The war was over.
The British had surrendered.
Eleanor and John could finally be together.
John was decommissioned at half pay in New Windsor in September of 1783. He was to receive a parcel of land in the Northwest Territories and it was a sore subject between the couple. John wanted to light out for his new lands to raise livestock while Ellie had to stay a prepare for her promised queenship. She could not become a farmwife on John’s new parcel of land. He could become king instead. Surely, he would choose royalty over a ranch.
They were in love. Aside from the strain on the relationship from divergent ideas of their future, their present was blissful and perfect. John had performed admirably in battle and was a war hero, popular amongst his regiment. Ellie was beautiful and personable and beloved by everyone who met her. Besides George and Martha, they were the premier couple amongst the veterans of the War.
They had just finished saying their goodbyes to members of John’s regiment heading home. Afterward, they took a walk along the shores of the Hudson. They passed a rowboat heading out into the river with a couple of giddy young lovers. The gloom of war no longer hung over the colonies. It was refreshing to see love in bloom without the taint of doom.
“Remember, I first met you when I was on a rowboat,” Ellie reminded.
“I didn’t even see you that day,” John said with a smile.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t peek,” Ellie teased. “You might’ve never left.”
“I’m happy to have seen you many times since that day.”
“Yes, but I never told you what I was wearing when you swam up to me in that rowboat.”
“Something sensational, I am sure.”
“The same thing I’m wearing right now,” Ellie said.
John looked at her fancy gown and couldn’t imagine her rowing solo across the lake in it. “Didn’t you just get that dress for the celebration?”
“Not this dress. It’s what I’m wearing under it.”
John looked skeptical. “I don’t think there’s any way you have another outfit under there.”
“Would you like to see?”
John would never say no to Ellie. That was how she knew he wouldn’t leave her for some parcel of farmland. John shrugged and smiled at her. “I feel like I’m about to witness a magic trick.”
“Prepare to be dazzled,” Ellie said. “Close your eyes.”
John did. Ellie stared at him for a little bit. He was so ruggedly handsome. The scars of war cut across his forehead, one down his left brow, another on his chin. His cheeks had become so hollow during the war. He was changed. He measured his intentions more seriously and how he affected others more deeply. The most severe changes were not visible to her naked eye.
He needed this as much as she did. As he stood as still as a great elm aged for decades against the wind, Ellie moved quickly to undo what it had taken three attendants all morning to accomplish before she met John for the farewell engagement for his regiment. Even General Washington himself had been on hand for an appearance to wish his former soldiers well in their new lives.
She pushed General Washington out of her mind as she pushed her petticoat down and off. Ellie stood before her beau, eyes still closed but the sun warm as it moved down the western sky. She loved the feel of the rejuvenating rays upon her breasts and belly and warming her fluffy brunette muff. Without telling him to open his eyes, she took his hands, calloused and rough, and placed them on her bared chest.
John’s eyes flew open. He gasped audibly as he saw his beloved standing naked on the shores of the Hudson. Anyone might happen by on an evening stroll or a boat could come around the river bend at any moment. Yet she was resolute in her natural splendor. This was how she first met John and this was how she wanted the first moment of the rest of their lives to commence.
She kissed him. He couldn’t do anything but kiss her back. She fumbled at his trousers until she was able to set him free. Seeing his impressive size out here in the daylight under the blue sky was thrilling beyond her experience. His clothes piled onto her dress and they embraced. His lips moved roughly against her neck and then stopped at her chest. She melted as he kissed her breasts. A soft wind started to blow as John gently lowered her to the soft grasses along the riverbed.
They consummated their love on the shores of the Hudson.
The wind carried the sounds of her climax throughout the valley.
She laid in his arms afterward as the sun slowly set. They didn’t bother to get dressed or cover-up. After what they’d been through over the past months, they were perfectly content to let the fates fall where they may. One fellow rowed by in a boat and gazed appreciatively at the couple. Ellie gave him a wink and a wave. Otherwise, they were left alone until nightfall.
Ellie pulled on just one layer of her garments while John dressed. She walked home with her undercarriage unencumbered and her breasts bouncing free under a thin cotton blouse. John held her hand and they walked like young lovers. They might have had a lifetime of experiences over the last few months, but they were still just young lovers. Their whole lives were still ahead of them.
“What’s next?” John asked, and she couldn’t tell if the question was curious or contained some trepidation.
“What’s next?” Ellie repeated. “Well, I guess it’s time to embrace our destiny.”
“Destiny,” John repeated this time. It sounded like a lot bigger word when he said it.
“Yes,” Eleanor Cambridge said. “It’s time to introduce the independent colonies to their American royalty.”
The End of the Very Beginning
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