To Leslie : thanks for the correction. I've looked into it and it was of course the "oo" sense not the "oe" one. To all my readers: don't hesitate to point at mistakes and errors which escaped my attention. I want this to be as good as possible, so your input is important.
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Chapter Twenty-four: Choosers and loosers
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London
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15th November 1826
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They looked at each other and when the huge Norwegian began to laugh it immediately loosened the tension.
They already knew each other, and they had talked quite a lot on that New Year's Eve LIT festival.
All three of them had received an invitation to London where they had been offered a room in three different hotels.
The fact that they were all three sitting in a Private Parlor of the Welsh Gentlemen's Club of London had of course confirmed why they had been invited.
- Seems we are the ultimate choice, said, finally, the Norwegian giant.
He shook his head.
- I never would have thought that it would end in that manner, said he.
He looked at the other two.
- Let's be polite and show our good upbringing. You probably remember but still! I'm Thorwald Eigisson and, if I remember well, you are Karl Otto…
- Karl-Theodor, Karl-Otto is my brother, rectified the Bavarian Prince.
- …von Wittelsbach and, added Thorwald, last but not least, Rodrigo Guzmann de Harrara.
Rodrigo shook his head.
- What do you mean with "end in that manner"?
Thorwald shrugged.
- With me part of the last contenders and with what could be called a second round. Had I been asked I would have put my money on a discreet and very familial meeting between lovely Janet and the one she will have chosen.
He snickered.
- Should she have chosen…
A voice came from the door that had just opened.
- She hasn't chosen, gentlemen and I'm not sure I agree with this whole scheme.
The had no problem to recognize the Vice-Roy's voice and all three stood up, turned and bowed in the newcomer's direction.
- Please take back your seats and let's discuss about the reason I wanted to see you.
- Your daughter, I suppose, said Thorwald.
- Not directly, Sir, not directly, answered Fitzwilliam while walking to the last armchair they hadn't used.
He sat and looked into the men's eyes.
For a long moment there was silence and he finally let out a long breath.
- You must know that we, the men of the Clan, had no idea what was happening at that Ball last December. I suspect my d'Arcy brother-in-law to have been cognizant of what my wife and her sisters were preparing but I can't be sure since, for once, his surprise did seem authentic.
- It is often the women of a Household who tackle the weddings and alliances, said Karl-Theodor.
- You are right, said Fitzwilliam. But in this very case I, or should I say we, suspect outside influence.
- Benevolent or malevolent influence?
Fitzwilliam shook his head.
- Nothing's certain there, but I suspect that it just turns around securing through Jane a link with the Darcys. Which is neither since such a link is, and will have to ask you for forgiveness if my words seem to be arrogant, something every aristocratic family will know to be of great interest.
He looked at the Bavarian Prince.
- What did your Uncle say?
- Should I be the one who has the privilege to be chosen, he's clearly in favor of it.
- Which is quite normal since it is well known that we Darcy we believe in family and in everything family brings with it.
Fitzwilliam turned in Thorwald's direction.
- You've been thrice in Pemberley to visit my daughter. How would you describe your relation with her.
- Friendly and fun, said Thorwald. She's an incredibly smart girl with a remarkable knowledge when it comes to European Aristocratic families. She knows how to mock her fellow aristocrats with chiseled words and witty comments like nobody else.
Fitzwilliam chuckled discreetly.
- Her mother has the same wit and a lot more experience when it comes to use snide words to take an obnoxious fellow down a notch or two. Luckily for our relations with most of Europe's Aristocracy, she's learned to avoid her best comments in presence of people who would take them too badly.
He smiled at Thorwald.
- Sorry, I interrupted you, please go on…
- I'd say we like each other's company but I'm very confident that, even if there is a real possibility for a lasting friendship, I'm not the one she considers to be the perfect choice as a mate.
- Is there somebody else?
- Not that I know, answered Thorwald, but you should ask her, shouldn't you?
- I did, and you are here because of her answers.
- All of us?
- Indeed. I wanted to know if some of you had still a chance. And she gave me your names…
- But, interrupted Rodrigo, since there are still three of us, that doesn't mean that she has made a decision.
- Not the ultimate decision, no! But let's say that she already knows who she won't ever consider. In a sense it is a decision too.
Thorvald looked at his two competitors and finally back to Fitzwilliam.
- So, was I right and are we here to determine the last of us?
Fitzwilliam first shook his head and then shrugged.
- I can't say for sure, said he finally. Women aren't easy to understand and daughters are even more difficult to look into. They do have that very peculiar links with their fathers but it often makes everything a little more difficult.
