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Chapter Nineteen: Public Secret
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Lambton Institute of Technology – Great Ball Room
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31st December 1825
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This whole journey wasn't at all how he had imagined it.
Somewhere deep down in his mind he had imagined a small town with a medium Castle used as a University for a hundred students.
What he had got had nothing to do with something small. Even Madrid's University looked like a garden hove when compared to the huge egg-like glass and steel building he was currently walking through.
Of course, the Ball Room wasn't at all like the one he had visited, once upon a Time in the Escorial.
Nothing at all could be more dissimilar.
This was a place coming from another world. The pillars were in transparent multicolored glass and the light was, if he looked up, blinding.
And the crush was unbearable. Never before had he ever seen so many important and visibly rich people gathered in such a huge cavern of a room.
He stopped and forced himself to make a review of what he had, till now, seen and experienced.
The room he had been given the day before had been another surprise. The moment when he had really understood what it meant to be in Britain and what being British really meant when compared to Spain.
There were factories in Madrid and there even were two metro-lines -with more about to be built- to bring people from the suburbs to said factories.
A part of Madrid was even equipped with electrical streetlights.
But nothing at all could be compared with what he had seen in Lambton. Madrid was bigger. More people lived there, that was a given. But Madrid was, visibly, an old, run down city.
Lambton was a modern, well maintained and aggressively lit, town.
In fact everything here in Britain was aggressively lit!
He wasn't even sure to remember if the Great Hall of the LIT where he had been welcomed by a personal groom had looked the same as today. He had been brought to the escalators that had pulled him to the fifth floor where his room was situated.
Room that wasn't at all how he had imagined it. He had been in inns all over Spain and he had been invited in a score of friends' estates.
But what he had been introduced to was something else.
Something that had, for the fourth or fifth time since he had climbed out of the Airship shattered his presupposed knowledge about Britain.
Time to stop being amazed and accept that you've arrived on a foreign world.
He was looking around him and couldn't help but feel oppressed by the sheer number of people walking in human flows from one point to the other.
How would he even find back to the escalators to hide in his room and wait until the whole thing had found an end?
- You are, I suppose, in need of a guide, said a voice in perfect Spanish coming from his side.
Coming from down his side.
He looked down and saw a young boy, around ten or eleven who looked at him with a very serious expression on his face.
- I am in need of an escape route, that's what I am…
- I could provide you with that too but my cousin would be disappointed should you get cold feet.
- I have good slippers and the room is heated, I'm quite sure that my feet won't be cold.
- It's an English expression meaning being scared and running away.
- It doesn't translate well in Spanish but that's exactly how I feel right now.
- Well, since it is the first time I speak Spanish with a real Hidalgo, I consider myself satisfied since you understand me. And I would prefer if you don't scamper away. You are awaited…
- And who's awaiting me?
- The same person you had hope to find here and who without my help you will only find when the great dining halls will be opened. Which means three or four hours from now.
- So, this is not how it should have been done…
- No, but it could still be reversed to the original scenario if you prefer taking your time.
Rodrigo, for the first time, really looked at the boy.
- How old are you really?
- I'm twelve but I don't look my age.
- Oh, then I'm secretly reassured…
- Was that sarcasm?
- Sort of…
- Good, I got it. That's good since I mostly don't understand sarcasm when people try it on me. It makes for awkward conversations, sometimes…
Rodrigo decided that he had been rude long enough and bowed in the boy's direction.
- Rodrigo Guzzman de Harrara, at your service, Sir.
The boy made a bow of his own.
- Lionel Darcy, to be your guide to the place where you are awaited.
- I don't want to be rude, but why did she sent a boy to gather me?
- Because I'm small enough to not appear on the security cameras. What appears on the screens is you standing doing nothing. The nearest camera is behind you so nobody saw you speaking to something not visible.
- Why the secret?
