An Officer and A Gentleman: An Austen Fantasy Variation by Natasja Rose

Author:Natasja Rose [Rose, Natasja]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Mr. Crawley had joined them for dinner, but was summoned back to the Ministry before the ladies and gentlemen withdrew separately.

A pity, as such separation would have been an ideal opportunity for Miss Mary Bennet’s brothers to question him about his intentions. Clearly, Jasper Fitzwilliam was to be denied that entertainment.

Not willing to waste the opportunity, Miss Bennet – Jasper was familiar with the role of middle child, and preferred to give her the honorifics she was due, even when she gave him permission to call her Mary - had proposed scrying for Wickham’s accomplices as an after-dinner activity. They were finished by the time the gentlemen re-joined them, and made an interesting tableau. Mary was currently draped over the fainting couch, a cool damp cloth over her eyes, while Miss Catherine and Georgiana finished sketching the faces of those they had seen in the Scrying. Mrs. Bingley was hovering over Miss Bennet, while Miss Lydia had persuaded Mrs. Darcy to act as her partner in attempting to learn some of the dances she had found earlier.

Miss Lydia brightened when she saw the gentlemen enter, and Jasper tried very hard to ignore the possibility that it was not merely at the prospect of a dance partner who was used to dancing the men’s part.

He briefly debated offering himself as a willing sacrifice, when the butler entered. “A Miss Pandora Argeiad to see you, Sir.”

Jasper was sure his expression was very serious, because the rest of the room suddenly looked concerned. He needed to be more careful about shifting into his Officer persona around civilians, Gifted or not. Darcy touched him lightly on the shoulder in concern. "Should I refuse them entrance?"

Colonel Fitzwilliam shook his head. "She's one of my contacts from the Continent. Whatever brought her all the way to England, rather than wreaking havoc on Napoleon's Intelligence Network, can be no small thing.”

The last contact he had with Pandora, she and her network had been working on a plan to take down Napoleon for good. For her to take the time to travel all the way to London, in the knowledge that Boney had a price on her head to match that of General Arthur Wellsley, had to be important.

If the fates were kind, it would connect to the problem of Wickham’s contacts, and they could deal with two problems at once.

Darcy cast a significant and not very subtle look at his younger sisters. “I take it she is an army contact. Is she… appropriate company?”

Darcy was one of the few aware that many of the Intelligence Service’s contacts were civilian women, many of whom knew camp-followers in Boney’s army, or had unpleasant encounters with his soldiers, and were considered “fallen” as a result.

Fortunately, Pandora was neither of those things, a Gifted lady whose manners and surname suggested an old and respectable family, though in Spywork one could never be sure, and it was terrible manners (not to mention cause for suspicion) to ask.

Still, it was a struggle not to roll his eyes.

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