Since December, the streets of London have been foggy almost every day, with occasional light rain.

In the editorial office of "British" on Fleet Street, Tennyson sits at an empty desk with a hot cup of black tea in his hand.

Taking a sip of black tea, munching on freshly baked bread and onion rings, and with the flames rising in the fireplace behind him, he finally felt his stiff fingers stretch a lot.

These days, because Alexandre Dumas, another editor-in-chief of "British", followed Arthur to Liverpool to investigate the case, the editor-in-chief's office with three desks was only Tennyson every day.

Although the absence of the French fat man who likes to talk witty words can make the ears a lot quieter, it also makes Tennyson feel a trace of loneliness that he has not felt for a long time.

As a shy and introverted young man, Tennyson's social circle was not particularly extensive, and since his father's death, he has not even had frequent contact with some relatives.

Although Arthur dropped out of Cambridge and immediately entered the University of London to study classics, he did not socialize much with his classmates except for his daily classes.

He still prefers to deal with old friends rather than meet new ones. After all, people's energy is limited, and in a limited life, he hopes to be able to carefully manage a few sincere friendships.

Thinking of this, Tennyson couldn't help but take out a few letterheads from the drawer of his desk.

The one from the Duchy of Weimar in Germany, signed by William Thackeray.

Although the friend he met in Cambridge was introduced to Mr. Goethe by a local person, Goethe's literary and artistic atmosphere apparently failed to save Thackeray from the bipolar mood defeated by "Farewell to Cambridge".

On the contrary, Thackeray received a new blow after seeing Goethe's strong classical literary atmosphere. He began to wonder if he was capable of following the path of literature, and began to seriously consider the business route his mother had advised him to take.

However, although Thackeray poured bitter water almost throughout the letter, he did not forget to send Tennyson a souvenir at the end.

Tennyson turned his head to look at the two books wrapped in cowhide in his hand.

One is the Collected Poems of the West and the other is Faust, both of which are Goethe's works, and both are also in German.

Seeing these things, Tennyson couldn't help but smile wryly and sigh.

In fact, it was not only Thackeray who was restless, but he himself was the same.

The contributors to "British" are so proficient that when it was first published more than a year ago, everyone was still a nobody in the British literary scene.

But a year later, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Dickens and Disraeli have been hailed as the troika of British fashion.

The popular science articles of the cross-border writer Charles Darwin also received a round of applause from the naturalists of the Linnaeus Society.

Arthur became a seminal figure of detective, and many of London's literary magazines are now clumsily imitating his strokes. However, due to professional reasons, other people's imitations did not reach the level of realism of the real superintendent of Scotland Yard.

And Held's Robin Hood, after being polished by Alexandre Dumas, soon gained the attention of Sir Walter Scott, a leading figure in British history.

Coincidentally, Sir Scott died not long after reviewing Robin Hood, so his review of Elder became a finale.

And this kind of pie-in-the-sky shit luck also caused a heated discussion among Elder in the circle of history and literature lovers.

And after the publication of "The Flag of St. George Rises as Usual", which was based on Held, this guy has gained a lot of devout fans.

At the same time, Elder was also highly praised by the historical literary community, and everyone agreed that Mr. Carter was able to write "Robinson" for a reason.

Held's experience illustrates the existence of a long tradition of British history.

Pious, optimistic, resilient, courageous and unyielding, this is what Elder Carter is synonymous with.

Along with the rise of these new forces in the literary world, there is also a surge in the popularity and sales of "British".

Many characters who could not have imagined Tennyson in the past have also begun to choose "British" as one of their choices.

In the past six months alone, he has met Heine, Mickiewicz, Thomas Campbell and other famous European figures from the manuscripts handed over by Arthur.

Of course, what shocked Tennyson the most was that Arthur was able to get Shelley's unpublished posthumous work "Prometheus Liberated".

Moreover, this is far from Arthur's limit, and in the supplement "The Economist", there are many strange things.

For example, Prince Czartorysky, the leader of the Polish exiles, Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon's nephew, and David Ricardo, a leading figure in British classical economics, have written many posthumous works.

Compared to these people, Tennyson only felt insignificant.

If you want to list the most failed authors of "The British" since its inception, it is definitely him.

This can be seen in the literary criticism articles published by Blackwood and Monthly Review, two of the main British competitors.

They focused their main output on Alexandre Dumas, Dickens, and others, and when they mentioned Tennyson's Collected Lyric Poems, they usually only understated one sentence - moaning without disease, rough and uninteresting.

Although several major shareholders of the magazine did not care about Tennyson's mediocre market performance, and even took the initiative to comfort him not to take it too seriously, Tennyson himself could not lie down calmly.

However, the more anxious he is, the more rubbish what he writes, so garbage that he can't even stand it.

Looking at the mountains of Wordsworth, Sauss, and Coleridge's poems, Tennyson was so ashamed that he hated to bury himself in the soil with a scrap manuscript.

"Alas......"

Tennyson couldn't help but shake his head while holding Thackeray's letter: "William, it's not just you who want to give up, even I want to give up the way of writing poetry." ”

The door to the room was suddenly pushed open, and a blonde lady in a black apron walked in with a tray for a teapot and asked in half-baked English, "Mr. Tennyson, would you like some hot water?" ”

Tennyson smiled shyly and nodded, "I'm sorry for you, Miss Polina." ”

Polina added water to Tennyson's teapot and said uneasily, "Sir, do you know about the recent shooting in Liverpool?" It was the one that assassinated Mr. Hastings. ”

Tennyson put down the letterhead in his hand, looked up and asked, "Of course I do." As soon as I found out what had happened, I wrote a letter to Arthur, and fortunately, he was only slightly injured. God has been cruel enough to me this year, my father left me in the middle of the year, and I really don't know how to spend this time if I lose a friend who helped me so much at the end of the year. ”

When Polina heard Tennyson's words, the stone in her heart finally let go, she held the tray in one hand and the other to her chest, and her face was full of relief.

