The Countess

by Lisa Doughty

  Cordelia knew he meant it as a compliment, but she was disgusted nonetheless. Was she doomed to a life of depravity, then? Is that what the Lord had in mind for her? She scrambled off the bed before he could ask her for something else. She quickly covered herself and retreated across the room. The Earl sat up and looked at her. He smiled, as if he enjoyed making her uncomfortable.

  “You may be a virgin madam, a fact that does more for me than you could fathom. But I can see you have desires that you are not yet aware. If my hot breath can make your pussy weep so easily, then imagine what my tongue can do for you,” he taunted.

  “Never! If you touch me our bargain is over.” He laughed at her conviction.

  “Be ready for me tomorrow night,” he ordered.

  “Wha…what?” she whispered.

  “You cannot possibly think to keep your beauty from me now that I have seen it. I will take my fill every night. Be ready.”

  Chapter 10

  Two and a half years later.

  Her husband’s incoherent screaming from the other side of the door was threatening to pluck the last of her resolve. Nothing she did consoled him, except for what he wanted most from her, which she was no longer willing to do. The disease had taken his mind months ago. Violence was added to his madness now making him inconsolable. The doctor, who could do nothing more for the Earl besides raising the dose of his draughts, had ordered his arms and feet restrained. Emelia came out of his room, and left the door open behind her. The Earls screaming started to subside.

  “We gave him laudanum this time. It seems to be calming him. The doctor is coming to speak with you now,” Emelia said quietly.

  A moment later, the doctor came out and closed the door. All was quiet in the hallway for the first time in days. Cordelia felt numb. She hated her husband for what he made her do but watching his suffering these past few months was draining, not comforting as she would have thought.

  “Do you know when his suffering will end, doctor?” Cordelia asked, faking sadness and concern when, when in truth she just wanted it over. Emelia put her arm around her shoulders.

  “I am surprised that he is still holding on, my lady. He has lasted longer than anyone I have seen. It’s astonishing really.”

  “You cannot tell us how much longer we all must endure his suffering?” A real tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.

  “I would say your farewells now, my lady. Between the disease and the large amount of laudanum I just administered, he may not wake from his next slumber,” the doctor said, solemnly.

  Cordelia tried not to smile. She held her composure and looked at Emelia. Emelia spun Cordelia into a hug, shielding her face from the doctor.

  “It’s almost over, dear,” Emelia consoled, then addressed the doctor. “Thank you, doctor. Will you stay at Middleton until…?”

  “Of course. I will retire to my room and give you ladies a moment to say goodbye.” He bowed. “I will return in an hour to check on him. I’m sorry there isn’t more I can do.”

  “Thank you again doctor,” Emelia repeated, as he walked away. The second he turned the corner, she let go of Cordelia.

  “Is it truly almost over? I do not know how much more I can take!” Cordelia declared.

  “I say we help things along…ease his suffering once and for all. We have endured his madness for two years, Cordi. Two years too long. That is not my brother in there anymore. Not that I have seen so much as much of a glimpse of what he was before he married Rose. We do him a service.”

  “Despite what he has done to me, I do not think I could do that!” Cordelia said, her eyes widening.

  “I will do it, but I need you to distract him so he will not call out. No one must know, even if is a merciful act. We need to do it now, while he is still awake enough to swallow the liquid.”

  “If I go in there, he will want me to…to…I vowed I would never do that again! Not for him, not for anyone!”

  “Cordelia, you must, one last time. He could linger for days. Days! I cannot take this one more hour! Please, you must help me end this!” Emelia pleaded, with tears in her eyes. “He will go peacefully this way, his last memory being of you in the way he desired you. Surely that is the best way to meet the devil.”

  Cordelia was still shaking her head in refusal. To the devil he would certainly go. Anger surged through her as she thought of all the humiliating things the Earl had made her do because she was his wife. Why would she care if he died a merciful death?

  “You will have the control this time, Cordelia. Now is your chance to do him what you wish. Have you thought of that? He is drugged and tied to the bed. For the first time, he is at your mercy. Does that not change things?”

