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Chapter Thirty-Three: Confessions
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Pemberley
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30th July 1827
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- Why am I here, Mamma?
- Because I needed to be sure that you are aware of my dear sister's manipulations.
Janet who wasn't an idiot immediately knew what this was about.
- About me and Rodrigo?
- Indeed… My dear beloved sister can be rather crafty when it comes to get what she believes is necessary for the good of the family.
- I know and I'm very aware of what she did, Mamma. After all he was the only one she wanted me to know in person before the dinner. I fathomed immediately that he was the one she believed I should privilege.
- It wasn't hers to decide, said Lizzy.
Janet shook her head while smiling.
- I know but it does not irk me since I never was placed before a definitive choice. I know that she likes Rodrigo and believes he's the best for me. Knowing her and her past, I just cannot dismiss her choice just because it was made before I could make mine. She's always been good to me and from the earliest days of my awareness to be her Goddaughter she's always tried to help and protect me. I trust her and that's why I accepted to be pulled by her into the direction she was wishing for me.
- She should have restrained herself. It's your life. You are the one who should have been given the means to choose your mate without any interference.
Janet shook her head.
- I'm not like you Mamma. A great part of what I am comes in straight line from the Darcy blood…
She snickered.
- And the Darcy blood is a lot more mistrustful than the Bennet strain. I never was the leader in our little gang of boisterous kids. Had I had the say we wouldn't have been boisterous at all, Mamma, and you know it.
She shook her head to stop her mother's comment.
- And don't believe that I didn't like to be a boisterous kid! It was fun to follow Betty and Alex and Willy into the world of not really dangerous but thrilling adventures. I don't regret a second of what we did together and, as I said it already, it was fun, and I loved to see them pull the little adventurous part of my soul into the light.
She sighed while, once more, shaking her head.
- Thanks to them I did things, sometimes foolish things, I would never have done alone. I am and always was a bookworm and a totally tame person. I would never had tried the tenth of what they made me do. And believe it or not there is a part of me that regrets those times! Since they all got their own path and began their adult life with their partners, I fell into a very subdued routine which is, when all is said and told, the expression of my real nature. And I liked it and hated it at the same time. Because an adventurous life does have a great appeal and when you've tasted it once, that part of your heart that soars up when confronted with it wants it back. But going out alone like Aunt Lydia was not for me. When all is said, I'm a rather poor adventuress. When it comes to choose between comfort and risks, I tend to chose comfort.
She let out a long sigh.
- And by choosing comfort I knew that, sooner or later, I was about to die of boredom!
- And Rodrigo will change that?
- I think so! He's Betty's male mirror-image! Always looking for the next challenge, searching for the next treasure island to visit and conquer.
- What about de Godoy's plot to have him adopted?
- De Godoy's plot will never become reality; Mamma, and we all know it. The King of Spain is perhaps currently at war with his two sons but they both still exist, and should he be forced to designate a successor, he will take one of them. And should he perish before having chosen an heir the court will bring a real son at the rudder. Because they are both idiots who will be easy to manipulate. I have no doubt on that.
She shrugged.
- De Godoy is a good man and a reliable follower, but he forgets that Aristocracy is, all over the world, about bloodline. Only superior rulers think about their Kingdom or Empire before they decide that their son is the best candidate to succeed them. And even superior rulers tend to believe that their title is tied to their blood. Look at what Marcus Aurelius did! I really believe that in matters rulership, parental love is a curse.
She shook her head.
- And Carlos is really not in Marcus' league. He is even more a fool than all those other European rulers. The day he feels that he is about to die he will do what fools always do, think about himself and his blood legacy! No, I know that Rodrigo will never be adopted, and it is a good thing. I'm very sure that I don't want to share my husband with a Kingdom. Especially not a Kingdom as rotten as Spain's.
Lizzy smiled at her daughter who had with her last words reassured her.
