Dick and Muriel would often steal away for picnics on the beach or long walks in the city streets. Sometimes Fred and Martin joined them and sometimes they went off on their own. A few days later, Fred found out that his baby, a healthy son, had been born. He was so thrilled he cried tears of joy. They all toasted Fred on the yacht as the sun set on Hope Town.
The days of exploring, picnicking, sunbathing, and swimming ran into each other. One afternoon, as Dick and Muriel watched the sun go down, Dick spoke both anxiously and wistfully about his early childhood, his family in Winston-Salem, and what a skillful businessman his father had been. Much had changed since those days. Dick could talk about it for only so long before he grew sad and quiet. It was time to change plans again.
Jamaican Adventures
Dick ordered everyone back in the boat so they could set sail for Jamaica. Fred and Martin continued to be afraid of navigating on their own and even got a little seasick. That left Dick to handle the sailing. Dick took the bridge for two full days without a single wink of sleep. Eventually he taught Muriel how to read the autopilot function so he could get some rest. As Dick and Muriel took turns handling the boat, Dick talked with her more about his family’s history, the anguish of losing his father and the turmoil he experienced when his mother remarried and died a short time later. It was evident that the pain of these events had stayed with him—perhaps that was why he had such a hard time settling down.
A day later, the men finally had recovered and got themselves on deck, although they were still weary of the sea. Later that afternoon they spotted Cuba, and Fred piped up and said, “Mr. Reynolds, how far is that land over there?”
“Look, Fred,” Dick replied, “it’s too damned far for you to swim it and you’re staying on this boat until we get to Jamaica.” Fred burst into laughter, and both he and Martin lightened up after that. Martin even got around to cooking them a delicious Southern dinner.
On the third day, they arrived in Jamaica and Dick dropped anchor at precisely the time he had predicted. Dick sent Fred and Martin home, and brought Peter Barber in to take over the boat. Dick and Muriel went ashore to check into a hotel and spend the week sightseeing. Muriel was sad to leave the boat—in spite of the crew problems, she enjoyed getting to know Dick even better and she had begun to absorb the anguish of his younger years. Dick had tired of talking about his parents, at least for now, and he was ready to party in Jamaica.
From Kingston, Dick and Muriel drove overland to Ocho Rios, and Peter Barber sailed the White Heron to meet them on the other side. Dick had reserved rooms for them, as well as for Strat and his wife, Mackie, who were coming down to join them. Strat had to prepare Dick’s spring taxes and it was always easier to join him wherever he was than coax him up to Winston-Salem. Muriel worried that they were there to convince Dick to return to his family and children. But this was not the case—in fact, both of them thought Dick couldn’t leave Marianne soon enough.
Over the course of their holiday, the couples took drives through the tropical mountains and went swimming nearly every day. Each evening they dined or went dancing at different establishments together. The more time they spent with her, the more Strat and Mackie liked Muriel and seemed genuinely happy for Dick. It was evident to Muriel how much Strat loved and admired his boss. He knew Dick probably better than anyone, and told Muriel that Winston-Salem wasn’t a “large enough orbit” for someone like Dick.
While Dick was avoiding drinking excessively throughout the trip, he couldn’t resist the Scotch that was served at lunch one day at their hotel bar. A group of men were sitting next to their table, talking loudly about a mixed race woman who was sitting at the bar. Dick found their language shocking and offensive, and, unable to listen to it, called for the check immediately. Later that night, Dick and Muriel went back to the same bar. The more he drank, the happier he became and Muriel hoped nothing would spoil his mood. Suddenly, he looked up to see the same group of men walking in. They took a seat next to Dick’s table.
Dick got up and hurried to the front desk. He asked the clerk who the men were and learned that they were Reynolds engineers.
“What?” Dick asked.
“Yes, sir. Reynolds engineers—they work for the Reynolds bauxite mines.”
“Thank you very much, sir.” Dick turned on his heel, a wide, mischievous smile spread across his face. He breezed past Muriel, whose face was full of dread. Dick tapped one man’s shoulder.
“Excuse me, gentlemen, but who is your manager here?”
