Chapter 73: A Lovely Day in a Bavarian Castle

When I woke up, she was smiling at me.

“Darling, you look so sweet when you sleep. No driven business executive, no need to push all the time, just a happy man. What did you dream about? You smiled, mumbled something which I assumed was ‘I love you’, and you were totally relaxed.”

It’s difficult to remember what you dreamt after you wake up. All I remembered was that I was with her and Maureen on a little island, the sea around us, gentle waves, a light breeze, and we were walking towards a table loaded with food and drinks. We were naked, and I had my arms around them. I opened the bottle of champagne, and when I turned to them, I woke up. What a pity!

She bent down to kiss me. “My love, I’ll make that dream come through. Trust me! But now we have to get up, have breakfast and then we’ll go riding. Come on, don’t be lazy!”

Unreasonable orders - I had to obey, however!

I did as order and after a full breakfast we were led to the stables. Adalbert had selected docile horses for us, a small mare for Jenny, and a bigger mount for me. They led us through a bucolic landscape with small creeks, weeping willows, a few farmhouses well-kept and covered with flowers on the facade, shrubberies along the narrow road, and the sky being without a cloud, the excursion was wonderful and relaxing. When I looked back after a tight corner, I saw a small car following us. Adalbert saw me watching the car and came closer.

“James, we’ve learned to care about security. Our people are very good, and your man insisted on coming along also. Good man, he!” There went a relaxing ride.

After a while, there was a small table waiting for us, with water, fruits, and a bottle of white wine. Gertrude grinned when she saw us dismounting. “You’d better sit down for a moment - later you’ll feel muscles you didn’t know you had!”

We relaxed, drank the wine, ate an apple, and when we started again, I began to feel the truth of Gertrude’s words. And it was still about forty-five minutes to go! Well, I survived and the first thing I did when back in the apartment, had a long, long hot shower. Jenny accompanied me, unfortunately grinning about my predicaments.

“Remember when you took us a bit more enthusiastically and we moved with certain difficulties afterwards? Well, it’s your turn now. At least we had fond memories of pleasures before...”

Lunch was still informal, and Jenny selected one of the dresses she had bought, a pretty green and gold dirndl.

“Gertrude had one with the Bavarian colors, so I can have one with our Australian colors. Isn’t it pretty?” She swept around and curtsied, showing off the plaited skirt. The blouse was low cut, discreetly displaying her charms; her opal matched the dirndl’s colors, and as always, her smile and her big blue eyes were drawing me in. I stepped forward to kiss her, but she stepped back.

“James, you have been taught better! You cannot kiss a woman ready to go out to lunch - she has spent the time to be pretty for you and especially for the other women she’ll meet. They know Maureen, but not me; I have to be impressive to be able to stand on my own beside her, and not be just your other woman. This means that it’s not only my position or intelligence that counts; it also means that they will have to walk away later knowing that I’m a woman, your woman, but that I can stand on my own beside you.”

She smiled. “Darling, later you can kiss me - actually, I expect you to kiss me, and not only on my lips...”

The group was small, only five couples. Adalbert introduced us.

“My friends, may I introduce Miss Mary Ann Parker and James, Count de Winter. They gave us the pleasure of staying with us for a few days and I wanted them to meet our friends.”

They were more his age than ours, but they seemed to be interested in us. Adalbert had certainly briefed them on us. Then we made the round.

“Anna and Gerald Wendlinger.” Kiss her hand, shake his hand. Jenny’s hand was lightly kissed and then a little touch on her cheek from the other wife. They must come from the Wendlinger branch of the Fugger family.

“Heinrich and Helga Sommer.” Kiss her hand, shake his hand. I had heard this name before but could not remember where.

“Simon and Hella Stauffenberg.” Kiss and shake. I wondered whether they were from the Prussian Stauffenbergs - might there be a connection somewhere in our families?

Adalbert stated that we were among friends, so no business, please. We had a dry sherry and the ladies a white wine, and when we were called to sit down, my thoughts were confirmed. The Wendlingers were a branch of the Fuggers, so they were Princes, too. The Stauffenbergs were descendants of the old Prussian family (and the officer who had tried to kill Hitler); I was still in doubt about the Sommers.

It was a friendly lunch, with conversations ranging wide. Angela Merkel (she was getting old and boring), Macron (exciting, but unpredictable, a cardinal sin for conservative Germans), Brexit (idiots), Bayern München (getting old and predictable), renewable energy (Australia had all these wide-open deserts), the new Käfer restaurant (so, so), Trump (they deserved him), soccer (better than rugby, but when I proclaimed the exciting sides of baseball, all turned on me. Jenny grinned - she knew my tactics), and on and on it went. In the end, we had a long discussion on what memory means and how the mind manages short-term against long-term memory. It got complicated when we went into the hierarchy of collective memories - oneself, family, friends, tribes, and how historic events influenced the development of nations. What would France be without the revolution? And Germany without Bismarck? I had to scramble to keep up with them.

Finally we had our drinks and they said goodbye. Adalbert asked us to join them for a moment.

‘If I may say so, Jenny, James, you made an excellent impression on our friends, and that may turn one day to your advantage. Heinrich has extensive connections in the East, Simon has old family ties to the German armed forces, and Gerald is the representative of the Kuwaiti Investments in Europe. You never know when this might come in handy one day...”

I nodded and thanked him for his advice. In the circles we were now living in, personal connections often were worth more than money.

We went back to our room and called Broughton; they confirmed that the formal report would be available in three days, and I told them that we would be in London on that day. Apparently, everything we had told them, was confirmed by their analyses.

