The sky over Kensington Palace was cloaked in a thin veil of mist, and, as usual, Arthur arrived promptly at the Rose Hall.
He removed his gloves and coat, handing them over along with his silver-adorned cane to the Kensington Palace attendant responsible for collecting guests’ clothing.
He was just about to retrieve the teaching materials from his calfskin bag, but soon noticed that the atmosphere at Kensington Palace felt different from usual today.
The two young maids, who always giggled at the staircase corner, were uncharacteristically silent today. The three ladies walked by without uttering a word, the maids averted their gazes, and even the usually cheerful, plump cook responsible for serving tea seed a bit less amiable.
The entire palace was infused with a chill, and a whiff of the air revealed an overwhelming sense of tension and awkwardness.
Arthur frowned slightly and, taking advantage of Victoria’s absence, excused himself to step outside for so sun. As he walked towards the Rose Hall’s exterior, he encountered a familiar face.
It was a certain lady he had grown quite close to recently; in other words, his distant cousin, Miss Flora Hastings.
Today, Flora was dressed particularly formally, her purple-brown official long dress nearly obscuring her figure. Her hair was ticulously styled, yet her deanor betrayed a subtle weariness.
Arthur nodded slightly, "Good morning, Flora. Kensington seems quieter than usual this morning."
"You noticed?" Flora forced a smile, her voice tinged with a heavy fatigue, "It seems Leisen was right, you’re indeed a perceptive gentleman."
"Growing up in the countryside, my sense of sll may be dull, but my ears are often sharp," Arthur said half-jokingly, "Has sothing happened at the palace?"
Flora looked at him, her gaze sowhat hesitant.
But she quickly realized that this gentleman was not only the Crown Prince’s tutor now but also a mber of the Hastings family, her dear cousin. Not to ntion, he had just helped her family resolve a tricky matter. Emotionally and logically, she had no reason to withhold from him.
Seeing her hesitation, Arthur took off his hat and apologized, "It was presumptuous of to ask, Miss Hastings. You may as well consider here purely for the class today."
"Ah, don’t misunderstand," Flora gazed at her cousin, feeling slightly uneasy, her face inexplicably blushing, "I... I just haven’t adjusted my thinking yet. Please forgive ; I never imagined you’d actually turn out to be my distant cousin."
Arthur didn’t hold it against her and simply chuckled softly, "That’s not your fault. Our familial ties are indeed distant. If traced back, it would lead to the eighth Earl of Huntingdon, which spans three generations."
Flora naturally rembered this as well, given that her younger brother, the Marquis of Hastings, had mobilized the entire family to ascertain Arthur’s lineage. It took a full two weeks to unravel the situation.
According to the lineage, Flora and the father of the second Marquis of Hastings, the first Marquis of Hastings, whose uncle was the tenth Earl of Huntingdon, who was the son of the ninth Earl of Huntingdon, who were brothers.
This lineage reveals that the eighth Earl of Huntingdon had no legitimate heirs, but this did not prevent him from having an illegitimate child.
This illegitimate child was nad Henry Hastings. Although he was not the eighth Earl’s legitimate heir, he grew up in the Hastings family at Leighton Manor in West Yorkshire, raised by the eighth Earl’s sister, Elizabeth Hastings.
Because of this, Henry Hastings received a fine education from a young age and served as the financial director of the York Christian Knowledge Dissemination Association upon reaching adulthood.
Arthur’s uncle, the York gentleman, was precisely the younger son of the illegitimate Henry Hastings.
"Indeed, it’s distant," Flora echoed softly, but with a slight, awkward smile at the corners of her mouth, "It’s a pity; if we’d figured this out earlier, you might have contested the inheritance rights to the Earl of Huntingdon title back in 1819."
Arthur laughed and shook his head, "Inheritance rights are sothing I’ve never considered. After all, if I were to take my seat in the House of Lords, I might not enjoy the sa freedom as I do now."
Flora, upon hearing this, lowered her head and chuckled lightly, "You have an open outlook. Others would have brandished the tiniest hint of kinship to flaunt all around."
Speaking of this, Flora suddenly paused again. She rembered the first ti she heard in the palace that Arthur was coming to teach, she rely thought he was another climber relying on recomndation letters. But after spending six months together, it was really hard for her not to change her opinion.
