***
As dawn broke Jason arranged to take his coffee on his patio. He remained seated there for most of the morning as he waited to see if a royal messenger would arrive. Claymore ensured that he was not without fresh tea during his vigil. Midday came and went without incident. Jason exhaled deeply as he stared aimlessly at the sea in the distance. He waited for a further fifteen minutes before he reluctantly departed for the harbour.
He boarded the Phoenix and went below to the Captain’s cabin. The Phoenix was an impressive ship of the line. It had three large masts and sixty four guns. A knock on the cabin door interrupted his efforts to pour himself a generous whisky.
‘Enter!’
‘Begging your pardon sir, but there’s a young French lad to see you.’
‘Show him in!’
‘Aye, aye sir.’
Philippe entered the cabin looking a good deal happier than he had been on that other evening on the road to Bella Vista.
‘Guess what?’ Philippe seemed unable to contain himself.
Not wishing to steal the boy’s moment, Jason declined the invitation.
‘The king has said I can live with you at your Villa. Isn’t that wonderful?’
Although Jason harboured several doubts about the wisdom of undertaking the responsibility this entailed, he feigned excitement for the boy’s sake. He remembered his own loneliness during his teenage years and he swore he would do whatever he could to cater for Philippe’s welfare.
‘There’s more. I overheard the king and the duke suggesting that you should adopt me.’
The sense of alarm Jason felt at this news quickly faded when he observed Philippe’s delight. He felt more than a little flattered by his reaction.
‘Would you adopt me if the king asked you to?’
‘Without hesitation,’ Jason replied. ‘I never had the pleasure of meeting your father, but judging by how you were raised, he must have been a great man. I would be honoured to step into the breach if that is your wish.’
‘Great!’
‘Of course, this will only work if I have your agreement that you will do as I say. I will try to be reasonable. I will try to consider your views, but if I make a decision, I require you to accept it as final.’
‘Yes.’
‘You must give me your word. The word of a young gentleman?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then we must shake on it.’ Jason was impressed that Philippe looked him in the eye and shook his hand firmly.
Philippe then hugged Jason tightly.
‘Thank you. I promise I will try never to let you down or to disappoint you.’
Jason was convinced that the boy meant what he had said.
‘This also means that I get to go to sea with you?’
‘Only if you apply yourself to continuing your education as we discussed.’
‘Of course,’ Philippe agreed. He then remembered something. ‘Oh, the prince asked me to give you this.’ It was a letter containing an invitation to join Ruan for dinner at the palace.
Although Jason was disappointed that the letter did not mention Renate, he hoped that Renate was behind it, or at the very least, that he would be able to see her.
‘I am having dinner at the palace tonight. You will have to come along although you might not be permitted to join us at the main table. You may have to eat on your own in a separate dining room.’
‘Don’t worry. I know the routine. I am friendly with some of the servants’ children. I usually join them in one of the servants’ dining rooms when the adults want to eat separately. It is better than eating alone in one of the palace’s large dining rooms.’
Jason arrived at the palace with Philippe at the appointed hour. Philippe ended up in one of the staff kitchens whilst Jason was directed to one of the smaller dining rooms.
‘You may sit where you please this evening, my lord,’ the butler advised him as he pointed to a round table which had five place settings.
‘Will the princess and her ladies in waiting be joining us,’ Jason enquired casually.
‘I wouldn’t know my lord. We are only provided with lists when the occasion calls for specific place settings.’
Ruan entered the room as the butler finished speaking. He embraced Jason warmly before he took a seat at the table. Jason also seated himself.
‘Why do you look so amused?’ Jason enquired.
‘Because you are dying to ask if my sister will be joining us, and if she is to join us, you want to know if she knows that I invited you.’
‘True.’
‘But mostly I’m amused because of the expression on your face. You are clearly still smarting after having cocked up so badly last night. I shall assume your silence to mean that you do not dispute the charge.’
‘I tried to apologise immediately, but Renate was having none of it.’
‘Are you in love with my sister?’ Ruan observed Jason carefully as he waited for an answer.
‘Yes. I believe I am.’
‘My sister is a highly passionate person. She can be tempestuous at times. Fortunately her moods seldom last for long, and once she has pardoned the offender, she thankfully seldom exhumes the past. So with luck my efforts may be capable of being salvaged.’ Ruan sat down.
‘I’m not sure I understand,’ Jason intervened as he did the same.
‘It took some convincing before Renate agreed to invite you to join her last night. She is cautious when it comes to matters of the heart for reasons you can understand. Her position and all that. But, she is intrigued by you. She took the risk of being seen with you in public yesterday, partly because she trusts my judgment. Your questioning her intentions annoyed her. If she gives you another chance, do not muck it up.’
‘Will Renate be joining us and does she know you invited me?’
‘Yes on both accounts.’
‘Because I suggested dinner tonight and she never responded.’ Jason paused. ‘What is so amusing?’
