Jasper lay in bed as the light of the sun crept into the soaring curtains over the windows. He was still nude beneath the covers and had been laying in silence for close to an hour. His mind was too consumed with thoughts to consider getting up. One thing was on his mind, or should he say person? Elijah Goode. The feeling of his servant's hands on him, every gentle stroke that touched his body, was something Jasper could dwell on forever. He still couldn't believe what he and Eli did last night. But he sure as hell wasn't regretting it. His body was still tingly with an aspiration for another round of love making, and sore...he had to admit that.
His cheeks blushed out of nowhere and he smiled into the pillow under his head. In a small way, he was nervous about seeing Eli this morning. He was confident things between them wouldn't be awkward, but now that he could imagine Eli in a sexual manner, he couldn't lie and say picturing him as he was last night, was something that wouldn't cross his mind every now and again.
At the sound of the knob to his bedroom door jiggling, Jasper felt a jolt of nervousness and closed his eyes, pretending he was still asleep. Footsteps approached the side of the bed but nothing happened for a moment. He couldn't help his hidden smile as the blanket began to slowly come off him.
"Why are you naked?!"
With a gasp, Jasper sat up with haste, meeting the eyes of Edmund. His heart skipped a beat in shock. "Edmund, what are you doing in here?" he screamed back, scurrying to gather some pillows to cover his groin.
Edmund erupted in laughter, gripping his side in hilarious pain. His laugh was ugly as he hooted and snorted. "My lord," he mocked, "You have the body of a small boy. Have you matured since the age of ten, cousin?"
Hot embarrassment melted into Jasper, "Get out, now!"
Edmund wiped a tear from his cheek, pointing at the mattress when he spotted something. "What is that...?" he peered closer, "Is that semen?" He laughed even harder. "Usually when one looks to pleasure themselves, cousin, they try to be a bit modest about it!"
Jasper didn't want to get up, so he chucked a pillow at Edmund, "Get out, insufferable hound!" Behind Edmund, Jasper caught sight of Eli coming through the door with a tray of breakfast, confusion washed over his expression. "Get him out of here!" Jasper commanded Eli.
Edmund glanced over his shoulder at the red-haired boy, "Hold on, cousin, I came to tell you something." Calming himself, he waved Eli away, and said, "While your butler was preparing you breakfast, your father asked me to inform you of your grandparent's arrival. You know, the old geezers on your mother's side."
At that, Jasper chucked another pillow, "Get out, Edmund!"
When the seventeen-year-old disappeared into the hall, the door shutting behind him, Jasper was fuming from the ears. All his nervousness about seeing Eli quickly faded, being replaced by the remembrance of why he hated all of Scarlett's nephews. They were atrocious, intruding insects who didn't know how to keep their mouths shut.
Eli scratched the back of his head, "Um, Jasper...?"
The blonde boy looked up, fury in his eyes, "What!?" he shouted. Then, as if realizing who he'd risen his voice at, he breathed, and said, "I'm sorry, what is it?"
Eli looked back at the shut door and gave a single huff of laughter. He neared Jasper, whose face was flushed with mortification. He looked over the small boy with a pillow covering his lap, and said, "I guess I should have dressed you before I left last night."
Last night...
"I want you to make love to me." His own words rattled in his brain, and a smile came to Jasper's lips then, flooding away all the previous discomfiture.
Eli slid one of his arms beneath Jasper's legs while the other supported his back, and lifted his light weight out of bed. "How about a bath before going to see your grandparents?"
Jasper kissed the side of Eli's neck all the way to the tub before he was set down. Every memory he had of last night was beautiful and filled with hidden glee. He'd seen so much more than the love Eli had shown him. He'd seen the stars and moon in a whole new stance, felt sensations he'd never dreamt of feeling, and it was all brought on by the red-haired young man at his side.
As Eli ran the soap along his arms and legs, across his chest, Jasper played with his hair and stole secret kisses. When he was dressed in a casual coral pink trouser shorts suit, his hair dry and down in wavy tresses, he stood in the center of the room as Eli adjusted his shoes. "I love you, Elijah."
Eli looked up at that. When he stood, he seized Jasper's hand and softly kissed the back of it, his skin like cotton. "And I love you, Jasper. You didn't hear me say it last night as you slept."
"What can I say," Jasper reddened, "I was exhausted."
Eli gestured to the chamber door, "Your grandparents await your arrival."
Jasper gave a nod, "I will head down alone. For the time being, I think my sheets need washing."
"Wait, I nearly forgot your breakfast. Will you eat first?"
"I will be fine until afternoon tea. You enjoy it as I head down."
