Chapter 4 - Childhood Friend
When he was a child, Fred had had a close friend whose father worked for the Marquess. The boy's name was Timothy Sprueling, and everyone had called him Sprue.
"Have you heard anything of Tim?" he asked his father.
"Yes, of course, he is headmaster of the village school, and has been for the past four years. His sister runs the Kindergarten. Your mother and I sent them to the Teachers' College."
"I would love to see them again," Fred told his father.
"I'm sure that will be easily arranged. The school is out for the summer; but there is a group of men working on the new gym there today. Tim is probably overseeing the project. You know how hands-on he is; and there is nothing mechanical that he hasn't mastered," the Marquess said with a chuckle. He felt as close to Tim as he would have if he were another son.
The school was but a five minute walk; and Fred meandered down the road to see his childhood friend, allowing his parents to entertain the boys, and to get to know them better.
"Gods!" Tim bellowed, running to meet Fred. "I can't believe it's you!" he exclaimed. He hugged Fred warmly, and received a vigorous hug in return.
A small boy looked on the scene with a rather startled expression on his face.
"Mikál, come along," Tim called to the boy. "This is my older brother's boy," he said to Fred. "There was an unfortunate accident, and I'm now his Da. Mikál, say hello to Lord Frederick."
"Hehwo, Lor Fwedwy," the boy answered, blushing from head to toe.
"Hello, there, Mikál," Fred replied, smiling down at the child.
"He will be four years old the day after tomorrow," Tim explained. "My brother and his wife were in a terrible automobile-train collision six months ago, and neither of them survived. Mikál lives with Pa and me, now. He calls Pa, Paw-Paw,' and me Da Tim.'"
"You must call me `Uncle Fred,' Mikál," turning to Tim, he continued. "I hate that Lord crap."
Tim smiled. Fred had never liked being thought of as anyone special, and always insisted his acquaintances call him by his given name.
"And your sister, Adelaide, where does she live, then?"
"She lives with Gran Hawkes," Tim replied, referring to his maternal grandmother, who was getting on in years. "You know there are only two bedrooms in the cottages, including the attic room."
"Yes, I remember; but you know that Father is adding bathrooms and an additional bedroom as the cottages are being remodeled. Some of the families with more children will get two additional bedrooms; and we are also building a recreation center for the village, with a gymnasium and a swimming pool," Fred informed his friend.
"That will be great!" Tim exclaimed. "I won't need to go to the city to swim."
"Father also plans to build a library. We have literally thousands of books in storage; and he doesn't want them to be in the Manor and not be available for reading to everyone," Fred continued.
"Surely he doesn't plan to put the rare books there," Tim remarked, looking rather startled.
"Actually, virtually all the books will be in the new library. Even my personal collection will be housed there, as will the books of my brothers and sister. I think they have forgotten how to read anyway. It's a pity they can't drink a book; they would be extremely well read," he remarked, with a wink. "I don't know if you knew that they have all relinquished their interest in our ancestral home in exchange for clear title to other properties in which Father had no interest in owning. We still have the Manor and grounds in South Gibraltar that Grandfather left to me; although he did give someone a rather long lease on it in payment of one of his gambling debts. The lease is up on it at the beginning of next year; and I want to take the boys there. Would you consider going with us, and taking Mikál?"
"I couldn't do that, Freddy. It would cost a fortune," Tim replied, blushing.
"Balderdash!" Fred replied. "We're taking our own plane, so it wouldn't cost you a cent. The place has twelve or fourteen bedrooms; and we will welcome your company. It has a great swimming pool and a private gym, also. I have no idea what kind of shape it is in, after the present tenant's use of it; but I will have it set to rights when we get there."
"Well, we have half a year to make plans; so who knows what can happen in that length of time. I would love to go, of course; and I'm sure Mikál would be thrilled to go anywhere. This has been a huge change for him, moving from London to the country and all. Not to mention there are few boys his age here," Tim added.
"I have four, two Mikál's age and two one year younger," Fred informed him.
"You're kidding," Tim said, excitedly. "How did that happen?"
"I will have to explain it all to you sometime," Fred said casually. "Sometime when little ears can't hear. Why don't you two come to lunch at the Manor?"
"Let me tell Dad; and we will be right up," Tim replied.
"Great! Bring your dad with you," Fred replied, heading back to the Manor.
Tomy, Barty, Lyndy, and Billy accepted Mikál as one of them immediately; and before the day was out, they had become the Five Musketeers. When it came time for Tim and Mikál to go home for the night, the four brothers made it known that they wanted Mikál to stay with them. Tim was secretly pleased, as there were few other boys his age in the village; and Mikál had become very lonely after the deaths of his mother and father, even though he loved Tim very much. It was a joy to see Mikál so happy, after so much sadness the past months.
The Marquess threw a grand birthday party for Mikál, inviting all the children in the Village.
A few days after Fred's return to the Manor, a letter came for him. It was from his betrothed, Genviève Mertón du Glaçé, begging to be released from her contract with his family; she had met someone else----undoubtedly filthy rich; and wanted to be able to marry him. She had not been apprised of their change of fortune; and Fred wanted it to remain that way.