‘A woman is unlikely to dance to a tune you play if you have annoyed her. If you’d had a sister, you would know that.’ Ruan studied Jason for a moment before continuing.
‘Have you been in love before?’
‘No. Unless you include a schoolboy crush on a girl at school. The life a merchant sailor leads does not lend itself towards finding love.’
‘Have you been with a woman before?’
‘Why do you ask?’
‘Curiosity. You and I are friends after all. Are we not?’
‘From what I have observed, you and Renate tell each other everything.’
‘Most everything. Anything said to me in confidence, however, will not reach her ears. We are friends now, after all.’
‘As you know, most harbours have ladies who are, shall we say, willing. My father always used to say that those who succumbed to such temptation would be visited by dreadful diseases. As a young officer in the royal navy, I managed to stay out of trouble. When Oliver joined me as the First Officer on board my ship, he had an attractive young lady in Boston who he used to visit whenever he was in port. She apparently had a select clientele, most of whom were extremely rich. Her clients were all regulars who she had apparently interviewed and handpicked herself. As she became wealthier, she eventually purchased a double story residence, which she ran as an exclusive gentleman’s club.’
‘Surely the wives were suspicious?’ Ruan interjected.
‘They were, but she told everyone that she was a daughter of a minister. She would dress conservatively in public and was never seen in public without her bible. She also never missed church on Sundays. Most of all, she enjoyed the protection of some rather powerful men, not least of whom was the minister.’
‘A patron?’ Ruan asked.
‘Of course not,’ Jason replied with a slight grin. ‘I did say he was a man of the cloth. Anyhow, Oliver wanted to arrange for my virginity to be addressed by her. I seriously began to consider his suggestion whilst on a voya
ge to Boston. We had an English solicitor and his young wife on board. He was slightly corpulent man in his fifties and she was a beautiful young blond woman with a shapely figure in her late twenties. She had certain desires which her husband could not properly fulfil. He used to dine with my officers and I, and we concluded that his affection for his wife was exceeded by his love of whisky and food. Before long, the inevitable happened. She developed an interest in Oliver. She would come to Oliver’s cabin after her husband fell asleep. Of course, I found her highly desirable and the fact that I could hear Oliver and her cavorting in the cabin next to mine did not make it easier. It was on one of those nights when I decided that I had to visit Oliver’s lady in Boston.’ Jason’s eyes regularly checked the door as he continued to speak in hushed tones.
‘One night the solicitor was not feeling well. He excused himself shortly after dinner and went to bed early. The other officers retired to their quarters a while later, leaving Oliver, Catherine and myself in my quarters. We had rather a lot of wine that evening. She whispered something into Oliver’s ear. At first I thought she was telling him that she wanted to retire next door with him. However, Oliver seemed a little surprised, even awkward. Then he leaned over to me and told me that Catherine thought I was appealing. Apparently she had been entertaining the thought of having us both at the same time.’ He stopped speaking and listened to hear if anyone was coming down the passage. ‘So this time we stayed in my cabin. It has the biggest bed. It felt a little self-conscious at first. It was my first time with a naked woman. She had breasts which were small but pert. Oliver entered her first for a while. She wrapped her lily white legs around him. It was one thing to listen from next door. It was highly erotic to watch it happening in front of me and to listen to her delightful whimpering noises close up. Then he said, ‘your turn,’ and that was it. Of course I did not last long. But then Oliver took over…’
They were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps from the passage.
‘Never tell Renate you slept with another man’s wife or that Oliver joined you,’ Ruan quietly warned before the footsteps arrived.
Renate and both ladies in waiting joined Ruan and Jason in the dining room shortly before the head waiter announced the first course. She greeted Jason with a polite smile. Katia’s greeting revealed no trace of the events of the previous evening. As the wine flowed, Renate, who sat directly opposite Jason, again engaged him in direct conversation as she had done at the last dinner.
‘I trust that you will permit me to apologise for what I said last night. I fear that I have spent most of my time managing sailors on my ships. I am not as accomplished with women as I would wish to be,’ Jason said.
‘I will accept your apology if you will accept mine. I should have realised that the words one picks to convey one’s meaning sometimes fall victim to misinterpretation, and that they can end up being understood as something not intended. People do not always mean what they say or say what they mean.’
‘I could not have put it better, your highness!’ Jason could not hide his relief.
‘You may call me Renate when we are in present company,’ she mentioned as an aside before continuing. ‘I must also apologise for being less than receptive last night when you tried to make amends.’ She smiled at him awkwardly. ‘I must admit, Katia and I were particularly surprised about how you somehow managed to arrive at the carriage before we did. We left before you…and we can both move swiftly when the occasion demands it.’
