A Regency Tale 15
Feb. 3rd, 2007 07:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismeninHello there! I know it is still Saturday in the UK, but it is Sunday elsewhere, so I thought I'd put this up early...or late!
I hope you enjoy it.
Grateful to Lady Sunrope for her beta, as always.
Part 15 - Reflections
They were lying in bed after love. It was early morning, and the birds could be heard twittering in the trees as the pale light rose behind them.
"What shall we do today, my love?" Dom shifted slightly so that he could look at the man in whose arms he was lying.
The bright blue eyes twinkled at him. "I think we have made a good start, Dominic. Anything we do after this will be commonplace. What would you like to do?"
Dom thought for a moment. "We could go shooting, I suppose - not that we would bag much at this time of year." He saw Elijah's eyebrows draw together. "Do you not care for the sport, Lij?"
Elijah laughed. "I'm afraid I have not ever grasped the fundamentals of firearms, Dom. I once discharged a pistol in my father's study, and damaged irreparably his favourite Stubbs painting of a splendid horse. I was never after allowed within ten yards of a gun of any sort."
His smile faded. "He told me to go and get on with my needlework, or tend my book, as that was all I was good for. He wanted a son created in his own image, and neither of us, my brother nor I, came near to fitting the pattern."
Dom kissed him and said, bracingly, "would you like me to teach you? Or are you not interested? We have time and I have patience - you could learn."
Elijah nodded. The only time he had gone to Manton's shooting gallery he had seen his cousin, Harry, clip a wafer at forty paces. Harry offered him a pistol and encouraged him to try, but it was of no use. Elijah's shot did not even register against the wall, never mind near the target, and Harry asserted that it must be somewhere up in the rafters.
They laughed over it for a moment and then went to eat. Elijah had not told Harry of his desire to learn the skill, but he had never forgotten his ineptitude. Every gentleman could handle firearms, it was expected of him. Elijah was the only one he knew in his circle who could not.
"I should like to learn, if it is you that will have the teaching of me. I know, you see, that you will not laugh at my pitiful efforts, however bad they may be. What is the best time of the day to begin such a thing?"
"A little after luncheon, Lij, when the light will still be very good. And we will be fortified against standing about in the chill air - if it is, indeed, cold - by Matty's excellent cooking."
********
The spring days were growing warmer, and, as Dom stood in the field watching Elijah load his gun, the sun was hot on the back of his neck. "Remember what I said, Lij, steady and true."
Elijah took aim and fired, and Dom suppressed a grin. Elijah was, indeed, of his own admission, no shot, but he was willing to learn, and in time he would improve. He needed a little more strength in his wrist, Dom thought, so after they had returned to the house, Dom suggested a little single-stick practise.
Elijah looked askance. He was not a buck of the first head like cousin Harry, or his friend, Barney. He had began to study boxing at Jackson's salon about five years before, interested in the science as he then was. But he had sustained a black eye, and there was so much uproar in the house when he returned sporting it; his father, disgusted at his son's lack of prowess, had railed at him for days over it. He never went back to the sport.
"You must think me a very poor thing, Dom. I can fish, it is true, but my father would not let me join him at the Quorn - or indeed at any other hunt - because my mother had had hysterics when one of her dear friends broke his arm at a fall at a hedge. My father did not have the wit to know that Mama would not have so much as raised an eyebrow if it had been one of her sons so injured, but young Denton was one of the cisibeos that formed her court, so naturally, she was cast into afflictions by him being absent from her for as much as a week."
"Therefore, I can do nothing at which other gentlemen excel. You may teach me the sticks, if you have a knack for it - and if you cause me to sport a black eye, there will be no-one present to laugh at it."
Dom's heart went out to his lover. He had had a miserable life; his childhood and his adolescence ruined by uncaring people. Well, he, Dom, would make up for it. He would teach Elijah all that he knew in the few weeks of peace and quiet remaining to them, here, in this quiet place. He already knew that Elijah had a quick mind and a long memory. These assets could be put to good use.
"It is just past four, Lij. We could get a good hour in, now, if you have a mind to it. And perhaps, tomorrow, you may like to take a turn with the foil."
Dom watched Elijah's face break into a wide grin. "I would indeed! Such fun!"
Elijah proved singularly adept with a stick, and Dom had not been instructing him for long when Elijah caught him a fine low behind the knee, and toppled him.
Ben, having been being instructed by his long-suffering wife to go and see what all the racket was about in the blue drawing room, leaned against the wall, and applauded.
"Well done, sir! Well done! Master Dominic could not have done so well."
Elijah's heart swelled. It was the first time anyone, apart from Dom, had praised his sporting efforts, and he found it very much to his liking.
Dom had leapt up before Elijah had reached down his hand to help him. "Do you see, Lij? It is a sport that does not rely on the size or condition of your opponent. You would have floored any man, whatever his size, with that trick. Well done, indeed!"
Ben was sent off for suitable liquid refreshment, and Elijah took advantage of his absence to kiss Dom. "Thank you, dear, dear man. My dear man. Although I fear I shall never be a good shot, I think I may have some aptitude with the stick, and am anxious to discover if I have any skill with a blade."
Lying in bed that night, Dom watched Elijah sleep. It had been a very interesting day, for Elijah learned quickly, and neither man grew tired as the afternoon wore on, for they were discovering each other as men, as well as acting as teacher and pupil.
Dom kissed a slight bruise on Elijah's brow, which had been caused by him catching the stick on his right temple. Dom had wished to kiss it when the blow struck, but Ben had been watching, so he did not. Tomorrow they would practise again, Dom thought happily, as he fell asleep.
