The Shadow of Great Britain
Chapter 445 - 445 248 Hastings-type 5K6_2

445: Chapter 248: Hastings-type (5K6)_2 445: Chapter 248: Hastings-type (5K6)_2 Disraeli reminisced for a moment, “The ‘Lipstick Act’?

It seems I have heard of this, yet, this act did not ban the sale of lipstick, did it?”

“The ‘Lipstick Act’ is much worse than just banning the sale of lipstick.”

Arthur pulled a document from the pile on his desk, opened it, and while pointing at a line, read, “The act states: All women, regardless of age, rank, profession, or education, whether virgins, maids, or widows, from the date this law is enacted, through scent, pigments, cosmetics, coercion, seduction, and betraying any of His Majesty the King’s subjects into marriage shall be subjected to the existing legal penalties for witchcraft and similar misdemeanors, and moreover, their marriages once convicted, shall be null and void.”

Having said this, Arthur closed the document and threw it aside, and then said, “You have to admit, Judge Norton really did pull out all the stops, digging up this law from over sixty years ago.

Luckily it’s no longer the middle ages, otherwise, with this ‘Lipstick Act’ alone, he could have added a charge of witchcraft and had the accused burned at the stake.

Not only that, but he also dredged up laws from Ancient Greece in court, claiming that only Greek prostitutes wore lipstick as a mark of identification, which he claimed was a sign of moral corruption, and he wanted to extend the accused’s sentence further.

If you ask me, he’s just hungry for political gains, really throwing everything he has at it.”

Disraeli waved his hand dismissively saying, “I thought it was someone else, but it turns out to be that idiot Norton.

Haven’t I told you?

He was like this even back when we were classmates at the Lincoln’s Inn, arrogant, spiteful, utterly graceless, willing to betray even his own family for the slightest gain.

Naturally, he feels no remorse whatsoever in sentencing an unrelated offender.”

Disraeli thought that Arthur was merely angered because Norton was handling the case in his usual manner, but he didn’t understand the details.

The reason Arthur was taking a hard stand in this case against Judge Norton and the Westminster Court was partly because he believed the sentencing was too harsh, and partly because the accused in this case happened to be Mr.

Bernie Harrison’s Polish language ‘teacher’, a sister under Fiona’s management, Defina.

Although Bernie Harrison had to resign his parliamentary seat due to a prostitution scandal, Defina was also brought to trial by the Westminster Magistrates’ Court, which managed to summon several of Defina’s former benefactors who accused her of stealing their possessions, inflicting whipping injuries on them, and deliberately seducing them into marriage.

However, Scotland Yard clearly could not stand idly by as this lady, who had recently made significant contributions to the Greater London Police Department, was placed in such a predicament.

To help Defina win in court, Scotland Yard used special funds to privately hire an experienced and well-known London lawyer as her defense attorney, and with the ongoing publicity of the Harrison case, public opinion also sided with Defina, and the bizarre laws cited by Judge Norton were too absurd, so ultimately the Jury acquitted Defina.

Although the court released her, this incident had definitely sown discord between Scotland Yard and the Magistrates’ Court.

Or more accurately, it was Mr.

Norton who had permanently fallen out with Scotland Yard.

Because Arthur knew very well, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court wouldn’t just haul Defina to court without good reason, this was almost definitely instigated by Judge George Norton, Mr.

Bernie Harrison’s good friend.

This man, who had secured his judgeship through his wife’s connections and who had assisted Bernie Harrison in framing Scotland Yard, either out of anger or fear, didn’t wait for Scotland Yard to come after him but took the initiative, targeting Ms.

Defina, who had implicated Harrison.

However, from this, one could also see that Norton was somewhat desperate, his dealings with Harrison surely still hiding something.

Hence, Arthur didn’t rush to cause him trouble, knowing that with Norton’s temper, he was likely to stir up more trouble himself soon.

As Arthur pondered this, he suddenly heard Disraeli across from him speak, “Arthur, last night I was dining out with Lionel, and he mentioned something about you and Bertrand’s fencing competition.”

“Oh?” Arthur leaned back in his chair and asked, “What did Lionel say?”

Disraeli replied, “Lionel thinks there’s no problem adding a concert to the fencing competition, and even if you hadn’t mentioned it, he had planned to add some extra programs before the competition as a warm-up.

After all, almost all theaters in London only accept full-day bookings, and a fencing competition might last just over ten minutes, it would be too wasteful to just leave the remaining five hours of evening performance time unused.”

“Considering the particular nature of the fencing competition, Lionel plans to set up this competition at the Astley Amphitheatre on the south bank of the Thames River.

You know the place, right?

It’s mainly a theater for circus shows and war dramas, built semi-open-air and circular, just like the ancient Roman Colosseum.

Perhaps you’ve guessed already, Lionel plans to package you and Bertrand properly, creating a Roman-themed duel, just like Spartacus.”