Brussels: April 1815
'Ouch!' Cassie exclaimed, 'you really are a clumsy girl. I do not know why I put up with your incompetence.'
'I'm sorry, miss,' the young maid replied fearfully, 'I won't do it again.'
'That is what you said last time,' came the curt reply.
She glared at the maid, who was concentrating on mending a small tear on her dress, and almost felt sorry for her. The maid was kneeling on the floor, not daring to look up at Cassie and incur further displeasure. Of course, Cassie knew that it had not been the poor girl's fault, it had just been an accident. But, recently she was finding it increasingly difficult to control her temper, and the girl should really learn to be less clumsy.
Since leaving Vienna, just over a month ago, Cassie had not had a decent night's sleep. It seemed that every time she closed her eyes, her head became crammed full of muddled thoughts of the person she had left behind at Hadlands. It felt like a lifetime since she had been the innocent, naïve schoolmistress, who had been foolish enough to believe that she was in love. She found it hard to believe that only two and a half years had passed since she had put that credulous, gullible girl to death.
Since she had started working for Ellington, she had travelled extensively throughout Europe. After she had left Highfields, she had initially lived and worked in London. When peace had come last year, and Napoleon had been exiled to Elba, Ellington had relocated her to Paris and then later, Vienna. To her, each city was the same. She was there for one reason, and one reason only, to gather information. She occasionally felt guilty for encouraging men, when they were at their most vulnerable, to reveal their deepest and darkest secrets to her. However, when she discovered that many of those men thought nothing of her, that guilty feeling soon disappeared.
'Ouch!' she said again this time even louder. She immediately bent over and grabbed the unsuspecting maid's wrist. 'How many times have I told you not to hurt me? You are doing it on purpose, aren't you?'
'No, Miss Rosa,' the young girl replied fearfully, 'no I didn't. I am very sorry. It won't happen again.'
Cassie gripped her wrist a little tighter and twisted it until the maid cried out in pain. Then adding fiercely, she said, 'then, make sure it doesn't happen again. If it does, I'll have you dismissed.'
'Yes, Miss,' the maid said nervously, rubbing her red wrist, 'I'll be more careful in the future.'
The truth, though Cassie did not even admit it to herself, was that she did not have the authority to dismiss this girl or any other servant that worked for Major Ellington. But she was tired and was finding it difficult to control her temper. Anyway, she thought to herself, what harm would it do if the girl was a little frightened of her.
The maid, even though her hands shook, managed to fix her dress without any further mishap. Once she had finished, Cassie examined her workmanship critically in the large cheval glass and could find no fault with it. She wanted to thank the young woman, who was still cowering behind her, but she could not bring herself to do it. 'You had better start on my hair,' she commanded, as she walked over to her dressing table and sat down.
It was still early in the evening, and Cassie, like she did at this time every day, was beginning to feel shaky and agitated. Her inability to keep still was probably why the maid had pricked her with a needle. 'Before you start, get me a drink,' she ordered as she scowled at the maid. 'And hurry up,' she snapped, 'I haven't got all day.'
The maid dropped a curtsy and quickly scurried away, returning moments later with a large glass of a colourless liquid. 'I hope that's not water,' Cassie said to her harshly as she took the glass from her. It had been several hours since Cassie had last had a drink, and she craved the temporary solace that the alcohol would provide.
'No, miss,' the maid said quietly, frightened that she would get the sharp end of Cassie's tongue once more, 'it's gin.'
Cassie took a sip, and the bitter contents of the glass met with her approval. 'Pass over that small brown bottle on the mantlepiece,' she said a little more gently. Once more, the maid scurried away and then placed the requested item on the dressing table next to Cassie's glass.
The small brown bottle that was stoppered with a rubber dropper was nearly empty. As Cassie pinched the rubber bulb of the dropper, she tipped the bottle carefully to one side, in order to pool the remains of the precious liquid into one place to make it easier to extract every last drop. Once she had sucked up the brown liquid into the glass tube of the dropper, she cautiously brought it over to her glass. After she had dripped its contents into the glass, she carefully swirled the glass, and then quickly drank every last drop.
After she had drained her glass and had placed it on the surface of her dresser, she remembered the first time she had taken laudanum. It had been the last night at Highfields, just before she was due to go to London. Despite knowing that the drug was incredibly addictive, she had willingly taken it, so that she could forget the horror of her situation. The intense feeling of euphoria that the laudanum momentarily provided her had helped her put to death the naïve Miss Cassandra Stanford, and accept her new life as the worldly La Rosa d'Oro.
As the maid carefully brushed and styled her hair, Cassie closed her eyes and began to feel a calm descend upon her. The shaking that had intensified during the evening had ceased, and she felt the familiar wave of ecstasy begin to wash over her. All the shame she felt, at having to perform as the infamous La Rosa d'Oro, began to subside.