********
They knew they had to return to the real world, although both men would have stayed where they were forever. There was so much peace in the countryside and they both had been able to do as they pleased. Both were practical beings, however, and had business looming that must be overseen. Quarter Day, was only three weeks distant, and the Season had begun. It was now May, and they had been absent far longer than they had expected. They could delay their return no longer without it occasioning comment amongst their acquaintance.
"I do not care, Dom, for I have enjoyed myself so much - learned so much - with you, I wish it could have lasted forever."
Dom smoothed Elijah's hair. "It will last forever, my dear. The Season only lasts four or five months, after all - the rest of the time is surely ours. It is true it would be remarked upon if we were to disappear during the Season, but no-one will so much as cock an eyebrow if we are not in town during the dead months. Everyone goes to the country, then. There will be plenty of opportunities for us to be together.”
They went out to the waiting carriage, and both men kissed Matty goodbye on the doorstep. She and Ben would stay for a little while longer, she said, as Master Dom had given permission for them to visit relatives in the area. She promised Dom that they would be back in England within the month. He commented, with a grin, that they should take as long as they needed, as long as Matty returned in time for the start of the shooting season in August. "For no-one I know, not even Jean-Pierre, cooks game as you do, dear Matty!"
********
The Ariadne was waiting for them in the cove. Elijah wondered how long the vessel had been there, awaiting its master's pleasure, but he did not ask. The crew seemed very pleased to see them, so Elijah surmised that it had been some considerable time since they had anchored in the bay.
Elijah was glad to be at sea again, for he had enjoyed very much the outward journey. Dom smiled to see Elijah happily engaged in talking to the crew, and showing interest in their doings as he previously had. Dom sat down and enjoyed the spectacle before him.
"...For you see, Dom," Elijah commented earnestly, pointing his fork in a very unmannerly fashion at his companion over dinner that night, "if they reave the topsail off against the mast during inclement weather, Benson informed me, it... what, my love? What is it that has amused you so?"
Dom looked fondly at his lover over the chicken they were eating. "Nothing at all, Lij. I am just savouring the sight of you enjoying yourself. That is all. I shall leave instructions that you are to be allowed to take the Ariadne out whenever you wish to do so, if I am not by. Although I sincerely hope I will be always near when you have need of me."
As he said this, Dom realised that he would have to tell Elijah what he had decided upon with regard to their sleeping arrangements.
"Lij, I think it wise that we keep to our separate cabins whilst on the journey. Sailors are no more discreet than any other men, and I would not want it bruited abroad that we shared a cabin when there were others available to you."
He saw Elijah's puzzled look. "I wish to save you from the kind of talk that you would not wish your family and acquaintance to hear, Lij. In any inn or hostelry that we may use, not the slightest conjecture would be heard over us sharing a room - it is a daily occurrence when travelling. Indeed, when I attended a mill that Molyneux was fighting at Newham, there was not a room, not even an attic, to be had for miles, and I shared my bed with two gentlemen, one who snored, and one who was very fat."
Dom smiled at the memory. "I told Mr Corpulence that he had to sleep on the end with his belly over the edge of the bed so that there would be room in it for all of us. I must say he took it in very good part. The excitement of the forthcoming match was worth any inconvenience to us. However, that is nothing to the point - I hope you see what I mean, Lij."
Lij, with a shudder at the thought of being squashed against the fat man all night, agreed wholeheartedly that he did. He could not imagine his mother's state of mind should his liaison with Dom be discovered. He would never hear the end of it, and she was sure to tell most of her acquaintance, as she did enjoy playing the part of the Early Christian Martyr before her friends.
Dom was quite right, as was proved when they parted company just after midnight. Elijah was approaching his cabin door when the captain passed him, and saluted gravely, saying, "Goodnight sir. I hope you have a pleasant night."
Elijah thought ruefully, as he climbed into his lonely bunk, that he would have as pleasant a night as he could without Dom lying at his side but it was not the night he wanted.
********
Elijah did not know how it had been accomplished, but there was a carriage waiting for them as they disembarked, both men promising Captain Perkins that it would not be too long before they returned to the sea. Dom, seeing the gleam in Elijah's eyes, thought that he might very likely purchase another yawl, with a different crew, under an assumed name, so that Elijah and he could sleep together whilst on board. Dom had had trouble sleeping during the voyage. He had grown used to Elijah at his side. Still, these things had to be endured, he thought, bracingly. It will not always be so - they would soon be together again.
They stopped at a small, but reputable coaching inn just outside Bristol, one where neither Dom nor Elijah were known. After they had dined, Dom told Elijah that he had given orders for two carriages to wait here to pick up Mr Retford and Mr Marlowe and convey them both to London.
Dominic knew that his agent would have wondered for a moment why these two men, both unknown to him, did not travel to the metropolis in the same carriage, but he also knew that the man was wise enough to keep his own counsel. He would know his Lordship had his reasons, and remain as silent on the matter, as he had always been whilst in his Lordship's service. He was not, therefore, totally unworthy of the extortionate salary that Dominic paid to him.
It was soon discovered, however, that their absence from town had not gone entirely unnoticed, for Dom, sitting in their private parlour reading a newspaper whilst Elijah, being partial to the creatures, was in the kennels admiring the dogs, heard a voice outside that he immediately recognised.
"Good Lord, man - did I not say to hand me down? I could have broken my neck on that last step!"
Dom thrust his paper aside and strode to the front door. There stood a short plump man, whose face was turning a bright turkey red staring furiously at a bemused servant. He grinned.
"Give over, Ceddy, or you'll go off in an apoplexy, and then what would I tell your dear Papa?"
Mr Cedric Fairford turned his rather protuberant eyes in the direction of the voice, and barked with laughter. "So is this where you have be hiding these last weeks, Dominic?"
