Chapter 61: When The Call Ends (3)
It is noteworthy that in the court and aristocratic society, the custom of referring to a person of worth or excellence as a knight-errant, as the Romans did, is remarkable.
–Michel de Montaigne, <Essays>
Westminster Palace, located on the banks of the River Thames.
In front of this building, where the British Parliament and high-ranking officials gather, a strange protest had been taking place for several months.
The protestors occupied the road passing in front of the palace and the straight Westminster Bridge.
The bizarre sight of a group dressed in black occupying the bridge crossing the River Thames every day was enough to become a hot topic among the citizens of London who enjoyed rumors.
A group of about a hundred people evenly distributed among men, women, young, and old.
Unlike the workers who had recently increased their protests, they did not shout or chant slogans.
They simply held signs and glared quietly at Westminster Palace.
However, members of Parliament and Cabinet ministers watching from the window felt an inexplicable dread. <The telephone is the invention of the Heavenly Demon Diablo.>
<Ban the use of telephones.>
It hasn’t been long since the telephone began to be distributed with Queen Victoria’s permission, and there haven’t been any incidents or accidents due to its existence.
Nevertheless, they continue to protest against the distribution of telephones every day for some reason.
The phrases written on their signs as reasons for opposing the use of telephones were quite religious.
<Conversing as if two distant people are nearby is an attempt to encroach on the domain of the Omnipresent Lord.>
The eyes of those continuing the anti-telephone protests, invoking the evil entity known as the Heavenly Demon and even gods, had a peculiar madness.
Even when approached by a newspaper reporter for coverage, they remained silent like monks in meditation, offering no response.
William Harcourt, the Home Secretary, who was tracking the link between the telecommunications industry and the protesters, also sent spies to follow them, but yielded no substantial results.
He only confirmed that the protesters were followers of a harmless new religion with unusual teachings.
Of course, it was impossible to disband the protesters just because they attended a church of a different denomination than the state church.
Under the reign of Queen Victoria, the British Empire was enjoying an unprecedented golden age, and everyone living in London enjoyed freedom of religion.
The fact that no one openly criticized those following the Buddhist teachings spread by the rangers of Kingswood was due to this reason.
In this situation, there was no way to crack down on a peculiar new religion leading the uneducated astray.
Unless they caused serious harm to others’ lives and property like the Blood Cult, a cult once exiled to Australia.
They only stopped protests once a week to gather at the church for worship, showing no other significant movements.
The priest in charge of preaching was a young, seemingly decent man wearing glasses, but the Home Secretary’s spy used a peculiar term when reporting about him.
Unwitting Conman.
According to the report, this meant a fool who inadvertently led followers astray by interpreting the scriptures independently.
A trifling matter not worth noting.
The Home Secretary assessed the cult leader of the Church Of Asteroid in such a way and decided not to concern himself with that small church called the Church Of Asteroid.
This did not change even after Sherlock Holmes apprehended the culprit behind the series of murders associated with the telephone, which began several months into the protests.
The protesters occupying the Westminster Bridge disappeared before anyone knew it.
So it was perfectly natural for officials, including the Home Secretary, to completely forget about the existence of the Church Of Asteroid.
As a result, when Secretary Harcourt departed from Westminster Palace for Buckingham Palace at 3 p.m., the report he had prepared contained only a single line mentioning the protesters.
This was perfectly in line with the intentions of the cult leader of the Church Of Asteroid, but among the political figures who were relieved that the serial murder case had been resolved, no one noticed this fact.
Westminster, home to the sovereign
Queen Victoria, in Buckingham Palace.
A man was walking down the luxurious corridor leading to The State Rooms of the Queen’s office.
Owing to his radical political views,
which frequently drew the Queen’s disfavor, it was not Prime Minister Gladstone who was summoned, but rather the Home Secretary, William Vernon Harcourt.
The royal attendant, having confirmed his distinctive physique and face, knocked on the door of the office.
“Sir William Harcourt, the Home Secretary, has arrived.”
“Bring him in.”
As the Queen’s butler, who had been attending to the tea service, responded,
a footman pushed open the heavy wooden doors with both hands.
“William Harcourt
pays his respect to Your Majesty.”
As he bowed and entered,
he saw Queen Victoria, dressed in a robe with wide sleeves, sipping tea.
The cup she held was a blue-gray bell-shaped cup turned upside down, called a Bell cup.
“Thank you for coming. How about a cup of tea?”
It was the first time the Queen offered tea in her office.
Harcourt was not foolish enough to not know what that meant.
-Gulp.
Home Secretary Harcourt unconsciously swallowed his saliva.
The cup, along with the teapot without a cosy next to it, is a masterpiece tea set named General Guan from the Wedgwood workshop.
