Jingle bell.

The doorbell rang, and the door of the apartment was pushed open by a young man in a white shirt and black vest, with some energetic freckles on his face, short brown hair behind his head, and cramped movements that made it clear at a glance that he should still be a middle school student.

He stared at Mrs. Shelley's eyes for a long time, and then puffed up his chest and said with a red face, "Good afternoon, madam, you ...... Are you visiting my sister again today? ”

Mrs. Shelley smiled and nodded, and at the end she introduced Arthur: "Mr. Hastings, this is Mr. Edward Moulton-Barrett, Jr., Elizabeth's brother. ”

Arthur took off his gloves and shook the other's hand in a friendly manner: "Nice to meet you, Edward." ”

"Mr. Hastings?"

Edward was stunned for a moment when he heard this name, and then suddenly said, "You are the author of "Hastings Detective Collection"? The detective from Scotland Yard? ”

Before Arthur could reply, the young man clenched his fists excitedly: "Great! My sister will be happy to see you! Mrs. Shelley, you really did not break your word, you brought this gentleman to us as promised! ”

With that, he turned his head and shouted into the room, "Sean, Emily! There are guests at home, go make tea and get some snacks! ”

Immediately afterward, Arthur saw seven or eight little heads popping up in several rooms in the back room, including teenagers and girls, children of eight or nine years old, and even a naughty egg lying on the ground with half of his ass exposed, crying for his brother to administer justice.

"Edward, take care of Winston, he's stealing my toys again!"

"Oh my God!" Ada, who was following Arthur, couldn't help but cover her mouth and exclaimed, "How many children are there in their family?" ”

Mrs. Shelley explained, "There were twelve brothers and sisters in the Barrett family, Elizabeth was the eldest, and Edward was the eldest of the men. Since Mrs. Barrett's death, the home has been what it has been. Mr. Barrett, though well-educated and a moderately accomplished businessman, was never a good idea to let him run the household. ”

While they were talking, two servants, a man and a woman, had already walked out of the dining room and led the guests to the reception room with a smile.

The living room is spacious and bright, and as soon as you step inside, you are greeted by a balcony facing the garden and floor-to-ceiling French windows with carved decorations on either side. The walls are decorated with wallpaper woven from brocade and silk, and intricate plaster stringings and paneling can be seen in some corners.

Next to the fireplace are a standing cabinet with various tea sets, built-in bookshelves, and a display case with porcelain and silverware.

I had just sat down on a walnut chair wrapped in cotton, and when I looked up, I could see the artist's artistic taste.

The five murals on the walls are all classical mythology.

Prometheus, who was bound to the Caucasus by Zeus for stealing heavenly fire.

Sisyphus, who was punished for kidnapping the Grim Reaper so that there would be no more death in the world, was punished to push a boulder to the top of the mountain.

Icarus wanted to fly to the sun, causing his wings made of wax to melt into the sun and eventually fall into the sea.

He overthrew the tyrannical rule of his father, the god-king Ouranos, but was overthrown by his own son Zeus, and was finally imprisoned in hell by the second-generation god-king Kronos.

and Atlas, the god of heaven who was punished in the westernmost part of the world for failing to resist Zeus and supporting the sky with his head and hands.

Agareth lifted his glasses and put his hands behind his back, pacing, examining the paintings on the wall one by one.

Seeing this, Arthur took advantage of Mrs. Shelley's greetings with Ida and asked, "What are you looking at?" Aren't they all old myths? ”

"Old-fashioned myths?"

The Red Devil smiled lightly: "If you just understand these paintings like that, it is too vulgar." The so-called myth is nothing but exaggerated historical truth. The so-called historical truth is just the prologue to the story of the future. ”

Speaking of this, the Red Devil suddenly leaned down and cracked his mouth and laughed: "Arthur, if you have to choose, do you want to be tied up in the Caucasus, push stones up the mountain, fall into the sea, and imprisoned in hell, or use your head and shoulders to prop up that damn sky?" ”

Arthur poured a cup of tea: "I don't choose, if I have to choose, I'd rather lie on the ground and let the sky fall and kill everyone together." ”

When the Red Devil heard this, he didn't continue to ask, but patted him on the shoulder: "My dear Arthur, you had better be as great as you say." ”

Arthur didn't say anything about the Red Devil's words, and as an old friend, he was tired of solving similar riddles.

He just calmly took a sip of his teacup and listened to the whispered conversation between Mrs. Shelley and Ada.

I don't know when he began to get used to this kind of life, like a shadow, he was clearly there, but he didn't seem to be there.

Although the protagonists in the paintings have a singing experience, Arthur actually does not like to live in the sun like them.

We're a bunch of gutter rats. What is the gutter? It's a place where you can't see the light.

- Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Greater London Metropolitan Police Service Police Intelligence Unit Internal Training Manual.

However, from the perspective of an onlooker, they certainly couldn't make out that Mr. Hastings was now full of sewer rats.

Both Ada and Mrs. Shelley thought that the young officer was fascinated by the painting of "Prometheus Bound".

Seeing that he was so fascinated, Ida thought of Arthur's recent experience of being widely attacked by the public opinion, and thought that he was touching the scene.

She asked softly, "Do you feel bound too?" ”

Arthur looked at her puzzled expression and just laughed: "It's not a bondage, it's a fate." A pair of big devilish hands pushed me here. However, I can't blame him entirely, and sometimes, I'm to blame. ”

Ida didn't quite understand what Arthur said, she didn't usually care much about politics, but she still knew a little bit about parliamentary reform.