  Cordelia paused, she had never seen Emelia this way. Emelia looked desperate. It had been weeks since Cordelia had been in the same room with the Earl. Harvey had not been restrained the last time she was with him and he lunged at her with a letter opener. He would have killed her if it wasn’t for the footmen who rushed in when they heard her cry for help. It took two of them to pull the Earl off of her. She looked at the thin white scar on her hand she had received trying to defend herself.

  Emelia would not let her back in the room after that. She took care of him herself, refusing to put anyone else in harm’s way. Since then, Emelia had been regularly bitten, slapped, punched and kicked. The abuse showed on her face and in her demeanor. A veil of darkness covered her once bright green eyes. Emelia had cared for him through the darkest days of his illness. How could she turn away from her now?

  “Alright, but you will not like what you hear and see, Emelia. Mercy or no, I will not give him any more of myself, understand?”

  “I do, with every ounce of my being Cordelia. Do what you must, and I will do what I must,” she stated, emphatically. Cordelia saw how resolved Emelia was. She had reached her breaking point.

  “Let’s get this done then. Are you sure you know what to do?”

  “Yes, I watched the doctor. It is a simple matter of adding the liquid to water,” she informed Cordelia.

  “You’d better make it brandy this time. It is his favorite drink while…you know. And I need the rose oil from his room.”

  “Rose oil?”

  “As I said, you may not like what you see and hear in there, Emelia. Are you sure about this?” Cordelia turned to face her sister in law. “You will never think of your brother or me the same way again. Are you certain you want that to be the last memory you have of him?”

  “It cannot be worse than this.” Emelia pulled the top of her bodice down to reveal several bite marks on her breasts. “He would pretend to be asleep and when I bent over him…” Tears came to her eyes. “That is not my brother in there, I lost him long ago. That is the devil’s dog! If you make him suffer until his last dying breath, I would still not weep for him.”

  “I am glad we agree. You must not speak of this, ever. No matter what you see.” Cordelia asked for reassurance.

  “I swear it, Cordelia, to my last breath, I will not speak of it.”

  “Then let us get this done.”

  Cordelia took a deep breath, opened the door, and was assaulted with the putrid odor of infection. It was much worse than when she had last seen him. He was rotting to death. She approached the bed.

  “Harvey?” she said softly, praying that he had already passed.

  His eyes fluttered, and her heart sank. She was going to have to do it one more time. She tasted bile at the back of her throat. He focused on her and recognition flashed in his eyes.

  “I want to see my beauty,” he croaked just as she had expected.

  “I will show it to you if you are a good boy and behave.”

  “My beauty! I want my beauty, now!” he struggled against his restraints.

  “Now, now be patient, Harvey. Emelia went to get your brandy. Don’t want your brandy when you see it?”

  “Yes, oh yes, I want to see my beauty. It is mine, all mine. No one can touch it unless I allow it
and I never will. No one will see it but me. It is mine…”

  He started to drift off. Where was Emelia? They did not have much time. The doctor was due back shortly, and Harvey was drifting off quickly. She kicked the bed, jerking him awake.

  “Watch me, Harvey,” she ordered, and bent down and grabbed the hem of her skirt. She slowly raised it, revealing her stockings. The Earl’s eyes widened. Slobber dripped from the side of his mouth, and he licked his lips as he nodded. She dropped her hem abruptly, and he struggled against his restraints.

  “If you do not lie still and be quiet I won’t show you. Do you understand?”

  He nodded eagerly, but she could see his eyes were glazing over. She pulled a chair to the side of the bed. Before she sat, she reached under her dress and removed her pantaloons. Emelia came in with a glass of brandy and a small bottle of rose oil. Cordelia opened the oil, put a few drops on her pantaloons, then covered the Earl’s nose with them.

  “Is this what you want, Harvey?”

  The Earl groaned as he sniffed her underthings like a starving man. Nausea bubbled in her stomach at his eagerness. She took a deep breath to stop the bile from rising. Emelia was spooning liquid from a brown bottle and pouring it into the brandy glass. She turned back to the Earl who was softly chanting my beauty from under the pantaloons.