- Having a man of responsibility at your side is not the bother you seem to believe. I loved every second of Fitzwilliam's time as a regent. Helping him to rebuild Great Britain was a huge and difficult challenge but also a very fulfilling shared experiment. And he trusted me with my own ministry even if it was only called a ministry the day I had to vacate my office.
- Mamma, I'm not against helping my mate to create something greater than a family but I'm also very sure that, should we decide not to be ambitious, a growing and lively family will give me all the pleasure and satisfaction I need.
Lizzy looked at her daughter and made a face.
- You are sure about that? I was wondering if I shouldn't have been more cautious and put a stop to Jane's endeavor as soon as I was informed of her little cheat.
- As always, she did her meddling with grace and compassion, Mamma. She didn't say it in so many words, but I never was compelled to follow her lead. I could have stopped the whole thing the day after the Dinner, but I was hooked by those men's characters. De Godoy's is perhaps a fool to believe that his ridiculously cautious and timid King will ever make a sensible decision, he was quite good in selecting young men I find interesting. And Rodrigo is the one whose brooding mood and dark complexion reminded me most of Papa. They all say that daughters are partial to men who look like their fathers and it is probably what draw me to Rodrigo in the first place.
- What draw you to Rodrigo was my sister, dear. She did what had to be done to make you focus on him.
- Indeed and, to my own surprise, the fact that Lionel likes Rodrigo did indeed push me into his orbit.
- How so?
- You know how Lionel gives that impression to be arrogant and aloof?
Lizzy who had known the father and who knew where young Lionel had inherited that character trait, nodded.
- I do! And everybody else does too…
Janet frowned for a second because even if Lionel wasn't her favorite cousin -she preferred the more smiling cousins born to Kitty and Lydia, those were fun!- she still couldn't help but admire his very fine and precise mind.
- Most people dislike him for that and shut him out of their lives almost immediately after having met him. Rodrigo not only went on speaking with him but made him as comfortable as possible. Lionel, in the rarest display of trust I've ever seen him giving, even let him carry him around…
- And why is that important?
- Because it told me that Rodrigo wasn't only a handsome and brawny man but that he had a heart for problem children and anormal people.
A satisfied smile appeared on her lips.
- It is perhaps not the most endearing trait in a husband, but it is something that I have rarely encountered, especially within the Aristocracy. And I like it a lot. Having a mate who not only cares but who's ready to show that he cares is, in my opinion, worth a lot more than a brawny physique, a shining title or a big bank account. I discovered that because of that I will be able to look at him with esteem and pride.
Lizzy couldn't help but smile and feel relieved.
She did trust Jane with her life and her first reflex would, as it always had been, to follow her at once and ask questions later, but in this very affair she had been plagued by quite a huge amount of remorse.
- You were worried that I would be unhappy?
- Marriage is a difficult endeavor, love. You never know if your feelings will evolve in the right direction. For a time, I really thought that I hated your father and had I not been scolded by Jane that I was condemning a man without having given him the chance to defend himself, I would probably have smothered my real feelings and looked elsewhere.
- I thank God that you didn't do it… I quite like being here and I quite like the future I'm currently imagining with my mustachioed Hidalgo at my side.
- You like that mustachio?
- Not particularly but it doesn't bother me at all…
Lizzy who was quite cognizant about inter-familial currents worked had no doubt that sooner or later Rodrigo would, spontaneously, discover that a new life needed a new look. And the look without his mustache would soon be considered as the best. And from there on, things would be easier with his wife… And the rest of the family!
- So, you've decided, or you are still wondering?
- He hasn't asked yet, so there is no need to wonder about anything.
Lizzy who had no problems recognizing a dodge, decided to force the issue.
- What happens should he ask?
To Lizzy's satisfaction, the answer came immediately.
- I will accept… Provided, of course, Papa's agreement.
- So, he is the one? You are sure?
The answer came without a delay.
- I am and he is. As you know I've been wooed more or less seriously by hundreds of pretenders and he is the only one who made me at the same time apprehensive to not be at my best for him and impatient to see the whole circus come to an end. I don't know if it is what I should feel but it is the way I feel.