He let out a long breath.
- From what she had said about you, you are the one she can see as husband material. But that doesn't mean that she's made up her mind about what to do. Be it with you or just about marriage as a whole.
Here he stopped talking and spent the next minutes looking lengthily at each of them.
- Why are we here, then, asked Rodrigo.
- Well, said Fitzwilliam, I have investigated your biographies and what I have seen is, mostly, in your favor. You have a lot of the virtues a father searches with a suitor when he considers giving away his daughter. And, apart from our Viking here, you even have a sane disposition when it comes to pursue female company.
- You can't compare Norway with Southern Europe, protested Thorvald. We are a lot less retrained up there and our women have had for centuries more freedom to choose with whom they wanted to frolic than anywhere else on Earth. And with my perfect physique it's difficult not to be swamped by female admiration. I'm not only handsome and smart but also impressive and brave. Females naturally flock around males like me. And the fact that I am, apart perhaps from the great Kazak…
- MazymKhan Khazegheld, provided Fitzwilliam.
- …the only one in that prestigious category, doesn't help.
Fitzwilliam couldn't help but smile. Betty's husband was just as humble as the Norwegian. But since he quite liked the huge Kazak who had always shown a great respect for Fitzwilliam's craftmanship, he decided to let it be. A little boasting could be understood considering the man's overall brawn.
He looked at Rodrigo, who was Jane d'Arcy's declared favorite, and smiled at him.
- To answer your question, you are not facing the Vice-Roy or the Prince of Wales, but a father who's very interested in knowing better the men who could, should his daughter persist, have a chance to become part of the family.
He let his smile slowly disappear.
- And, forgive my uncouth language, it is also said father's intention to make sure that his beloved daughter won't risk to be deceived or disappointed by some young buck who thinks with his cock.
Fitzwilliam was quite surprised to see the three youngsters facing him smile at him in unison.
His surprise could probably be seen since Karl-Theodor decided to explain.
- First, here I need to remind you that none of us has initiated what we were not yet sure was a wooing of your daughter. We have been invited by the Princess of Wales and without her invitation we would gladly have followed our other interests these last months.
He stopped Fitzwilliam's incoming comment.
- Not that we are not aware of the honor your wife granted us by inviting us, but you must give us the benefit of the doubt. We weren't there because we wanted to be there, but because your wife wanted us to come.
He looked at his two partners in wooing and they both agreed to his continued role of spokesman.
- And, since we know what it would mean to become a part of the Darcy Clan, to want to further the possible relationship with your daughter can only be considered as a sane man's decision. And as my two private visits in Pemberley have amply shown, as long as there is a chance to see my wooing accepted, I'll go on…
Fitzwilliam nodded once.
- You said "first". Is there a "second"?
- Of course, there is, your Grace. I don't exactly know what my friends here know or suspect but I still will speak for us as a group. We are not specialists of the upgrade but we do know that it means a lot of very important changes in the lives of those who have been granted it. The fact that we persisted with said wooing should say a lot about our motivation.
Fitzwilliam nodded once more and finally looked at Rodrigo.
- You never came to Pemberley.
- I warned your daughter that I hated to be manipulated and that, whoever the puppet masters in the background are, I wouldn't give them the pleasure to have pulled my strings more than once. I do appreciate her, and I said as much when we talked at the LIT, but this whole operation doesn't agree with me and I am reluctant to play a role I haven't chosen.
- And still you are amongst the last three, said Thorvald with a smile. It seems that one interaction was enough to impress the young lady. I suppose she appreciates honesty, frankness and Spanish aloofness.
Rodrigo shot him a dark glance.
- I'm not aloof, protested he. I just hate to be treated as a puppet. I'm perhaps only a Hidalgo of poor ascent, that doesn't mean that I will accept to be blinded by the prospect of an advantageous marriage. One cannot build a relationship on greed or power hunger.
He looked Darcy in the eyes.
- Your daughter is worth more than greed and power hunger.
Thorvald snickered once more.
- It does seem that the lady has also made an impression on our aloof Hidalgo.
This time Rodrigo frowned at Thorvald.
- Don't, intervened Fitzwilliam before he could speak. You don't want to show me your more impulsive traits, my friend. And, to add insult to injury, you would be wrong since what he said, even it is was rudely said, was true. One meeting was enough to place you within the group of finalists. Not a bad way to impress my daughter.
He took a few seconds to think it over and finally looked at Thorvald.
- Am I wrong, or did you say earlier that you are no longer interested in my daughter?
