Page 8 of Whiskers and Wiles

“There can beno doubt in anyone’s minds. There can be no remaining question at all in what passes for the minds of the ministers who will discuss the matter this winter. The Mercian Plan must and will succeed.”

“Hear, hear!” Kat called out in response to Queen Matilda’s statement, raising her teacup as she did.

Several of her fellow operatives joined her outpouring with their own words of encouragement and support for their queen.

“It would be an unforgivable tragedy to allow any other plan, such as the Scottish Plan, to succeed,” Miss Plover, the young, scholarly woman who had most recently joined their cohort added, pushing her spectacles up the bridge of her nose.

“Indeed,” Kat agreed. “Women under Mercian law have thrived these many centuries while our unfortunate counterparts in other kingdoms of the New Heptarchy have been reduced to mere property, their intelligence and talents wasted. We cannot let another one of our British sisters remain unappreciated and undervalued for another moment.”

“Absolutely,” Lady Eileen, one of the Scottish women in service to Queen Matilda agreed, saluting Kat with a biscuit.

It was, perhaps, odd to some for the Queen of Mercia to host a meeting of her most trusted spies over tea and cakes in the parlor of the Mercian embassy in London, but Kat had always admired Queen Matilda’s ability to accomplish more than one thing at a time. They were engaged in the work of empires on the one hand, and enjoying each other’s company in a rather delicious way on the other. And if anyone were to gaze through one of the windows in an attempt to ascertain what the lot of them were up to, they would only see a group of ladies taking tea together.

“You must all be forever on your guard, my dears,” the queen went on, taking up one of the miniature tarts that were her personal favorite from the plate offered to her by a maid. “We are outnumbered in the halls of government, and men are notorious for being unwilling to share their power. We must remain vigilant at all times, working for the respect and inclusion we deserve. Otherwise, the very men who claim to want nothing more than to protect and care for us will use us to wipe their boots instead.”

A burst of old, cold fury shot through Kat at those words. She felt too keenly the sting of having loved a man who turned out to be no better than the rest of them. Twenty years had passed, and she still felt the misery and betrayal of the day when Waldorf had cast her aside because of vicious lies. Twenty years, and the fire of her hurt had barely diminished.

Of course, it did not help that she continued to see Waldorf in the course of her duties to Queen Matilda far more often than not. Since his betrayal, Kat had devoted herself to the queen’s causes, performing perfectly as her most trusted spy. The trouble was, Waldorf was also a spy, for King Swithin, Kat assumed, and the course of their duties often saw them attending and observing the same events.

She longed for the day when she would not have to encounter Waldorf ever again.

“Would that we could rid ourselves of those troublesome men entirely,” Kat grumbled, stroking Napoleon’s back in an attempt to calm herself. Her beloved feline companion, Napoleon, yawned, showing his teeth, and went back to the nap he’d been enjoying.

“No, no,” Queen Matilda said, turning a concerned look to Kat. “Men themselves are not the enemy. My own, beloved Charles has been my closest ally these last fifty years. It is what they do when they gather together and throw sense out the window that we must fight against.”

Kat’s face heated, and she used the excuse of gazing down at Napoleon to avoid her queen’s censorious stare. She wanted to believe Queen Matilda. She wanted to feel as though male-kind were, indeed, allies waiting to have their full potential unlocked. Part of her even wished that she had enjoyed the sort of beautiful, life-long love story that the queen and her consort had enjoyed, and that she, too, might live to the wise, old age Queen Matilda had, happy with her spouse and happy with her life.

Waldorf had ruined all that, though. He had taken more from her than he could ever know, and for that, she would never forgive him.

“Let us return to the matter at hand,” the queen said, perhaps wisely seeing that she had touched a nerve where Kat was concerned. She let her compassionate yet calculating gaze rest on Kat for several more seconds before turning to the others and saying, “We are all deeply aware that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, and the way to his mind is through his wife.”

Several of the others laughed and exchanged knowing glances. Many of the queen’s spies were married to prominentmen themselves and knew from first-hand experience how to influence leaders.

“We must see to it that the Mercian Plan is brought up for debate in Joint Parliament this session,” Queen Matilda continued. “To do so, a majority of ministers must agree to open the debate. At present, we do not have enough men committed to our plan for that vote to go in our favor if it is called for.”

“We do not even have any certainty that First Minister Walsingham will allow the plan to be introduced for debate,” Miss Plover pointed out.

“Correct,” the queen said, nodding to her. “Which is why Lady Walsingham is one of our primary targets to influence.”

“Lady Walsingham rarely comes to London,” Miss Gilchrest, another of the younger spies, pointed out.

“She does not,” the queen agreed. “But I may have a plan to reach her. In the meantime, Lady Ryman’s ball is less than a week from now.”

Kat frowned slightly at the apparent change in conversation. She did not particularly care for balls, but everyone else in London seemed to lose their heads over them at this time of year, when everyone from every corner of the New Heptarchy had just come together in London and company still felt fresh.

“The quickest way to have the most influence with the largest array of people is through conversations at a ball,” the queen said, almost as if she sensed Kat’s reticence on the matter. “There is no better setting for not only conversations about political topics of the day, but for key ministers, or more importantly, their wives, to see that others hold opinions that may be different from theirs and to be exposed to those opinions. Never underestimate the power of popular opinion to sway someone who might think differently.”

“Too many ministers already believe the worst about Mercians and about our plan because they see so many other men professing negative opinions,” Miss Plover pointed out.

“Precisely,” Lady Eileen agreed. “And if enough men and their wives see that the Mercian Plan is favored by the majority, they, too, will sway their opinion in our favor.”

“You are correct, my dear,” Queen Matilda smiled at Lady Eileen. “Which is why our most pressing mission of the moment is to convince as many of the recalcitrant ladies whom Lady Ryman has invited to attend her ball, even though they have said they will not.”

“Why would anyone refuse an invitation to what will surely be the biggest ball this month?” Miss Gilchrest asked, blinking rapidly, as if not attending a ball were sacrilege.

“People have more reasons for being foolish than the ocean has fish,” Kat said with a frown.

At the mention of fish, Napoleon raised his head and looked at her hopefully. Kat smiled down at him, scratching behind his ears affectionately and promising herself she would purchase fish for him before they returned to their rooms at the Oxford Society Club that afternoon.

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