5 comments/ 9275 views/ 5 favorites The Secret of Anthony Albrecht By: Cromagnonman This is one of those stories contains elements that could fit into any number of categories, but it is first and foremost a romance story. The first part is told in the third person followed by first person accounts. As in many of my stories, the ending is hinted on fairly early on, but as usual, there is a twist. CM. Anthony Albrecht had it all. He had power, he had wealth and he had connections, powerful connections. But there was one thing that Anthony Albrecht didn't have, and that had haunted him for much of his life, he didn't have family, his family tree started with him. Anthony Albrecht was the adopted son of William Albrecht, a wealthy and influential industrialist, and owner of Albrecht Mentone Pty Ltd, one of the country's largest and most successful Engineering companies, whose fortunes were made by the mining boom. Albrecht Mentone made infrastructure equipment for the mining industry. If it was dug from the ground, Albrecht Mentone provided the shovels and dump trucks, if it was transported to the port by train, Albrecht Mentone laid the tracks and provided the rolling stock, if it was loaded on to ships by conveyors, Albrecht Mentone supplied and installed the conveyors. The one thing that William Albrecht was unable to produce was a son and heir, so he and his wife Mary, adopted an infant son and named him Anthony. The circumstances of Anthony's birth were kept from him throughout his childhood and youth. He was enrolled in the best private school on the day that the negotiations for his adoption were finalised, and through his school years he made many friends. His parents made sure of that, by inviting only the children from the best families to his birthday parties and encouraging return invitations from their parents. He graduated high school with distinction and went to University from where he graduated with a B Eng, (Hons) and entered the family business. It was then that his parents told him that he was adopted. They broke the news in such a way that he was not devastated by it, in fact he was made to feel special, as a chosen son. The three of them agreed that this news would be kept between them and only ever divulged on a 'need to know' basis. Because he was unaware of his circumstances to that point, it could not be called a secret, therefore it was at that point in his life that the secret of Anthony Albrecht was born. His progress to his current position as CEO of Albrecht Mentone was a long and involved one, it wasn't handed to him on a platter, he had to work for it. He started on the workshop floor, loading the raw steel bars and sheets into the various machines. From there he learned to set them up and then to programme them. Once he had proven his efficiency on the floor he was moved into the production office where he was involved in production scheduling and raw material acquisition. It was his job to ensure that there was always the right amount of material necessary for the next phase of production, and that each of these phases was carried out as required to fill orders on time. From the Production office he had moved, at 34 years of age, to the board room where he took over his father's former role as CEO and his father moved to his present role as Chairman of the Board of Directors. His home life was similarly organised, his laundry was done for him only if he had placed it in the hamper. His meals were prepared for him and served hot at the same time each day. If he was late and hadn't warned the cook that he would be, it sat on the table until his parents had finished their meal and the untouched plate removed. His next meal was served at the next scheduled time and the practice of intra-meal snacking was forbidden. Business discussions were forbidden at the dinner table, they were confined to the period after dinner and were conducted in the living room in the comfort of lounge chairs and soft music. While differences were expressed openly at these times, all decisions were made by William and were final. His social life revolved around the Country Club where he was a member of the golf team and played off a scratch handicap. The social aspects of the club were not forgotten and Anthony had a close-knit circle of friends, both male and female. He had one friend in particular, Brianna Forbes-Carlton, a very attractive and very desirable young lady with appropriately impeccable breeding. She was his age and also had an Engineering degree, much to her bank manager father's displeasure. She had started at Albrecht Mentone at the same time as Anthony and was now the manager of the Design department, responsible for product design, costing and production scheduling. She and Anthony had worked closely together while he was in the Production Office, and this close relationship still remained between them. As these things inevitably do, Anthony and Brianna's relationship progressed to include a personal one that existed at the Country Club and beyond, to the point where they were in discussions with their parents about the possibilities of jointly purchasing a house where they would live after they had married. This was where his perfect life began to unravel. We pick up Anthony's life at this point: -*- "Anthony," Brianna asked me as we drove towards a dinner engagement at her parents' house. "Yes my dear?" "Don't take this the wrong way, but Mummy and Daddy have asked me to broach the subject of you having a medical. It's a formality really, just to be sure that we are totally compatible, and to be sure that we are able to have perfectly normal children when the time comes." "I understand, and I agree, I wouldn't want us to have a child that has any genetic defects." "They will probably mention it over dinner and I thought