- You are not, answered Thorvald. And I must insist that the "no longer" trope is not the reality. I do like your daughter's fine mind and her sharp tongue but at no moment was there even the smallest chance that we would end up as a couple. She's way too serious for a man like me who believes fun is at the core of life and duty is a worrisome hindrance.
- And still you came?
- Of course, I came! Why wouldn't I? As Karl-Theodor pointed out, we weren't at the source of this whole endeavor! But that does not lessen the pleasure I felt to be able to rub shoulders with the most impressive family on Earth. And if you add to that that, while I was in Pemberley, I had the great honor and the immense pleasure to meet and be presented to some other fascinating females of the extended Darcy Clan you'll have to admit that not coming would have been and insulting and daft. I don't do that sort of mistakes…
Fitzwilliam nodded while showing no particular feelings.
- Immense pleasure?
- Indeed, one of your nieces has the same point-of-view on life as I. And I'm quite sure that she too wasn't indifferent to my person. So, since I'd like to have the option to go on seeing her, there was no chance that I would refuse to follow an invitation to Great Britain. I would not have risked riling a member of the family.
Fitzwilliam's poker face disappeared for a second to let an amused smile be seen.
- I will have to warn my brothers that you are targeting one of their daughters. They need to know that a fun-loving Barbarian is steering in their direction.
- No problem with me, agreed Thorvald with a smile. The earlier they come to look at me, the better. I'm very good at convincing young females but with worried old males my experience shows that I need more time.
- Did you succeed?
- Not until now, said Thorvald with his smile becoming mischievous. But before today it only was a game. I'm quite sure that I will be better at it when the odds are higher.
Fitzwilliam shook his head and let his eyes wander from one young man to the others.
From what he had been able to read all three of them were kind, open-minded and brave. A good mix for a man who would have to enter the most atypical family in the whole world. And by joining said family be part of what could very well be the next step of Mankind's future.
- I didn't invite you only to make an opinion, but I need to warn you. I don't know what you have learned while looking into the family, but you need to consider the whole range of what is about to befall you should you be the one chosen by my daughter or my niece.
He took a long breath before beginning to describe what it meant to become a Darcy Clan member.
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Two hours later he stopped talking.
They hadn't interrupted him but he could see that they had questions.
To Fitzwilliam's surprise it had been Rodrigo who had asked the first question.
- So, there is a sort of Council of Upgraded People whose members decide who can join them?
- Among a lot of other things, agreed Fitzwilliam. In fact, every important decision that has a link with the Bug is discussed within the Council and put to a vote. Only the points that got a clear majority are implemented.
- Clear majority?
- At least half plus one of the present members.
- Not all members are present?
- Most of the scientists don't give a damn about those things. They tend to live in their little bubbles of applied research and what happened outside of their field of experience -and passion- leave them indifferent. It's not the same for family members who are at the legal age to vote. Those are firmly invited to be present or, at the very least, to be available for a mind-link during the session.
This time it was Karl-Theodor who reacted.
- Indeed, the mind-link thing. Would you care to extrapolate?
- It comes with the Upgrade and Jane d'Arcy suspects that it is a latent possibility that is present in all of Mankind. The Bug, as is his primary goal, wakes up all the possibilities the body has. The other theory is that the Bug is able to stay in contact with all its parts and that the mind-link is infused to their hosts by them.
- And it doesn't worry you to be a host for a parasite?
- The first infected ones had no choice and once we knew what had happened, we had discovered what it had brought us in terms of physical and mental advantages. Once you know that you are stronger, healthier and sprightlier than you were before and that that fact is not countered by any visible backlash, you tend to look at it as, at least a welcomed advantage, or for the more spiritually gifted of us, as a miracle.
Fitzwilliam looked in Karl-Theodor's direction.
- If you want to have more precisions about the Bug and the way it interferes with our original body you'll have to ask my mother-in-law who is the world's best specialist of the Upgrade and its provoking factors. As you probably know, now that she has created the medical infrastructure, she believed necessary, she's devoted her time to the study of how the Bug changes the internal balance of the Human body. She's not yet there but she did reach quite a lot of interesting conclusions. Conclusions that will help her to create the necessary background to help a Bug infested patient to survive.
There Fitzwilliam's face became worried.
- I don't doubt for a second that she won't succeed. She's quite the Pitbull when it comes to achieving what she wants.
- And it worries you, asked Thorvald.
- Of course, it worries me. The day she succeeds we will have to decide if we Upgrade everybody who's willing to become Upgraded. And when I visualize what we will have to face at that very moment it blows my mind.
- Because of the moral consequences?
