Chapter Twenty-Six #2
“Just so,” Papa said. “The story was that my great-grandfather, who was as English as a rose, moved to France when he became enamoured by a beautiful French girl he met whilst on a visit. She could not leave her family, so he left his. He changed his name to Benoit, to better become part of society, and they married and had a large family. His brother at that time held Longbourn, but like me, had only daughters and no sons, and therefore upon his demise, the estate went to my grandfather. He returned to England with his wife and children—one of them my father—and returned the family name to Bennet. But we have cousins, Lizzy, an entire family of cousins, who remained in France under the name Benoit. You will, if you wish, meet three of them, each one a good man.”
“Why have you not told me of this?” Lizzy asked. Why would Papa keep secret the existence of these family members?
“When hostilities broke out with France in the 1790s, it seemed best not to mention my French cousins. People will talk, and I had my family and reputation to safeguard.” He shrugged again, another Gallic gesture.
“And you trust these men?” Mr. Darcy asked. “Although they are family, that does not dictate their national loyalties.”
“They are French, but also proud of their English heritage and are no friends to Bonaparte. There are many of that mind, although not all dare speak their minds. Etienne was a respected officer in the French military, but lost all faith when Napoleon declared himself emperor.”
“As did Herr van Beethoven?” Lizzy and Papa had long since spoken of the Flemish composer’s magnificent third symphony, which dedication he had changed upon that very event.
“Indeed, although you do not wish to hear Etienne sing. Nonetheless, he remained in his position for some time and was privy to a great many secrets. When he heard, through old associates in the military, that there was a code machine near his home town that had sustained some great damage, he hastened to locate it and upon succeeding, managed to bring it and his two brothers here, and asked me for my help. How could I deny them? For by offering what assistance I could, I would be working for the benefit of both my family and my country.”
“And the two regiments?” Mr. Darcy asked. “There are double agents aplenty on both shores, I imagine. Is Hastings here with his regiment to protect you, or to ensure your loyalty? Is that why my cousin was not made aware of his purpose here?”
“I had to inform somebody!” Papa exclaimed.
“I paid a visit to Colonel Forster, who said he would notify the appropriate people, and shortly thereafter Colonel Hastings came by to speak to me. He urged me to press my cousins to move to the city, but Etienne refused to remove to London. It was decided that this small and insignificant estate was as safe a location as any. Etienne is adept at encryption and machinery, and he has more knowledge of the workings and meaning of this machine than all of our English wizards together. Thus it was settled that he should work upon the machine here. Colonel Hastings knows only that the machine is in my safekeeping and that my cousins are attempting to learn its secrets. He does not know the exact location or what progress has been made other than what he has learned from you.”
“Most enlightening!” Mr. Darcy hummed. “But now, once more, I have to wonder at Stanton’s involvement. What does he really wish to know, and who are his superiors?”
“Recall, my young friend. He did not wish you to take the device, only draw it; neither did he give you any names of those for whom he is working.
Could it be that he wishes to recreate the code machine for his own purposes, just as you have done?
Could it be that his masters are not Englishmen at all?
Mr. Darcy regarded Papa over the rim of his glass. He had consumed much of its contents, but it seemed to Elizabeth that he was not at all affected by the alcohol, for his gaze was clear and steady. This tale was strange to her ears, and yet so close to what Mr. Darcy had surmised in her hearing.
“I had been wondering this myself.” He did not glance at her.
She knew that he had divulged this and more to her, baring his naked soul with all its pain, and that he would wish to maintain his facade of control at all costs.
And her face, she knew, betrayed the compassion and affection that would shatter his reserve.
With his eyes fixed firmly on the fire, he continued, “I have begun to suspect Stanton to be an agent for some foreign power, although which I cannot say. Prussian? Russian? I cannot think of one who would not pay very well for this machine, for it is a marvel of technology, and moreover, produces unbreakable cyphers. Each combination of buttons produces a new pattern of rotation, and the order of the discs themselves may be changed likewise, making it nearly impossible to determine what the codeword should be. It is quite ingenious.”
“And yet, you have worked it out.” Papa raised his own glass in a toast.
“My cousin had some vital information for finding the codeword. Your daughter provided the insight that allowed us to use it.”
Elizabeth reddened at such praise. Papa certainly regarded her with respect and he turned to her and bobbed his head up and down, a smile upon his lips.
“And you reduced it to such workable diagrams that a craftsman could recreate the machine,” he turned back to Mr. Darcy. “Remarkable!”
“But what do we do now?” Elizabeth asked from her chair.
At last Mr. Darcy brought his eyes to hers, and his fingers twitched upon the armrest of his own seat.
He was a handbreadth away, close enough to touch.
Did he wish to reach out and hold her hand in his own as much as she longed to reach for his?
He could not, not with Papa watching. What would have happened had the Frenchmen delayed in their descent for five minutes?
Would he have declared himself? Would she now be holding his hand in her own as his betrothed?
She forced her thoughts back to the matter at hand.
By the look on his face, Mr. Darcy was thinking similar things, and his fingers twitched anew.
But when he spoke, it was on the business that had brought them here.
“What we must do now,” he breathed, “is manufacture some way to bring our foe into the open, and so bring this affair to a suitable end.”