Lizzy let a satisfied smile blossom on her lips. She was still a little bit miffed by her sister's manipulations but, when confronted with said manipulations' results, she could only accept the truth and embrace the situation.
She stood up.
- Well, if that's your last word we need to speak with your father.
This time Janet couldn't help but frown at her mother.
- Why is that so? He didn't ask already, did he?
Lizzy shook her head.
- He didn't and if we do not send him an easily understandable message that, should he ask, he would be welcome, he will probably never muster the presumptuousness he feels a demand would be. Hence the necessity to inform your father of your wishes and hand him the task to get your favorite Hidalgo to find the cheek to ask. Come on, let's see your father. It happens that I know that he is currently free to speak with us.
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- Would your presence hint toward some matrimonial plan?
Fitzwilliam's eyes were smiling, and he had clearly been awaiting them.
- One could say so, answered Lizzy. It seems that a decision has been made and that the next step asks for your involvement.
Fitzwilliam smiled in Janet's direction.
- Are you sure, dear? Nobody can force you; it stays your choice even if the family has pressured you into deciding.
Janet shook her head.
- I never felt pressured, papa. Not by the family, at least. I won't deny that Betty and Lexi's marriages have made me wonder about my own future and forced me to ask myself about what it would be to create my own family.
- There is no hurry, love. You have time and the fact that you are upgraded gives you even more time. Your body will stay young for an exceptionally long time and so you don't need to create a family any time soon.
- I don't feel in a hurry but I can't deny that there is, in the background of my mind, a desire to give birth and to become a mother…
She couldn't help but smile at her mother's visible pleasure.
- Not immediately, of course, but I don't agree with Betty's point of view. She's very decided not to have children for as long as possible because she thinks that it would reduce her freedom. And the fact that her sister-wife has given birth to a son and closed the dynastic issue, gives her a freedom I will never have. But I don't really care about dynastic reasons, I feel that giving birth will change me and give me another dimension in which to live. I've seen Aunt Jane raising kids after kids and I admire what she's become…
She took a long breath.
- I don't know how many children I will bear but one thing is sure, there will be more than one.
Lizzy who still remembered vividly her first pregnancy couldn't help but take her daughter's hands in hers.
- You know that you can even chose the number of children to bear… Mamma has become very proficient in that matter.
- I know and having seen the numerous advantages of having a twin, It could be that I opt for a twin birth. At least for the first time. But nothing's written yet, *Link* does make me hesitate. I'm not sure that I'm ready to have a pair of of *link*ing toddlers speaking into my mind.
Fitzwilliam decided that a little less solemnity would help his eldest daughter, stood up and moved to be able to embrace her.
Once there he pressed her against his side.
- What are your plans?
- We have no plans, Papa. He isn't even aware that he needs to ask you for my hand.
An unhappy frown was immediately on Fitzwilliam's brow.
- He hasn't abandoned, I hope. I wouldn't like that a man scorns my daughter…
Janet's smile showed him that she liked it when he was wearing the angry father role.
- Don't you overreact, father! He hasn't abandoned but last time I saw him, even if he was satisfied to learn that he was my best candidate, he left without making any promise. So, it will probably be necessary for you to convey to him the message that it is, perhaps, time to stop hesitating and to make an intelligent move.
Fitzwillliam nodded.
- I will use de Godoy to convey the message. His plot is perhaps doomed to fail but it still could be useful. I'll make sure that your Hidalgo gets the right message.
- Don't…
He stopped her with a light frown of the eyebrows.
- I won't force him into anything, dear! But I will make him understand that whatever he decides I want to know as soon as he has made up his mind.
He looked at his wife and took a long breath.
- Let's go back to my question. And if the two of you don't have plans, it is still possible that you, dear daughter, have plans of your own.
Janet tried to answer but she was cut off.
