A Time for Honour

Chapter 6

The next morning, when Cassie awoke, she was dazed and confused. It took her several minutes to focus her mind on her present situation. As she gingerly opened her eyes, her head pounding, she slowly became conscious of her surroundings. She found herself, very much alone, in a large bedchamber; but she could not remember where she was; how she got there; or how long she had been lying in the large bed.

The last clear memory she had was leaving Hadlands with Stephan late the previous afternoon. Everything else, including that night, was a blur of disconnected dreams. Cassie remembered, on numerous occasions, that she had tried to wake herself up, but she was always trapped in the nightmare and unable to free herself from the horror of them.

As Cassie continued to look around the room, her mind still clouded by a haze that made her situation feel unreal, she slowly sat up in the bed and, immediately, became aware of her nakedness. She felt ashamed, and quickly got up and put on a silk wrapper that had been placed by the side of the bed. As soon as she stood up, black spots began to dance before her eyes, and if she had not leant against the bedpost to steady herself, she would have fallen to the floor. Once the spots had faded, and her vision had returned to normal, she became aware of her thirst. She looked around the room, in desperation, until she found a large pitcher of water, resting on a dresser. Quickly, she ran over to it and poured herself a glass of water. After she had thirstily drunk the water, she refilled the glass and drank another and then another, until the pitcher was almost empty. After her thirst had been partially quenched, she began to look around the room once more. She still did not know where she was and why she was there.

The room was a large bedchamber, with the remains of a fire still glowing in the grate. A candle, near the end of its finite life, flickered its weak orange light into a corner of the room. The early morning sunshine tried valiantly to break through the cracks of the securely fastened wooden shutters. But, only a few shafts of light managed to squeeze through the cracks in the wood, making illuminated ribbons on the luxurious red carpet. She saw a heavily decorated oriental screen standing at the other end of the room. And behind it, much to Cassie's relief, she discovered a chamber pot. Now she was no longer thirsty, she became aware of a dull pain between her thighs and lower abdomen. After she carefully relieved herself, behind the privacy of the screen, she removed the wrapper and examined herself. Evidence of blood, not part of her monthly courses, was on the cloth she had used to clean herself. Bruises, purple, green and yellow in hue, were beginning to reveal themselves on her thighs and arms.

Cassie, who was now shaking with fear, pulled the silk wrapper around herself once more and walked back over to the pitcher of water. She used the remains of its contents to wash her face and hands, but her hands were now shaking so much, that she spilt some of the water onto the floor.

As she dried her face with a cloth, she heard someone enter the room. 'Good morning,' said a cheery voice of a woman, 'I was hoping you would be awake. Major Ellington did give you rather a large dose. I did warn him... but you know what men are like.'

'A large dose of what?' Cassie replied, looking at her with a puzzled expression on her face.

'Laudanum,' she answered. The woman must have seen the look of horror on Cassie's face. 'We all take it you know,' she said casually.

'We?' Cassie asked her, still confused. All she could do was stare. The woman was dressed in a manner more suited to the evening. Even then, it was a dress that seemed to Cassie to be ostentatious and far too revealing for any time of day or even night. It was made from crimson silk, overlaid with black lace and left little to the imagination. Her voice, though she tried to disguise it, was common. Cassie quickly concluded that this woman was no lady.