Virginia Henley (31 page)

She was back at Roehampton, floating in the lake. Greysteel held her hands and took her deeper and deeper into the water.
Trust me, Velvet. Trust me to keep you safe.
The scene changed and she stood outside their bedchamber. She turned the knob and the door swung silently open. She stared at the tableau before her in disbelief. Her husband was standing silently beside their bed, his intense grey eyes staring directly into hers.
Trust me, Velvet! If you loved me, you would trust me!

Velvet awoke and stared at the empty place beside her in the bed.
I did trust you and you betrayed me!
She curled over into a ball and began to cry. She turned her face into the pillow so that Emma would not hear her from the other room.

The next evening, Velvet joined Barbara in the gaming room. “I’m sick to death of this place. We do the same thing every evening with the same people. I’m ready to scream.”

“You’re right. We need a diversion. Buckingham is attending a private party tonight at Suffolk House. Why don’t we go?”

“Won’t His Majesty miss you?”

“I sincerely hope so. I make myself available far too often, and what thanks do I get? Today, the king signed a contract that will make Catherine of Braganza his queen. He dragged his heels until Portugal offered England the cities of Tangier and Bombay and suddenly, miraculously the price is right!”

Velvet remembered how Charles had told her he could not afford the luxury of love when he married.

“Yet he can’t sign a warrant to make me a countess !” Barbara was working herself into a fury. “Come on, let’s go.”

Suffolk House was next door to Whitehall, so it didn’t take them long to get there. After half an hour, Barbara cornered her cousin. “George, this is without doubt the dullest affair I’ve ever attended. Why the devil did you come?”

“I thought it good manners to come and congratulate the Countess of Suffolk. The king has asked her to be a Lady of the Queen’s Bedchamber.”

Barbara’s face seemed to freeze for a moment. “What a coincidence! I too am to be a Lady of the Bedchamber.” She opened her fan. “Lud, it’s close in here. Lady Montgomery and I fancy going to that new gaming hell in Tothill Street.”

He bowed to Velvet. “I am always ready and willing to corrupt a lady, providing she doesn’t fear her lord’s wrath.”

Velvet laughed recklessly. “I’m trembling with terror !”

The next day, Velvet bought herself a small carriage. She was sick and tired of relying on others for transportation and it also gave her a sense of freedom. She could now travel wherever she wished without obtaining her husband’s approval.

Velvet went to Mary Beale’s studio in Pall Mall for her first sitting. She had to overcome her innate modesty in the small dressing room where she removed her clothes and put on a loose robe, but when she emerged, Mary assured her of complete privacy and put her at ease. “My lady, you have the loveliest skin I’ve ever seen. It is like flawless alabaster.”

“Thank you; with my hair color I’m lucky not to be freckled.”

They discussed various poses and Velvet chose to be painted as Venus, reclining upon a couch with a graceful scallop shell at her feet, and her red gold curls cascading over one delicate shoulder.

Later that week, Barbara Palmer threw a party at her King Street residence, but did not invite His Majesty.

“I hear you lost a small fortune last night in Tothill Street.” Anna Marie Shrewsbury was piqued. “Next time you go carousing until all hours, I expect to be invited.”

Bess Lauderdale overheard the conversation. “Why don’t we ladies of the Court form a
Cabal,
as the king has done? We could all be Barbara’s advisers.”

Velvet laughed. “I doubt I could advise, but I’d be willing to aid and abet.”

“Sounds amusing. We need two more.... Let’s include Buckingham’s wife, just to annoy the smug devil, and how about Elizabeth Hamilton? She’s always ready for a lark.”

Before the party was over, the six sin seekers made a pact to visit all the fashionable and risqué establishments that had opened to cater to Londoners’ newfound taste for vice. Many of the gaming clubs provided entertainment. Bawdy skits, racy songs or scantily clad dancers were used to lure in gamblers.

The female cabal left Whitehall each night at eleven and for a fortnight made the rounds of establishments from the Haymarket to the seedier sections of the city, including Cheapside.

Velvet, wearing her new mask, followed the other women into a soot-blackened building on Ludgate Hill. It wasn’t until she was inside that she learned it was a brothel that had opened a gaming room as a sideline. The madam, who wore a fantastic spangled gown and purple wig, greeted them. She led them to the cardroom, where each table had a dealer who was similarly clad.

“This is a queer sort of place,” Anna Marie murmured.

“Queer indeed,” Barbara drawled.

Bess Lauderdale slapped her thigh and roared with laughter.

Velvet’s glance moved slowly about the room from table to table as the cards were being dealt. Then she leaned over to Barbara. “I suspect some of these women are men.”

“Only some?” Barbara and Bess were shaking with laughter. “They cater to all tastes here.”

“I’m not sure I should be here.” Buckingham’s wife looked extremely nervous.

“Don’t pretend to be shocked. It was your husband who recommended this place. Surely you’ve caught George wearing your gowns? There, now, even Velvet is laughing at that one. Have some wine. Relax and enjoy yourselves, ladies.”

At midnight, a curtain was drawn back to reveal a stage. The show presented was a lurid affair of dancers with painted bodies, writhing about in erotic positions and simulated sex acts. Though it was deliberately prurient, Velvet was repelled rather than aroused because the men coupled with other males, and the women did likewise.

After the show, Barbara and Bess paid to go on what was billed as an “observation tour,” while the other members of the cabal chose to be satisfied with a game of dice. When the pair returned they described the things they’d seen the prostitutes and their customers doing as they’d watched through peepholes.

Velvet shuddered. She felt unclean, and decided on the spot that she would spend no more nights indulging in such shallow and mindless pursuits.

