Cassie complained that her mother had only done so to ensure that she and Fanny gave their attention to the Toddington twins and she said crossly: 'Really, it's too bad of Mama to behave like this, I'm far more cross with her than I am with Alfred and Lester.' 'Yes, I'm rather sorry for those two gentlemen,' added Fanny. 'After all, they have no idea of our true feelings about them.' 'You shouldn't fret about the Toddington twins,' grunted Charles. 'If they possessed even a grain of sensitivity between them they would realise that the chances of their being any genuine romance between themselves and two pretty young girls are microscopically small.'
Motley Hall, October 21st, 1901 It is now almost mid-day and Charles and I will now be leaving Morley Hall later than we had planned-we shall now travel to London by the afternoon train which will arrive in London just in time for us to catch the last connection train up to Oxford. This is cutting things rather fine but the morning express left at eleven o'clock and Charles is still asleep whilst I only dragged myself out of bed half an hour ago as I have decided that it will be easier to write about the wild events of last night whilst they are fresh in my mind. Hopefully, this will also allow me to snatch an hour or two of sleep during the long train journey later today. So without further ado, let me record that Charles and I joined Elena, Cassie and Fanny in good time in the drawing room to welcome the five guests who would be dining with us.
Sir Richard Hawton was the first to arrive and although at first I could not recollect exactly when and where we had been introduced, I remarked to him that I was certain that we had met somewhere before.
'It's quite possible, I have travelled quite extensively over the last three years,' said Sir Richard with a pleasant smile. It soon became clear that he was a friendly gentleman with a quick, ready wit and I could well understand why Elena had invited him to partner her in the absence of her husband. Physically, Sir Richard was a stocky, well-built man in his early forties with smiling blue eyes, and clean-shaven complexion and I racked my brains to try and remember where our paths had previously crossed. Whilst I was deep in thought, Polgrave announced the arrival of Alfred and Lester Toddington. Although not identical twins, they were both somewhat plump with sallow, fattish faces with dark, well-curled moustaches.
Alfred had lost much of his hair and his head shone in the gleam of the lights in the chandelier in the middle of the room.
Naturally, I was prepared to dislike the Toddington twins on the spot but in fact they turned out to be polite if somewhat shy gentlemen. Charles put them at ease by asking some questions about their long stay in India and this prompted Alfred to tell the company a number of interesting anecdotes of their experiences in the sub-continent. Then, at the conclusion of Alfred's account of a railway journey from Madras to Pondicherry, Jenny Nairman and Annabel Tilgate entered the room. Jenny was an extremely good-looking girl of nineteen, light-skinned with large brown eyes and gold-dusted auburn hair. Annabel too was a genuine beauty though perhaps slightly younger than her friend. Her sweet face was set off by long natural tresses of strawberry-blonde hair and her slender, tall figure was quite breathtaking with her ample bosoms, a narrow waist and I imagined her long legs hidden underneath her dress. Shamelessly, I immediately engaged Jenny in conversation about the recent protest meeting in Hyde Park organised by Mrs. Pankhurst, letting it be known that I thoroughly approved of this latest demonstration by the suffragettes to secure votes for women. She rewarded me with a smile of approval when I observed: 'There is no argument in the world which can logically give the vote to a lowly clerk in the offices of the Army and Navy Stores and yet deny it to the matron of King Edward VH's Hospital for Officers!' Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Cassie was a mite put out by my paying close attention to Jenny, for this meant that she was forced to chat with Lester Toddington.
However, there was nothing I could do to prevent Elena pairing us off to go in to dinner behind her and Sir Richard. At his aunt's request, Charles took Annabel's arm so that Cassie and Fanny were led in to the dining-room by Alfred and Lester respectively. We enjoyed a most wonderful dinner for the cook really excelled herself. With only the help of Mary the kitchenmaid (who must have been spurred on by her noisy fuck that afternoon with Mick the Prick) and two ladies from the village who Elena occasionally calls in when she gives grand dinner parties, she served the following fine repast:
Huitres Natives Saumon d'Ecosse Fume Coupe de Tortue Verte Brindilles Diablees Creme Ambassadeur Foison Roti a l'anglaise Coeur de Celeri au Jus Pommes Fondates Poire Belle Jacqueline Fruits de Saison
Cafe Turc, Tea Russe et Liqueurs
Perhaps it was the oysters and the constant flow of a very fine Chablis which kept the conversation so animated for I soon began to feel sexually attracted to the gorgeous Jenny. Yet, despite the fact that we chatted away extremely amicably, a little voice inside my brain insisted on informing me that on the girl's part, there was little or no magnetic energy of sexual attraction for me. I tried to ignore the voice, but even whilst I was speaking to her, I noticed how several times her eyes slid across the table to where Alfred Toddington was amusing Cassie with a light-hearted tale about how he had nearly been caught in flagrante delicto with a concubine from the harem of the Rajah of Lokshentan. I stopped talking to Jenny and leaned over the table and said to Alfred: 'Mr. Toddington, Miss Nairman and I could not help overhearing your fascinating story.
Do please continue, it sounds most interesting.' A slight blush coloured his cheeks but he was encouraged to continue by Elena Morley who called out from the head of the table: 'Ah, is this a tale from the Mystic East? I'm sure we would all like to hear it.' To his credit Alfred turned to Elena and spread out his hands and said: 'I don't think it is as interesting as all that, Mrs. Morley.'