- No, said her father. You don't need him to make plans. You will have to plan together but that doesn't mean that you can't have your own plans. You are your own woman. You don't go, like of old, from your father's house to your husband's! There can be more to your life and it's now, when you are no longer mine nor yet his, that you can decide what you want your life to become.
He smiled at her frown.
- Being with a loved husband is not, should not be, the end of your freedom but the beginning of a new life. And you really need to know what it is you want before letting him decide for you.
She looked at her mother.
- Did papa ever decide for you?
- Not very often but it happened.
She shot a grateful smile in Fitzwilliam's direction.
- Some people say that I'm headstrong and even stubborn. I'm proud to be able to say that most of what I did in my life came out of my own wishes. And it should be the same for you, love. You can't enter matrimony with just the desire to be a good wife and a loving mother. You need to have your own goals and what's even more important, you need to convince your husband that your goals are as important as his.
A silent message flew between Lizzy and Fitzwilliam.
Fitzwilliam's goals had always been exclusively centered around Pemberley, and without d'Arcy's manipulations, it was quite clear that he would never had had any other goals than making his estate, his tenants and his family safe and prosper.
- Sometimes, said Lizzy, your goals won't be able to coexist, and then one of you will have to accept that not every dream can come true. But most of the time, it will be possible to reach an agreement which will give a success to the both of you. That's mostly what a successful marriage is about: succeeding together while never forgetting what makes you different.
- And complementary, added her father. Together we've been stronger and better.
He erased a frown and smiled at his daughter.
- Well, dear, now that you are at the threshold of a new part of your life, what are your goals in life? And how can we help you to get there?
Janet took a long breath.
- I'm sorry if I disappoint you but my goals are rather normal and ordinary. I want to be a good mother and a supporting wife.
She shook her head.
- I'm not like Betty and Lexi who have political ambitions. Betty wants to change the world and build a Powerful Central Asian Empire and Lexi dreams of maintaining the whole of France under a benevolent and indulgent rule. Since the Guzmann de Harrara are only minor aristocracy and will probably forever be, such goals are not for us. I'm quite sure that a quiet life in some forlorn estate will be everything I need.
She looked at her mother.
- I'm more like Aunt Georgiana than you, mother. That's probably what makes the difference between a Bennet and a Darcy. We Darcy we need to be forced out of our comfort zone to stand out. If you let us alone, we prosper and grow in the shadows.
Her father made an attempt to speak.
- We could…
- I know that you could, said Janet. And William already proposed to make me a Countess. But I refused. Not everybody revels in the spotlights. I have had all the glory I needed through my association with Betty and Lexi. I'm not sure that quietly disappearing into the shadows of anonymity is not what I really wish for my life.
Lizzy and Fitzwilliam made great efforts to stay stone-faced.
They, of course, knew their daughter's love for discretion and seemliness. But they also knew that the Clan, as he was commonly called all around the world, wouldn't forget that she existed. Sooner or later the tides that had made their family the most famous family on Earth would catch up with her and wrench her out of her comfort zone.
They had no doubt that, like all the rest of the members of the Clan, she would rise to the challenge.
- I will look into the matter, said her father. Don't be too surprised if I get your Rodrigo to come over and ask for your hand within the next days. I know that you are in no hurry, but a lengthy engagement period would be, in your case, the right thing to do…
He looked Janet in the eyes.
- An engagement can be postponed or even broken… I'd like you to be sure that marriage suits you and that your Hidalgo is the right man to be at your side.
- And, said Lizzy, you could use the opportunity to journey all around the world to find the place where you want to settle. I'm quite sure that you'll find a great number of family members ready to be playing the role of silent chaperon.
- Aunt Gardiner has had such a project for quite some years now, said Fitzwilliam. I'm quite sure that she would be ecstatic to have an official reason to go on that world tour.
Lizzy nodded while smiling.
It had been an exceedingly long time since she had been able to show her love to her favorite aunt.
- You are right, let's go to London and ask her. I'm quite sure that she will be glad to get out of her husband's orbit for a few weeks.
