A Fantasy about Love Pt. 18 - Final!

The castle was a ruin. Windows broken or empty of glass, door hanging sideways or ripped off, weeds overcrowding the driveway, a stone sculpture at the entrance with its head chopped off, dirt all over, and the original paint long gone. Inside it was worse: birds flying in through the broken windows, building nests in the nooks, leaving their droppings all over the place: the picture was an empty hell.

I wondered, however ...... the faint traces of elegance, the simple lines, the grand ball room, the many bedrooms, the huge kitchen; the building still hinted at its long-gone glory. We walked through the floors and it was sad to see how neglected everything was.

I turned to Maureen "Let's go. This cannot be repaired, and our history is now in Australia."

She looked at me and I saw something in her eyes, something that told me that she was looking into a different future. "James, let's have a look outside and then go back to the hotel."

We did this and the scenery was wonderful: green meadows, a crowded forest, a few apple trees, again it was easy to see how wonderful the past must have been. I knew that the family had owned hundreds of square miles surrounding the castle, but that was in the past.

When we arrived at the hotel, the owner had one look at me and brought out his bottle of vodka. "You need this, sir." I really did, and not only one.

During the afternoon I read a book but saw Maureen glancing into the distance and occasionally putting numbers into her laptop. Finally, she looked up.

"James, my love, I know that you cherish your tradition and your and now our family history. You saw last night that the people here still remember the de Winters, and they asked for your help. Can you walk away? Can you forget them?"

"Maureen, I would help them if I could, but what could be done here? No industry, no commerce, no tourism, and a dying city. There is nothing here to work with!"

Maureen shook her head. "There is a lot to work with, James. There is a tradition going back centuries, a bond between seigneur and his people, where trust and respect goes both ways, and there is you: the last representative of that honorable family. Remember 'Honor et Fortitude'? Do you want to abandon this?"

It took us a long time to discuss this and when night arrived, we had a rough proposal ready for the city. We drove back to the restaurant and an even bigger crowd was waiting, Mr. Bronislaw sitting already at a table and inviting us to join him.

He looked at me. "Herr Graf, have you found a solution for us?"

I looked around; most of the people sitting there (and there were mainly elderly men only) were waiting to hear a magical solution.

¨Mr. Bronislaw, we have a proposal that requires everybody to work together: from City Hall to the commercial establishments, from the intellectuals to the workers, from old to young. Let me explain: You are wrong when you say that there is nothing here. I thought the same until my wife pointed out that everything is here. A small city, a long history of change and adjustments, and there is the castle. If we were to repair it to its glory, we could a tourist industry around it. Get a famous chef and have a starred restaurant in the castle; establish a cooking school; have a training center for the hotel industry for young people, and build a museum concentrating on the Teutonic Knights, the Kings of Poland and all that historic stuff! In the States you have these Wild West cities with shootouts at high noon -- here you could have knights fighting each other in the afternoon, breaking lances and hitting each other on their helmets. They do it in England and make a lot of money! Why not here?"

They stared at me. Then the voices started to rise, mostly saying that this would never work until Mr. Bronislaw called for silence.

"Herr Graf, how could we do this? We don't have the money!"

"Mr. Bronislaw, please don't expect me to answer your questions with perfect answers. We just had this afternoon to discuss it between ourselves. Well, money. We could provide the startup money for the first year or so, use our connections to get the right people on board, and you must find a way to work together. Let me make something clear: this is not a present to the city or people of Elk; it is a business proposal to bring this city to life again and make money."

He continued to observe me. "Herr Graf, why would you do this? What's in for you?" An astute guy, I had to admit.

"My wife reminded me of what our family always had stood for: Honor et Fortitude. And you reminded me that honor brings responsibilities. So we're willing to invest in you and your people as long as we see that you take your responsibilities seriously. We want our castle back and I'm willing to pay a reasonable price for it, and that would be the starting money. I want to purchase a reasonable area around the castle with creeks, meadows and forests to give it the right scenery for the historical shows. I'll repair the castle as it was, but it will be mine, belonging to the de Winter family. This will create work for the city and hope for the young. We'll hire consultants to work on publicity, on the repair of the castle, the restaurant and the hotel school, and we'll help you improve your schools and hospital. I don't know whether this will be difficult: this is for you to resolve."

