Later that night, after everyone, including their guests had gone to bed, Cassie had plucked up enough courage to talk to her sister. During the evening, doubt about her assignation with Major Ellington had crept into her mind. She needed advice, but she knew that she could not fully confide in her sister and tell her exactly what she had agreed to do. Her sister would advise her not to meet him, worse still, she might insist that she could not go. Therefore, Cassie had decided to ask her about love instead and gauge her opinion in a roundabout way.
'Do you believe in love at first sight?' She had asked Verity in a whisper, just before her sister was about to blow out the candle. That night, to accommodate their guests, the sisters were sharing a bedchamber and were sleeping in the same bed.
'No Cass,' Verity said emphatically after initially avoiding the question, 'I do not believe in love at first sight.'
Cassie, from a very early age, had always believed in romantic love, and that magical moment when you first made eye contact with the man you would eventually marry. However, cloistered away from the world in a school for girls' in Bristol, she had never even had the chance to meet any eligible young men, let alone have a chance to look them in the eye to discover if they were "the one." Recently, she had come to realise that her future at the school as a teacher, just like her sister, was a bleak prospect. Therefore, before her seventeenth birthday, Cassie had taken the momentous decision that she would leave the comfort of the school and find a position as a governess.
Then a week before her father's death, just days after her birthday, a suitable position had become available, far away from Bristol; all the way in Scotland. It had not been a difficult decision to make, and she had jumped at the chance to leave the school. For many years, she had watched her sister with frustration, waste the best years of her life. At the grand old age of four and twenty, Verity was still a schoolmistress, at the same institution she had attended as a pupil. And that was the problem with Verity, she never had any ambition for her own life. She did not want to better herself, or even further her career. She would be satisfied remaining in Bristol, for the rest of her life, doing the same tedious job with the same tiresome people. It was no wonder that she did not believe in love at first sight, she had become far too dull and set in her ways.
She had asked her sister, earlier that evening before Major Ellington's arrival, about her opinion on her own marriage prospects. 'Would you not like to marry someday and have a family of your own? Cassie had asked her sister as they sat by the fire in the drawing-room, listening to the storm raging outside.
'Not really,' was the unsatisfactory answer Cassie had received, 'I have never given it a second thought.'
It was now clear to Cassie that Verity wanted neither love nor marriage. She was content remaining where she was; teaching History and French to rather ignorant schoolgirls in a second-rate school in Bristol. So that evening, when her sister had warned her that desire and love were different and had told her to be careful not to get them confused with each other, Cassie was not at all certain that her sister had been speaking from a position of authority. Verity had also warned her about the fragile nature of a woman's reputation, especially one in their position, without the protection of male relatives. She had told her that she had to be beyond reproach, pure and spotless; like the driven snow. But, Cassie thought to herself, where was the excitement in that. How could anyone find a husband, if one did not take a few risks?
Verity had even gone as far as to say that gentleman, referring to Major Ellington, would never marry someone like them. 'If they marry,' Verity had said, 'it will be a woman with money and position. A woman whose family will be able to help them further their chosen career. Women like us, with no wealth or connections, can only be a diversion.'
But Cassie believed, deep down in her heart, that Major Ellington was different. He was an honourable man; a brave war hero, who had been seriously wounded defending his country. And more than that, he was the first person in her life that had asked for her help. Why would such a man deceive her? As she lay in the darkness, Cassie had managed to confine the doubts, she had been feeling, to the back of her mind. What did her prim and undemonstrative sister know about matters concerning the heart? Cassie was in love, and she was not going to let this opportunity, for her own happiness, slip through her fingers, so she rejected all of Verity's warnings about him.
Cassie lay quietly in the dark and waited until her sister had fallen asleep, and the only sound she could hear was the persistent patter of rain on the windowpanes. She then quietly got out of bed, put on her dressing gown, and, without looking back at her sleeping sister, she crept to Major Ellington's bedchamber.
✽✽✽
Early the next morning, when Ellington awoke, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction. He turned around to look at the beautiful young woman, lying next to him, with her golden hair spread out across the pillow. He kissed the base of her neck, and in response, she moved closer to him. 'Cass,' he whispered in her ear, 'wake up.'
She sighed sleepily and put her arm around his chest.
'Cass,' he said a little louder, 'wake up. It is nearly five o'clock, and you should return to your sister before she awakens and notices you have gone.'
Cassie opened her bright blue eyes slowly and looked at him sleepily. 'Stephan,' she said, 'do I have to? I could stay here with you a little longer.'
'I would love nothing more for you to stay, but you must go,' Ellington replied.
Cassie sighed. 'But I do not want to go. I want to stay with you.'
He turned around to face her and touched her on the cheek. 'You have to go. You must not make your sister suspicious.'
'When will I see you again? She asked in a voice that was barely audible. 'I think I would die if I never were to see you again.'
'Do you think that is wise, my dear? It could be dangerous. What if your sister finds out you have been with me?'
She turned towards him and tenderly touched his cheek with her fingers. 'I do not care what she thinks, I just want to be with you,' she said softly.