- Because we wanted to make our own opinion before letting the family take over. Once it is official it's quite sure that you won't be able to get away without half a regiment of bodyguards following you. And we believe a little more secrecy is always a good thing. Not everything has to be known by everybody…
Rodrigo couldn't help but shake his head.
- Where did you learn Spanish, you speak it eerily well for an Englishman.
- I'm very gifted in about everything, said the boy with a smile. It helps to be the smartest Human Being on Earth.
- I suppose it does, said Rodrigo, but who decided that you are the smartest Human being on Earth?
- I did, and since nobody I met until now has been able to understand even a small part of my equations, I'm quite sure that I'm right. But should you know somebody you think smarter than me, don't hesitate to invite him. It would be so rewarding to, finally, meet somebody with whom I don't need to continually verify that he or she understands what I'm saying.
A smile appeared on Rodrigo's lips.
The boy was either arrogant like nobody else he'd ever met, or he was what her said and he was, indeed a very lonesome and unhappy little man.
- I suppose it would be, indeed… Where do I have to go?
- Just follow me, I know the way…
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- There is a metro-line under the LIT?
The Metro between the LIT and Pemberley wasn't at all like the lines in Madrid. There the cars were built to host a double score of sitting people. Here the cars were a lot smaller and a lot more comfortable hosting around a dozen seats mostly facing each other.
Lionel was sitting at his side looking towards the direction of Pemberley.
- There is one between Pemberley and the LIT and next year the public works project to extend it from Pemberley to the Lambton Airfield with a stop under the LIT will be completed. We know that the merchants in Lambton don't like the idea but uncle Fitzwilliam believes that the Lambton Down Town Station will compensate the fact that the newcomers to the LIT won't pass any longer through the City's Center. The Metro will drain the students from the LIT towards the center of the City and the Merchants will soon discover that students do like a lot going out and having fun. So, they will go on protesting, there's always a valid reason to go on protesting after all, while earning enough money to satisfy their greed.
- Aren't you a little too blasé for a twelve-years-old boy?
- It comes with the high intelligence. Young people tend to have illusions for quite a long time. But that's because they insist on feeling their surroundings. If they had the mind to look at what really exist they would know that they are wasting their time.
He looked up at Rodrigo and smiled.
- But then stupid people wasting time is only a very small problem. It would be a problem if smart people like myself would go on wasting their time on feelings. But thank God, I outgrew that phase ten years ago…
- At the high age of two?
- Perhaps I am exaggerating a little… It could have been three, indeed. But you must know that those first years of life are rather fuzzy in my mind. It seems that our brain's memory center is not absolutely efficient during the first years of life. There are things my parents pretend I did when I was very young that I've forgotten. It is rather scaring…
- Because you never forget anything?
- I cannot be sure! To be sure of that I would need to have a databank with all my memories and a way to compare. Since I don't have such a data bank, I can only believe what I remember. And when I do a verification there are no holes in the life I remember…
- You do that often?
- No, very rarely, of course. I don't have time to waste on such trivial things. I've decided a long time ago that it is childish to control everything twice. I have better things to do with my time than recomputing my memories…
- Recomputing?
- It's a term I've…
He stopped, closed his eyes, made a face and finally sighed.
- Indeed, we've created to describe a mental operation whose goal is to reconstruct the memory flows into better organized files. I remember everything but if you must relive whole days of your youth to get to the sought-out information it is boring in a way you cannot even imagine since you spend your time like all those other normals forgetting everything. But once you've recomputed your memories into specialized files, it is a lot easier to recall those memories… Work is easier…
- Work? You are a twelve-years-old boy, you shouldn't work, you should have fun and play with your friends.
- Working on finding new solutions is the funniest thing I can imagine doing… And I don't have friends… Not really… I have a few cousins my age and we have fun training together with the sensei but most of the time what I love to do is way over their mental capacities.
He bowed in Rodrigo's direction…
- I do like them and they are always ready to help me, but to say the truth children are dumber than adults and they tend to be easily disturbed by useless activities.
He sighted.
