Chapter 50 The road from the suburbs back to the city center...
On their way back to the city center from the suburbs, Mary and Richard were still pondering who the mastermind behind those two thugs was. Was it the craftsman who had seen the rough stone? A crew member from the merchant ship? Or perhaps the merchant who had traveled with them on that trip?
Richard couldn't figure it out, so he decided to get a full complement of servants upon returning home; at the very least, his and his sister's safety needed to be guaranteed. He hoped to receive good news from General Maxwell!
As the carriage approached Hyde Park, Mary spotted the man she had met once before—the gentleman she had chatted with about ancient Greek sculptures at the British Museum. He was riding along the road, and when he saw Mary leaning out of the window, he spurred his horse forward, and the carriage slowly came to a stop.
The gentleman dismounted and greeted the young lady. Seeing his rich attire, Mary couldn't help but guess that this gentleman might be someone of great importance: "Sir, we didn't introduce ourselves when we met last time. How do you know my name?"
Mr. Spencer smiled and said, “I’m very sorry, Miss, my name is William Spencer, and as for you, your companions at the museum have already revealed your name.”
His eyes were deep black, sharp, and his facial features were well-defined. So, in Mary's eyes, when he smiled on his usually cold face, it was as if an iceberg had suddenly melted.
But in Richard's view, although Mr. Spencer apologized verbally, his air of superiority suggested he was used to others following his orders; he was merely apologizing out of politeness and didn't seem genuinely embarrassed. After the introductions, Mr. Spencer didn't say much to Richard, as if he had only come to formally meet Mary.
As the gentleman rode away, Richard couldn't help but say, "I don't like his airs. I've seen plenty of arrogant guys like that lately. I'd bet he's the kind of person who spends all his money on safari. And that horse of his looks like it's some kind of pedigree."
“Richard, this is clearly male jealousy. Just admit it. The biggest blow Mr. Spencer has dealt you is the horses he rides,” Mary teased her brother with a smile. “If he were riding an ordinary horse, you certainly wouldn’t care about his attitude as much as you do now.”
When they arrived at Grosvenor Square, the brother and sister were still joking about the little incident and asking the general's wife and Anne to help judge the matter.
Hearing their discussion, the general's wife boldly guessed that the gentleman might be Earl Spencer's nephew, but after a moment she dismissed her guess, thinking that perhaps the man was just a distant relative of the Spencer family.
After chatting for a while, Richard and General Maxwell went to the study to discuss the important matter. General Maxwell was quite amazed by Richard's luck.
However, this news was not as simple as the two young men thought. Even if they told this news to a big shot, they would still inevitably have to deal with the Marquis of Hastings.
General Maxwell had no prior dealings with the Marquess, their political views differed, and the Marquess himself was currently in India, making it impossible for him to speak with him on this matter. However, his friend, General Crawford, had a good relationship with the Marquess and agreed to inquire with the Admiral for Richard, but advised him not to have too high hopes, as no one knew whether the Admiral would be willing to pay a high price for this information.
When Mary learned that she would eventually have to tell General Crawford, she was somewhat disappointed. Because of Henry Crawford, she didn't have a good impression of the general and could only wish Richard good luck.
A few days later, Richard was taken by General Maxwell to the general's residence. General Crawford's London residence was located not far away on Piccadilly, and the house was the most luxurious Richard had ever seen.
The enormous house was brightly lit and decorated with a large amount of gold leaf everywhere. Even the picture frames hanging on the walls seemed to be coated with gold powder, making the house even more magnificent.
When they explained their purpose to the general, the general immediately slapped his thigh: "Oh, oh, I see, the Marquis of Hastings is truly sitting on a mountain of treasures! I know what to do. We need to talk to the local princes together; those people are not easy to deal with."
As for the man who was following Richard, he was a nobody whom the general didn't take seriously at all.
In the course of his conversation, General Crawford had already considered the gem mine his for the taking. As for Richard, the general hadn't completely forgotten him: "What a lucky lad. I vaguely remember the surname Price. Wasn't that lad you promoted before also Price?"
General Maxwell immediately informed the general that Richard was indeed Lieutenant Price's brother.
“Oh, yes, I’ve met him. He’s a great lad. He’s still a lieutenant? I think he could easily be promoted to captain someday, don’t you think, Edward? I remember the commander’s position on the ‘Diana’ is currently vacant,” General Crawford said with a smile.
General Maxwell understood, exchanged a few more pleasantries with the general, complained about the recent political situation, and then quickly got up to take his leave.
