She did not want him and that should have been enough for him to walk away. But something told him that when Gainswith cast her aside he would be more than happy to fill his shoes... Preferably the shoes under her bed.
So, who was the bigger fool: Lisette or himself?
Bessie flinched at the sound of the metal gate swinging shut. It could only signify that Lord de Vale was home for the evening. She ran her fingers over her new silk corset. It was the colour of dull pink roses and tiny silk flowers decorated the bust line. The corset was beautiful, expensive, French...and gave her no joy. How quickly one’s perceptions can change. A few little weeks ago this present would have sent her into a flutter, but not now. She looked over to the small dressing table. It was covered with items she had never thought she would ever possess: expensive jewellery, long soft kid gloves, fans, perfume and trinkets. Her wardrobe had grown as well, especially when it came to her under-things. She now possessed more stockings and corsets than she could wear in a year. However the initial flare of excitement of receiving such wondrous presents had faded. Bessie quickly discovered that their price was too high.
Vincent liked her to look pretty and alluring. Out of fear, she damn well made sure she looked perfect, with not a hair out of place.
Lisette had been right, as much as Bessie hated to admit it. With hindsight she knew Lisette was trying to keep her safe and she hadn’t listened. Bessie knew that she should have taken things slowly. But Vincent had been so charming and she had fallen in love with him. He had brought her to his home and she had imagined a rosy picture of being with him forever.
The first time she had given herself to him had been dangerous, exciting and romantic. Bessie had felt like a heroine from one of Miss Braddon’s sensational novels. Vincent had been attentive and gentle and she had believed that all of heaven had been smiling down on her. But when she woke in the morning she found herself not in Vincent’s bed but here. The small room was pretty enough, at first glance. The walls were white but the rest of the room was decorated in pinks and soft greens with flowers and cherubs. A large metal bed sat by one wall and was dressed in white sheets that were bordered in lace and covered with soft quilts. In a small alcove Bessie found a water closet, a claw footed bath, and a sink.
Something about the room wasn’t right and it took Bessie several minutes to realise that the room did not have any windows. Well, that was not exactly true. She found what could have been a window in the corner of the room but it had been boarded up. With growing apprehension she quickly ran to the door and found it locked.
Bessie had been locked in her pretty prison ever since. Her meals were delivered by a silent servant and Vincent visited her most nights. Bessie shuddered. In her mind, Vincent had changed from the concerned and gentle lover into a monster. Vincent took what he wanted, bent her to his will with cruelty and beat her into submission.
Bessie’s heart raced as she heard his footsteps on the stairs. She silently sent up two prayers. The first was for deliverance and the second that he was in an agreeable mood. She crossed to her dressing table, picked up a hand mirror and studied her reflection. She just had time to pinch her cheeks, to give them a little colour and to take a steadying breath.
The key rattled in the lock and Bessie turned to the door. Fixing a bright smile on her face she waited for Vincent to appear and hoped that she would make it through another night.
‘Can it be true?’ Sally frowned as she reached into her reticule for her purse.
‘I’m not sure. Florentia can be temperamental. I find it hard to believe she would make it up.’ Lisette stilled her friend’s hand with her own. ‘It’s alright. Aunt Marie has decided that as I am dancing the principal role I am allowed to have my own money,’ she said with a sarcastic tone. She lifted her face and smiled at the conductor. ‘May I have two tickets to Belgravia.’
The omnibus conductor wrinkled his brow. ‘Here, yer on the wrong bus, luv. This one only goes to Pimlico.’
‘That’s quite alright, the residence is somewhere between the two.’
‘Well, if yer think... That’ll be sixpence for the pair of yer.’
‘Thank you.’ Lisette handed the man the coin.
After a moment the driver flicked the reins and the two horses moved forward.
‘You don’t know where we’re going?’
‘Yes...sort of. Lord de Vale lives near Eaton Square. I’ve been there once or twice with my aunt. I’m sure we will be able to find it.’
