The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 730 - 350 Debauched Father_2

Great Dumas angrily said, "Arthur, you must not be led astray by others. Both you and Hugo are very upright people, and I cannot say that your viewpoints are wrong. However, for a vigorous French gentleman, having a lover is a very normal thing. As for that child, it was entirely an unfortunate accident."

Moreover, I already gave that female seamstress a sum of money to take the child back to the countryside to live their peaceful life. Because someone like me cannot possibly have family encumbrances. As you know, since I was wanted by the authorities due to the revolution, would it have been a wise choice to have the mother and child dodging and hiding with me?"

Arthur nodded slightly and said, "I suppose you have a point, but haven’t you settled down now?"

Great Dumas snorted, "Yes, I have settled down, but you can’t guarantee that I won’t fall back into that state of being pursued again tomorrow."

"Alexander."

"What is it?"

Arthur took a puff of his cigarette, "You seem to have forgotten what your friend does for a living. Perhaps I can’t escape a bullet’s fate myself, but as long as I’m still breathing, you and your family are safe in London. If you’re worried about the safety of the mother and child, then you are really underestimating my capabilities."

Great Dumas was so choked by Arthur’s words that he couldn’t speak.

He pointed at Arthur and glared at him for a long time before he finally managed to say, "Arthur! Why are you so concerned about my feelings? Had I not known that you’ve never left Britain since you were born, I would have thought that child was yours!"

Arthur, laughing, responded, "Alexander, you flatter me; I couldn’t produce such a fine son. That, indeed, is the greatest work of your life. It only took one night, yet it was both high-quality and efficient."

Great Dumas slapped his forehead, "Damn! Are you mocking me?"

Arthur shrugged and, crossing his legs, unfolded the newspaper, "If you don’t want similar tragedies to happen again, I advise you to pop into the store next to the butcher’s the next time you go out for entertainment."

"What would I do there?"

Arthur yawned, "I heard from Fiona that they usually sell condoms made from sheep intestines there, and if you can’t accept that, you could opt for the ones made of linen. Fiona’s girls often buy them in large quantities, and they told her that this product is very effective in preventing unfortunate incidents."

Great Dumas, his face turning red, asserted, "Civilized people do not engage in such things!"

Arthur, cleaning his ears, said, "You’re talking about last century’s civilized people; this century’s civilized folks don’t see it that way. At least preachers like Malthus and Mr. Price, the contraception advocates, are all for it. The ’Westminster Review’ even specifically opened a column recently to advertise these items."

Great Dumas raised an eyebrow and challenged, "Hmm? I recall you really detest Malthus and Price. At the last editorial department dinner, we even collectively cursed these ’Principle of Population’ supporters. Have you just switched sides because utilitarianism is all the rage in Britain now?"

Arthur nodded, "I neither like nor dislike Malthus. As a scholar, he just proposed his viewpoints. The ones I detest are people like Price, Mr. Bentham’s student, whose aggressive style of expressing his views and impatience to turn untested fantasies into reality almost makes me want to hit him with a stick. If what they propose is something grounded and humanitarian like promoting condoms, I don’t mind letting them."

Great Dumas sighed, "As expected, you can’t escape the police mindset. Arthur, listen to me, get out of there early, otherwise you’ll never develop the ideological awareness that matches your talents."

Arthur, not particularly caring, said, "Alexander, leave those ideological awareness to you. I’m fine at Scotland Yard. Although I may not have any awareness here, at least I can ensure to fish you out ashore if you fail at your enlightenment."

Great Dumas defiantly replied, "Say what you will, you can’t change the trend of the world’s changes."

"Trends of change?"

Arthur put down the newspaper and reflected for a moment, "Are you talking about Mr. Faraday’s electromagnetic induction or those new inventions by Charles? If those are what you mean, I never thought to stop them! I even wish they could change faster, so I wouldn’t have to think about returning to where I should go every day."

"That’s not what I’m talking about!"

Great Dumas banged on the table, "A year ago, could you have imagined that parliamentary reform had become the prevailing trend? That is the change in the world, that is the trend. A year ago, you still stood beside Duke Wellington, waving flags for the Tory Party!"

Upon hearing this, Arthur just chuckled softly, "Alexander, if you think that is change, then you are mistaken. In my view, parliamentary reform doesn’t indicate any change."

"Oh?" Great Dumas raised an eyebrow, "Are you telling me there has been universal suffrage in the history of Britain?"

Arthur shook his head, "Of course not, but what you see is only on the surface. The success or failure of parliamentary reform does not affect the essence of things. Whether in the past, the future, or the present, our society has always been composed of three classes."

The upper-class aims to maintain their status, the middle-class aims to swap places with the upper-class, and the characteristics of the lower-class have always been consistent. Working hard, they have no time to spare, and in their little free time, they can only deal with everyday trivial matters.

If they have any objectives, they aim to eliminate all distinctions and establish a society where everyone is equal. At that point, the middle class will claim to fight for freedom and justice, winning over the lower class to their side.

But once the middle class achieves their goals, they push the lower class back to their original places, transforming themselves into the upper class. Hence, over thousands of years, among these three classes, only the lower class has never achieved their goals, not even temporarily.

This time, the parliamentary reform might sound novel, but I don’t think its essence has changed. Rather than pinning your hopes on the conscience of the Whig Party, you’d better place Mr. Faraday on a pedestal. Or, let’s take a huge step back, you at least could have reimbursed the travel tickets for the mother and son, something within your capability."

Great Dumas had been all ears up to now, but when he heard about the tickets, he exclaimed, "Tickets? You mean, they are coming to London?"

Arthur nodded and smiled, "Alexander, don’t blame me; it was Mr. Hugo who paid for their tickets, and I think you have no reason to refuse them."

"Let your child see for himself what a talented playwright his father is, one who can drive the French mad and make the Britons cheer. Let’s show him how fantastic your ’Anthony’ premiere is!"

"Then, we can even arrange for ’Englishman’’s author to dine with him; maybe he accidentally catches some literary cells from Charles, Benjamin, Alfred, or even you!"

"This..."

Seeing him still hesitating, Arthur couldn’t help but remind him, "If you don’t do this, we’ll have to cancel the plans for Mrs. Dovar to come to London for the show. After all, it’s not easy to mitigate this incident’s impact in Paris, especially since Mr. Victor mentioned that some nosy Parisian journalists are also coming to London with them."

"And you know Mr. Vini has a significant influence in the Parisian literary circles; if you can’t silence him and he keeps fanning the flames, it could negatively affect the concentrated publication plan of ’Englishman’ in Paris. Alexander, I rarely ask for favors. But this time, for the sake of Francs, can’t you at least play along, just for appearances?"

"Sigh..."

Great Dumas struggled for a moment, then reluctantly agreed, "For the sake of friendship, I’ll reluctantly sacrifice my vanity."