The night is getting deeper and the wind is cold. Charlotte Hill, who has been unable to sleep for a long time, looks at the outside world on the terrace of the room with her family. After coming to Ireland with her family, it has been more than half a year. Although Limerick's natural environment and cultural atmosphere are very different from Thetford, she has gradually gotten used to it. She can stay by her mother, read books, play the piano, and take a walk every day. She has regained her long-lost peace in this simple and quiet life. She has hidden her longing for her lover from afar, but whenever news about him comes, there is always an uncontrollable emotion in her heart...

Now, he came to Limerick again and quickly became the focus of everyone's discussion. Sometimes, Charlotte knew that he was in the square hundreds of meters away, but he did not dare to approach the windowsill, and even deliberately avoided being alone in the room. What she was afraid of was not his familiar figure, but the sudden outbreak of her inner emotions. She prayed quietly, praying that God could waive this relationship, let it escape from the vortex of contradictions and tangledness, or let them stay together sincerely, or let them forget each other forever.

But God did not respond.

At this moment, he might be looking here from a distance. Charlotte deliberately did not turn on the lights. She stood quietly on the terrace, allowing the gentle sea breeze to blow on her face, gently wiping away the traces of tears sliding by.

A car appeared on the street in front of the apartment. The bright lights disturbed the secluded night, and Charlotte's heartbeat also accelerated quietly with the movement of the light beam. She was not ready to see him, and she didn't know how to face it. Fortunately, the street lights outside the door reflected the figure of the Austin twin-cylinder sedan of the garrison headquarters. It drove straight into the yard and parked in front of the apartment. The burly Duke Hill got out of the car with an angry look on his face and entered the door without saying a word. The sound of heavy and rapid footsteps came from the hall, and then the sound of thumping up the stairs.

Charlotte couldn't help but hold her breath until the sound of footsteps disappeared on the other side, and she let out a gentle breath.

The anger of my grandfather arose because of him.

Charlotte did not hate his grandfather, nor could he hate him. As a British and family leader, he had his position and persistence. He devoted himself to the country and safeguarded the family's interests and reputation. Moreover, he never used tough measures to force Charlotte to do anything, especially after Charlotte returned from Germany, he silently endured the pressure from the Wellington family, and even took the initiative to apply for transfer to the local military commander in Ireland as he was about to retire.

After a while, the voice of grandfather's nearly roaring angry voice came from the other end of the corridor. He was complaining to his wife about his worries as usual. He could not hear his grandmother's gentle and patient comfort through the door, but Charlotte knew that she was the only person in the world who could calm the male bear.

When he was a child, Charlotte felt that he would definitely be a smart and virtuous person like his grandmother, but he never thought how difficult it was to stay with his sweetheart.

After standing on the terrace for a long time, Charlotte still felt sleepy. It felt almost midnight, and suddenly saw someone running over the garrison barracks across the street. When passing by the street light, Charlotte saw that it was a well-dressed officer, who should be the person on duty. This point was so hasty, it must be a very important situation. Could it be...

Because of a bad premonition in his heart, Charlotte returned to the room from the terrace, gently opened the door, tiptoed through the corridor, and quietly entered the tea room next to Duke Hill's study. Soon, Duke Hill and the officer on duty entered the study and closed the door.

The thick walls were sound insulation, so Charlotte came to the window where he could vaguely hear the conversation at the desk. He heard from the officer on duty that he had just received a secret telegram from the military cable (the earliest submarine cable was laid in 1850), and the content was only seen by the decoder and himself.

"It must be absolutely confidential." Charlotte heard the Duke of Hill's extremely serious instructions.

After a short silence, Duke Hill lowered his voice to the officer on duty, and when Charlotte heard the words "From now on, be sure to keep a close eye on that person until they arrive", she was shocked.

In this situation, who else can "that person" refer to?

...