Jason struggled to maintain a dignified expression as the recollection of the uncharacteristic and less than dignified dash across the room by the ladies in waiting momentarily flashed before him. As dinner progressed, Jason sensed that Renate was observing him more intently than before, especially when he was talking to someone else at the table. Intermittent eye contact became steadily more prolonged as the second and third glasses of wine took effect. Glances became less furtive. It was not his imagination. Something had changed. Was it only that she was more relaxed in his company this evening or was it something more? And yet, it was the others at the table who were doing most of the talking. Unlike the previous dinner at the palace, their conversation was stilted, almost non-existent.
This time he caught her gaze and held it. She mirrored him. Her attempt to keep a controlled expression gave way to a warm smile. Jason felt every nerve in his body tingle as the realisation dawned on him that the woman he so desired at least seemed somewhat interested.
Ruan and Katia had been side-tracked in conversation. It ceased as they perceived the change.
‘That’s not a predator, that’s a pussy cat,’ Ruan said after he, without warning, leaned forward into Jason’s view in order to intercept a glance Jason had directed at Renate. The uninvited and intrusive substitution of intimacy annoyed Jason and he glared at Ruan with a hint of menace. As he did so, it dawned on him that Ruan, Katia and his sister had discussed the night of the ball at least once.
‘There it is now,’ Katia and Renate both said - almost simultaneously. It was a little unnerving having the two chuckling women staring at his eyes.
‘Now I see it.’ Ruan concurred slowly. He blinked and inched backwards involuntarily as though something had startled him. He hesitated before adding. ‘It does not take much does it?’ The irrepressible grin returned – wider than ever.
The remainder of dinner became increasingly turbulent. Jason’s appetite vanished amidst the unrelenting exchange of glances. Jason’s feet found Renate’s under the table. He wanted to reach across and hold her hand but he was too aware of the other three at the table. As though he could read Jason’s mind, Ruan casually sauntered around the table to his sister’s chair. He gently lifted her out of her chair. He then shepherded her towards the chair next to Jason’s and he seated her there. To Jason’s surprise, Renate did nothing to resist. Much to Jason’s annoyance, Ruan concluded by placing Jason’s right hand into her left hand. His intention to rebuke Ruan faded instantly as a burst of energy from their connected hands surged into his body. Such was the pleasurable sensation that he felt powerless to undo what Ruan had done despite the awkwardness and the annoyance Ruan’s uninvited involvement had elicited.
‘Don’t thank me,’ Ruan said nonchalantly as they both glared at him in exasperation. ‘You know you wanted to do it.’
Jason wanted to tell Ruan to leave well enough alone but he became overwhelmed by the realisation that he could now smell Renate. The fresh smell of her soap and her perfume combined with her natural scent and it drove him into a near frenzy. He required all his self-control to prevent himself from reacting to a burning desire to consume her. He could hear her breathing become heavier as she seemed to sense that she had aroused the animal in him.
‘I think we ought to give them some privacy,’ Ruan suggested. ‘Please join me ladies.’
Katia took one look at Jason’s glazed expression and she hesitated as if summoned by her duty. She waited to see if Renate intended to countermand Ruan’s irresponsible suggestion. She found no support there. The wildness in Jason’s eyes was now mirrored in those of the princess. As soon as the last of the three of them left the dining room Jason drew closer to Renate and his mouth connected gently with hers. At first they simply allowed their lips to touch. As his mouth opened slightly so did hers and heated gasps passed between them. As his tongue met hers she became as frenzied as he was. Both knew that if they did not stop now, they would imminently end up ripping the garments off each other to satisfy the ravenous desire which had so rapidly overcome them. They separated reluctantly and Jason stood up and stepped back a pace. They stared at each other in disbelief as they loitered momentarily on the verge of an irreversible plunge into an intense vortex.
‘I am so sorry. I do not know what this is. I have never been like this before,’ Renate whispered breathlessly. Renate’s whispering served only to aggravate Jason’s ardour.
‘Don’t apologise. I feel the same.’ Jason said softly.
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‘I see it…it is in your eyes. I want...’ She broke eye contact momentarily in a desperate attempt to regain a modicum of self-control. ‘I think you had better leave,’ Renate concluded after they stood staring at each other helplessly as several intense moments slipped by.
‘I suppose you are right,’ Jason agreed reluctantly. He was in no mood for common sense or restraint. He considered approaching her for one quick kiss but she backed away slowly, yet apparently hesitant about whether to return for more. Jason almost felt relieved as he sensed the wildness giving way to an awkwardness which was more familiar.
‘Go now,’ she said with a smile which failed to disguise that she was begging.
Without further ado, Jason the gentleman turned up, turned around and vacated the dining room and slowly headed to the palace gates. It was only when he reached the palace gates that he realised that he had forgotten to fetch Philippe.
As he lay in bed half an hour later, he replayed it all again in his mind. The wildness in him rapidly took over again. It took no time this time for the vortex to spin out of control. Afterwards he gently drifted into peaceful sleep.