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Interludes 54 Teenaged Interests


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November 1817


I

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"You are Alexa, aren't you?"

"Alexandra to use my real name, but this place is already overrun by Alexes so I chose to introduce myself as Alexa. As you were, sooner than later, going to use a nickname to speak about me, I found it better to choose one I agree with…"

Fitzwilliam couldn't help but laugh at the witty comment coming from the little blond Russian girl.

"You are Emma's cousin from Saint Petersburg, aren't you?"

"That's me," agreed the girl. "But I'm not from Saint Petersburg. Nobody in Russia is from Saint Petersburg. Everybody of importance lives there but nobody is born there. We Boyars all have our Estates where we can hide our pregnant women until they are again presentable…"

Once more William couldn't help but laugh aloud.

"I see that not only are you Emma's cousin, but you are also a disciple! How's the feminist front in Russia?"

"Faltering under the males' offensive but still holding. We are not numerous but we are decided to have, at some distant date in the future, the same rights your British ladies take for granted."

"Twenty years ago it was my mother and her sisters who were fighting that very war here in England."

"And look at what she achieved after only twenty years?" answered the young girl with a smug smile on her lips. "They have shown us all that with determination and willpower everything's possible!"

"They had her soon to be husbands to help them 'convince' Britain. That's especially the case with mom. It helps to have the undisputed Master of the Isles as a mate. He had the means to help her do what was necessary to change the laws. You won't have it so easy. Your Czar doesn't look as half as progressive as Dad."

"We won't need a progressive ruler," said Alexa. "We will point at the British and French examples to get what we want. You have shown to the world that a female is as useful to Society as a male…"

"Nobody ever doubted that females were useful to the society, Miss. It was just the roles they were appointed to that were different. A mother is a very important part of the family, she has way enough to do to raise her children and manage her Estate to need having a social job in addition…"

"If a woman is happy by being a mother and a household manager, it is alright with us! But why should they all be happy within one or two specific tasks? I, for my part, would love to be a general on a battle field. If I have the right mind set why should I be excluded of the job just because I'm a woman?"

"Well there are very few examples of successful female war leaders…" said William with a smug smile of his own.

"There had been Joan of Arc…" protested Alexa. "Must I remind you that she fought on the battlefield and commanded victorious armies who won over English ones? She's the living example of the fact that a woman is able to do any job a man can do if she has the right mind set and had been trained adequately. We don't want to take away the jobs of men who have proven that they are good at said job, but we want to be able to put inefficient and moronic men out of the business if there are better women available to do the job…"

William smiled at the force and the heat of the argument.

He had, of course, been introduced by Emma to that cousin of hers and he was only beginning to understand the reason of her presence in Pemberley. Clearly she was probably having a lot of problems with the males of her family while in Russia. Coming to Pemberley, the holly haven to all the feminists of the world had probably been a dream for the girl for the past years. And putting her out of her father's eyes was probably a good thing too. It was not a Russian tradition to marry girls before the age of sixteen but if she was as vehement at home as she was here, there was always the risk to see the father lose patience and marry her away to the first suitor available.

Which would be a shame because even at her age –twelve or thirteen if he guessed right now- she was quite beautiful. He hadn't speculated about her age when she was introduced, because she was one in a very large female crowd. Now, here in Pemberley's library they were alone –his pair of bodyguards not taken into account- and it was quite interesting to note that she was indeed what some would call a looker. If one was capable of forgetting that behind the handsome façade a shrew was hiding.

He concealed his sarcastic smile behind his most diplomatic one.

"And here we are at the center of the problem, miss: trained women to do the job… We will probably have quite a lot of those, here in England, in ten or fifteen years. With luck France will have its own in twenty… And that will be it! If I have followed the news of what is happening in Russia, there will soon be schools everywhere. But there will be different schools for males and females. And the curriculum of said schools won't probably be the same. Which is a bad omen for male-female equality."

He quite liked the pout on Alexa's face.