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London, Gardiner Estate
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1st of August 1827
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- What brings you here, dears?
The Small Parlor that wasn't small at all, was were they had joined Aunt Gardiner and the little tribe of grandchildren she loved to have around her.
- We have a favor to ask you, said Lizzy. It's about Janet's future marriage.
Aunt Gardiner winked at her great niece.
- You've chosen finally?
- I know which one I'd like to see at my side, answered Janet with a mien of her own. He hasn't asked yet, so nothing is sure.
- Even Spaniards cannot be so dull as to not recognize the signs, said her Aunt who clearly has as good a spy net as everybody else in the family. He will come over and if he doesn't, we will ask Jane's husband to make him a nightly visit. There are rumors that he quite likes terrorizing people while they are no longer sleeping…
- I really hope we won't need to go to that sort of methods, said Lizzy. We want to convince him to enter the family not scare him away.
- As for the favor, said Aunt Gardiner, don't be worried I'll take over the role of planner. I've done it for my daughters, and I will gladly do it for you, Janet. I'll ask Josephine to make a survey of the best Paris addresses. Together we will provide you with the best accessories a woman will ever need.
- You know Josephine?
- Of course, I know her, Lizzy. She's been the one who has organized my daughter's wedding in Saint Petersburg and Paris. That sort of common endeavor does create rather strong links. She's a friend I like to consult when it comes to fashion and great parties. She's a born party manager, you know, you should ask her yourself…
- We will probably but you were misled, Aunt, that's not the favor we were about to ask you. What we really came for is for you to serve as Janet's chaperone while she and her future husband make their world-tour.
- World-tour? What for?
Janet took a long breath.
- You've probably fathomed that I'm most likely the tamest of the Darcy Clan. I like my comfort and I'm quite sure that once I'm ensconced in my own estate, it will be very difficult to move me outside of the usual abodes where the family gathers. So, before becoming even more egregious than nowadays, I'd like to visit the world in company of the man I believe suits me and, should a place enchant me and my fiancé, have the possibility to acquire it to build our own family estate there.
She looked her Aunt in the eyes.
- Papa said that you had been playing with the idea of a world-tour for quite some time. Since I would need a chaperon while journeying as a not yet married wife with Rodrigo we thought that…
She smiled at her Aunt.
- …You could come with us?
Aunt Gardiner looked at Lizzy.
- What's that stupid idea? An upgraded girl doesn't need a Chaperon! Should a man have an improper behavior she has the strength to destroy him in less than a second and should she be his accomplice he'd just die within the next two days…
- We know that, agreed Lizzy, but even for us, perhaps even more for us, it is essential to preserve a pristine image of good behavior. It would be frown on them should they make their trip without a proper chaperone. And I don't see a better suited person than you, Aunt. You've shown in the past with me that the role of a chaperone was well suited with you.
This time it was she who winked at her Aunt.
- And you could organize the whole trip while we investigate the different scenarios to get the would-be fiancé to make his demand.
Aunt Gardiner took a few minutes to think it over and finally nodded.
- I'll see what I can do. I am interested; I will not deny it, but I'll have to ask Edward about it. I'll let you know my decision as soon as it has been made.
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Spalatro, Bingley Biorna Island
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1st of August 1827
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After having embraced her sister and her niece, Kitty looked at Janet.
- Did you make your decision? Which one has won the heart of the fair maiden?
- Rodrigo, answered Janet while perfectly knowing that it was a rhetorical question. Should he ask, I'm very tempted to agree.
- We'll have to find the adequate methods to convince him to ask, that's all, answered Kitty. If he is interested too, we should be able to encourage him to make his move.
- We hope so, agreed Lizzy. And to be very frank, I'm quite sure that he will find it in himself to ask but, just in case, we have tasked Fitzwilliam with that part of the venture. He should be, as usual, successful.
- I've heard you are planning a world-trip?
- How did you learn about it?
