'Well,' Cassie said, once they had entered a large bedchamber, 'this is a surprise.' Cassie sat down on a stool next to a dressing table. She turned around and looked at her sister and her companion. 'Please sit down,' she said, motioning to a love-seat on the other side of the room. 'The pair of you look quite ridiculous standing there.'
Verity sat down next to Maisie on the plush velvet chair.
'You were very foolish coming here,' Cassie said, at last, 'if you were caught, there would be nothing I could do to help you.' She took a deep breath. 'Why have you come here?' she said.
'We have come to take you away,' Verity answered.
Cassie laughed. 'I see you are still as naïve as you were when I last saw you,'
There was a long and awkward silence. 'I cannot believe that Reggie knows you are here,' Verity said, looking around the room.
The bedchamber was unlike any Verity had ever seen before. It was well lit with the same large candelabra, she had seen in the salon, that was arranged on tables around the room. There were numerous mirrors with ornate gilt frames, placed strategically on the walls that were covered with a rich red wallpaper. A plush carpet, of a similar hue, covered the floor and a large bed, took centre stage.
Cassie flicked her long golden hair to one side and laughed. 'Of course, our dear little brother knows I am here. He comes most nights to avail himself of the many pleasures a place like this provides.'
'Does he gamble?' Verity asked.
'Our dear, dear brother,' Cassie said, in an exaggerated manner, 'is just like our father in many, many ways. But he does not come here only to gamble.
'He has not lost Hadlands?' Verity asked quietly.
'Not yet,' Cassie replied, 'but it can only be a matter of time before he does.'
The door of the bedchamber opened, and a woman, wearing the same golden dress as Cassie, but with a green sash, walked in. Her long flowing hair was black, like a raven, and she had brilliant green eyes, the same colour as the large emerald around her neck. 'Rosa, I saw you leave abruptly. Are you in trouble?' The woman said to Cassie, as she looked suspiciously at Verity and Maisie.
'No Emerald,' she replied, with a smile, 'nothing is amiss. Just a couple of old friends. That is all.'
'Is there anything I can do to help?' she said, still standing at the door.
'I am meant to be with the Earl of Acton. Would you be a dear?'
Emerald nodded, 'I will go and find him.'
Once she had gone, Verity asked, 'why did she call you Rosa and not use your real name?'
Cassie laughed as if Verity had said something very amusing, and then said, 'my dear sister, my name here is La Rosa d'Oro; the golden rose. It was chosen for me to reflect the colour of my hair. The young, innocent and very naïve Cassie, you knew, died two and a half years ago, and was replaced by the sophisticated and worldly La Rosa d'Oro.' Cassie swept her arms downwards to show Verity the change. 'You will not find your sister here anymore, just what she has become.'
Cassie sighed and opened an enamel box on the dressing table. Once she had scrutinised its contents, she selected a long thin cheroot and walked over to the nearest candelabra. Closing her eyes, she drew slowly on the cheroot, until a cloud of smoke came from its end. After it had been lit, she walked over to a chaise long, just opposite to where Verity and Maisie were sitting. Holding the cheroot delicately in two slim fingers, over her right shoulder, she then drew on it deeply, holding her breath, before releasing the smoke through pursed lips.
While Cassie was lighting the cheroot, Verity was able to make a closer examination of her sister's face. Around her eyes and lips, small hair-like lines, the first signs of dissipation, were beginning to reveal themselves. Her skin that had first appeared in the salon to be clear and flawless was starting to become sallow. The reflection of her face, in the large mirror, highlighted the dark smudges under her eyes. She looked tired and a good deal older than her nineteen years.
Cassie stretched out on the chaise long and continued to smoke. 'My dear sister,' she eventually said, sarcasm dripping in her voice. 'Do you remember Major Ellington? He came to Hadlands the night of the storm.'
Verity nodded, 'yes, I do. I recognised him with you earlier in the salon. Why are you here with him?'
'Be patient, V,' I will get to that presently.' Cassie said as she drew once more on the cheroot. 'I will start at the beginning when Major Ellington walked through our front door, on the night of the storm, and I saw him for the first time.'
When she had finished speaking, she drew on the cheroot and then slowly released a cloud of smoke.
'Do you remember those gothic romantic novels we used to read?' She continued, 'you know, V, the ones that had tall, dark, handsome heroes and young, impressionable, insipid heroines?'
