The autumn leaves were bursting with color, as the Harts drove along the Kangamangus Highway in their Range Rover. David and Sharon’s wedding invitation had come at a perfect time. Jonathan knew that Jennifer loved New England in the fall, and he wanted to make this trip a romantic get-away for the two of them. After all, they had just celebrated their own wedding anniversary last weekend and although they had had a quiet dinner together, something was missing.
"What are you thinking about?" Jennifer mused, smiling at her husband.
"Oh...just how wonderful it is to be here in New Hampshire on a beautiful fall weekend with you. And, how nice it is to be going to a wedding." He paused. "How long has it been since we’ve been to a wedding?" Jonathan asked.
"A long time... I’m so glad that Jim and Sharon found each other. They make such a nice couple," she said. "And what a gorgeous time of year to have a wedding in New England. I can’t wait to see the hotel. It’s supposed to be really grand."
"Isn’t that a euphemism for old?" Jonathan teased.
"Oh, c’mon darling. Where’s your sense of nostalgia? The Wallingford Hotel is historic. During the first half of this century, it was host to some of the most important leaders and socialites in history. Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited many times, just to relax and renew his sense of priorities. The rooms are supposed to be absolutely charming!"
"Does ‘charming’ mean that there’s heat in the rooms?" Jonathan asked, smirking.
Jennifer gave him a scolding look. "Darling, if it gets too cold for you at night, I’ll be sure to warm you up." Jonathan smiled impishly. That’s all he wanted to hear.
As the Rover made a turn in the road, the Wallingford Hotel came into full view. Even Jonathan was impressed with its majestic presence. Nestled in a valley of the White Mountains, its white columns rose magnificently towards the heavens. A tremendous veranda swept around the entire front of the hotel where several hotel guests were taking in the view of the mountains. A red carpeted staircase ran up the center of the hotel into the lobby. "Oh, Jonathan!" Jennifer gasped. Even Jonathan gave a low whistle.
In the lobby, the Harts ran into several friends and employees from Hart Industries, who had also arrived for the Talbot wedding. Jonathan smiled and chatted with everyone, but was eager to retire to the hotel room with Jennifer. This was going to be a challenge this weekend - finding time alone with his wife without being interrupted by well-meaning friends.
"Hey, old buddy!" It was George Stinson and his wife Carol, both of whom were Hart Industry employees. George was the gregarious type and well-suited to his position as vice-president of marketing. He knew just about everyone at the company, and he apparently enjoyed the attention his booming voice attracted, as many of the guests mingling in the lobby watched the Harts make their way over to the Stinsons. Carol, on the other hand, seemed ill at ease with her husband’s boisterous manner. As a laboratory technician in the chemical manufacturing division, she was much quieter than her husband. She smiled almost apologetically at Jonathan.
"This is going to be a helluva wedding, eh, Jonathan?" George said, holding onto his scotch.
"It sure is. The setting is just perfect," grinned Jonathan, slapping George’s back.
George winked and smiled at Jennifer. "And I can’t wait to see you at the wedding. You are going to let me have a dance at the reception I hope!"
Jennifer raised her eyebrows and smiled at Jonathan. "Only if I get permission."
Jonathan put his arm around her waist. "We’ll see about that," he said, and waved as he pulled Jennifer away toward the hallway. A bellboy waiting eagerly nearby followed the Harts to their room. Jonathan passed him a folded bill and smiled his thanks.
"Thank YOU, sir!!!", the bellboy beamed.