Unfortunately, it was not Fred's decision to make. His family had put up a lot of money in assistance to her family, when the papers were signed, which stated that a male heir must come from their union in order to release the debt; and Fred was certain that his father would not even consider releasing her from her contract. He wrote to her, explaining the problem.
After much plotting and many discussions with her family's barrister, the girl's younger sister, Élaine, agreed to a complicated plot which included her own marriage to Fred with a pre-marital contract, conception by artificial means, and then an annulment due to never having slept with him. Élaine was but fifteen years of age.
Fred told his father of Genviève's plan, thinking the man would become infuriated and refuse to deal with them; but surprisingly, the Marquess agreed to the arrangement, although wondering about the girl's desire to include an annulment in the contract.
Élaine arrived in Scotland, completely unexpected, six weeks later, attended by a young boy of twelve or thirteen years. Fred, Tim and the boys were in London visiting Fred's maternal grandmother; and it was two more weeks before they returned to Æstherfoord. In the meantime, Élaine had chosen to remain in her assigned quarters in the Manor the entire time, asking to have her and her companion's meals served in their quarters.
Fred's parents, knowing that their son was a doctor of psychology, and preferring to have him deal with whatever problems existed with their visitors, simply awaited his return to try to unravel the mystery of their reluctant guests.
"Bon soir, Monsieur Viscount," the young man said, greeting Fred at the door. The boy had a headful of golden curls, long eyelashes and sparkling blue eyes.
"Bon soir, parlez vous l'anglais?" Fred replied, taking the boy's hand.
"Yes, Your Grace," the boy replied, flushing red in embarrassment.
"And you are?" Fred inquired.
"Jerôme Mérton du Glaçé, Your Grace. I am brother of Élaine, Monsieur Viscount."
"Well, Jerôme, welcome to Æstherfoord. Is your sister available?"
"Yes, Your Grace," replied a young lady, walking into the room. Her features were virtually the same as those of her brother. "We are, how you say, `embarrassed,' with the situation, Monsieur Viscount."
"Well, there is no need to be embarrassed, Élaine. Jerôme, your sister's agreement is rather straightforward," Fred replied.
"Yes, Monsieur, but we do not wish to return to France," the girl said, flushing in embarrassment.
"Oh?" Fred replied. "Well, it would certainly be some time before that situation would come up anyway, n'est pas?"
"Yes, Monsieur, but we want to beg asylum here. We are not treated well at home, Monsieur," Jerôme advised him.
"Well, then, I certainly will see to it that you are able to remain here as long as you like, if that is your wish," Fred said, encouragingly. He was surprised when they both rushed to hug him tightly, when they were told that.
For the first time since their arrival, Élaine and Jerôme joined the entire family at dinner. The Marquess and Marchioness were delighted with the two attractive arrivals, and the boys were asking them a million questions.
After dinner, Fred sat with Élaine and Jerôme alone, in an attempt to get to know them better.
"If you don't mind," he probed, "perhaps you could tell me a little bit more of your problem with the prospect of returning to France."
"We will be forced into an arrangement that is repugnant to us, Lord Fred," Jerôme replied. "My father has virtually `sold' us to an ogre-like individual who would not be kind to us. It is possible he would not be worse than our father; but that is still a situation that we hope to avoid in the future," the boy concluded cryptically.
Seeing Fred's total puzzlement with their explanation, Jerôme continued.
"Our father uses us, Monsieur, my sister and I. He forces us into his bed virtually every night," Jerôme admitted, hanging his head in embarrassment.
"That is the reason I agreed to have your child, Monsieur," Élaine admitted. "It would be no more than I will have to endure if I remain at home."
"But, you realize, you do not have to come to my bed to bear my children? It is to be done by a physician, who will implant you with either my sperm or your own fertilized egg, I'm not certain which," Fred replied.
"I was not told about that, Monsieur," the girl replied. "So you would not take me to your bed? Is it because we have told you about ourselves?"
"Certainly not----that is not the reason. It is because they wanted you to be able to get an annulment, not having lain with a man," Fred told them. "Obviously, your father had plans for you after you bore my child."
"It must not happen, Monsieur, I would kill myself before I would go to the ogre," she said.
"And I," Jerôme declared. "He is a monster!"
"Please don't worry. I told the two of you that you will definitely not be forced to return to France. I will see to it--I promise!"
That night, they both crept into his bed; and when he awoke, Élaine was on one side, and Jerôme on the other. Fred felt strangely about the situation, but strangely good. Moments later, the boys burst into the room, jumping into bed with the three of them. It was completely natural to the boys, who accepted the boy and girl as readily as they had accepted Mikál.
"Are you our new brother?" Tomy and Barty asked Jerôme at once.
Jerôme was speechless, and looked to Fred for an answer.
"Yes, he is," Fred replied. The boys didn't mention Élaine at all, but hung onto all three of them.