As the sky was dawn, Bernd Gobert gently opened a corner of the curtain as usual. Under the order of the German Naval Intelligence Agency, a young man with dual English and German nationality at the time had been in Limerick for more than five months. To avoid being noticed, he and his companions only stayed in hotels instead of renting houses. They tried to talk in English whether in front of people or in the room, and concealed their identities in the name of travel poets and free painters.

The window was facing the town square, and the British garrison barracks were also in sight. Seeing that there was nothing strange nearby, Gobert skillfully set up a telescope. In the garrison barracks, the British soldiers had already gone out of the exercises. The day after day training was innovating, and only occasionally there were nearby children watching outside the fence. Next to the barracks was the apartment of the local military commander Duke Hill. The sentry in front of the door had changed the guards, the gardener was watering the grass, and the porch windows of the apartment were as usual.

Gobert was going to pull up the curtains, and at this moment, he glanced at a familiar figure flashing from the corner of the street in front of him. Although the man lowered his head, covered his face with a hat, and was wearing a very ordinary plain long skirt, for more than 150 days, Gobert basically spent two to three hours every day observing her activities, and her outline even appeared in his dreams.

How could she appear here?

Gober was very surprised. In the apartment, she would sometimes sit alone in front of the window playing the piano or stare blankly. Once she walked out of the apartment, she would definitely be with her mother, and there was never an exception for a long time. Today this is...

In her sight, she looked forward and looked around, and walked along the corner of the wall with her extremely abnormal movements.

Although the orders he and his friends received were just surveillance, Gobert was still driven by his strong intuition. He woke up his companions in the room and left him more vigilantly. He put on his coat and hat and hurried out, and quickly walked through the corridor and went downstairs with light steps. When he arrived at the hotel front hall, he deliberately slowed down, walked past the reception desk as if nothing had happened, stopped at the door for a moment, and observed the surrounding environment quietly. There were already three or two people on the street, and their clothes, movements, and expressions were in line with their respective ages and appearances.

Confirm that there was no danger, Gobert lowered his hat, walked diagonally across the street, followed her for a while, and then lowered his head and said in English: "Miss Charlotte Hill, please don't turn around and keep going. I am Prince Joachim, I have no ill intentions, you seem to need help?"

When Gobert spoke, Charlotte was shocked without any precaution and almost stopped. After hearing Gobert's words clearly, she continued to walk forward, and then whispered: "Thank God... But how did I know that you are indeed his person?"

The situation was suddenly, and Gobert didn't have time to consider these things in advance, so he had to respond on the spot.

"He was a wise man, as if he was a sent by God. His hair was as colored as polished bronze, his eyes were like pure sapphires, about 5 feet 8 inches in height, and his voice was very round."

Charlotte thought for a while: "Many people know about these situations."

Gober hesitated: "Based on the tasks I received, I should not have contacted you, so there is no clear thing to prove my identity to you, but I swear that I did serve Prince Joachim, and I met him not long ago. In fact, he came to me to see you, although he could only go through a telescope..."

Charlotte hesitated for a moment: "Well, sir, his current situation is very dangerous. Please find a way to inform him and let him return home as soon as possible."

Gobert was shocked, and in a second thought, various possible situations emerged in his mind. Although ensuring the personal safety of Prince Joachim was not in the mission instructions clearly issued by the Navy's Intelligence Agency, in his identity, status and significance, it was a matter of right for Gobert and his companions to protect him.

"Can you say more in detail?" Gobert asked.

"That's all I can tell you," Charlotte replied, "He must be allowed to leave Ireland as soon as possible."

After saying that, Charlotte accelerated his pace and turned around at the street entrance. Seeing a policeman in front of him, Gobert turned to the other side at the street entrance, and then circled back to the hotel. When he told his companion about his situation just now, the intelligence officer with a low qualification was stunned.

"The key is that we don't know where His Highness the Prince is now." Gobert was entangled. For the sake of confidentiality, their activities in Ireland were relatively independent and had no direct connection with Hubert's shipyard.