After the maid had finished styling her hair, Cassie, whose hands were now steady, began to apply rouge to her lips and cheeks, and kohl to darken her eyelashes. When she had finished, she stood up and walked over to the long cheval mirror. She carefully examined herself, and after smoothing the creases from her silk dress, she was satisfied by what she observed. 'Bring me my diamonds,' she ordered.
'Yes, Miss Rosa,' the maid said as she took what looked like a diamond necklace from the dresser. The maid brought over the necklace and helped Cassie fasten it around her neck. The jewels sparkled in the candlelight and looked magnificent. But Cassie knew, like everything else in this place, that they were not real diamonds, just paste copies of an expensive original.
She touched the large paste jewel in the centre of the setting and took a deep breath, she was now ready to go to the main salon and act her part.
✽✽✽
Ellington flung the letter across the table with disgust. 'A girl,' he said to himself angrily, 'another damn girl.' He got up and poured himself a drink. 'If she thinks I will allow her to come back to London after that,' he whispered fiercely to himself, 'then she really is more deluded than I thought.'
He sat back down at his desk, found the letter and put it straight into the fire. The fire licked the side of the paper until the corners curled up and it eventually disappeared in an orange flash. For all he cared, she could name the brat herself. What good would another daughter be to him?
He had thought after he had banished his wife from London last year, that she would have left him alone. However, she continued to send letters of complaint to him and her father. Fortunately, for Ellington, his father-in-law had not needed much persuasion to send his daughter, along with her moralising sermons about the poor and unfortunate, far away to a remote estate in the North of England.
After his marriage, two and a half years ago, Ellington had quickly become disappointed with his wife. Like all men in his position, he had wanted a son who would eventually inherit his fortune. But she just kept on producing daughters. He banged his fist on his desk as he realised, that when he returned to England, he would have to revisit her. The prospect of seeing her again, let alone having to be intimate with her, filled him with disgust. However, if one wanted a legitimate heir, one had to have the child with one's own lawful wife.
As he was thinking about his wife, there was a knock on the door. 'Come in,' Ellington said.
'Good evening, sir,' a man's voice said as the door opened.
'Ah! Come in, Reynolds,' Ellington said, as he continued to sit at his desk, 'come sit down and have a drink.'
'No, thank you, sir,' he politely replied, 'I have come to inform you that the young gentleman you told me to look out for has arrived.'
'The gentleman?' Ellington said, not paying much attention to the man standing in front of him, his mind elsewhere.
'Yes, sir, the tall young man with blonde hair, dressed in a blue uniform.' Reynolds replied as he stood in front of Ellington's desk.
Reynolds, after a series of promotions, was no longer a footman at Highfields, he was now Ellington's second in command. He no longer wore the livery of a servant, but the clothes of a wealthy gentleman. And despite everyone knowing his humble origins, he was respected by the society gentleman that came to Ellington's establishment.
'He's asking after you,' Reynolds said, breaking the silence, 'I asked Emerald to show him around the salon.'
'Thank you, Reynolds. I'm pleased that you asked her,' Ellington said as he got up out of his chair and walked around the desk, 'I shall go down and meet him myself.'
'Bad news from England?' Reynolds said as they were leaving the room.
'How can you tell?' Ellington said with a sigh.
Reynolds looked at him and smiled ruefully. 'I can always tell when something is bothering you, sir. It's written all over your face.'
'I can't hide anything from you, can I?' Ellington said with another sigh. 'Come with me, and I will tell you all about it,' Ellington said, as he shut the door of his office a little too hard. 'My wife, the useless bitch, gave birth to another girl.'
They began to walk down a corridor towards the salon, when Reynolds said, 'if you want a son so badly, why don't you get one of our girls to help you out. When the child is born, just take it and bring it up yourself.'
'I would prefer to have a legitimate heir,' he said, with a sigh, 'I'm afraid a bastard would not do at all.'
'I don't see why not?' Reynolds replied, 'it's not as if you have any entailed estates. You can leave all your worldly possessions to whoever you want.'
'It's not as simple as that,' Ellington said thoughtfully, 'old Billington, my father-in-law, will kick up a fuss if I did anything like that. The old man, on his demise, has promised to leave me everything, including his business interests, if I can produce an heir. He will not allow his money to go to a bastard, whose mother was a whore!'
'You'll have to visit your wife when you return to England, sir,' Reynolds said as a matter of fact.
'Yes,' Ellington replied, 'I must go. But, I don't want to!'
Once they had reached the door to the salon, Reynolds, as he always did, opened it for Ellington. It was still early in the evening, and the large opulently decorated room was not yet full of guests. Therefore, it was easy for Ellington to locate the young man, who was standing by the fireplace, with a large drink in his hand, talking animatedly with Emerald: it was Sir Reginald Stanford.