Before the Marquess' good fortune through his investments, he had decided on several tourist attraction ventures to help raise money. One of those ventures was a large stable with thirty-six thoroughbred horses. Eight of them were Shetlands, to be used for children who wished to ride. He had hired several teens in the village to walk the horses for the very youngest children.
Now, he had four grandsons who wanted to ride `horsey'; and he contacted the teens for the weekend. Jerôme was almost too big for a Shetland, but there was one that was larger than was regular; and the boy selected her. He had ridden before, but had never had the advantage of a horse with such an ideal size for him; and he was thrilled to mount her and demonstrate his riding skills to the others.
Jerôme was a natural horseman and the Marquess was surprised and delighted at the boy's abilities; he arranged for Jerôme to represent them in the television commercial that he had been planning to advertise the stables. After the first showing of the commercial featuring Jerôme, the boy received an offer to model for a new Western-wear company in London. Since the Marquess was Élaine's and Jerôme's legal designated guardian, according to their agreement with the Mérton family, he established a trust fund to manage the boy's income from the company. The boy's contract was only for the British Isles; if the advertising scheme went worldwide, there would have to be new negotiations.
In one month, with Jerôme's appearing in their advertisements, the sales of juvenile Western wear had quintupled, especially his own line of boots, created with his own logo; and stores were clamoring for personal appearances at their locations. Meanwhile, when it was discovered that Élaine was also an accomplished horsewoman, the companies signed her up, as well; and her pictures were all over the media. She made a handsome cowgirl and her own line of boots were selling faster than they could be made. She now had a trust fund of her own and the money was piling up.
When they were approached with contracts for Europe, the Marquess turned it all over to his solicitor, asking for iron-clad contracts and defining the terms stating that that the Mérton du Glaçé family had no recourse on any of their earnings. His guardianship had not been limited in any way and, in fact, he was virtually equal to their parents, and was legally able to do anything he wished regarding their business interests. He immediately petitioned for their Scottish citizenship, which was granted after six weeks deliberation and a fortune in legal fees.
Surely enough, when their pictures began circulating in Europe, the Mérton du Glaçé family started litigation to claim their earnings. Their move was completely expected and quickly denied by the Scottish courts. Additionally, testimony had been taken regarding their father and his abuse of them; and would, if he were exposed, place him in a position that would ruin his business and reputation----not to say his freedom. He was forced to relinquish his claim on them altogether, or suffer personal ruin.
Later, it was learned that the "Ogre" had sued him for breach of contract and demanded 1,500,000 Euros in damages. No one cared about the outcome.
The wedding of Fred and Élaine was celebrated in the Æstherfoord Church of St. Columba; and they had decided that the pregnancy would be done naturally. By mutual consent, Jerôme joined them in the bridal bed; and, due to Fred's somewhat over-endowment, Élaine was able to take only about a third of it, Jerôme helping with the remaining two-thirds. They thought nothing of the fact that Jerôme's discharge had been on Fred's member, as it slid in and out of his sister.
When it was obvious that Élaine was pregnant, a trip to the doctor revealed that she was carrying twin boys. Fred's parents were ecstatic. During the last trimester, tests revealed that there was another hetero-paternal superfecundation in progress. One of the boys was Jerôme's. Fred decided not to reveal that information to anyone. It was obvious that something in Fred's genes made that very rare process to come about easily.
After the bridal night, and Jerôme's familiarity with Fred's endowment, the boy began trying to insinuate himself into Fred's personal life. Fred refused to even consider having the boy join him in bed until Élaine brought up the subject.
"I love my brother with all my heart," she had said. "Please, can you bring yourself to consider taking Jerôme into your heart. He is madly in love with you; and it would make me very happy for the two of you to enjoy each other----especially now, when I am unable to have sex until the twins are born."
Her implication that she would want sex with him after the birth of the boys was not something that he wanted to consider. He would have fulfilled his duty to the family by providing heirs; but he didn't intend to continue playing that role. He wondered what he could do about the situation. The annulment would cause a problem with his family at this point. He decided to let Jerôme have his way.
Luckily the twin fathered by Fred, The Hon Lord Frederick Barton Ashton III, with blond hair and green eyes, was born first by several hours. Étienne Jerôme Ashton, with blond hair and blue eyes, second. "Tryce" would be the heir and "Stevie" next in line.
Twelve months later, Hal returned from Malaysia. He was startled when Fred insisted he join Élaine, Jerôme, and him in their king-size bed as a welcome-home gesture.
No one was startled a month later when it was discovered that Élaine was pregnant again, this time with three boys.
It was a surprise, however, when Élaine, who was very slight, was unable to carry the triplets to full term. The three boys had to spend the first six weeks of their lives in incubators; but Douglas Brockx Ashton, black hair, blue eyes; Samuel Vincent Ashton, blond hair, green eyes; and Alexis Mérton Ashton, red hair, blue eyes, were as healthy and robust as any full-term baby could be.
Élaine could have no more children; but decided not to make it known right away.
Please consider supporting Nifty with your donation
to https://donate.nifty.org/ Funds used to continue these free stories