"We are not yet settled on different curricula!" said she. "There are, of course, reasons to segregate boys and girls, but there are no real reasons to choose two different curricula. They both need to be taught the same basics. There is no physical or mental reason that would justify that women don't be taught the same matters the society is in need for. And if we want females to play a leading role, they must have been trained in all the matters that matter! No pun intended."

"You are right but there are circles in every society that don't think females should be allowed to learn what they look at as 'male' business!"

"That's because they are terrorized and aware that when girls are given the same teachings than boys, they are better at it than their male counterparts!"

William had quite a lot of difficulties to hide his real feelings.

How many times his sisters and female cousins had used that particular argument to rub his and Geoffrey's nose in their obvious male inadequacy.

But even if it does grate on his nerves, it had been one of the most disagreeable lessons of the last ten years of British School History.

Clearly girls were better at learning and graduating than boys and the only reason they weren't taking all the best places was because most of those who were hiring were men. Old school men…

He decided to hide his annoyance behind a façade of scientific behavior. Once more the new science of mathematical sorting of facts would come in handy.

"It is perhaps true now, but I fear these figures can't be used as rules before a long time. Let's look at the figures after one century of teaching history and, perhaps, we will have figures that allow us to be sure about the differences between male and female students!"

"The facts won't change in a century or even in a millennium, you know it as well as I. It's just evolution's final revenge: we females have been bred out to be smarter to counteract the fact that our males have been selected to be stronger and more efficient hunters. That's why you are so good at making and thinking war, while we are much better at making and thinking peace! We were built to use our brain, you clearly weren't! This school system of yours clearly has shown what can only be called the female's intellectual superiority. And I now understand much better why the men of forgotten ages tried so vehemently to stop us from being taught the right stuff! Basically they knew that trained women would sweep them out of ruler positions in no time!"

William had to force himself not to lash out –verbally of course- and to go on playing the perfect host.

Because, God, was that girl annoying!

"We are not yet swept out of said ruler positions and," said he while pointing at himself, "this particular male will be one of those obtuse and moronic rulers you want to put out of business. So you better pray that I'm able to use my so much less efficient brains good enough to avoid further catastrophes!"

Her smug smile was back in no time…

"Luckily for the world you'll end up married! Your wife will be smart enough for both of you and she won't let you make too gross blunders! Look at your mother's achievements! Your father came to England to destroy it and thanks to her it was saved and now Britain and France are the best friends ever! Destruction and mayhem is the male's way while concord and peace is the female's…"

"And what of your role model Joan of Arc? Seems to me that she was all mayhem and destruction, that one!"

"Out of necessity! It just shows that if you are smart enough you can do the jobs of obtuse and moronic males even better than they would have done it… Our superiority is undeniable!"

"What is really undeniable is your insufferable arrogance and pride! I do believe we've wasted enough time at an argument where clearly you have already decided that you are right and I am wrong!"

He bowed minimally, turned around and stomped out of the library.

"You know that by fleeing you recognize formally your defeat, don't you?" called she while he was walking toward the door. "You're running away before my superior argument, that's what you do!"

He didn't bother to answer and just exited the room.

He would have been surprised had he looked at the girl's face when he retreated.

Elizabeth Alexandrovna Romanova couldn't help but smile at her opponent's retreat.

It had been pleasant and coming out of the joust victorious was even more satisfactory.

He was indeed everything they had said about him.

Handsome and smart –even if, at this stage of their relationship she would never accept to say it publicly. And he had clearly inherited his mother's capacity to remain diplomatic even when under heavy attack.

Indeed this journey would bear fruits even better than she had thought.

Because it seemed that he was not only the right mate for her but also the perfect man.

Coming here had, finally, be worth the unending arguments she had had with her parents who, being old mainland aristocratic school hadn't fathomed what they would have to do to see her enter the process of being chosen as a mate by the next Emperor of the British Dominions all over the world.

Her mother in particular was convinced that just proposing her first daughter in marriage to the British heir would be all that was necessary to conclude the deal.

