As Ellington sat in the carriage next to Cassie on the way to Highfields, he felt very happy at how the afternoon's events had played out. He had thought that it had almost been far too easy to persuade her to come with him. When he had first visited Highfields, three weeks ago, his cousin had encouraged him to bring Cassie to London. Not as his mistress, as he had first intended, but as a courtesan that he could hire out to selected clients at one of Melrose's infamous establishments. All he had to do now, was convince her to come willingly with him and begin her new life.
When Ellington had first seen her, on that stormy night of the accident, he had immediately recognised in her a mixture of innocence and naivety. He knew, from past experience, that they were a potent combination, and, with careful planning, he could manipulate them to his own advantage. Over the past three weeks, Ellington had both charmed and frightened her in equal measure. He had used his years of experience to convince her that she loved him more than even her own life. She had said she would do anything for him, and he was about to put her to the ultimate test.
An incident that occurred on the previous night had resulted in their plans, for Cassie, to be brought forward by a couple of weeks. Earlier that morning, just before dawn, Lord Melrose had been furious. Ellington had seen him uncharacteristically lose a game of cards. Melrose had been angry with Ellington because his cousin had lost to the guest he had brought with him, Major Mitford. It was not just the lost game that angered Melrose, it was also the fact that he had lost a very important wager.
Lord Melrose had spent the last month trying to snare Cassie's older sister, Verity, to take overall responsibility for the debt of her father, Sir Reginald Stanford. According to Melrose's philosophy, a debt was a debt and had to be paid back in full. Only that afternoon, after weeks of careful planning, he had managed to persuade the elder Miss Stanford that she was indeed accountable for her father's extensive debts. He had coerced her into signing a contract that would require her to join one of his more exclusive establishments.
However, Major Mitford had somehow found out about the contract and had challenged Melrose to a game of piquet. During their final partie, earlier that morning, Mitford had managed to win a wager that included that precious contract. Once Mitford had left, along with his winnings, Melrose stood in the middle of his study glowering at his cousin. He was in no doubt who he blamed for the loss of such a valuable asset. Ellington, who had remained cool despite his cousin's antagonism towards him, stood up slowly, walked over to the sideboard and poured two very large glasses of whisky. 'Come, sit down and stop pacing. I have poured you another drink.'
'I do not need a damn drink,' he said, rage still evident in his voice.
'I think you do,' his cousin replied, holding out to him a glass of whisky, 'drink it and tell me why you are so angry. You did not lose a great deal of money and Hadlands is hardly worth the bother.'
Melrose took the drink and sat down. 'It is not the money, and it is certainly not the loss of that run-down pile of rubble that has upset me,' he said as he drained his glass, 'it was the contract with Verity Stanford that I did not want to lose. I have spent weeks trying to find her weakness. And the moment I have her trapped, he comes along and ruins everything. No doubt she put him up to it.'
'Probably,' Ellington answered, 'Mitford was always one for gallantry.'
'Well, now I have lost her.' Melrose said bitterly, 'just when I had promised her to my guests. I will lose thousands over this as well as my reputation.' He looked at his cousin. 'You will have to tell them, after all, you share some of the responsibility for bringing him into the house in the first place.'
'There is a way I can make it up to you.' Ellington said sitting back on a chair and stretching out his legs.
'How?' Melrose spat out angrily.
'Do you think your guests would be that fussy,' Ellington said slowly, 'I mean, what if we were to produce the other sister?'
Melrose walked over to the fireplace and stood opposite his cousin. He looked thoughtfully and said, 'the younger Stanford sister?'
'Yes, Cassandra. Do you think they would be interested in her?' Ellington replied.
His anger was now beginning to wane. 'Yes, I think they would.'
'Good,' Ellington said, 'I will bring her over tomorrow afternoon, once Mitford had left, and then we can have her prepared for the evening ahead.'
'Will she be compliant?' Melrose said, a little unsure of himself.
'She will do her duty without complaint, and I will personally take full responsibility for her behaviour.'
Melrose looked at his cousin doubtfully. 'How can you be so certain that she will cooperate with us?'
Ellington laughed at his cousin's questions. 'While you have been threatening her sister, I have spent every afternoon, wooing the young lady in question. Do you remember our first conversation? I do believe it was on the morning I arrived in this very room?
