Chapter 15

Phileas Fogg took his mail from a servant. He smiled, seeing Rebecca's handwriting before pocketing them. In his room, he read it first, grinning.

So, the game is on. Father approved of the courtship. He read her glowing viewpoint of the man, which he had already attested to.

Erasmus can disapprove all he wants. He is just being peevish. And don't worry; Sir Boniface will come around. He is just worried about losing me as an agent.

He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. No sense fighting it, brother. She was never going to be yours.

He looked out his window. Spring would indeed come to Prussia late this year. It was mid-April; The snows were showing no signs of melting. The eastern formalities he had learned in China were becoming a faded memory as he adapted to Prussian court life.

His efforts with Erasmus's informant, Carl Schmidt, went nowhere. The young cavalry officer was too reluctant to be near him. He had requested that no public contact be made, and Phileas had honored the request. Carl had also requested Erasmus be brought back. That Phileas couldn't give, but was perplexed at the request. If Erasmus had tipped his hand enough to make trouble for the man, he couldn't understand at all a request to have said agent return.

Finally, the princess had recovered from her birthing enough to attend a few public functions. Prince Fredrick hovered near her during each as if she might break. Princess Vicky looked better, but still wasn't fully herself. Her father-in-law had been distant toward her at all events. Her inability to adopt Prussian ways and her first-born's infirmity had made her ever more an outsider. Putting more effort into that when she first married would have solved that problem. Phileas wondered if she had and had been shunned, anyway. She was Albert's daughter, a Duke of Saxony. She should have long since learned what she needed to fit in.

Through other sources, Phileas picked up disparaging attitudes against them. The King's condition had placed the Regent in firm control of the government. Regent Wilhelm was of a clear, conservative bent. He favored an absolute monarchy and a powerful army and fell in complete agreement with his father's views. He was also likely to unify Germany through a succession of bloody conquests.

Prince Albert's plan could avoid that, but will it ever be allowed?

Phileas walked out onto his balcony for air.

Added to those problems, Phileas had picked up a quiet anti-English sentiment. It stemmed from rumors of English interference in Prussia's affairs. Prince Albert's quiet efforts had not been received well. The majority wanted a Prussian imperial monarch where Prussia would decide terms, not the schemes of a Duke of Saxony, living in far off England.

All of this, Phileas reported back to Sir Boniface.

Phileas looked out over the gardens, spotted Prince Fredrick walking his wife down a path. He didn't envy them. They were pushing against the grain here.

That, he also put in his reports to his father. Perhaps the time isn't right.

Back in England, Erasmus received a message from Carl, passed to him by a mutual friend traveling to England. It requested his immediate return to Prussia.

Erasmus,

Have grave news. Prince and Princess in danger! I cannot tell this to your brother. I am watched constantly.

Carl

Erasmus took the note immediately to his father and begged him to return. Sir Boniface laid it down with a troubled frown. This, with the image Phileas had sent was too serious to ignore.

"I don't like it Ras," Sir Boniface said. "Why send a message all this way? Phileas is right there at court. Your brother has been picking up animosity against the prince and princess, true, but direct danger to their persons would be a huge escalation."

"I know it is particular, father," Ras said, "but I don't think it is wise to dismiss it. What if Carl has heard of a threat against them by a martial element of the conservative wing? Please, father, let me see Carl. I'll go in dark. No one will know I'm back. If it's nothing, I will go right back with no one the wiser."

Sir Boniface had a strong feeling of unease about it. He knew Phileas wouldn't care for it, either. Yet…We are talking about Vickie's protection.

"Get packed," he told Erasmus. "You go in black as night. No one must know you are going. Contact Phileas immediately. He knows the lay of things now. He will be in charge. Follow his lead; don't get cocky. If your friend doesn't have anything of substance to relate—"

"Carl wouldn't have gone to this much trouble over a minor threat. I'm sure of it," Erasmus said.

Rebecca caught her cousin on the way out of the house as she was coming back from an afternoon with Richard. England was abloom. They had spent the morning in the formal gardens of Hyde Park to enjoy it. Erasmus gave the man's hand a shake and his cousin's cheek a peck before leaving. "I'm off on a brief trip," he said. "I should be back in a week."

"Have a safe trip, Ras." Rebecca didn't ask where he was going. Sir Boniface would tell her if she needed to know.

"Might his trip be to Berlin?" Richard asked after Erasmus had left.

"I don't know," Rebecca replied. "And as he didn't say, we shouldn't assume."

"Damn tense over there," Richard continued. "Whoever leaked our talks with the smaller German states has made a mess of things. Several who supported our initiatives have backed out. Some have been hounded by Prussian intelligence. There is a maverick officer over there, newly assigned to intelligence. I hear he made his way up the ranks by eliminating competition. Staunchly in line with the conservative wing and deadly in his methods."

"And who is that?" Rebecca asked.

"Von Kessler's son." Richard said. "The Baron is an old recluse. He supported the King's revisions to the constitution. No one has seen him away from his mountain castle in years. His heir is an ambitious snake. I've met him a few times–a good person to stay away from."