Chapter Thirty-Two

Darcy found himself outside 20 Crown Street.

Upon his arrival in London, after sending his coach for the Hursts and Miss Bingley, he had made his way to the home of Mr. Ryder, the Home Secretary. He hated to disturb him in the middle of the night, but the need was great. Ryder had listened and ordered him to take the whole business to Mr. Wickham. “This is obviously in his bailiwick. If Liverpool has objections, I will address them in the Cabinet.”

As he had no previous social acquaintance with Mr. Wickham, he did not know where his home was. Therefore, he stationed himself outside the Alien Office to await the arrival of the Superintendent. By chance this was a morning when the man arrived early, the dawn still some time away. Darcy watched as he stepped down from his carriage. He was an older man, near fifty, but maintained the good looks common in that family. The spymaster was known to be handsome, clever, and charismatic; very much like his younger relative. The resemblance was repellent.

“Mr. Wickham?” Darcy called, stepping in to the light shed by the lamps at the building’s entrance. The man turned and narrowed his eyes in examination. Two footmen stepped into the street, hands on pistol butts.

“I do not know you.”

“Mr. Ryder sent me. I am Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire. I’ve come with news.”

“Ah … Yes, your name is familiar. Please come in.” He gestured, and the footmen allowed Darcy to follow the older man in to the office. After making their way through a warren of desks and cabinets, all piled high with papers and folders, they finally came to an inner sanctum. There was a clerk at a desk outside Wickham’s office. The middle-aged man was already shuffling through files. “Graves, please join us. This is Mr. Darcy, CM.” Darcey nodded in acknowledgement of the fellow’s perfunctory bow.

Once they were all settled, with a cup of tea for each, Mr. Wickham began, “I understand you are part of the investigation of the gifted insurrectionists in Hertfordshire. You have been staying with Mr. … ah… Bingley was it not? Fellow that brought the first report some weeks back. And old Bennet. Good man that. If I recall you were able to capture several of these radicals, only for them to be taken and presumably released by persons unknown.”

“That is correct.”

“Just wanted to be sure I was up to date. What news have you to report?”

“Just last night a force of approximately twenty-five to twenty-seven assailants attacked a ball being held at Netherfield Park, just outside of Meryton, the site of the previous assault.” Darcy worked to keep his voice calm and offer only the facts of the situation. “At least six of the attackers were gifted. One was apparently a grotesque. They managed to kill several of the militia men and officers stationed to guard the event from just such an occurrence. After a complex battle on several fronts, the terrorists were defeated, but not before they managed to do significant damage to the house, through the use of some sort of explosive gift.”

He paused to consider what to say next. “Most of the attackers were slain, or severely wounded. Four were captured. One was a man who calls himself Reilly. He claimed a desire to cooperate in exchange for leniency. He reported that there is a French agent, LaFontaine, in London that possesses the ability to imbue temporary gifts into the non-gifted. That, he claimed, was the origin of the abilities displayed by him and his confederates. Colonel Sir John Glover, of the Derbyshire militia, suggested I bring this report to London immediately. There may be more happening since I left, shortly after midnight.”

“Did you get all that?” Mr. Wickham asked his clerk. The man had been scribbling the entire time Darcy had been speaking.

“I believe so.” Graves replied. “Would you like to check my transcription, Mr. Darcy?”

The gentleman agreed and examined the paper. The clerk had a clear hand and had captured every point of Darcy’s report. “This looks good.”

“Excellent. Please get copies of that off to Whitehall and Horse Guards as quick as you can.” The Superintendent returned his gaze to Darcy. “Do I understand that Mr. Ryder has assigned this problem to my office?”

“Yes, sir. Though I would like to be involved in the capture of this LaFontaine, if at all possible. Twice this man has sent assassins after me and mine. I believe there is a debt owed.”

“Very well, but I must gather a team first. You cannot go on your own.”

“You know where he is?”

“I have had my eye on this particular émigré for some time. He had never crossed the line for me to act, but now…”

It took far longer than Darcy thought necessary to assemble an assault force. A task extended by the disappearance of Mr. Wickham’s clerk. Eventually five men in dark clothes gathered under the command of a Mr. Abbott.