Dom put his fingers to his lips, and waited for the servants to carry in his friend's luggage. They went into the parlour and closed the door. He spoke in a low voice, however, well aware of the need for secrecy and ears that may be listening through the walls.
"Here I am known as Mr Marlowe, Ceddy. And my... companion as Mr Retford. Strive to remember it, dear boy, I know your memory is not of the longest."
Cedric, who knew Dom very well indeed, winked saucily at him. "Is Retford a new lover, Dom? I must say you are a dark horse, for, although you told me you was leaving town, no hint did you give to me with whom you were travelling, or where," he said as he sat in a comfortable chair, "and I know you have not mentioned it - not a word to anyone, I'm sure. Where is this paragon of perfection that has drawn you out of your monk-like state? I am longing to meet him."
Dom saw Elijah passing the window carrying something carefully in his arms. "Indeed, Ceddy - here he is," Dom grinned as he passed Cedric a glass of wine, which his friend gratefully accepted.
"Oh, Dom, look at this fine fellow the ostler gave me. It is one of his own, indeed!" Elijah, all smiles, remarked as he entered the room carrying a fine Labrador pup. "He...Oh, I beg pardon for interrupting you..." he faltered as he saw Cedric, who was staring at him as if he had seen a ghost.
"Not at all, Lij - you remember my friend, Fairford, do you not?"
Elijah tucked the puppy under his left arm and stepped forward to bow and shake Cedric's hand warmly. "Of course I remember, Dom. How could I forget? How do you do, Mr Fairford? It is a pleasure to meet you again. Have you come to take Dom back to town?"
Cedric, who had been staring at Elijah with an expression on his face closely resembling a landed cod, closed his mouth with an effort and, returning the bow, tightly clasped Elijah's hand.
"No, I am here on family business, Duke - um, Mr Retford. And I am very well, I thank you," Cedric managed, casting a fulminating stare at Dom who was grinning at his friend's discomfiture. He took a deep breath, and ploughed on. "There is no need for me to ask how you go on, your...sir...for I see you are in fine fettle."
Cedric made to sit again, then remembering his manners, noted that Elijah was still standing, and straightened his legs with an effort.
My God, it is Stanford, of all people! What a turn up!
Dom went over to Elijah and took the puppy off him, examining it carefully. "He is a fine fellow, Lij."
Elijah turned a beaming smile on Dom, and Cedric drew an audible breath at the sight of it. The man was almost glowing with happiness.
"Is he not, Dom? I have named him Achilles, for, as you see, he has slightly injured his ...ankIe. Well, one of his back legs, at any rate. I could not resist, and Baglan - the ostler you know - assured me he was his own property to sell. Do you think five guineas was enough, Dom? or should I have offered more for him? Baglan seemed pleased at the amount."
Dom suppressed a smile. Five shillings would have no doubt satisfied the man, who must have been thrilled by Lij's most generous price.
He put the puppy on the floor in front of the fire where it proceeded to chew the hearth rug. "Cheap at twice the price, if he satisfies you, Lij," Dom asserted with a nod, turning to his friend.
"Ceddy, I daresay you are famished. I shall order luncheon and you shall eat it here with us, after you have washed off the dust of the road."
He opened the door and called for the landlord, who came bustling up, bowing so low that his nose almost brushed the knees of his moleskin breeches.
"Take up Mr Fairford to his room, Grey, and ...his man is already there, I dare say?"
Having received an affirmative to this enquiry, Dom frowned slightly as Cedric left the room. "I hope Cedric keeps his mouth closed, Lij. I would not have you seen here, not for worlds! It is a comfort to me to know that his man will not have seen you before, but that does not mean he might not recognize you again, if he sees you in town. Do you order luncheon and I will go and tell Ceddy to be discreet, if such a thing is possible."
When Dom came downstairs again, he told Elijah that Cedric was sending his man on to London in his carriage with his luggage and that he would, instead, accompany Dom on the last leg of the journey.
"It is better so, Lij. After luncheon it would be better if you kept out of sight until Ceddy's carriage - and his man - have gone."
Elijah said he would go back to the stables and take the puppy there to stay until the coast was clear. "It is a good enough excuse, for, you see, Dom, Achilles has already chewed quite half the edge of that rug away, and I am sure Grey cannot like that!"
Dom agreed, and shortly Cedric returned, rubbing his pudgy hands together at the thought of a decent meal. "For you must know, Dom, that my sister Penarth is the most miserly of people. I nearly starved to death during the week I was with her. I declare, I am fading away from lack of proper sustenance."
Elijah, staring at the huge portion of food on Cedric's plate, and his burgeoning waistline, forebore comment, but Dom replied suitably, a twinkle in his eye, that it would do his friend much good to reduce a little before the hunting season began. "For I can see your poor hunter buckling under the weight of you on his back, Ceddy!"
Cedric laughed, loudly, and applied himself to an excellent meal.
Elijah left for the stables as soon as they had eaten, and Cedric waved his man off a half hour later, and returned to the parlour with Dom.
Dom could see that Cedric, now they were alone together, was bursting with questions, and prepared himself to answer. He had known this was coming as soon as he knew Cedric had arrived, so when his friend asked, "Where have you been with him, Dom?" Dom returned an evasive answer about sailing around the coast for a week or two. This did not satisfy Cedric at all, who liked to be presented with a round tale, not with hints and evasions.
"Well, you are a pair of dull dogs, that is all I can say, if that is how you have been spending your time together. There is no room in a bunk for amorous adventures, Dom. I had thought better of you!"
Dom replied in a repressed tone that they had had separate cabins, and immediately saw this would not satisfy Mr Fairford, who could not have failed to notice the expressions in both men's eyes as they looked at each other.