Ellington was delighted at how the calamitous carriage accident that had resulted in him sustaining a cut above the eye had ultimately turned out to his advantage. As they say, every cloud has a silver lining, and this particular cloud had not been a disappointment. When he had first seen her, all golden hair and youthful innocence, he had carefully manoeuvred the evening's events in order to seduce her. He liked nothing more than taking a young woman's chaste ideas of love to see how much he could corrupt them. Not only was she young, beautiful and very innocent, she was also, much to Ellington's relief, alone in the world. There were no male relatives present, that would challenge him to a duel if he were to be discovered in a compromising situation with her. It was indeed perfect, as she would be the one that would pay a high price if they were caught, not him.
'Would you really risk your reputation for me?' he asked, turning around to look at her. He wanted to know how far she would go and how much she would risk, in order to see him again.
'Of course, I would,' she had said defiantly, 'I do not care for my reputation. I love you.'
He knew then that he had ensnared her, but he still had to use honeyed words to play the game: for this was undoubtedly a game to him. He did not care one whit for her, he only cared about himself and the pleasure he could gain from ultimately ruining her. 'Oh Cass,' he said in a whisper, 'I do not deserve you.'
'Do not say that,' she had said softly as she turned towards him and laid her head on his chest, 'it is I who does not deserve you.' To his satisfaction, she began to trace the scars on his chest with her fingers. 'You are so strong and brave,' she whispered.
Earlier that evening, when they had been alone in the drawing room, he had told her that he had received those scars in battle. Of course, that had not been true. It had been a carefully constructed lie to gain her sympathy. He had, in fact, sustained those injuries many years ago, when he was still young and very naive.
It had happened when he was still a green nineteen-year-old and studying at Oxford. During one of the long summer vacations, he had begun an affair with a married woman, who was twice his age. She was very beautiful and had many admirers that followed her everywhere. He had been flattered that he had been the one that she had singled out for special attention.
However, her jealous husband became suspicious and had caught them together. He was angry at being cuckolded, under his own roof, and had challenged Ellington to a duel. In Hyde Park, the following morning at dawn, the enraged husband and more experienced swordsman, quickly overcame his opponent. Ellington was carried away, not long after the start, with deep gashes across his chest.
In his naivety, he had thought that the woman he loved, would leave her husband and run away with him. However, he soon discovered that she had been using him. She had instigated the affair with one goal in mind; to punish her husband and make him notice her. To her, Ellington had been nothing more than a mere pawn in her game with her husband. He had felt so ashamed of the incident, that he had persuaded his family to buy him a commission in a regiment that was just about to set sail for India.
He vowed that he would never let another woman use and manipulate him in the same way. Instead, he used the same tricks, she had used on him, to exploit the emotions of the women he met. Over the years, without feeling any guilt, he had instigated the downfall of many. To him, they were nothing more than a way of satisfying his own desires.
'Do you know a private place where we could meet?' he had asked Cassie.
'No, I do not. I have not lived here for many years,' she said, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice.
'I am staying at Highfields, as Lord Melrose's guest. He has a large estate, with extensive grounds. He will know of a place where we can meet.' Ellington said as he swung out of bed and put on his dressing-gown.
'Would you tell Lord Melrose about us? Cassie asked looking at him with alarm.
'Why ever not? I keep no secrets from my cousin,' he said firmly, looking down at her with no compassion in his voice. He could see that she was uncomfortable with her discretion being made public. 'Do not worry yourself about it, my dear,' he added as he walked across the room to the dresser, 'he will not tell anyone. He is the very height of discretion. You do trust me?'
Cassie looked at him and nodded slowly.
'Good,' he said firmly, 'you mustn't be shy, my dear. You have done nothing wrong, and certainly, nothing to be ashamed of.'
'Verity would not agree with that,' she said almost in a whisper, 'she would be very disappointed in me.'
'Well, if you prefer that we do not meet again, I will understand,' he said nonchalantly as he shrugged his shoulders. He displayed a casual attitude because he wanted to know how desperate she was to see him again. Was she desperate enough to lie and deceive her family and friends about what she was doing?
'Oh no!' she exclaimed vehemently, 'I could not bear that.'
'Then you have no choice but to trust me,' he said as he crossed the room to sit on the side of the bed next to Cassie. He then took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. 'Tonight,' he said, after he had kissed her hand, 'we undertook a very solemn act. In the sight of God, and the rest of the world, you are now bound to me.' He looked into her clear blue eyes that looked seriously back at him. 'Your body has been cleaved to mine, and we are one flesh. You cannot go back to the person you were before.'
'I know,' she said in a whisper, 'my soul is now one with yours.'
'Then trust me?' he said, as he gently stroked her cheek, 'and do everything I say. I know what is best for you. Do you know of a place where I can leave you a message?' he then asked her.
Cassie nodded. 'Yes, by the gate to the graveyard. There is a loose brick on the right-hand side. If you gently pull out the brick, you can leave a note behind it.'
'Tomorrow, I will leave you a note that will give you details regarding our next rendezvous. Now, my dear, you had better leave. I would not want you to get in trouble with your sister.'