Verity smiled and nodded, 'I remember, after our father's funeral, we used to read them out loud to pass the time.'
'And, do you remember the night of the storm, we were reading one together. I cannot remember the title, or who wrote it, but I remember just wanting to be like the heroine. All I longed for was a tall, dark, handsome storybook hero to come and sweep me off my feet, just like in the novel. Can you imagine my delight when Major Ellington came to our door, looking every inch the image of the perfect man I had constructed in my mind's eye? A real-life hero, with a gash on his forehead and a limp caused by an old war wound. I fell in love with him, the moment he walked through our door.' Cassie sighed at the memory. 'Do you remember, you sent us to the drawing room, and I cleaned his wound. Of course, a libertine like Ellington left unattended, with a young, impressionable girl, did not take long to make his first move.'
'That evening, he kissed me,' she said, as though it was something very ordinary, 'it made me feel, for the first time in my life, alive. Before you came back, he had persuaded me to meet him later that night. I could not refuse.'
'But, we were in the same room. I would have heard you leave.' Verity said, with concern.
'Once you had fallen asleep, I crept out and spent the night in Ellington's bed.' Cassie smoked again, as she let her sister come to terms with what had happened. The smoke, like her words, hung heavy in the room.
'Cass, if I had known, I would have stopped you.' Verity said, closing her eyes.
'You did warn me, and I only have myself to blame. I genuinely thought he had honourable intentions and wanted more than just to take away my maidenhood. I made an error of judgement by mistaking lust for love. I thought they were the same.'
'You could have told me. I may have been able to help.' Verity said, her voice full of sadness.
'But Verity, I was young, only just seventeen. I was still only a girl in the body of a woman. I did not know how to handle the passion he evoked in me. In my naivety, I thought you were an old maid, who did not know the first thing about love. You did warn me that men like Ellington would not marry someone like me.'
'Did he lie to you?' Verity said softly. 'Did he promise marriage?'
'No, he never promised to marry me. He did talk to me many times, about marriage and children, and I always assumed that it would be me he would choose as a bride. I did think that he was an honourable man, with honourable intentions. And, because he made love to me, I thought that I would get my fairy tale ending, just like in the novel.' Cassie shifted and laid her head back on a cushion.
'That still does not explain how you ended up here?' Verity said, looking around the room.
'During those weeks, before your departure back to school, I met with Ellington every day. By the time, you had left, I was so in love with him, I would have done anything, and I mean anything, for him.'
'On the morning, just after you left, he came to Hadlands. He told me a story about owing a vast sum of money, and that he would have to leave immediately without me. I was devastated at the thought of never seeing him again. I made up my mind to do whatever I could to help him.'
'Cassie put the cheroot in a small dish on the table next to her and stood up. She walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the room and poured herself a brandy from a glass decanter. She turned to Maisie and Verity and said, 'would you like one?'
They both shook their heads. 'No thank you, Cass,' Verity said quietly.
Cassie drank the contents of the glass in one go and poured herself another one, and went, once more, to stretch out on the chaise long.
'I cannot just leave,' Cassie eventually said, leaning back against the cushions of the chaise long. 'It is not as simple as walking out of the front door.'
'Why not?' Verity asked curiously.
'It is complicated,' Cassie said, after sipping the liquid from the glass.
'Tell me why,' Verity asked, 'I would like to know.'
'I could leave here anytime I want. It is not as though we are locked in our rooms and never let out. Remember that I told you I loved Ellington.' Verity nodded. 'You will not understand, V, but I still love him in an odd sort of way. He can be so very kind and gentle.'
'But, Cass, he has you working as a ... whore. I do not think that is either kind or gentle.' Verity said, her voice full of anger.
'You are right, as always, but I cannot help the way I feel. He has a hold over me. It is like I have invisible chains attached to my soul that have imprisoned me. Whatever I do, I cannot break them.' Cassie put the half-drunk glass of brandy on the table and picked up the cheroot once more and continue to smoke.
'Break those chains and leave with me tonight. You can start afresh.' Verity said, with excitement.
Cassie leant her head back and laughed. 'I told you it was complicated. After my first night at Highfields, Major Ellington and Lord Melrose made it very clear what my life would entail. You know, they mentioned you. They said that you should be there as well, and in your absence, I would have to work twice as hard.'