But Elizabeth had studied the women of the Darcy Clan and she knew that they wouldn't just play the game using the old aristocratic rules. Jane d'Arcy in particular would look at the proposed female and would only accept a girl who could give her son what he needed.

And, when all was said and done, that was the real reason of her presence here in Pemberley: to get Jane d'Arcy's agreement.

So she had begged her mother to allow her to go with Emma's second pregnancy journey to Pemberley. And after a lot of weeks nagging and arguing she had finally won the right to come see the man –the boy actually- who everybody at the Czar's court was considering as her future husband.

Of course the boy in question had not the least idea about his marital future but that hadn't stopped anybody at the Czar's court to take it as a fact.

Indeed what else could the d'Arcys do while facing the Czar's offer?

With Alexander Buonaparte's betrothal with Alexandra d'Arcy and the family link that had been created by that incoming wedding it had occurred to all Russians that it was of vital importance for Russia to get just the same link to the d'Arcy/Darcy Clan than Napoleon.

World policy was being woven in and around Pemberley and it was clearly of utter importance for Russia to have a man –in that case a woman- within the place. And, if possible, at the most important place of all: in the ruler's bed.

Hence her presence her to have a look at what Russia believed –but not Alexandra because she knew that in matters politics nothing was sure- very well be her future.

The boy was as handsome and brawny as in the pictures the newspapers all over Russia had been showing for years.

And he clearly was no moron even if he had retreated from the field of arguments giving her her first victory.

She smiled once more and looked around her.

At Pemberley, the family Estate where more than three generations of Bennets/Darcys where living.

Pemberley she liked quite a lot to say the truth.

It was, contrary to the Palaces she was used to, a living place with living –and loving- people inhabiting it. With children shouting and singing, with servants smiling and curtsying out of respect and not out of fear, and with Masters and Mistresses who were caring about the people surrounding them.

A place she would love to call home.

She sighed because even if everybody at the Russian court was convinced that she would be Queen of The British Isles, the major problem would be to convince the groom's family that it was a good idea.

Of course if she had come incognito it hadn't lasted. She had a letter written by her mother she had given to Jane d'Arcy at the first best and discreet occasion.

Jane d'Arcy had pocketed it and just went on with her usual business with just a casual comment about her schedule for the morning.

Elizabeth didn't miss the clue and two hours later they had come across while both were walking toward the winter garden. Jane d'Arcy had smiled to her and had invited her to visit the spot where the Duchess of Aquitania –as she was always called at court in Constantinople- was tending to the most luscious fruit garden Elizabeth had ever seen.

"I've read Louise's letter… I'm glad for her happiness and I very proud to have been able to play a role in your parents' new understanding. Of course you are welcome to stay with us as long as you wish and of course neither William nor any of the kids will learn from me your true identity. But for the rest I do fear it is already too late."

"How so?"

Jane's smiled at her and shook her head.

"We are a rather uncommon family, you know? We have that cousin of ours who spends her time spying on the rest of the world. And since she is quite good at it there are very few things that elude her. I got Ann's report about your coming –and real identity and thorough analyze of your character and foibles- yesterday on my breakfast table but I'm quite sure that my husband got the same report a week earlier when your mother decided to grant you your wish. I suppose a copy of said report was sent to every relevant person in the family at different moments of the last week. I didn't need to know before yesterday so Ann had sent it at the right moment to give me the opportunity to organize your sojourn with us."

Another smile.

"Which I did in order to give you and my son every opportunity to know each other better."

"So you agree with my father's plot?"

"I agree with the attempt, love. Make the plot bear fruits is your problem and William's. If you get an agreement with him you'll have my blessing and that of my husband's. If William refuses to consider that union I will just acknowledge his refusal."

"But it would be for our countries' best…"

"That's right and don't believe a second that William won't be aware of it. We have taught him to consider the interest of the people before its own. But we haven't taught him to totally set aside his own wishes. If he is unable to consider a wedding with you we will accept his decision because we know that he will have considered every aspect of the problem. It won't be easy for you and your family but if you are unable to convince him that you are the best choice for him, don't count on us to force him."

