Of Lectures

[Olivia Pendergast]

April 8th

Mr. Skeeter,

I hope that this letter finds you well, and that you are not too disheartened by your recent defeat. I know that this correspondence might come as a surprise, but I do hope that it shall be a welcome one.

I am not a woman to express admiration lightly, and so I hope you take it as the most sincere of compliments when I say that I was quite pleased to hear your speech to the Wizengamot last month. It takes a man of great character to muster the courage to question his betters, but to do so in a respectful fashion. You are to be commended. While your efforts ultimately served to make matters worse, it was a failing on the Wizengamot’s part, and not your own.

To that end, it is my hope that you might make yourself available at the Pendergast School for Young Roses just after luncheon on Thursday, in advance of this week-end’s dueling tournament. I would love for my pupils to hear from a man of experience why genteel ladies should abstain from dueling; perhaps they will grow to see reason where their fathers did not.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Mrs. O. R. Pendergast

@'Barnabas Skeeter'

  

[Barnabas Skeeter]

April 10th, 1886

Mrs. Pendergast,

I am flattered by your compliments. I had hoped that I might swing a few others to our cause, though we were terribly outnumbered all the same. Your support, nonetheless, is very much appreciated. I fear that Hogsmeade may have taken a progressive step forward too early on. We shall see if our society can handle what will undoubtedly be an immense increase in female duelists. If there is an unfortunate number of female-related crimes in the months ahead, we will know what is to blame.

In the mean time, I would be most delighted to enlighten your young ladies on the dangers of dueling as a sport. I have scheduled Thursday into my calendar. I hope that I can be much more persuasive in this than I was at the Wizengamot proposal.

Sincerely —
Mr. B. Skeeter