- Not only, even if I believe that being Upgraded should be reserved to people who are not dangerous or crazy, but that's a problem we, and by this "we" I mean the Community of the Upgraded, have the means to get rid of! I don't think troublemakers will evade us for very long.
He shared a long glance with them.
- Being upgraded doesn't mean that you are invulnerable. You still can be killed or die of an accident. Not easily and not without your foes -or mother Nature- having to use means of terrific power to get rid of you, but it is still possible. So, should we feel the necessity to 'interrupt' an Upgrade we will do what must be done to get the result we believe necessary.
Thorvald's question was immediately there.
- What if your Target choses to disappear?
- He still will be found. Because of the Bug's tendency to stay aware of any part of itself wherever said part hides, we do have real possibilities to find out where the Upgraded we seek are hiding.
He frowned at the Bavarian Prince.
- The Upgraded are like a family. Not a normal family but one with extraordinarily strong ties and with knowledge about each other you can't even imagine. We are not only a tight-knitted lot but, on a certain level we are so interwoven that it is almost impossible, should the others want to know, to hide something from the others.
His frown got a little deeper.
- Some of us, essentially those born with the Upgrade, have the power to read the other Upgraded's minds.
Here he chose to avoid speaking about the Gang's suspected power to also read normal people's minds. They had no -real- proof that they could do it and since they had, for years now, used Fluffy and Speedy to do exactly that, it would have been hypocritical to point at them for doing things that were appalling but necessary.
- Lying is a forlorn bad habit when dealing with them. You must be aware that hosting the Bug changes relationships in a definitive manner. If you know that you can't be trusted, don't enter the fray, you are in for huge disillusions.
The three young men looked at each other. The mind-reading power of the Upgraded people was clearly not something said Upgraded had broadcasted about. And it did change a lot their understanding of the Upgraded members of Mankind.
- And then, added Fitzwilliam, there's the little problem of the Upgraded's sterility.
- Sterility?
- Well, said Fitzwilliam, it is perhaps an unsettling way to speak about an exceedingly paradoxical situation. In fact, Upgraded people have one more great advantage but said advantage becomes a real pain in the ass when applied to reproduction.
He looked at the youing men facing him.
- You know, I suppose, that children are the result of the meeting of a female egg and a male spermatozoid. For upgraded people it is the same but for one point: the Bug is unable to recognize a male's spermatozoid as anything but an outside threat it has to destroy. So, upgraded males can only fertilize the eggs of normal human females.
- Which is problematic, admitted Rodrigo, especially when you are married to another upgraded woman. I doubt that she will see the whole operation as acceptable.
- For more than the reason you are thinking about right now, son, said Fitzwilliam. The real problem is that even if your sperm has reached the egg and impregnated it, you still won't get a child…
- Because the would-be mother will be dead within two days, said Thorvald who had clearly listened to Fitzwilliam's explanations.
- Exactly, acknowledged Fitzwilliam. At least that will be the case for most of them. A few will survive, it has happened after all, but most of them will die.
- Which means that even if Upgraded people live longer, they will be unable to reproduce without outside help.
- Exactly, agreed Fitzwilliam. We can have children but it can only happen if the egg is impregnated outside of the womb and put back once fertilized. Our reproduction has become a very unnatural procedure.
He took a long breath.
- It can be done, and we did it, as you know. But it had needed the help and the meddling of quite a lot of medical and non-medical personnel. No need to explain any more than necessary that I didn't like it at all and that I will do what's in my power to avoid another such procedure.
He took a long breath while shaking his head.
- And here you are, tempted to woo for my daughter who already is upgraded and who won't be able to be impregnated by Mankind's normal ways and procedures. You will be able to have children but only with the help of my mother-in-law's squad of specialized operators.
Thorvald went on with his questions.
- What about an Upgraded male? Can he still have a child after the normal messy and funny normal way?
- Yes and no, answered Fitzwilliam. Yes, since for a male among us, it is a little easier, at least for the first child, to stick to the normal procedure. But don't forget that the bug will enter with your seed, and he'll decide that his new host is under-equipped and needs a total restructuration. Restructuration that will, most of the time, kill your partner. It can only be avoided if you happen to have a extremely good healer at your disposal to save your beloved's life.
- Or a medical team with the means to support the upgrading with what is required to save the would-be upgraded's life.
- Exactly, admitted Fitzwilliam, but we are not yet there and even if my mother-in-law is overly optimistic, it won't be within the next two decades. For now, and quite a few years more, it will necessitate a healer to save the infected's life.
- And how many healers are there?