"Anyway, Dom, my fine buck, you have won the bet! You swore to bring him down a peg or two, and I see you have succeeded better than you might have hoped. The man is a human being, after all, not a stiff-backed mackerel. But I owe you a hundred guineas, Dom - that is the sum of it. I shall send you a draft. It is well earned, for you have softened him up, as you declared you would, to admiration. How did you manage it, old friend?"
Dom pinned an insouciant smile on his face. Not for anything would he tell Cedric of his true feelings for Elijah. "Oh, it wasn't so difficult after all, Ceddy. He was ripe for plucking and I...er...plucked him."
Cedric laughed loud and long at this sally at this, and then Dom adroitly changed the topic of conversation to less dangerous subjects, and soon Cedric was telling Dom all the latest London news.
"...and Langdon told Eppersley that he could go to hell in a handcart for all he cared, but there was no doubt that the horse he had sold him had a spavin forming or he was a Dutchman, and he wanted his money back. So..."
Elijah pushed the door open at this point in the story, and Dom was concerned to see that he was looking pale and heavy eyed. He got up and hurried to him, putting his hand on Elijah's arm. "What is the matter, Lij. You look as queer as dick's hatband."
"It is nothing, Dom, truly. I have the headache, that is all. If you gentlemen will excuse me I think I will lie down for a while."
Dom, all concern, was about to accompany him, but Elijah forestalled him with a gentle hand. "There is no need, Dom, I shall do very well on my own. Do you stay and talk with Mr Fairford. There must be much news to catch up on. Excuse me."
Elijah bowed, and as he left, Dom sat down, frowning slightly. He wondered what could have brought on Elijah's malady, then thought that it might be their imminent return to the City, and the burden of responsibility they had shed for a few blissful weeks in Ireland. His brow cleared. A good sleep would cure it.
In the evening Dom went upstairs to inform Elijah that dinner was about to be served, but the man answered sleepily that he was disinclined to eat and would be grateful if Grey would send him up a cup of broth.
"Does your head not feel any easier, Lij?" asked Dom in a worried tone, and Elijah, closing his weary eyes said he was sure he would be better by morning.
Dom went downstairs again and confided to Cedric in an anxious tone that he hoped Lij was not sickening for a fever, so pale had he looked.
By morning, however. Elijah seemed to have recovered somewhat, even if he was still a trifle pale, and was able to eat a little breakfast. Dom was heartened by this, and the time the men spent waiting for the carriages to be prepared, passed in pleasant amity. If Elijah seemed a little distracted, Dom put this down to the sadness he also felt at losing the closeness they had enjoyed during their sojourn.
It had been settled that Dom would take Ceddy first and Elijah would leave an hour later so that they did not enter the city together. Ceddy had already climbed into the carriage and the coachman was supervising the adjustment of the traces as Dom, wondering where Elijah was, returned to the inn to bid farewell to him. He found him sitting in the parlour, the puppy at his feet, gazing abstractly at the wall.
Dom was moved at the wistful expression on Elijah's face and determined to reassure his lover. He closed the door and stood in front of Elijah, who had not, as yet met his gaze.
"Elijah, my love, you cannot know, even now, how much the time we have had together has meant to me. Never before have I felt such a kindred spirit in another person. I shall be most unhappy whilst we are parted. Tell me, my love, when next shall we meet?
Elijah lifted his face as if for a kiss, but Dominic stepped back in shock at the fury apparent in the Duke's blue eyes; the expression on his face was as hard as flint.
"Meet again, my Lord? Why should we meet again? You have had me whore for you at a price I accepted. Forty thousand pounds, was it not? Not too high a price for a Duke's virginity, my Lord. But this means that you owe me fifteen hundred, by my reckoning. I would be grateful if you will send it to my man of business as soon as may be. Here is his direction."
Elijah thrust a piece of paper into Dom's nerveless hands, his own far from steady.
"I heard you, you see, talking to Fairford. How you must have enjoyed "bringing me down a peg or two!" - laughing and telling him I was "ripe for plucking!" The window was open, had you forgotten it? I expect you were pleased to be able to tell him you had succeeded where everyone else had failed."
"I wish to see no more of you, and trust this will mean, in future, that we need not give each other more than a formal bow in passing. I must tell you I am no man's Convenient to be bought as a common whore in the stews, and follow at your beckoning. I hope you have had your fill of me, for you shall get no more. And I thought I had found...I...I was a fool to think you loved me as I loved you. It was only a game for you, was it not? A wager. Nothing more."
As Dom stared at him, the terrible pain he was suffering, apparent in his face, Elijah cast his eyes down to his hands clasped tightly in his lap.
"I wish you a pleasant journey and all happiness for your future life, my Lord, for I shall have no part of it. Good-day to you!"
GLOSSARY
Single stick. - a stick very much like a long broom handle, the sort of which Robin Hood traditionally fights Little John at the Ford. This ancient art can be used by opponents of different height and weight against each other to great effect.
Foil - Fencing weapon. It is a very thin weapon with a blunted tip. Foils are designed only for thrusting, though modern competitive fencers often use a technique known as a flick which uses the foil's flexibility to bend around the blade of an opponent (often in response to an attempted parry) and plant a hit upon the back. Foil blades are flexible enough to bend upon striking an opponent, in order to prevent injuries.
Cisibeo - A man who attaches himself very closely to a woman (married) forming one of her court. This is not a relationship of a sexual nature, more like puppies surrounding an older dog! The feminine form of this is ciserone. Italian for House Friend
Convenient - Kept woman, mistress.
Bank draft - same as today. Forerunner of the cheque.
Spavin - is a bony growth within the lower hock joint of horse or cattle. It is osteoarthritis, or the final phase of a degenerative joint.
A mill - Illegal boxing match.
As queer as Dick's hatband - sick, ill, out of sorts.