that I should warn you." "Thank you for that." we drove on in silence, my mind digesting the implications of this news, what if they wanted my parents' medical history as well, how could I explain the blood group anomaly? "Anthony, you've been going with Brianna for some time now, what are your plans?" Roderick Forbes-Carlton asked as he poured pre-dinner drinks. "We have discussed our relationship, and have decided that I should ask you for permission to marry her. Now I understand that you have also discussed this with Brianna, and have suggested that any future plans are contingent on my submitting to a full medical examination. I have no problem with that, we both would like, when the time is right, to have children and a full genetic and health screen by both of us would seem to me to be advisable, just to be sure that there will be no hereditary defects. I think that this should happen before we officially announce our engagement, don't you?" My jumping right in and putting this forward was calculated to encourage him to think that I have nothing to hide, and maybe, just maybe, relax his insistence on it. No such luck. "Good, I'll make an appointment for the both of you with my Doctor, I'm sure that he can fit you in on Monday. If that's okay for you." "Not a problem, I'll ring my PA tomorrow and she can find space for me whenever you can arrange it. I'll get her to clear it with Brianna's PA as well." I drove Brianna home, and as usual, I stayed with her. I never felt closer to her than when we were in bed together making love, and tonight was no different from any other night since our first time, literally for both of us. It had happened five months ago that we had realised that the closeness that we felt in each other's company was more than that we were just good friends and work colleagues. Both of us were too engrossed in advancing our careers to realise what our friends told us later had been blindingly obvious to them for simply ages. Once begun, our love making had become a time where everything else was no longer of importance to us. There was nothing mechanical about it, and coming from two people who were experts at designing and implementing mechanical machinery, it came as a surprise to us that we could allow our feelings to dictate the whole experience. "I love you so much." Brianna whispered as we came down from the high of our simultaneous orgasms. "I can't believe that we've known each other for years and not realised that we were meant to be together." "We're going to have to make up for lost time." I kissed her lips, her breasts. She pulled my head from a breast and kissed me. I kissed her. "For two people who had never experienced this, we've become something of experts, and it's because we are so in tune with each other that we just know what to do next." "And what is that?" She asked, reaching for my cock that was regaining its strength. "This." I rolled on top of her and pushed him into her waiting pussy. "Oh god that feels so good." Her hips moved with mine, our movements working to increase the pleasure we got from this. Oh god . . . I can't help it, I'm coming!" She arched her back, forcing him deep inside her. I tried to hold back for a little longer but the urgency of her movements made that impossible, and with a grunt I lunged forward and emptied myself inside her for the third time. Life was as near to perfect for us at moments like these. My parents said nothing on those weekends that I didn't come home, just as they said nothing when Brianna stayed with us for the weekend. They knew that we were lovers and were openly pleased at this situation, actively encouraging our relationship. Brianna didn't live with her parents. "I don't feel comfortable there any more, it's almost as if I'm a stranger to them, well to my mother, Daddy is fine, he and I have a great relationship. And I think Mother is jealous of that. Daddy helped me find an apartment and set me up with everything I needed. Mother has never seen the need to even visit, she probably doesn't even know where it is. I get the impression that theirs is a marriage in name only, and it is only appearances that keep them together. It's been that way for as long as I can remember. Your parents are lovely and I can see how much they love each other." "Dad, Mum, I need to ask you a question." I sat down at the breakfast table and took a sip of my freshly poured coffee. "What is it son?" William asked. "You know that I've been going with Brianna for some time now, and we have given a great deal of thought to our future together?" "Yes, don't tell me that you're having second thoughts?" "No, nothing like that. Mr Forbes-Carlton is insisting on me, us, having a medical to ensure that we have genetically compatible blood groups. What am I going to do if he wants me to have a DNA test as well? If that happens he will realise that I am not your genetic son, and knowing him he might not allow us to marry given the uncertainty involved. What I would like to do is to find my birth mother to get some idea of my background and hope that it will stand scrutiny." "I hope that it won't come to that." William said. "I'll have a chat to Roderick and see if he's prepared to relax his conditions, after all it's his daughter's happiness we're talking about here, and I assume that she is as much in love with you as you are with her." "Thanks Dad, in the meantime my curiosity has been aroused, I think that I would like to know for myself. You wouldn't happen to know who my birth mother is by any chance, would you." "Sorry Son, we can't help you there. All of the formalities went through an adoption agency, we were never privy to that information." "Then can you give me the name of the agency, I'd like to explore what avenues I can take to find her." -*- It took some time