- I no longer point out such things to them because they tend to be angry with me when I call them dumb, but it is frustrating to have nobody to discuss real interesting topics with…
Once more he stopped and frowned while looking at the ceiling…
- Luckily that point has been solved these last years.
- You've got siblings?
- Indeed, Mom gave birth to twins…
- And they are as smart as you…
- No, but…
Once more he stopped speaking and frowned for quite a few seconds.
- Whatever, said he finally, I finally have someone with whom I can discuss about all the very smart things I spend my time discovering.
- It must be difficult to be a genius…
- Was that sarcasm?
- No, answered Rodrigo, it was perhaps a little bit ironic, but it wasn't sarcasm since I'm in agreement with my affirmation. It would have been sarcasm if I would believe that you are not a brilliant mind.
- So, what was the irony for?
- To convey that you lack humility.
- Indeed, that's something quite a lot of normals tend to denounce when dealing with me. Or should I say, complaining about me when I'm not there? Would it be better to be a hypocrite and playing the dumbass idiot?
- I can't answer easily to your question. It is good to be frank and to always say the truth. It gives the people around you a certain feeling of confidence. So, it is good. But when your frankness points at your colloquist's failings and faults, it is perhaps better to avoid being too frank in those matters. Or it will be exceedingly difficult for you to make friends and even more difficult to keep them. Frankness is good and I consider it one of the cardinal virtues but if your frankness becomes bluntness it is perhaps time to find ways to edulcorate your comments.
- Couldn't a real friend know that my bluntness wasn't meant to hurt him or her and see the advantages of having a friend who's frank about everything?
Rodrigo smiled at the boy's shining eyes.
He was in such need to be understood that he couldn't help himself but take him in his arms and embrace him.
And to his great surprise his embrace was reciprocated.
- I like you too, said Lionel with a smile… You're fun to be with even if you're n…
He stopped abruptly which brought another smile Rodrigo's his lips.
- You can say it, I know my deficiencies… I know that I'm not the smartest cookie in the box and that, compared to you I'm probably dumb and stupid. If you add to that that I tend to be stubborn and unreasonable with people who have faults I hate, you'll have to admit that I'm not perfect. And still, I do tend to look at some people's faults with a lot of self-righteousness.
- Knights tend to be self-righteous; I know. That's alright with me.
- You know a lot of Knights?
- Yes and no. I know a lot of men titled with the rank of Knights, but I only know two people who could be called Knights in the old sense of the word. Uncle Géraud could enter that category even if he is now a Field Marshal and a Prince. And then there's Wellesley. He's definitively a Knight even if he is now a Duke and a Field Marshal too. There is no man more self-righteous than Wellesley. He doesn't like me at all. He thinks I'm an ill-mannered brat. He thinks himself smart…
- And you think that he isn't?
- O, he is smart, he has one of those weird forms of intelligence that are specialized on a very small item. His item is strategy… He knows instinctively how to move armies to get them at the right place at the right moment. He's very cunning in that but for the rest he's not very smart at all. But that's always the problem with normals who have specialized brains, they all believe that because they are very good at one thing that it sifts to the rest of their intelligence…
- Which isn't the case…
- Rarely. Napoleon is brilliant in almost everything. Wouldn't his greed always overcome his intelligence he would be an overall genius like Uncle Geoffrey. But since it is so easy to lure him with money to forget that he is a genius, it tends to be less impressive. But he is smart, no doubt on that…
- And are you rude enough to tell them what you think of them?
- We could call it frankness, couldn't we?
- I take that as a yes to my question. And you should perhaps stop that. Most adults are unable to see the truth to stuck at the appearances. And if what looks like a young boy says things you wouldn't even accept from an adult; it tends to make them dislike said young boy.
Lionel let out a long sigh.
- I know and I do try to be false and insincere with adults but it is difficult, my tongue tends to be faster then my mind when it comes to take an idiot down a notch or two.
A chime could be heard.
