December 12, 193_,
My writing of these reminisces remains secret as I had planned; kept in a locked drawer of my desk between the times at which I add to them, they are safe from prying eyes. I can feel secure that they will be unread by anyone before the turn of the next millennium.
The very act of penning the first tale added to the joy of reliving the incidents in my mind and brought a warmth to me that I very much wish to continue. Thus I am beginning my second writing soon after finishing the first and sending it to my solicitors.
As in the earlier writing, dates, names and places have been changed to protect my identity and those of the other participants. No blue-nosed hypocrite shall find fertile ground here for his persecution of those who do not think or act in accord with his narrow vision of human sexuality.
To those who read this at some future time: enjoy it if you will; discard it if you can't. But I remain sanguine in my knowledge that whatever the level of approbation or censure it receives, I shall be beyond knowing or caring.
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The troop train on which I was riding that late July afternoon in 191_ was stifling; the windows had to remain closed to prevent our asphyxiation by the coal smoke that was issuing copiously from the engine and there was not a vacant seat in my car. To add to our discomfort, the army had decreed in its wisdom that we must wear our dress uniforms when traveling by military train without respect to the weather or our comfort. The top ranks of course used a more congenial form of transport. I had had the option of taking a civilian train, but the war had caused the conversion of most civilian trains to military use and it would have been days until I was able to board even a train of uncertain destinations and timetable.
I had just spent three weeks in a military hospital, recovering from wounds received fighting in the trenches in France. My presence in the trenches was happenstance for I was Captain of Supply and was usually far enough behind the lines that I was beyond the range of even the long-range German guns. On this occasion a large enemy assault had forced Headquarters to throw the nominal non-combatants into the line and I had found myself in a trench when the Huns overran it. I was wounded, but my position was quickly retaken and I was spared the ignominy of capture.
My evacuation to a field hospital where my wounds were treated was followed by transport on a troop ship back to England where I enjoyed the hospitality of the Army Medical Corps until I was judged well enough to be sent home on convalescent leave. The wound in my right shoulder still gave me a certain amount of discomfort and my arm was in a sling. The curious circumstance about my wound was that sometimes the pain seemed to migrate to my leg. The Army Doctors had said that there was no injury there and they had found no reason for it except for some babble about hysterical pain; a transparent attempt to cover their ignorance.
I was headed for the home of my older sister Mary in Sussex. She and her husband James had firmly insisted that I spend as much of my leave as I desired with them and I had gratefully agreed. My parents, Edward and Katherine A_, had both urged me to stay with Mary at least for the remainder of the summer for London was extremely uncomfortable during August and the country would be better both for my physical and mental states. There were always people coming and going at Mary's house and I would have company if I desired it, though the house was big enough that I could be alone as much as I needed.
My parents lived in London and had regularly been to see me in the hospital. Mother had taken a hotel room during the first few weeks of my incarceration and stayed there while father traveled back and forth to London to attend to his sizable commercial holdings. I can't say that my stay was pleasant, but the presence of the two of them made it much more bearable and I was most grateful.
The landscape began to be familiar and I knew I was approaching my station. I gingerly prepared myself for standing, and when my station was called I slowly arose, took my duffel with my left hand and headed for the exit. As the train came to a stop amidst clouds of steam and squealing brakes, I descended to the platform. As I set foot upon solid ground once again, I heard a feminine voice yelling,
"There he is!"
I looked up and saw four exquisite examples of the female sex making their way toward me through the crowd; my sister Mary, my niece Penelope and two of an age with Penelope whom I did not know.
Penelope was the first to reach me and she gave me light hug and a kiss on the cheek, carefully avoiding my encased right arm. I dropped the duffel and returned the hug.
"Welcome back, Uncle Alfred," she said excitedly.
"Thanks, Penny, it's good to be home," I said.
She gave a little mock pout. She had been called Penny when she was younger, but now went by Penelope. She allowed me this liberty because, she said, I was her favorite uncle.
Mary came up to me and repeated Penny's performance.
"It's so good to have you back Alfred," she said. "We were so worried when we heard you were wounded. How are you feeling."
"The shoulder still bothers me," I said. "But all I need is some rest and tender loving care to make it right."
"Well, you've certainly come to the right place for that," she said with a smile. "Let me introduce you to Penelope's classmates."
She turned toward the two other girls and put her hand on the shoulder of one of them. "Alfred, this is Marjorie, Marjorie my brother Alfred."
Marjorie was a slender, vibrant looking girl with dark hair and wide inquisitive brown eyes. I bowed slightly to her and said,
"I am pleased to meet you, Marjorie."
She smiled and said, "Pleased to meet you."
Mary touched the shoulder of the other girl and said, "And this is Susan."
Susan was a well-proportioned girl with blond hair and deep blue eyes. Here figure bordered on voluptuousness and it was clear that in a few years this trait would develop most enticingly.
"I am most pleased to make your acquaintance," I said as I bowed slightly.
She giggled at the formality of my words, which I had made purposely pompous in order to see if I could evoke a laugh.
As if to beat me at my own game, she curtsied low and arose.
"I am most honored to meet you, Captain" she said with a twinkle in her eye.
Mary smiled indulgently at us and said, "The carriage is right over here."
Penelope and Marjorie reached for my duffel at the same time and after a brief confrontation, agreed that they would both carry it.
The ride to the estate was pleasant; the girls were excited and pelted me with questions about how I was wounded, what it was like at the front and what it was like for nurses (Marjorie was considering becoming a nurse.) As we approached the end of our journey, my shoulder began to ache more insistently and I resolved that when we arrived I would take one of the morphia tablets I had been given for pain. I had obtained them at the hospital before I left, but had not needed them heretofore.
I was given a room on the ground floor in a wing that was little used so that I could have whatever privacy I desired. There was a rope pull near the bed for summoning a servant, and I was left alone to rest and refresh myself until such time as I would make an appearance. I was told that dinner was at six, but that I could have it in bed if I so desired. When I was alone I took the morphia, laid down on my bed without disrobing, and promptly fell asleep.
I awoke muzzily but relatively free of pain. Washing and dressing were slow processes, but by ten minutes until six I was presentable and made my way to the parlour where the house's inhabitants were gathered for a preprandial drink. Susan and Marjorie were there as well, for, as I had been informed, they and Penelope were preparing for a party to celebrate their commencement from the girl's school they had attended.