Chapter 28

Euphemia smiled, saying, "Business should always be first, my dear; THEN I will strip and you can take me to bed. I may not be pregnant yet, either. Isabella is in her own bed at the moment, resting. Her period has started, and she is in pain, not having taken the pills she was prescribed before, because now she wants to get pregnant. It will be another couple of days before she is fit enough to have you inside her again, darling, so you are forced to just have me to make love to. Sad, isn't it?"

This impelled Ebenezer to get Mary Kempe on the phone. Discovering she was not available, being on nursery school duty, he tried Pam Humbert, and was successful. He explained Euphemia's ideas, and get an immediate acceptance.

"Ebenezer, I can grant you an immediate commission, in two parts. Firstly, do a tour of a proportion of our Comfort collectors, and establish from them where the plants were growing, and in what conditions. If possible, take soil samples of the site, for later analysis, and also collect some immature plants at each site you examine. Secondly, start laying out growing beds for comfort plants, with a variety of growing conditions.

No matter what you discover from your visits, it will be useful to do trials with the plants, as we are not certain they are all the same species. There may be some varieties that prefer a different habitat, and your selected immature plants may help us determine this. I will write you a cheque for a thousand dollars, to start you off. Come back when you need more. We will talk money in more detail later, once I have consulted Mary Kempe."

Ebenezer rang off, and faced his wife. "Euphemia, Pam is ending me a cheque for a thousand dollar, to start us off on the research. I think you need to get these clothes off now, and I will join you, you wonderful woman."

As she began to discard her clothes, Euphemia said mildly, "As I told you, Ebenezer, I just wanted you to be earning enough to make me comfortable; and now, to make Isabella comfortable as well. That means more income, so I do what I can to help." She completed her disrobing, and did a twirl to show herself off to him. "What do you think, darling? A quick fuck or a slow one? I prefer slow, just now. I might want the other, tonight."

Later, as they basked in the afterglow, Euphemia announced, "Ebenezer, I have to explain something to you." He murmured "Eh? What?"

She said to him, "The times when I turned you down before: it was not that I didn't love you. Indeed, I WANTED to marry you, but I was still strongly influenced by my mother's strictures. She met and married my father, and everything seemed fine, until he was seriously injured: he was a soldier, you see; an officer. He was invalided out, and our family income took a hammering. He was unfit for civilian work, so all we had was his military pension. It wasn't enough, and mother felt strongly that I should never face such financial problems as and when I married. This was drummed into me, so I was scared of getting married and possibly facing a similar restricted life.

I had vision of you losing your diplomatic job and not being able to get another well-paid position afterwards. That is why, while I loved having you in my bed as often as we could meet together, I turned down your marriage proposals.

It was stupid, I now see, but at the time it made sense. Darling, let me make it plain, here and now. No matter what our economic circumstances in the future; I am your wife, and will stand by you at all times, and we will raise our children together, with love.

The idea of being economically comfortable, came from Mummy's fear for me, so once I was faced with your "final demand" proposal, to be with you and Isabella, or say goodbye; that was the switch that was thrown inside me. I had to decide, once and for all, who I would spend my life with; and it was clear to me that it was you. Coming on a visit to meet Isabella was actually just to confirm that my decision was manageable. As long as Isabella was not strongly averse to me, I could live with her being a co-wife. She turned out to be a lovely girl, and I am glad she is part of our triple marriage. I love you both, Ebenezer."

Ebenezer was struck dumb with the lump in his throat, as he finally fully realised the depth of her love. He tugged her to him, and hugged her close, kissing her all over her face. At last, he blurted out, "Euphemia, my love! Thank you for sharing this with me. I love you more than ever, now."

There came a knock at the bedroom door. "Is it all right to come in?" said Isabella.

"Of course!" said Ebenezer. "Our wonderful Euphemia has been unloading her guilt, completely unnecessarily. She is a great girl, and I am pleased she married us, Isabella."

Isabella walked slowly in, clearly still unsteady with the pain. She looked fondly on the pair still joined together on the bed.