to convince the agency that I was genuinely wanting to meet her, and a little more time to find her current address. I knocked on the door of a tidy cottage in a leafy suburb. The door was opened by a still attractive woman in her late forties, early fifties. She was well but cheaply dressed and, while she wore no makeup, her flawless complexion showed that she had no need to tamper with the complexion that nature had provided her with. "Madeline Fessiere?" "That was my name, yes. How can I help you?" I could see from her gaze that she already who I was. "My name is Anthony Albrecht, I am your son." "Come in won't you, I have been waiting for this day for many years, waiting and hoping that you would find me. Would you like a cup of coffee?" "No, I'm fine thank you." "I suppose you want to know how it was that I had to give you up for adoption." "Yes, but only if you want to tell me. I'm quite happy just having found you." "I will tell you. . . . . "She sat next to me, her hands tightly clasped while she composed herself. "Many years ago I was a maid in the home of a very wealthy family. I won't mention the name of the family. One of the family was a handsome young man and I was in love with him. He, I thought, didn't even know that I existed. He was pleasant enough when we spoke, but I knew that my love for him could never be returned." -*- Madeline's story: One Saturday night there was a party at which his engagement was announced to Phoebe Oliphant, the daughter of a friend of the family. I personally didn't like the girl, but then I looked on her as a rival, so my judgement was biased. The party went on until 1:30 in the morning, and after the last guest had left I was cleaning up." "I had just cleared the table and was emptying the ash trays in the study when I heard someone moaning in the corner. It was him. "Madeline, come sit by me." "I haven't finished my work Sir." I went to leave the room. "Stop. Please don't leave me, come sit by me." My heart was beating so fast that I thought that I might faint, so I sat on the floor next to him. "What am I going to do?" "About what?" I asked him. "I don't want to marry Phoebe, I don't love her, in fact I can't stand to be alone with her. But our families have decided that we should get married, and you know my family, I have to do what they tell me. I'm certain that she doesn't want to marry me but she is in the same situation as I am." "What can your family do to you if you tell them that you don't want to marry her?" "What can't they do? I don't even want to think about it." He lowered his head and began to cry and my heart went out to him. "Please Sir, don't cry. Come, I'll help you to your room, I'm sure that you will feel better in the morning." I reached for him to help him stand, but he was not even trying to stand and I was not strong enough to lift him. He pulled me to him and kissed me. "Sir, please, stop that." "Madeline, you are a very pretty young girl, how old are you by the way?" "I'm nineteen Sir." "How long have you worked here?" "I have been in service here for four years." "Do you like it here?" "Very much Sir. I like your parents, they are kind and considerate employers and treat me well. I have no complaints." "Do you like me?" "Yes Sir, I do." He smiled at me and I melted in his arms. "Yes Sir, I do." "I like you, do you know that? I like you very much." He kissed me and one part of me wanted to protest in the strongest terms, but I wasn't strong enough for that, so I kissed him. "Help me to my room would you?" He stood and I put my arm around him to steady him as I helped him up the stairs to his room. I took his clothes off him, leaving him in his underwear, and pulled the bed covers back and helped him into his bed. I don't know what possessed me, but I kissed him again. "Good night Sir, now go to sleep. You'll think more clearly in the morning." I went to my room, undressed, and climbed into bed. I found myself dreaming about my forlorn life with him when I heard my bedroom door open and felt someone getting into my bed. I was just about to scream when he kissed me. "Don't worry dear Madeline, it is me. Can I sleep with you tonight? I just don't want to be alone." "I don't think that this is a good idea." "If you want me to leave just say so, and I'll leave." He knew that I couldn't do that. "Do you want me to leave?" "No. No, I don't want you to leave." He kissed me again, and pulled me to him. I could feel the heat of his body pressed against mine. Then his hand found a breast and began to caress it. Any resistance I had disappeared under his gentle touch. "Do you love me Madeline?" Before I knew what I was saying it came out. "Yes Sir, I love you." His exploration of my now trembling body continued until what seemed like hours later I felt his fingers slip under the elastic of my panties and push into my vagina. "Oh, oh." I lay there as his finger slid into me. I could feel his penis, hard in anticipation, pressed against my belly so I held it and began to stroke it. I allowed him into my body. I bore the pain of my deflowering without a sound. I moved with him as he made love to me. But I couldn't help myself, and cried out as I felt his sperm flood inside me. I held him to me as we both drifted off to sleep. I was in a dream and the reality of it didn't come to me until six in the morning when my alarm went off. He was still there, in my bed, asleep. I slid as quietly as I could out of the bed and put my robe on to go to the bathroom. "Where are you going?" A sleepy voice asked. "I have to help Cook with breakfast Sir. You had better go back to your room and get dressed, breakfast will be ready at seven." "Don't go, I want you to stay here with me, I want to make love to you again." "That is not possible Sir, I'll get the sack if I don't go to work." "Can't you