Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth

by Greer Boyd

  When she and Jerome approached the ‘unofficial’ head of the crew, Elizabeth lowered her voice and, as unobtrusively as possible, addressed him in Portuguese, “Estou muito feliz que você aprovar. (I am very glad that you approve).” He smiled and again bowed.

  “May I ask your name, Sir?” she asked as she stood resolutely to her full height.

  “Fleming, Stanley Fleming, Ma’am,” responded the sailor, as he swept his hat from his head and now held it firmly at his side.

  Recognizing him to be most likely the younger son of a low ranking gentleman, and glancing to Jerome for his silent consent, she inquired, “Mr. Fleming, would you meet with my husband and me for breakfast at the Hotel Le Claire tomorrow morning around ten?”

  First looking at his feet and then at Jerome and finally Elizabeth, he nodded his head and bowed.

  “I will notify the concierge to direct you to our breakfast parlor,” she stated, as she departed the ship followed closely by her smiling husband, who allowed his chest to puff almost perceptibly in pride.

  ∞∞∞

  When Mr. Fleming entered the breakfast parlor the next morning, now noticeably attired more to fit his actual social station, he found the couple seated before the fireplace chatting companionably. They rose immediately, and he quickly bowed to them both. After they had bowed and curtsied in response, Elizabeth suggested, “Shall we move to the table, while I call for breakfast to be brought in?”

  As they were being served tea, she became aware that their guest was growing increasingly nervous and sought to calm him. Slowly extending her hand, palm open and up though slightly cupped, she spoke softly, “Mr. Fleming, we find that we are in need of your service.”

  He looked questioningly at them both and could not stop a bit of suspicion from creeping into his voice when he asked, “And what service might that be?”

  Elizabeth’s smile was as disarming as it was sincere, and she responded swiftly: “I am sure that you noticed that I took note of the deference with which you are treated by both the crew and the officers aboard ship.”

  His expression acknowledged the truth of her statement, but he did not speak.

  “I would like for you to act as representative for the ship in counter-point to our personal representative.” She turned her outstretched palm down firmly on the table before her as she spoke, “Simply stated, I wish to place you in either a very enviable or an equally despised position, and you may feel free to let me know which at a later date.”

  Never allowing anything but an open and genial expression on her face, she went on, “Yesterday, in addition to the bonus, I offered education for those who cannot read or write and also said I would personally provide a tutor, either onboard ship or at our warehouse. I would like to further suggest the possibility of investment for all crewmen and officers who would like to avail themselves of the opportunity.

  “To institute this new ‘manifest’ procedure, the option of being a member on one of the three teams needs to be open to each and every crewman. If any crewman cannot read, write, or perform simple ‘household’ accounting, the positions would not be equitable for all. To me . . .”

  At this point a member of the hotel staff, looking resplendent in his overly done uniform, knocked softly and then opened the door to bring in the covered trays containing the foods for the breakfast selection. Elizabeth stopped mid-sentence and gracefully pointed to the breakfast sideboard. “Sur le buffet, s’il vous plait (On the sideboard, please),” she instructed pleasantly, and then said to the two men, “Shall we make our selection and then I will continue?”

  With their plates now full, they returned to the table, where they began their meal, as Elizabeth continued almost as though there had been no interruption, “Mr. Fleming, to me it seems to make sense to maintain as loyal and happy a crew as possible. To that end, I think that it would be best to cultivate crewmen of long term who feel that they have a vested interest in the ship, as well as the cargo.”

  Mr. Fleming rested his fork on his plate, wiped his mouth gingerly with the linen napkin, and spoke for the second time since Elizabeth had begun, “My Lady, I . . .”

  Before he could finish whatever he was about to say, Elizabeth corrected him brightly, the corners of her mouth twitching with humor. “Please do not elevate me to the peerage, Mr. Fleming. I am simply Mrs. Mills, or you may call me Elizabeth, if you agree with the suggestions that I would like to implement.”

  “Mrs. Mills, I am sure that you have heard it said that ‘if something sounds too good to be true, it is often just that.’ You offer a great deal, but you seem to require little in return,” the incredulous young man replied, almost sheepishly.

  Instantly, Elizabeth’s eyes flashed with fire and he was taken aback as she spoke quite calmly but firmly, “I require a great deal in return. I want the losses on the ship to come to within an acceptable level, and I require the assistance of all onboard to this end. Most of all, I require YOUR assistance.”

  In that moment, Stan Fleming realized she had overheard the conversation between the crewmen and knew of his complacency. That was why he was here. The responsibility for curbing the pilferage was to rest on him. This position would be similar to the one he already informally held, but now his allegiance would be to the ship’s owner, as well as to the crew.

  “Good and truly caught,” he thought to himself, chagrined.

  “Mr. Fleming,” stated Elizabeth her voice now as unaffected as before. “I have given this a great deal of thought, so I will lay my plan before you. If after you have heard the full explication, you feel that the plan has merit, then we will work together in its implementation.”

