know?Keep it down,Sir, Martin said, laughing. Don't wake the house!Can I go? To theslaves' party?Martin steered himtoward the staircase. Why don't you let everyone have their littledrinking party, Sir, and then we'll come down at midnight to set offthe fireworks? Paul was not looking, so Martin leaned in andlicked the curve of Henry's ear. I'll keep you busy until then,Sir, I promise I will.Martin wasespecially playful and coquettish, licking Henry everywhere andpaying extra attention to his nipples, which Henry appreciated verymuch. Martin straddled his hips and rode him, digging his knees intoHenry's sides. Henry came, and then Martin knelt over Henry's faceand fucked his mouth while Henry fingered his sticky hole.They knew it wasmidnight when they heard the shouts and explosions from all over thecity. They quickly redressed and went downstairs for their coats, andthen to the service yard, where the household's slaves had gatheredwith champagne and fireworks and were just finishing singing AuldLang Syne.Caught mid-revelry,the slaves all looked at Henry with carefully blank faces.Does it ruin itif I'm here? Henry asked. Tell the truth.Of course not,Sir, said Paul.It's just asurprise, Sir, said Katie.Randolph held out amatch-safe. Do us the honor of lighting the first fireworks, Sir.Henry did, a wholestring of firecrackers that went off rapid-fire. He threw them to themiddle of the yard, wary of getting his fingers blown off andlaughing. Martin dared to squeeze his hand, just for a moment, and ifany slave saw, they gave no sign. The slaves drank champagne from theBlackwell crystal and Henry wondered about this but said nothing;they would have gotten permission from Timothy, and if Timothythought it was all right, then he supposed that it was. He drank aglass of champagne, too.It came out thatTimothy had spent ten dollars on the fireworks, a huge sum just toburn to ash, and all were most appreciative of the luxury.Your house is sogenerous, Sir, said Ruby, an overly-talkative girl Henry thoughthe remembered was a scullery maid. Every day I'm grateful I belongto Mr. Blackwell and not one of these other high-and-mightyso-and-sos.Henry liked knowingthis, that his family were good slave owners, the sort that slavespreferred.Slaves from otherhouses came by to wish their compatriots a happy new year, to see thefireworks, to gossip. Most didn't notice Henry was there and theirbehavior was free and natural. It turned out that Billy had a girl, amaid called Jane who belonged to the Slatterys next door, and hewaltzed her around the yard while the others sang a dance tune thatHenry did not know.There was quite acrowd in the yard, twenty people or more at any given time. Henryrecognized most of the faces of his own family's slaves but was, asalways, a bit iffy on putting names to the maids. The slaves visitingfrom other houses seemed somewhat deferential to the Blackwellslaves, lending credence to what Ruby had said about the Blackwellsbeing good owners.There was anelaborate firework, tiers and pinwheels and a tail of braided fuses,that was carried into the middle of the yard by Billy and Paul andlit by little Johnny. The pinwheels spun, shooting white and greensparks, while a fountain went off