"But…"

"Don't! I didn't say that I'm against your attempt. I'm even rather favorable because it will give both our people a reason more to live in peace and mutual understanding. But I'm a very convinced supporter of a love match. I don't say that loving your partner is always necessary to enter a fruitful marriage, but it is so much better to live your marital life at the side of a man or a woman you love and respect. So it is up to you to convince William that you are the one he's waiting for…"

"What if I'm not?"

"Then you'll have to find another mate. As my father likes to say: a little heartache strengthens the character. But nothing's lost yet. Just don't focus only on William to reach your goal. We are a tight knit family. There is more than one entry into it!"


I

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"You believe she'll be alright?"

Alexander looked at his wife and at the son she was feeding. Since Jane's d'Arcy exhaustive lessons in child caring while she was in Saint Petersburg to save his first born daughter, Louise had followed her lessons to the letter. And it had brought them strong and healthy children. And a mutual respect who had blossomed into real love.

"Of course she will. She's headstrong and resourceful. She'll blossom in Pemberley like never before."

"We failed in giving her a real home…"

"We don't have a real home, remember? We couldn't give her what we don't have."

"We should build us one, my love," said Louise. "I'm fed up with these humongous buildings where we are unable to feel at home." She looked at Dmitri in her arms. "We owe it to him to give our children a place where they belong." She looked at the gold covered walls of their common resting room. "A place where they can draw on the walls without being shout at by servants… A place where there would be only half a dozen trusted servants who love them and care for them."

Alexander sighed.

"You know that it would be considered as below us not to live in one of our numerous palaces."

She gritted her teeth and swallowed the comment she was going to utter.

"Nothing's below us, love! Everything's within our reach if we just want it with enough willpower!"

She stood and went to the window. The park –a French one with perfectly arranged plant beds- was still covered with flowers and luscious plant life thanks to the tender climate of Constantinople. In Saint Petersburg the first snow was already covering the lawns. And viciously she was missing the snow even if it was so much more agreeable to still be able to eat on the balcony and bask in the southern evening sun.

If they would be allowed to do such unroyal things!

"Let's build a little mansion at the far end of the Park. With a balcony with view on the Bosphorus. Just a score rooms with nothing greater than our present music room would suit me very well. Something cozy and comfortable we could decorate with simple tainted wood panels. With no gold where so ever and with beds that won't look like medieval fortresses… A place where we could go to after our day's work and where the Empire wouldn't have its entries."

"I can already hear the shocked shouts of our courtiers. You know most of them still haven't accepted our moving to Constantinople?"

"I know it quite well, love, I'm listening to my own litany of complaints! And viciously I will agree with them that I miss the northern climate, with its snow covered landscape and frozen rivers…"

"We could be in Krasnoiarsk within a day, love! There you'll get all the snow you need!"

"I know but I won't risk my son's life by bringing him into that cold and damp palace." She shook her head. "No, Constantinople is a much better climate for him…" She smiled. "And you, by the way! I haven't heard you sneeze in months."

Alexander nodded and joined her at the window.

They were using the Sultans' apartment and it was as luxurious as it could be built by oriental potentates.

And Louise hated it with all her heart.

"I will summon some architects and ask them to think about that little cottage you lust for." He pointed toward the sky. "But I will ask them to build it on one of the flat roofs or the western part of the palace. It will be easier to get it accepted if it looks like an extension of the present Topkapi Palace. Building a house at the other end of the Park would look too much like an attempt to segregate us from the life of the court. And with Nicolai's continuous plotting against me, I can't take the risk to anger those Boyars who support me."

"It is that Prussian Hag who poisons his mind…"' hissed Louise who hated her German Sister in Law with all her heart and at gut level.