  Over the course of the next half hour, Elizabeth assiduously described the details of what she had in mind for both the sailor, and her husband of three day’s duration, while both looked at her with a welter of emotions, led by wonder in one case and pride in the other.

  She reviewed the construction of “The Tempest” as being somewhere between a sloop and a collier, although much smaller than both, with a potential cargo capacity of between thirty and fifty tons and a complement of about sixteen persons consisting of the captain, five officers, and ten crewmen.

  Listing potential expenses of the payment of standard wages and the maintenance of the ship, and using a best guess as to the eventual cost of the educational opportunity offer to the crewman, she determined the potential net profit range per trip. Her estimate came to an amount from £500 to £2,000, depending upon the nature of the cargo being transported. She explained that the vast majority of the profits would range more in the £500 range, but used the mean, a profit of £1,250, as an example as she explained her concept further. She indicated to Mr. Fleming that she knew that the estimation of profit was high, for there would be fewer cargos with the larger potential profit.

  She further explained, amply indicating that she understood the wage scale, the average crewman’s pay was about fifteen shillings per week, with a potential of about £39 per year, that was if he were able to find a position and manage to keep it for a full year. Her plan of a two percent bonus on a £500 profit yielded about £10 each trip to be disbursed equally among the total crew yielding about 12 schillings and six pence per crewman. A bonus based on a £2,000 profit potentially yielding £2 and 10 schillings per crewman. At a profit of £1,250 the result would be £1 and 12 schillings per trip per crewman. Since there would likely be a trip between London and the Continent approximately every two weeks or twenty-six trips per year, there were possible bonuses amounting to about £29 per crewman annually, more than half again a sailor’s potential annual income.

  With his years of experience, the seaman realized that Elizabeth’s plan was nothing short of brilliant, with a large bit of altruism thrown in. By offering the bonus incentive, she could simply shift the losses that were occurring because of neglect and pilferage into an offer of more money to the crew, and even with her additional offer of one percent of all the ship’s profits
at the end of each year, she would still come out ahead of current profits by possibly one to two percent.

  “Mr. Fleming,” confessed Elizabeth, now resting both palms on the table and looking deeply into his face, “I admit that I may have oversimplified the offer of the bonus. I also admit my lack of knowledge of the challenges faced by ships and the men who sail and work on them. So, if there are things that I have not addressed or am not aware of, or if something that I have suggested appears too unrealistic, please let me know so that we can work to make my projections more reliable.”

  “Mrs. Mills, Elizabeth, I am simply stunned,” floundered Mr. Fleming as he ran his hand through his hair. “I have been witness to many ship owners, but never have I known one to offer what you do.” As the look of a conspirator spread over his face, he added, “It is a bold plan, but I can see wisdom in every part.”

  “Thank you,” said Elizabeth, her face beaming with satisfaction. “Then let me tell you of further plans. I would like for you to find someone, a crewman, on ‘The Tempest’ who you feel could act in your stead.”

  When she saw the sailor’s face cloud with growing trepidation, she quickly added, “Please do not look at me in such a dreadful manner. I want to expand your job, not eliminate it. I would like to extend the number of ships in my fleet and extend the shipping routes.

  “Simply put, as soon as you have someone who can replace you, I would like for you to leave the ship and become my personal liaison between the ship and the warehouse. As soon as you can after you leave the ship, I would like for you to search for two more men just like the man you choose as your replacement. Depending upon the profitability of ‘The Tempest,’ I would like to purchase one or two more ships before this time next year and each year thereafter, but only so long as each ship remains profitable. I also want to schedule a ship for travel to Egypt and Mesopotamia to initiate trade there. The trip from London to Egypt or Mesopotamia would take around twenty days under average conditions plus the time in port, totaling about eight weeks per trip, which comes to about six or, if things were to go very, very well, seven trips a year.”

  Fleming looked questioningly at Jerome, who to this point had not said a word, the long fingers of one hand resting on the edge of the table. As he leaned back into his chair, and simply watched his new and quite amazing wife in action. With no hesitation, he declared, “Please understand, the ship belongs to my wife, as do any profits that it makes. It is her choice as to what she wants to do with it. I have utmost confidence in anything she wants to do. She has my complete support. I may even implement this bonus plan on some of MY ships.”

  Elizabeth quickly followed her husband’s comment, smiling brightly as she slowly twirled the spoon in her tea. “Mr. Fleming, please pay a visit to my husband’s London office when we return from our trip, and we will sit down in earnest and meet with our solicitor to work out the details. This will give you time to seek out any potential flaws that may need to be addressed as well.”

  As he stood to leave, the young man nodded his head forward in an abbreviated bow, a gesture that in this instance was as much in deference to Elizabeth as it was social convention, “Elizabeth, it would be my pleasure to work with you in whatever position you see fit.”

  ∞∞∞

  The following day, the sun shown down bright and beautiful as Jerome and Elizabeth began their trip throughout France and its many harbors. After the various business meetings in many different cities and towns throughout the country, Jerome’s French contacts had no doubt that Elizabeth was indeed truly his ‘business partner’ as well as his wife. The couple was not, however, so single-minded about their business interests to miss the opportunity to add to their travels towns that held no prospective meetings. This was, after all, partly a honeymoon.