- Pemberley Station. Please sit down or take a hold. We are beginning to brake.
- We arrive, said Lionel while trying to hop from Rodrigo's lap but Rodrigo didn't let go.
There was a second of hesitation and finally Lionel accepted to be carried.
- Let's take you to the Winter Garden, we are awaited.
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The man was tall, taller than Fitzwilliam, with a typical Spanish darkened skin and what looked like a black braided lion's mane. And his grey eyes were piercing when looking around him and kind when looking at Lionel.
And with his thin mustaches he was as handsome as his pictures had shown.
- He is a looker, said Jane, that's something those pictures didn't embellish.
- And he carries Lionel. Have you ever seen Lionel be carried?
- I carry him all the time, dear, but it is the first time I ever saw him trust a stranger to carry him. Seems he's good at seducing wayward ill-mannered geniuses.
She winked at Janet.
- Let's hope he's as good with wayward ill-mannered maidens.
- I'm not ill-mannered, protested Janet. Everybody agrees that I am a perfect example of polite aloofness.
- Not sure aloofness is a virtue I would want to be associated with a daughter of mine but perhaps with a niece and goddaughter it is tolerable.
She pointed at the Winter Garden's great entrance.
- Let's go welcome the man who a lot of people find perfect to become King of Spain.
- Aren't we showing too much hubris? Who gave us the power to nominate a King for an allied country?
- I think it was de Godoy and his henchman who made the preliminary choices, but I will admit that I don't give a damn about the Throne of Spain. What is important in my eyes is this man's virtues. Is he worthy of my favorite goddaughter? That is the only question I need to have an answer for. Once I have that answer, we will wonder about those other small details.
Janet stopped and looked once more at herself at the mirror.
- How am I?
- Perfectly giddy, nervous and out of your mind, as you have been for the last two days.
- I can't help it, Aunt…
- And I do understand perfectly but still you are Fitzwilliam Darcy's eldest daughter, Janet. Remember that and let the Darcy dark aloofness infuse you! This is a man you want not to seduce but to convince that you are the One! Nothing else is at stakes but perfection.
She took her Goddaughter by the hand and pulled her towards the door.
- Showtime my Lady! Let's be perfect for this first encounter.
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Well, at last the pictures had been accurate.
She wasn't a beauty but she was pretty and her eyes were full of the fire he had always loved in the females he had been with.
And her Aunt was as beautiful as he knew she would be.
He looked at Lionel who nodded to allow him to let him stand alone.
Once the boy at his side, he bowed.
First to the Duchess and then in direction of the one his friend really believed could bring him to renounce to his, not yet given, vows.
- Your Grace, said he using the English way to greet a Duchess.
Jane nodded her greetings and added a smile to show that she was pleased with what she was looking at.
- Miss Darcy, it is a pleasure to, finally, meet you in the flesh. I've been given a lot of information, as you have probably, too, but I'm sure nothing replaces a face to face conversation.
He turned to face the Duchess.
- May I propose my arm to your Goddaughter, your Grace? We have a few things to discuss and this extraordinary garden would be, would you allow me to invade your Kingdom, the perfect background for our conversation…
Jane made an inviting gesture.
- You are very welcome, Senor, I'll be around tending to my roses.
- I'll be very careful never to let you out of our sight, your Grace.
- Thanks a lot, and have fun…
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- I'm very sorry…
- Why would you be sorry and even more why would you be very sorry?
- Because I know I will be a disappointment. I know nothing about the right way to make conversation with a beautiful maiden. And even if I knew, I'm quite sure that my favorite topics of conversation won't please you…
- Let's be sure of that, Senor…
- Call me Rodrigo, he said with a smile that did lighten up his whole feature. I don't know what will come out of this encounter, but I know that I don't want to be segnored all the time.
She made a face but he could see her eyes shining.
- That would be a problem, Senor, since it would mean that I do find you sympathetic.
- And you don't?
