Downshire
is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a
lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of
Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the
Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the
beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the
Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light
infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in
the North and it’s at the Downshire Country Park Hotel situated equidistant
between Great and Little Trotwood where the St Georges Day Ball was taking
place.
It was a
beautiful moonlit night and Mark Cooper was enjoying a cigar on the Garden
Terrace.
The reason
he chose that particular place to smoke was because it was the far enough away
to escape the noise but close enough, so he could still hear the band.
He also
went there to be alone because he liked to enjoy his smoke in peace, while he
mulled things over.
He looked
up at the hunter’s moon hanging in the clear night sky as he exhaled the mellow
smoke long and slow, which was when his peace was broken by the appearance of a
familiar face.
When Elspeth
Humphreys left the Hotel Ballroom via the French doors she was carrying her shoes in one hand, her pashmina was
draped over her arm and she was carrying her evening bag in her other hand as
she padded along the terrace.
“Here you
are” she said “I wondered where you’d got to”
“I thought
I would leave you to your posse of admirers” he said
“They’re
not my posse” she replied as she put her shoes and bag down on the terrace wall
“Just your
admirers?”
“No,
they’re not that either” she giggled “Let’s have a lug”
“You can
have one of your own if you want” he retorted
“No, I’ll
share yours” she said, and she stood very close to him as she took the cigar
from his hand and took a long drag on it.
“So is that
why you came out here, to smoke my cigar” he said
“No, I came
to find you, and to cool down” she said and giggled before adding “it’s very
hot work having a posse of admirers”
He studied
her while they shared a smoke and Mark thought she looked fabulous in the
moonlight and after they finished the cigar Elspeth suddenly shivered
“It looks
like you’ve cooled down too much” he said “Come on I’ll take you back in side”
“No, I
don’t want to” she protested
“All right
then but put this on” he said and slipped off his dinner jacket and put it
around her shoulders
“Thank you
kind sir” she said “That’s lovely and warm”
“I’m here
to serve mistress”
As she
stood before him in the moonlight she commanded
“Good then
dance with me”
“Why here?”
“Because I
command you” she said flamboyantly
“Very well
then mistress, but why wouldn’t you dance with me in there?” he asked
“Because I
didn’t want to share you with the crowd” she replied
“I wanted
it to be just the two of us”
And then he
became aware of being manipulated as if they were in a slow dance on the dance floor,
so he just went with her and then he found his back against the wall.
“You may
kiss me now” she said
“Yes mistress”