‘I still don’t know what you are going to say.’ Sally dropped her voice as she continued, ‘Excuse me Lord de Vale. We were just passing by and decided to ask if you had kidnapped our fellow dancer, Bessie.’
‘Shhh, I’ll think of something.’
‘I don’t see what. We are going to look like ninnies and heaven only knows what he’ll do.’
‘I know it certainly isn’t the best plan I have ever come up with but I have to know that Bessie is safe. If she is there by her own consent and is perfectly safe, then I will have only made a fool of myself. If the smallest fraction of what Florentia said is true, Bessie could be in real trouble.’
‘Very well. We shall go and call on Lord de Vale... unannounced, without an escort, to an unmarried gentleman’s home. Thank heavens we are not society girls or else our reputations would be in tatters,’ Sally replied before she shook her head and looked out the window. ‘God only knows what your aunt is going to say.’
‘We don’t have reputations; we’re dancers. So how could it possibly matter?’
Lisette had thought this morning it would be a grand idea to find out if Bessie was actually with Vincent. However she felt her courage begin to falter as they walked down the streets of elegantly appointed houses. The closer she came to Vincent’s residence the more agitated she felt. Soon she stood at Lord de Vale’s midnight blue door. Twice she stepped forward and raised her hand and twice she hesitated before she dropped it by her side.
‘Are you going to knock?’ Sally asked. ‘Or have we just come all this way to admire Lord de Vale’s paintwork or perhaps the brass knocker?’
‘Possibly. It is a very nice knocker,’ Lisette said as she shot her friend a levelling look.
Lord Vincent de Vale stood staring down at the street. He had been lost in the past when Lisette and her friend stopped outside his door. He stiffened. After her conversation with Florentia last night he should have known that she would come. He spun away from the window, and strode out of the room towards Bessie’s.
He took the key out of his waistcoat pocket and quickly opened the door of Bessie’s prison. She was sitting on the bed reading one of those dreadful novels of which she was so fond. Her head jerked up as he entered the room. She looked pale in her blue dress, and there were dark smudges under her eyes. A picture formed in his mind. For an instant she was spread naked beneath him as he pumped into her. Her hands were secured to the iron bed head and she was his to claim and possess. She was at his mercy and he could do anything he wanted and she was powerless to stop him. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth and he could feel himself hardening.
‘Well my dear, it appears we have unexpected guests,’ he said as Bessie dropped her book and stood up. ‘Miss Devoré and Miss Taft have called upon us.’
‘I don’t understand. Why would they do that?’
Vincent placed his hands on Bessie shoulders. She trembled under his touch. ‘Because they are concerned for your welfare. You are a fortunate woman, Bessie, to have such friends.’
‘I did not think they were friends,’ Bessie replied in a barely audible voice. She dropped her gaze and stared at the floor.
‘Now, now... Do not be a silly chit,’ he said as he raised her head with a finger under her chin. ‘They are worried that you are here against your will and that you have been misused by me.’ He stared into her eyes and his fingers started to tighten. ‘What are you going to tell them?’
‘Must I see them, Vincent? I would rather not..
. You see, they are not truly my friends. Lisette and Sally have always been jealous of me.’
Vincent bit back a laugh. ‘Oh, of course Lisette would be jealous of you and your ability.’
‘It’s true. She was angry when Tinder Michaels gave me the part of the blue princess.’
He gave her a placating smile so as not to ruffle all her feathers. ‘Perhaps that is true, my dear. However now she is principal dancer and is here to enquire about your welfare. So what will you tell her?’
‘But how can she be the lead ballerina?’
‘Lisette stepped in after Florentia had an accident on stage. But you have not told me what you are going to say.’ Vincent tightened his grip again and his fingers bit deeper into Bessie’s flesh until she winced.
‘That I am more than well. That we love each other and there is nowhere else I would want to be.’
He released his grip on her shoulders and she sagged with relief. ‘Very good, but mind what you say. If you slip, if you try and escape, I will punish you.’