- Quite to the contrary, Senor, but since some people out there want you to be the next King of Spain and since I know that at the court of Spain even the Queen calls her husband 'Your Majesty' I'm quite sure that I won't be able, in the future, to stop calling you Rodrigo -or Roddy- if I have taken the bad habit…
He went on his knee and grabbed her hands.
- Please, I beg you, not Roddy! I know that you have here in Britain that awful habit to butcher perfectly adequate names to transform them into two syllabic surnames but I really believe that a First name like Rodrigo deserves a better treatment than Roddy!
She couldn't help but laugh out aloud.
- Well, if it is asked in such a deferent and polite way, I will grant you your wish, Rodrigo, but only if you call me Janet, answered she with a smile of her own.
She let her voice become a whisper.
- At least, as long as we are under the same roof as my Aunt. Here there can be only one Jane. We, all the other Janes, we have, out of respect for our elders, to live with butchered First Names. It is indeed an awful British habit I will try not to export into more sunny countries. Should it become something we think about…
- Well, said Rodrigo, it could really be that I'm beginning to think about it, and it is not reasonable at all. All of de Godoy's plot hangs on his certainty that he will be able to convince the King to adopt a younger man to become the Heir. The King, being the King, and because of that being inspired by God, could very well decide that de Godoy's idea is not what he wants. Should that be the case you would be stranded with a man of incredibly low Aristocratic extraction…
Janet made a weird movement, half shrug and half nod.
- As said my Aunt not an hour ago, we don't give a damn about the Throne of Spain. What's important is the man's virtues, not his possible future elevation.
- I do fear that said virtues are very few and very common…
- Let's hear about them, then! Which one would you put in front?
- Honesty, without a hesitation. I hope to win the trust of those I love and respect and being honest and truthful is the obvious foundation of the trust one needs to create a solid relationship.
- I can't say that your first choice disappoints me, Rodrigo. There were allusions to that peculiar bad habit of yours within the files de Godoy sent to my Aunt. I'm quite sure that it is not a virtue he admires…
- de Godoy is a politician. Politicians don't approve with honesty. They prefer lies to straightforward comments because they believe that a ruler must have the possibility to hide the truth. But I think honesty should be a virtue even to Kings. It will make life more difficult but, afterwards, relationships will be easier. A man you know you can trust will be a man you approach with less reluctance. Look at your father's reputation.
- Don't say that, Rodrigo, since your photographs have been seen by half the household there hasn't been one person who hadn't commented the fact that you have some of the Darcy darkness upon you. And of course, since it will remind me of father, you'll have it easier to seduce me…
- I'm not here to seduce you, Janet. I'm here to put an end to de Godoy's plot.
- Not coming would have been a better way to not participate to de Godoy's plot.
- Not participating was never an option, said Rodrigo with a smile. I know that amongst the men of my generation I'm the best a young Lady could find. So, I'm here to show you that those others are pale copies and the whole scheme falls apart since no other will be able to convince you to be his.
- So, you are here to make me unhappy?
- I hope not, but I'm really here to help you avoid a mistake. Don't get embroiled in Spanish politics that's my sincere advice. It is a chaotic mess you don't want to know any better than you already do. Spain will destroy you and the man at your side as it has destroyed so many before. It's a curse and you deserve better than that…
- You could still refuse to become the heir? Couldn't you?
- Of course not, dear Janet. Spain is my burden and my curse. Should they ask me to take over I would of course do it. I owe it to my people and to my motherland. I owe it to all those who still live under the yoke of the colonial rule. I owe it to myself since it would be the path of the coward not to do what is in my power to save my beloved Spain.
He snorted.
- So, the only way to avoid everything of that was to come, to warn you, and to see de Godoy's plot vanish…
- But what about Spain?
Rodrigo shook his head.
- What about Spain, indeed. Spain has been the European Power whose knife has cut the Natives' jugulars. We have been guilty for decades and we still haven't learned a thing from our crimes. We even haven't accepted to acknowledge them. If God should decide to call in Spain's debts, I do fear that Spain would be in for quite a disastrous future.