"Glad to hear it, dear. I rather like her, myself," her smile telling that she was obviously understating. "I just came to tell you I am a bit better now, and can do something about our evening meal."

Euphemia started. "No, Isabella. You have to take things easy. I shall deal with the food preparation. It is time I did more in that line, anyway."

Isabella said softly, "The painkillers are helping, but my tummy is still not right, so I fancy scrambled egg or something else light, Euphemia."

Ebenezer unexpectedly giggled uncontrollably. They both stared at him, confused. When he had recovered, he said, gently, "I think that was perfect diplomat-speak for "I don't trust you in my kitchen, woman!" Very good, Isabella.

Euphemia, why don't you and I, together, see to our meal? I have had more experience of making meals, I think." He leaned his head forward and kissed Euphemia tenderly. "We both love you, my dear, but it would be dangerous to allow you free rein of the kitchen at this moment. Give it time. I am sure you will end up as a good cook. Perhaps we can arrange for lessons with Mary Kempe?"

Euphemia sniffed, loudly, still wrapped tightly in Ebenezer's arms, and kissed him back. "I am being insulted, but with love, so you are both forgiven. I may take you up on that offer of cookery lessons, Ebenezer."

"I am serious about it, Euphemia. We all need to be competent in the kitchen in future. If one, or both of you, is heavily pregnant, I may be the only one able to do the cooking at times, so perhaps we all need lessons, to be on the safe side."

Once he was cleaned up and dressed, Ebenezer phoned Mary Kempe. He was fortunate to get straight through to her. "Mary, this is Ebenezer de la Torre. I was wondering if you are in the position to offer cookery lessons to me and my wives, some time soon."

Mary was struck by his concern for his wives. "If that is what your wives wish, Ebenezer, I am sure we can arrange something. Were you thinking of my going to your farm? The other possibility is to set up a cookery course at the college in Metropolis, which you could attend. As there would be other students in the class, the charge per person would be much more acceptable, I believe. You see, since getting into business, my time has become very structured, what with meetings and so forth. As a result, I have to charge more for my time, per hour. Doing a class at the college would be cheaper for everyone seeking tuition."

Ebenezer was not fazed. "I am prepared to pay you to come here, at your convenience, Mary. It would b e worth it. However, if you would prefer a college class, I can go with that too, provided my ladies are happy with that proposal. May I consult with them, and get back to you?"

"Certainly, Ebenezer. I do recall being asked at some point to do a class, but at the time I was devoted to my baby, and felt unable to do so. I am now a more competent mother, and happy to leave my children in other hands when I have to be out, so teaching a class would be of interest. I shall speak to the college about it. There may be schedules they have to fit into, so it is likely to be a while before a class would start, I can make a point of visiting you to get your family started. I am assuming you already know some basics, like boiling an egg to a particular solidity?"

"Um, well, I would have to check, but I presume so. I am only their husband, and new at the job, so I still have to discover things. Isabella is capable of making meals for me, and has done so for some time. Euphemia comes from a higher social level, and has had less need to acquire cooking skills. As a result, she is the main target for the lessons, but I have included myself as I believe there will be times I have to step into the breech."

"My dear Ebenezer, you are now started on the process of becoming a family man, with everything that entails. It will make you a more rounded person. Being part of the Governor's family has been of great benefit to me, I assure you. I am no longer a person on my own, as I was on my arrival here. I have people I love, around me and supporting me. You now have two ladies who will do that for you, and you to do that for them. The net result will be to the benefit of you all.

Sorry to go on about this, Ebenezer. If I sound like a psychologist, some matters have rubbed off on me from my fellow spouse, Ruth. She helped me immensely with some issues I had. If you ever have any mental or social problems, consult Ruth. You will not regret it.

I shall get off my podium, and get back to my work. I will not delay speaking to the college principal, Ebenezer. I will not forget, I promise. Goodbye for now."

Trevor was in a quandary. He wanted to look after his wives and their babies, but also his company required his attention. Annabel was a senior member of staff, and she would not be back at her desk for some time, compounding the problem. Speaking to his ladies, he told them he had to at least go back to work par-time, to keep up with all the urgent matters that can crop up.