The Shadow of Great Britain

Arthur saw that Garibaldi took the initiative to join the conversation, smiled and poured him another glass of wine: "Giuseppe, that's your stereotype to blame. There are occasionally good people among diplomats. Of course, I'm not referring to myself."

Arthur's timely joke quickly won Garibaldi's favor, and he was planning to chat a bit more with Arthur.

Unexpectedly, the drunken Great Dumas butted in: "Wait, don't you want to know what happened with my 'Vendee Notes'?"

Arthur took a deep breath and helplessly glanced at the Great Dumas.

This fat man was clearly really drunk, at this moment, the Earth had to revolve around him.

However, Garibaldi didn't mind this. He enthusiastically prompted the Great Dumas: "How did it go?"

The Great Dumas pompously adjusted his cravat, pacing back and forth across the room with his hands behind his back, occasionally raising one arm for emphasis.

"My report was taken very seriously by General Lafayette. Not only did he personally comment on it, he also forwarded it to the Ministry of Religious Affairs on the same day, and the Ministry made a speedy report to King Louis Philippe.

The next day, the King summoned me. Accompanied by General Lafayette, I went to the Tuileries Palace. Louis Philippe warmly shook my hand and talked to me about the time when I worked as a clerk under him. I reported my observations to him with great hope; he smiled and nodded as I spoke, and I thought that maybe, just maybe, France had found an enlightened ruler.

But at the end of the meeting, when I begged him to accept my farsighted recommendations and to implement the measures I proposed, to my utter shock, he lightly shook his head and insincerely told me: 'Politics, it is a rather complex and troubling duty. You should leave it to the King and the ministers. Remember, you are a poet, so you should go write your poetry.'

The Great Dumas was cursing as he spoke, and even those who couldn't understand French could hear the fat man's anger in his inflection.

As for Arthur, he was more surprised.

Until now, he only thought of the Great Dumas as a talented novelist and playwright, but now he realized that this black fat man was also someone who received the same 'yet go and write lyrics' remarks, akin to France's Liu Yong.

Thinking carefully, the fat man did indeed share some similarities with Liu Yong, such as their complicated and intimate relationships with women of the underworld. Hmm... both of these guys quite liked actresses. It seems that cultural figures all over the world are somewhat alike.

However, the Great Dumas's temperament was clearly much more explosive than Liu Yong's. With this fat man's way of acting, if he suffered Liu Yong's treatment, he would have exploded in anger and joined Mount Liang, maybe even earning the nickname 'Black Tornado' or something.

Garibaldi, hearing the Great Dumas's dramatic life story, couldn't help but yearn and said: "Mr. Dumas, you truly are one of France's most heroic figures. Although I also want to live a life dedicated to ideals like you, I can neither write poetry nor create plays. The only thing I can do in this life is to be a sailor. My first voyage was to Odessa, and my second voyage was to Rome. That time, my father accompanied me because I went on my first voyage secretly by myself, and he was worried. He believed that if his son was determined to be a sailor, why not let him, the old captain father, lead his son into the profession? It turned out he was right, he taught me everything he knew, and I indeed grew into a fine sailor."

Hearing this, the Great Dumas couldn't help but hold Garibaldi's hand and comfort him: "Giuseppe, the fact that your father was able to accompany you on your voyages already makes you better off than I."

Arthur gently coughed to bring the conversation back: "Giuseppe, so it was during your second voyage to Rome when you decided to join the Charcoal Party or Young Italy?"