Sather: This game was weird in that most countries migrated, snake-like, to the east! By the end Lithuania ended up in the Crimea!
Morrell8: Thanks! And I fear Edward's fate is set to be far more...unhappy.
Quicksabre: Thank you!
bananafishtoday: Or worse....
Avindian: The EU3 screenshot taker won't let you take that front screen. I use Fraps and it comes out perfectly.
Sethanon: Yes, I set myself very clear goals, and it explains why IC Britain survived; they never pushed too far.
Loki: Spot on.
Chapter 29 – Parting Words
30/1/1820
The next morning a depressing sleet was still falling, making the stones slick and icy. John woke, having wrapped himself in three blankets to keep warm.
As he finished getting dressed a maid came in with hot water for him, and he shaved quickly before heading downstairs.
To his surprise, Sir Henry York was waiting for him on the landing. He gestured John to a door and led him onto the battlements. The sleet was turning to rain, and they found shelter under an awning.
“Did you sleep well, John?” Henry asked.
“Very well, thank you, sir,” John replied.
“Just Harry will do, I’m pretty sure I don’t deserve to be a knight.” He looked at John for a moment as though martialling his thoughts. “I wanted to talk to you before you left. You and I both know some of her Ladyship’s secrets, but by no means all. When I first met her it was in ’88, and I was a young engineer officer with nothing to do but sketch the sights of Paris, from the Parliament to the Union Brotherhood statue. But then came the Revolution and I was swept up with her….” He sighed as he remembered events more than thirty before.
“I know what it’s like, John,” he continued after a moment. “She’s pretty, I won’t deny it, and she’s unique. The dangers, the excitement, the struggle to prevent Paris falling, then our operations into France. I was there when the First Consul was captured, and so was she. And I learned the truth then too, and ever since then we’ve been close.” He seemed lost for words for a moment. “I need to tell you this because I want you to be aware that she’s not like us. In forty years you’ll be like me, and she’ll still look the same, that same charming smile. But, she will find someone new, someone younger. I went to the funeral of her previous ‘associate’, a great musician and artist, Sir Allen Ramsey.”
John nodded, though he was confused at the point. “But she’s been good to you hasn’t she?”
“Oh yes, don’t mistake my words as criticism. She has been kindness itself to me. The very reason I am a ‘sir’ is because of Lady Mendenhall. No, what I meant was that even after all these years I know so little about her. Where she comes from, how she is who she is. Also remember that even though she is very talented I do not think she is immortal. Look after her, John. I would be very loathe to have anything happen to her.”
“She always seems as though she has the answers,” John commented.
“No one, not even her, can have all the answers. And take good care of yourself. If I know anything you’ll be heading into some pretty dangerous times. Do you have a weapon?”
“Yes, but I’ve not loaded it,” John said.
“Let’s go and do that…just so it’s ready to hand if you need it.”
When they came down for breakfast Lady Mendenhall and Tempest were there already. Victoria was out strapping gear onto a carriage shielded from the rain.
“Ah, there you are. Nothing wrong I trust?” her Ladyship asked.
“No, no, just helping John here with his things,” Sir Henry said.
“Of course. We should get moving as soon as possible. I have gotten us passage all the way to London. If we leave now we should get there by late tonight.”
And so, when they were ready they headed for the train station. John gave a backward glance to Sir Henry York who waved them off. There was so much still to learn it seemed.
When they were safely on the train and setting off, John found himself sitting in a first class carriage beside Lady Mendenhall. Victoria and Tempest were elsewhere. The compartment they were in was private, with just the two of them. There were two long seats opposite each other, but John sat beside her Ladyship because he felt ill travelling backwards. At the end of the seats was an area for luggage near the compartment door. As the train headed through the winter landscape he found himself glancing at her Ladyship every so often.
Finally, she smiled and looked at him. “Go ahead and ask, John. I can see you will quite burst if you don’t!”
A touch embarrassed, John coughed. “I talked with Sir Henry. I…am I the latest in a long line?” he asked, not sure if this would upset her or not.
“Yes, but I don’t want you to feel as though that is demeaning in any way. John, I think you are a very talented man, and I asked for your companionship because I value it. I was going to tell you in good time about myself, but you figured it out far faster than anyone else. Look, don’t be angry, John,” she said, and to his surprise he saw she was almost pleading. “I need…I need someone to be with me. It gives me perspective, a moral compass even. If I was by myself for four hundred years I would quickly grow to despise most people for their wicked, corrupt ways, their greed, their ignorance. But if I have someone with me who can give me the lens of humanity…I can see the world as I should.”
“It must be hard though to watch…well…time pass,” he said. He couldn’t bring himself to mention death, though it was clearly there.
“It’s more terrible than you can imagine.” For a moment Lady Mendenhall seemed sad, her head bowed. “To see them all pass in time. The people I’ve loved, those I helped, even those I’ve fought. But, there are two ways you can look at it; John, a jaded and cynical view, or a more optimistic way. I’m not sure if I’ve made the world a better place, but I’ve tried.”
“I think you have. I’m happy to have met you, Lady.”
“And likewise, John.”
“I was going to ask-“ he begun.
And then someone tried to kill them. Whoever they were really had terrible timing!