"If you find those jobs annoying, why not quit them? You can play the piano, you can write Hastings, you have a lot of skills to support yourself, so why bother choosing one that makes you unhappy? ”

Arthur didn't know how to explain this to Ada, he pondered for a moment, and half-jokingly replied, "Ma'am, I'm not as good as you think, and the reason why I have those skills is all because I'm where I am now." Getting up the mountain is easy and requires some hardship at best, but if you want to get down before the sun goes down, you'll have to go freefall. ”

Mrs. Shelley was worried when she heard this, for her early years with Shelley had taught her a lot of dirty things about politics.

She asked softly, "Are things already that bad?" ”

Arthur was noncommittal about this, but replied thoughtlessly: "Madam, in this world, no one will seize power in order to abolish it. Power is not a means, but an end. ”

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, he heard heavy footsteps on the stairs.

The footsteps were noticeably slower than the sound of Edward rushing upstairs just now, sounding cautious.

Not long after, Arthur saw a white dress outside the door of the living room, it was a slender and weak girl held in Edward's arms.

The prolonged paralysis in bed gave her skin an unhealthy pale, and her dark brown hair was combed into an elegant bun coiled at the back of her head.

Compared to the elaborate dresses often worn by other ladies, her dress looked very simple, with no wide skirts or small decorations, just a comfortable and loose dress with long sleeves and a high neck.

Despite her limited mobility, Elizabeth smiled and nodded gently to the guests.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Shelley. I liked the copy of "Prometheus Liberated" that you gave me last time, and it is a different perspective of Mr. Shelley's original Aeschylus "Prometheus Bound". I could barely tell which one I preferred, and I kept both books at my bedside and read them again every night before I went to bed. ”

Mrs. Shelley breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this, and she stood up with a smile and said, "Elizabeth, it is a great relief to see that you are so obsessed with literature. When I first met you at the Church of the Faithful, your condition was so worrying that I was afraid that you would do something stupid. ”

Edward hugged his sister and gently placed her on the sofa chair, and then said, "It's all thanks to you for recommending 'The British', it's such an interesting story." Although the poetry of "Blackwood" is elegant, it can always make people depressed if they read too much. But "The British" is different, there are many stories about the fields, cities, countryside and foreign places, and each one is very interesting to read, and people feel that they can't get enough of it. ”

Speaking of which, Edward didn't forget to ask Arthur: "Mr. Hastings, I have always wanted to ask you why the "Hastings Detective Collection" has not been updated recently, and I am still waiting to see the ending of the perfume murder case." ”

When Arthur heard this, he smiled and replied, "I can't hide it, Edward, not only you, but even I have been waiting for the end of this case." ”

"Huh?" Edward was surprised, "You mean, you haven't thought about the next plot yet?" You don't know how to arrange for that perfume merchant to die? ”

"Hmm......" Arthur recalled the image of Bernie Harrison before his death, and nodded slightly, "Sort of." ”

Seeing her brother chasing after her, Elizabeth hurriedly whispered, "Edward, this is too rude. ”

When Edward heard his sister say this, he was not immediately discouraged, but turned to Arthur and asked.

"Mr. Hastings, the ...... You...... Actually, my sister also wrote a lot of literary things, and you may not know it, but she started writing poetry at the age of four. We both received the same governess education when we were young, but she was much better at learning than I did, and at the age of thirteen she wrote a four-volume epic poem, The Battle of the Marathon, of which my father was so proud that he paid someone to print fifty copies and give them away. You happen to be here right now, why don't I go and show you that book?" ”

"Edward!"

Elizabeth endured it for a long time, but when she heard that her brother was going to show her clumsy work to the famous author of "The British", she immediately interrupted her brother with a blushing face.

Seeing the annoyance in his sister's bright eyes, Edward smiled and touched the back of his head and stepped aside: "Okay...... Maybe next time there will be a chance. I'll go see if the snacks are ready, so let's talk slowly. ”

As soon as Edward's figure disappeared into the living room, he heard Ida say in surprise, "Is this the relationship between siblings?" I would also like a brother if I could, and he seems to care about you. ”

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief, she stared at Ada, who was as bright as a rose, and the emotions that had just been relieved suddenly rippled again: "Edward is indeed a warm-hearted person, in the past, when I was in good health, we brothers and sisters would often ride horses and cook on the manor. It is indeed a blessing to be born in the same family as him. Don't you have such brothers and sisters? ”

Ida blinked, "Listen to my mother, I used to have a half-sister, but she died when she was five years old. I also have a cousin who, like you, is also called Elizabeth. I've met her a few times, but we're not familiar with each other. ”

"Don't you often associate with your relatives?"

Ida shook her head as if she didn't care: "I actually want to associate with them, but every time I meet them, my mother looks very sad, as if she remembers a lot of unbearable memories." So, since I found out about this, I rarely asked my mother to take me to meet my relatives. ”

When Mrs. Shelley heard this, it was as if she had heard herself.

She shook Ada's hand and said, "Ada, you don't have to. I'm sure your mom thinks it's your happiness that is more important than memories. Memories are things from the past, and since they are in the past, let them pass. That's all for my generation, and it's not about your generation. ”

Ida felt the love that flowed from Mrs. Shelley, but she only felt uncomfortable.

The rebellious young lady said truthfully: "Madam, if it's someone else, forget it. But that cousin of mine, Elizabeth Medora Lee, was the daughter of my aunt, Augusta Lee. ”

As soon as Ida finished saying this, Arthur, who was drinking tea, choked and coughed.

According to the gossip rumors learned from Elder Ed, this Augusta Lee and Byron are not only brother and sister, but also a pair of lovers. And the reason why Byron married Ada's mother, Mrs. Milbank, was to cover up the incest scandal.

And Byron will go to Greece because this scandal is finally revealed, so that he can no longer stay in Britain. From this point of view, there is a certain reason why Ida does not go to see her cousin.

(End of chapter)