Difference between revisions of "Catherine Harcourt"

Revision as of 18:18, 23 September 2008

Character Profile

Biography

Harcourt was a tall young woman with long red hair, which she usually wore in a braid. She was one of the few females in the Aerial Corps; their presence was due to the fact that Longwings preferred women captains. Her father (Jack Harcourt) was a member of the corps and served as a lieutenant aboard Fluitare, but died in 1802. Her mother had died of a fever when she was but one year old.

Initially, she was too young and inexperienced to be leader of Lily's formation even though her dragon was in the lead. She proved to be an excellent aviator; Lily was one of the few dragons that remained in the air throughout the Battle of Dover. Shortly after the Battle of Dover, she earned her place as formation leader.

Harcourt believed that there was nothing special about what she did as an aviator, as it was no more than the men did, which was a shockingly progressive attitude for her time, though she was conscious of the impropriety of her position in the eyes of society. Jeremy Rankin, in particular, constantly reminded her of this. When she had occasion to meet people outside of the Corps, she hid her uniform with a long, hooded coat.

One mistake that reflected her youth and inexperience was allowing herself to become involved with Jean-Paul Choiseul, who attempted to kidnap her and Lily.

Harcourt was technically the senior aviator aboard the HMS Allegiance when Lily's formation was sent by Jane Roland to Africa to find a cure for the dragon plague. She found herself in the middle of a squabble between Laurence and Tom Riley who clashed ideologically over the issue of the slave trade. Laurence was so absorbed in the search for the cure, he did not notice the budding relationship between Riley and Harcourt. He was completely shocked when she announced she was pregnant with Riley's child.

Catherine hastily married Riley on a shipboard ceremony. As an aviator and as such distanced from society Harcourt didn't see the need for the marriage, though as a naval Captain and therefore more conscious of social etiquette Riley was insistent. Lily protested the union, and promised to hurt Riley if he mistreated her. Harcourt vowed to take the child to the corps if it was a girl and give it the surname "Harcourt".

However, the child turned out to be a boy. Harcourt appeared to be somewhat let down that it was not a girl--for Lily's sake. And for her part, Lily did not like "the egg" (as the dragons called it) much at all. Eventually, Harcourt decided the child should go to sea with his father, but after Laurence desribed to her the conditions on prison-ships she changed her mind.

She fought during Napoleon’s invasion taking part in battle above Folkestone, cutting off French supply lines and serving in the Battle of Shoeburyness.