Upon leaving General Crawford’s mansion, General Maxwell had to make things clear to his young friend: “Unfortunately, Richard, General Crawford is unwilling to pay cash for this news. In return, he will promote William to captain, and perhaps in the future, if the opportunity arises, he will push him to become a major.”
Richard gave a wry smile. The general had indeed paid, since it would cost five or six hundred pounds to buy a captain, but this was far from what he had expected. He wanted the price of a field officer (at least a thousand pounds). Only if the general could actually deliver on his promise in the future would it not be a loss.
They rode away from Piccadilly Street, when a luxurious carriage passed by and stopped in front of a grand mansion. The butler was already there with a group of servants to greet them, and the person who got out of the carriage was none other than Mr. Spencer, whom Richard had met with his sister last time.
Seeing Richard staring in that direction, General Maxwell assumed he was marveling at the nobleman's grandeur and took the initiative to introduce him: "That is the residence of the Duke of Devonshire. The one getting out of the carriage is the Duke of Devonshire, one of the kingdom's luckiest young men. I heard that His Highness returned to Chatsworth a few months ago, but I didn't expect him to be back already."
“The Duke of Devonshire!” Richard knew, of course, who the mansion belonged to, but he hadn’t expected that the “Mr. Spencer” he had met before would have such an identity. What purpose could such an important person have in hiding his identity and condescending to befriend him and Mary? Thinking of his sister’s rose-like face, Richard immediately wanted to leave Piccadilly Street.
To everyone's surprise, the Duke had already seen them when he got out of the car. He walked toward General Maxwell, who had once been one of the Duchess's insignificant admirers. One of the reasons he joined the Whig Party was because of that lady, so he naturally stepped forward to greet His Highness, and Richard had no choice but to follow closely behind.
To Richard's surprise, the Duke didn't seem to care about his identity being revealed. He even nodded to Richard and said, "Hello, Mr. Price. Please also give my regards to Miss Price, because I didn't tell her my real name last time I traveled without permission."
What an approachable prince! Although the duke still spoke with the same air as before, Richard's mindset had completely changed with the change in the important man's status.
When he was "Mr. Spencer," he was dissatisfied with his aristocratic manners; when he was "Duke of Devonshire," he found him utterly approachable.
Richard looked at the Duke with a flattered expression. The Duke of Devonshire had been used to being treated this way since he was a child, so the first two times he had suddenly thought of contacting Mary as an ordinary person. However, it seemed that fate was always against him. Miss Price's brother saw him, William Cavendish (for convenience, the abbreviation is used) thought to himself.
The Duke politely inquired what business they had on Piccadilly Street and whether they needed any assistance. General Maxwell, however, was filled with suspicion and was carefully considering how to broach the subject.
Young Richard couldn't help but tell the prince everything: from the thugs he and Mary had encountered on their last outing to what they had just discussed with General Crawford.
To his surprise, the Duke wasn't concerned about the presence of a high-quality sapphire mine in Kashmir; rather, he was astonished that Mary and her family had just escaped from thugs when they last met. Richard's description of the composed young woman in the face of danger filled him with admiration. He had just been regretting that Miss Price would treat him like any other lady, but now he knew of this different side of her.
Thinking of this, he blurted out, "We must catch such a criminal as soon as possible. It would be bad if he were cornered and did something rash. General Maxwell, please be sure to keep an eye on the security of the mansion during this time. I will send someone to inform you immediately if there is any news."
After bidding farewell to the Duke, the general said to Richard with a pleasant expression, "I didn't expect that you and Mary would actually get to know this sir. If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have needed to seek out General Crawford. Although His Highness doesn't have any close ties with the Marquis of Hastings, it's still much easier for him than for us insignificant people to deal with him. Now that they all know, it remains to be seen how these important figures communicate with each other. We just need to wait for news."
General Maxwell always described himself as a nobody, though his achievements were enough to earn him a knighthood; he simply lacked the connections to do so. His former brother-in-law was a spendthrift with no influence in the House of Lords. He himself was an insignificant Whig, with virtually no connection to the currently ruling Tories.
In this respect, General Crawford was much more flexible than him. Mr. Crawford was able to be successfully reintegrated into society not only because he was a man, but also because of his uncle.
Therefore, although General Maxwell was on good terms with the admiral, he was not without suspicion of him and was happy to see another important figure join the party.
When he and Richard returned to their home in Grosvenor Place, the smiles on their faces puzzled Mary. Could it be that the admiral was really such a kind person?
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