Chapter 50: Chapter 50
I am sorry to disappoint you Mrs Taylor but I fear I am not a person of breeding nor
are many of the people he chooses to associate with. He is a man who enjoys the
company of ladies, and some of those ladies are not all that they should be.''
''I believe we do not want to hear any further reference to His Royal Highness, the
Prince of Wales. Perhaps the conversation could be turned to other subjects.''
''Oh mother, don't be so prudish! I'm sure Royal Persons do silly things, just
like everyone else. Look at that French Prince who got himself killed by Zulus. You
couldn't get anything sillier than that. Go on, Sir Thomas. We will tell you later
whether or not we believe you.''
''She's right, you know. History is littered with royal mistakes. Harold at Hastings and
Richard III on Bosworth Field both lost their lives because they couldn't wait for their
allies to arrive and assist them in their battles''
''That may be so, but it does not excuse us for speaking disrespectfully of Royal
Personages.''
''Ivy dear, don't become worked up. Just listen quietly to what Sir Thomas has to say,
then we can discuss other subjects.''
''You know my views Alfred, we must be respectful at all times to those whom God
has chosen to set above us in society. If we do not we are callenging God's order of the
universe, and if we do that what follows but disorder and ruin!!'
''Quite so, my dear, but the sooner Sir Thomas finishes his story the sooner we can
turn to other subjects.'
''Yes mother,'' said Amy, Let him speak, we can all denounce and abuse him later.
Sir Thomas sighed and moved on. ''Well, after that vote of confidence I will continue
my story. I was out one night with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, a sort of
unofficial bodyguard, he needed one from time to time. He decided he wanted to go
into a certain house on a certain London street and I pleaded with him not to.''
''Well, why not?''
''Because it wasn't a good idea..Imagine Ma Tarvin's house on a grander scale, cleaned
daily inside and out, interor walls walls decorated with pictures and scenes painted
directly on to plaster''
''What sort of pictures?''
''Amy, don't ask. I really think it's time you left the room.''
''Mother, in two weeks from now I will be a married woman. I will know some of the
secrets of marriage, and I am not leaving the room. I want to know how Sinbad the
Sailor here went into a house like Ma Tarvin's, with the Prince of Wales, and came out
a Knight Commander in the Order of St Michael and St George. It sounds pretty fishy
to me.''
''Well, listen, if you can stop talking for a while, and you'll know what happened, it's
my yarn, not yours.''
''Well, go on! Who's stopping you?''
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''You are. Now we had an argument and Eddy -- sorry, the prince won, because he is
the prince. It was a gambling house, they had a roulette and all the card games you
could want. They didn't mind which you gambled at as long as the house made a
profit.
We went in and had barely sat down with our cards and drinks in front of us when the
whistles started blowing, and the door crashed open. It was the police they had
decided to raid the house that very night.''
''Of course we all bolted for the back door, but the cops were there too and in the
confusion Eddy -- sorry, the prince was belted over the head and fell down.''
Mrs Taylor was sitting with her hands covering her face, she was moaning softly.
''Well, I picked him up and someone shot a light into our faces. The sergeant looked at
me and said, ''Is that who I think it is?'' He must have been on royal protection duties,
or seen him at a parade.
''It is,'' I said, ''And tomorrow I will get up in the police court and say that one of your
lads belted the future King of England over the head with a police truncheon,
knocking him to the ground? How do you think that will help your chances of
promotion?''
''Like hell, you will! Simpson, help this gentleman and his friend. Wills, you go outside,
and if there's anyone waiting to see what a police raid looks like, order them away,
tell them they'll be arrested for loitering. And get a cab while you're out there.''
''Well, we got away with it. A doctor bandaged the wound, kissed the spot and so on.
The papers carried a story that he had tripped while walking down the Strand and
injured his head. Not to worry he would soon be better and fit to resume his royal
duties.''
''And that's how you got the KCMG?''
''Not quite. There's a little more to the story. Someone went to the queen and told her
that her son had been knocked on the head during a brawl in a bawdy house, and
furthermore it happened in the company of that well known wastrel and man about
town, the notorious Captain Thomas Black.''
''This doesn't sound like a promising way to get a knighthood.''
''No, you're quite right. The queen summoned both of us to the palace and when we
got to the audience chamber she screamed at us for twenty minutes. You may know
that she blamed Eddy's wild and wasteful ways for bringing on the premature death
of her darling husband Albert. Anyway she told him to act like a prince, opening
bazaars, dedicating monuments, making speeches when a new sewage works burst
into life. All that sort of thing, to assure the taxpayers that they were getting good
value from the Royal Family.
As for me, the only way to get redemption after this unsavory episode where I lured
the prince into grave danger was to go out to India and get myself killed defending the
British Empire. But whatever happened I was never to see Eddy again
''Was it after this dressing down that she sent for her sword so you could kneel down
and be knighted?''
''No, that came later. I believe that the prince had a word with Dizzy, who was Prime
Minister at the time.
''Pardon me Sir Thomas, I think you are referring to the Honourable Benjamin
Disraeli who is our Prime Minister at the present time. If so my wife and I would
prefer you to use his proper title.''
''You are quite right Mr Taylor, and I apologise. I must learn to adapt my seafaring
ways to polite company.''
