I listen to you and seem to admire him? Why should you have a good impression of a criminal who embezzled and took bribes, a shameless person who betrayed the country? ”

"Why?"

Arthur put the last ticket into his jacket pocket: "Because I think there are not many capable people in this world who can take into account a part of the collective interests on the premise of satisfying their own selfish desires." You think it's a misfortune for France to have Talleyrand, but I think it's a blessing for France. For perhaps for a long time to come, there will probably never be such a brilliant diplomatic activist in France again.

Of course, you can also say that I am complimenting him and saying things against my will. For, as Monsieur Vidocque said before, whether it was Louis XVI, Robespierre, or Napoleon, they were all dead, but Monsieur Talleyrand was still alive. I scold Napoleon, and he can't climb out of the coffin and do anything to me, but I scold Talleyrand, and it's likely that tomorrow night Monsieur Vidocque will come and give me trouble with the coconut trees.

Most of all, though, he canceled the arrest warrant of one of my fat friends, and incidentally lost me ten pounds of betting, both of which I am very grateful for. ”

When Dumas heard this, he first took a deep breath, he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say, and in the end he could only sigh helplessly: "Alas......"

Seeing that he was in such a depressed mood, Arthur just patted him on the back and said with a smile: "Alexander, don't dwell on this kind of thing. Even if you really want to do something, you have to start with the basics, like picking up your pen.

At a moment of real historical significance, the moment when the stars of humanity shine, there must be, long years pass without need, and at such a critical moment, those things that usually happen slowly and in parallel are compressed into such a momentary moment that determines everything. This moment makes an irrevocable decision for generations, and it determines the life and death of a person, the survival of a people, and even the fate of humanity as a whole.

But you must also understand that in every revolution, it is not the first person who wins, not the one who charges forward at that moment, but always the last person, always the person behind the palace, the one who grabs the revolution as a trophy, such a strange person will suddenly emerge in any great change in the world. As Mr. Talleyrand said, the chameleon is the heraldic of politics, and I think it is the mystery of politics to live to the end. ”

When Alexandre Dumas heard this, the fat man looked out the window at the night rain and the faint lights in the night, but remained silent.

Seeing him like this, Agareth just leaned on Arthur's shoulder and pouted, "What a stubborn fat man." Idealist? The interpretation of idealism is that you don't know the weight of the world, and you don't know how many pounds and taels you have. ”

Arthur could only shake his head when he saw this, he walked to the door of the recreation room, his steps paused, and after thinking about it, he decided to close the door for Alexandre Dumas.

Unexpectedly, before the door was closed, Arthur's ears suddenly sounded the voice of a French fat man.

"Arthur."

"What's wrong?"

Dumas bounced a coin from his pocket and bounced it at him, the money he had lost to Arthur today.

Alexandre Dumas took a deep breath and said, "You're going to live to the end!" ”

In the crack of the door, only a black eye with a red light could be seen, and the black eyes gradually narrowed, looking like they were laughing and suspicious.

After a long time, Dumas responded with his usual gentle, courteous voice.

"Thank you for your blessings, Lord Dumas."

Alexandre Dumas raised his eyebrows and said, "So what?" ”

Arthur pressed one hand to his chest, bowed slightly and said, "I'll do my best." ”

(End of chapter)