tell Cook that you're sick? Please." "No I cannot. I love this job and don't want to lose it. It's easy for you, you have enough money to live on for the rest of your life, but I don't. I have to work." I had a quick shower and emerged to find him still in my bed. "I have to dress, would you please leave." "I want to watch you. You are very beautiful." "Please Sir, I beg you, go before I get into trouble." "Oh all right, I'll go, but don't expect me to ignore you." He was as good as his word, he did not ignore me. As I stopped beside him to place his bacon and eggs in front of him, I felt his hand slide up the inside of my leg under my skirt. It was all I could do to hold onto the plate and not drop it. I stepped back quickly and moved away from him and his hand. "What's going on between you and the young Master?" Cook asked me as we washed the dishes. In deference to her position she never referred to the family by name and encouraged me to do likewise. "Nothing." I hoped that I hadn't blushed. "You tell me that there's nothing, but my eyes tell me otherwise. No listen to me Madeline, You had better not get any ideas above your station, because only pain will come of it, your pain. He will not give a fig about you and when he marries his fiancé that will be the end of it, you mark my words, because no good can come of it." My next job was to gather the bed linen and take it to the laundry and put it in the washing machine. I was able to remove the stains from my sheets before anyone could notice them, and hang them on the clothes line. He was just coming up from the tennis courts with a friend of his, and walked past me as I pegged the sheets on the line. "How do you get those sheets so white Madeline?" "A generous dose of bleach works wonders Sir." I couldn't look him in the eye for fear of revealing my feelings for him in front of his friend. "I was just saying to Bryan here, that you are the best maid that we have ever had." "Thank you Sir." I took another sheet from the basket and threw it over the line, as I began to straighten it out he took one end of the sheet. "Here, let me help you." "No, I can do this on my own, I have to do this on my own, just leave me be." They left me trembling to complete my task. What was I to do, I loved him, but realised that my love had no future. He was the only son of a very wealthy and influential family, his father was first name friends with civil and community leaders, and used to being obeyed. As Cook said, it had no future, he was to marry and would soon forget me, but a girl can dream, even impossible dreams. The Secret of Anthony Albrecht I was saved from being close to him at dinner, he was dining with her. One part of me was sad while the other part was jealous of her. Later, much later, I was having my usual dream of being with him, married to him. My hand was between my legs and my finger was inside me, when there was a tap on my door. "Madeline, are you awake?" He whispered. I scrambled out of bed and opened the door. "What is it? What do you want?" "I want you, I want to be with you. Can I come in?" I let him into my room, into my bed and into my life. He took me in his arms and kissed me. "I don't know what to do, while I'm with her I can't stop thinking of you, and what it would be like to be married to you, and when I'm not with her I can't stop thinking about what it would be like to be with you. I just can't stop thinking about you. Madeline, I love you." He kissed me again. I melted into his arms, my body quivering with excitement, could this still be my dream, or was it real? Turned my face to his and kissed him, tears of joy running down my cheeks. I was in heaven. He lifted me and carried me to my bed. I watched as he took his clothes off and stood before me, his magnificent penis standing proudly out from his body. I opened my arms to him and my vagina to his penis. "Are you feeling unwell?" Cook asked as I walked into the kitchen in the morning. "I'm fine, I just didn't sleep well that's all." If only she knew that I hardly slept at all. I noticed her looking at me during breakfast as I tried to avoid looking at him as I served him. "What are you doing my girl?" She said as we washed the dishes. "I've warned you about what would happen to you if you went down that path. No good will come of this, you mark my words, do you hear me?" "Yes I hear you, but he's told me that he loves me and wants to marry me." "Of course he told you that, he knows that you wouldn't allow him to take liberties unless you thought that he would marry you. Have you let him make love to you?" "Yes." I whispered. I was beginning to have doubts about him. "Silly girl. You must stop it before it goes too far, and your life is ruined completely." "What do you mean, before it goes too far?" "Before you are with child, you do take precautions I hope." "Precautions?" "Oh my god. Don't tell me you've let him go all the way without wearing a condom?" "A condom, what's that?" "Saints preserve us, now you sit there and listen to me. You never let a man make love to you without some form of protection against you falling pregnant, not even if he promises to pull out before he ejaculates. If you fall pregnant you will not only lose your job here, but your reputation will be stained for life. You will probably end up working as a prostitute, selling your body to men, and all because you let him make love to you without protection. I hope that you're not expecting him to look after you if you do get pregnant, he has his reputation to consider and his life with the girl chosen for him. His family will turn him out without a penny to his name, and then how could he support you. End it now before it's too late." "I will." Even I wasn't convinced with my statement. It was already too late, while he managed to pull out in