The entire manor seemed extra lit with the brilliance of the sun, what with all the curtains open and sunlight pouring in. It gave the usually gloomy-looking manor a bit of life. But that was normal on the days when Jasper's grandparents came to visit. Grandma Petunia was an adequate old woman when she was a bit younger, but he was never really close with her. However, Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Benard were lively even for a couple in their early sixties. And Jasper loved them almost as much as he had loved...still loved...his mother.
Coming off the last of the steps, he was surprised by a pleasant voice coming from the end of the foyer. "Jasper, my boy," it was Grandpa Benard. He wasn't tiny like most old men; he was tall and had a slight belly. His hair was black with lots of silvering grey, and looked more like a man entering his fifties. Grandma Dorothy was beside him in a jade tint gown that circled wide around her waist, and her blonde hair was losing is vibrancy, looking paler and paler each year. But the beauty she'd passed on to her daughter was apparent on her face. "How is my favorite grandson?"
Jasper shook his head at his grandfather, "I am your only grandson..."
Benard shrugged, "Then that explains why we cherish you so, am I right?" The jolly man slung Jasper against him and gave a squeeze, knocking the wind out of his grandson in the process. "Jazz, have you been eating right?" he questioned, "I swear every time we see you, you look a year younger than before. You are so small for a lad of your age. Seventeen, boy."
Dorothy waved her husband away, "Oh, don't be so crude, dear. I find our grandson to be a perfectly perfect work of perfection. He is an absolute doll." Placing a hand at the small of Jasper's back, Dorothy steered him towards the front doors. "Come, let us depart from this place before your inconsiderate father decides to show his ugly mug."
Jasper looked back at the stairs before stepping into the morning. He thought of Eli coming down to find him missing, but he also didn't want to disregard his grandparents. They only ever stopped by to see him a handful of times during the year, and he didn't want to miss out on this opportunity to get away from the manor with people he was truly fond of.
Catching sight of Dolly – another maid – coming down the stairs, before she could leave the foyer, he said, "Dolly, deliver a message to Elijah for me. Go and tell him I've stepped out and he may have the day to himself."
Dolly looked back up at the stairs and sighed, as if climbing back up all the way to the third floor was the last thing she wanted to do. "Yes, Young Master," she nodded, anyway.
And then Jasper and Dorothy and Benard were off.
Eli had finished the breakfast Jasper allowed him to have, and was now gathering the sullied sheets from the massive bed. The scent of sweat and violet lingered on the blankets as he lifted them into his arms and started from the room. He made a note to come back up after washing the sheets to retrieve the dirty dishes.
On his way out, he almost collided with an elfin maid with graying auburn hair. "Pardon me," he apologized, ready to move around her when she didn't step aside.
Dolly said, "The Young Master wanted me to inform you that your duties for the day have been called off. The rest of the day is yours to do with as you please until he arrives home again."
Eli quirked his brow, "Jasper – I mean, my Master has left the manor?"
She nodded, "Yes, with Mister and Misses Newbury."
Newbury.
Eli remembered the name from the headstone at Jasper's mother's grave. "Thank you, Dolly," Eli nodded with gratitude, "for telling me."
She held out her arms, offering to take the sheets, "I will be glad to take care of your duties until his return."
The old woman already looked strained as it was. "No," Eli said with a fair smile, "I will finish my tasks on my own.
Dolly looked relieved, "Alright." Then she turned and walked away.
Eli would have liked to have met Mister and Misses Newbury a bit formally. He'd seen them down in the foyer on his way up the stairs, but didn't feel obligated to say anything to them. He wasn't sure if they were a coarse couple or kind, but keeping himself quiet seemed like a good idea as of late in the Lancechester manor.
He was on his way to the washroom out in the back of the house, now. Strolling through the many hallways and crossing the archway of the dining room, something caught his attention when he moved by. There was buoyant laughter coming from inside when Eli passed and he paused for a moment. "Can you believe I found him buck naked in bed earlier?" came the voice of Edmund. "His tiny arse was bared for the world to see. Well, me, at least."
Laughter rattled the walls again.
"That must've scarred you for life," it was Bolton this time.
"And understand this," Edmund added, "There was semen on the bedding."
"Eww!" hooted Audrey, "That is-."
She cut herself off as someone whistled to get her attention. It was only then when Eli realized he was standing in the center of the archway for all the people inside to see him. Edmund and Francis beside one another, their butlers standing watchful behind them, as Audrey and Bolton were both seated across from them at the table. They were all looking at Eli with questionable expressions.
Then Edmund rose from his seat, "There, are those Jasper's sheets?" he asked Eli.
Looking down at the bundle in his arms, Eli narrowed his gaze, darkening the emeralds of his eyes with warning. He didn't say anything. Whatever came out of his mouth, he was sure it would be disrespectful, and, although he didn't like Edmund or any of the others, disrespecting them didn't feel like the right way of approaching things.