Melrose nodded. 'I asked you to join my venture, not to ruin it,' he said angrily.
Ellington ignored his cousin's ill-humour. 'During that first conversation, you convinced me that making the young chit my mistress would be a mistake. And, of course, you were right. You also told me about your plans for both sisters and how you were going to use them as whores to pay off the debt.'
Melrose grunted.
'Over the past three weeks, I have been merely acting on your suggestion and bringing the younger Miss Stanford to heel. I have spent time cultivating my relationship with her, and, more importantly, gaining her trust. I have wooed her with expensive gifts and have treated her like a character out of one of those ridiculous novels women like to read.'
'But, can you bring her to heel?' Melrose said, 'I need my girls to be willing.'
'Do not worry about her, she will do as she is told. I have made it plain to her that I will not be manipulated by her tears or tantrums, and I will not be hasty to use force to assert my will on her. I do believe that she is now infatuated with me, and she will do anything to please me.'
'And afterwards?' Melrose said, 'will she still be willing to continue?'
'I will make certain that she is,' Ellington said. 'She can join the other girls here at Highfields. They will be more than willing to show her the ropes. Of course, I will expect to take my share of her profits in return for persuading her to join us.'
'What about a contract,' Melrose asked, 'will I need to have one drawn up?'
'We will not need one of those,' he said with a smile, 'I know women like her well. And let me tell you, cousin, naïve young women, like Cassandra Stanford, are easy to control. Once you have them professing their love to you, it is easy to manipulate them. All they want is for you to constantly reassure them of their worth. It is a little like training a dog, every now and again they need to be shown who is the leader of the pack. She will do as she is told, you have my word on it.'
'It is certainly better for us if there are no contracts. If she stays without one, we can make even more profit from her.' Melrose's anger had now lifted. 'Ellington, you can take full responsibility for her, and all the profits she makes will be yours. But let me warn you, if she does not come up to snuff, so to speak, I will hold you completely responsible for any losses.'
'Do you remember the incident with the Duchess of Huntington?' Ellington said, changing the subject.
'I do,' Melrose replied, 'did you not nearly die after the duel you fought with Huntington.'
Ellington nodded. 'I did. And even after I had recovered, I thought my life was over. I was put to shame by Huntington. He was a good deal older than I and, and he was a more experienced swordsman. I still have the scars from that encounter to this day. However, I now look back at that time of my life, when I was humiliated, completely differently. Without the shame, I would never have joined the Hussars and gone to India. And my time in the military was the making of me. I know that most of the time I exude an air of complacency, but I took my role as an officer very seriously. I learnt how to be good at leading the men under my command, and, I always lead them by example. I would never ask them to do anything, I would not have done myself. They would have followed me anywhere.'
'And over the years, I also learned some valuable lessons about women. After Georgie had used my youth and stupidity for her own ends, I vowed I would never let another woman have the upper hand over me. I have also discovered the power one can have over them, due to their odd notions of love. When they are young, they read novels of dashing heroes that rescue them from impossible situations. All I have to do is turn up to a ball in my dress uniform, dance with them a few times, whisper gallantries in their ears, and they soon believe that they are in love with me. Once they profess their undying love, it is easy to persuade them to surrender their virtue.'
'That is why I am confident that the lovely Miss Cassandra will do as she is told, and she will be more than willing to go through with anything we ask of her. If I am not mistaken, and I rarely am, the young lady in question is ready.'
'If you pull this off, I will be very impressed. In fact, if you manage to do this, and she does everything we ask without complaint, you can keep all the subsequent profits she makes.'
'That is awfully generous of you,' Ellington replied with a smile.
'Let us shake on it,' Melrose said as he held his hand outstretched towards his cousin. As they shook hands, Melrose added, 'I am glad that you have given up your military career and decided to join me. I was in desperate need of a partner I could trust.'
They sat back down on the chairs by the fire. 'Melrose, before I go to Hadlands, I need you to do me a favour,' Ellington asked politely.
'What is it?' Melrose replied.
'I need to look like someone has tried to hurt me.' Ellington said, smiling at his cousin and raising his eyebrows. 'Would you do the honours and punch me in the face, as hard as you can?'
