Part II - The Mission Briefing

One unfamiliar with Mister Waverly might have taken his response to the events at the ball as interested, but emotionally neutral. But of those currently present, three of the five in the room with him knew better than that and even the other two had their doubts.

"An invitation to a house party at the Fontes estate. So, you have not only managed to get access to the area, but will even be staying in the house itself. Excellent work."

Millicent gave a soft chuckle - mostly due to the insincerity she heard in her husband's voice. Despite the need to infiltrate this particular THRUSH stronghold, she knew Alexander would have far preferred it if Xavier had not risen to the bait.

"Giving credit where it is due, Mister Xavier Fontes rather sold himself on the idea rather than it being due to any cleverness on my part. He was the one who decided to cast me in the role of a Russian noble in exile."

"Don't sell your part short, Mrs. Waverly. Your fish may have hooked himself, but you were the one that made use of that and reeled him in."

Mark and April looked a bit lost.

"Wait - Russian nobility?"

"Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova to be exact, Mister Slate. No offense to you, but I cannot say that I see it myself, Millicent my dear."

"Oh, there are several small similarities beyond us both having a mix of English and Russian blood, Alexander. She and I were close of age, though I was her elder by a year. We both had blue eyes, but differed in hair coloration in that I was a blonde while she was a strawberry blonde. Though, of course, at my current age, childhood hair coloration can hardly be examined. The Grand Duchess was also prone to being a bit chubby as I recall hearing, but again - that hardly has any bearing on appearances this many years later. The only real physical aberration is that I wasn't born having a deformity to my left foot, but the explosion that damaged my back also caused considerable scarring on that foot so I suppose that we may consider that point to be covered as well."

Illya rose and moved quietly to the stocked sideboard in the room, making two cups of tea. He left one by his own seat and then sat a cup of tea in front of Mrs. Waverly before retaking his chair.

"Oh, how kind. Thank you, Illya."

As she took the cup in hand, Millicent paused before putting it to her lips.

"I may be reading Mister Fontes incorrectly, but he rather strikes me as the sort that will blithely ignore anything that disputes the truth as he wishes it to be."

"So, since he has always harbored a desire to meet Velikaya Knyazhna Anastasia, he will see her in you to fulfil that wish?"

"I do think that is the case, Illya."

Napoleon settled back in his chair slightly.

"That will work to our advantage. Self-deception is the hardest type of deception to see through."

After a momentary hesitation, Mister Waverly gave what appeared to be a grudging nod.

"Hmm. You may be correct, Mister Solo. For this house party, you and Mister Kuryakin will be continuing to portray the same roles you did at the Ball. I trust that is not a problem."

The two answered in near unison.

"No, sir."

"No problem at all, sir."

"Now, Miss Dancer and Mister Slate - you have, I trust, already been informed of your roles?"

Both agents nodded, April speaking up first.

"I am Erminie Reynolds, a combination of personal secretary, assistant, maid and companion to Melliese Fouquet."

Mark took up when April stopped.

"And I am Jeffrey McKinney, playing the same functions to Lev Fouquet as Erminie does to his mother. Well, with the exception of being a valet rather than a maid."

"Quite right. Now, as servants, the three of you will be the ones to do the investigations while Millicent and Mister Kuryakin keep their hosts occupied. Mister Solo?"

"Yes, Mister Waverly. To continue, being invited to the house party is both a great opportunity and extremely risky. We suspect that over fifteen percent of THRUSH's total world activities are watched over by Xavier Fontes - at least to some degree. The only times when known agents have been seen coming and going have been at the house parties at the Fontes mansion. These take place about once a month. We also believe that he is the 'bank' for their agents in the region, arranging for funds for them as necessary for assignments."

"So if we manage to close down this bank branch, we would clip the wings of quite a few THRUSHies and possibly derail several operations to boot."

"Exactly, Mark. Agents from that region have tried to infiltrate before, but it has never come out well. We've lost people there."

"Which is why we were asked to lend a hand to that U.N.C.L.E. branch. Millicent, we are about to start going over some rather dry details if you would rather wait in my office."

"You needn't make excuses, Alexander. I can take a hint well enough. Besides, I really should brush up on the Czar and his family before weekend."

"A good idea, my dear. I'll have one of the secretaries fetch the file and bring it to you."

Things were paused briefly as Mrs. Waverly left and Mister Waverly made the call to get the file delivered to his office. After hanging the phone back up, Mister Waverly slowly looked from one agent to the next.

"The four of you are acutely aware that I am entrusting you with far more than this mission?"

All nodded as Napoleon spoke.

"We are, Mister Waverly. We'll take good care of her, sir."

"I will hold all of you to that."