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chapter 3

I watched as my father led Tony, with his arm around his shoulder, towards the drawing room,

I heard him ask about his Grandfather,

'Is he still with us?' Yes, ' Tony said,

'He's 82 but still, a consultant with the Company, my father runs it now.'

My Mother drifted off to her private sitting room, I followed her in.

'Mummy, may I ask you a question, ?'

She looked up from her embroidery,

'Of course darling, what is it,?' I paused, how could I put this,

'What would you say if I told you that some students at Uni are afraid of me !'

'Have you been fighting dear?' I was slightly thrown by the question,

'Well, only to defend friends.' she smiled,

'Yours so much like your father.' i didn't understand what she meant,

'What do you mean Mummy?' she put down her needlework, she patted the seat beside her, i sat down,

'You box, just like your father, and you have his temperament, and your very tall, your brave and you will defend good against evil, in whatever shape it forms itself, including bullying in your old school, and now at University,

The intense way you defend your friends is quite intimidating to other people around you, witnessing these events, but I think 'afraid' is the wrong word to describe how they feel about you, respect is probably more apt.' I was quite taken aback, ...

'How do you know this Mummy? She smiled.

'Because I have witnessed it many time with your father, in Hong Kong, there was a particularly brutal Police Inspector who didn't like the Chinese, he would allow his men to beat them quite badly and your father got to hear of it,

Aas the Governors Aid, he could easily have passed it to someone junior to him but no, he investigated it himself and when he found it to be true he drove, by himself, to the Police Station and confronted the Inspector in front of his men,

Your father asked him to explain himself, he replied he didn't have to explain anything to a Governor's underling, and when your father called him a coward, the Inspector made the grave mistake of taking a punch at him' she paused, I am sure for effect,

'And what happened Mummy?.' she smiled,

'Your father gave him a severe beating, none of his men intervened, it was so one-sided, the other chap didn't even land a blow on your father, but Daddy broke the Inspectors jaw.!' I just sat there with my mouth open.

My Mother leaned forward and kissed my forehead,

'Does that ring any bells darling?' I just looked at her,

'Do you mean to tell me you know of the incidents at Uni?' she smiled, 

'Rory, my darling, you are our youngest child, our baby, do you really think that when you go off away from our Eden here, that we don't know what you get up to?'

'Do you mean you spy on me, Mummy?' she took my hand in hers,

'Of course, not my darling, but your brother keeps us abreast of the what goes on, we asked him to promise to do so, and not let on to you!.'...

I was shocked, 'whom, Edmond.?' she smiled,

'No of course, not darling, don't be silly,  he lives in the Hebrides Islands!'

'Then whom Mummy,?

'Ben of course!' tears spiked my eyes,

'You consider Ben my Brother.?' she looked really surprised,

'Don't you darling? I can hardly tell you apart, of course, he is not your brother by blood, but he is by destiny and he adores you!',

'He is a part of this family, haven't you noticed, ?' she said teasingly,

'Like you, he is principled and brave, you and Ben are like me and your Father, Love at first sight!'

I stopped breathing for a second,

'If only Ben were gay, you would be the most glamorous couple in the whole world,!' I stifled a smile,

'Mummy I don't know whether you are dotty or a hopeless romantic,

'She smiled at me, 'your father would probably think the former, but we are still in love after all these years, and Ben will always love you, it's like his identical dead twin brother has come back, he worships the ground you walk on, you do know this my darling?'

I wiped away a small tear, yes Ben was a part of the family, he turned up whenever he wanted, treated all of my siblings as I did, and they reciprocated, and he kissed both my parents when he arrived and left, just as I did, I am sure the fact that we were near identical helped, and that he too was the son of an Earl.

And he also would do anything I wanted, even make love to me when I asked, and he would prove his love for me in less than a year when I almost lost James and my life....................................

I thanked my Mother and joined my Father and Tony in the drawing room, they were sipping port,

'A bit early Father,' I said tapping my watch face,

'Quite right my boy,  but this is a special occasion, we have the Grandson of the person who made the Village and Estate, the viable entity it is today, and he tells me he is also the Vice President of the film club who made our marvellous film.'

Tony looked suitably embarrassed,

I just wondered what the hell was going on,

'I don't understand Father!', my Father looked at me with some puzzlement,

'Do you mean you two boys are together and you haven't discussed the Estate ever?'

Tony went bright red,

'Father we are not together, were just friends, we haven't had the opportunity to discuss anything in much detail. My Father made one of his 'Oh I see faces' and apologized to Tony, Tony bravely said,

'No sir I am gay, but Rory and I are not an item.'.

My Father patted Tony's leg and apologized again, He looked at me,

'Rory sit,' .........I sat on the matching couch across from them with the large glass coffee table between us......My father started to explain,

'Tony's Grandfather and many of the previous Yellowlees have been water engineers, for well over three hundred years,

They have worked on some of the most famous Grand Estates anywhere in the Kingdom, in the 1950's, my father asked Tony's Grandfather could he do something about the annual flooding of the Estate after snow-melt from the mountain in the Spring.'

