A Fantasy about Love Pt. 14

Prince Fugger was waiting for us and he kissed Maureen's and Eileen's hand and shook mine.

"Welcome in my house, de Winter. Lady Maureen! Mrs. Monahan!"

His wife appeared, dressed in a pretty Bavarian dirndl, and smiling upon seeing us. She hugged Maureen and gave Eileen a little kiss, and then turned to me.

"You must be very proud of your company; I have seen beautiful women before, but your wife and Mrs. Monahan are easily in their own class! Do you know that you are already mentioned in the newspaper? The Red Countess? The Stunning Beauty from down under, and that means you, Mrs. Monahan. You should get a copy of the newspapers and especially of the fashion magazines: they will describe the ball in every detail and the two of you will feature on most pages! I'm afraid, Count, that you'll be only a supporting part!" and she smiled again.

"Princess, I..." The husband interrupted me. "I believe that we all know where we stand in the social rankings. Your forefathers served the German people in the military, we supported kings and emperors with our knowledge and money. We don't need to prove anything to each other. May I suggest, and especially considering that Mrs. Monahan is here, that we talk like normal people - at least whilst we are alone! My wife's name is Gertrude and I'm Adalbert, and we know yours." So could we do this?"

I nodded. "We would be pleased, Prince..." he coughed, "Adalbert."

Eileen was fascinated: she could call a prince by his given name! He led us into the main sitting room where three other people were waiting. Adalbert introduced the elderly couple first: "Count and Countess von Wendlingen" and then a handsome man in his late forties: "Baron von Tuttlingen."

He turned to the others. "I have suggested that we don´t use our titles; since we will speak English in any case, I suggested that we call each other by our first names. Do you agree?"

They did; this was obviously agreed on before and he said: "This is Elsa and Herbert, and that lonely young man is Friedrich."

We nodded to each other once more and formalities were finished. Friedrich sat beside Eileen and started to ask her about Australia; his English was perfect, and Eileen enjoyed the attention. He was tall, had long blond hair and Maureen whispered immediately: "No wedding ring!"

I laughed but had to pay attention to The Princess... no, to Gertrude, Elsa and Herbert. There were similar questions about how I had ended up in Australia, that they felt sorry that my father had died recently, and Germany had become a strange country, full of foreigners. Herbert perceived what he had said and tried to get out of this hole.

"We've had many immigrants during the last decades that helped Germany grow and some of our best students are of Asian origin."

Gertrude helped him. "We have welcomed visitors and students from all countries, Maureen, and many of them stayed and integrated into our culture."

Maureen nodded, showing that she did not mind the first comment. The conversation turned to politics and history: our family's long military service, the Fugger´s past since the 1500's as the most important German merchant family for hundreds of years, starting in the city of Augsburg, and the service that the Wendlingers had always paid in the Imperial and Church bureaucracy. They could count more than 30 Bishops in the last 300 years! The Baron was quiet; his family must have received the noble patent only recently, that is in the last 150 years.

The ladies went away to see the Fugger mansion and Adalbert offered us a sherry. After a while, we were called for lunch and it was a full formal affair: there must have been at least five crystal glasses in front of each plate, knives, forks, spoons, whatever mankind invented was there. There was trout as a starter with a fresh Baden white wine, then veal with a Rhein Spätburgunder, and finally, a Chateau d´Yquem with the dessert. It was wonderful and everything matched: the conversation, the friendly atmosphere, the excellent wines, and the tasty food. The service was quiet and efficient, and one saw the long tradition of the Fugger family.

To my surprise, Adalbert suddenly turned to me. "James, you're staying for the week, I assume?" I nodded. "May we invite you to stay for a few days in our castle in Babenhausen? I'll have to go there in any case and perhaps Eileen and Maureen would enjoy some days in the countryside. Nothing fancy, perhaps a bit of riding, and James and I could discuss business and politics, certainly boring for the ladies."

I looked at him. "Adalbert, you might be surprised about the experience Eileen has in politics and business. She has built a logistics company on her own, now worth many hundreds of millions of dollars, has been elected the Business Executive of the year, and is a Business Advisor to the Premier of the State of Queensland. And my wife: she has just bought the number two transport company in NSW, and NT will become the biggest company in that industry. And from there - who knows? I'm the one without employment and will probably play golf until the rest of my life."

Eileen laughed. "Adalbert, don't let him fool you. He's the mastermind behind all this and within a few months he'll take over from me as the CEO of our companies. We would not have achieved anything without him leading us, driving us, and making us believe we could do it."

There was a moment of silence and the whole mood had changed. They looked at my ladies in a different way, with more respect. "Well, then it will be riding and business discussions, right, Eileen?"