- Within the family, we have three of them and in the immediate vicinity of Pemberley around twenty. Not enough to save more than a few hundred people a year. But we are working to increase their number. But only gifted people can become healers and since the different cults have spent the last millennia exterminating every gifted woman they encountered it will take time to recreate enough of them to count.
- So, said Karl-Theodor, as you describe it upgrading everybody is a good way to reduce the Human population…
- The key word being everybody, said Fitzwilliam. I doubt it will ever come to that. Most people won't want to be upgraded. For our first operation we had only three thousand people who had asked to be infested.
- But they volunteered even while knowing that they had a ridiculously small chance to survive, insisted Karl-Theodor. I'm quite sure that once the survival rate goes significantly up, even to only ten or twenty percent, you'll have a lot more volunteers. And the survivors will increase the numbers of Upgraded people present in your Council…
- We are not there yet! And I doubt very much that the Council will be willing to add every upgraded person to its membership. You do know that the more people within an assembly and the less decisions said assembly will be able to take.
- So, said Thorvald, you'll refuse to give to then newcomers the same rights you have taken?
- Did we take anything at all? We've tried to avoid chaos and the best way to do that was to listen to everybody before making a decision. And it took a long time for us to agree to an increase of our number. And when it happened, we restricted the number of newcomers to those people who had already shown that they were important for Mankind.
- And you chose scientists, said Rodrigo. Why not choose Prelates or members of the Military?
- It never even occurred to us to propose Prelates, said Fitzwilliam with a smile. We knew that they would refuse to be polluted by something outwordly like the Bug. Had God willed Mankind to be Upgraded He would have offered it Himself; now wouldn't He have?
Rodrigo's small smile told him everything he needed to know.
- And we considered the members of the Military, no problem there. But only half a dozen was deemed worthy of the Upgrade. While we have the power to decide which virtues are important, we decided that even huge skills in strategy or tactics wouldn't be enough to be Upgraded. Things like Loyalty and Decency had been added to the criteria and in the end, it lowered the number of candidates significantly.
Fitzwilliam couldn't help but snicker.
- We never really went into any level of self-analysis, but we all suspect that some of the earlier Upgrades wouldn't have been granted it had it not happened by accident. So, there are indeed, within our little group a few individuals who, even if clearly among the best in their specialties, do lack the kindness and open-mindedness we have insisted on later on. But as Jane d'Arcy said the one time we discussed it, God clearly wanted them to join us, so who are we to discuss God's will?
- But we, or at least the one who will win the heart of your daughter, will be granted the Upgrade?
- Of course, answered Fitzwilliam without hesitating. We want our children to be happy and to live normal lives with loved ones at their sides. And since there are not yet enough upgraded people we won't restrict the pool of available spouses to only them.
He shook his head.
- I will admit that it is indefensible when you consider the greater good and the ethical approach of Upgrading. But when it comes to family, and especially to children, ethics are clearly a losing proposition. So, becoming the spouse of one of us is the one easy way to enter the Club. It will not be based on any thoughtful analysis of the candidate's worthiness. It's just because we love our children and because we want them to have a few normal fixtures in their lives. If you want to call it nepotism, you won't have a problem with me, it is just that. But I doubt very much that a form of nepotism wouldn't have crawled into our decision-making even had we be, from the very beginning, decided to only make moral and ethical decisions.
He shrugged.
- Which we never did. It's a fucked-up world and we know that we will never be able to make it perfect. We try to make it better and, by choosing adequate candidates to get the upgrade, we try to not give bad people more power than they already have. But, in the end, we are parents, and we will do what's necessary to give our offspring what they believe they need. Hence you, having a chance to become one of the few upgraded people living currently on Earth even if nothing would normally have make us consider you.
Once more he looked at Rodrigo.
- I'm sorry if my answer to your question about Upgraded Prelates could seem a little disrespectful but we have learned these last years that most Prelates are nothing more than politicians who have chosen religion as their favorite path to success and wealth. I won't deny that some ecclesiastical members of the society are worthy of it and should get it, but if you know some of those, I invite you to send them to us to look at their candidacy. But I very much doubt that they will come from the top of any Clergy's hierarchy.
- Some Priests are real shepherds…
- And some are just power-hungry meddlers. Send us the Shepherds and they will be welcome. Don't send us the meddlers, we have enough enemies as of now.
- Some could become your allies…
- I very much doubt it, young man. My wife and her sisters have been repeatedly accused of being witches by quite a huge number of Prelates coming from quite a great number of Clergies. Had we not been rich, powerful and very decided to defeat our enemies, I'm quite sure that they would have given it a try at burning them. And since we, as a family, tend to dislike people whose first reflex when facing something new and different is to order their followers to build a pyre, it was inevitable that we would end up disliking each other. Good, kind and open-minded Clerics will be welcomed and greeted, but frocked politicians won't. Ever!