"Oh, darling, isn’t this just wonderful?" Jennifer sighed, walking around the antique furniture in their hotel suite. Jonathan embraced her from behind and kissed her neck. "Mmmm," he murmured into her ear. "I feel like I’ve gone back in time," she said, taking in all the details of the room, from the magnificent moldings around the doorway to the intricate patterns in the tapestry. "Mmmm," Jonathan said, folding his arms around her waist and breathing heavily against her neck. Jennifer smiled and patted his arms. "Jonathan, have you even noticed the room? Come here, let me show you," she said tugging him by the hand. "Here’s the sitting area. Look at this marvelous writing desk. What a handsome piece of furniture! I can just picture President Roosevelt sitting here writing a letter." Jonathan continued to nuzzle her ear. She pulled him into an adjoining room. "And here’s the bathroom. Look at the legs on this bathtub, and the details on the fixtures!" she gushed. "Mmmm..and here’s the bed," Jonathan said, pulling her back into the main room and onto the bed. "Jonathan!" Jennifer said coyly. "You have a one-track mind.....It’s 4:00 in the afternoon. Isn’t it a little early?" Jonathan began sucking on her earlobe. "Oh, no," she moaned and gave a throaty giggle. "Are you trying to seduce me?" she whispered breathlessly. "Uh huh. Am I succeeding?" he answered. Jonathan slipped the cream-colored cashmere blazer from her shoulders. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly. They looked into each other’s eyes for several moments. "It’s been a while since we’ve had a moment like this," Jonathan said, seriously. Jennifer nodded, her eyes filling unexpectedly with tears. It felt good for them to be away from Hart Industries...and her computer. She was just realizing how hard they had been working lately. Jonathan continued to gaze deeply at his wife. Jennifer pressed her palm against his cheek. She leaned in to kiss him delicately. He opened his mouth, widening their kiss and tasting her lipstick. Jonathan began unbuttoning her blouse, feeling the warmth of her skin through it. He slid off her pants and tore off his own clothing, and tossed it onto the floor. Neither said a word, as they slipped under the covers of the bed, their hands reaching for one another. Jonathan slid Jennifer’s bra straps down, gazing at the way her soft, pink nipples peaked up over the lace. He kissed her cleavage and then nuzzled each nipple. Jennifer moaned and brought her arms around his waist, pulling his soft chest hair to brush up against her breasts. He unclasped her bra, and it disappeared into the bedcovers. Jennifer wriggled out of her panties and pulled herself up on top of Jonathan. She reached down and massaged his erection, and then adeptly guided him into her. She pressed down onto him firmly, allowing him to fully penetrate her. Jonathan groaned. "You like that?" Jennifer murmured softly, her face close to his. "Oh, yes," he whispered, his eyes closed. She began to move rhythmically. She felt her breasts tingle and the warmth between her legs spread up through her belly. Jonathan reached around and held onto her buttocks, rocking her firmly back and forth. Sensing that he would come too soon, she stopped moving and leaned over him to kiss his lips. He continued to pulsate, but slowed his pace. Jonathan held her waist and rolled her over onto her back. Jennifer sighed, as Jonathan hovered over her, kissing her teasingly. She ached to have him penetrate her again. As she tried to pull his torso closer, he resisted and she began to whimper softly, "Jonathan, please!" He then turned her over onto her stomach. She smiled knowingly, and sat up on her knees, holding the headboard. Jonathan massaged her breasts from behind. Then, with dexterity, he gently pushed himself inside of her. Jennifer moaned, as he plunged himself deeper and deeper. They were unaware of the bolts and hinges of the bed coming apart fast. Just as they were coming to a climax, the bed went crashing to the floor. "Ah!!! Jonathan, what happened?!" Jennifer said, stunned. Jonathan started to laugh. "I think we broke the bed," he said, rolling down to one side where the mattress met the floor. Jennifer scrambled to wrap the sheet around herself and step out through a matrix of bed boards. She stood back, her mouth agape, looking at what once was their bed. "Oh my God, Jonathan, what have we done?!" Jonathan was still sitting on the floor, shaking his head in disbelief and laughing. "Jonathan, it’s not funny!" Jennifer said, starting to giggle herself. "I don’t believe we broke the bed! What are we going to do?" "Good question. I haven’t the foggiest," he said, laughing harder. Jennifer joined in. Finally, Jonathan said, "I suppose we should call the front desk and have them send someone to fix it." "Oh, no, Jonathan, we can’t! We can’t tell them that we broke the bed! It’s so embarrassing...They’ll know what we were doing. I wouldn’t be able to look the bellboy in the face again!" "Jennifer, what do you suppose we should do? I think the maid will notice in the morning, don’t you?" Jonathan said, grinning. "Well, maybe we can fix it ourselves. Please, Jonathan, let’s give it a try." Jonathan nodded. "OK, but let me put some clothes on. I don’t do these kinds of tasks well in the nude," he smirked. They quickly changed and went to work. The box spring was even heavier than they had realized, as were the support boards. When they were finally able to get the box spring up onto the bedrails, Jennifer noticed something amidst the extra boards and slats that remained on the floor. "Darling, look at this," she said, picking up a tattered felt pouch about the size of a paperback book. Jennifer opened it up and pulled out a knife and a folded note. She looked at Jonathan, wide-eyed, and handed him the items. Jonathan brought the pouch over to the light to examine it more closely. "It looks like someone’s personal belongings...pretty old, though," Jonathan said, looking them over. "I don’t think it’s a knife. I think it’s a letter-opener." "What does the note say?" Jennifer asked. He opened the yellowed piece of paper that had obviously been torn from a book. "It’s a page from Shakespeare, I think. Looks like one of his sonnets," he said, handing the note to Jennifer. Jennifer nodded. "Yes, ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May..." she said, quoting the sonnet from beginning to end - a sonnet that she so loved herself. "How romantic...I wonder who it belonged to?" she asked. "Wait, look at this," he said, pulling out a gold ring that had been at the bottom of the pouch. They looked at it carefully. Jonathan said, "The inscription says: For My Beloved, Love GC." They looked at each other, pondering the connection between the items from the pouch. "What do you suppose we should do with them? Maybe they belong in a museum or something - they look very old," Jennifer asked
"I suppose so, darling," Jonathan said. The bed began to creak, and they watched it collapse once again to the floor. Jennifer looked at Jonathan, grimacing.