‘Yes Vincent, I understand.’
‘Excellent. In that case I shall have our guests shown into the drawing room. You have five minutes to repair your appearance,’ he said as he stalked back to the door. ‘Five minutes, Bessie, and not a moment more.’
‘You will not be there?’
‘No, I think you should see your friends in private. This whole situation is a little problematic. Miss Devoré should never have come to a single gentleman’s residence with only another girl as a chaperone. God only knows what her aunt will say.’
Bessie sat ramrod straight on the silk chaise longue. Lisette knew instantly that something was amiss. The Bessie she knew was talkative and self absorbed. This Bessie was nearly silent and looked as if she was about to shatter.
‘You had us all so worried, Bessie. No one knew where you had gone.’
‘Are you all right, Bessie?’ Sally asked. ‘You just disappeared, and we were all beginning to think that you were dead.’
‘Please forgive me, I was...was...’ As Bessie’s words failed there was a flash of fear in her eyes. The fear was only there for a second but Lisette saw it and reached over to take her hand.
‘What Bessie is trying to say is that we were so wrapped up in each other’s company we forgot to say anything. You have my deepest apologies, Lisette. In hindsight it was unforgiveable,’ Vincent said as he burst into the room and took Bessie’s hand in his before Lisette could.
Lisette studied the unlikely pair. Both Vincent and Bessie were staring at each other. There was tension in the air; so much so Lisette thought she could almost touch it. Something had happened but she was unsure of what.
‘I’m sorry that Sally and I have disturbed you.’
Bessie’s head snapped back around to Lisette. ‘No apology is necessary. It was good and terribly thoughtful of you both to come. But as you can see, I am deliriously happy and content.’
Vincent straightened but did not let Bessie’s hand go. ‘Thank you for coming but I have a little business to attend to. And no doubt, you must prepare for tonight’s performance.’
Lisette stood up and Sally followed suit. ‘Again, please forgive our intrusion.’
‘Not at all, Lisette. Your action shows a kind and brave heart, which is of course commendable,’ Vincent said.
Instantly the door opened and Vincent’s butler materialized. Lisette wondered if the man had been lurking outside listening to the conversation.
‘Ah, would you please show the ladies out,’ Vincent said. ‘Thank you both for coming and I hope you will have a great performance this evening. Lisette, please give my regards to your aunt. No doubt I will see her very soon.’
Both Lisette and Sally bobbed into a curtsy. There was little she could do as they had both been thoroughly dismissed. ‘My lord, Bessie… I bid you good day,’ Lisette said.
Lisette found herself ushered quickly out of the house and before she had time to spin around the door was firmly closed.
‘Well, that’s that,’ Sally said as she walked down the steps.
‘Yes, I suppose it is. But don’t you think something was wrong?’ Lisette asked quietly as she followed after her friend. ‘I mean she didn’t seem like Bessie.’
‘Lisette, she’s not dead and she said she wanted to be there. If she wants to be Lord de Vale’s mistress, it’s her concern.’
‘Yes... I just thought that she looked pale and a little scared.’
‘I think you have been reading too many novels. My Da always said that no good can come of girls reading such stuff,’ Sally said with a grin. ‘Now come on, we have to get back to the theatre.’
Lisette fell into step with Sally as they hurried down the road. And Lisette tried to quell the urge to run back and ask Bessie just once more if she was all right.
Vincent peered out the window and watched Lisette and Sally walk down the street. A hint of a smile touched Vincent’s lips as Lisette turned around and looked back. She did have her mother’s heart. Just like Mélisande, she was kind, good and probably just as naive. Mélisande always looked for the good in others; she had even tried to find it in him. Her picture began to shimmer in his mind but he closed his eyes and banished her. He took a breath and opened the curtain wider. Lisette had almost disappeared from view. He waited until she had and then he began to pace around the edge of the drawing room, like a panther readying itself for attack. Lisette was gone and now he had another task to deal with.