  “Do you want to see it, Harvey? Do you?” He continued to chant, as if he had not heard her. As Emelia came closer with the glass she said, “I think he’s too far gone.”

  “Harvey? Do you want your brandy?” Emelia asked, leaning closer.

  Cordelia yanked the pantaloons from his face. His eyes widened.

  “Noooo!” he croaked.

  “If you want it back you need to drink your brandy. If you want to see your beauty, you must do what we say. Drink.” Cordelia demanded. Emelia held his head and put the glass to his lips. She gently poured the amber liquid in his mouth. A small river of it flowed out of the corner of his mouth and down his chin.

  “This is not working. He has to swallow it,” Emelia said, panicked.

  Cordelia kicked the bed again. “Harvey!” she said sternly. “Look at me.” She pulled the front of her dress over her knees and pooled it at her waist. She spread her legs slightly, not enough that he could see her, but enough to get his attention. “The more you drink, the wider I will open them.”

  “Beauty,” he whispered. “My beauty.”

  The reverence in his tone piqued Emelia’s curiosity. She looked at Cordelia, and Cordelia simply shrugged. Emelia pressed the glass against his lips again. Cordelia inched her legs open a bit wider. Harvey’s eyes widened. She could see the hunger in them even though he was losing the battle with the disease. Now, she knew they were doing the right thing by him. As twisted as the logic was, it suddenly felt right.

  “Drink Harvey,” Cordelia said softly as she pulled her dress back enough that he could see some of her womanly hair. When he swallowed, she opened wider. He swallowed again but this time he coughed and Emelia pulled the glass back. “Drink it all, Harvey, and I’ll give you what you want.”

  The Earl turned his head to the glass and greedily swallowed more of the amber liquid. He pulled back, took a breath, and asked for more. Finally, he drank the last of it.

  “I want my beauty. You bitch! It’s mine! I kept it clean and untouched all these years. I want it now.”

  Emelia placed the glass on the dresser with a heavy thud, overwrought over what she had just done.

  “Emelia. Lock the door.”

  When the lock turned, she put both feet on the side of the bed, moved her dress to the side, and showed herself to the Earl.

  “Ah, my beauty.” She spread her legs wider. “So beautiful.”

  “You have humiliated me for the last time, Harvey, making me expose myself to you for your sick pleasure. This is what you want is it not?” She put some rose oil in her hand. “You want it to belong to your long-lost Rose, don’t you? That is why you made me use rose oil on it, isn’t that right?”

  Cordelia rubbed her hands together and then spread the oil on herself, making her intimate lips look shiny and plump. The Earl moaned and weakly tried to reach for her.

  “Come to me!” he croaked, as he struggled against the restraints.

  “You want to smell this do you not? Lean close as I spread myself like this.” she pulled her intimate lips open so he could see her core, then rubbed her oily fingers up and down the pink skin, teasing him. “Take in the scent of me and your Rose together.” She spread herself wider, and his mouth dropped open. “You want to rub the tip of your nose up and down my soft skin, like this.” She dragged her finger slowly from her nub to her entry.

  The Earl groaned and begged with his eyes as her finger went up and down the middle of her intimate folds. A powerful feeling came over her as she realized her dominance over him. His eyes fluttered. The drug was taking effect.

  “You will never have this Harvey, never! You used me, like chattel, in and out of the bedroom. Now, this is all mine. To do with what I wish. And I’m going to give it to whomever I please, as much as I please!” She stuck a finger inside herself.

  “No! It’s mine! No one can touch it but me!”

  Cordelia put her feet down and lowered her dress. The Earl struggled weakly, talking incoherently. Emelia walked up to her brother and slapped his face.

  “I am free of you. Free! You cannot hurt me, and your threats mean nothing anymore! Die knowing that you bastard.” Emelia hissed, as his eyes fluttered shut.

