Lizzie Bennet Agent for the Crown by Elizabeth Hopkins

Author:Elizabeth Hopkins [Hopkins, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-12T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Lizzie stood in front of the looking glass turning from side to side to admire her new gown. Madame Collette has certainly outdone herself! She had never worn a more beautiful gown. The color was a deep crimson with black crystals on the bodice and the hem. The silk was of the finest quality. Her dainty slippers were of the same color with black crystals dotting the front of the shoe. Long black gloves completed her ensemble. The diamond necklace and ear bobs were on loan from the war office and diamond hair pins were arranged artfully in the elaborate coiffure Sarah had fashioned for her. Lizzie actually felt beautiful.

Mrs. Mcglinty entered through the sitting room door and said “You look beautiful Miss Bennet. Shall we go? The Colonel awaits us in the lobby.”

“Yes, Mrs. Mcglinty. Let us not keep the Colonel waiting.” Lizzie donned her pelisse which was of the same crimson color but trimmed in black fur.

The Colonel met her at the foot of the stairs and extended his arm. “Your carriage awaits M’lady.”

Lizzie giggled and said “Thank you Colonel.”

They were on route to the Barrington Ball. A missive had previously been intercepted and translated with only one word ‘Barrington’. Lizzie had translated a more recent communique. It was written in five different languages and when translated it revealed itself to be a code within a code. Lizzie took the first letter of each word and then discovered another code. Those letters were an anagram and when rearranged, it spelled ‘L. Lanville’.

Lord Luber Lanville was to be in attendance at the Barrington Ball and Colonel Fitzwilliam hoped to reacquaint himself with the man and possibly determine whether or not he was a traitor.

Fitzwilliam frowned at this thought. Lanville was of an age with the Colonel’s late father, the Fifth Earl of Matlock. His father’s opinion, and those of just about everyone else in the ton, was that Lanville was a doddering old fool. He never took his seat in The House of Lords and infrequently came to town preferring to reside at his country estate in Devon. The Lanville’s were well known for their house parties and hunts. But Fitzwilliam still had a hard time reconciling Lanville as the head of a French spy network.

“What makes you frown so Colonel?” inquired Lizzie.

“Tis nothing Miss Bennet. Merely wool gathering. I should mention that my cousin Darcy and his friend Bingley will be meeting us at the ball.”

The Colonel observed her countenance carefully. Lizzie gasped and blushed at the mention of Darcy’s name.

“It will be pleasant to renew their acquaintance. We became acquainted last year when Mr. Bingley leased the estate bordering Longbourn.”

“Yes, my cousin did inform me of already having made your acquaintance. He also informed me of the great service he did his friend by removing him from the neighborhood. It appears he rescued Bingley from an unsuitable match. I suppose there was some fault with the lady, but I do not know all the particulars.”

Rage rose

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