They all stared at us. Mr. Bronislaw was the first to speak. "Herr Graf, this will cost many millions of dollars, and we don't have the money. The plan is wonderful, but I don't see the possibility to execute this." People behind him nodded, the flare of hope extinguishing slowly.

I looked at him. "Mr. Bronislaw, I'm a business executive and my wife owns a very big company in Australia; we know what we can do. We'll not throw money at you and walk away, and I want to see positive results after a reasonable time! You see that I use a lot 'reasonable'. This means that I don't expect immediate miracles, but I expect total involvement from your side. If you agree, I'll get someone from Germany to plan, execute and supervise the work, because they are used to work under pressure. He'll use as much local work as is available and willing to work."

This was the end of our discussion and Maureen decided that she was hungry. She called the owner and asked what the offer of the day was; she selected a river fish, a pike. It was very good, and I asked about fishing possibilities; he said that fishing for pike, catfish and eels was quite common (as long as one had a fishing license) and hunting was also possible for boars, deer, ducks, and under special circumstances for moose, again getting a license first and joining a Polish Hunting Association. This would fit in quite nicely with our plans for attractions for the boutique hotel at Schloss de Winter.

I had one look at the wine list and ordered another vodka; at least this was an honest drink.

Maureen smiled: "Any evil intentions, my love?" I denied this vigorously. "Darling, how could you possibly consider devious intentions? But if you were interested, I might follow your lead..."

Now it was her turn to protest. "My love, all I asked whether you had any evil intentions to get me drunk and have your way with me. How you might do this, I would leave it to your imagination and if it were to lead you in a certain direction, who am I not to follow my Lord and Master´s desires?"

We looked at each other and when I saw that glitter in her eyes, I asked for the bill. We promised to be back at the restaurant the following day for lunch and if the community was interested in our proposal, we could discuss details; otherwise we would drive back to Gdansk and go home. I did not drive slowly and we when we arrived at the hotel, it did not take long to end up in bed. We enjoyed each other and went to sleep happy and satisfied.

I received my three kisses, but I realized that we might have exaggerated; she was moaning when she tried to find her place in bed, glued to my body. I looked at her, but she smiled.

"My love, I offered myself and you accepted my gift. This is what I want, now and forever. Sleep now and dream of me, but don´t forget to include Jenny, because I miss her!"

The next morning, we called Jenny and listened to her complaints about being alone, that she was crying every night and woke up crying, and when would we come back? And she had already selected a hotel in Bali to be compensated for her sacrifices ... Maureen took the phone out of my hand. "Jenny, we love you but shut up. You agreed: no, you actually motivated us to come here! So live with it!"

Maureen's voice was stern (Wife Number One!) and wife number two obeyed. Some words of love and sympathy, and she came back to me with business news; most good, only one major problem to be resolved after we came back. We promised to call every morning, and in the end, we were back to reality.

We had our substantial breakfast and drove back to the castle. It was raining and we were told that the forecast for next three days was for continuing rain. It was sad to see the ruins, but Maureen tried to console me.

"James, it can be repaired to its glory. It will take time and cost a lot of money, but you and I will be satisfied that the de Winter´s name is still honored."

I nodded: that was important to me, and observing the meadows, the forest and the big lake I could see what money and drive could do: the castle restored, the surrounding scenery improved, the creek close to the castle turned to the moat and back to its original course, keeping the moat clean, and there might be even fishing from the castle walls! I could imagine a medieval setting with knights in colorful armory jostling for the affections of the king´s daughter, breaking lances, a boar turning over open fire on a spit, and lots of people enjoying themselves, and spending a lot of money. A souvenir´s stand? Miniature de Winter castles? The options were endless: all we needed was the will to do it.

