From Fitzroy's Private Diary (Extract 69)
It is fortunate there is usually something, somewhere, going on in the world that merits the attention of my department. In fact, it is common for there to be many such things going on. More than enough to go around my compatriots and I.
This is good as I am not a man who is attuned to doing nothing. I am aware that it is the height of ambition for some to be a gentleman at leisure. To eat, drink, shoot hapless, defenceless creatures, and pretend to run one’s country estate (letting the steward do all the real work), is a dream for some. To be it sounds like a nightmare.
I am at my best when on a mission for the Crown. There is a short time afterwards when I desire rest, partake of brandy, and enjoy a few nights at the side of my own hearth to reflect on my actions. Once this has passed, I am eager to be off again.
Despite paying me the most paltry of salaries, which I accept, to make a point, but have no real need of, the department occasionally tries to enforce holiday or down time on me. I am unsure why. Without a mission I am even more arrogant than usual and extremely ill-tempered. Jack is of great consolation, but unless I am in the throes of infatuation with some lady (although these never last long), I end up pacing around like a caged tiger.
From time to time I have occupied myself training other agents. I prefer, after a very basic induction (and casting my eye over them to see if they are worth my time), to train agents on the job. I find those that have an aptitude for aspects of our work flourish under pressure. Alice was slightly different in that my reluctance to take an unskilled female into the field was tempered by the fact she had frequently thrown herself into the field without my bidding, on several occasions. In fact, having a measure of control over her actions gave me far less sleepless nights then when she was running wild. I still shudder to think of some of the exploits she engaged in when effectively untrained. Rash doesn’t come near to a descriptor of her actions.
Of course, I also have my hobbies. I collect incunabula and derive pleasure from examining them. I suppose women could be also described thus. Although I have no ambition to be a breaker of hearts, I do find this is the only form of hunt that is to my taste. I also get moments when I decide I must recreate some exotic dish I have eaten abroad. This minor obsession I ascribe to the near madness of boredom. It is also an obsession better shared. Alice is an adventurous eater, as well as impervious to hot spices, and is happy to join me on such ventures. She has an excellent palate, now that I have trained it.
On reflection, it is only at White Orchards that I have been able to relax and almost let time while itself away. But then, I have the great sport of baiting Bertram when I am there. Also, Alice is as restless as me and always up for some new adventure or mischief. She does her best to be a loyal country wife, but that she remains in this role, I believe, is largely down to her adventures with me. Without them she would be near mad with boredom. In some ways we are indeed two of a kind.