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Pemberley
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16th November 1826
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- Well, Pappa, what do you think of them?
Fitzwilliam looked at his eldest daughter and shrugged.
- That they are not worthy of you?
- Do you know somebody who would?
- Not yet, but…
She stopped him with a kiss on his brow. Since he was sitting and she wasn't, it was easy.
- So, such a man does not exist, and you know it. So, if you consider that the perfect match for me is not yet born, what do you think of them.
Fitzwilliam sighed. It was his fault if he was now under pressure. It had been his idea to invite them to get an idea about them.
And even if he had greeted them in December at the LIT event, he hadn't really noticed them as he should/would have had he known that they were part of a plot to marry his daughter.
- I like the Norwegian's total lack of fear and awe. It's not that he isn't respectful, but he just doesn't care to be appreciated or not by his betters. It is refreshing. And I will have to admit that he is physically very impressive. Of course, he is not in the league of our Manz but then who is? Is it his brawn that influenced your choice?
- In part, certainly, Pappa. He is impressively large, but his hands, even if huge are like those of a pianist or a surgeon. I'm perhaps weird but it was the beauty of his hands and the way he used them that first caught my eyes. And once we spoke, I must confess that he made me laugh a lot more than anybody else before…
She stopped and frowned.
- Like ever before…
Fitzwilliam couldn't help but smile at his daughter's antics.
- He did make me smile!
- Outwardly?
- Probably once or twice! But, be reassured I remained my normal aloof and impressive self for most of the meeting.
He looked Janet in the eyes.
- So, it's him you prefer?
- No, it's not him, said Janet. He's funny and I would love to have him around and make me laugh as often as he did, but I'm unable to see myself as his wife. He would perhaps be capable of changing me into a fun-loving fluff head like Deirdre, but I doubt it. I like to be serious and if having fun is good -from time to time- being serious and going on doing my duty is more important.
He couldn't help but shoot an admirative glance in her direction.
He knew that that part of her character came in direct line from her Darcy ancestry and he was quite satisfied to have a serious and hard-working daughter. Not that he had ever been disappointed by Geoffrey, but Janet was a lot more serious than his son who was, in his own way, a prankster and a clown. Not really in Thorvald's league but a lot more fun than Janet would ever be.
- So, if it is not the blond giant with the easy laugh, I would bet on the dark-mooded Hidalgo.
She frowned at him.
- Is there even such a word, Pappa?
- Probably not but it still fits him like a glove. If you like serious, he's the one you must choose. I'm not sure why but it must be exceedingly difficult to make him smile.
Janet let out a long and -but he was perhaps wrong- languid sigh.
- Aunt Jane succeeded twice, said she with a smile of her own. And when he smiles he's like the sun popping out from behind a cloud… He dazzles his surroundings.
- Well, bedazzled, were you?
His frown was back.
- You said Aunt Jane made him smile twice. I didn't see her speak with him even once during the night. When did the smiling episode happen.
- You watched over us the whole night?
- Not the whole night but most of the time! That's what a man needs to do when his wife and the whole womenfolk of the family launches an operation nobody -out of the female part of the family- had any idea about! You know instinctively that your survival will depend on you not letting down your guard.
Janet couldn't help but laugh out aloud.
- Survival? Pappa! I don't remember hearing you ever using such a hyperbole. It was just a good idea we decided to try out…
- Without informing us, insisted Fitzwilliam. We've learned that when the womenfolk launch something without informing any of us -even d'Arcy was suspicious and I suspect uniformed- it means that you have to increase your vigilance. If you don't do it, you'll pay the price soon enough.
He lifted his eyebrows.
- And whose idea was it?
- Aunt Lydia, answered Janet who quite liked the youngest and worldliest of her Aunts. But as I see it, it has been a group project almost immediately.
- Under dear Jane's supervision I suppose?
Janet shot a suspicious glance at her father.
- As it often is when Mamma works in good intelligence with her sisters. They, most of the time refer to Aunt Jane as their leader. What's problematic with that?
Fitzwilliam didn't answer immediately.
He did love his sister-in-law with all his heart but that didn't make him blind to the huge influence d'Arcy's wife was having over… Everybody?
Jane was the kindest soul he'd ever met but kindness was her most effective tool when it came to influence -manipulate- the people around her. He had encountered thousands of manipulators since he'd been pulled into Regency by his conniving brother-in-law but most of them had always had difficulty to use kindness as an effective tool. To do that you had to be known as a real kind and compassionate person. Which Jane indubitably was!