So, Eli ignored the question and continued to the washroom.
"Hey, butler, get back here!"
Eli stopped but didn't look back.
A moment later, Edmund was standing in his way with Bolton at his side, as Edmund's middle aged butler towered behind him. The boy with his large square jaw and pointy nose, Bolton, dogged Eli with a stare that was supposed to be intimidating, but it wasn't working as he likely hoped. Edmund, on the other, had the look of someone who wasn't afraid to get himself dirty. He swept a hand through his ginger hair, and said, "I asked you a question, boy."
Eli wanted to say Edmund didn't have the right to call him a boy, seeing as he was older than the seventeen-year-old, but held his tongue with all the might he had. Bolton took a step closer to Eli, hoping, yet again, that his failed attempt at intimidation was working in his favor, "Did my cousin bind your tongue? Speak!"
"Boys, please," it was Audrey coming up from behind. She slid her hand up Eli's back until it rest on his shoulder. "Restrain yourselves, do not frighten the handsome butler. I find him wonderful to simply look at."
Bolton raised his bushy eyebrows at Audrey, "Be careful sister," he said, "He may babble to Jasper for touching him the same way he did Beatrice."
Eli didn't want to think of what could happen if Jasper attempted to stand up for him. Especially against Edmund. For some reason, he came off as the worst of the bunch, confident, and controlling, far more intimidating than either his brother or Bolton. Not listening to her brother, Audrey said, "I can't get over it, though. He is probably the most attractive young man I've ever seen around these parts. What is your name?"
"Excuse me," Eli said instead of answering, "I have to get back to work."
Stepping by them all, Eli started away, but was suddenly jerked back when the tail of his coat was snagged by clenched fists. He was yanked back so hard that his grip on the bundle of sheets slipped and he dropped them. "How dare you!" Edmund shouted, slinging Eli back, causing him to stumble and ram his back against the wall. "How dare filth like you turn your back on us? Do you know who we are?!"
With his fist balled, Edmund approached Eli and pulled it back as if ready to send it flying. When he did, another hand closed around his knuckles, bringing his force to an abrupt halt.
It was Eli.
He'd moved so swiftly no one noticed him raise a hand to defend himself. "It would be wise of you not to put your hands on me," his warning was daunting.
The color seemed to swill out of Edmund's face, making him paler than the white feathers that filled a pillow, clearly not having expected Eli to make any movements. Then his face filled with red and Edmund gritted his teeth.
"Get your hands off my brother!" Francis came darting out of the dining room and shoved Eli back, making him slam against the wall again, his head banging the hard surface. "Richard," Francis called his stoic butler close by, "Seize him!"
Richard's face remained unchanged as he went for Eli and clutched his arms with a force that could cut off circulation. Edmund spoke up this time, "Take his arse to the stables, I'd like to teach him a deal of respect before his pitiful excuse of a master shows up."
Eli would've struggled, would've fought back, but before he could think twice about it, Edmund's butler, a second equally strong man, grabbed him and they hauled him out of the manor.
___
Jasper and his grandparents were inside of a teahouse in the center of Pensweather, the nearest city north of the manor. They were seated at a round, white table topped by a baby blue knit table runner, saucers holding delectable sweets and cups filled with steamy sugared tea, and a thin vase sat in the middle showcasing a beautiful arrangement of flowers. The indigo and peach floral papered walls and sunlit room added to the elegance, and the view overlooking the mermaid fountain below in the city's agora was simply gorgeous. Around them were several other small gatherings of families and friends, all richly dressed aristocrats chatting with smiles on their faces.
They'd arrived there a few minutes ago after a pleasant time dropping fresh flowers at his mother's grave, and attending a drama at the popular theatre. Jasper always enjoyed a good play, the actors were fantastic as they performed A Midsummer Night's Dream, but now he was famished and was glad they'd stopped for a bite to eat. In the back of his head, he hoped Eli was enjoying his day off, catching up on sleep, at least.
Dabbing her mouth with a table cloth, Dorothy folded it in her lap, and said, "I noticed those awful family members of Scarlett's back at the manor. They've done nothing to you, I hope?"
Jasper swallowed the piece of pie in his mouth first. "Other than their usual banter," he said, "I would say everything is still normal." His thoughts traveled to when Edmund saw him in the nude and his cheeks warmed. He hoped his grandparents didn't notice the change of color in his face.
Benard gave a huff, "I would give each of those brats a talk myself if I could. Except for Lily and William. Surely the youngest children aren't a problem."
"No, grandfather, they are fine," Jasper admitted, "Perhaps they will stay that way."