She nodded and the conversation turned to yesterday's event; the ladies concentrating on who was with whom and how dreadful that dress was, and we went back to my time in Australia. It was interesting and the quiet elegance and luxury of the Fugger's home was relaxing. We agreed that they would pick us up on Tuesday morning and we left. When we entered the car, my phone buzzed to tell me that there was a message.

It was from Jenny. "Call me immediately. Ellen had a stroke and it's very serious. I've reserved two tickets on the Emirates/Qantas flight at 22: 35 tonight, Call me!"

I asked the driver to hurry and told Maureen what had happened, then called Jenny. She responded immediately.

"James, this is serious. Please come back at once. Ellen is very ill, and the doctor told me that with her last energy, she's only waiting for you and Maureen to come back. Allan is devastated and I'm trying to handle everything, but I need help, and Ellen needs you. Will you manage to catch the flight? I forgot; good afternoon to you. How was the ball? Did Eileen enjoy it? And I love you very much, darling!"

"Jenny, calm down. We'll take the flight and be with you and Ellen soon. At this moment, we're driving back to the hotel, pack a few things and fly back. I'll handle it from this side. Please keep us informed, my love."

They looked at me, Maureen with a very concerned face. I told them what had happened and that we would take the night flight back to Sydney. Maureen agreed immediately, but Eileen started to protest.

"James, I understand that you fly back, but I want to stay a few more days here in München. This is a completely different environment for me, and I want to enjoy it. Can you call the Fugger's and cancel everything? I'll find my own way around."

I was surprised, to say the least. She would stay here, enjoying herself, while Ellen was dying? but it was her decision. I called Adalbert and told him that we had to fly back immediately: a very dear friend of ours was dying. He expressed his sympathies and asked whether Eileen would fly back also. I told him no, and he asked to talk to her. I saw her face light up when she was talking to him, and when she gave the phone back to me, she was smiling happily.

Adalbert told me that he had invited Eileen to come with them to Babenhausen on her own, and that she had agreed. He would arrange for her to have two pleasant weeks; friends of his had a very picturesque castle in the Alps and Eileen would certainly enjoy some days there. I should not worry: he was very impressed by Eileen and would make certain that she would miss nothing. I told him that I would talk to her and call back.

"Eileen, do you want to stay here?"

She nodded. "James, I like Ellen, but she doesn't like me. I prefer to have two weeks here, enjoy the hospitality of the Fuggers and their friends, than to hurry back and be sad. It is different for you; I know this, so you go. Don't worry - I'll have fun!"

I shrugged and when we were back at the hotel Maureen packed the most essential parts of her wardrobe (and her coronet) and Eileen assured us that she would handle the rest with the hotel. There was still a bit of time left and I warned Eileen.

"Darling, please be careful when you're on your own here. I know my fellow Germans, especially the noble types. You're a very beautiful woman and you're rich, certainly richer than most of them. They can be very charming, and the mood can be romantic, but remember: what do they want? To flirt with you, or to get you into their bed as a feather on their hat? And if they can get their hands on your money: even better! I know that you can handle yourself, but think before it gets too far. They are trained to charm; so have fun, but come back as Eileen, the woman we love."

She looked at me. "James, perhaps you still don't know me. I can handle myself very well on my own and I know what I'm doing. I love you and I don't pretend to throw this away, but I want to have fun. Don't worry, darling!" She leaned over and kissed me. "You're still my number one man!"

I didn't want to analyze that sentence but could not stop myself: 'still?'... 'number one'? Things had changed.

We had a light dinner and the driver took us to the airport. It was recently constructed and very modern; adding the German efficiency it did not take us long to be in the Emirates Lounge. The furniture was in brown/beige color fabrics, and the tables followed that design. It was rather big, but the service was excellent. There were several service areas and the staff was quiet and efficient. We had our champagne and when the flight was called by a stewardess in her funny red hat with the white veil on their right side, we were ready for the long flight.

The business seats were comfortable, but the design was against couples: we could not even hold hands. The service was first class again and Maureen and I could finally talk about Ellen and what she had given us: love, care, help, advice, counsel, and guidance when we needed it. She was like a second mother for us; for me, it was like I would lose my real mother.

When we landed in Dubai, it was a repetition of the München Lounge, but this time it was the Qantas one. This was a completely different design, large and colorful. The champagne was different, too: this time it was a Krug Grand Cuvée. The chandeliers were big shells, and there was a vast view of the airport on one side and a rather private area on the other. We stayed there, finished our conversation about Ellen and Maureen brought up her mother. I asked her not to worry: we would solve that problem in Sydney; she looked at me for a long time and finally, nodded. She trusted me that I would find a solution.

Our real problem was Ellen. Would we be in time to see her still alive? And what could we do about Allan?

TO BE CONTINUED