He shook his head.
- Don't let them pull you into that scorpions' nest, Janet. You deserve a better life than paying for the crimes of Kings and Queens who have been crowned criminals whose only goal in life has been to rob everybody around them with the complicity of the Inquisition.
- It wouldn't be that your second virtue is to be the best buzzkill available, now would it?
He let a small smile appear on his lips.
- I will, indeed, admit that I'm not very good at parties, Janet.
- That is probably because you haven't been invited to the real cool ones, Rodrigo. I will take your advice into consideration, but meanwhile nothing forces us to forget that we are part of the most fashionable party of the year.
She looked up and nodded at her Aunt.
- Aunt Jane will take you under her wing and bring you back to the LIT party. We'll see each other again during the diner where you and a few other candidates will be sharing the meal with me and a few of my numerous cousins and Aunts. You'll have the privilege to meet my Cousins from all over the world. You'll see, it will be very interesting even if we'll probably have no other chance, aside from a dance or two, to chat in private for the rest of the night. Should you want to see me tomorrow, please use the channel Lionel has opened with you. He will know how to organize a chance meeting…
- I'm not sure we shouldn't avoid seeing each other again.
- I'm sure of nothing, Rodrigo, but that this conversation isn't finished. You still owe me a lot more admissions! And if there is one sure thing in this life then it is that a Darcy always calls in her debts.
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- Is the brooding-Darcy-thing acquired or is it a natural gift?
Rodrigo forced himself to look up at Janet's Aunt.
- Sorry, madame, I was lost in my thoughts.
- And I do hope that you weren't thinking of my goddaughter because such darkness is usually not associated with her.
- Would I say that I wasn't thinking about her, it would be a lie, madame. But it isn't her who makes my mood so dark. It is, as usual, Spain which has easily destroyed my peace of mind. There is a curse associated with my beloved motherland, and that curse has existed for quite a long time.
- You say so? Could you please elaborate? Spain is not one of the Countries whose History I've studied extensively. I know quite a lot about Vasconia since thanks to the gift of late King George I've been elevated to the title of Duchess of Aquitania, but my knowledge stops at the Basque borders.
- A land guilty of too many massacres perpetuated in the name of too many false Gods, your Grace. And that bloody past has never been repaid by those who have been at the origins of those crimes…
Jane let out a long sigh.
- The world, as a whole, has been the cradle of more massacres than one would have thought possible. Spain hasn't been an exception there.
- Yes, it has, answered Rodrigo. And even if I must agree with you that Mankind's History, as a whole is way too bloody to be proud of it, it seems that we Spaniards we have assimilated that notion of all-out massacres into the deepest part of our black soul and reproduced it whenever it was possible. Wherever we've gone we've exported our national sport all over the world. Spain has spilled rivers of blood and I do fear that such a range of awful crimes will, sooner or later, come back to ask for retribution.
- Why would you feel such guilt? You are indeed a Spaniard but from what I've read you had no part in any massacre or even war your country has participated in. That you regret your country's bloody past can be considered as a very Humanitarian reaction but should not put you in such a dark mood.
- You do know the reason I have been chosen to come here?
- I know that de Godoy wants to select a man to become the next King of Spain and that he has decided that Janet would be God's instrument to make said choice.
She let a smile appear on her lips.
- I don't have a real knowledge of your King's main advisor and friend but the fact that he has thought about such a devious way to undermine your King's free will does lessen any appreciation I could have of him. Deep down I'm a Monarchist to the core and I do think that a king should always stay in power…
- That's the mother of King William who speaks. Because your son is a King your people appreciates and supports. King Carlos the fourth is neither appreciated nor supported. He is not a bad man but he's nothing Spain would have needed in a King.
- You believe yourself a better candidate?
- I believe any sane and normal and mildly smart man a better candidate, your Grace. But the fact is that I'm here and that becoming King has become a possibility I would never have thought about before.
