Love Among the Gifted - A Pride & Prejudice Alternative

Chapter Thirty-One

"The attack in Hertfordshire was a failure!" cried Robert Graves. His face was flushed and his breath came in ragged gasps, evidence of the haste of his journey from Westminster to Marylebone.

"Be calm, mon ami," LaFontaine chided. Graves was a man with too much sensibility and too little sense. It was that, along with his position as a clerk to the Superintendent of the Alien Office, that made him so valuable to suborn. He felt too keenly the humiliation and frustration of a genius forced to serve men with half his wit, solely because he was born without a gift. Every day he saw others striving to solve the challenges of overseeing the nation's intelligence and counter-intelligence efforts during a time of existential crisis, while he was left to manage the minutia inherent in any burgeoning bureaucracy. "What has crossed the Superintendent's desk this morning?"

"No, don't you see? It is far worse than an any letter or memorandum. It's that blasted crown magistrate, Darcy. He came to the office at first light with a report of a most alarming nature. There was a massive attack at a country ball. All the gentry from the area were gathered when more than a score of armed, and in some cases gifted, insurrectionists attacked the event."

LaFontaine frowned at the man's almost unconscious translation of lurid fact into the driest prose. It was a talent that served the man well in his clerical position, but was frustrating to his listeners. "I am aware of the attack. What was the result? It is apparent that Mr. Darcy survived."

"He said that several people had been killed in the attack, but that at least three prisoners had been taken alive. During the subsequent interrogation, one of the gifted prisoners, a man named Reilly, had cooperated and revealed the name of the person ... well, you."

"I ... see. That is most unfortunate." LaFontaine considered the man before him. He was a direct link between the Frenchman and his illicit activities in the Alien Office. Removing him would sever that link. But if LaFontaine's name was already known, that action was unnecessary. It was better to keep Grave's complicity secret, as he might still be of use. "I believe it may be time for me to pursue a period of rustication. You will hear from me either directly or through an agent. The telltale will be Jacob. Do you understand?"

"I ... Yes, I do."

"Bon. In the meanwhile, I advise you to take care for your own safety. I believe it is time for Plan Armageddon." Without further ado, the spymaster handed his agent a purse of gold and saw him to the door.

"Is this the end of LaFontaine?" he mused aloud. He wondered if this particular alias had fulfilled its purpose. The Frenchman had been born Claude Danton, grand-nephew of Georges Danton, the founder of the Committee for Public Safety. The murder of his famous relative by his own revolutionary compatriots had turned his family's fervor from anti-monarchist to revenge on the system that betrayed their loyalty. Claude's father Gerard had allied himself with a young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, and took an active role in the coup of 18 Brumaire. This guaranteed him a place, though not well known, in the First Consul's favor.

Because of Gerard's connection to a convicted traitor, it was thought best that he be sent on an extended mission to Britain, the eternal enemy of France. He emigrated with his family under the name Geroges deBussey, a descendant of a cadet branch of an old noble line. His mission was to create a network of agents and informants and report regularly to minions of Tallyrand or other French officials. Claude was raised as Jacques deBussey until his father's death when Claude was twenty-two.

At that point he left Britain to travel on the Grand Tour, on which he was instructed to meet an Italian tutor, who helped him discover the extent of his somatic gift. When he perfected the ability to instill temporary gifts into nulls, it was decided in Paris that Claude would return to England. Once Jacques deBussey had secured the surprisingly large inheritance from his father's estate, he disappeared and Mssr. LaFontaine made his appearance with a history similar to deBussey.