Chapter 10: The Count Returns

The Oxford newspapers, because it hosted the administrative headquarters of the Wehrmacht auf der Themse, the German armed forces stationed in the United Kingdom, printed lists of senior postings, and the four clear ranks promotion from Standartenführer to Obergruppenführer of Count Joachim von und zu Döring-Esser and that he had been posted back to England effectively as officer commanding the whole Bundesländ was prominently featured.

Jane read this news item when she was eight months pregnant and she tried to find him. First she asked the newspaper whether they knew where his posting was based.

They, of course, refused to answer on the grounds that they could not divulge state secrets. In actual fact they could not tell her because they simply did not know, and had not tried to find out because they saw no great news value in this information.

After three days of fruitless searching in London she returned to Oxford where she was welcomed very cautiously by the four boys. Dinner was laid for five, and hastily upgraded for six. She was begged to cook it, and did so while the orderlies were much relieved to revert to merely being waiters. The extra place was for the Count.

After dinner she asked the four young officers to leave them alone for a while.

She explained to the Count what happened after he left the Camp Vorzügliches Vergnügen and what she has been doing with them, not leaving out any details, so that he would not be misled. She begged the Count to take her away from them for the duration of his stay in England. She pleaded that the only sex she could offer was oral or very loose doggy, but that everything would be back to normal again soon after the baby was born.

“Do you really want to be with me, as my mistress? Or are you just looking for a better billet? Climbing the social ladder, so to speak? You may well find that that social ladder is in fact a very slippery place in deed,” he told her, “With the committee taking over from the Führer in practice there is a lot of political too and fro, hence my promotion, and if anything goes wrong I could be fired from the army in an instant, or worse.”

“I don’t care about that. I realised after you left that I had fallen in love with you. I don’t care what I am, as long as it is with you.”

The Count came to a decision and called the four younger officers in to the room.

He ordered, “This seems a nice comfortable billet. Jane, you will stay here, at least until the baby comes. I will visit you as often as possible. None of you four will touch her again, unless she specifically invites it.”

“But you will stay tonight, please,” begged Jane.

“Sadly, I can never stay the night, but I will visit as often as my duties allow,” he replied, “and Sturmbannführer, I intend my orders to be carried out to the letter.”

Wolfgang snapped to attention and saluted in acknowledgement. He would miss her warmth in his bed, but his career was far more important to him than any casual sex partner could ever be.

Jane realised that what the Count meant was that he would not sleep with her while she was a resident bed partner for the four young men. She could not tell whether it was his morals, the risk of infection, or fastidiousness about a heavily pregnant belly that deterred him.

“As to the future of the child, if it is a boy I will acknowledge that it is mine, and take him with me to Germany to be raised in our family in the Palatinate. I suppose a baby and for some time as an infant he will need to have first a wet nurse, and later a nanny. If my wife never learns that you are actually the mother I could hire you for that rôle, Jane.”

“And if it is a girl?” she asked, belligerently.

“Oh, I’ll make you a decent allowance and you can live in England with your child in comparative comfort, but again no hint must come out,” he said airily.

Bernhardt interjected, “Uncle, that is not fair I want to marry Jane and bring up the child as my own, be it a boy or a girl.”

The Count stared at him and then said, “When and from whom did you gain the ridiculous impression that what you think you want takes precedence over my decisions in all such family matters? I have decided and we will all act in accordance with my plan.”