The Shadow of Great Britain

The past, present, and future of British foreign policy is: to maintain Britain's position as the arbitrator of Europe, and subsequently as the arbitrator of the world. Whether this position can be sustained will depend on Britain's economic and military strength.

——Viscount Palmerston, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, at the 1831 Privy Council meeting before the King

Today's weather in Paris is clear, with a blue sky stretching endlessly without a cloud in sight.

From the north bank of the Seine River, although it's still early morning, it's already possible to see quite a few dock workers moving goods from ships like ants, and vendors along the quay selling food.

The several major bridges over the Seine River, be it the Pont Royal, the Pont du Louvre, or the Pont des Arts, are all crowded with carriages going back and forth. To ensure the food supply for restaurants in central areas like the Saint-Germain district, these agricultural product buyers from the outskirts of Paris usually have to start their day early.

It's only by doing this that they can just manage to deliver ingredients from the suburbs to city center areas like the Saint-Germain district, which is inhabited by the middle class and high society, before breakfast via major thoroughfares like Louis XIV Avenue and Montmartre Street.

At this moment, Arthur is leaning against the stone railing on the Pont Neuf, with a pipe in his mouth, scrutinizing the various carriages passing by him.

Although this bridge is called the Pont Neuf, it is actually the oldest bridge in all of Paris now.

This bridge spans both banks of the Seine River, 278 meters long and 20 meters wide, and it was constructed during the reign of Henry IV starting in 1578.

Its eastern section crosses the main channel of the Seine River, leading to the Paris City Hall.

The western section crosses a small tributary connecting to the Île de la Cité, leading to the most chaotic area in all of Paris.

However, even though the Pont Neuf is just a bridge, it's unclear whether Parisians are naturally picky, having to involve art in everything they do, even building a bridge.

The piers of this bridge are densely covered with various mask sculptures, ranging from mythological figures like the sea god Poseidon and the god of wine Dionysus to fantastical creatures like winged elves, sharp-toothed demons with horns, and of course, human faces, including nobles, merchants, peasants, and soldiers.

These sculptures also reveal that this bridge was indeed built in the late sixteenth century, as this is a typical style of French Renaissance sculpture.

Of course, with Arthur's level of art appreciation, it's probably hard for him to distinguish between the Italian Renaissance style and the French Renaissance style.

Even if Agares earnestly critiques and explains the differences to him, Arthur's mind is not focused on that at all.

Taking advantage of Agares's endless chatter, Arthur finally determined that there are a total of 381 mask sculptures on the bridge.

As a British diplomat, especially one involved in the Kaidao Sai Mansion assassination plot and the Young Italy expedition, Arthur should theoretically not have the leisure to indulge in the foolish task of counting sculptures.

The only reason he has such time is that the current development of affairs is temporarily favorable, so he doesn't need to intervene clumsily to help.

With the help of Prosecutor Dubris, many names of Royalist members have been mixed into the Young Italy's roster. According to the French Government's regulations, this group of Young Italy followers must leave France within a specified time, and if they refuse to leave, the government will specially dispatch escort vehicles to send them to the border between France and Switzerland.

As for Thiers, this newly-appointed Home Secretary has also fulfilled his promise. As long as the Royalists do not continue to stir up trouble, the French Home Office will not leave them without any escape route.

Just last week, after Paris Police hastily caught a few criminals, they were in a rush to send them to court for sentencing, and then quickly announced that the Kaidao Sai Mansion explosion case had been solved, fearing that dragging the case out would provoke the King's anger and scrutiny of their inefficient handling.

In this regard, Paris Police are not much different from London Police. Although their law enforcement methods differ, their attitude towards cases converges — no one is concerned about the truth, as long as the case can be concluded normally.

After meeting with Mr. Feng Kromeier of Austria, who was tight on funds and deep in debt, Mr. Kromeier readily agreed to Arthur and Schneider's request.

After all, according to what Arthur and Schneider said, Kromeier wouldn't need to expend money or heart power in operating a bank. He only needs to send an intelligence document to Vienna to easily earn tens of thousands of Francs.

To him, it poses no risk and could even significantly benefit his career.

If Young Italy really did launch an expedition in Northern Italy, and the Austrian intelligence department MIB, headquartered in Mainz, happened to value the report submitted by him, then Mr. Kromeier would naturally be credited greatly for his role in this action to counter Italian nationalists.

And if Young Italy launched an expedition and the Mainz intelligence office neglected his intelligence, Kromeier would be all the more pleased. This would undoubtedly count as a major intelligence oversight, and someone would have to take responsibility for it, at least the person in charge of intelligence concerning France would definitely have to resign.