''Yes, I believe the prince spoke to Mr Disraeli and explained that I had not wanted
him to go into the house and that I had protected him after he was hit on the head. Mr
D waited until the queen calmed down and explained the circumstances to her. He
knew me quite well, of course. He also put my name down on the recommended list
for services to overseas British trade and, after some resistance, the queen eventually
tapped me on the shoulder, though I must say she didn't seem very gracious about it.
Now, if the saints Mike and George, as Miss Taylor names them, are in need of
assistance I'm their man.During the following a long time of the political race Mr Jobley got back to the hustings
with new power. His adherents had been worried at the gout assault that had
overwhelmed him during the earlier week. Anyway this issue had been survived,
by a meeting courier of the Lord, No one knew who the courier was, for sure
the message.might have been
Be that as it may, the visit was fruitful. Mr Jobley got back to assault his old foe, the alcohol
exchange, with new deluges of expressiveness. Everybody before long noticed another objective for what
was nearly misuse. He cruelly assaulted the offer of patent prescriptions with an extraordinary
accentuation on the insidiousness of Doctor Smith and the perils inborn in his marvel
fix, the Colonial Elixir.
His allies before long discovered that the devil drink was assaulting society in new pretense
with the support of corrupt quack healers like Doctor Smith.
He had approached the specialist in his rooms and begged him to pull out the remedy
from deal or possibly adjust its fixings.
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Specialist Smith had would do nothing to harm the deals of what was, by
far, his most famous item. His electric belts, ensured to reestablish life to even
the most weak, were selling admirably however it was hard to promote them in the papers
or on the other hand somewhere else besides in the most protected terms. Obviously the wonder fix could be
promoted unreservedly in ads appropriate to be perused without a become flushed by even
the most sensitive disapproved of individual. A portion of the social illnesses that it relieved must be
precluded from promotions that were intended for general perusing, however something else
there was no trouble and every exposure crusade was trailed by the offer of an
expanded number of jugs.
The specialist himself put stock in the adequacy of his fix and demanded appearing
Mr Jobley an entire cabinet brimming with letters from people who had been restored of different
ills, or possibly had their side effects eased. He presented to drink the stuff himself to
show how gentle and advantageous it was, yet Mr Jobley was unconvinced.
That evening, at a gathering, Mr Jobley made a fabulous assault against both
Specialist Smith and the marvel fix and the discourse was imprinted in full following day in the
papers.
It was before long that Mr Pryor, his rival, gotten a delegation from the
neighborhood producers of patent medications drove by Doctor Smith. During his comments to
the appointment Mr Pryor referenced the antiquated freedom of Englishmen to drink
anything they loved and in any amount without being bugged or put down and
similarly indisputably the right they had to make anything in any amount that
anybody needed to drink and charge whatever they loved for their item, given it
was not really harmful.
These comments established an amazing connection with the finance managers present. An
impression which was affirmed when Mr Pryor implied that Jobley was in association
with the clinical calling to make the patent medication makers bankrupt
so the specialists could have the field to themselves and endorse their own meds
also, that solitary he, James Pryor, when in parliament would be in a situation to smash this
unfair plot.
He revealed to them their industry was at the intersection, also that it was battling
for its actual presence, and that the light of opportunity was at risk for being
stifled and that their valuable freedoms relied on the coming political race.
Specialist Smith asked how they could help. Mr Pryor called attention to that the political decision hung
yet to be determined; nobody realized whether reason would win the day or regardless of whether oppression
furthermore, obliviousness would win. He said that lamentably cash was a fundamental
fixing in any political race and he and Mr Fox had given of their all in
battling the counter business, traditionalist arrangements of Jobley. Cash was direly required
what's more, would be painstakingly applied to achieve the most ideal outcome at the political race.
The makers were profoundly dazzled and upset by what Mr Pryor needed to
say. They asked him to mercifully pull out from the private bar for a brief time so they
could examine their response to what he had said. The barmaid was told to
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supply him with anything her minded to drink and at successive spans while he paused
in the cantina bar. Prior to pulling out he underscored the worth of his time and the
reality that consistently spent in the inn implied a further nonappearance from the incredible
campaign to bring Jobley scattered.
He was somewhere down in discussion for certain different men in the bar and the barmaid when a
man came out to inquire as to whether he would be caring enough to venture back to meet the assignment
again.
Specialist Smith, who was their representative, offered some complimenting comments about their
new companion and potential agent and reported they had concluded they could
do no not exactly give £100 to his mission.
Mr Pryor expressed gratitude toward them thoughtfully for this liberal guarantee of help however pointed
out that these were such troublesome occasions that even £100 was minimal enough with which
to battle and win the main political race at any point known in the settlement of
Victoria. Obviously he was appreciative for any gifts to the stash, regardless of how
little and he would put forth a valiant effort to squeeze it out with extraordinary consideration and to the best impact so
they would not be baffled with the result of the political decision. Anyway political race
crusades resembled wars, the side with the best assets was for the most part the
victor.
His comments had such an impact on those current that somebody quickly moved an
increment to £200 and this was conveyed with applause, the gathering separating
before long, however not before Mr Pryor had accentuated the requirement for the cash to be
provided as quickly as time permits; the next day would not be a moment too soon
due to the emergency looming over every one of them.