time from then on, the damage had already been done. "Don't." I told him as he prepared to make love to me. "What's the matter?" "I'm pregnant, I'm having your child." "Are you sure?" "What do you mean, am I sure?" "Are you sure that you're pregnant?" "Yes. What else could you mean? You're not suggesting that someone else could be the father are you?" "No, I didn't mean that at all. But my dear, this news is great." "Do you really mean that?" "Of course, now they'll have to let me marry you." "Do you really mean that? You're not just saying that are you?" "No. I never really wanted to marry her in the first place, but I was told that I had to. Now she won't want to marry me knowing that I love someone else, and that someone else is carrying my child. Don't you see, this is the best day of my life?" "What happened after that was a life of pain and misery. Don't get me wrong, I was living in bliss right up until he announced the news to his family, and they were not happy at all. I was taken aside and questioned in great detail about how this came to be. "What do you mean by seducing our son?" "But I didn't, it was the other way round, he seduced me." "Don't try to shift the blame, we know that he would never do that, he's engaged to be married, do you honestly he'd risk that by having sex with you, a servant in this house. This will never do Madeline, you are to stop this immediately if you know what is good for you, and don't expect that we will support you, you will leave here when you begin to show and you will be placed in a home for unwed mothers. We have spoken to your parents about this and they have agreed that this is the best solution. We have told them that we will make sure that they are not placed under any financial burden because of your promiscuous behaviour. We will find another position for you when the time comes, but you will never work here again, you will never be permitted in this house ever again, once you leave here. Do you understand?" "Yes Ma'am." I didn't understand, I couldn't understand how they could not see that it wasn't only me that was responsible for my condition, and how they could so coldly push me aside like this. I understood how my parents felt, they had entrusted me into the care of these people because they were poor, my father was in poor health because of his work with asbestos, and was not expected to live for much longer. He had received no compensation from his employers over this, and had no form of income other than a pittance from the government. They could barely survive without me being a financial burden on them, so I was put to work as a maid, about the best job that I could expect given my limited schooling. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't stupid by any means, I was good at school and my teachers were sad that I had to leave when I did. Cook was wonderful, she was almost a mother to me in my time of trouble. "Don't worry about what they say to you." She told me after I'd been scolded for some minor incident that would not have rated a mention before this. "They just can't come to terms with him not wanting to marry that bitch." "Cook, don't let them hear you talking about her like that." "Why ever not, she is a bitch, I've heard the way that she talks to you, and you have to take it and say nothing. God help any servant that she employs, she'd make life a misery for them." "But you still shouldn't talk about her like that, we have to know our station in life, and part of that is to have to accept whatever is spoken to us, whether we are at fault or not." "But we have had it easy up until now. I don't like the way that the Mistress is treating you, from the way she speaks to you you'd think that he had no say in you being pregnant, but my girl, you can't get pregnant on your own, not unless you're the Holy Mother that is." "He loves me still, I know that he does, it's just that he has no say in his future. I feel sorry for him having to marry her, and I know that he could never be happy with her." "And he would with you, is that what you're trying to tell me?" "Yes he would, I know that he would." "He might for a short time, but if they cut him off without a penny as they've told him, there will come a time when the fact that you have nothing will force you apart, he will be thinking of what he has had to give up because of his love for you, and that will drive you a part." "No it won't, our love is strong enough to withstand anything like that." "Listen to me, and I speak from experience, my mother was in a similar situation to what you're in right now, and he ran off with her. It lasted for just on two years before a combination of no money and my illness costing what little we had, before he left her to return to his family. That is why I found myself in service, and my mother has blamed me for that all my life. She died miserable, poor and friendless, and I don't want to do that. I have friends that I go and see whenever I can get the time off, I have a man-friend that I see on a regular basis and he and I have sex without there being any thought that it would become a permanent thing, he's married and won't leave his wife." "How is it that I never knew that?" "I can keep my secrets you know, and no-one is interested in my life other than me, and him." "Are you trying to tell me that I should accept what has been planned for me and find a suitable man-friend that I can visit occasionally?" "You could do worse my girl, I'm happy enough." "But I don't think that a life like that would ever make me happy." "Happiness is a state of mind, if you shoot for the stars nothing will make you happy, because you will never be able to reach the stars. Aim low and be content with what you get from life." "And that was how I met your father." She said. "I was happier than I had