- Aunt Gardiner is looking for a safe airship, answered Kitty. And as usual the Skyship-yard in Man is building a new airship that should cover every aspect of what she's looking for. With the small advantage that, like every other airship we've built these last months, it is equipped to climb and survive in orbit.
- We would prefer a more subdued way to travel. Orbit jumping is swift, but you don't see a lot of the landscape.
- The Phoenix is fast and very well protected, but it still can do quiet and leisurely. And, should we need to come back in a hurry, it is always at less than twelve hours away from where you want to be.
- We?
- If you are not against some more company, I'm interested in joining. Count me in if you want. I've probably already seen most of it but there sure are a few spots that haven't been overflown by me. Time to rectify those blunders…
- How many people can the Phoenix arrange?
- Depends on how she has been dotted, but she can provide luxury shelter for around a thousand people. Should she be reinstalled to be a troop transport the engineers think that up to five thousand soldiers, their equipment and supply for one month can easily be stored aboard.
- I suppose that for now it is the luxury setting that is being installed?
- Not totally. As of now it looks a lot more like a colony ship than a luxury ship. There are a score of luxurious cabins -Charles was planning to pilot it for its maiden flight after all- but most of the inner volume has been equipped to welcome a thousand colonists.
- Is the Phoenix the Company's first attempt to colonize Mars?
Kitty shook her head.
- No, answered she, the Company won't enter the race for Mars. We will provide the competitors with what they need to succeed but we won't send people up there in the name of the Company. The Phoenix is what Charles calls a Trailer. Its main objective is the Asteroid fields. The company is interested in minerals and ores and the field of Asteroids beyond Mars is what we want to colonize. Mars colonies will need huge amounts of raw materials and the Company's Asteroid Bases will be able to provide it.
- Why a trailer?
- Because most of what the Phoenix transports is a removable module that can have around a dozen different shapes. In an extremely near future, her main task will be to bring to the Asteroid Field and place on one of the greater asteroids a factory module. Each base contains everything necessary for its survival, its growth and the mining of the asteroid it has been placed upon. That's why Charles chose to call his first trailer Phoenix: it loses a part of itself but can regrow it easily…
Janet frowned at her Aunt.
- Why do we need a mining facility to make the world trip?
- We won't have a mining module aboard that time. As I said there are already a dozen different shapes for the removable module. And one of the shapes that is already geared up is the luxury passenger module. That's the one we could use to make our little trip that will also be the perfect opportunity to test the Phoenix in Earth's atmosphere. The Space and Moon visit part -with mining module- will be done afterwards…
She smiled at her sister.
- There's even a ball room, a swimming pool, a trap ball court and a gyrocopter landing field. Luxury at its absolute best...
Janet frowned at her Aunt.
- Why am I beginning to suspect that you are all using my engagement world-trip as a façade to something totally different than visiting the Planet to give me an opportunity to find the perfect place where I would like to live and raise my children?
- Because it is, answered her mother. We've been looking for a reason to make such a round-trip for months, if not years now. But we needed a believable pretext to hide our real reason to make that very thorough journey all around the world.
- And what is that real reason?
Kitty stood up and walked to the giant planisphere her husband had made done. It was as exact a copy of the world as had been possible. It even turned around its axis.
- We made a deal with Pemberley's Spirits. They have been quite enthusiastic to have access to those three new grooves. They would like us to find more of them in order to repair Earth's damaged energy net. We need at least one groove on each continent to serve as a base from where the others can be found, but we are very sure that we will find quite a lot more during this journey. And since most of those grooves will be found in beautiful places, we will try to buy most of them. We have the monetary means to do it and we have the knowledge about the why we need to do it…
- But you don't want anybody outside of the family to suspect why we do it, whispered Janet.
Her mother nodded while pointing at the planisphere.