“I’m in charge of these boys,” one of the men said. “How can I help you?”
“I’m Richard Reynolds, and I’m here to inform you that I found your behavior at lunchtime today reprehensible. I heard the way you discussed a woman in a public restaurant. You’re all fired.”
The men were in shock. As Dick had hoped, they’d never personally met Richard S. Reynolds Jr., his favorite cousin, who had just built a bauxite mine in Ocho Rios; he turned their credulousness to his advantage. Ignoring their pleas, he whipped out identification to prove his identity. He continued, “Under no circumstances are you to report for work tomorrow.” As they protested, Dick turned around, retrieved Muriel, and walked out of the hotel. Once they were out of earshot, Dick doubled over with laughter. He loved pulling pranks.
A year and a half afterward, Dick met his cousin in London, and Muriel watched as Richard told Dick about an incident when one day four of his engineers didn’t turn up for work in Jamaica. Dick quietly listened, but never told him that he’d been responsible for their departure. Muriel thought it was hilarious. Poor Richard S. Reynolds had needed those workers, and their disappearance held up business for weeks.
A week later, Strat and his wife departed for Winston-Salem, and Dick received news that Marianne knew he was in Jamaica—of course, he felt they should depart at once.
He wanted to go to England immediately to work on the Aries, but needed to replace his passport. He’d managed to sail all around the Caribbean without it because authorities rarely checked for the passports of yacht captains in those days. He’d have to apply for a new one and wait for it to come through. Meanwhile, he ordered Muriel to go to London and wait for him. Once Dick got his passport, he would fly to Montreal first where he planned to move large amounts of money out of the country, in anticipation of his divorce from Marianne.
Both Dick and Muriel had many misadventures on their way back to London. Dick had a layover in Chicago and accidentally got on a flight headed for Los Angeles instead of Montreal. Upon his arrival in Los Angeles, he booked another flight to Montreal, again by way of Chicago where he had another long layover. When he arrived in Montreal, he sat down with the president of the Royal Bank of Canada, who helped him transfer his funds and securities there while the divorce was pending. When that was done, Dick booked a flight to London, only to have the plane turn around halfway into the flight due to mechanical problems. Rather than stay another night in Montreal, he booked the next flight to London without sleeping. It was just another week in the life of Dick Reynolds.
At the same time, Muriel took a long, white-knuckle flight from Jamaica to London. She had seen the crew drinking and partying at her hotel the night before until 3:00 A.M. She was mortified to find them operating the plane to London just a few hours later.
When they finally reunited days later, Dick and Muriel collapsed from exhaustion at 15 Grosvenor Square.
Building the Aries, March 1952
In London, Dick was exhausted and frustrated with the way the divorce was going. Marianne had apparently just checked into St. Luke’s Hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown. Dick wasn’t sure what to think of it, and he was about to have a nervous breakdown himself. Around the same time, newspapers reported that Dick had been seen cruising around the Caribbean with a new woman, which would only complicate the divorce proceedings even more. Dick also felt strongly that he should take care of the two boys, Michael and Patrick, and fought for custody. Althou
gh Strat Coyner was still aiding the divorce case, Frank Wells of Courdert Brothers was handling the bulk of the divorce paperwork now. Dick was confident in his attorneys’ abilities, but he was annoyed that this case was much less efficient than his divorce from Blitz.
Dick focused on finishing the Aries. It had been seven years since the war ended, but it was still difficult to find construction materials. Many of the metal factories made low-quality iron and other metals needed for the yacht. Poorly made machinery and materials often broke or deteriorated, causing delays throughout the process.
To take him back and forth, Dick hired a well-known British chauffeur, Cyril Pollard, who was recommended by the Grosvenor Square doorman. Pollard’s résumé included a long assignment at Buckingham Palace, where he’d been the chauffeur to Princess Elizabeth before she became queen. Once she was crowned, he became the chauffeur for Prince Philip. Dick loved Pollard and his entertaining tales of the royal palace. He was fittingly restrained, but when Dick and Muriel begged him, he’d relent and tell them fascinating stories about the royal family. Pollard said he adored Princess Elizabeth and couldn’t say enough kind things about her. But he described Prince Philip as a reckless driver who frequently took the wheel and led him on wild-goose chases. Eventually, Pollard tired of his antics and resigned.