Molyneux, Tom - Known as Black Ajax. Famous bare knuckle fighter of the early 19th century.
I hope you enjoy it.
Grateful to Lady Sunrope for her beta, as always.
Part 15 - Reflections
They were lying in bed after love. It was early morning, and the birds could be heard twittering in the trees as the pale light rose behind them.
"What shall we do today, my love?" Dom shifted slightly so that he could look at the man in whose arms he was lying.
The bright blue eyes twinkled at him. "I think we have made a good start, Dominic. Anything we do after this will be commonplace. What would you like to do?"
Dom thought for a moment. "We could go shooting, I suppose - not that we would bag much at this time of year." He saw Elijah's eyebrows draw together. "Do you not care for the sport, Lij?"
Elijah laughed. "I'm afraid I have not ever grasped the fundamentals of firearms, Dom. I once discharged a pistol in my father's study, and damaged irreparably his favourite Stubbs painting of a splendid horse. I was never after allowed within ten yards of a gun of any sort."
His smile faded. "He told me to go and get on with my needlework, or tend my book, as that was all I was good for. He wanted a son created in his own image, and neither of us, my brother nor I, came near to fitting the pattern."
Dom kissed him and said, bracingly, "would you like me to teach you? Or are you not interested? We have time and I have patience - you could learn."
Elijah nodded. The only time he had gone to Manton's shooting gallery he had seen his cousin, Harry, clip a wafer at forty paces. Harry offered him a pistol and encouraged him to try, but it was of no use. Elijah's shot did not even register against the wall, never mind near the target, and Harry asserted that it must be somewhere up in the rafters.
They laughed over it for a moment and then went to eat. Elijah had not told Harry of his desire to learn the skill, but he had never forgotten his ineptitude. Every gentleman could handle firearms, it was expected of him. Elijah was the only one he knew in his circle who could not.
"I should like to learn, if it is you that will have the teaching of me. I know, you see, that you will not laugh at my pitiful efforts, however bad they may be. What is the best time of the day to begin such a thing?"
"A little after luncheon, Lij, when the light will still be very good. And we will be fortified against standing about in the chill air - if it is, indeed, cold - by Matty's excellent cooking."
********
The spring days were growing warmer, and, as Dom stood in the field watching Elijah load his gun, the sun was hot on the back of his neck. "Remember what I said, Lij, steady and true."
Elijah took aim and fired, and Dom suppressed a grin. Elijah was, indeed, of his own admission, no shot, but he was willing to learn, and in time he would improve. He needed a little more strength in his wrist, Dom thought, so after they had returned to the house, Dom suggested a little single-stick practise.
Elijah looked askance. He was not a buck of the first head like cousin Harry, or his friend, Barney. He had began to study boxing at Jackson's salon about five years before, interested in the science as he then was. But he had sustained a black eye, and there was so much uproar in the house when he returned sporting it; his father, disgusted at his son's lack of prowess, had railed at him for days over it. He never went back to the sport.
"You must think me a very poor thing, Dom. I can fish, it is true, but my father would not let me join him at the Quorn - or indeed at any other hunt - because my mother had had hysterics when one of her dear friends broke his arm at a fall at a hedge. My father did not have the wit to know that Mama would not have so much as raised an eyebrow if it had been one of her sons so injured, but young Denton was one of the cisibeos that formed her court, so naturally, she was cast into afflictions by him being absent from her for as much as a week."
"Therefore, I can do nothing at which other gentlemen excel. You may teach me the sticks, if you have a knack for it - and if you cause me to sport a black eye, there will be no-one present to laugh at it."
Dom's heart went out to his lover. He had had a miserable life; his childhood and his adolescence ruined by uncaring people. Well, he, Dom, would make up for it. He would teach Elijah all that he knew in the few weeks of peace and quiet remaining to them, here, in this quiet place. He already knew that Elijah had a quick mind and a long memory. These assets could be put to good use.
"It is just past four, Lij. We could get a good hour in, now, if you have a mind to it. And perhaps, tomorrow, you may like to take a turn with the foil."
Dom watched Elijah's face break into a wide grin. "I would indeed! Such fun!"
Elijah proved singularly adept with a stick, and Dom had not been instructing him for long when Elijah caught him a fine low behind the knee, and toppled him.
Ben, having been being instructed by his long-suffering wife to go and see what all the racket was about in the blue drawing room, leaned against the wall, and applauded.
"Well done, sir! Well done! Master Dominic could not have done so well."
Elijah's heart swelled. It was the first time anyone, apart from Dom, had praised his sporting efforts, and he found it very much to his liking.
Dom had leapt up before Elijah had reached down his hand to help him. "Do you see, Lij? It is a sport that does not rely on the size or condition of your opponent. You would have floored any man, whatever his size, with that trick. Well done, indeed!"
Ben was sent off for suitable liquid refreshment, and Elijah took advantage of his absence to kiss Dom. "Thank you, dear, dear man. My dear man. Although I fear I shall never be a good shot, I think I may have some aptitude with the stick, and am anxious to discover if I have any skill with a blade."
Lying in bed that night, Dom watched Elijah sleep. It had been a very interesting day, for Elijah learned quickly, and neither man grew tired as the afternoon wore on, for they were discovering each other as men, as well as acting as teacher and pupil.
Dom kissed a slight bruise on Elijah's brow, which had been caused by him catching the stick on his right temple. Dom had wished to kiss it when the blow struck, but Ben had been watching, so he did not. Tomorrow they would practise again, Dom thought happily, as he fell asleep.
********
They knew they had to return to the real world, although both men would have stayed where they were forever. There was so much peace in the countryside and they both had been able to do as they pleased. Both were practical beings, however, and had business looming that must be overseen. Quarter Day, was only three weeks distant, and the Season had begun. It was now May, and they had been absent far longer than they had expected. They could delay their return no longer without it occasioning comment amongst their acquaintance.
