Lord Edwin - 15. Lord Chapter 15

Lucky for me, I was fluent in French, so I could understand every word that the gentleman was saying, which was discussing the issue of having to have a long wait for a new charter to be booked on the yacht, and I smiled. “What are you smiling about dear?” James asked when he noticed.

“You will soon see,” I replied, before turning and standing up to face the gentleman at the next table, and in fluent French, “Sir, I couldn’t help but overhear your concerns about the lack of charter bookings. My husband and I may be interested in a week-long charter, with the possibility of extending it, if you can give us some details of the yacht,” I said to the gentleman, who looked at me curiously.

“You do realise that chartering a 48-metre, six-guest cabin motor yacht, costs a heck of a lot of money… $200,000 per week to be exact,” the gentleman said to me in English, with a strong New Zealand accent. “Yes sir, I am fully aware of the costs, and I am prepared to pay that amount, plus more in bonuses if the service is good. I must warn you that I have owned a yacht of my own, so I am fully aware of what is to be expected,” I replied.

“Well, in that case, may I show you the yacht in question, once you have completed your meal,” the gentleman said, and I glanced over to James, who smiled broadly, knowing that he would fully enjoy being a guest instead of being the Captain of the yacht.

“This is my husband – Captain James Hackney, my name is Ed, and we have been married for just over three weeks,” I said to the gentleman, and we shook hands, “Pleasure to meet you both. A Captain, eh?” What size yachts have you sailed?’ the gentleman asked, who I was guessing is the captain of the yacht we would be visiting.

“Most recently, a Neel 65 Catamaran, but before that, a 55 metre, five-deck CRN yacht, which fell victim to a major fire and was destroyed,” James replied sadly. “Oh, that is not good to hear, so you want to be a guest for a change?” the gentleman asked, and we both chuckled at this comment, “Yes, most definitely,” James replied.

“I am Captain Jack Hawk, I’m from Auckland, New Zealand, and this is my 1^st Officer Mike Peterson, who is from Halifax, Canada,” the Captain said to us, “gentlemen, when you have finished your meal, please make your way to Bay 37, where you will find the yacht,” the 1^st officer said to us.

“Captain, can you tell me how far upstream on the St Lawrence River, can you get onboard your yacht,” James asked, which made me chuckle, “I like your thinking dear,” I said softly. “We can go to the Old Port at Montreal, a distance of 254 kilometres, or we can continue for a further 120 kilometres, to Cornwell, Ontario, which is very close to the USA border,” Captain Jack replied.

“That sounds perfect, what would the travel time be from here to Montreal?” James asked, “That would be one full day to Montreal, due to the slow speed limit on the river of 5.4 knots, so we could split it into a two-day trip, with a stop at the Yacht Club de Trois Rivieres,” 1^st Officer Peterson replied.

“That sounds good, and maybe we can turn around and head to the mouth of the river and go out further from there, maybe to Prince Edward island?” I suggested. “Yes sir, we can do that,” Captain Jack said, and I flinched when I was addressed as Sir, which everyone noticed. “Are you ok?” the Captain asked, “He is fine, it is just an automatic response for being addressed that way, my husband does not like it at all,” James replied for me.

“Would that be because you are Lord Edwin Crawford, the Baron of Fordell of Scotland?” Captain Jack asked, and I flinched again, and James chuckled, “Looks like the hiding game is over dear,” James said to me, as the 1^st Officer looked shocked at this revelation.

“Yes, my Husband is he, but we are trying to have some time alone, without any hassles with the media,” James added. “That is fully understood My Lord and Captain, and we will just keep that information between just us, and I estimate a travel time of 3 days from Montreal to Charlottetown, with two overnight stops,” Captain Jack said.

After a tour of the yacht about half an hour later, James and I agreed to charter the yacht for one week, starting the following day. After a few quick phone calls, I had made arrangements for Hunter to leave Edinburgh, travel to London, and fly to Montreal, where he would join us on the yacht for the cruise back down the river to Quebec and onto Charlottetown.

After two enjoyable days of cruising up the St Lawrence River, we arrived in Montreal in the late afternoon, and we decided to remain onboard the yacht for the night, and it was after dinner while James and I relaxed in the main saloon, when Captain Jack arrived, carrying with him a newspaper.

“I am afraid the news is out that you may be in Canada,” the Captain said as he handed over the newspaper, and took a few steps back. “Where is Lord Edwin?” was the main headline and “Security & Personal Assistant for Lord Edwin Crawford, seen arriving at Heathrow Airport from Edinburgh, and leaving on a flight bound for Canada,” was the sub-headlined, and I groaned in annoyance, as I handed the newspaper to James to read.

