Chapter 78 Passing a Note
The British aristocracy of this era is different from the "Sir" title that has become prevalent in the 21st century. At this time, all five levels of nobility are hereditary. It was not until after 1958 that the "life peerage" that cannot be inherited appeared, as well as knights like Ferguson. Sir is just an honorary title, not aristocracy at all, and cannot be inherited.
The reason why nobles can become "nobles" is inseparable from the many privileges they possess. Nobles are natural members of the House of Lords. Becoming a nobleman means being eligible to become a member of the House of Lords. Becoming a nobleman also means that you can own fiefdoms, so almost all nobles are landlords. Until the 21st century, nearly one-third of the land in the UK is still controlled by nobles. At this time, the largest landowner in the UK is not the Queen of England, but the Duke of Sutherland, who owns 1.3 million acres of land, second only to the Church of England.
Of course, Henry also hoped to be awarded the title. With the title, Henry could obtain a fiefdom of his own. More importantly, Henry had a talisman with the title. For example, before in Dordrecht, if Henry had the title, the major would never dare to treat Henry with such a bad attitude.
The next afternoon, Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, returned to Kimberley, and Henry was immediately summoned by Lord Roberts .
As Henry's deputy, Rock got the opportunity to go to the commander-in-chief's office with Henry, but Rock's good luck ended there. Outside Lord Roberts' office, Rock was stopped by Lord Roberts' secretary.
"Sorry, please wait here for a moment." The secretary's attitude was quite polite, but Rock instantly felt excluded.
Henry was also surprised, but didn't say anything. He just mouthed "sorry" to Rock.
To be honest, although Rock felt uncomfortable, he was not surprised. After all, in the eyes of the British, Rock was just Henry's "deputy". Allowing Rock to pay his respects outside the office of the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force was already enough to honor Rock.
Just wait. Although there was a chair outside Lord Roberts' office door, Rock did not sit down.
In fact, as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, Lord Roberts was very busy. Within two or three minutes, Lord Roberts' secretary brought five or six officers and waited outside Lord Roberts' office with Rock.
Unlike Rock, those officers were all British, so although they were waiting, they did not feel humiliated. They sat in the chairs and talked in low voices, looking at Rock with curiosity.
This kind of gaze is very uncomfortable. Rock is not a monkey in a zoo. Isn't it just that his skin color and hair color are a little different? What is there to be curious about? !
But the British officers did not think so. In Rock's view, the only difference between him and them might be his skin color and hair color. But in the eyes of those officers, Rock might be like an elephant breaking into a high-class banquet.
Very abrupt!
This curiosity reached its peak, especially when Rock refused the coffee and snacks offered by the staff.
"Hey, officer, what are you doing here?" Finally, an officer with the rank of colonel could no longer hold back.
"Same as you, waiting for the commander's summons." Rock was in a bad mood, so naturally what he said was not very pleasant.
"Oh..." The colonel expressed his surprise meaningfully, not targeting Rock's attitude: "Are you a policeman? Are you the Cape Town policeman who shot and killed Joubert?"
If you ignore the sheriff's badge that Rock is wearing, his uniform is pretty much the same as that of an ordinary British soldier.
Of course Rock didn't think that the colonel had just discovered that Rock was a policeman. The big police badge on Rock's arm was still very conspicuous.
"Yes, Colonel." Rock said this with confidence. Although Joubert was not killed by Rock himself, the commandos would not have been able to kill Joubert without Rock.
"What a lucky guy!"
"Are you from the Qing Dynasty?"
"Tell us, boys, how did you do it?"
The other officers immediately started talking. The fact that Jubel was shot dead was enough to make them ignore Rock's skin color and hair color. Perhaps it was also because Rock's English accent was relatively pure.
"Please be quiet, gentlemen--" The secretary noticed the noise here and came over to stop it in time.
The officers immediately sat up straight, with serious expressions as if they were attending a funeral.
Although he was scolded, Rock's mood improved a little. This is the reality. If Rock was just a Chinese policeman, then he would not be respected. If Rock was the Chinese policeman who shot and killed Jubel, then he would be able to win the respect of others.
Perhaps this respect is only on the surface, but it means that at least Rock is no longer a small character who can be ignored at will.
"What's your name, young man?" The colonel stood up straight, looking straight ahead, with his Wolseley helmet on his knees, and his voice was as if he was concentrating on speaking in a line.
"Locke, Chief Inspector Locke of the Cape Town Police Department." Rock was still very proud.
"Okay, Sheriff Locke, if possible, let's have a drink together later and tell me your story." The colonel is not young anymore, at least over fifty years old, but he is still very curious.
"Okay, Colonel." Rock could also condense his voice into lines, which was actually not a big deal. It was just like bad students passing notes to each other in class.
Well, there is no good or bad in passing notes, good students also do it. However, in the teacher's opinion, passing notes between good students is called exchanging learning experiences.
Henry did not take up Lord Roberts's time too long. After about fifteen minutes, Henry came out of Lord Roberts' office with a happy face.
The colonel gave Rock a reassuring look and was then led into Lord Roberts' office by his secretary.
"Let's go, Locke." Henry winked at Rock, obviously eager to share his harvest with Rock.
Rock can't leave yet. He just made an appointment with the colonel to have a drink, and it would be very bad to stand him up.
"Wait a minute, Inspector, let's go have a drink together later." A younger colonel called out to Henry.
"Oh——" Henry was really surprised. Rock seemed to have a magical ability to make friends with people anytime and anywhere: "Okay, Mr. Colonel."
The other officers were obviously also interested in Henry and Rock, so they went for a drink together. An hour later, a large group of people went to the largest bar in Kimberley. In addition to various "colonels, lieutenant colonels, and majors", there was also a general with the rank of major general.
It seems that there are quite a lot of people interested in Henry and Rock.