"Don't charge her with every evil of the family! Nicolai's one big piece of shit himself! He has always looked at the Throne with greed and at me with contempt. He's the epitome of everything Russian I despise. If he ever climbs on the throne, Russia will enter the most reactionary period of its history. He will undo everything I've done to grant more rights to the Russian people. He will even try to reestablish serfdom, I'm sure of it. You know that he still refuses to execute my Royal orders on his estates?"

"Of course I know and you should have him arrested and beheaded…"

Alexander snickered at his wife's vehemence.

She hated the young –and beautiful- Charlotte of Prussia since they had first met. The comment of the young Prussian Princess about lesser nobility when speaking of his wife's family had smothered all sympathy for the newcomer. The fact that Nicolai was a complete idiot and a man who was unable to think outside of hierarchical boundaries hadn't eased the relations within the Imperial Family. And the fact that Nicolai had refused to come to the new Capital City to live in the Kremlin had been a very powerful stroke against his brother.

As it was now, in October 1817, Nicolai had most of the Boyars at his side and he was lurking greedily at the Throne.

Alexander knew of at least five plots against him and one of them had been revealed by a report coming out of London with an exhaustive list of every person involved in the plot. His dear brother included.

He had hesitated about what to do until he had read the little dedication Ann Darcy had added on the last page.

"The same report has been sent to your brother with a little addendum insisting on the fact that neither the British Crown nor the French Republic will accept a fratricide as a good way to change Russia's Ruler. It should have sent him the right message about what Britain and France consider righteous behavior and give you the opportunity not to have to deal with the problem yourself. Yours truly. AD."

He hadn't react officially but each and every one of the plotters had received a personal letter written by the Czar where he had just reminded them of the two articles of the Imperial Law that dealt with High Treason.

Most of the Plotters had chosen to take lengthy vacations somewhere around the Mediterranean Sea. A few had stayed and were under constant surveillance by the Czar's police.

"I should and I should have a long time ago but I can't and you know it as well as me. If I have him arrested I lose the last support I have in the Russian Aristocracy. It could mean a general uprising. And with my troops not yet totally reorganized it could mean a lengthy Civil War. And I'm quite sure some of our neighbors would intervene…"

"Prussia…" hissed his wife.

"Indeed and if Prussia makes its move, France and Britain will follow to cover their part of the Alliance pact and nobody knows what will survive of the Russian Empire if Napoleon enters the fray."

"He will attack Prussia first, there's no doubt on that…"

"He will indeed but the real question is; will he stop after having won over Prussia or will he use the pretext to deal with us?"

"You don't trust Napoleon?"

"Not yet and not ever," answered Alexander. "He is the man I admired when I was a young man and he was worth my admiration but, now that I know him, I know that I will never trust him. He's too ambitious for his own good. I hope that the status quo will last until his son climbs on the throne. Alexandre I trust, he's Fitzwilliam's pupil, I know he won't double deal. But Napoleon? He would sell his father if it would bring him some personal advantage. That man is the most dangerous snake mankind has ever produced and I'm very very happy that, for now, he's our ally. Even if I don't have a clue about what he is preparing just now with d'Arcy!"

"What do you mean?"

"My spies just sent me an urgent message that Napoleon has cancelled sine die all his appointments to go to Pemberley using his fastest airship. And my men in Pemberley confirmed that the whole Clan –women and teens included- was summoned urgently a week ago. And I have not the least idea what had triggered such a reunion. The only thing that transpired to reach my desk was that Napoleon just stayed the night and flew back to Paris the next morning where the whole Inner Council had been summoned to join him immediately after his arrival. And I didn't get a word from the spy I have in Fouché's office about what had been said in this meeting. Which means that Fouché never spoke of what happened to anybody. The whole thing is so wrapped in secrecy that even the fact that the Inner Council has met hasn't made it to the news agencies. And the fact that they went to the trouble to conceal it from the press makes me even more nervous. Something happened and it was something very important and I have no clue about what it was…"

"Ask Darcy…" proposed Louise. "Stop wondering and just ask the man you trust. His answer will, at least, give you a hint of what happened."