any right to be, and thought that this would be the beginning of a life of true happiness." But life for him became a nightmare. "How could you even think that we'd allow you to marry this girl?" "But I love her." He said. "You only think that you love her because she has allowed you to make love to her. She is a servant for God's sake, what would our friends say to that? You will give up this foolish idea and go ahead with your marriage to Phoebe as planned." "That's your plan, did I get any say in this? No! I was told that I was to marry that cold loveless bitch because it was beneficial to both you and her parents. Love and affection has had nothing to do with this, I don't love her, and I know that I'll never love her." "You will forget this foolishness immediately! We will not hear another word on the subject, is that understood?" "Yes." That particular argument, with minor variations, took place over the next few months until, one day Madeline was no longer in their employ. "Where's Madeline?" "She's gone. We have decided that it wouldn't be right to have her working in this house when she's approaching the stage when her pregnancy is obvious. She has gone away and she won't be coming back." "I'll find her." "We forbid you to find her! Put her out of your life forever. You're getting married in a month and that will be an end to it." -*- "I was sent to a home for unmarried mothers to await the birth of my child, you, and I was confused, how could a child conceived of love be subjected to so much hate. The nuns treated me like a whore, I was loaded up with guilt over my actions in getting pregnant, and it was made clear that the guilt was mine. I was pregnant because I allowed my lustful feelings overcome me and it was my fault that he had sex with me, I allowed it, but he had nothing to do with it. As a penance I was made to work in the home, cleaning and cooking for the nuns, right up until you were born. Then, and without even asking me what I wanted to do, you were taken from me and put up for adoption. I never even got to hold you, or feed you. My breasts were strapped up so that I would dry up quickly, and when I had recovered from the birth I was placed in a new position with another family." "I can't believe that sort of thing was still happening, it wasn't all that long ago." "It was just before the home was shut down, more and more girls were electing to keep their babies and raise them themselves, so the land that the home was on was worth more as a development site than as a home, and it was sold off." "Did he support you in any way?" "I think the family paid for my expenses at the home, but that was as far as it went." "Apart from wanting to meet you, I have another reason for speaking with you, I'm getting married shortly to the most amazing woman, and her family is insisting on a medical examination before they give us their consent, so I was hoping that you could tell me who my father is. My Birth Certificate doesn't list my father at all." "I promised that I would never reveal his name to anyone." "But it was so long ago, he could be dead for all you know, and I'm not interested for monetary reasons, because I have a very good family who are wealthy, and I work for my father's company, in fact I'm the boss. Please, won't tell me his name?" "I guess that there's no harm in telling you. His name is . . . . ." -*- "Brianna, could you come to my office please." I put down the phone and waited for her. To say that my mind was in a turmoil would be underselling the situation. I had lain awake all night, my thoughts going over and over in my brain until, in the early hours of the morning, I made my decision. "What is it Darling?" Brianna came in and sat down. "You look terrible, didn't you sleep last night? Surely you're not worried about the result of the medical." "Brianna, Darling . . . . this is hard for me . . . . what I'm going to run past you is going to sound weird, but, believe me, I've given it a great deal of thought. You know that I love you very much, and I'd do anything for you, but I'm going to have to tell you that we cannot have children. What I mean to say, I cannot father a child with you." "Does that mean that you can't father a child?" "No, I'm perfectly capable of fathering a child, but not with you. As I see it we have three options, the first is that we don't have any children." "But I want children, maybe not right away, but eventually." "I didn't mean that we can't have children. The second option is the use of a sperm donor, the third is a surrogate, both of these I can accept if we decide to go down that path. Actually there is a fourth option, and that is that we can adopt a child." "Now I'm totally confused. Tell me, why can't we have a child together, you love me and we have a very healthy sex life, so what is the problem?" "I know that we love each other in all senses of the word, and I would love to see that continue, but there is a problem. God, how am I going to explain this without making a total mess of it . . . . . .? Here goes. Darling, I am an adopted child. My parents couldn't have children so they adopted me." "I can't see that's a problem and I'm sure that my parents won't either, they're not total snobs you know." "I know that. It's just that I decided when your father asked me to have a medical that I should try to find my birth parents, and I have met one at least, my birth mother." "And?" "Oh she's a perfectly lovely woman and I'm sure that you'd like her, just as I'm sure that she'd love you, in fact I want you to meet her. She's not the problem, it's my birth father that's the problem, you see he's the reason that we can't have children together." "Why? What has he got to do with it?" I saw her face fall and the colour drain from it. "You don't, you can't mean, that . . .?" "I'm