Muriel later joined Dick on his trips to Gosport. The work at Camper & Nicholsons yard, one of the leading yacht builders in England, dragged on—it was as stagnant as Dick’s divorce from Marianne. Muriel speculated that they were deliberately working slowly to run up Dick’s bills. Dick hoped to launch the Aries by April, but it would not happen.
Dick had a devoted longtime employee, Captain Evans, who was set to lead the Aries upon its completion, and Evans oversaw the building of the yacht on Dick’s behalf. Evans fought in both world wars, and had previously operated the Zapala years ago and worked intermittently with Dick when he was in Europe. Captain Evans took great pride in Dick’s boats and was honored to work for him.
The other members of the crew did not have as much respect for Dick. Dick’s reputation for spending lavishly and picking up drinking buddies often encouraged people to take advantage of him. Captain Evans had noticed that Dick had a “terrible time handling the British crew.” Dick would get drunk with them and over-tip them on a regular basis. The unseasoned workmen came to expect these large sums of money, unable to grasp that Dick’s generosity was not something to which they were entitled. When it came time to pay their very fair, normal wages, they loudly complained. Captain Evans said Dick was doing a “disservice” to the men because they didn’t value their wages, or the work they did anymore.
At times, Muriel couldn’t figure out if Dick was naive and vulnerable or if he was the one taking advantage of people. Did people use Dick or did he use them? When Dick was through with employees, he didn’t think twice about dumping them and never looking back. In a way, his generosity freed him from any guilt he might have when he dropped people who were no longer of use to him. At the same time, Dick had a habit of being stingy with those close to him, and too generous with perfect strangers. This dynamic was certainly evident with his own children. Dick seemed to buy people’s loyalty and then discard it at will—almost like trading relationships the way he traded his stocks.
Muriel would later find out just how harsh this paradox could be.
Easter was fast approaching, so they took another holiday to Monte Carlo, which would be interrupted by a host of problems. First, Dick found out from Frank Wells that Marianne had attempted to use the $15,000 check she had stolen from him nearly six months before to buy a piece of jewelry at Van Cleef & Arpels. When they refused to honor the check, she filed a lawsuit against Chemical Bank, which issued the check. Dick’s lawyers had to handle that lawsuit as well as everything else. Marianne was proving to be a fierce adversary.
Then Dick found out that Republican congressmen had discovered the 1948 IRS ruling that permitted Dick and a few other large Democratic donors to write off their loans as bad business debt. Another investigation was launched, but Dick instructed Coyner to tell them he was out of the country and not to comment. Dick hoped it would blow over.
But the worst was yet to come. Dick received word that Patrick had been diagnosed with polio and was staying at the Crippled Children’s Hospital in Miami. Dick contacted the best doctors in Miami to check on Patrick and hired a nurse he knew personally to tend to him. The doctors assured him that the case was mild and they were confident their treatment would be successful. Patrick had to be quarantined because of the polio and couldn’t have any visitors, so Dick decided not to go in to see him, but he was in contact every morning and evening.
“Please tell him that Daddy phoned every day,” Dick said.
The doctors assured him that if anything happened, they would contact him through his lawyers.
CHAPTER 12
Cracks in the Romance
1952
By the end of the month, Dick received news that Patrick had recovered so well he would soon be released from the hospital. Dick also heard from Frank Wells that there were witnesses prepared to come forward and testify to Marianne’s affair with Porfirio Rubirosa.
Dick was jubilant, but hesitant to follow through with this line of attack. Muriel was infuriated. She was tired of waiting for Dick to be divorced so they could marry, and angrily reminded Dick that Marianne was the one who first cheated, not him, and she must take responsibility for that. Dick called Strat Coyner and told him to make sure Rubirosa was named a corespondent in the divorce motion. The divorce motion included Dick’s fight for custody of Michael and Patrick, then four and a half and three years old respectively, and additional accusations that Marianne had a “violent and ungovernable temper” (echoing Blitz’s divorce), had treated Dick with “extreme cruelty,” and that she used profane language in the presence of Dick and the servants. Dick also publicly accused Marianne of drinking too much, which was all too ironic coming from Dick.