When we went back to the restaurant, I was quietly optimistic. Entering the room, however, I was hit with a gloomy mood. Mr. Bronislaw was sitting beside a quite pompous man, in suit and tie, and with a bottle of vodka before him, already half empty. We sat at the table and I looked at Mr. Bronislaw.

"Have you thought about our proposal? We believe that this is possible, and it'll bring life back to the city."

He nodded but pointed to the man next to him. "Count, this is Mr. Pavel Lewandowski from the Mayor´s office. He wants to talk to you."

The guy managed a broken English, but his intentions were clear. "Mr. Winter, I know what you want. Your family has exploited the people of this city and of this state for hundreds of years -- this has to be stopped. We are free today, free of domination and servitude. We don´t need you here and we don´t want you here. We're looking to the future and you and your family are not in our vision."

He seemed to be quite proud of his little speech. I glanced at Mr. Bronislaw and he shrugged.

¨Count, this comes from the mayor: we talked to him and of your proposal and the benefits we and the city would receive, but he is adamant."

I looked at the guy. "This is your last word? You will reject our help?"

He looked at Mr. Bronislaw and the people around him and saw the anger in their faces. He took out his phone, spoke with someone for a few minutes and came back.

"We would agree to your ideas under these conditions: You can purchase the castle and pay the city government US$ 25 million; you can purchase ten square miles surrounding the castle for another 25 million and the money deposited in our accounts; the project will hire only Polish engineers and workers and the final decision will be ours."

We stared at him and then I turned to Mr. Bronislaw.

"Sir, it has been a pleasure speaking and dreaming with you. It seems, however, that we're not welcome anymore and I'm sad about this. You will understand, sir, that we're not throwing our money into a dark hole without knowing what will be done with it. It would have been wonderful to restore the castle and see life coming back to it and the city -- can you imagine the work it would have created, the future we'd have given to your youth, and the satisfaction to all? A new hospital? A new school? Eventually an university and technical schools? Now you can thank your mayor and his administration when more and more people will leave the city, and it will get older and sadder, and finally die."

We got up and I went over to the owner thanking him for his reception and the excellent food. He whispered to me: "Count, don´t write us off. The people know about the chance you gave us and the person who rejected it. Things will change. We've your address and might contact you one day, and if you were still willing to come back, you would've a different reception."

When we walked away, the mayor´s guy followed us. "Mr. Winter, we could come to an arrangement. You pay us 15 million and we would facilitate everything you want. Everything: castle, land, even the German supervisor. Just 15 million, Mr. Winter, and you have what you want."

I looked at him and called Mr. Bronislaw to join us. The guy was satisfied: we would come to an arrangement and he would have his money. More people had joined Mr. Bronislaw and when he was close, they surrounded us. I looked around: all were listening attentively.

"I have received a new proposal from this man here; I should pay 15 million into his account and everything I wanted would be done. Is this your proposal?"

He hummed and hawed and said that the money would not be for him, but for the mayor. I looked around once more and saw the shock in the people´s eyes.

I turned to the guy. "Perhaps you don´t understand me and what our family stands for. We were willing to invest our time and money in this project; not for personal benefit, but to maintain our family´s name respected and honored. For hundreds of years we lived here and looked after our people. You see the respect we've earned. I'll not throw all of this away and bribe an official of this country. I would invest and help you with respect, enthusiasm and dedication as long as I had the full and unrestricted support of all, but I will not do this starting with an illegal action. And you, people: you've heard what was offered; these are the authorities that govern you. Good luck to you all: you´ll need it."

We got into the car and drove away; our mood was as the weather - drab and gloomy. I was sad, but had to accept that the past had gone, and we were living in another world. Maureen tried to console me, but she was more angry than sad.

"I cannot imagine the stupidity of these people: throwing away a wonderful chance to make the city happy again. Stupid fools!" I told her what the owner of the restaurant had whispered to me, but she was obstinate. "Their chance is gone, James. I'll not come back to be rejected again!"