'Me?' Verity said puzzled.
'Yes, you,' Cassie said, now looking directly at her sister. 'As you are aware, our father owed Melrose money. A good deal of money. He was going to use both of us to collect the debt, but you managed to escape.'
'But, I had the deed to Hadlands, as well as five thousand pounds. We owed him nothing.'
'V, you really can be quite naïve,' Cassie said, as a matter of fact. 'Melrose thought nothing of the kind. He did not care who had the deed. For him, the debt was still owed and had, in fact, increased. And, he wanted payment in full. Since then, I have had to work hard every day.'
'You must understand, that for Melrose it was not just the money. No, it was much more than that: it is power. He wanted to use our family as an example. If you owed him money and did not repay, he wanted everyone to know that he would still expect payment. Death may excuse you, but your loved ones left behind would have to shoulder the responsibility for your folly.'
'Please, Cass, let us go, tonight. You do not have to stay here.' Verity said, almost pleading with her sister. 'The debts were nothing to do with us, and we are not responsible for them.'
'What about Reggie?' Cassie said sitting up, 'have you thought about him.'
'What about him?' Verity asked.
'Have you ever wondered why Ellington and Melrose are his guardians?' Cassie said, leaning forward. 'Did it never seem to you a little odd.'
'Yes, ever since I found out, I have been puzzled.'
'It is to keep me in check,' Cassie said, in a haze of smoke, 'they look after Reggie if I behave myself and do what they say.' She paused and drew deeply on the cheroot. 'Who do you think ultimately paid for his commission? Ellington? Melrose?' There was a pause as she flicked the ash into a dish. 'It was me. Of course, I had to pay.'
'If Reggie knew, he would have refused it,' Verity said vehemently.
Cassie laughed loudly. 'Do you think that brother of ours is ignorant about his sister's vocation?' There was a bitter edge to her voice. 'He has known about this for some time and is quite happy for me to continue, as long as he can benefit from it in some way. He is quite selfish, just like our father.'
'Do not feel you have to stay here for Reggie's sake. He should never have put you in such a dependent position,' Verity said passionately. 'He must learn to take responsibility for himself, without relying on us. Leave tonight; leave with me.'
Cassie stood up slowly, picking up the half-finished glass of brandy, 'there is one more reason why I cannot leave.' She walked slowly over to her dressing table, opened a drawer and took out a small brown glass bottle with a rubber dropper. Carefully, she placed a couple of drops of the dark-brown liquid into her glass. 'This is why, I cannot leave,' she said. Then she drained the contents of the glass.
Verity immediately recognised the bottle and its contents. It was the highly addictive opiate; laudanum.
'This is what keeps me here,' she said, as she put the glass back down on the table. 'I cannot live without it.' She sat back down on the chaise long and smiled, 'it takes away the pain and makes life so much more bearable.'
'How long have you been taking it?' Verity asked quietly.
'Ever since Highfields,' she said, as she leant back and shut her eyes, 'that first night was ... I cannot even talk about how terrified I was. They broke me both physically and mentally. Over the coming weeks, I came to realise that Major Ellington had not only taken my away freedom, but also my dignity. My whole life was on show. Nothing was private. I had to sleep, eat and work when they wanted me to. I had no control over what I wore or how I conducted myself. I was at their beck and call, and I hated it. I just wanted to die.'
'It was not until Emerald, the woman who came in earlier took me to one side and explained what I must do to survive in this place. I had to resign myself to my fate and taking this, is part of what I had to do to make my life bearable. Within weeks, under her tutelage, I was more confident, and it was not long until I truly became La Rosa d'Oro, one of the most popular courtesans in this place.'
'I paid a high price for that confidence,' Cassie said, quietly, her eyes still closed, 'it is highly addictive, and I cannot go a day without it.'
There was a knock on the door and a woman, dressed like the women in the salon, entered. 'I have a message for you,' she said, quietly, as she handed Cassie a note.
Cassie read the note and got up quickly, taking one more puff on the cheroot. 'I will come directly.'
As Cassie got up to leave, the woman glanced nervously at Verity and Maisie. While Cassie was looking at herself in the mirror on the dressing table, the woman quickly picked up the note, that Cassie had discarded, and placed it on the side table.
'Well,' Cassie said, impatiently to the girl, 'don't just stand here; help me get ready.'
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