  Toward the end of their trip, it was in Lille that Elizabeth found a small shop draped throughout with an amazing array of beautiful fabric. She had been particularly drawn to a vibrant red-coloured silk, when she spotted a lovely young woman sitting at a small table in the far corner of the shop sewing a garment made from a piece of that same material. Elizabeth approached her and cheerfully asked, “Parlez-vous Anglais? (Do you speak English?)”

  “Yes, I do,” responded the young woman, allowing a hint of suspicion to creep into her voice.

  “What a beautiful dress! May I look at it?” asked Elizabeth, careful not to look as if she were insisting.

  “Of course,” replied the young woman, obviously letting go of some of her wariness in the face of Elizabeth’s unpretentious manner. “It is for the wife of Monsieur Du Prie, the owner of the shop. She is proportioned very much like you and does not like the trend that women’s fashions have taken since the war.”

  As Elizabeth looked at the dress, she was impressed with the meticulous and intricate stitching. She knew that silk was a very unforgiving fabric to sew, and that great skill was required to produce a garment of this quality and beauty.

  “Your stitches are exquisite, and the gown is beautifully done,” she said enthusiastically, the corners of her eyes crinkling with friendliness. “Do you work for someone or possibly have your own shop?”

  The young woman lowered her head for a moment as the recollection of things lost unconsciously showed in her demeanor. Ruefully, she looked up and replied, “My sisters and I worked for our father, until he was killed during the war along with our brother, my sister Gabriella’s husband. Now, we sew wherever we can find the work.” There was no mistaking the longing in her tone when she concluded, “To have our own shop again is only a distant dream.”

  “Sisters,” Elizabeth gave a tiny chuckle, “I have four, one older, and the remaining three younger.”

  The seamstress answered with a laugh, “Ah, I am just the opposite, with three older sisters and only one younger.”

  “Do all your sisters sew as well?” asked Elizabeth, still amazed at the intricate, measured stitching on the dress the other woman had let her inspect more closely.

  “Oh, yes and no. All of us can sew, of course, but only two of them sew as dressmakers. The other two are makers of confections.” A shadow spread again across her face as she concluded, “But it is hard to begin again after losing so much during the war.”

  Carefully handing the garment back, Elizabeth continued, “I am Elizabeth Mills, and my husband and I are on our honeymoon. May I have your name?”

  “Of course. I am Arabella D’Arcy.”

  “May I acquire you and your sisters for a commission? Like Monsieur Du Prie’s wife, I do not care for the current trend in fashion. I prefer simplicity and elegance as opposed to unnecessary frill. I would like you to design a dress for me, complete with undergarments from the skin out, including shoes and outerwear, and have it completed within three days.”

  Dropping her hands to her lap, Arabella was stunned, her mind swirling between apprehension and excitement, as Elizabeth leaning toward her and lowered her voice, “Obviously, this is not a satisfactory place for the acquiring of proper measurements. If you and your sisters are interested in the commission, please come to visit me at the Hotel Bellevue tonight at . . . shall we say eight o’clock?”

  Sensing what the young woman was reticent to say, she added, “I will provide you funding for the commission in advance, so that you may procure any and all of the materials that you may need.” Turning to leave, she spoke over her shoulder, “Would you also bring a sampling of your sisters’ confections?”

  Still somewhat aghast, Arabella at last found her voice, “We shall all see you tonight, Mrs. Mills. Thank you very much. I know that you will not be dissatisfied.”

  ∞∞∞

  Promptly at eight o’clock, Arabella and her four sisters, led by a tall, slender servant, arrived at the private room Elizabeth had reserved for their meeting. As he turned to leave, Elizabeth said, “Vous pouvez apporter du thé maintenant. Merci. (You may bring tea now. Thank you.)”

  After Elizabeth introduced her husband to Arabella, i
t was Arabella’s turn. Softly, but with considerable grace, she intoned: “Madame and Monsieur Mills, may I present my sisters, Madame Gabriella Claudine, and Mademoiselles Linette, Pauline, and Josephine D’Arcy. We are at your service.”

  Linette and Josephine eagerly handed Elizabeth white pastry boxes tied with dainty lace ribbons. No sooner had the ladies taken their respective chairs and smoothed their gowns than the servant returned with the tea service.

  “Absolument á temps. Merci. (Absolutely on time, thank you),” she said, making a mental note of how splendidly he combined service with the kind of stature that would befit any gentleman regardless of the abstraction of his preposterous hotel uniform. Returning to English, she addressed the sisters. “May we sample them with the tea?”

  “Well, of course,” replied Linette and Josephine together. Shyly, they looked at one another, then toward Elizabeth, who led the outburst of laughter.

  With the tension broken, she served the tea, taking the opportunity to look at each of the young women a bit more closely as she sat down beside Jerome to sample the confections they had brought. Obviously carefully and quite recently made, each was absolutely beautiful in appearance and astonishingly delicious, delight upon delight.