A Time for Honour

Chapter 4

The following three weeks had to be the most thrilling and exhilarating of Cassie's life. Her adventure had begun on the morning after his departure from Hadlands, when Major Ellington had left her a note in the prearranged place, behind the loose brick in the wall of the churchyard. Her heart had raced with excitement and anticipation as she read the brief message detailing the arrangements of their first assignation. He would be sending Lord Melrose's carriage, to the North entrance of Highfields to collect her that very afternoon and bring her to a place where they could be alone and not disturbed.

Cassie felt no guilt or shame as she climbed into the grand looking carriage, her heart just fluttered with anticipation. Once she had seated herself, on the plush velvet seat, she noticed a small parcel on the bench opposite her. She picked it up and read the attached note. "Dear Cass," it said, "please accept this gift as a token of my undying gratitude."

She untied the red ribbon, that fastened the box together, and opened it slowly. She almost cried when she saw what was inside: it was a small silver heart-shaped locket. Cassie knew that the gift itself was not expensive, but to her, someone who had received very few gifts during her life; it was beautiful. And, at that moment, she fell a little more in love with him.

When the carriage had stopped, and Ellington had opened the door and helped Cassie out, she smiled at him. 'Oh Stephan,' she said as she touched the locket lightly with her fingers, 'it is beautiful. I will treasure it forever.'

'I am glad you like it, my dear,' he said as he took her in his arms and kissed her, 'come in, I have more surprises for you inside.'

Over the next three weeks, Cassie had met with Ellington nearly every afternoon in the folly situated in Lord Melrose's estate. During the afternoons they spent together, he introduced her to the finer things of life; he brought to the folly bottles of expensive champagne; he gave her beautiful silk stockings and other exquisite lace undergarments; he also gave her a small bottle of French perfume. He had made her feel, for the first time in her life, like the sophisticated woman of the world she always dreamt of becoming.

Cassie was young and naïve and mistook all the gifts he had given her as a sign of his love and affection. She thought that each gift had been given to her as a token of a future commitment they would be sharing. Never, not even in her wildest dreams, did she ever imagine that he was toying with her emotions, and using her feelings for him as though they were pieces in a game of chess. Where the end of the game signalled her ruin and ultimate humiliation.

During the second week, Cassie noticed that his moods became erratic. The constant stream of gifts that Cassie had always looked forward to receiving had started to wane. However, what worried Cassie, more than the absence of gifts, was that he would often not even talk to her. She missed, most of all, their conversations and the tenderness of his caress. His once gentle touch had been replaced by something that was far rougher and more possessive: and, it terrified her.

'Are you quite well?' She had asked him the first time it had happened, her voice a little shaky from the shock of his rough physical treatment of her.

Cassie had recoiled, as his expression became dark and foreboding, and his eyes became hard as flint.

'What business is it of yours?' he had snarled.

As she looked at him, looming over her as she lay on the cold stone floor, for the first time she felt ashamed of her state of undress. She gathered together the bodice of her dress and pulled it up to cover her shame. Ever since she had arrived, she had known that there had been something wrong. He had not greeted her with his usual tenderness; instead, he had grabbed her arms and thrown her to the floor. Cassie had tried to push him away with the palms of her hands, but he was too strong.