Chapter 6: Wedding Preparations and Other Affairs

Amidst these pleasant interludes, one event continued looming ever larger in my thoughts, and that event was James’ and my pending nuptials. All through that late Winter and early Spring, Siobhan was gaily leading the charge upon the necessary preparations, and it seemed as if a veritable army of people were becoming involved. Certainly, the volume of my personal correspondence multiplied, as did the number of people involved!

I had already received assurances from Mrs. Pembleton that she would be traveling from London for the festivities, and that she looked forward to seeing how I was doing “amidst all those Yanks in the colonies.” I, too, looked forward to seeing her again, if only to show how well I had landed on my feet. Harry and AnneMarie maintained a steady correspondence, Harry with James and AnneMarie with me, concerning the coming affair, and though neither had any part in the festivities other than sharing our joy, they promised to come early and participate fully.

Other friends had promised to attend as well. David and Mary Johnson were attending, along with their children. David was a junior bell captain at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City while his wife Mary was one of the maids that I had befriended on a visit there. Additionally, Uncle Wally, otherwise known as Major Sir Wallace Haversham of Her Majesty’s Norfolk Grenadier Guards, a close family friend of my parents and my godfather, was planning on being there with a few friends, and he was to give me away, standing instead for my father and his regiment.

Most importantly, Ahkbar Singh would be back in time for the wedding, and would stand as James’ groom. By mid-April we received a telegram that had originated in Cairo and specified that he would be arriving on a British steamship at the port of Boston the first week of May, and that he would appreciate if we could have James’ lawyers and shipping agents prepare to receive and ship onwards to the estate several Arabian horses that he had purchased. At this, James smiled and asked, “Interested in seeing Boston, Caroline? We can visit all those places where the Yankees shot at the British so many years ago.”

I snorted in derision at this but agreed that such a trip could be most interesting, provided we made sure that we visited the battlefields where we, that is the British, won. It was now his turn to snort, and we agreed to disagree. Indeed, later that evening I engaged James in a most playful battle of our own, and it is still questionable just who won that bout! His cannon fired repeatedly, but I was able to absorb his shot in perfect order. Regardless, we decided to meet Ahkbar when he arrived, and Siobhan was ecstatic. She would travel with us and visit her innumerable family, as well as act as our guide. James would, of course, visit his lawyers and agents to expedite Mister Singh’s requirements and do other business as needed, but otherwise we would be taking a much-needed holiday.

Our trip proved a wonderful diversion. James and I had a suite in a very nice, if older, hotel while Siobhan stayed with her family. Her father, when coming to the train station to collect his daughter, was very nervous about meeting somebody of James’ obvious wealth and station but need not have been concerned; James’ background and upbringing were as humble as his own. We readily accepted the invitation to a family supper, an event to which it seemed as if half of Boston attended, and James made sure that he brought several bottles of excellent Irish whisky for the host. The men were rather taken with their relatively illustrious guest while Siobhan’s female relations pressed me with a vast amount of unwanted and unneeded advice concerning marriage. It was rather interesting and enjoyable in its own unique way.

In most regards, however, we considered ourselves to be very much on holiday. On the first full day, I slept late whilst James saw his solicitors and made the necessary arrangements for Ahkbar Singh’s return, but then our time was our own. By this I mean that we spent a considerable portion of our time in our rooms, dining on room service and dispensing with most of our clothing. Actually, I dispensed with clothing almost entirely, as James was extremely fond of seeing me in nothing more than a pair of tall slippers and a sheer silk robe. I was perfectly happy to comply with this request, as I knew that this would be sufficient cause for James to ravish me repeatedly from dawn ‘til dusk and beyond! I never knew what James would do next, whether he would take me gently into his arms, to kiss and caress me until my passions reached the boiling point and I was forced to cry out for him to have me, or whether instead he would simply toss me to the bed, to force his pleasures upon my ever willing flesh, causing me to spend repeatedly before his seed exploded within me. On occasion, Siobhan would visit us to seek a respite from her slightly overpowering family, and she would join us in our amusements.

The steamship docked on schedule and the reunion of James and his friend was so touching as to bring tears to the eyes. This was undoubtedly the longest the two had been separated since they had met more than a score of years prior. Siobhan was with us, and Ahkbar greeted us all warmly, not expecting that we would have shown up to meet him. Afterwards, she managed to provide him a much more personal and intimate greeting, one designed to relieve him of any possible stress that had accumulated during the lengthy voyage and leaving him sublimely satisfied with his return. Much more amusing was his reaction to when she invited him back to her parent’s house for a dinner, something that she had promised her mother she would ask. It would seem as if at their first dinner together the entire family had looked upon his bearded and beturbanned form as the greatest oddity since they had visited Mister Barnum’s museum!

After such a long sea voyage, Mister Singh’s horses seemed much the worse for wear, but he assured us that they simply needed some fresh grass and water and a good romp in the fields, and when James examined them, he agreed they were of excellent stock. To my mind, they looked like just another group of horses, but I trusted them both in this regard. Truthfully, after we arranged for them to spend a few days on a small farm outside of Boston, they seemed much healthier and high spirited, and far better able to handle the last leg of their trip.

One curious behavior I noted, however, which arose during dinner that first night. I asked Ahkbar Singh how he had been treated by Mrs. Pembleton and by my former classmates. Although he provided a very general description, when I pressed him, it seemed as if he blushed somewhat, and then spoke rapidly to James in one of the foreign tongues they share. I let the questions end at this, since once they start speaking such it is hopeless to continue. Later, that evening, James told me that his friend considered James to be extremely fortunate, since any woman who attended such a school would graduate the most capable of lovers indeed! I playfully offered to let Mister Singh compare, at which James laughed and wrestled me down under him, to punish me for my insolence by giving me a good and hard fuck.