- And your engagement world-trip will be the perfect cover-up to explain why we do it and why the family buys so many properties around the world. The official reason will be that we buy each and every available slot you deem possible for your future estate. The one you finally choose we will give you as a wedding gift. The others we will keep as family assets. It will not awake any suspicion in the public especially since we will buy properties situated in very forlorn and exotic places. There will be no suspicion of speculation or treasure hunting. We will just buy or procure beautiful or amazing places nobody wanted before.
- Not all owners will accept to sell…
- Perhaps not immediately, answered her mother. But we are in no hurry. The next heirs will perhaps be more open to our propositions. And it is not important to get all the places. Not yet at least. We have a lot of work awaiting us to recreate Earth's old energy net. With the Gurls we have means to boost everything and so we don't need all the sacred places to be restored. But once we will have found them, we will keep an eye on those other places we weren't able to buy! We will be prepared to snatch them should they ever reenter the real estate market. We owe it to the Spirits and since we have the means -and I'm quite sure that we will have the same means in a score of years- we won't hesitate to pay a lot of money to get the places we want.
- You really want to recreate the magic?
Kitty nodded enthusiastically.
- It's a worthy endeavor, don't you think? A magical grove gives its neighborhood a real boost in matters plants, harvests and weather. Today, Pemberley's tenants have twice the yield than other, more far away, farmers are able to get even with a huge consumption of fertilizer. The real efficient fertilizer is what is commonly called Magic. And Magic fuels only on respect and compassion for Nature. It is the easiest and less expensive path to a doubling of a land's yield.
Janet nodded.
- I have seen the results of the Grove on Pemberley's weather template. We have always a few degrees more or less than the surroundings.
- But the surroundings are more and more being incorporated into Pemberley's special microclimate. We are working to extend it even more. In a couple of years, the whole Pike District will have Pemberley's climate. Colder in winter, rainier in spring and less hot in summer. And the harvests will be astounding…
Janet who had seen the tourists' numbers increase for years now, couldn't help but look at the whole harvest thing with a lot of distance.
- Most farmers of the District are now B&B farmers, they are planting a lot less.
- Which is good for the Forests and the climate, agreed her mother. The Pikes are a renowned tourist attraction and with Pemberley's Spirits' active interference said tourists will more and more find the climate very suited to their needs.
- With more and more people swarming the Pikes, won't it create a backlash?
- The Pikes are a Nature reservation. No new buildings can be built outside of certain specified zones like Lambton. That's the reason why a lot of farmers have decided to transform some of their buildings into B&B facilities. The tourists are interested and the only way to increase the numbers of available beds is by converting already existing buildings into tourist apartments. And the B&B farmers have seen their income increase hugely.
- But they have less time to exploit their land, said Janet.
- But what they exploit yields the same amount as in the past, noted Kitty. They win twice thanks to the Spirits. This world will see its population grow in a very spectacular manner. Those new Humans will need to be fed and a Grove, thank to its inherent magic will increase the harvests in quite an extraordinary manner.
- And the term "Magic" is quite loaded, said Lizzy. It isn't magic at all, it's just Earth's health and well-being we want to restore. Magic is just the by-product of a healthy Earth. Mother Earth is a living organism, and she is not in an exceptionally good health nowadays. Too many of her channels have been disturbed -or even destroyed- by fools who never even envisioned that Earth was anything but a dirt ball flying through the cosmos. The Spirits want us to heal her body and since we have the means -magical, technological and financial- to do it we will figure out what's necessary to recreate a working telluric net.
- Is such an endeavor even possible, asked Janet. I'm quite sure that lots of the knots the Spirits speak about have been destroyed because they were at the places where we have built town and cities… Will we have to destroy whole towns to give Earth her health back?
Lizzy made no effort to show her determination. She, as the resident "witch" of Pemberley had been at the center of the negotiations with the Spirits and what said Spirits had shown her about the reasons of the desertification of parts of the planet had opened her eyes about the real situation of the Planet. The planet could, indeed, feed billions but to go on doing that she needed to be protected and pampered. And that was exactly what the Bennet sisters had promised to do. As she had learned during those negotiations, rain was a consequence of a completely healthy land, not a condition!
