Chapter 2384 - 310: Court Scandal_2

Viscount Melbourne turned back and said, "Oh?"

Viscount Palmerston, holding a cigar, extracted a stack of papers from a brown envelope: "It’s not any top-secret documents, just some minor findings within the summary report of the coronation ceremony. You should know that Arthur Hastings did not appear in the parade on the morning of the coronation day, right?"

"I’ve already read his self-check report, and overall there’s no issue." Viscount Melbourne said with his hands behind his back: "Hastings claimed that he was inspecting the security arrangements in various key areas of London, so he couldn’t make it to Buckingham Palace on time. This matches the feedback report from the local police district of Scotland Yard."

Viscount Melbourne paused suddenly and asked with a frown, "You’re not suggesting that he colluded with the local police district to falsify feedback documents, are you?"

"Why bother going to such trouble?" Palmerston chuckled: "Given his current control over Scotland Yard, if he really wanted to fabricate such minor details, it would be tough for us to catch any of his flaws."

"Then why are you bothering with this?"

Palmerston pointed to the documents in front of him with a smile: "Look, he said he went to Paddington Station that morning, and the officers at Paddington Police Station confirmed it, didn’t they?"

Melbourne bent down to pick up the document, he looked over it several times but still found nothing suspicious: "William, I know you dislike Arthur, or rather, you deeply loathe him. However, we don’t always have to mix personal feelings with official duties. Can you tell me, what is wrong with these things?"

"Of course there’s nothing wrong, I even appreciate his honesty." Palmerston exhaled smoke and said: "Because I learned from Kensington Palace that Miss Flora Hastings also left Kensington Palace to return home for recovery that morning. Guess what, did she take a carriage or a train, and if it was a train, which station did she leave from?"

Melbourne felt a chill in his heart: "Are you saying? That morning Hastings went to see off..."

"Everything requires evidence, I don’t want to jump to conclusions." Palmerston raised his hand and said: "But many people can confirm that, on that day, the one responsible for escorting Miss Hastings to Paddington Station was indeed Sir Arthur Hastings’s private secretary, Mr. Henry Blackwell, and coincidentally our Sir Arthur also went to Paddington that day. What is that phrase Scotland Yard always says during investigations? Oh, right, there are no uncaused coincidences in this world."

Viscount Melbourne pondered: "But... Henry, as Arthur Hastings is a family elder of the Hastings family, whether his cousin is pregnant or sick, it seems reasonable for him to help take care of her, doesn’t it?"

"Reasonable, of course that’s reasonable." Palmerston laughed heartily: "After all, even when Miss Hastings is not sick, he visits Kensington Palace quite frequently. I’ve heard he even rides with Miss Hastings. William, in Britain, to privately ride with an unmarried lady, you should know what that implies, right? Many things, people understand implicitly, why spell it out too clearly?"

...

Bang!

In the spacious living room of Buckingham Palace, a porcelain plate fell to the ground, breaking into pieces with a clatter.

The Duchess of Kent sat in her chair with wide eyes, her fingers tightly gripping the edge of the table, and even her body was trembling slightly.

The maid stood cautiously beside her, trembling as she asked, "Your Highness, do you... need me to get a cleaner to tidy up?"

"Who is it?" The Duchess of Kent finally spoke, but her tone was filled with an uncontrollable anger and restraint: "Who is spreading gossip about Flora? How dare they speak so disrespectfully about a great lady of the Hastings family, a traditionally virtuous noble lady!"

The Duchess of Kent slammed her hands on the table, startling the maid with a jolt.

Bracing herself, the maid replied, "I don’t know exactly where the news came from. I accidentally overheard it while passing by the garden in the afternoon..."

The Duchess of Kent was trembling with anger: "Who else was there at the time?"

"There were..." The maid swallowed hard, already beginning to regret revealing the information to the Duchess: "I remember the Marchioness Lansdowne, the Duchess of Sutherland, Miss Tavistock, and... anyway, it was among Her Majesty’s ladies-in-waiting, they were having a tea party."

The Duchess of Kent turned to look at the maid, staring into her eyes as she asked, "What about Leisen? Was Leisen there at the time?"

The maid originally did not want to offend the Hanoverian female tutor who was gaining favor in the court, but under the Duchess of Kent’s pressing, she couldn’t withstand the pressure and confessed: "Lady Leisen, she was indeed among them..."

"I knew it was her! That Hanover witch! She’s always been jealous of Flora, ever since a long time ago! She’s not just targeting Flora; she’s targeting me too. That damned Hanover woman, how dare she slander Flora!"

The Duchess of Kent gritted her teeth: "I should have been ruthless years ago and kicked her out of Kensington Palace! If it weren’t for Leopold and the old sailor supporting her all along, how would things have gotten to this stage?!"

The Duchess of Kent, almost out of breath from anger, collapsed back into her chair, and the maid quickly presented her with fresh tea.

"Your Highness, what... what should we do now?"

The Duchess of Kent, holding her throbbing forehead, couldn’t even sip the tea before she urgently instructed: "Quickly, get the carriage ready, I must return to Kensington at once. Before things escalate, we still have a chance to salvage the situation, John... John surely has a way."

...

While undercurrents surged between the Prime Minister’s Office and Buckingham Palace, Sir Arthur, unaware of the grave trouble he was in, was sitting at the card table in the Athena Club enjoying leisure with a few old friends.

Eld, fiddling with his chips, took a moment to glance at Arthur: "Speaking of which, Arthur, where did you go that morning?"

"Which morning?" Arthur dismissed Eld’s words carelessly, "Are you talking about the morning when I didn’t wake you up, resulting in a scolding from Sir John Barrow?"

"I’m not that petty-minded." Eld sneered: "That old man Barrow can scold all he wants, at most he’ll just add something to my work report. If he really has the ability, he should just remove my position!"

Disraeli, while counting his cards, spoke up: "You should have been as bold in his presence. Last time I was handling matters at the Navy Department, you were more reverent before Barrow than you would be to God."

Riled by the jab, Eld immediately retorted: "Benjamin, you’re not any better! Come on, recite your speech in the Lower House last week, something like ’I unwaveringly support Sir Robert Peel’s views, any personal attacks against him are irresponsible prejudice.’"

Seasoned by years in the Lower House, Disraeli clearly wouldn’t get angry over such minor provocation: "You really should take a cue from the Whig Party, O’Connell’s insults were far worse at the time."

At this point, Disraeli shifted his focus to Arthur: "By the way, do you not intend to reconcile with the Whig Party at all? I’ve read the articles in ’The British’, ’Spark’, and ’Economist’, though I quite enjoy those attacks on the Whigs, Arthur, you needn’t go to such lengths on my behalf; if I genuinely wish to criticize them, I can handle it face-to-face in the Lower House. But you, after all, still need to earn a living at their hands."