"I'm not so sure, love. He could just decide not to answer…"

"He could but if that happens you'll have the confirmation you need that something important happened and we will have to resort to our last possibility."

"And what would that be?"

"I'll go and have a chat with the Bennet sisters in Pemberley, what else?"


I

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Betty smothered a smile while watching the young Alexa out of the corner of her eyes.

Fluffy who was her own personal spymaster had revealed her everything about the young girl, and her mission.

Mission that agreed quite well with Betty.

Alexa was smart and beautiful and had that little trait of character that she knew William would love: optimism. The girl was able to smile at the world even if things weren't as she would have wished it. And quite now the things weren't going at all as she would have wished it because her dear brother has decided that their Russian guest was an annoyance to be avoided like the plague.

The fact that she was still able to spend quite a lengthy period of the day arguing with said brother was a clear sign that she had powerful accomplices within Pemberley.

If Betty had to bet she would have put her money on Mrs. Reynolds and, of course, behind the scenes, her mother and probably one or two of her Aunts.

And one Elizabeth d'Arcy who was rather intended at facilitating the match Russia was hoping to bring through.

It would need a little imagination and the help of Fluffy but Betty had no doubt this case could be resolved to everybody's satisfaction.

And her own very great pleasure.

"Why are you so bent to intervene into your brother's life?" asked Fluffy who, like usual was playing the sleeping feline while monitoring Speedy's latest exploits. And just now Speedy was gliding thousand yards over Pemberley while looking for unlucky rabbits that had had the bad idea to exit their burrows.

"Because he is in need of somebody to love…"

"He loves you and his mothers and his father and probably every other member of your extended family. It seems to me that he has what he needs in this particular field."

"He is frustrated because of Alex's and my chance…"

"Your chance? Last I heard you, you were adamant that you weren't interested in that young lout of a Chinese."

"And I'm not in the least interested but it does do me quite a lot of good to know that a man like him is interested in me."

"I'm interested in you and I love you! There are men aplenty but there is only one me! You should need nobody else but me!"

"You are the perfect friend but as a mate I really believe I should look somewhere else!"

"I could…"

"Don't even think about it, that part of your possibilities does not interest me at all!"

"Your loss…" pouted Fluffy.

"Let's go back to William then, he needs a mate to love, and I believe Alexa is just perfect in said field."

"He doesn't look at it in that way. I don't even have to spy on him to see that she grates on his nerves…"

"Which is much better than indifference, believe me. He doesn't yet know it but he is interested and since she is interested too, it should soon have a happy ending." She stroked her. "Especially with your help."

"Who says I want to help in those matters? By all the seven hells, I'm a Nightcrawler not a babysitter and even less a matchmaker."

"You are my best friend and best friends do help in those matters."

"You should be aware that you are meddling with his life. He will probably not thank you for that."

"I'm his elder sister and it is my duty to help him even if he doesn't want my help. That's what elder sister are for…"

"He was born before you…"

"This proves that I was conceived first…"

"I've looked at it: twins are conceived within the same pouch and how they are placed for birth is a matter of total hazard. Nobody can say that you were conceived first."

"Let's just say I know it and let's go back to what is important."

"It is important because if you are not the elder sister we could agree that we let William alone and went on with more interesting matters."

"It is also the duty of little sisters to meddle with their elder brother's life."

Fluffy chose not to answer this time. Clearly what was important was Betty's desire to meddle with William's life and nothing else.

"If I say that I'm not interested will you let me alone or will you go on nagging at me?"

"Guess?"

Fluffy made a show of showing lots of fangs before accepting publicly her defeat. She was just going to answer when he called her.

A few minutes more dignity saved.

"Open the window, please, he's coming home…"

Betty was immediately at the window and as soon as she had it opened the eagle form Speedy preferred came through. A usual he landed on Betty shoulder and nibbled her earlob in greeting.

"Hello you, how was the hunt?"