Bessie was still seated on the chaise, back straight and staring straight ahead. Deliberately he crossed her plane of vision as he opened a large armoire on the opposite side of the room. He withdrew a very thin cane that was about twenty inches in length. Slowly, he closed the door before turning his attention to the quivering Bessie.
‘I did not want to punish you. However your action has left me no other course,’ he said as he opened his hand and revealed a small scrap of paper. The words ‘help me’ were in Bessie’s handwriting. ‘Did you really think that you could outsmart me? Did you actually think that I would allow you to try and pass this note to Lisette? I will not permit you to pull Lisette into our affair. She is an innocent and as such would not understand the passions and desires that consume us.’
He walked across the room and turned the key in the lock before slipping it into his pocket. ‘Lisette is an innocent, pure and untouched. I will not allow you to sully her with your filth.’
‘Please Vincent, I’m sorry... I will never do it again. Please forgive me,’ she said through tear-stained eyes.
Vincent crushed the note in his fist before he let it flutter to the ground. Then, bending the cane between his hands, he stood directly in front of Bessie.
‘You’re right my dear, you will never betray me again!’
‘Ah Lisette, there you are!’ Marie Devoré said with an impatient huff. ‘I was beginning to think you had disappeared into the ether.’
‘No, Aunt Marie. Sally and I... We...’
‘We went shopping,’ Sally interrupted. ‘Would you like to see what we bought?’
‘Not in the least, Sally. Now, come with me. I have something to show you.’ Marie swept down the corridor to the sound of her walking stick hitting rhythmically against the floor.
Lisette hurried after her aunt with Sally in tow. Madame Devoré wound through the theatre until she stopped by Florentia’s dressing room, which was behind the stage itself. Lisette and Sally glanced at each other.
‘Why on earth does she want us here?’ Lisette whispered.
Marie opened the door and Tinder Michaels stepped out from inside.
‘Madame Devoré, I see that you have found your niece. Good afternoon, Lisette... Sally.’
‘Tinder, is everything well? I’m afraid I don’t understand why we are at Florentia’s dressing room,’ Lisette said with a frown.
‘We are here to present you something.’ Tinder cleared his throat before he continued. ‘Lisette, you are The Imperial’s pr
incipal female dancer. You are our prima ballerina. Therefore it is only fitting that you should have the number one dressing room,’ he said as he stepped away from the doorway and gestured her to come in.
‘Oh, I...I mean… Thank you very much but I cannot take Florentia’s dressing room. I mean...it has always been hers. What will she think when she comes back?’
‘She will not be back,’ Marie said. ‘At least, not in the role of principal dancer. Florentia has broken her ankle, she cannot dance and I doubt she ever will.’
‘But how can you be so certain? Florentia only fell last night. Is it not too soon to replace her?’
‘Merde, she is already replaced. You did that as soon as you stepped out on stage last night. You captured the audience and held them and showed them all how that part should be danced. Enough of your petty sentimentality. You are the ballerina of this theatre, now act as such,’ Marie snapped as she half pushed Lisette through the door and into the dressing room.
Looking around, Lisette saw that every article or memento that was Florentia’s had been stripped from the room. The dark furnishings were gone and replaced with pale pinks, greens, and lavenders. An ornate gilded screen that had a pinkish red toile encased within its rose-carved frame sat in the corner. The toile depicted a flowery rural scene that was filled with romantic couples. For a moment Lisette’s breath snagged in her chest as the material — for some reason that she could not fathom — reminded her of her mother. On the dressing table sat a tall crystal vase filled with soft pastel roses.
‘Welcome Lisette, I hope that you like it,’ Tinder said.
‘Thank you... It’s beautiful. I don’t know what to say.’
‘There is nothing to say. You deserve this and I want to make sure that the star of the Imperial is happy,’ he said with a bright smile. His hand briefly rested on her arm. ‘Well, I should go and let you explore your new surroundings. “Give you time to settle in” as they say.’
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