The companion made an idea and said, "Shipyard, I think he is likely to be in Hubert's Shipyard. Even if he is not there, he can still grasp his whereabouts through the people in the shipyard."

"The situation is urgent, so we can only do this. But how should I make the shipyard believe what I said? This is a troublesome problem." Gobert scratched his head in dismay, "Time cannot be delayed for a moment. I will go to the shipyard first. You go to the telegraph office to send a newspaper to the headquarters, so that they can also find a way to contact His Highness the Prince and remind him that there is danger."

Once again, Gobert hurried out, and went straight to the hotel reception desk, rented a bicycle for 5 pence, and rode towards Hubert's shipyard. Not far from the town, a car came towards him. The moment he was in a mess, Gobert clearly saw a face with a deep memory in the back seat of the car.

“Hey, stop, stop!”

He shouted loudly, but the car had already gone far away, and it would be useless for him to wave his hand desperately.

"Damn it!"

Gober smashed his fist in depression, helplessly, so he had to turn his head and catch up with him panting.

In the "Lightning Mercedes-Benz" that sells in Europe, Xia Shu sat with Gunter Messner, chief operating consultant of Hubert Shipyard. In recent years, the relationship between Britain and Germany has become increasingly tense, and businessmen from both countries have gradually withdrawn a large amount of investment from each other. However, in Ireland, Germany's capital has increased instead of decreasing. The number of merchants, management and technicians from Germany has increased. The frequent and close communication with local people has become an uncontrollable situation for the British authorities. Thanks to the good operating conditions, Hubert Shipyard has continuously expanded its production capacity and has become the largest enterprise in Limerick. It has always worn the hat of local capital and owned the famous trick of John Holland.

However, complete sets of German equipment, standard German processes and batches of German technical consultants are unconcealable facts. The British could not ignore this, and Xia Shu was not the one who covered his ears. He knew that once a war began, the British authorities would make excuses to monitor, control or even forcibly confiscate the assets of Hubert's shipyard. Therefore, from the end of 1913, in addition to maintaining the operation of the shipyard, the rest would be transferred back to Germany in the name of investment. In addition, Xia Shu also accepted the invitation of Hubert's shipyard as an honorary member of the International Rowing Federation, and served as a special consultant to the shipyard for a fee, received generous consultant salaries, and used them all for local charity.

According to the itinerary, Xia Shu will set off to return home in two days. Before that, he will attend several events, visit some local celebrities, and meet with leaders of the Independence Movement in Claire County.

After leaving the shipyard early in the morning, he went to the residence of local candy merchant Hull Fies as an appointment, and took a walk with the elderly gentleman, and then had breakfast together.

"The Fies family has been running candy business for several generations, and their signatures are well-known in Claire County and surrounding areas. Interestingly, in order to compete with candies produced in Britain, the Fies family has adopted a low-price and low-profit business strategy for many years, so the annual turnover is hundreds of thousands of pounds. The family members still live in old estates outside the country, and they are dressed and eaten very simply."

Xia Shu said: "It is not surprising that one person is so, it is rare to continue for generations."

"Yes, they are very respected locally, have good business reputation, and have never had any disputes in lending," Mesner said.

"Then..." Xia Shu's speech came to an abrupt end because he saw a familiar figure in the streets and alleys next to him. It has been two years since they met again or embraced him again, but they were with each other day and inseparable from that wonderful time. Even though they changed their clothes, changed their hairstyle, their outlines, and their breath feeling, Xia Shu could tell from the crowd at a glance.

Didn't you see it? Is it really her? How could she appear on the street alone at this time?

A series of questions made Xia Shu miss the best time to shout "stop". Then he thought that Gobert's group observed the Duke Hill apartment day and night. If there were any abnormalities, he would report it in time, so he put away his suspicion.

The Fies family's residence is located on the other end of Limerick. "Lightning Mercedes" carries Summer Tree and Messner through the city and quickly arrives at the ancient manor on the banks of the Shannon River.
Chapter completed!