The tea it holds never cools,
one of the treasured relics of the House of Hanover.
Offering tea brewed in General Guan to a
visitor means the Queen is in an exceptionally good mood.
Harcourt knew well the reason for that.
The incident that disturbed
the Queen like a thorn in her side was finally resolved.
The serial murder case that could have hindered the spread of the telephone
and tarnished the majesty of the Crown was brought to an end by none other than the Little Heavenly Demon Sherlock Holmes.
A debutante
that caught the Queen’s eye at the Debutante Ball.
“My desire to receive the cup from Your Majesty is as great as Ben Nevis1, but today I must humbly ask you to withhold the teacup.”
“Ahem.”
The Queen’s voice
was calm yet firm.
Nevertheless, Harcourt remained unyielding.
“Why do you refuse the offered tea and choose to receive the punitive tea?”
“There is someone else who should receive that cup.”
“…I almost misunderstood you.”
The sharply raised
eyebrows of the Queen lowered.
The face smiling gently again was clearly satisfied.
“I intend to personally bestow a great reward upon the Little Heavenly Demon. However, it was by your hand that he was employed with such masterful discernment. Should I fail to commend this,
there will be those who question the fairness of the Crown’s dispensation of merit.”
“……”
“If you wish not to disgrace my honor, you should quickly accept this cup.”
Only then did Harcourt bow his head politely with a relieved face and accept the teacup.
“Your grace is immeasurable.”
After drinking the precious elixir tea that only royalty can even touch, the Home Secretary left the office after delivering a detailed report on the incident.
The Queen, satisfied that the matter of the serial murders had been resolved before rumors could spread through the streets, allowed a faint smile to grace her lips.
The spread of the telephone will continue smoothly in the future.
Watching her beloved Britain progress day by day was her greatest joy.
“…By the way, was he said to be Gladstone’s right-hand man? A man of some substance, it seems.”
Watching the back of the disappearing Home Secretary, William Harcourt, beyond the open door,
the Queen muttered.
It is not easy to refuse a teacup offered by the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Especially if the reason was to recognize someone’s merit who was neither a noble nor a prominent public figure.
“I heard he’s not an easy man, yet he moved the Prime Minister’s heart to this extent.”
The Queen recalled the face of the young gentleman who had embarrassed her at the Debutante Ball.
A man for whom the phrase ‘Out of the Blue’ was not undeserved, surpassing his teacher, the Heavenly Demon, in unexpectedly irritating people.
“Poppins.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
When the queen called, her Woman of the Bedchamber, Melanie Poppins, who carried out her most secret orders, pulled back the screen and appeared.
For a long time
Poppins, who had served the Queen, was one of the most trusted confidantes of Queen Victoria along with three spiritual creatures.
“Contact the Duchess of Bedford and adjust the grade of the court ball invitation to be sent to the Little Heavenly Demon.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
As usual,
Poppins immediately answered the Queen’s command, but it was difficult to hide her inner agitation.
Elizabeth Russell, in other words, the Duchess of Bedford, was the Mistress of the Robes, the highest-ranking lady attending Victoria, responsible for clothing and all other ceremonial matters.
Sending out invitations for the Buckingham Palace Ball, held every spring, was also the role of the Mistress of the Robes.
And,
even in the long history of the British monarchy, it was an unprecedented occurrence for the rank of an invitation to be altered for a mere gentleman, rather than a nobleman.
“Would the Hundred Steps Invitation suffice?”
The Queen answered.
“A Hundred Steps is too far.”
“Then the Thirty Steps Invitation—”
“Ten Steps Invitation.”
“…?”
Poppins, who was astonished, seemed indifferent, and
Queen Victoria continued.
“No. The Seven Steps Invitation would be better.”
For someone who is not a hereditary noble to receive an invitation to the court ball is an honor that will remain with the family for generations.
Even if the bestowed invitation is the Hundred Steps Invitation
to meet the Queen from a hundred steps away, this fact does not change.
However, issuing the Seven Steps Invitation to a debutant like him, allowing him to approach within seven steps at the royal court ball.
“Shall I send the Seven Steps Invitation to both Little Heavenly Demon and the Discharged Medical Maiden?”
“Make sure the Discharged Medical Maiden stays Fifty Steps away.”
“I will carry out your orders promptly.”
But as a lady of the court,
it is impossible not to follow Her Highness’s wishes.
Poppins bowed deeply and exited the office.
“……”
After a brief silence, left alone,
the Queen’s lips formed a gentle curve as she sang the detective’s name.
“Sherlock Holmes…”
The disciple of the man who handed her defeat.
She eagerly awaited the day they would meet again.
- ED: Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. It stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William. The mountain's name can translate to either "cloudy mountain" or "venomous mountain". ️