- What is a town when compared to the whole planet's survival? When necessary we will do just that, have no doubt on that matter, dear, but, thanks to the Niepce brothers and their autonomous self-producing power generator we now have ways to create substitutive nods that can be situated under the cities. We know that we will with certainty have problems to resurrect some nods, but we have the knowledge to create bypasses that will restore the country's health even if the by-passed cities will still be outside of the grid. It won't be as healthy as it should for the cities' inhabitants, but it will be better for Earth and the surrounding country as a whole. And, who knows, we will perhaps, with time and adequately chosen acquisitions, be able to resurrect Groves even at the center of our greatest cities. Earth is a compassionate and welcoming entity, if we happen to respect and nurture her, she will pay us back with her plentiful gifts.
- But, for now, said Kitty, what we need to do is find the existing Groves and do what's necessary to protect them and stabilize their energy output. It won't be easy but it is a lot easier to put existing Groves under protection than to recreate destroyed ones.
- So, it could be possible that I become the Mistress of another Pemberley?
- It's not only possible, dear, said Lizzy, but it is something the Spirits want us to do. We've already find a Grove near Beijing and Yonglin will build there a Manor for his extended family. With it, Sunteu and Ounnga will have the possibility to use the Grove to Grove teleport to join us in Pemberley without having to make the lengthy and dangerous journey.
- Dangerous?
- Qin is a very troubled country, answered Lizzy. Yonglin is winning and nobody doubts that he will come out of the current strife stronger and with even more power than his father ever had but there are still a lot of people who dislike him and his reforms. And rockets are easily available on the black market. Better not to offer to all those would-be terrorists the possibility to kill part of Yonglin's family while they use a very easily remarkable and vulnerable airship.
- Will they be able to use the net? I thought only witches like Betty and you could use the telluric net.
- Witches have indeed that power. But so, have people under the protection of a Spirit. Ounnga has the blood and the affinities to become a witch thanks to her mother but as of now she has no practical knowledge about what is needed. Sun clearly doesn't have neither the affinities nor the desire to learn! So, the support of a Travel Spirit will be necessary for quite a long time. Since the Spirits have no qualm to visit other Groves on the condition that they have the possibility to return to Pemberley, it shouldn't be a problem to see Ounnga journey to and from Pemberley.
Janet who had used the telluric net quite a few times had no problems to see the huge advantage said net had brought to the family. To go from one Grove to another only a few seconds, if even so much time, was necessary. The only real problem was the fact that a Grove to Grove "jump" was limited to the journeying creature's body. Nothing else but him or herself would be sent to the other side. So, the Grove in Pemberley had now a small abode with clothes awaiting the arriving or departing traveler.
- We will have to add more clothes in the abode, said Janet with a smile. Smaller ones for Ounnga and larger ones for Sun.
- I'll look into that problem as soon as I'm back, said Lizzy. There are already quite a few bathrobes in the shed's trunk, the arriving travelers will find what's needed to cover themselves but I'll add a few formal attires in case of special guests.
Kitty looked at Janet.
- You didn't agree to the world-trip… Will it be a problem?
- Of course not, answered Janet. I'd really love to visit the world, but must I remind you that he still hasn't asked?
- He's no fool, so he'll ask, said Kitty with a mischievous smile. And should he hesitate too long, we witches still have a few means to remind too reluctant gentlemen that they are ardently awaited.
Janet's frown was immediately on her face.
- Aunt, please…
Lizzy intervened to reassure her daughter.
- Don't worry, Janie, it's your father's job to remind him of the reality of the situation. He has quite interesting normal means to get your soon to be fiancé's attention. Don't let your Aunt's pranks get to you. We have no intention to interfere with Fitzwilliam.
She let her own most mischievous smile adorn her lips.
- At least not immediately.
Janet didn't seem relieved.
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Next chapter soon to come… A Chapter about how to become part of the Clan.
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