This Dean of Academic Affairs from the University of London possessed true talent and gentlemanly manners, helping Kensington Palace several tis, yet she had never heard him ask the Duchess for any reward or special treatnt.
Even when the Duchess intended to raise his salary to 1400 pounds, Arthur strongly refused, only reluctantly agreeing to increase it to 1200 pounds after much insistence, and he repeatedly stressed that 1200 pounds was already sufficient, and it should not be raised any further in the future.
After he acknowledged his ancestry, he never sought any benefit under the na of the Hastings Family; instead, he helped solve the troubles of his cousin Charles Hastings by actively arranging a position for him at the University of London.
Such a person, even without family help, was already a knight.
In ti, Flora believed, he would almost certainly beco the first noble of a certain title.
Thinking about this, Flora’s tone softened considerably: "At the ti, I just wanted to confirm if you truly have a blood relation with us, but unexpectedly..."
"Unexpectedly I’m real?"
"And unexpectedly, I would co to like the way this halfway relative speaks." Flora chuckled softly, "Although... you sotis talk in circles, making it really hard to grasp."
"Then... since you don’t like speaking this way, Flora, let ask plainly," Arthur teased, "Kensington Palace couldn’t have lost the writing box again, could it?"
Flora glanced around slightly until she confird no other attendants were near, then slowly said, "Last night, there was a disturbance in Windsor. His Majesty the King and His Majesty Leopold caused quite an ugly scene at the banquet."
"Hmm?" Arthur was imdiately interested: "Did they draw guns?"
Flora found her cousin’s wild guess amusing and annoying: "Don’t talk nonsense, neither His Majesty has that little grace, it was rely a simple argunt."
Arthur raised an eyebrow: "I don’t think arguing in front of all guests is very graceful, at least drawing swords or guns has a bit of knightly spirit."
"Perhaps." Flora sighed, "The cause of the argunt between the two majesties was a glass of water. You might not know this, but His Majesty Leopold never drinks wine."
"Oh..." Arthur unconsciously pinched his chin, "I think I know where the problem lies. Generally, it’s nothing not to drink alcohol, but that was at His Majesty the King’s banquet. He allowed no one to drink water at his banquet."
Flora nodded slightly, "When His Majesty the King asked His Majesty Leopold what wine he drank, upon hearing ’just water,’ his face darkened imdiately. Considering their poor relationship, His Majesty probably felt His Majesty Leopold was intentionally targeting him, but due to many guests present, he tolerated it a bit and asked again: ’Majesty, what exactly will you drink? We never host guests who only drink water here.’ But His Majesty Leopold rely replied: ’Water is fine, Majesty. It’s my habit, nothing contrary to court etiquette.’"
At this point, Flora couldn’t help but pause slightly.
As for Arthur, just imagining it, he knew how stormy the ensuing scene was.
Flora recalled the scene and felt frightened: "At that ti, His Majesty the King’s eyebrows were raised, he was practically roaring: ’Damn etiquette! Majesty, to co as a guest to Windsor and not drink, I’ve never seen such an absurd thing!’ His Majesty Leopold kept insisting: ’Perhaps it’s my fault, but I have never drunk and have not troubled anyone because of it.’ Then His Majesty the King suddenly stood up and threw the wine glass on the ground: ’Trouble! Majesty, your sister, and her arrogant steward, along with those unauthorized trips and stupid salutes! Your family is quite enough for !’"
Even Arthur, who caused the Caucasus incident, couldn’t help but change his expression upon hearing this.
King William IV’s words were even more shocking than what he said in front of Tsar Nicholas I; at its mildest, this was a monarch’s loss of decorum, at worst, it was already a diplomatic incident.
Arthur asked, "Did Queen Adelaide not try to persuade His Majesty the King at the ti?"
"Of course she did, but it was ineffective. At that ti, His Majesty was already enraged, and no words could reach him." Flora trembled slightly, "At that ti His Majesty Leopold was also a bit scared, trying to ease the atmosphere, he said: ’Majesty, these are all small matters, not worth your great anger.’ But His Majesty the King, hearing this, beca even more furious: ’Small matters? Oh, yes, from your Coburg family’s perspective, these are indeed small matters! After all, your relatives, especially those young princes, co to London one after another, and my niece is being instilled with what kind of thoughts? Maybe wearing the Belgian crown makes you feel all right, but the British crown, I’m not prepared to take off and hand over in advance! Damn it!’"
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