"I do not care, Dom, for I have enjoyed myself so much - learned so much - with you, I wish it could have lasted forever."
Dom smoothed Elijah's hair. "It will last forever, my dear. The Season only lasts four or five months, after all - the rest of the time is surely ours. It is true it would be remarked upon if we were to disappear during the Season, but no-one will so much as cock an eyebrow if we are not in town during the dead months. Everyone goes to the country, then. There will be plenty of opportunities for us to be together.”
They went out to the waiting carriage, and both men kissed Matty goodbye on the doorstep. She and Ben would stay for a little while longer, she said, as Master Dom had given permission for them to visit relatives in the area. She promised Dom that they would be back in England within the month. He commented, with a grin, that they should take as long as they needed, as long as Matty returned in time for the start of the shooting season in August. "For no-one I know, not even Jean-Pierre, cooks game as you do, dear Matty!"
********
The Ariadne was waiting for them in the cove. Elijah wondered how long the vessel had been there, awaiting its master's pleasure, but he did not ask. The crew seemed very pleased to see them, so Elijah surmised that it had been some considerable time since they had anchored in the bay.
Elijah was glad to be at sea again, for he had enjoyed very much the outward journey. Dom smiled to see Elijah happily engaged in talking to the crew, and showing interest in their doings as he previously had. Dom sat down and enjoyed the spectacle before him.
"...For you see, Dom," Elijah commented earnestly, pointing his fork in a very unmannerly fashion at his companion over dinner that night, "if they reave the topsail off against the mast during inclement weather, Benson informed me, it... what, my love? What is it that has amused you so?"
Dom looked fondly at his lover over the chicken they were eating. "Nothing at all, Lij. I am just savouring the sight of you enjoying yourself. That is all. I shall leave instructions that you are to be allowed to take the Ariadne out whenever you wish to do so, if I am not by. Although I sincerely hope I will be always near when you have need of me."
As he said this, Dom realised that he would have to tell Elijah what he had decided upon with regard to their sleeping arrangements.
"Lij, I think it wise that we keep to our separate cabins whilst on the journey. Sailors are no more discreet than any other men, and I would not want it bruited abroad that we shared a cabin when there were others available to you."
He saw Elijah's puzzled look. "I wish to save you from the kind of talk that you would not wish your family and acquaintance to hear, Lij. In any inn or hostelry that we may use, not the slightest conjecture would be heard over us sharing a room - it is a daily occurrence when travelling. Indeed, when I attended a mill that Molyneux was fighting at Newham, there was not a room, not even an attic, to be had for miles, and I shared my bed with two gentlemen, one who snored, and one who was very fat."
Dom smiled at the memory. "I told Mr Corpulence that he had to sleep on the end with his belly over the edge of the bed so that there would be room in it for all of us. I must say he took it in very good part. The excitement of the forthcoming match was worth any inconvenience to us. However, that is nothing to the point - I hope you see what I mean, Lij."
Lij, with a shudder at the thought of being squashed against the fat man all night, agreed wholeheartedly that he did. He could not imagine his mother's state of mind should his liaison with Dom be discovered. He would never hear the end of it, and she was sure to tell most of her acquaintance, as she did enjoy playing the part of the Early Christian Martyr before her friends.
Dom was quite right, as was proved when they parted company just after midnight. Elijah was approaching his cabin door when the captain passed him, and saluted gravely, saying, "Goodnight sir. I hope you have a pleasant night."
Elijah thought ruefully, as he climbed into his lonely bunk, that he would have as pleasant a night as he could without Dom lying at his side but it was not the night he wanted.
********
Elijah did not know how it had been accomplished, but there was a carriage waiting for them as they disembarked, both men promising Captain Perkins that it would not be too long before they returned to the sea. Dom, seeing the gleam in Elijah's eyes, thought that he might very likely purchase another yawl, with a different crew, under an assumed name, so that Elijah and he could sleep together whilst on board. Dom had had trouble sleeping during the voyage. He had grown used to Elijah at his side. Still, these things had to be endured, he thought, bracingly. It will not always be so - they would soon be together again.
They stopped at a small, but reputable coaching inn just outside Bristol, one where neither Dom nor Elijah were known. After they had dined, Dom told Elijah that he had given orders for two carriages to wait here to pick up Mr Retford and Mr Marlowe and convey them both to London.
Dominic knew that his agent would have wondered for a moment why these two men, both unknown to him, did not travel to the metropolis in the same carriage, but he also knew that the man was wise enough to keep his own counsel. He would know his Lordship had his reasons, and remain as silent on the matter, as he had always been whilst in his Lordship's service. He was not, therefore, totally unworthy of the extortionate salary that Dominic paid to him.
It was soon discovered, however, that their absence from town had not gone entirely unnoticed, for Dom, sitting in their private parlour reading a newspaper whilst Elijah, being partial to the creatures, was in the kennels admiring the dogs, heard a voice outside that he immediately recognised.
"Good Lord, man - did I not say to hand me down? I could have broken my neck on that last step!"
Dom thrust his paper aside and strode to the front door. There stood a short plump man, whose face was turning a bright turkey red staring furiously at a bemused servant. He grinned.
"Give over, Ceddy, or you'll go off in an apoplexy, and then what would I tell your dear Papa?"
Mr Cedric Fairford turned his rather protuberant eyes in the direction of the voice, and barked with laughter. "So is this where you have be hiding these last weeks, Dominic?"
Dom put his fingers to his lips, and waited for the servants to carry in his friend's luggage. They went into the parlour and closed the door. He spoke in a low voice, however, well aware of the need for secrecy and ears that may be listening through the walls.