Then we called Maureen; she was rather upset again because for her it was rather early in the morning. It took time to calm her down, but in the end, she told us that everything was going well at home, that she had decided to be with us at the explosive media circus, and that Eileen had decided to come also. Allan had wanted to come but considering his position as the Australian Minister for Business Development, he was advised not to get involved in this brouhaha and had accepted the recommendation. After I had submitted my report, Maureen gently recommended my actions, but said that she missed me and loved me, but now she wanted to move on to more important matters, and to hand the phone to Jenny.

And then it started. I heard only one side of the conversation but could fill in the other part.

“Gertrude took me to that little boutique at the Marienplatz, and they have the loveliest little things. I bought a traditional dirndl for you - you’ll love it! Blue and white, like the Bavarian colors!”... “Obviously, my dear. He’ll love it - the blouse is so low cut that if you bend forward, you’ll fall out of it. Just the dress James adores.”... “I bought one for me, just in gold and green. Just imagine the two of us together!”... “Then she took me to another little boutique with rather risqué underwear. I can see already James taking it off us!” ... She glanced at me, grinning widely. “The rest I’ll tell you personally. Then we had tea in a little café, and I told her about us. She’s such a wonderful person! And she accepts the three of us together.”... “And I bought Eileen a nice amber necklace and for Allan, I saw a wonderful book about Australia, with lots of photographs.” She nodded. “Yes I did, a nice Hermès tie.”

She laughed, looking at me. “But my present was me; remember when you came to my flat for the first time and I said that the dessert was me? We made love so tenderly that I started to cry!” She swallowed and looked at me. “James, my love, go away, read a book, or do something useful. This will go on for some time, and I don’t want you to listen to me. You are already a conceited man, considering the way we treat you. You don’t need any more admiration!”

She put the phone on the sideboard, came over and gave me a long and tender kiss, and shooed me away. “Go away, darling. I’ll call you when we’re finished.”

What had happened to the Lord and Master theme? Ignored and abandoned was I! But the day of revenge would come one day, and they would regret treating me this way. The problem was that I loved being treated this way...

I got a book as recommended but stopped. Maureen’s decision to come over and stay at our side opened another interesting option. Why should we have to carry the burden alone? I called Mr. Tussek and told him the remaining part of the story and asked whether there was anything he could do to give us support. I knew that the request was dangerous for his career, but after all, his position in a new scenario was exposed also. He was one of the good guys and had been swept into his position in the last election. He listened carefully and asked me to give him an hour. I agreed and went back to my book.

Jenny walked in half an hour later, beautifully undressed in her favorite pullover, the one with the growing holes. She took my drink and emptied it in one gulp. “Why do women always talk so much? Maureen was going on and on, and then Eileen got the phone - James, how do you stand us?”

This demanded an obvious response. “Jenny, what did you do? Just listen patiently to the two?”

She was indignant. “James, what do you think? I had to answer their questions and had some of my own...” She stopped. “Well, Maureen will be in Elk on Monday, so we better be there, too. Eileen will come also to give moral support, but I believe she really comes to see explosions all over the place. She’ll be helpful, but you better watch her before she gets out of control.”

She sat on my lap and snuggled. “And what has my favorite Count been doing?” She got the book. “James! This book must be antique! Where did you find this?”

I told her that Ian Fleming wrote this book in 1958 and that this didn’t make it an antiquity. She just looked at me.

“James, that book was published before you were born!”

I told her to treat it with reverence; JFK had mentioned several times that it was one his favorite ten books! Jenny harrumphed, “Americans...”

She accepted that everyone had his right to his own taste in books; when I asked her about Ivanhoe, she went to great length to elucidate the difference between a great classical writer and an author of spy thrillers.

Suddenly she stopped. “Are you listening to me?” I said “No” and she hit me. That seemed to be Jenny’s (and Maureen’s) favorite response of when she lost an argument...

She made up for it, however, and kissed me. “James, why don’t you listen to me? There is a reason that my middle name is ‘Genevieve’ and you simply ignore me! I try to impress you, showing how I spent my days as a child, acquiring impractical but useful knowledge, and you simply turn off! Oh James, what will I do with you?”

“Love me?”

She hit me again, but more tenderly. “Darling, never question this. You know that I’m yours, now and forever. Perhaps I need to convince you again this night?”

I agreed enthusiastically and she grinned. “Poor guy needs an assurance that he’s loved. Well, tonight is the night, and you’ll get it.”

But then she asked what our plans were for the next days. When I started to tell her my thoughts, the phone rang. It was Mr. Tussek, the Mayor of Elk.

“Count de Winter, I’ve discussed this with my friends and allies, and we offer you our support. I believe that you will have a press conference at the Castle?”

I confirmed this and he continued. “We want a meeting with you and Miss Parker before everyone gets involved. If you can show us proof of what you’ll reveal, we are behind you. Sergei Smirsky will be there, my administration will be fully present, and I believe that the Bishop of Olsztyn might be convinced to back you. But we need proof, not just words, Count.”

“Mr. Mayor, we have proof. I have all the data analyzed by an internationally known investigating laboratory in Great Britain - and I was careful not to use a German company - and will get the official report day after next. We’ll be in Elk on Sunday, and I expect to have my press conference on Monday. We could meet the night before the event, and I’ll submit all data and supporting documents to you. Then you can decide what you want to do. I appreciate the risk you might be running and appreciate the support - if forthcoming - even more. Maureen will also be there.”