- I can't help but notice how efficiently you avoided answering my question dear.
- What question, Pappa?
- You are blushing, dear, which shows me that you have not forgotten my question, but I will gladly repeat in order to get my answer. On what occasion was Jane with you and Rodrigo?
There was a silence, and he could read in his daughter's eyes that she was wavering between a few different scenarios. One being the truth and all the others blatant lies.
- Aunt Jane organized a meeting between Rodrigo and I…
Fitzwilliam took note that she did call the young man by his first name and used his best 'go on I'm in no hurry, but…' face.
- And when did that happen?
- At the very beginning of the evening. Lionel brought him to Pemberley's Winter Garden where we talked… Under Aunt Jane's supervision…
- I had no fear, dear, whatever Rodrigo Guzmann de Harrara is, he isn't a man who will ever be an opportunistic bully. And what did you talk about.
- Mostly Spain and de Godoy's plot to get a new Dynasty on the Spanish Throne. He was surprised that we knew but not surprised at all about the plot itself. He either had been informed or he had guessed the real reason of his invitation.
- What do you think?
- I think he had been informed, said Janet. And he warned me about its reasons. If one thing seems clear to me then it is that he has no desire to become King of Spain.
- Which is an excellent thing since those who want power for itself always end up the worst rulers possible.
He took a long breath and smiled at his daughter.
- And the fact that he warned you did impress you, didn't it? Favorably, I mean…
- Of course, it did. And the fact that he didn't speak badly about his competitors helped too. He could have, he was alone with me after all.
- With your Aunt listening, I suppose.
- We were a score of yards away, but I suppose that it could still be heard if she made the necessary effort.
- Of course, she did make the necessary effort, dear. Clipping roses is a second nature with her. She can do it with closed eyes… And open ears. And it was her duty to keep an eye on you, wasn't it?
- Are you cross with her, Pappa?
- Of course, not! Who can be cross with Jane d'Arcy, dear? Especially Jane d'Arcy in after-burner matchmaking mode?
Janet's frown was underlined by an accusing grimace.
- Aunt Jane has only had my happiness in mind.
- But she still organized a meeting with only one of them, didn't she? Why did she eliminate the others?
- Because she thought Rodrigo was the best suited to me, answered Janet immediately. And I can only agree with her choice. He was a perfect gentleman at the Event -like all the others if I am frank- but he has been the only one who hasn't try to see me after the end of the Event. The eight others all have come to woo me. He didn't…
Probably because your Aunt advised him to make himself scarce, that's probably why.
He decided not to comment aloud on how he suspected that his daughter had been manipulated by her Aunt. Janet would refuse to believe him, and since it was already too late he would only waste his time and loose Janet's support. Luckily for all involved Jane was not only a very subtle and crafty manipulator she was also a very prudent woman who had no longer any illusion about the real nature of men and women. So, he was sure that she would never had organized the meeting with Janet hadn't she be sure of the man's innocuity. But still she had make the choice for her daughter…
- She made the choice for you… She should have let you discover them first and only afterwards show you her preferences. You cannot deny that you have been influenced by the meeting in the Winter Garden. And that it put the other eight in a worse light.
- Not in the least, protested Janet. Had I not had the opportunity to speak with him in advance I would have thought him distant and aloof and uninterested. The others have all been perfectly gallant and forthcoming. He spent most of his time looking at me from a distance…
Does that, perhaps, remind you of somebody?
He was so surprised to hear his wife's thoughts in his brain that he showed his surprised and provoked a frown on his daughter's face.
He pointed towards his head.
- It's your mother who clearly was following our little tête-à-tête and who tries to make me believe that I acted in the same aloof manner when she and I first met.
- And did you?
- Of course not, said Fitzwilliam. I was just reserved and cautious. I was outside of my usual environment -what your grandmother calls now my comfort zone- and I was very focused on not giving a false impression of myself and the family. The Darcy name brings duty with it…
- In clear, you were aloof and arrogantly looking down your nose at the frolicking country plebs, said Janet with a smile. It is still a very common conversation topic amongst my Aunts, you know? And Aunt Jane is always the only one who defends you and your attitude. She seems to have a knack to look behind a man's haughty façade to see what he really looks like.
You really speak about that night amongst you?
Why wouldn't we? It was a pivotal moment of all our lives. It was the moment I convinced myself that my love for you was inexistent and it was the moment you convinced yourself that your duty for your name was more important than the not-feeling you were feeling just then…
He could feel her laugh.