"Here I am known as Mr Marlowe, Ceddy. And my... companion as Mr Retford. Strive to remember it, dear boy, I know your memory is not of the longest."
Cedric, who knew Dom very well indeed, winked saucily at him. "Is Retford a new lover, Dom? I must say you are a dark horse, for, although you told me you was leaving town, no hint did you give to me with whom you were travelling, or where," he said as he sat in a comfortable chair, "and I know you have not mentioned it - not a word to anyone, I'm sure. Where is this paragon of perfection that has drawn you out of your monk-like state? I am longing to meet him."
Dom saw Elijah passing the window carrying something carefully in his arms. "Indeed, Ceddy - here he is," Dom grinned as he passed Cedric a glass of wine, which his friend gratefully accepted.
"Oh, Dom, look at this fine fellow the ostler gave me. It is one of his own, indeed!" Elijah, all smiles, remarked as he entered the room carrying a fine Labrador pup. "He...Oh, I beg pardon for interrupting you..." he faltered as he saw Cedric, who was staring at him as if he had seen a ghost.
"Not at all, Lij - you remember my friend, Fairford, do you not?"
Elijah tucked the puppy under his left arm and stepped forward to bow and shake Cedric's hand warmly. "Of course I remember, Dom. How could I forget? How do you do, Mr Fairford? It is a pleasure to meet you again. Have you come to take Dom back to town?"
Cedric, who had been staring at Elijah with an expression on his face closely resembling a landed cod, closed his mouth with an effort and, returning the bow, tightly clasped Elijah's hand.
"No, I am here on family business, Duke - um, Mr Retford. And I am very well, I thank you," Cedric managed, casting a fulminating stare at Dom who was grinning at his friend's discomfiture. He took a deep breath, and ploughed on. "There is no need for me to ask how you go on, your...sir...for I see you are in fine fettle."
Cedric made to sit again, then remembering his manners, noted that Elijah was still standing, and straightened his legs with an effort.
My God, it is Stanford, of all people! What a turn up!
Dom went over to Elijah and took the puppy off him, examining it carefully. "He is a fine fellow, Lij."
Elijah turned a beaming smile on Dom, and Cedric drew an audible breath at the sight of it. The man was almost glowing with happiness.
"Is he not, Dom? I have named him Achilles, for, as you see, he has slightly injured his ...ankIe. Well, one of his back legs, at any rate. I could not resist, and Baglan - the ostler you know - assured me he was his own property to sell. Do you think five guineas was enough, Dom? or should I have offered more for him? Baglan seemed pleased at the amount."
Dom suppressed a smile. Five shillings would have no doubt satisfied the man, who must have been thrilled by Lij's most generous price.
He put the puppy on the floor in front of the fire where it proceeded to chew the hearth rug. "Cheap at twice the price, if he satisfies you, Lij," Dom asserted with a nod, turning to his friend.
"Ceddy, I daresay you are famished. I shall order luncheon and you shall eat it here with us, after you have washed off the dust of the road."
He opened the door and called for the landlord, who came bustling up, bowing so low that his nose almost brushed the knees of his moleskin breeches.
"Take up Mr Fairford to his room, Grey, and ...his man is already there, I dare say?"
Having received an affirmative to this enquiry, Dom frowned slightly as Cedric left the room. "I hope Cedric keeps his mouth closed, Lij. I would not have you seen here, not for worlds! It is a comfort to me to know that his man will not have seen you before, but that does not mean he might not recognize you again, if he sees you in town. Do you order luncheon and I will go and tell Ceddy to be discreet, if such a thing is possible."
When Dom came downstairs again, he told Elijah that Cedric was sending his man on to London in his carriage with his luggage and that he would, instead, accompany Dom on the last leg of the journey.
"It is better so, Lij. After luncheon it would be better if you kept out of sight until Ceddy's carriage - and his man - have gone."
Elijah said he would go back to the stables and take the puppy there to stay until the coast was clear. "It is a good enough excuse, for, you see, Dom, Achilles has already chewed quite half the edge of that rug away, and I am sure Grey cannot like that!"
Dom agreed, and shortly Cedric returned, rubbing his pudgy hands together at the thought of a decent meal. "For you must know, Dom, that my sister Penarth is the most miserly of people. I nearly starved to death during the week I was with her. I declare, I am fading away from lack of proper sustenance."
Elijah, staring at the huge portion of food on Cedric's plate, and his burgeoning waistline, forebore comment, but Dom replied suitably, a twinkle in his eye, that it would do his friend much good to reduce a little before the hunting season began. "For I can see your poor hunter buckling under the weight of you on his back, Ceddy!"
Cedric laughed, loudly, and applied himself to an excellent meal.
Elijah left for the stables as soon as they had eaten, and Cedric waved his man off a half hour later, and returned to the parlour with Dom.
Dom could see that Cedric, now they were alone together, was bursting with questions, and prepared himself to answer. He had known this was coming as soon as he knew Cedric had arrived, so when his friend asked, "Where have you been with him, Dom?" Dom returned an evasive answer about sailing around the coast for a week or two. This did not satisfy Cedric at all, who liked to be presented with a round tale, not with hints and evasions.
"Well, you are a pair of dull dogs, that is all I can say, if that is how you have been spending your time together. There is no room in a bunk for amorous adventures, Dom. I had thought better of you!"
Dom replied in a repressed tone that they had had separate cabins, and immediately saw this would not satisfy Mr Fairford, who could not have failed to notice the expressions in both men's eyes as they looked at each other.
"Anyway, Dom, my fine buck, you have won the bet! You swore to bring him down a peg or two, and I see you have succeeded better than you might have hoped. The man is a human being, after all, not a stiff-backed mackerel. But I owe you a hundred guineas, Dom - that is the sum of it. I shall send you a draft. It is well earned, for you have softened him up, as you declared you would, to admiration. How did you manage it, old friend?"