Silence fell over the table after a moment, the chatter of the other gatherings surrounding them as they finished the last of their small meal. A bell rang out when the entry doors to the teahouse opened and a young girl in a slim maroon gown with curled black hair waltzed into the room. Beside this girl stood another, this one brunette and around the same age, dressed in a casual navy servant's dress with her hands closed in front of her. It was Darcy, and, who Jasper could only imagine was, Juliette.
Without meaning to, a sort of excitement entered him, and he shouted in her direction, "Lady Darcy!" he called out, and then covered a hand over his mouth when people stared his way.
Darcy and Juliette looked at him, and Darcy smiled and whispered something into Juliette's ear. Jasper wanted to know what had been said between them. Whatever it was, it made Juliette smile and snicker.
When she made her way over to him, Jasper stood, offering her a kind hand, "Lady Darcy, these are my grandparents Dorothy and Benard."
"Pleased," Darcy nodded. There was an extra chair at the table that seated four and he gestured for her to take a seat. She did and Juliette stood behind her.
Benard's grin widened when the young Lady took a seat. "Might I inquire your association with this Lady Darcy?" he asked.
"She is simply an acquaintance I had the pleasure of meeting the other night."
Darcy reached across the table and touched Jasper's hand, "I am sure the remainder of your night went swell, Master Jasper?"
A lump formed in Jasper's throat, but he swallowed it when he realized his grandparents surely didn't understand what she meant by that at all. He silently hoped his cheeks didn't flush when a sudden flash of warmth came to his face. "Perhaps," is all he said.
"Dear, me," Dorothy smiled, "Darcy, you are simply perfect. I envy your youthful loveliness."
"Madame Dorothy," Darcy said in a becoming manner, "Even for a woman of your time, the reminiscence of your beauty is still ever so present."
"Oh, my," Dorothy's face flushed, Jasper could see, had gone even more red than his, "You flatter me."
Jasper laughed, more genuinely than he could remember laughing since he was younger, "Do not mind my grandmother," he said, "She imagines everything is perfect."
"Not everything, Jazz," Dorothy broke, "Only what is truly perfect. Like you and Lady Darcy. Perhaps the two of you could be perfect together? It is clear neither of you have wedded anyone. And you, Jazz, the light that sparked in your eyes when Lady Darcy entered the teahouse, I'd swear you were in love."
"Grandmother..." Jasper sighed.
Darcy said, "No we both are not married to another. Though, perchance the Young Master and I could remain friends for a time."
Benard gave his grandson a wink, "Keep her near, boy. A Lady on your arm may be what you need to keep your mind off troubles at the manor."
Darcy gave a questionable look at the word 'troubles', when all Jasper wanted to say was he had Eli there to do exactly that for him.
After a couple more minutes of conversation, Benard and Dorothy were bushed from the long day. They decided, after Jasper mentioned catching a ride back to Lancechester manor with Darcy, that they'd head home for the evening. When they were gone, Juliette took a seat offered by Darcy and regarded Jasper with a polite nod.
"I apologize for that," Jasper said, "Benard and Dorothy, they are very forthright when it comes to things they say."
"It is quite alright, I enjoyed their company, anyhow. My grandparents have passed already, and yours pleasantly reminded me of them. Now that they are gone, however, I'd like to properly introduce you to my darling Juliette."
Jasper gave a smile to the bashful brunette.
"Where is Elijah?" Darcy asked.
"I gave him the day after Dorothy and Benard stole me from the manor. I would have loved to have introduced you both to him."
"Another time then," Darcy said, "Did you, Jasper?" she lowered her voice, "Sleep with Elijah, I mean?"
"You are a very nosy girl, you know that, don't you, Lady Darcy?"
She nodded with pride, "Yes, I sure do. So...?"
"I did."
Darcy and Juliette giggled, covering their mouths like little girls hearing a juicy secret. To others around, Jasper just looked like a lady charmer. "Hold on," Darcy closed her eyes, grinning immensely, "I'm picturing it in my head. Is it odd if I find it extremely attractive?"
Jasper gasped, "Lady Darcy!"
"Apologies, apologies. Juliette and I don't get out much, so having someone to talk with on a similar level is exhilarating. It is nice to have a friend."
Jasper thought so as well. The only other friend he had growing up was his mother. Once she passed, there was no one who could block out all the distraught in his heart the way Eli and now Darcy could. He was grateful to have met her at Scarlett's ball. "I couldn't agree more," he said to her. "Lady Darcy, Juliette, I do find a sort of comfort being able to spend time with the two of you."
"Would you care," Darcy announced, "to go on a stroll around the city with us before we depart?"
"That sounds wonderful."