Arthur Hastings's first exile began. The former senior head of the London police lived in a luxurious mansion in the small town of Gottingen, although life here could not compare to the opulence of London and Paris. Yet, he enjoyed power equivalent to that of a sovereign prince. At only twenty-four, he had already fully experienced the hardships and joys, successes and misfortunes of a political career, the eternal ebb and flow within the tides of fate.
He had tasted the favor of the powerful and felt the despair in times of downfall. He had once been impoverished, worried about daily bread. Now, he was a wealthy man admired by some, loathed by others, respected by a few, and despised by many—now, as a Junior Knight, National Special Representative, and Academic Director at the University of Gottingen, possessing wealth worth tens of thousands of pounds, he obeyed only his will and belonged to no one. He could leisurely rest in Gottingen's great library, renowned throughout Europe.