"Poor… English rabbits are even more fearful than Dalmatian rats. Not seen a single one. Got a fox, though. Bit me twice. Was quite a funny fight. Didn't kill him. Just beat the crap out of him. Liked it…"

Betty looked at Fluffy and frowned.

"Why does he speak thus…"

Fluffy shrugged.

"I suppose it is his way to show his disrespect for how we oldies use the language. He probably thinks that using half sentences is cute!"

"You could have asked me," protested Speedy. "I'm right present in the room, no need to ask mom. She doesn't understand me anyway."

Fluffy and Betty just looked at each other and took great length not to sigh.

"I could have, indeed, would you have answered me?"

"Probably not," said Speedy while reverting to his usual cat form. "You can't not ask questions. Do I ask questions?"

"No because you spy the answers in other people's minds! Which is…"

"Unseemly! I know and you are all boring."

There was a light tap at the door and without waiting to being invited in, the door opened to show little Lionel's smiling face.

"Saw you flying in…" said Lionel while looking at Speedy. "Got 'hem?"

"'Ly a fox," answered Speedy while jumping toward the door. "T'was fun…"

And soon Lionel and Speedy were out of the room.

"At least we know where he got his new speaking habit."

"I'm not sure that this association is very safe," whispered Fluffy. "From time to time little Lionel scares me."

Betty nodded.

"You are not the only one. The way this boy looks at the world, it worries me. I'm not sure if he only despises Mankind or if he loathes it. He looks at the world with such detachment that I sometimes wonder if he believes himself alien to this world."

"Well Speedy likes him a lot and deep bonds have been created between each other. I'm not happy about it but Lionel is the only human Speedy feels like bonding with. It's better than his former isolation…"

"You had me and Speedy has Lionel… They will change together; hopefully they will mature and improve together."

"Hopefully…" sighed Fluffy who was not so sure about the maturing part even if she had daily proof that through his contacts with Lionel her son was becoming smarter and more efficient in what she had learned to call human handling. Thanks to Lionel he had finally accepted that it was vital for him to never reveal his real self to any other human being outside of the family. And even if she had insisted –in vain- to get just the same results for months Lionel had got it over in less than a couple of weeks.

It still pained her but to admit that her admonitions had been for naught. Jane who had a real gift when it came to feel someone's frustration had been a great help and had been able to explain how youngsters reacted in what they foolishly considered hostile environments. They literally needed to enter in conflict with their persons of authority to get their own feeling for what was right or wrong. And from time to time, to get a certain message over to a rebellious teenager, it was necessary to preach the exact opposite of that what one intended.

"Of course," had said Jane, "you have to do it only for the very important matters, and only if you feel that there is no other way but, from time to time, it is the only way to get them to do what is best for them! But as said to use with care and parsimony! And remember that you have to let them know that you have influenced them on your terms. You can't let them discover the manipulation by their own means. You must show them that you are a crafty manipulator they can admire even if they feel anger at having been played. So it is also important to never apologize just show them your satisfaction. Apologies they despise, success they admire."

Once more Fluffy sighed and looked Betty in the eyes.

"What is it you want me to do?"

"For now, nothing you don't already do… Just survey them and give me a report of what William is thinking of her. I need to be aware of her progress. And I need to know if William shows any sign to be fed up…"

"That's already the case, he's envisioning ways to throttle her just as we speak…"

"Well, that could be a good sign if we don't let it get out of proportion. Time to intervene!"


I

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"…You really can't compare both situations. Remember that we had been excluded from useful matters for mill…" was saying –arguing would probably have been the more accurate word- Alexa when Betty arrived with Fluffy behind her.

"Sorry if I interrupt," said Betty, "but I'm desperately looking for an answer about the Czar's family and I was wondering if you'd have a little knowledge on that matter?"

The little frown on Alexa's brow was enough to show Betty that she had just gotten the girl's whole attention.

"It could be," answered Alexa. "We Russian Aristocrats do like to follow what's happening within the ruling family with enthusiasm."

Betty smiled at her brother.

"Mind if I kidnap your girlfriend for a moment?"