He let out a small rumbling snicker.
- I didn't chose to be chosen and I would have refused had not a friend shown me my competitors.
- They don't agree with you?
- Not at all, your Grace. Not that they wouldn't be better than our present King, at least not in the short term, but because I suspect them to be too Spanish to be able to avoid the illness all Spanish have contracted as soon as they have entered the Throne Room of Escorial.
- And what illness would that be? Arrogant aloofness?
- That too, agreed Rodrigo with a genuine smile, but that's, I believe, normal for a King. No, the worse illness Kings of Spain catch when they begin to embody our Country is Hubris. They begin to believe that just because they are the ruler of the land they are now capable to know what said land needs without ever looking at the real needs of the little people.
- Lots of rulers forget about those…
- But not all… Some have the wisdom to look outside of the walls of their Palaces and to adapt their ruling to what happens there. Spanish rulers seem to live within an imaginary world that has nothing to do with the hard reality or their subjects.
- You could be the one to change that…
- I could but I'm quite sure that all those who thrive on, let's call it the otherworldness of the Spanish Kings, wouldn't accept me for very long. De Godoy is focused only on his present King's situation. He will perhaps be able to convince his Majesty to adopt a heir in order to hand him over the power once he dies, but the both of them won't live in a vacuum. They will have to survive a situation nobody, but de Godoy's, wants to happen.
He let out a long sigh.
- I'm not scared but realistically I do doubt that an outsider will survive very long…
- You know, I suppose, that Janet is upgraded, don't you?
- I do and it is another reason why I'm reluctant. Why should I receive the upgrade? Just because I marry one of the upgraded?
- Well, Janet's non-upgraded husband would live at best two days after their first kiss! So, since we do believe that marrying somebody is an important step into becoming a better person, it is clear that I, since it will probably be me, will do what's necessary to see my god-daughter's husband survive. Should you succeed in convincing her to marry you, I will intervene and do what's necessary to give Janet a chance to be happy and to bear as many healthy children as possible.
She shot him an ironic smile.
- So, no need to plunge into any metaphysical questioning to wonder why, just by marrying Janet, the soon-to-be husband will get the privilege to be upgraded! It won't be for any quality he has or don't have! It will be just because, I, as Janet's god-mother, I will have decided that the man she loves is worthy of her. No great abstract reason behind my decisions in that matter. She likes you and I like you and I do what has to be done to see you survive your being together. Should she like you while I don't, there will be tears and probably a vivid quarrel, and should she listen to my arguments, since she isn't a bad person, she will step out of your life and you will both survive. Perhaps unhappy for a few weeks but, all in all, both better up.
- And should she not listen to your arguments?
- She'll have to live up to her choice with you upgraded at her side. But…
Any trace of kindness disappeared out of Jane d'Arcy's eyes.
- Should I have been right and should she, later, recognize that she made a mistake, I will help her to correct said mistake with everything House Darcy has at its disposal.
- That doesn't seem very kind…
- Whatever we've succeeded to project as an image, we are not, in truth, very different from other people, you know. We can be very unkind when it comes to protect the people we love. You've seen the world and you've probably encountered a lot of unhappy people. Most of the time said happiness hasn't been caused by strangers doing hostile things but by loved-ones doing unkind things. I am renowned to be the kindest person in the family but being kind is in no way the same as being a blind fool. Should a person I love be treated unkindly by anybody and if I know about it, I will do what is required to see that said behavior ends.
A smile that never reached her eyes reappeared on her lips.
- And the fact that I'm married to this world's most experienced assassin will come handy should I decide that harsher decisions are needed.
- I never doubted for a second that a member of the Darcy Clan would be lenient with anybody threatening one of them.
- We are indeed, a tight-knit group, my dear Rodrigo. And those who enter that small cluster of Humanity will benefit of every advantage and disadvantage that comes with having become a member. We guard and protect our own with a fierce decidedness.