Melrose was a slight man and was not as tall or as strong as his cousin. Both men stood up and faced each other. 'I will try, Stephan, but I was never any good at boxing.'
'Just do your best,' Ellington said, standing up and pointing at his left eye, 'aim for here.'
Melrose stood in front of his cousin, pulled back his arm and swung at him with all his might, in the vague direction where Ellington was pointing. However, he missed his mark and hit his jaw instead.
Ellington rubbed his jaw. 'Not at all bad, but it will not produce the injury I was hoping for. It will certainly not develop into a very impressive bruise. I am afraid I will need it to be a little more convincing than that. Could you possibly hit me again, this time with a little more gusto.'
'Why do you need to look injured?' Melrose said, rubbing his red and swollen knuckles.
'To elicit a response from her,' Ellington answered with a grin.
'What type of response?' Melrose asked.
'Of sympathy,' he replied nonchalantly. 'You see, my dear cousin, you failed with your sister, because you were far too threatening towards her. Before you even approached her, you managed to scare her away. I, on the other hand, have used a completely different approach to snare my sister. And, as I have already told you, I do believe that she is very much in love with me. Tomorrow, she will see my injuries, and I will spin some convincing yarn about being in debt. I will tell her that she is the only person in the world who can help me. Melrose, she will come here, and I can guarantee that she will do as she is told.'
'What will happen when she finds out you have tricked her?' Melrose asked.
'By then, it will be too late; she will know that she is ruined, and she will have to stay here and work for us. There will be nowhere left for her to go.'
Melrose thought for a moment and smiled. 'Stephan, I have a better idea,' he said, still rubbing his knuckles. 'I may not have caused you too much damage, but I sustained an injury myself.' Melrose rang the bell and almost immediately a large footman, smartly dressed in his livery, walked in. 'Ah, Reynolds,' he said brightly, 'Major Ellington requires your assistance.'
'Yes, sir,' he said expressionless, turning to Ellington, 'what is it you require, sir?'
'Reynolds,' Ellington replied, 'how is your right hook.'
'Not as good as my left,' he said still standing upright with his hands by his side.
'Please, could you use your skill, and give me a convincing black eye. His lordship has tried, but, as you can probably see, it was rather a feeble attempt.'
Reynold's lip curled in amusement. He looked at Lord Melrose to give him confirmation of the command. After Melrose had nodded his agreement, Reynolds drew back his arm and hit Ellington just above his left eye. Once the blow had been delivered, Ellington took a few steps back and then gently touched his forehead where the blow had made contact. 'You certainly do have a good right hook. You should give his lordship some lessons.' He then went over to a mirror and looked at his eye. 'Thank you, Reynolds, that will suffice.'
'Will that be all, my lord,' Reynolds said, he was now standing motionless in the middle of the room, waiting for his orders.
'Thank you, Reynolds, you may go.'
Ellington knew that the temporary discomfort, of the black eye, would be worth it. And later that morning, just as he had predicted, she had fallen for his story. During his conversation with her at Hadlands, he had successfully manipulated her feelings for him. Cassie had professed her love for him and had said she would do anything to stop him leaving her forever.
As they sat in the carriage, she leant her head against his shoulder. They said nothing to each other as they made their way slowly towards Highfields. Once the carriage had stopped, outside the grand entrance, he helped her down and walked up the steps with her towards the imposing front door.
Once inside the house, he brought her to one of the large reception rooms on the ground floor. Ellington offered her a seat, and she obediently sat down. He then offered her a glass of an amber liquid.
'No, thank you,' she had said nervously, refusing the glass by shaking her head, 'I do not think I should.'
'You must,' he said, 'it will help you relax.'
She took the glass from him, and he saw that she gingerly drank a few sips. He looked at her in amusement as her nose wrinkled in disgust as she tasted the liquid. 'This is very bitter,' she said, holding the unfinished glass out to him.
He stood next to her and then, as he gently cupped her hands, he pushed it back towards her. 'No, my dear Cass, you must be a good girl and drink it all up for me.'
Cassie obeyed and drank the contents in one go and swallowed hard. Ellington took the glass from her and said in a soft low voice. 'Good girl. Now sit back, shut your eyes and relax. It will all be over very soon.'
n langM"