afraid so, my father is your father and vice versa. My mother was a maid working for your grand-parents, and she and your father fell in love and she had me. She was placed in one of those dreadful homes for unwed mothers, and I was taken from her immediately after birth and placed up for adoption. Luckily for me the Albrechts were looking to adopt, I couldn't have chosen better parents if I'd tried. Mother never went back to work there, you grand-parents found a place for her with some friends, and that should have been the end of it." "Do you mean there's more?" "Yes, but I promised not to say anything for now. There is one other little problem. Do you realise that we've been committing incest by making love to each other. What I'm going to suggest now may shock you." "And I haven't been shocked enough already?" "I love you too much to have you taken from me by some stupid law that doesn't consider the circumstances of how we met or our feelings for each other. My proposal is that we continue on as if none of this has happened, as if I never found out who my real father was, we get married and continue to make love. I'm even prepared to, just so there's no likelihood of us having a child, have a vasectomy." Brianna sat there in a state of shock. There was the potential for her world of future happiness to stop right here, right now. "I too love you very much and can understand you wanting to continue our relationship, because I want that as well. But how can we keep this a secret from our families?" "I have a plan." "Are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess what it is?" "I am going to ask you to be patient for a little while." I took her in my arms and kissed her. She didn't even try to pull back from me so I knew that she wanted me just as much as I wanted her. "To avoid any comment from friends and work colleagues, I think that we should continue as if nothing has happened, at least for now." She kissed me. "Forget about for now, I love you too much to let you go, and I agree, I fully intend to behave as if you hadn't tracked down your birth father. I agree that we shouldn't take the risk of having a child together, and while I would love him or her even if there were any birth defects, I feel it better to avoid that possibility. I want our child to be yours, so I guess that we start looking for a surrogate." We were still locked in each other's arms when she was called back to the Design Office. I sat at my desk giving thanks that I had met and fallen in love with Brianna before I'd discovered my birth parents, and not after, how could I live my life without her in it? We had dinner together and I spent the night in her apartment, our lovemaking putting the revelations behind us as we planned our future lives. "Have you told your parents about this?" Brianna asked as we came down from another high. "I've told them that I'd found my birth mother, and that, while I lied to them and told them that she hadn't named my father, I told them that she'd given me an assurance that he wasn't a murderer, thief, rapist or paedophile." "Are you ever going to tell them?" "It will come out soon enough." Our engagement was announced with suitable fanfare at a dinner at the Country Club. I don't know whether everyone was just being kind, but we were told dozens of times that we were the perfect couple. My father rose to give a speech. "Friends, I am probably the happiest father in this room tonight. I look at Anthony and Brianna and see a couple so perfect for each other in every way. Anthony is proving himself very capable of running my company for me, and Brianna is the best Design Manager we have ever employed, so my company is in good hands. This has made me happy, but what has made me even happier, is that these two have fallen in love, and have decided that they want to spend the rest of their lives together. Ladies and gentlemen, I ask that you be upstanding and raise your glasses in a toast to the happy couple, the perfect couple, my son Anthony and his lovely fiancé, Brianna." I rose to respond, but before I spoke, I leaned over and kissed Brianna. She smiled at me and I almost forgot what I was about to say. "Ladies and gentlemen, what can I say? My father and mother have always raised me with the understanding that the most important emotion in any relationship is love. Without love, a relationship exists in name only, it is not real." I don't know if anyone noticed the way that Roderick quickly averted his eyes when I looked at him as I spoke. "With Brianna I have found love in the true meaning of the word. We have a love that we know will weather any storm that this world can throw at us. We know that we will still be as much in love when we eventually depart this world as we are now. I could not have envisaged a better life partner than my darling Brianna. I could not have wanted a better wife than the one that Brianna will shortly become. It just leaves me to thank you all for coming here this evening and sharing this special, magical night with us." I sat down and Brianna leaned over and kissed me, and held the kiss for several seconds The Secret of Anthony Albrecht "I love you so much." She whispered. Roderick rose and tapped his glass. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I may be allowed to speak." He waited until quietness descended on the room. "I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments expressed by William here. I too am happy that these two have found each other. I am only too aware that love is so important in a marriage and to see these two together you cannot doubt that they love each other. I know that nothing can separate them from that love and, as an engagement present to the happy couple, I am giving them the keys to their first home." He took the keys from his pocket and handed it to me. "I know that this will be a happy home for you and your children, my grand-children. Enjoy the rest of your lives together." I wasn't sure if anyone else had grasped the significance of his words, but it was a telling time for me. He was coming to terms with his life, and I foresaw some changes, I just wasn't sure what they would be, and how they would reveal themselves. Some weeks later Brianna and I were at Roderick's house for dinner. "Where's Mother?" Brianna asked as we sat in the library. "She's on vacation overseas." He caught the look on our faces. "And she may not be coming back, at least not to this house. We have separated and a divorce is in the process. Brianna, you've probably been aware for some time that something just wasn't right with your mother's and my marriage. It has never had love as a component of it, your mother has never loved me, as I have never loved her. Oh we tolerated each other for appearance sake, but that was as strong an emotion as we could find. You see, before I married your mother I was very much in love with another, wonderful, woman. But she wasn't acceptable to my family, she didn't move in the right circles, in fact she was a maid working in our household. She was a beautiful, kind and loving girl, and I loved her very much. But she was taken from me because we did the unforgiveable, she fell pregnant to me, and our families just couldn't allow me to marry her as I'd hoped the news of her condition would force them to. She was placed in a home for girls in her condition to await the birth of our child. It was taken from her immediately after birth and she never saw it again." "I went through with the marriage that had been arranged for me. The only good thing that came of that union was you." He looked at Brianna. "You made my life bearable and now you are leaving it, so I have nothing more to give this marriage. Your mother and I have negotiated a mutually acceptable settlement so that we can both get on with our lives. This only leaves one thing for me to do." This was the cue for the door to open and for my mother, who must have been listening on the other side, to enter the room. "This is the woman that I fell in love with all those years ago." Madeline reached him and he took her in his arms and kissed her. "Madeline is the woman that I have loved all these years since I was a young man and yes, we've been lovers over the years. Our love was such that the snatched moments of mutual bliss was enough to carry us over the times when we could not meet. Our love has never died, and as soon as my divorce is final, we are going to marry." They kissed again and their love for each other was evident. "But how? How were you able to be lovers for over thirty years without Mother finding out?" "Early on she did, almost. She noticed a cash withdrawal on my bank statement and asked me about it. I told her that I had been using an Escort Service to ease my sexual tension. She wouldn't allow me to have sex with her following your birth, I guess that she decided that she had done her duty in providing me with a child. Anyway, she accepted it when I told her that I paid for the service in cash, not wanting a record of the transaction on my statement. I gave the money instead to Madeline to help her out financially. I doubt whether Phoebe was interested enough to try to trace the service I was supposed to have used, she certainly didn't mention it during our divorce negotiations. A happy ending I think, don't you?" "Sir, there is one fly in the ointment." "What is it?" "I am the son that was given up for adoption all those years ago. I am your son." "What!" He looked at Madeline. "Did you know about this?" "Don't be angry with Anthony, and please don't be angry with me. Anthony and Brianna have known about this since before their engagement was announced, we have discussed this in great detail, once they came to me and told me what they had planned. I'm sorry that we've kept that knowledge from you, it was only ever to be for a short time until the time was right to tell you. It was their decision and I agreed to it. They are going to marry as planned, the one thing that they won't do is to have children together, because they've decided that the risk is too great. They are going to go through life as if they'd never found out that you were Anthony's father. We, the four of us, are going to keep this a secret and get on with our lives. Anthony and Brianna love each other as much as we have all of these years, please don't deny them their happiness." Roderick reached for her, and held his arms out to us. The four of us hugged and our lives were irrevocably joined by these revelations, by these secrets borne of love. "This calls for a celebration!" He went off to the kitchen and came back with a bottle of champagne and four glasses. He eased the cork from the bottle and poured us each a glass. "A toast!" We stood. "I give you the four of us. Madeline who I love to distraction, and has remained faithful to me all of these years, Anthony who I have come to look on as the son I never had, and now realise that he is the son that I had, and Brianna, the only good thing that came out of the disaster that was the sham of a marriage that I had to endure for so long. I am now happier than I have any right to be, having complied with the wishes of my family and abandoned, officially that was, my one true love, I am now able to be with her again, and you two who have decided that your love is more important to you, than obedience to some stupid law that would force you to give each other up, without acknowledging your feelings for each other. I give you happiness, and long may it last." -*- And that is how the secret of Anthony Albrecht was now a secret known by four people, two couples, very much in love.