Later that evening, at Jamestown Royal Harbor.
The Governor's Mansion was ablaze with lights. Well-trained servants bustled about, and the banquet hall filled with the aroma of fine food and wine.
Although not many attended, the welcome dinner the Newman family prepared for Byron and Bill was of a high caliber.
The Newman brothers—Governor Jefferson Newman and Major General Elsie Newman—were present, along with their right-hand men: Ivan Derrick, the Chief Steward of the Governor's Mansion, and Mallory Barton, the Chief Quartermaster of the Navy. Each brother was accompanied by a few administrative officers and naval captains.
These were the core figures the Newman family had cultivated and swayed in both military and political spheres—their staunch supporters and a community bound by shared interests.