"There's no such thing as a…" began William but Betty cut him out of his denial.

"Of course there isn't!" laughed Betty while smiling smugly at her brother. "Why you boys always believe that we girls are dumb and out of our depths? If you want to have believable deniability you should stop spending most of your time with her, it would be easier to believe!"

She took Alexa by her hand and pulled her away.

"I only need her for a short time; you'll get her back within the hour!"


I

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"What do you want to know about the Czar's family?"

"Nothing, I already know everything that's of interest but since you were beginning to grate on his nerves, I wanted him to get a little breathing room to get over his frustration with you."

"Why should he be frustrated with me?"

Betty made a funny face and looked the young girl into the eyes.

"Because, Elizabeth Alexeievna, you are way too insistent, perhaps?"

All blood was drained out of Alexa's face.

"Who else knows?"

"Probably everybody but him," said Betty with a smile. "And I believe now has come the time to change your strategy. He already knows that you are smart and beautiful, now comes the time to play on his sympathies to make him wanting to help you."

"How so?"

"You are grating on his nerves, love, and I know him for quite a few years, if you insist he will be fed up with you and it will be very difficult to sway him around once he's persuaded himself that you are a pest."

"What should I do?"

"Tell him the truth, of course, but before we'll have to convince him that you need his protection. It's the top way to get the Darcy boys' attention: playing on their 'knight in shining armor complex' is always a good path to their heart. But before he put on his armor we need to get him an arch foe to battle with!"

"And who would that be?"

"The best girl available, of course," answered Betty with a smile. "Ready to cry?"


I

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It had been Janet who had informed him.

Knowing his sister and rather surprised by the account his cousin had just told him, he had immediately made his way to the winter garden where the scene was said to be occurring.

And he had indeed found his sister arguing vehemently with little Alexa who was crying her eyes out.

He instantly forgot that a quarter of an hour earlier he was fed up with her to jump into the fray to defend her.

"What happened, Betty? Why are you shouting at her?"

Betty turned around and shot him a despising look.

"Of course you've noticed nothing, men are all morons when it comes to dealing with girls…" She pointed toward the crying Alexa. "She lied to us, she isn't Emma's cousin, she's the Czar's eldest daughter!"

Of course the information had the intended result by stunning William into silence.

"She's here to spy on you!"

"That's not the truth," countered Alexa. "I wanted to know the man my father wants me to marry outside of official protocol!"

As expected, that second bunch of information just made William's stun last a few seconds more. Giving Betty just enough time to act her great angry departure scene.

"Well since it is between the both of you, I'll let you unravel the story together. I'm out of it…"

And with a last discreet wink in Alexa's direction, she stomped away followed by a feline that –for the innocent bystander- looked more amused than upset.

William out of reflex was at the crying girl's side handing out his handkerchief.

She took it with a sniff and turned away probably to hide her red eyes.

"…I'm sorry…" sniffed she after a few seconds. "But it… Was the only… Way to know the real William…"

"Well, I'm not sure you like what I have shown you," said he with a rueful smile. "In retrospect, I believe I was rather unfriendly…"

She turned to look at him while shaking her head.

"Not in the least, I prefer frankness to fawning courtiers. I have seen too much from those in my life."

"Indeed I suppose it is true… Even if I rather like your father he seems a little prickly when it comes to protocol."

"And you haven't seen him at court in Constantinople…"

"I should perhaps go and talk with him about that project of him…"

"You don't like me, that's it?" said she in a low voice.

"That's not it at all!" protested William. "I don't like the idea of somebody else making decisions for me, that's all. You, I quite like…" He stopped, inhaled lengthily and looked her in the eyes. A smile crept on both their lips. "Let's do it the right way…" said finally William.

His words made her laugh.

"Indeed it's always better." She curtsied. "I'm Elisabeth Alexandrovna Romanova, charmed to make your acquaintance, Sir."

He bowed.

"I'm William d'Arcy and the pleasure is all mine, Miss Romanov."


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