Newspapers enthusiastically reported on the scandal, reciting Dick’s accusation that Marianne had had an affair with Rubirosa in a Paris hotel. Marianne accused Dick of desertion and said only that she was never “in a hotel” with Rubirosa. Marianne warned Dick that she would contest the divorce unless he withdrew the accusation of “indiscretions with Rubi.” Dick did as she said, but the heavy press exposure did motivate Marianne to discuss a settlement.
Dick and Muriel continued to travel incognito. Dick knew that one photo of him and Muriel could sabotage his case. They asked Pollard to meet them at the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco, and they would take a scenic drive up to Provence and Paris, where Muriel had reserved a pair of rooms at the Lancaster Hotel under her maiden name.
Trouble at Hôtel du Nord
One pleasant evening, they stopped for dinner at a restaurant outside Vienne at seven and ordered champagne afterward. The waiter came to their table with a bottle and poured each of them a glass. After taking a sip, Muriel said, “I don’t want to drink champagne that’s corked. This is corked.”
“Why don’t we have a new bottle?” Dick motioned to the waiter to replace it. The waiter returned with a new bottle, which was also corked. Muriel instantly detected the faint, moldy smell in the champagne and protested again.
“Why not drink it anyway, Muriel?” Dick said.
Muriel whined, “What if I get sick? Nothing is worse than corked champagne.”
“Drink it anyway.”
Muriel was unsatisfied. This was supposed to be the best restaurant in town and they were going to spend an absurd amount of money there. Dick used the excuse of corked champagne to start drinking hard liquor.
The waiter finally brought a good bottle, and Dick and Muriel exchanged barbs as the waiter filled their glasses.
But the more Dick drank, the happier he became. The good mood held and spread; the owner and waiter joined Dick and Muriel for liqueurs after their meal.
The good feeling ended when Dick called
for the bill and insisted on paying for the two corked bottles of champagne. Muriel’s anger flamed anew.
“This shouldn’t be the policy of a good restaurant. It’s their duty to make the customer happy.”
This time, Dick roared with laughter. Muriel did not find it amusing.
“Excuse me, sir!” Muriel called to the owner. She rattled off a few remarks in French to him, and the owner promptly picked up the bill and revised it to remove the two bottles. Dick tried to tell him that he had no problem paying, but the owner insisted.
After he’d paid the bill, Dick refused to leave the restaurant. He forced Muriel to stay with him until 2:00 A.M., while he got sickeningly drunk. Once again Dick would destroy an evening, and probably the day after too, with another drinking jag. Muriel was so angry with him that she said she would walk the four miles into Vienne to check into a hotel. She bolted for the door. Dick happily followed her to the car, tripping over himself along the way. Pollard had been patiently waiting for them the whole time. Dick hopped into the car, but Muriel refused to get in and kept walking. In the dead of night, Muriel walked down the road while Dick and Pollard drove beside her. “Muriel, please get in,” Dick pleaded.
She ignored him and kept walking.
“Please, dear,” Dick said, patting the seat beside him.
They continued driving alongside Muriel. Pollard was exhausted from having waited for them all night and wanted to get some rest. In frustration he said, “Ma’am, it’s getting late. Do get in.”
Muriel laughed. “Oh, you poor dear. You must be exhausted. I’ll do it for you.”
Meanwhile, Dick’s temperature was quickly rising. Muriel could by now identify the signs when Dick was about to fall ill. They needed to find a bed as soon as possible, so they checked into the nearest hotel they could find—the Hôtel du Nord—a dump opposite the train station. In the middle of the night they didn’t realize how bad it really was. They also had no idea how long they’d have to stay there. It was 3:00 A.M., and the concierge gave them the only room left—a bathroom-less room with a shabby double bed and a collapsible bidet. They’d have to share the bathroom down the hall. They settled into the ugly room and Dick undressed for bed. As soon as he removed all his clothes and dropped the last sock on the floor, he stood up again, pulled all his clothes back on, and headed for the door.
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