“They don’t know exactly where you are, as the media lost track of Hunter after a media chase yesterday, so we have a good chance of staying hidden, we may have to be sneaky when we go looking around the city tomorrow,” James informed me, as I saw the Captain disappear out of sight.

We spent a full day looking around the beautiful city of Montreal, and we managed to remain spotted by any media, although at one point, about the mid-afternoon, we were a little worried, while we chatted to a gay couple about places to see while here, and several Paparazzi approached our group and showing a photo of me, that was about two years old, asked if we had seen this young man.

Keeping my mouth shut, I shook my head no, and so did, James, while the other couple said that they had no idea who he is and why would we tell them anyway, in annoyed tone. We continued to chat with the couple and asked if they would like to join us for dinner tonight, which they accepted, still not realising who we are. James informed the young men, that we were businessmen on holiday and that we are staying onboard a yacht for a week, and asked them to come at 7 pm for dinner, as we gave them the berth number where the yacht is moored.

I telephoned the yacht, to let them know of the two additional dinner guests, and I was informed that Hunter had arrived, and was settling into his cabin. Pleased that Hunter had arrived, we said goodbye to our new friends, Kurt and Adam, before seeing a few more sites, and returning to the yacht, taking the last bit of the return journey by foot, to make sure that we were not been followed.

“Hello Sirs, I am glad to see you are back safely, especially with the media on the hunt for you,” Hunter said to us as we entered the main saloon, and he stood up, but I motioned for him to remain seated, as we took a seat. “How are things going in Edinburgh?” I asked.

“Very good, up until I was summoned here. Ms Patricia and her boys were enjoying their Scottish holiday, and Ms Julia and her boys are enjoying time spent in Scotland too,” Hunter replied. “Good to hear, I did think about sending them here too, but decided that it might attract too much attention, but it appears the media have been tracking you too,” I said to Hunter. “Maybe I should change my hairstyle and colour too,” Hunter suggested, which made us laugh.

“Well, it worked, as we had some paparazzi approach us while chatting to another gay couple, asking if we had seen the young man in the photo that they produced. The photo was two years old, when my hair was longer than usual, James and I just shook our heads no, while the other couple got a little snarky at them, because they had no idea who he was, and if they did, they wouldn’t tell them anyway,” I said to Hunter, who grinned widely.

“Maybe we should have a photo taken of the three of us, before we leave the yacht, as a keepsake for the yacht and crew,” Hunter suggested, and I agreed with this idea. “I have been thinking… I would like to spend some time back at the manor near Strahan, and I would like to take the family there too, but they will have to travel separately from us three,” I announced to James and Hunter.

The rest of our Canadian holiday went without a hitch, mostly thanks to our new looks. Dinner with Kurt and Adam, and they were shocked, when just before they left, Hunter introduced me formally to them, which caught them by surprise, and I agreed to meet them and take a group photo, but not reveal who I am if they post it online.

Hunter remained on the yacht, while James and I toured around the cities and towns that we visited, and from Charlottetown, after saying farewell to the wonderful crew, we flew to Halifax, where we stopped to have our hair colour restored to our original colours before we board a flight to Heathrow.

“Lord Crawford, where have you been hiding these past few weeks, and who is the gentleman travelling with you and your assistant?” I was asked, just a few metres past the doors where we exited out of customs and into the arrivals hall. I had asked Customs, for some security assistance getting through the terminal, but they had not arrived by the time we stepped out into the arrivals hall, and I groaned in annoyance, as cameras flashed in front of us.

“Members of the press and others, I will make a short statement, then I ask that you let us continue our journey,” I said when I stopped and the media group quickly grew bigger. “For the past four weeks, I have been on holiday with my husband here, James Hackney, who is a luxury yacht captain.

We were married on a remote Scottish island, with close family, friends and members of the community, and for our holidays, we have been to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and East Coast Canada. In regards to what my plans are for the future, I am not entirely sure, what our plans are. That is all I have to say for now,” I stated to the media.

“Captain Hackney, where did you meet Lord Edwin Crawford? Have you been dating for a long while?” the question was asked directly to James, “No comment,” James responded, “Captain, now that you are married, will you be returning to work as a yacht captain?” another question was asked, “No comment, Good Day,” James replied.

We headed towards the exit of the terminal, where I had arranged for a limo to collect us, and finally security arrived, to make the exit a little bit easier. When we exited, we found the limo there waiting for us, with a second limo, double parked beside it, which had me a little confused, as Hunter entered the limo first.