Dom pinned an insouciant smile on his face. Not for anything would he tell Cedric of his true feelings for Elijah. "Oh, it wasn't so difficult after all, Ceddy. He was ripe for plucking and I...er...plucked him."
Cedric laughed loud and long at this sally at this, and then Dom adroitly changed the topic of conversation to less dangerous subjects, and soon Cedric was telling Dom all the latest London news.
"...and Langdon told Eppersley that he could go to hell in a handcart for all he cared, but there was no doubt that the horse he had sold him had a spavin forming or he was a Dutchman, and he wanted his money back. So..."
Elijah pushed the door open at this point in the story, and Dom was concerned to see that he was looking pale and heavy eyed. He got up and hurried to him, putting his hand on Elijah's arm. "What is the matter, Lij. You look as queer as dick's hatband."
"It is nothing, Dom, truly. I have the headache, that is all. If you gentlemen will excuse me I think I will lie down for a while."
Dom, all concern, was about to accompany him, but Elijah forestalled him with a gentle hand. "There is no need, Dom, I shall do very well on my own. Do you stay and talk with Mr Fairford. There must be much news to catch up on. Excuse me."
Elijah bowed, and as he left, Dom sat down, frowning slightly. He wondered what could have brought on Elijah's malady, then thought that it might be their imminent return to the City, and the burden of responsibility they had shed for a few blissful weeks in Ireland. His brow cleared. A good sleep would cure it.
In the evening Dom went upstairs to inform Elijah that dinner was about to be served, but the man answered sleepily that he was disinclined to eat and would be grateful if Grey would send him up a cup of broth.
"Does your head not feel any easier, Lij?" asked Dom in a worried tone, and Elijah, closing his weary eyes said he was sure he would be better by morning.
Dom went downstairs again and confided to Cedric in an anxious tone that he hoped Lij was not sickening for a fever, so pale had he looked.
By morning, however. Elijah seemed to have recovered somewhat, even if he was still a trifle pale, and was able to eat a little breakfast. Dom was heartened by this, and the time the men spent waiting for the carriages to be prepared, passed in pleasant amity. If Elijah seemed a little distracted, Dom put this down to the sadness he also felt at losing the closeness they had enjoyed during their sojourn.
It had been settled that Dom would take Ceddy first and Elijah would leave an hour later so that they did not enter the city together. Ceddy had already climbed into the carriage and the coachman was supervising the adjustment of the traces as Dom, wondering where Elijah was, returned to the inn to bid farewell to him. He found him sitting in the parlour, the puppy at his feet, gazing abstractly at the wall.
Dom was moved at the wistful expression on Elijah's face and determined to reassure his lover. He closed the door and stood in front of Elijah, who had not, as yet met his gaze.
"Elijah, my love, you cannot know, even now, how much the time we have had together has meant to me. Never before have I felt such a kindred spirit in another person. I shall be most unhappy whilst we are parted. Tell me, my love, when next shall we meet?
Elijah lifted his face as if for a kiss, but Dominic stepped back in shock at the fury apparent in the Duke's blue eyes; the expression on his face was as hard as flint.
"Meet again, my Lord? Why should we meet again? You have had me whore for you at a price I accepted. Forty thousand pounds, was it not? Not too high a price for a Duke's virginity, my Lord. But this means that you owe me fifteen hundred, by my reckoning. I would be grateful if you will send it to my man of business as soon as may be. Here is his direction."
Elijah thrust a piece of paper into Dom's nerveless hands, his own far from steady.
"I heard you, you see, talking to Fairford. How you must have enjoyed "bringing me down a peg or two!" - laughing and telling him I was "ripe for plucking!" The window was open, had you forgotten it? I expect you were pleased to be able to tell him you had succeeded where everyone else had failed."
"I wish to see no more of you, and trust this will mean, in future, that we need not give each other more than a formal bow in passing. I must tell you I am no man's Convenient to be bought as a common whore in the stews, and follow at your beckoning. I hope you have had your fill of me, for you shall get no more. And I thought I had found...I...I was a fool to think you loved me as I loved you. It was only a game for you, was it not? A wager. Nothing more."
As Dom stared at him, the terrible pain he was suffering, apparent in his face, Elijah cast his eyes down to his hands clasped tightly in his lap.
"I wish you a pleasant journey and all happiness for your future life, my Lord, for I shall have no part of it. Good-day to you!"
GLOSSARY
Single stick. - a stick very much like a long broom handle, the sort of which Robin Hood traditionally fights Little John at the Ford. This ancient art can be used by opponents of different height and weight against each other to great effect.
Foil - Fencing weapon. It is a very thin weapon with a blunted tip. Foils are designed only for thrusting, though modern competitive fencers often use a technique known as a flick which uses the foil's flexibility to bend around the blade of an opponent (often in response to an attempted parry) and plant a hit upon the back. Foil blades are flexible enough to bend upon striking an opponent, in order to prevent injuries.
Cisibeo - A man who attaches himself very closely to a woman (married) forming one of her court. This is not a relationship of a sexual nature, more like puppies surrounding an older dog! The feminine form of this is ciserone. Italian for House Friend
Convenient - Kept woman, mistress.
Bank draft - same as today. Forerunner of the cheque.
Spavin - is a bony growth within the lower hock joint of horse or cattle. It is osteoarthritis, or the final phase of a degenerative joint.
A mill - Illegal boxing match.
As queer as Dick's hatband - sick, ill, out of sorts.
Molyneux, Tom - Known as Black Ajax. Famous bare knuckle fighter of the early 19th century.
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Date: 2007-02-06 10:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-06 10:27 am (UTC)