Love Among the Gifted - A Pride & Prejudice Alternative

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Dearest Jane,

Though I suppose I should call you Mrs. Bingley now. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the gifts you sent from Ireland. I am so pleased you enjoyed your honeymoon. I must admit to my indecorous curiosity as to the joys of the married state, but I am not so far lost to propriety as to actually inquire. Instead I will retreat to the more prosaic question of how you have found life as the mistress of Netherfield. I'm sure you are endeavoring to put your own stamp on the place. I do wonder if Mother is often visiting to assist you in learning your new role. That might be a mixed blessing. One thing all the neighborhood can agree upon is that our mother is a fine hostess and sets a wonderful table. On the other hand, she may have some trouble realizing that you must stand on your own, beside your husband, and not as her daughter to shape and mold any more.

I have been enjoying my time at Gracechurch Street. My Aunt, I think, is determined that I will be a success on the social scene. We have had two solons and attended no fewer than four events in the last month. It is very different for me to be seen as a sought after match, though I wonder how many of these potential beaux look at me as a means to an end, as did Captain Hawthorne, rather than a person to be admired for my own character. As I have said so many times before, I would so wish to marry for love ...

Your loving sister,

Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth,

I must warn you that the evil that has plagued our family since Jane's attack in November continues to actively seek to do us harm. A man whom Father assures me is associated with the false agents that freed the captives taken after the attack on the Red Lion has been attempting to work his way into my particular confidence by means of a false identity. Father has written to warn his contact in the government, but I felt it incumbent upon me to offer you a more personal warning. They continue to target the Bennets, for some unimaginable reason. You are unprotected in the midst of millions. You must take care to ensure your personal safety from threats both obvious and concealed. They struck at me through my greatest weakness, my unquestioning assurance in my own political rectitude. Only you may know what path they might take to assail you ...

Your humbled sister,

Mary

"It has taken some time, but we have finally prepared for you to test your ability to remove these false gifts from an XO." Mr. Graves stated. He had led Elizabeth to a different room than she usually visited when examining the prisoners. Strapped to a table was a battered middle-aged man with obvious signs of somatic manipulation. His arms were elongated and his body hirsute and muscular, making him resemble the hybrid mixing of a man and a great ape. He was conscious and struggling to break free of the shackles holding him to the table. Elizabeth reached out with her senses and was able to not only detect his giftedness at a distance, something she had only learned to do in the past weeks, but to determine his state was altered, rather than being a natural-born grotesque.

"Will Mr. Wickham be joining us?" Elizabeth asked. She was not over fond of the Superintendent, but thought he would wish to be present for such an important experiment.

"He may, but his calendar is terribly full. There has been a recent renewal of attacks. One additional question he has of you is whether you can determine how long ago a person was altered."