Rodrigo who had seen the same thing within his father's order, had no problem to see where such fierceness could bring you.
- But it goes in both directions, he said.
- Indeed, dear. The members are protected and helped but should one betray the faith we've put into him or her, it won't be overseen or forgotten.
- Forgiven?
- It could happen but not if the betrayal has caused the betrayed to suffer.
- Then it is a good thing that I'm not interested in marrying your God-Daughter.
Jane nodded just before letting her smile take over and reach her eyes.
- Well, that's perhaps no longer in your sole hands, my dear. Janet has been with me since her birth and I know her like I know my other children. There was a sparkle in her eyes I haven't seen before. You are an interesting and impressing man and I'm quite sure that she's interested in you and that you've impressed her. Will it go to the point where she allows you to woe her? That's not yet written, I will have to concede it. But, were I you, I wouldn't go on believing that the decision is still only yours to make. We'll see if those other men de Godoy has picked are at par with you. I think the rest of the evening will have plenty of interesting features.
He shook his head.
- You are playing with me… You remember what I said about those others?
- I remember quite well, my dear, and it will be very entertaining to look at you while you hesitate between your fear to be caught in a relationship and your desire to help Janet to avoid a bad match. Who will win? The coward who's spent the last seven years avoiding a decision he wasn't sure about or the Knight who has, at least, found the task he always wanted to call his duty?
This time he couldn't hide his anger.
- You are very unkind, there…
- I'm not unkind, at all, my dear Rodrigo. I'm very good at helping people to find the true feeling of their conflicting desires! Like all men –and women, we are not very different, there- you have a tendency to try and hide your real shortcomings behind badly thought-out excuses.
She stopped his next reaction with an imperial hand gesture.
- You know I am right, you should have called out your father and those other Templars years ago and forced them to stop hiding and, finally, do something to rehabilitate the Order. But coming out after so many centuries is, indeed, a risky business. Especially considering the strength of the adversary. But the Church is no longer the World power it once was. It's not a dying beast but it is, now, a lot less dangerous than before the revolution. She has lost quite a lot of sources of income and a lot of the lands where she was at the top have embraced the Revolution's ideals. And I'm quite sure that Napoleon, even if he is an appalling role model if you consider your Knightly duties, would have helped the Order to escape the Church's wrath. If only to go on undermining the Church's influence.
- We've heard that Napoleon is the Church's stout ally.
- He's a master in using others, said Jane with a smile. And the Church needed him, or his mother, to stay as near as possible of the top. But Napoleon would have seen the interest in using the Templars to weaken the Church even more. He could still do it, especially if we, the Darcys, should find it interesting too.
He was about to answer when she, once more, stopped him.
- Sorry I pulled you on a topic we will be able to speak about later during your sojourn here. Let's go back to you and your current crucible. You've clearly decided not to become a Templar. But does that inevitably imply that you can't be a Knight?
- Knighthood is no longer something that makes youngsters dream…
- Won't it be the duty of those who still are Knights to do what's necessary to reawake said dreams?
- I'm no Knight…
- I beg to differ! You are no Templar Knight, that's true, but when I look into your life, your skills and your ethics, I see a man who unites all the virtues of an Arthurian Knight.
- As I said, those virtues are no longer what youngsters want to possess…
- I really do not agree on that point, but then it is for a lot more egotistical reasons that I'd love to see you and Janet find to each other.
- And what would those reasons be?
- It would be, for once, such a pleasant change to have a Jane of the Clan marry a man she hasn't to pull all the way out of the darkness.
- I've lots of Darkness within me, believe me…
- We all have, but, believe me in turn, you are a long way from where some of our beloved ones have lost themselves before we got the chance to work on them.
She let out a long sigh.
- It is a marvelous feeling when, in the end, you see him join you in the light. But till then, it's a very demanding and exhausting job.
I
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Next chapter soon to come… A Chapter about pretenders aplenty.
I
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