Posted on 2017-08-04
Blurb: A sequel to "Spies": Meryton's gossips extraordinaire change the course of history.
Colonel Fitzwilliam sat in Longbourn's drawing room. His general patience for his hostess and her sister was tempered by their known usefulness to the Crown. Mr. Bennet had greeted him briefly and returned to his haven.
"Oh, my flutterings, my spasms!" Mrs. Bennet waved her handkerchief in a mesmerizing pattern. "My dear Colonel, it is truly horrible! Worse than I have ever endured from Lizzy!"
He raised an eyebrow.
Mrs. Phillips intervened. "Truly, Colonel, this is of great concern."
"Well, then, do tell."
As Mrs. Bennet waved her into the service of her country, Mrs. Phillips began.
"We have heard it from the wife of the butcher whose sister is an upstairs maid of the Duke of ____ whose brother is a footman of the Earl of _____ that the Earl's aunt's mother-in-law, who is French, by the way, has heard that Napoleon desires to escape from where he is being held, and is planning even now."
"Is this not awful!?!" Mrs. Bennet cried.
Fitzwilliam's eyes were slightly protruding from his head. But this pair was the undisputed champion of military intelligence. They had to be taken seriously. If they were men, after the war was over they'd be titled, immediately.
This was why he rode post-haste from London to Meryton upon Mrs. Bennet's request for him to call upon them as soon as may be.
"Could you say that again? I wish to write this down."
She did, and he wrote, asking for names and other details.
"I thank you very kindly for your intelligence. I will look into it immediately. In the meantime, please inform me if anything new arises."
Both ladies assured him wholeheartedly that they would do so.
"Oh Colonel! How soon is Lizzy's confinement? I wish to be with her! She will need a mother's loving counsel, I am sure."
"I am not certain, Madam, as I have been busy with the War Office," he lied. Slightly. A little bit. Perhaps.
"Do tell me if you discover it!"
He bowed to both ladies, telling them he needed to return to London as soon as possible.
******
The sisters' intelligence was indeed correct and Napoleon's escape from Elba was foiled. As a result, Waterloo never happened.
Neither was Mrs. Bennet in attendance when Lizzy gave birth to the heir of Pemberley.
Colonel Fitzwilliam sat in Longbourn's drawing room. His general patience for his hostess and her sister was tempered by their known usefulness to the Crown. Mr. Bennet had greeted him briefly and returned to his haven.
"Oh, my flutterings, my spasms!" Mrs. Bennet waved her handkerchief in a mesmerizing pattern. "My dear Colonel, it is truly horrible! Worse than I have ever endured from Lizzy!"
He raised an eyebrow.
Mrs. Phillips intervened. "Truly, Colonel, this is of great concern."
"Well, then, do tell."
As Mrs. Bennet waved her into the service of her country, Mrs. Phillips began.
"We have heard it from the wife of the butcher whose sister is an upstairs maid of the Duke of ____ whose brother is a footman of the Earl of _____ that the Earl's aunt's mother-in-law, who is French, by the way, has heard that Napoleon desires to escape from where he is being held, and is planning even now."
"Is this not awful!?!" Mrs. Bennet cried.
Fitzwilliam's eyes were slightly protruding from his head. But this pair was the undisputed champion of military intelligence. They had to be taken seriously. If they were men, after the war was over they'd be titled, immediately.
This was why he rode post-haste from London to Meryton upon Mrs. Bennet's request for him to call upon them as soon as may be.
"Could you say that again? I wish to write this down."
She did, and he wrote, asking for names and other details.
"I thank you very kindly for your intelligence. I will look into it immediately. In the meantime, please inform me if anything new arises."
Both ladies assured him wholeheartedly that they would do so.
"Oh Colonel! How soon is Lizzy's confinement? I wish to be with her! She will need a mother's loving counsel, I am sure."
"I am not certain, Madam, as I have been busy with the War Office," he lied. Slightly. A little bit. Perhaps.
"Do tell me if you discover it!"
He bowed to both ladies, telling them he needed to return to London as soon as possible.
******
The sisters' intelligence was indeed correct and Napoleon's escape from Elba was foiled. As a result, Waterloo never happened.
Neither was Mrs. Bennet in attendance when Lizzy gave birth to the heir of Pemberley.