'Good evening, Stanford,' Ellington said, as he joined him. 'You look every inch the officer dressed in the blue of the 7th. We're an old regiment with a long and distinguished history,' he said as he patted him on the back, 'always wear it with pride.'
'Thank you, Major Ellington,' he replied earnestly. 'I will not let you or the regiment down.'
'Good lad,' he said, smiling and patting him gently on the shoulder. 'How are the other boys treating you? I hope they have not been giving you a tough time.'
'All the senior officers have been very helpful. They have gone out of their way to make me feel very welcome,' Stanford replied earnestly.
'And no one has queried your age?' Ellington asked, shrugging his shoulders a little.
'Not one person,' Stanford said brightly, 'I think it is because I am tall.'
'I told you not to worry about your age,' Ellington said, with joviality, 'no one cares how old you are, just as long as you look the part.'
There was a lull in the conversation that was interrupted by Ellington. 'I hope that Emerald has been looking after you,' he said as he looked at the woman standing next to him with her arm around the young officer's waist.
'Yes, sir,' Stanford said, a blush creeping into his cheeks, 'she was kind enough to give me a tour of the salon.'
'A little later, if you like, Emerald will introduce you to her friends, and they can give you an extensive tour of the rooms upstairs. Do you have to return to your barracks tonight?' Ellington enquired.
'No, sir,' the young man replied, with excitement in his voice, 'I do not need to be back until the morning.'
'Excellent,' Ellington said, 'Emerald will arrange for one of our more experienced girls to keep you company tonight.'
'I must go,' Emerald said, smiling up at the young man, 'I will see you later.'
'Before you go, I would like to talk to you,' Ellington said, as a command, addressing Emerald. 'Stanford, may I leave you in the capable hands of Mr Reynolds. He will show you to the gaming tables.'
'Emerald,' Ellington said quietly, as he guided her into a quiet corner of the salon, 'do you know who that young lad is?'
Emerald shook her head. 'No, I've never seen him before, but he must be important if you want me to mollycoddle him. You know how much I dislike young military officers, and he can't be a day older than nineteen.'
'Actually, my dear, he's fifteen,' Ellington said in amusement, as he observed the look of surprise on her face.
'There you are,' she said triumphantly, 'he's far too young to be in a place like this.' She then looked up at him suspiciously and added, 'anyway, why are you so interested in a boy like that?'
'If you knew who he was, you wouldn't be so dismissive of him,' he replied, gently touching her cheek.
'Well, who is he?' Emerald said impatiently, 'I cannot stand around here all day playing guessing games with you.'
'Sir Reginald Stanford,' he replied, and then waited for her to respond. 'Do you recognise the name?'
Emerald wrinkled up her face. 'No,' she said, shaking her head, 'I have no idea who he is.'
'I'll give you a clue,' he said, 'La Rosa d'Oro.'
Emerald stood still and knitted her eyebrows together. Then, suddenly, she looked up at him, with a smile on her face. 'It's her brother, isn't he? I thought he looked familiar. He has the same colour eyes and hair as Rosa. In fact, he looks just like her.'
'Sir Reginald is indeed her dear brother,' he said, bending down a little so that she could hear, 'and, he is my ward.' Emerald opened her eyes wide in surprise in response to this news. 'And as his guardian, I have got to know the young gentleman. You must not be deceived by his youth or that look of innocence in his big blue eyes. He has the potential to be a hellion. And I intend, with your help, to turn him into one.'
'Of course,' she said, smiling at him, 'you can have my help. I never did like Rosa, and I know I'm not the only one. She always puts on airs and graces when she talks to us. If your plan is to publicly humiliate her through her brother, not one of our girls will feel sorry for her. They will all be glad to see that she has got exactly what she deserves. What are your plans for the boy?'
'I don't want to completely ruin the lad, I quite like him. He reminds me of how I was at his age, young and reckless. I think he will enjoy his time here with us, and it won't do him any long-term damage. I certainly won't let him completely ruin himself. No, I just want to see his reaction when we introduce him to his sister. I want to know if he would be a hero and attempt to rescue her from this place. Or will he, as I am more inclined to believe, be comfortable in the knowledge that she has become a licentious whore, and turn a blind eye to his sister's predicament.'
He stopped and looked again at Emerald and smiled. 'I also want to see what she will do when we turn her precious brother into a pleasure-seeking, dissolute libertine, who, like his father, would wager all his possessions on the turn of one card. I am rather looking forward to discovering to what depths she will plunge, in order to rescue her erstwhile brother from utter financial ruin.'
Emerald smiled at him. 'I assume that this will all be conducted publicly, and everyone will know that Rosa is indeed his sister.'
'Naturally,' he said as a matter of fact, 'I want everyone to know that it does not matter who you are when it concerns repaying a debt, I will show no mercy.'