The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 1767 - 86: The Carter Family’s Old Friends_3

"The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill," painted by American artist John Trumbull in 1775, is currently housed at the Boston Art Museum in the United States.

Note: The person waving the British Army flag in the painting is Francis Roton-Hastings, the first Marquis of Hastings.

Arthur leaned against the back of his chair for a moment, muttering under his breath, "To be honest, Eld, if you hadn’t told me, I used to think that the first Marquis of Hastings was merely a renowned Governor of India. But I’ve always believed that he became the Governor of India and was titled the first Marquis of Hastings only because he had a close relationship with George IV, and was thus arranged to be gilded in various positions. Now it seems that, with his youthful fighting record in North America, he indeed had the qualifications to be favored by Regent King George IV back then."

Saying this, Arthur couldn’t help but pause, as if recalling something, with a slight furrow of the brow and a softer tone: "No wonder... no wonder Miss Flora Hastings once said something strange to me at a ball at Kensington Palace."

Eld raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, "Oh? What did she say?"

Arthur picked up his teacup, watching the ripples form in the black tea, feeling rather peculiar: "She said, ’Every time I see your experiences, it always reminds me of my father.’"

At this, he couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly, "I thought she was just engaging in typical noble flattery at the time. After all, she knew I had done some dangerous tasks under the Tower of London and in the Caucasus, so I assumed it was just a casual remark. But hearing you now, I understand that her words don’t seem to be meaningless."

Yet Eld was not very interested in this, "Come on, Flora would say something like that? I can’t believe it. When she, the eldest daughter of the Hastings family, was born, her old father was already fifty-two. If I didn’t enjoy these kinds of hero stories, there wouldn’t have been much fun when visiting their estate; otherwise, I’d never randomly browse through her father’s military medals and war memorabilia, dragging her along to find adults to inquire about the origins of these treasures."

Arthur listened with interest, watching Eld: "Now you’ve changed; when you were a child, you were more eager to see people’s medals than their daughters, but now you think the girls are more precious than the medals?"

Eld immediately mimicked the gesture Arthur taught him years ago, raising his hand in salute: "Thank goodness, Sir, you still remember that I’m interested in young ladies now? According to your suggestion, can we kick Alexander and Charles out tonight and replace them with two young, beautiful girls to watch the show?"

"I’ll think about it, continue," Arthur squinted, "When did your Carter family start having marriage alliances with the Marquis Hastings Family?"

Eld couldn’t help but feel a little lackluster upon hearing this, "Specifically from which generation? Probably from my grandfather’s generation, his sister, that is my grandaunt, was named Mary Carter, and was betrothed to Charles Roton. Charles was the younger brother of the first Marquis of Hastings, the fifth in the family, without any estate or title. But he had considerable influence within the family and was a capable assistant to the first Marquis when recruiting troops in Ireland."

Arthur hummed thoughtfully, "So your grandaunt married into a branch of the Roton-Hastings family?" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Yes," Eld nodded, "That marriage wasn’t considered significant back then. Today, it seems like our Carter family was reaching too high. But back then, when the Roton family wasn’t yet called the Roton-Hastings family, our Carter family’s influence in Ireland was much stronger than theirs. Furthermore, my grandaunt Mary truly was a capable person."

Arthur was intrigued, "Oh? In what way?"

Eld proudly replied, "After marrying into the family, she organized the originally messy little estate in an orderly manner, and even went to India with her husband when the first Marquis was appointed Governor of Bengal. They lived in Calcutta for three years, and Mary helped organize several local social dances. Can you imagine? She actually got British merchants and Indian nobility to dance quadrilles together. When this news reached Britain, it even became a talking point in the upper circles. You can search in old bookstores; if you find some old newspapers discovered by the East India Company, you might even find her name."