The Protagonist Speaks

Dear readers, tonight with us is a British lady from the time of the Napoleonic wars, who — quite unlike other ladies — is one of Sir Arthur Wellesley’s renowned spies and assassins. Call her a love-interest at your peril, but we did interview the protagonist from these books before.

Tell us a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?

My name is Felicity Brockenhurst and I was born in British India in 1789. Sadly, my mother died giving birth to me, so I was raised by my father who provided me with the best private tutors, and an all around education which was quite unconventional for young ladies.

Did you have any favourite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?

Toys? No, there was very little time for such frivolities. My tender years were spent in training and preparation. Riding, hunting, fishing, shooting, handling all forms of weaponry like knives, guns, swords and even lances. I am quite fond of the custom pepperbox revolver my father gave me aged seven though.

What do you do now?

Well, normally I am not so indiscreet, but since you asked so nicely. By day, I am a… I suppose what you might call an operative, an instrument, one of Sir Arthur Wellesley’s most renowned spies and assassins. The French call La Rosignol, the Nightingale and have all manner of wild tales of my accomplishments. It is said I smuggled Trouvier out of the Bastille hidden beneath my skirts, liberated the plans for invading Iberia from a locked strongbox under the Empereur‘s bed, and even eliminated the unfortunate General Lanoir through the sheer vigour of my lovemaking…  Modesty forbids me telling you which of these contain more than a grain of truth.

What can you tell us about your latest adventure?

Ah, the affair of the Shadow of the Serpent? It is Gaston Dubois’ tale truly of course, that brave, foolish, hot-blooded chap. He’s an absolute clod sometimes, but a brave one and an undeniably handsome one with those moustaches and cadenettes. He is one whom I must confess, I have more than a trifling affection for.

In this tale from his memoirs, Dubois is drummed out of this beloved hussars over a foolish duel and sent in disgrace to the “Accursed 31^st” Dragoons who he is charged with turning into a proper fighting force (accompanied by his loyal sergeant the redoubtable Bastien Sacleaux, of course). There he earns the enmity of the countryside and a local bandita by the name of La Espina, the Thorn, who seems determined to have this head. While it is a trying experience, it is also an instructive one, for it is during this epic travail and through the battles he fights, first against La Espina’s wiles and then against the Spanish army, that he first begins to learn the real truth behind the Eternal Struggle which governs the age of Napoleon. It is where he is first set on the path that will bring him into the light to become a Keeper of the Hidden Flame, as am I.