Phillip had finally
begun to grasp Melissa's character and he recognised the wild flash
of hope in her eyes. He reached out and grasped her hand, shaking it
slightly in an effort to convey the conviction he felt.
“Do not,” he urged
her “under any circumstances except the most dire, give that device
to anyone. First – anyone you entrust with it you must entrust the
whole truth to and how many men would pass by the opportunity to use
immortality and access to all of the history of the earth to build an
empire for themselves? Second – you are already marked for your
involvement in Andy's escape. That was my doing and it cannot now be
undone, but it means that you will be followed, you will be monitored
and you will be put at risk. I fear the worst may happen without the
protection the device gives to you.”
Melissa sniffed. “I
can take care of myself, thank you. I do not need a device to protect
me.”
“Without Mary by your
side you would have died the first week you were here. How much of
that was her, and how much was caused by the device finding a world
which held your perfect companion and caretaker? You cannot possibly
know how much of your life is owed to the way in which this history
is manipulated by the device.”
“It's not capable of
that!” Melissa's exclamation was torn from her. “You make it
sound like a person – as though it has thoughts and feelings of its
own. A machine cannot have a survival instinct!”
Phillip looked steadily
at her; his stillness in stark contrast to her unnerved gestures and
tics. “I do not believe in coincidence when it falls to an extent
as great as that which I have perceived around you. My own actions
are highly suspect. That first night we met, I should have used any
force necessary to extract information from you. Instead, you batted
your eyelashes and I let a potential French spy saunter around London
in company with some extremely well connected people, and known to
pass information across the border. Furthermore, not only did my
superiors accept that I had done so without any qualms or questions,
they also allowed me to build my relationship with you as I chose. My
recent injuries occurred – to the best of their knowledge – at
your hands and yet they have not uttered the slightest concern as to
the wisdom of allowing you to reside here.”
Melissa felt her eyes
widening as he spoke. The litany of behaviours she had been allowed
to get away with was frankly shocking: any of those activities by
British law should technically have meant her imprisonment and
potential execution. Hearing them recounted in such a way made her
feel incredibly vulnerable. Seeing he was getting through to her,
Phillip didn't push it any further and merely concluded with his
belief: “Surrendering the device may protect another individual
temporarily, but without whatever is clouding the minds of the
greatest of British tacticians and intellects to protect you, I fear
your arrest and execution would be imminent.”
She slowly withdrew her
hand, rose to her feet and paced the room, deep in thought.
After she had repeated
her pattern of steps two or three times, he interrupted her in an
effort to direct her thoughts elsewhere. “You said you could
protect yourself; and as I recall at our first meeting you were
certainly able to incapacitate me briefly. Do you have any additional
tricks?”
She had by now enough
experience of the world he lived in not to take offence at his
assumption of her weakness and instead outlined the combat procedures
and activities she was reasonably proficient in: “I have some skill
with pistols and knife fighting although I prefer hand to hand
combat, where possible. Although your understanding of boxing is
somewhat different to mine, I believe I can claim a little
proficiency there also. My experience of fencing is limited – in a
situation with mixed weapons I have always endeavoured to bring my
opponent as close to me as possible so although I have formal
training with swordplay, I have no freestyle experience as such.”
Phillip was stunned and
for a moment suspected her of mocking him, but he had seen too much
and experienced too many oddities around her to quibble now.
“Although you have a history of experience, I would be surprised to
discover,” he probed delicately, “that you have had the
opportunity or equipment to continue in this vein since you arrived
here?”
She nodded reluctantly.
“I own it has been somewhat frustrating to me: the lack of physical
activity available is so confining. So far I have only found
horseback riding as an acceptable activity which will also physically
exhaust me. As far as my combat skills are concerned, it seems to me
that I may forget some of the manoeuvres I have learned without the
opportunity to practise.”
“You will,” he
confirmed. “Many of my friends are physically active men and those
that lapse their boxing bouts return a few months later and need to
relearn a lot of the motions that were almost second nature to them
before they rusticated.”
He lapsed into silence
and she was caught up with recalling her frustrations as she had
learned time and time again how the activities she had been
accustomed to were not merely frowned upon when attempted by a woman,
but completely unthinkable. So much so that boxing as a sport was not
acknowledged to exist by women in polite company. When she had first
heard that the sport was popular, she had thought she may watch a
bout and she had caught up a flyer advertising such an event. One of
her neighbours had seen it in a pile of sheet music and had brought
it forth to enquire about it before realising what it was. One looked
at the woman's suddenly purpling face and the girlish giggles or
matronly coughs around the room as they simultaneously recognised it
caused Melissa to cry craven and she disclaimed any knowledge of it.
She had, she declared, dropped a few sheets of music in the street
and simply gathered up the papers nearby with the help of two urchin
boys. One of them, she surmised, may have included it in the papers
they gathered.
She had blushed heavily
as she uttered the lie, but the assembled ladies simply accepted it
as proof of her innocence. Later when she had recalled the affair in
Andy's presence she had queried about boxing matches and he had
confirmed – no ladies ever attended. No ladies attended any
competitive affairs it seemed. Nor did they gamble, drink, smoke or
participate in any vigorous activity. Having been accustomed all her
life to being coerced into activity even when she had no interest in
it, the concept to Melissa was bizarre.
“Unfortunately,”
Phillip's voice broke into her reflections, “you cannot afford to
lose the skill set you have. I cannot possibly offer you my services
given my current state, and I doubt your young friend's are
experienced at anything beyond a schoolboy level. In the time they
have been observed they have certainly not participated in any
training at Jackson's or places of a similar ilk. James has been
showing more interest in developing combat skills since witnessing
Andy's death, but he is not experienced to what you term a
“freestyle” degree.”
Melissa was alert and
focussed on him. She had not, in all her time here, been able to
devise a manner of practising her combat skills that Mary had not
immediately shot down as wholly unworkable for reasons of society,
practicality or safety. If Phillip was able to conceive a plan she
would be deeply grateful. He mused for a few moments, then raised his
head and focussed on her.
“I wish you to
understand,” he said clearly, “that I mean you no offense, but I
can only think of one route out of this difficulty. It requires a
degree of improper activity from you, but I believe I can protect you
from almost all negative reactions if the proper steps are taken.”
“I'm listening.”
“Only men –
gentlemen – may enter a training room unless they are employed
there. That goes for boxing, fencing, any manner of fighting. One
must be male and one must be of an appropriate social ranking.”
Melissa nodded. This was not news to her. “Once within the rooms
however, one may have a private lesson with the proprietor of the
establishment. There are closed rooms for this purpose which contain
all the equipment required to enact the relevant activity.” This
was news and Melissa already saw where he was tentatively leading.
Suspecting the forthcoming requirements, she struggled to compress
her lips into a straight line and keep her face relaxed: he was
helping her and she must not embarrass him now!
“If you were able,”
he had begun to blush, “to furnish yourself with male attire and a
mask, I could escort you to a training room and engage you with the
proprietor in a private room for an hour. I would be there to ensure
you suffered no discomfort, should any offence be forthcoming from
the proprietor.”
He was not able to look
at her as he suggested she wear breeches and she, prepared as she had
been, thought his naivete was astonishingly sweet. For a moment she
was distracted by that, but rapidly regained focus and verbally
assured him that whatever she could do to ensure her participation in
such activity on a long term basis, she would.
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