When they left the building it was after two o’clock and a low rumble of thunder threatened in the distance. Barbara signaled her coachman, but as they stood waiting, a carriage pulled up to the curb, and a tall, dark figure stepped out.

Montgomery, garbed in black from head to foot, held the door open. “Get in,” he ordered Velvet.

Go to hell!
She didn’t dare say it aloud. His tone was so implacable, his stance so intimidating, she obeyed and climbed into the carriage.

Montgomery followed her, slammed the door behind them and sat down on the opposite seat. The vehicle lurched on its way so quickly, Velvet was thrown back against the leather squabs. She righted herself and sat in stiff silence in the darkness.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning lit up the interior of the cab and she saw his intense grey eyes riveted upon her. Her impulse was to babble an excuse. She bit down on her tongue, and stubbornly refused to take the defensive role.

As the silence stretched between them, the air was charged with electrifying tension. Velvet felt the hair on the nape of her neck stand on end, and a prickle of fear ran down her spine.

When the carriage pulled up at Whitehall Palace, Velvet opened the door and jumped out quickly. She raced up two flights of stairs, hoping to reach their apartment before he did. She didn’t look back. She didn’t need to; she could hear his measured, relentless footsteps closing the distance behind her.

Velvet opened the door, confident that Emma would be there. When she turned up the lamps and found the rooms empty, she knew that he had planned this encounter, making sure she would be alone and at his mercy.

He locked the door and she was shocked that he still had a key to her chambers. When he turned to face her she saw his savage, black fury, barely contained. He had been stalking her and she felt like his snared prey. The room trapped her, imprisoning her, alone with her captor, and there was no escape.

“If you act like a whore, I will treat you as one. But you are
my
whore, Velvet—never forget it!”

“How many whores do you need?” she cried, her outrage momentarily overcoming her fear.

He stripped off his coat. “Only one at a time.”

She wanted to run, but the only retreat open to her was the bedroom. With sheer bravado she challenged, “How dare you follow me and spy on me after what you did at Roehampton?”

“I dare anything, madam, as you are about to learn.” He snatched off her cloak and flung it aside.

Her breasts, half exposed in the low-cut gown, rose and fell with her agitation. She saw his powerful hand reach out. “Don’t touch me!” she cried.

His hand did not hesitate. He lifted off her mask. Then his fingers gripped her shoulder, forced her into the bedroom and led her to the mirror. “I want you to see what you look like.”

She stared at herself, seeing the disheveled hair, the glittering green eyes, the painted face, the indecent gown.

“You were once sweet and innocent as an angel. Now you are hell-bent on destroying your reputation and turning yourself into a strumpet.” His mouth set. “Let me help you.”

“Don’t touch me. Don’t you dare touch me,” she hissed.

For answer, he thrust two strong brown hands into the neck of her gown and viciously tore it to the hem. “I’ll do more than touch you. I’ll teach you who is master here.”

She watched in horror as his insolent glance roamed over her naked flesh, and lust turned his dark face into a devil’s mask. She knew he was going to ravish her.

“Get into bed.” A thunderbolt crashed overhead.

“If you do this thing, I will hate you forever, Montgomery !”

The muscle in his jaw flexed. “Since you deny me love or trust, I will gladly settle for hate.” He reached for her with cruel, possessive hands.

Velvet screamed. “Look at yourself!” She pointed wildly to the mirror. “Just look at yourself.”

He glanced at the glass. A flash of lightning illuminated their reflection and he was shocked at what it revealed. He saw a six-foot male manhandling a fragile female. Her skin was as delicate as porcelain and his cruel fingers were bruising her. He had thought he was demonstrating his strength, but saw that he was exposing his weakness. He remembered that he had raped her once in a dream, and was horrified at how close he had come to defiling her in reality. He released her immediately.

Velvet saw his remorse and sensed the danger was past. Now that he was no longer a threat, she could not resist wounding him. “You are mad with jealousy, yet think nothing of betraying me with another. Then you swoop down on me like a raptor, ready to devour me. Your lust repels me, Montgomery!”

He closed his eyes and held up his hands. “Let’s stop hurting each other, Velvet.”

She swooped down and picked up her torn petticoat and held it like a shield to cover herself.

“The king and some of the Court are going to Audley End, in Essex. I have to accompany him. Come with me, Velvet.”

Up went her chin. “I wouldn’t be caught dead with you. Why don’t you take your little dancing whore, or any other
lady
of your acquaintance who fancies a fucking?”

His face hardened. “I just might.”

 

On the first day of September, the king, along with a large retinue, departed Whitehall to travel to Audley End, the vast country estate he had purchased. It was about forty miles from London and the journey could be accomplished in one day. Newmarket, the famous racing town, was approximately fifteen miles farther north and an easy ride by saddle horse.

Servants and baggage carts had left Whitehall the previous day. Charles and some of his nobles chose to ride, while their wives traveled by carriage. Montgomery and a dozen of the King’s Guard accompanied the royal party.

At lunchtime Velvet came upon Barbara in the Presence Chamber. “The place is empty. We are the only ones here.”

“Yes, I watched the cavalcade ride through the King Street Gate and past my house this morning. His Majesty begged me to go, but until he agrees to give me a title, I refuse to be at his beck and call. As well, I’m almost in my fifth month and a long bumpy carriage ride didn’t appeal. I decided to come and see who was conspicuous by their absence.”

“Buckingham, Lauderdale, Shrewsbury and their respective wives have obviously rushed off to Audley End.”

“Their wives’ presence won’t stop them from the game of bed hopping. The rumor mills have it that certain
noble
ladies have been invited to accommodate the men.”

“There isn’t a man breathing can be trusted,” Velvet spit.