  “Come, Emelia, let’s go. We are done with him. He got better than he deserved.” Cordelia grabbed Emelia’s arm and dragged her to the door. As soon as they were outside, Cordelia felt a huge weight lift. Emelia was crying, so Cordelia pulled her in for a hug. “It’s over. You never have to go back in there again. The doctor will take it from here.”

  That night, the Earl died, screaming for his beauty.

  Chapter 11

  Two Years Later

  The tinkling of music competed with the sounds of nature while Cordelia sat on her favorite bench overlooking Middleton Park. It was an impressive structure to be sure, if not a tad square in its austerity. The cornices and filigree she had added did a lot to soften its austere architecture. Cordelia could have done without the angels and cupids Roddy had insisted on, but they were a means to an end, she supposed. She would have preferred they graced the inner courtyard instead of greeting visitors.

  Since the refurbishment, the courtyard had become a work of art, famous in its own right, which more than made up for the front façade’s lack of grandeur. No one even noticed the front of the estate anymore. Instead, visitors were eager see the spectacular courtyard nestled inside. Just past the foyer, the twenty-foot stained glass door, which now depicted Romeo and Juliet’s balcony scene, opened into the spectacular space. The stained glass would have seemed audacious if it were not so beautifully done or didn’t lead into one of the most awe-inspiring places in the county.

  Pride swelled in her chest at all that she had accomplished in the two years since the Earl had died. Especially in spite of the fact that he had not kept any of the promises he had made in their short marriage. He had not thought past his self-indulgences to see her adequately taken care of after his demise. On the contrary, he had run Middleton Park into disrepair and sold off the most profitable of its resources to pay for those indulgences. His young virginal wife being the last of them. The irony of it all did not escape her.

  There was no sorrow in the fact that the man died screaming, as syphilis drove him insane. It took his life painfully as he deserved. Cordelia had not had one day of regret for what they had done. Emelia and she were still suffering from the Earl’s abuse. He deserved the death he received.

  “There you are, lovey. I knew I’d find you here,” Roddy said, bringing her back to the present.

  “I needed a moment.”

  “You need a good tupping, lovey, that is what you need!”

  “Roddy!
I swear! Could you be more obtuse?”

  “What you are saving it for, I just do not know…” He waved his lace handkerchief femininely.

  Now that Roddy was the famous Rodrigo, the best women’s fashion designer and hairdresser in all of London Proper and beyond, he no longer tried to hide the fact that he was a flaming homosexual. Not that her ever could to begin with, but now he was worse than ever. Somehow, he had made it fashionable to be a puffer, and today was no exception. He sported a shiny rose waistcoat with flower appliqués and beads. The matching calf length light blue trousers that buckled at his knees were beyond flamboyant. His blue velvet heels with brass buckles were as high as hers. To emphasize one’s calves, of course, as he would say. But, it was his infamous white wigs that were the true masterpieces, all seventy-five of them. He had so many that, once worn and forgotten, they could be return as if they were the latest fashion trend once again. There was no mistaking his preferences, and truth be told, he was a favorite amongst his set. Roddy never lacked for lovers.

  Regardless his accomplishments, to Cordelia he was still Roddy Brown, an up and coming designer she had met in London while irritating the seamstress he apprenticed for. Every day she thanked the Lord that Roddy had not been present during the horrible last weeks of the Earl’s life. She had sent him to France on a shopping trip to save his overly sensitive nature. Roddy was becoming a target of the Earl’s abuse. Emelia could not be everywhere to talk her brother down, so Cordelia sent Roddy away. Those last few weeks with the Earl had changed both she and Emelia. Having Roddy back was the breath of fresh air Emelia and Cordelia needed.

  And, it was Roddy who had pushed them into their new profession. He had recognized immediately that Cordelia had a knack for reading people. It had all started as happenstance. Her first match was easy. Lady Astor, a young lady close to her age and a friend of Hadley’s, had eyes for Lord Fitzroy. All it took was an introduction, an inattentive chaperone, and a newly styled appearance from Rodrigo, for the pieces to fall into place. Lady Astor’s father was more than pleased to pay her a percentage of his daughter’s dowry to use her connection with the gentleman to solidify the match.