The six rode in a landau with more men following in a second carriage. As they approached the address in a stylish section of Marylebone they heard a disturbance. Screams of terror and cries of anguish reverberated across the cobblestone streets. Men and women, mostly in the garb of servants, pelted towards the carriage. Behind them was a creature out of a phantasmagoria. It appeared to be nightmarish fusion of a silverfish and a salamander grown to the size of a four-in-hand. It charged towards Darcy’s landau, tangling with the team in their traces. The anguished cries of the horses were heartrending.

The men in black suits burst from the carriage. Darcy flew through the leather roof. “Can you take that?” Abbott asked loudly.

“I can.” Darcy affirmed as he reversed the gravity on the creature, sending it floating into the air.

“Good. It’s not alone.” Abbott led his team up the street. Darcy created a gravity well and fed the monster into it. He then flew higher, to get a better view over the houses. He saw there were a number of creatures, each different from the other, attacking everything around them or fleeing into the distance. He saw the others moving towards the house that appeared to be the origin of the infestation. Darcy surged forward to intercept the nearest monster, plucking it from the ground before it could strike down a woman carrying her child. This creature seemed to have started as a mastiff. It was smaller than the first creature, but stronger, and managed to turn in his grasp, gnawing his leg with its slavering fangs. Darcy snarled and dragged the beast away. He locked its head between his hands and sent pulses of gravity oscillating though its skull, pulverizing it. He dropped the body and advanced on the next target.

The capture mission turned into a mass extermination as Abbott found the house empty, except for the bodies of the servants. It took them almost three hours to find and eliminate all the monsters. And at that they were not certain that none had escaped. Afterwards, a carful search of the bodies in the house confirmed that none were their target, LaFontaine.

“Are you certain?” Mr. Wickham demanded.

“I have met the man,” Abbott said. “And he was not among the dead, unless he can alter his countenance.”

“A possibility,” the Superintendent admitted, “but one we can neither confirm nor rule out at this moment. We must proceed on the assumption that he escaped. I’ll send people to sift through the wreckage at the house to try to find any hints as to where he might have gone, who his connections are, or what his plans might be.”

“His ability to enhance animals makes him all the more dangerous.” Darcy added.

“Indeed, it does. Which is all the more reason we need to find him.”

Unfortunately, finding the elusive Frenchman proved to be impossible. Nothing of use was found in the Marylebone house. Darcy thought it likely that he had fled the city, possibly even the country. After a week, Mr. Wickham had asked him to leave the investigation to his own people. Darcy had no choice but to comply.

Over the next two weeks the incidents of monster attacks, always a danger in the overcrowded city, increased threefold. The night watchmen and the local magistrates had their work cut out for them. When the “New Mohocks” began their depredations on the impoverished of the city, Darcy suspected they were more of LaFontaine’s creations masquerading as rogue gentry. But because of the perception, the amity between the classes, always precarious in the metropolis, began to deteriorate to open enmity.

When it became known he was in Town, Darcy began to receive invitations. While he was not particularly fond of socializing, he knew it would be unforgivable for him to disregard the entirety of his acquaintanceship. So, he began to attend sundry social functions. He avoided balls and large gathering, instead partaking of intimate dinners and the occasional night at the theater or opera.

“Mr. Darcy, it is so good to see you again.” Miss Bingley said. They had met at one of Lady McGovern’s evening gatherings. Her guest list tended to be eclectic, and Darcy often found someone interesting with whom to converse. In this case however, it was Bingley’s sister that had found him. “I never had the chance to thank you for your consideration in sending your carriage to bring us from that horrible place after that disastrous evening. I honestly could not have survived another moment in such dreadful company. You may not know it, but Charles was suggesting we spend the night in that little country inn.”

“I was happy to be of assistance. Have you heard from Charles?”

“Yes, we received a note from him yesterday. He is still determined to tie himself, and us all, to that country nobody. I cannot tell you how disappointed we all are in him. Of course, we are not able to attend the wedding, given the state of Netherfield, which he is determined on purchasing. I do not know that I will ever be comfortable visiting the site of such … well, you know.”

