Sather/Avindian: She might well qualify for madness...depending on the definition.
Loki: Very well spotted! It does indeed.
Chapter 22 – Explanations
24/1/1820
John stared at Lady Mendenhall. For a moment he could think of nothing to say. Finally he managed to recover from his shock.
“You mean…it’s true?” he asked.
Her Ladyship chuckled. “You expected me to deny? Or perhaps you wished it was not true. Come, sit, and we will talk.” She glided through the shadows back to her chair.
John took a seat opposite, and was barely able to see her in the shadows. “But it’s impossible?” he said, though his statement became a question.
“Many things are possible, John. You convinced yourself of the truth, but now you do not want to believe it. It is indeed true, I have been in England for over four hundred years, and have met or known all the rulers since that time.”
“The fire in 1399, that was you?”
“It was, though not intentionally. Lord Richard de Vere rescued me from the flames, for the stress had exhausted me. In return I agreed to help him and his descendants. And as you know, every King and Queen since has been descended from him and Constance.”
John looked into the shadows, trying to see if she was telling some elaborate joke at his expense. It seemed she wasn’t. “So your book. It’s just about you without mentioning you?”
“You could say that. It was a way of explaining what has happened, of shifting the attention away from me. I do not want power or dominion, and I certainly do not wish to be Queen. What I want is security, stability, and to help people.”
John thought of the smashed carriage, the look of fear on people’s faces. He thought of the history, the incidents when this woman had manipulated things to her ends.
“Help them…by killing them? Like the Colonel?” John asked. He knew he shouldn’t antagonise her, as clearly she had a lot of power…even more than he had imagined possible. Still, it galled him that she had murdered someone.
In her shadowed chair the Lady said nothing for a moment. “It was…necessary. Progress cannot be allowed to stop because some obstinate fool won’t allow himself to take ideas from a woman. Had I been a man then I am sure he would have had no issues agreeing. That is the story of my life, being patronised by men not even a tenth of my age and without one iota of my knowledge.”
“But you killed him,” John protested.
He had expected her to be angry, perhaps had wanted that. Instead she sighed. “Can you begin to understand what it is like for me? You see the glamour, the wealth, and yes I have those things, but I also have a secret looming over me. That is why I wrote that book, why I asked you to come here. I have no one but Tempest to talk to, really talk to. Clarice Mendenhall is a mask, but is a mask I must wear all the time.”
“What is your name then?” John asked.
“Angelique Grey. The Grey Eminence,” she said with a small, humourless laugh. She saw his confusion and shook her head in the shadows. “Never mind.”
She rose, the shadows flowing about her. However at that moment she went to the wall and lit a pair of lamps, making the room brighter than it had been.
“I would appreciate if you still called me Lady Mendenhall though. Appearances must be maintained, especially in public.” She paused, as if wondering whether to continue. “Do you think immortality is a good thing? A desirable thing?”
John shrugged. He had not forgiven her yet for the death of the man. “It has served you well.”
“Indeed it has, yet at other times it is a burden. That book of mine, it is what happened to me. Think of your life, now multiply that by twenty and you have not even reached my age. I have seen fifteen generations of English sovereign from Edward of York to Anne Seymour. And in all that time I have had to defend myself, protect myself, give myself stability. And yes, I have assured that Britain deserves the title of Great. Would you have it any different? Would you have me roaming the world as some sort of Eternal Exile, or hiding in a cave? No, because what I have done is assured your nation’s dominance over all the world.”
As she had continued to speak her voice had risen slightly, and she paced back and forth.
“At how much cost?” John asked.
“Cost? You ask me of cost, and I say that there is a greater good. Where I came from John, far in the future, there had been another history. In that history Britain was hardly great; overshadowed and overcome by a greater force. What do you know of the War of the French Succession, the Fifty Year War, the Cleansing of the Ukraine? Nothing, because I helped prevent them. By making Britain the most powerful state in the world I alone foresaw the dangers and prevented them. Those I have killed number less than fifty, yet it has saved a million lives, and will save a million more.”
John was taken aback by this sudden intensity. However, as he thought about it, yes, it did seem more reasonable. He still couldn’t condone it, but he could understand it.
“This is all a lot to take in,” John said. “I…thank you.”
Her Ladyship seemed to sag slightly, and she fell back into her chair. “It gives me no pleasure to do it, but when you outlive your friends, enemies, lovers, everyone, it’s hard not to take the longer view. John, may I ask you a favour?”
“Of course.”
She smiled a bit wanly. “Be my conscience if you will.”
He nodded. “Of course, Lady. What of Tempest? Is she…like you?”
“No, her story is as I said. When King Henry abolished slavery in 1755 I helped many families abandoned by their former masters, but her grandfather impressed me, and I took him on as my friend and advisor, then his father, and now Tempest. She helps me in many ways. I saw at an early age that she was outstandingly beautiful and possessed of great athletic abilities, so I trained her. I do not think I need a bodyguard, but I have one regardless.”
Lady Mendenhall let out a sigh and closed her eyes. “Anyway, I think this has been an eventful enough night for you. We will continue this in the morning. Goodnight, John Adams.”
John rose. “Goodnight, Lady. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being honest with me.”
She smiled. “Any time.”