"It's great that Mr. Hastings is okay! You simply don't know how we Poles spent this time. At night, drunkards threw stones at our windows and shouted to us to go back to Poland.

The kids said they were shivering from the cold from the window leaks, but what could we do? We didn't dare to let the thugs leave. Even when I got home at night, I didn't even dare to turn on the kerosene lamp, and I definitely didn't dare to say a word. We were afraid that if the people outside knew we were home, they would break in the door and rob us of what little value we had.

Mr. Tennyson, if Mr. Hastings comes back, and you want to blame us, please say a few words for us. Although it may have been a Pole who assassinated him, not all Poles were that bad. It's not that we don't want to stay in London and not go back, it's that we can't go back to Warsaw. Please help us tell Mr. Hastings that we must not fire us, we really need this job to support our family. ”

Tennyson saw Paulina's tears as she spoke, and couldn't bear to comfort her: "Don't worry." If Arthur had an opinion about the Poles, then he would not have hired you in the first place. Since he decided to do so, he wouldn't change his mind on the fly. You've only been here for a short time, so I don't know his personality. He's not the condescending man you think, and from what he's seen from his letters, he doesn't seem to think it's necessarily your government-in-exile doing it. ”

Polina couldn't help wiping away tears when she heard this, and swore that she said, "How could it be that we did it?" There aren't many people in London who are willing to speak for us, and the kind gentlemen of The Brit happen to be one of them. ”

At this point, Polina couldn't help but recite the books of Jude and Revelation: "The angels who did not keep their place and left their dwellings, the Lord bound them in chains forever in darkness for the judgment of the great day. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet were. and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. ”

As she was reciting this paragraph, half of the Red Devil's head suddenly appeared on the door.

When Agareth heard this scripture, he couldn't help but pout and spat on the ground, which was bloodshot, and he spit: "It's really what He says, what do you believe." The devil may not be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, but you who are deceived will be forever in darkness, tormented day and night. ”

Immediately behind Agares, who entered through the door, were Arthur and Alexandre Dumas in their large-brimmed hats.

"Alfred, I haven't seen you for more than a week, have you missed me?"

As soon as Dumas finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of a sobbing Polina and a bewildered Tennyson.

He thought that he had broken something, and his outstretched arms suddenly drooped.

"This ......"

Alexandre Dumas scratched his unkempt head: "Alfred, how can you make a lady sad like this?" ”

When Polina heard this, she just wiped away her tears, and reluctantly showed a smile to clarify: "No, it's none of Mr. Tennyson's business, it's that I'm a little emotional." Monsieur Dumas, sit down first, and I'll make you tea. ”

With that, Polina walked out of the room with the tea tray in her hand.

Dumas stared at Polina's departing back for a few moments before returning his gaze to Tennyson.

The French fat man pinched his chin, raised his eyebrows and said, "Alfred, why didn't I find out that you and Miss Polina were actually ......?"

Hearing this, Tennyson hurriedly interrupted: "Alexander, don't talk nonsense. Miss Polina just asked me to do something. ”

"What's the matter?"

Tennyson was about to answer, but suddenly he saw Arthur, who had found a comfortable position to sit down, and swallowed the words that came to his mouth and swallowed them into his stomach.

"It's nothing, it's just that she's not having a good time lately, so talk to me to ease her emotions."

Arthur casually opened the manuscript for the next issue: "Is it because of the Liverpool case?" Before I came to the editorial office, I stopped by the Philharmonic Society, and Frederick told me everything. ”

Tennyson was surprised: "Even Mr. Chopin was shocked? ”

"It's not a shock, but his talent makes him obviously in a much better position than the average Pole. However, for the time being, His Majesty's intention to appoint him as a royal pianist should be completely yellow. ”

"Ah...... This ......"

When Tennyson heard this, he couldn't help but ask, "Then what is Mr. Chopin's next move?" ”

Arthur flipped through the manuscript and said, "Looking at his appearance, he seems to be a little disheartened. He told me that when the cholera situation eased a bit, he would go to Paris. Moreover, I also think it would be better for him to settle in Paris than in London.

For one, his father is French, so there is no language barrier.

Second, the music scene in Paris is obviously better than London, although not as good as Vienna, but it is also the second center of the music industry.

As for the third, for the time being, on the Polish question, both the French government and the people are firmly opposed to the Tsar's destruction of Polish independence. So, when he goes to Paris, he is also guaranteed in terms of personal safety, at least there will be no mob attacks on residences and so on. ”

Alexandre Dumas also said with regret: "If I hadn't been a French political prisoner, I would have escorted him all the way back." Alas...... It's a pity that this job can only be handed over to Heinrich now. ”

When Tennyson heard this, he immediately remembered Heine's broken mouth, and he couldn't help asking: "Won't it be a problem to hand over Monsieur Chopin to Monsieur Heine?" ”

Hearing this, Arthur picked up the teacup and said, "At least it's better than handing it over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." The political climate in London has not been quite the same lately, with cholera, Poland, parliamentary reform and the Foreign Office's European rebalance all confluencing. Even during recess, there is a divorce lawsuit and Mr. Harrison's adult education. I couldn't bear to put a talented pianist like Frederick in this muddy water. ”

(End of chapter)