"Let’s call the front desk," they said in unison.
Jonathan kept the pouch in his breast pocket, as he and Jennifer made their way to the dining hall. The housekeeping staff were in the midst of removing the bed from their room as they had left. Jennifer tried hard not to make eye contact with them, feeling the color in her cheeks as they looked over the mess where the bed had once stood. The Harts planned on bringing the items from the pouch to the manager of the hotel, hoping that he would know what to do with the artifacts. They were just ordering dinner, when David and Sharon spotted them from across the room. They came to the Harts’ table. "What a nice surprise, running into the happy bride and groom. We’re looking forward to tomorrow night," Jonathan said, shaking David’s hand. "Please join us...unless you’d rather spend a romantic dinner alone. We would certainly understand." Jonathan glanced quickly at Jennifer, hoping the couple would choose the latter. "We’d love to!" David said, pulling out a chair for Sharon. David had worked for Hart Industries for many years as their chief product engineer. He had a keen mind, and Jonathan respected his integrity. Whenever another company tried to lure David away, David always let Jonathan know what the competition was up to. Jonathan rewarded him handsomely for his loyalty to the company. David was forty-seven years old and a bachelor all of his life. He first met Sharon when she came in to redesign his office. Sharon was in her early forties, herself never married. She grew up in New Hampshire and had convinced David to have their wedding at the Wallingford, a place that had held her fascination since she was a young girl. She was also an antiques dealer and was delighted to see so many fine period pieces here, unlike the places she scouted on the west coast. "How’s your room?’ David asked, pouring everyone a glass of wine. "It’s wonderful, David," Jennifer said. "You chose a magnificent place to be married." "Yes, it was Sharon’s idea. She’s always loved this place," he said, smiling at his fiancee. Sharon watched Jennifer sip her wine, studying her moves. She was very much in awe of Jonathan’s wife. She didn’t know her very well, but everyone at Hart Industries was absolutely enamored of her. She was also aware of the fact that David considered her to be the epitome of womanhood. Sharon hoped she could live up to his standards. "Jennifer, do you know much about the Wallingford?" Sharon asked, hoping to gain Jennifer’s interest. "Well, not too much. I was just reading about it in a brochure on our way up today," she said. "There are lots of stories about this place, mostly fabricated by the management to attract tourists, but there are some legends that many say are true," Sharon said, lowering her voice. Jennifer leaned in, interested in the folklore of the Wallingford. Jonathan grinned at his wife, amused at her thirst for mystery and intrigue. They had certainly had their fill of both in the twenty years they had been married. "One of the legends has to do with a wealthy millionairess who visited here frequently during the summer of 1944," Sharon continued. "She was one of very few people who could afford to come here at that time, with the country just recovering from the depression. She had never married, but was sought by many men for her beauty, and of course her money too...well, apparently, she was murdered while she was a guest at this hotel. They never found who did it. It’s still a mystery to this day." Jennifer sat, wide-eyed. "How did she die?" "Stabbed to death. Her body was found in the woods nearby." Jonathan spoke, knowing that he needed to lighten the conversation. The last thing he wanted was for Jennifer to be spooked for the rest of their stay. "Well, it certainly would make a great TV movie of the week!" he said, smiling. He motioned for the waiter to come to the table. As they were ordering dinner, George Stinson came over to the table. "David, all of the guys want to take you out tonight for drinks...you know, a little bachelor party," he winked at Jonathan. "Are you game?" David looked at Sharon, who gave him an approving nod. "Sure, why not?" he said.
