It was the beginning of December and Darcy had spent the last few weeks gathering information. The many channels at his disposal were strained with tasks of an enormity never before experienced. Darcy managed them all very well and as information arrived he masterfully developed his plan.
Subtlety was the key to Darcy’s plan, which caused his dispatches to appear to be of the most unusual nature. One dispatch simply asked a messenger to inquire regarding a particular gentleman. Another regarded a newspaper notice of an untimely death in a family, and still another was a request to find an individual’s mother; slowly across London, the small ripples Darcy created eventually became waves to the powerful, but still fledgling Ackerby organization.
“Sgt Stills?”
“Eh, what? 'oo es it?” The smell of beer alone from the sot could almost make a man drunk.
Standing over Stills was a man in uniform. “You are Sergeant Stills and a chosen man, are you not?”
“Piss off gov’nor… I ain’t chosen no more. Less you mean chosen to drink this beer.” Stills laughed.
“Sgt. Stills. You are being recalled to active duty immediately. We are in need of your specific skills and your record shows you are one of the best men qualified. You are hereby promoted to Lieutenant and ordered to the Defiant which leaves port on the morrow.”
“Eh. Now you canna do that. I did my bit; I'm outta His Majesty’s army.”
“True, Lieutenant. But I am ordered to retrieve you if I can, and if so lieutenant, you are ordered to the Defiant.” The uniformed soldier looked at Stills and wondered what this man could possibly provide the army.
As Darcy predicted he would, Stills came to his senses for a moment and thought about the offer before him. A sense of pride rose in him regarding the offer and shame regarding his current life.
Subtlety was now about to cost Ackerby one of his best assassins and afford the British army the opportunity to reclaim a man who had shown remarkable promise during his military career.
Up until Christmas this scene played out in one form or another. One man inherited a small piece of land in Scotland, another was somehow located by an angered husband and met a fitting end. Darcy played his pieces slowly but knew he would not be able to continually remove his opponent’s players from the game without eventual notice.
While Ackerby’s methods were messy, Darcy employed art. He used this art where he could and indirect exposure where he could not. London already possessed a criminal element that the nobility allowed the local authorities to keep in check. Darcy used that element as a front for his own ends, and whenever a direct encounter was unavoidable it was always a local thief or gang that took credit.
Upon discovering the blackmail of a local magistrate, Darcy used his connections to mislead the London dailies. Malicious stories were reported regarding the magistrate only to be retracted with evidence of their falseness. This happened to coincide with a trial the magistrate was presiding over. Being in no mood to look the fool, the magistrate quickly found the defendant guilty. The defendant and Ackerby were surely surprised by this turn, but any attempt to further blackmail the judge would be ineffective and any new rumours, true or not, would not be believed.
Finances were not left untouched, and it was in this arena Darcy flourished. Ackerby was born a baronet, and with family money he had purchased his commission where his military mind excelled, but finance proved to be the strong suit of Darcy.
Ackerby was wealthy and added to his wealth with his nefarious actions but often in inefficient ways. Where Darcy would have profited 100 pounds Ackerby would garner only 50. The real tragedy for Ackerby was his inability to perceive the conceptual loss.
Darcy watched the financials with interest and was amazed at how poor some of the decisions were. If it were not for the continual flow of ill gotten gains, Ackerby would certainly be in financial trouble.
Spread before Darcy were bank reports, all of which contained confidential information, but attainable to the individuals holding sway over the banks; and thus attainable to Darcy.
Piece by piece Darcy attacked the finances; a short sale here and an inflated price there. Darcy was well educated in the South Seas Trading crash of a century before; England had been brought to her knees from a buying craze of extreme speculation. The desire to suddenly become rich had caused the entire nation to over purchase the stock of the trading company, leading to almost certain ruin for the country
Watching Ackerby’s purchases of buildings and merchandise allowed Darcy to create a buying scenario specifically for Ackerby. An inflated piece of art, followed by overpriced property. The manipulation was rather easy for Darcy. Ackerby was of the belief that any illegally obtained government document must be of value and consist of the truth. Breaking into an office, or murdering a man for his satchel, would produce papers claiming this land or that building was of value. Darcy could easily exploit that to serve his own ends.
Around this time, Darcy was overjoyed with the visitation of his younger sister Georgiana. Business dealings of late were focused and well under way, allowing Darcy a moment to spend time with his beloved sibling.
The two of them spent the day talking and informing each other of recent events in their lives. Darcy’s account of events was edited to an extreme degree and referenced business dealings that Georgiana would certainly find droll. Georgiana was held under no such restraint and was happy to talk about the past several months. Sitting quietly, Darcy reclined, smiled, and enjoyed the respite from the sinister nature of his dealings. Evening brought a visit from Charles and Caroline; the latter individual had been happily successful in her attempts to see Charles remain in London.
“My Dear Georgiana, how wonderful it is to see you again. You are becoming lovelier each time we meet. Do you not think so, Charles?”
“Oh indeed, you are lovely, Miss Darcy, and that dress is very handsome on you.”
“Thank you,” replied Georgiana with a smile and a look of pure joy.
“My darling brother purchased it for me since our last encounter. How he has time to think of me with all of his business I shall never know. He must be the most thoughtful brother.”
“He is most generous,” Caroline stated as she eyed Darcy. “He is also wickedly handsome. I imagine with those attributes he will have a wife, and you shall have a sister soon enough.”
Darcy ignored Caroline’s reference to his becoming married and instead rolled his eyes and took a seat. Caroline, not content to end the matter, continued conversing with Georgiana on the subject of Darcy attending balls and endless ladies enticed by his status.
Conversation eventually turned to their time at Netherfield. In response to inquiries by young Miss Darcy, Caroline happily reported the culture of the land. This was done with appreciation of the countryside but an annoyance of the society.
“Miss Bennet was kind enough I would say; but as to the rest, I found them simple and not of the quality one encounters in the city. Your brother took an abnormal likening to the countenance of one of the ladies, but her manners and opinions soon dissuaded his affections.”
“My dear brother, is this true? I should so like to hear about it.”
“Miss Bingley overestimates the bearing of the matter on my mental abilities. The lady in question I can assume is Miss Bennet’s younger sister Elizabeth. I found her to be most intelligent, well read, and with opinions of some merit.”
“But no great family connections!” cried Miss Bingley, “and for that she must be faulted greatly.”
Georgiana wished for more information and Caroline indulged the wish by relating stories of Miss Elizabeth walking to Netherfield and her constant bickering with Darcy.
To Darcy’s relief, an attendant entered and announced the arrival of a letter. Darcy opened it while the ladies continued to talk. Finishing the letter, he looked about the room at the ladies still in conversation and Charles looking on with contented fascination. The letter itself was of some import in topic but more important in its arrival in that it provided Darcy a possible reprieve from the current conversation.
“A matter has arisen that I must attend to personally. I will leave the three of you to dinner and shall return as soon as possible. Please, enjoy yourselves.”
The ladies protested about his leaving in such a manner, but Darcy assured them he would return within a few hours; thus sated, the ladies fell back into conversation.