Tony seemed as interested as I was, ..........'His Grandfather set up plans for the 'ice pond'

 ( An ice pond is made, so pure mountain water would freeze and the men of the village would break up the ice and store it in a specially built brick 'icehouse', besides giving us the opportunity of the purest drinking water, this is how we used to preserve meat in ice before electricity)'

And the fresh spring water pond from which we still get our drinking water to this day, he also planned out two bypass streams, very wide and deep, that took the water down each side of the Valley, and the intricate Hydro Electric Power Unit, which still gives us most of our electricity,

It cost a fortune to build but it has saved millions and has made The Estate what it is today.' he turned to Tony,

'You knew this, ?' Tony shook his head, my Father smiled,

'Well now you do and you must give me your Grandfathers telephone number, he can come here with your Grandmother for a lovely week in the Summer, and he can check on how the things he introduced are, and I will pay him a consulting fee of course.'

Tony just smiled, I excused both of us, and I showed him upstairs..............................

Our Luggage was outside my room, I guess Hamish had the same idea as my father.

'Sorry about that misunderstanding Tony, ' He turned to me,

'Your Fathers wonderful!' i just smiled, picked up the luggage and entered my bedroom, Tony looked around, saw the large ornate double bed and looked at me quizzically.  I just smiled and teased him,

'Nice bed don't you think?' Tony started to say

'Rory, I!'  but I stopped him mid-flow,

'This is my bedroom, not yours, I'm not sure if he looked relieved or disappointed,..........

I walked over to the false door, pressed the Dado rail and the concealed door sprung open, I pushed the door facing me and that opened into another bedroom, Tony looked amazed.

'This is how Tam and I managed to sleep together during his parents visit last Christmas,'

I beckoned him to come through, I carried his holdall and computer bag, he stepped inside, into a very similar bedroom, lavishly decorated but with no bathroom, I closed the dividing door and Tony was astounded at how it disappeared into the bedroom decor....

'What do you think?' I asked him,  he smiled at me,

it's lovely Rory.'. I added,

'In case your worried that I might try and seduce you there is this'

I opened the concealed door and pointed to a large brass sliding lock underneath the Dado rail, 'So you can lock it when you go to bed,' Tony blushed,

'Do, I really need to use it Rory.?' i grinned at him,

'Well I did tell you I fancied you a year ago since I have got to know you better, I don't know if I could hold myself back after a couple of Scotches.'

Tony grinned back and punched me playfully on the shoulder, then he suddenly looked sad, 'Rory, I am sorry to have made you cry this morning,'...........

I just grabbed him gently and hugged him,

'Come on, I will show you the bathroom,'...we walked through the dividing doors and I showed him my state of the art bathroom with its sliding curved glass doors, deep bath, which was a porcelain hot tub with its many small holes and pulsating water jets, and the power shower above it. I turned to Tony,

'What do you think?' he was impressed,

'This is soundproof when the glass doors are closed this is the only place Tam and I could make love without his bodyguards from hearing in the bedroom opposite!'.

At that Tony blushed deeply,' I was confused,...........

'I am not making any suggestions Tony just telling you the truth, you said you didn't realize that Tam and I loved each other, I am just explaining how we got around his bodyguards',

'I would sleep in your room, then when everything was quiet I would open the dividing doors and sleep with Tam, but he is not a quiet lover so we used to slip in hear where he could moan all he liked and no-one could hear.'

With that Tony left the bathroom, I followed him.

'Tony, what's wrong?' he had walked over and sat on my bed,

'I'm a little embarrassed Rory' i noticed he had his hands in his lap, surely not, was he exited? Then I thought about it, he had been with Reggie since he was seventeen, no-one had seen him go out with anyone, could he be a virgin!

'Tony, forgive the question, how much experience have you had.?' he lowered his voice,

'None.!' i was completely taken aback,

' Are you telling me you haven't been with anyone, ever?' he nodded.

'Tony I am sorry, no more sex stories from me I promise.' Tony turned to me,

'No Rory, that's OK, Reggie never talks about sex, so, I am just not used to it,' i smiled at him, 'Yes, Reggie is probably a virgin too!' Tony nodded,

'Well you make a right pair, are you seriously telling me that you have had no sexual relations with another man ever, and your 19?'

'Rory, please don't mock me,' I couldn't believe it,

'But your a great kisser Tony!.' he smiled,

'Do you really think so?' 'I looked directly at him,

'Yes, and it gave me a hard-on.' he blushed,

'That's a good thing right?', I smiled at him,

'You make Bloody sure you lock that dividing door tonight OK'?

He smiled and nodded, and I felt a little bit of loss that he would bolt the door, he looked so beautiful sitting on my bed with his light brown cords and dark red jumper, that beautiful yellow hair like a halo around his angelic head, I sighed wistfully, it was going to be very hard trying to sleep with this stunner, so close in the next bedroom.

At least I had the many films of me and Tam to keep me occupied. I changed the subject,

'How about some lunch,?' Tony smiled and nodded, we walked arm in arm downstairs to the dining room, this was going to be a wonderful long weekend, and I hoped, one of many.