That Meriton Ball was the most important ball of our lives and we all remember every detail of it. Don't you?
No, I only remember every detail of what you have done that night. I don't even remember the faces of the hundred people who were surrounding us.
He was snapped out of his dreams by Janet's snap of her finger.
- Don't get all dreamy on me, Pappa. We aren't done with our conversation.
Hullo, Mom… How long have you been with us?
Enough, love! And even if I appreciate your fiery defense of Jane, you won't be able to deny the truth and the truth is that she manipulated you in preferring her favorite.
You disapprove of him?
Not in the least, he is a fine man with admirable ethics and huge fatherly problems. Life with a man like him will never be easy, you know that, don't you?
Has life with father been easy?
Not all the time but easy was not what I wanted. Most of the time what I got was the life I always wanted. Fiery and passionate love with just a small salting of planetary problems to resolve every two or three days. Nothing that being at Fitzwilliam's side wouldn't compensate immediately.
- Of course, our conversation isn't over, dear, but what still is in the air depends on the King of Spain, nobody else. And whatever de Godoy thinks of his influence on Carlos, I do fear that he is presumptuous. Carlos is a very scared man who knows that choosing an Heir outside of his own offspring or Napoleon's family will induce an immediate Consular response. He will never find the courage to make such a bold move. Even with you added to the equation.
Lizzy's thought voice could be heard by the both of them.
He could surprise us…
- I really don't think so, love. That man is afraid all day long. And Napoleon is only part of the reasons he's frightened. He knows that a King's decisions are important and will have consequences and he's just incapable of bearing those responsibilities. For all that matters I'm very surprised that he didn't die of a heart attack years ago. His life is a nightmare and even if Napoleon's little games have played a huge role in that's nightmare's development, it's the man's character that is his main enemy. When he isn't yet afraid, he imagines tomorrow's fright…
- Is it important for you that I become Queen?
That brought Fitzwilliam's focus back on his daughter.
- What is important is your happiness, dear, he answered. But that nobody can warrant it for you. And love is a fickly partner. It can happen that what looks like a true never-ending love doesn't resist to the realities of human interactions and failures.
He sighed and sent a mental kiss to Lizzy.
- We have been lucky, outside of Lydia's early experiments, all the relationships within the family have been graced with happiness and resilience. I do hope that the more recent ones and those to come will have the same longevity.
The Bug's mind-links should be helpful in that matter. I'm quite sure that knowing what's going on in your partner's mind should eliminate most of the reasons for the growing frustration that often shatters a marriage.
It is also frightening, said Janet. I'm not sure that I want to know everything the man I love thinks…
Mind-links just accelerate the phenomena, said her mother. Fitzwilliam and I could already do it before being upgraded but the upgrade does make the whole thing a lot easier.
And sharper, added Fitzwilliam. Before the upgrade and before Mary and Jane discovered the possibility to form a mind-link, we just could feel our partner's mood and feelings. Now, if we desire it, we know downright everything. It's not quite as poetic.
Perhaps not, agreed Lizzy, but all in all I consider that it is a huge progress. Making love has taken quite another dimension thanks to it…
Janet couldn't help but emit a loud protest.
Mamma! I really don't need to know anything about my parents' love life.
You know nothing about what you need to know, love. But I'll listen and spare you, daughter. For now. We'll talk again once you've entered the next, very entertaining part, of your life. Should you need some advice, let us know…
What happened to the premarital meeting between the matrons and the soon to be wed bride, asked Fitzwilliam. Has it disappeared?
Not in he least, answered Lizzy, it still exists, and it is a lot more efficient than before since we do it during a dream-talk session with every married woman of the Clan in attendance. We did it for the first time before Betty's wedding and it is even a more satisfying event than what happened for me and Jane.
Janet who, of course, had heard from Betty what had happened before her cousin's wedding, couldn't help but feel cornered.
Is it really necessary to talk of that quite now?
No, it is not, said her mother. You are right, you were about to talk about your preferences amongst the nine candidates we've chosen to woo you.
There is no preference, protested Janet. And even if there is, that doesn't mean that I'm ready to marry the one who came out at the top of the list.
- And that's not what we wish you to do, said Fitzwilliam aloud. But should you have cecided who's really at the top of the list, it would perhaps be a good idea to tell us. It would be easier for us to arrange chance meetings to give you better opportunities to know each other.
- When I'm sure, I'll tell you…
- That's all we really want, dear. Take your time but don't forget to tell us.
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Next chapter soon to come… A Chapter about chance meetings and the fact that knocking at a door points at the knocker...
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