A long draw on his pipe was the response to her question, pragmatic he may be, but he also happened to believe that favourable outcomes were often the result of proper planning. Rheinland will give us some time to recover yet, if the groundwork is laid properly. The restoration of their Empire was concluded.....poorly. He drummed his fingers along his knee while he thought about their current predicament but his mind wandered to what was the worse case scenario, should Liberty change their tune then the risk of economic dominion would continue for some time. In Rheinlands case the economic benefits either wouldn't arrive due to some internal strife or would be too slow to prevent major social disorder, Kusari presented little more than a buffer against Gallia, their economic trading would have little impact on Bretonia as far as William could see.
Liberty had money, that was the problem, Bretonia had resources which made Liberty the obvious choice, Kusari also had money but no demand. Have we considered making a deal with Gallia? As radical as it sounded, if Kusari was blocking their way into Bretonia, then trading with the old enemy might have considerably fewer risks.....but then, how willing would they be?
Elizabeth turned her gaze into a thousand arrow points and started blankly at William.Gallia? Is this a joke? Am I supposed to laugh now, over my sister's scorched grave on Leeds?
Well that answered that question. Odd really considering the clamour for trade that had accompanied Leeds after the war was over. Alright. Gallia is out. He said simply, he certainly wasn't going to risk pissing her off, not when she was right next to him. Who knew what she was capable off, plus he wanted to keep her on side. Regardless, it doesn't solve our problem. So I'll ask simply what do you want? What is your preference?
He finally took a sip of whiskey, if they themselves could not agree on a course of action then any plan they undertook would fail. People had a tendency to see through half-heartedness, if she was going to be involved she needed to be involved all the way, she needed to believe it and she needed to support it. William was a good book keeper, but a poor politician. She was the opposite, which in itself presented an interesting line of inquiry.
I definitely do want to keep selling our produce to Rheinland, but anything further than that is impossible. I understand it is your ancestral home, but they are the only House that still trades with Gallia and we had a border skirmish with them two months ago. They tried to take Omega-3 and the invasion attempt left me stranded on Sprague. The company suffered a deficit that month. She tried to drink the tea, but it was still too hot and she burned her lip. I want to preserve my treaty with Liberty. The sad truth is that the Realm is not yet ready to drink the nectar of independence and it needs a reliable protector for the next decade or two. Liberty is the only House we can trust somewhat.
Whatever affairs the family had for Rheinland, William would be the last to know with any authority, and so perhaps, he reasoned, he would be the last to speak to Hall about it. Fair points against using Rheinland had been made, it would be far better to stick with what you know than deal with an unknown. So it has to be Liberty....how insufferable. Putting up with them was hard enough when they arrived en mass but now? What with their Government showing our ambassador nothing short of total contempt, it makes you wonder what we can do about it? So if Liberty is going to be our 'protector' what do you propose we do? He didn't bother to hide his distaste for the plan, but if he had no other option he'd do it. But no one said he had to be happy about it.
William's concession awoke a beastly instinct inside Elizabeth. She liked concessions, when it was the other side making them. She liked to dominate. Oh, my poor Willy! She gently grasped William's hand. It seems like we'll have to take it from behind for a while. She looked at him directly in the eyes and gave a hint of a smile. Have I told you how I worked for a Zoner on Canaria -- I mean Exeter? We had no worker's rights, virtually no laws or regulations at the time. He was the kind of person to make sure to exploit that. I worked for him for... a decade, maybe longer, and I didn't like one bit of it. His establishment was the only choice while I was waiting for an opportunity. Now I have a political career behind me and the wealth he could only dream of. He either died in the invasion, or he's now laying drunk and forgotten in some ditch.
He turned to face her directly, and squeezed her hand gently in reply. Was it not a good thing that the family had rescued such a bright young individual from the bowls of poverty? While the Zoners no doubt had good people, it pained William to think of Elizabeth being caged like some animal and her talents being wasted in some brothel. In fact the thought pained him more than he initially thought it would, she was a Steiner, she may not have the name, but she was as competent and as shrewd as they were, perhaps even more so. She was one of them and she would not suffer the fate of those William personally thought of as 'lesser'.
Well you are safe her my dear, safe with us, safe with...me The last few words spilled out of his mouth faster than he knew what he was saying, when he did register what he had actually said he froze. His face drained of colour, how inappropriate and forward of him. This was a business meeting, not a chance to indulge in personal matters. Apologies my lady...I did not mean to speak out of turn.
The tea was still steaming. Elizabeth smirked at William and, not taking her gaze off of him, took a sip. The temperature of the beverage expanded the blood vessels in her lips and they flourished with redness. It's so hot in here! She got up, loosened her dress and tried to remove her corset. She pulled it and yanked it, but it would not go off.
He didn't quite know what to make of her sudden desire to get undressed but if the lady was hot then she was hot, he stood up and moved toward her slowly, not wanting to cause alarm.
Allow me he said as he navigated his way behind her. Someone had decided to make an unnecessary and unsuccessful attempt at a bunny eared knot. He wouldn't be surprised if the person who did this created such a mess of knots out of spite, perhaps it was another dark skinned fellow she disliked. Nevertheless it was going to take far too much time to try and untangle it. The string could be replaced. Reaching over to his desk he took the small sword shaped letter opener and cut through the ribbons binding the corsets together.
With little warning they fell away to the floor. William was again, speechless as to what he'd just done.
The corset broke off and released Elizabeth's luscious bosom from captivity, quiveringly yearning for freedom. She had gained some weight since the end of her military service, and although it made her less appealing in her mind, in reality it had a very opposite effect on William. She faced him and gave an alluring lick to her fingers, and put out the cigarette. Her hands slid over his stalwart and now almost petrified body, and in this moment of weakness, one shoved all but the tea off of the table, while the other pushed William on top of it with the strength he did not expect from a gentle woman. May the defendant lay down! She lifted her skirt and started undoing William's belt.