Chapter 2: An Afternoon at the Mansion
The inside the mansion was as grand as the outside. The house was filled with priceless antiques, many brought from far corners of the earth by the family's fleet of merchant ships in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The residence was huge and as Darlene walked Holly through it's many rooms, Holly thought how wonderful it must have been to have spent one's childhood in such surroundings.
Finally Darlene brought Holly to an intimate sitting room on the second floor. This room, unlike the more formal rooms below, was cozy with a fire on the hearth and warm comfortable furnishings. Darlene rang a bell and a and handsome, athletically built, young man answered. Darlene didn't introduce the young man but asked him to fix a pot of her most special tea. The young man nodded, smiled and left on his errand. Darlene began to tell Holly about her life. She recounted her early years of summers in at the family's ranchero in Southern Arizona, of winters at schools in Europe, sailing on the family's yachts and trips all over the globe with various members of her family.
She was starting to tell Holly about her first marriage when the young man came back to the room with a silver tea service and fine china on an antique Chinese lacquer tray. Along with the tea were current scones and scotch marmalade. He poured and presented cups to each of them and withdrew. The tea was delicious with a perfume that reminded Sandy of a field of new mown hay on a warm July day. Just the thing for the late afternoon of a cold, wintry New England day. The scones were buttery with a hint of slightly tart currents and the marmalade superb, as only the Scotch can make it. The conversation resumed in the telling of the story of Darlene's marriage.
She had married young to a French Gentleman with a title, and she soon found that he little money to support it and a family who saw their fortunes returning in the form of this well chosen bride for their son. Darlene, who had inherited the families shrewd business instincts, saw this as a ruse soon after the elaborate wedding and had extricated herself from the weak young man and his grasping family before the first year of the marriage was out. Within a short time she married again. This time to the handsome, rough and ready owner of a large construction company who would not touch a cent of her endowment.
She had been happy and content with Peter Gilmore. Not the least of this happiness was caused by Peter's enormous sexual appetite. Peter was as well named as he was well endowed. He had a tendency to stray from time to time, but allowed Darlene the same latitude and always came straight home in the end of the day.
Soon after their marriage Peter was offered a huge sum for his company by a French conglomerate and sold to then become a consultant to that firm. They were headquartered in Nice and he and Darlene moved to the Grand Duchy of Sainte Pierre to live in a company mansion overlooking the Mediterranean. At a party they met and became friends with the Grand Duke Lorentez, the ruler of the Duchy and his wife, the American screen actress Martha Monroney. Martha was very lonely for American female companionship. She needed to have someone as a friend and confidante and since she came from a very old and rich Philadelphia family she and Darlene shared similar backgrounds and many acquaintances. The two soon became the best of friends.