I kept quiet -- I knew that if this contact were made, I would go back and try once more. The rain increased and it was difficult to drive under these conditions. We almost had an accident when a crazy Belgian truck driver pulled out to pass another one, completely ignoring that we were already beside him. It took all my former rally skills to save the car and us. It reminded me of the times decades ago when Belgian drivers were feared all over Europe, as they did not have to pass a driver´s test before driving a car. When we were safely back on the road, Maureen looked at me. "You see, they don´t want us here. Let´s go home and forget this place."

Since our stay was shortened, she suggested going once more to München and visiting our friends. I called the Fugger´s and they were happy to receive us. There was a fabulous dinner and three days at their country residence; I can say proudly that I did not fall off the horse, but sitting down was difficult for two days. The worst part was to look at Maureen when she whispered: "You smiled when we had these problems occasionally -- and caused by you, I must say; are you still smiling?" We bought presents for everyone; an amber necklace and matching ring for Jenny, among others.

It had been a dream, and occasionally, dreams stay just that: dreams.

Chapter 58: A Dream Revived

The flight home was comfortable, and the best part was when I saw Jenny waiting for us. Her smile lit up the airport lobby and she ran to us, kissing Maureen and then turning to me, falling into my arms. "I missed you, darling, I missed you so much. Just wait until I get you home and I´ll show you!"

She did and when we made love, it was joyful and intense. The next day we told her about the disappointing visit to Elk, but Jenny was more pragmatic. "Maureen, this is important for James and if the opportunity came back, we will not reject it. That's a problem we´ll resolve when it appears. But tell me, my love: how was the horse riding? And did you enjoy it? Before, during and especially afterwards?" Obviously, Maureen had told her already about my discomfort and her sly remarks!

We went back to our life, working, planning, helping, growing, and enjoying each other.

It was the middle of the year, when Maureen called a meeting. The subject was serious, she said.

She was dressed almost formally (at least for our standards) in a dark green polo shirt and white tennis shorts and sat us in front of her. "Do you remember when we talked about children, and that once we had our business life organized, I wanted to have children?"

I nodded.

"We've done very well, better than we expected. Our people work without too much supervision, and I believe that I'm not necessary anymore to continue in an executive position in NT. James, I want to move to the Board and have the time to get pregnant and have our child -- and be prepared that will not be the only one, my love."

She extended her hand to me with the aluminum foil that contained the anti-pregnancy pills.

"Will you do this for me -- and us, James?"

There was silence for a moment and then I got up and hugged her. "There is nothing that I want more than to be the proud father of our children." I took the pills and with a flourish, threw them away. We kissed until there was a discreet cough behind us.

"James, you know what the agreement was! Maureen has her child and when she's five months pregnant, I want the same treatment. Are we still in agreement?"

We turned to Jenny and opened our arms to include her in our hug and thus our lives were decided.

At night, Jenny gave us a kiss. "I'll sleep in the guest room tonight, so that you have your time together, alone and just for the two of you, but I'll be back in our bed in the morning!"

When we were alone, Maureen looked at me with a different expression: full of love, but also full of dedication and aiming for something more than the union of two people who loved each other.

"My love, whatever will happen, you'll always be the love of my life, the center of my heart and the protector of my soul. But I want children, too; I want to care for them, to guide them when they will grow up and to see them successful; and I want to see them looking up to you, their proud father. I want to give myself to you as I gave myself the first time, when we were given our blessing, so that they will be conceived in love and trust."

She opened the knot of her white nightgown and it fell down slowly, gliding over her slender body. She was beautiful as always, but her eyes shone with a deeper feeling, with an absolute commitment to our future. She opened her arms and I stepped forward to embrace her. A small smile appeared on her face.

"Darling, we're not in a temple to make a sacrifice. We're here to enjoy life and us. So, if you see something you want, take it."