“I am intending to attend.”

“How wonderful. You must be so disappointed that you just missed the opportunity to attend a related wedding. I understand that Mr. Collins just married in Meryton.”

“Ahhh …” Darcy felt the news like a knife. “If you will excuse me, I see Lord Palmerston. I must speak to him on official business.” He left the soiree soon afterwards.

Shortly before he was due to leave for Bingley’s wedding, he received notice of a meeting at the Alien Office. When he walked in he was shocked to see not only the Superintendent, but his own cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, dressed in his regimentals.

“Mr. Darcy, thank you for agreeing to come. I believe you already know Colonel Fitzwilliam. He is our liaison to the War Office. We have developments in the case that I feel you may be able to bring a new perspective on.”

“I’ll try.” Darcy sent a silent interrogatory to Richard, but he simply offered an insolent smirk in return.

“There have been two attacks on targets tied to the gentry. First was an assault on Almack’s …”

“But, there are no assemblies in December.”

“It seems these ExtraOrdinaries did not realize that,” Richard laughed. “All they did was demolish an empty building and leave a calling card.” He handed Darcy a cardboard square with XO on it.

“The next night they seemed to decide on a more certain target,” Mr. Wickham continued. “They hit White’s.”

“I read about that.” Darcy stated.

“I’m sure,” scoffed Richard. “It was in all the papers. Father was most displeased. He was there that evening. Came out without a scratch, but madder than a hatter.”

“As the reports described, it did not go well for the attackers,” Mr. Wickham interrupted. “They were vastly outnumbered and overpowered. What you did not read was that two of the XO’s were taken prisoner.”

“No, I did not. They were taken alive?”

“We have been holding them for two weeks. And we are beginning to see decreases in their power levels. This is the first evidence we have that these gifts are, indeed, temporary.”

“This is good news, but why tell me?”

“I understand that you worked with Miss Elizabeth Bennet in Hertfordshire,” Mr. Wickham stated.

“I did, but what has she to do with this?”

“I am told she is a powerful somatic manipulator. While augers and simple healers are relatively common, manipulators of both power and control are scarcer than you may imagine. We feel that we may have need of her abilities and I wanted your opinion of her. I know her father, but you know her.”

“She is an exceptional lady; powerful, intelligent, brave, resourceful, kind, dedicated, and many other accolades.” Richard raised one eyebrow at this recitation. “But she is needed in Meryton, if there is any possibility that LaFontaine may return there.”

“But we have no reason to assume he will return there, despite the fact that his forces struck there twice.” Mr. Wickham assured.

Darcy thought quickly. “Unless they have been collected, she has access to more than one gifted prisoner from the Netherfield attack. Perhaps she can perform any needed examinations there.”

“A possibility I had not considered,” Mr. Wickham’s self-depreciating smile was far too reminiscent of his more familiar cousin’s. It disturbed Darcy on several levels. This was not a man he wanted anywhere near Miss Elizabeth, or Mrs. Collins as she now was. “As I said, you can offer new perspectives.”

After the meeting Richard followed Darcy to his townhouse. Along the way they discussed how the Colonel had come to be assigned as a liaison to the Alien Office.

“I thought you had a brigade command on the Peninsula.”

“I did, until one of the generals took a dislike to me. Horse Guards decided that I was of more use to them in London than in the stockade.”

“That does not seem very fair.”

“You’d rather I be behind bars?”

Before Darcy had the opportunity to respond, a footman brought in a message on a tray. “An express from Pemberley, sir.”

Darcy opened the note and read silently.

“What it is, man?” he said when Darcy’s face grew dark. His gift was reacting to his mood causing gravity eddies to swirl around the room.

“It’s from Preston, my sheriff. There have been a two of monster attacks near Pemberley and a group of what sounds like ExtraOrdinaries have attacked Preston himself.”

“Georgianna!”

“We have to go!” Darcy and Richard spoke in unison.

That night, Darcy sent a note to Bingley apologizing for missing his wedding.