The Black Lotus (Night Flower)

by Claire Warner

  It didn’t take long to locate Justin. He was walking through the one of the doors to the gardens beyond, his arm locked together with Mary Westbury, a known flirt. Justin was leaning close to her and they were both laughing. Melissa stood stock still for a few moments, cursing herself for a fool; of course she was no one special to him. It hadn’t taken him too long to throw himself at the pretty, silly and generally annoying Mary. Trying not to allow irritation to show on her face, she picked up another drink and headed to the buffet.

  Chapter 3

  “Melissa.” She turned at her name being spoken and looked directly into a pair of laughing clear blue eyes.

  “Sarah.” She reached forward and greeted the other girl with a genuine smile, their families had been friends for many years and they had practically grown up together. Sarah had been presented several months previously and had been designated incomparable, which of course meant that she gained a vast array of admirers. “I didn’t know you were here.”

  “I was taking the air with John Hansombe,” Sarah replied with a demure smile as she tucked her arm in Melissa’s. “He’s declared that he will shoot himself if I don’t accept his suit.”

  “Oh dear,” Melissa replied with a smile, it was the kind of offer that she had been hearing all night, as though she would like nothing better than brain matter for proof of love.

  “Oh, don’t worry I don’t think he means it, I think he just wants to follow the mode,” Sarah replied as she reached forward and snagged some food from the buffet table. “I think he’s rather sweet.”

  “Oh you would,” Melissa answered readily enough, yet her eyes were drawn to the parlour doors and the darkness outside. A strange hot feeling was coursing up and down her spine.

  “Forgive me for wanting to have fun, you’re just going to stand here and mock it all, which I think is incurably dreary.” Sarah looked closely at her friend and a puzzled look crossed her face. “What are you looking at?” She exclaimed suddenly as she realised that her friend’s attention was strangely wandering.

  “Oh...” Melissa jumped guiltily, wondering how to explain herself, she had always been the more mature of the two. For several moments she struggled to find an explanation only to be caught on the hop as Emily and Justin walked back into the room.

  “Oh ho,” Sarah crowed as she took in the direction of Melissa’s glance and comprehended the situation. “You’re mooning for Lestrade.”

  “No…” Melissa protested feebly, wondering why Sarah had chosen this particular moment to join her. She would invariably lock onto the most insignificant detail and magnify it out of all proportion. By the end of the evening, Sarah would have her eloping with Justin on a black charger.

  “I’m not mooning for him,”

  “Don’t lie, I can always tell when you’re lying because your nose wobbles.”

  “That’s because I’m speaking idiot, it always wobbles when I talk. There is nothing between me and Lestrade.”

  “But you want there to be?” That was Sarah all over; she couldn’t let a subject lie. She was only lucky that the older girl hadn’t marched over to him and announced that Melissa was missing him. “I mean he is extremely attractive and he definitely knows it.”

  “No! I just…” Melissa sank into a nearby chair and tried not to panic. If Sarah had her way, the news that she liked Justin would be all over the room in minutes. She could just hear her brother’s fury to the news, he’d probably haul out his pistols and that would be that. “Look you can’t just say that. You don’t know anything about it,”

  “Well I would if you told me,” Sarah said with immense practicality as she sat opposite and stared at her friend. Her fingers smoothed down her gown of periwinkle silk and she looked at Melissa with a stern, querying look on her face. “So.. are you going to tell me why you’re taking a break from being sensible and mooning after the most unsuitable man in the room?”

  Melissa breathed slowly and then began to speak. She left nothing from her story, even though there was not much to tell. With rare patience, Sarah left her to finish before jumping onto her tale.

  “So.. he insulted you and then handed you a flower by way of a conjuring trick straight out of the theatre as an apology. Is that about it?” Her voice was full of interest and outrage, interest because her friend was notorious at thinking things through and outrage that she had not witnessed the event.

  “I think you’ve covered it.” Melissa sat back, hoping that Sarah wouldn’t fly into a creative frenzy about this. Her friend had been known to concoct bizarre, unworkable plots to attain the heights of romance that she felt her friend was lacking, or, more simply put, she interfered wholesale in Melissa’s life.

  “And you’re fascinated why?” A look of complete incredulity crossed her face as Melissa looked at her shoes. “I mean, he didn’t promise to fight a duel for your honour, he didn’t threaten to kill himself. He didn’t even call you his moon and stars and I got that from the most romantically inept person in the room. And you fall for that?” Melissa looked at Sarah in shock; she had not anticipated this response. For the last few months any pretty face made her friend into putty. When overwrought declarations of love were flying about, Sarah made certain that she caught them. Love and related drama was meat and drink to her, it felt strange that she wasn’t concocting vast plots to get her and Justin alone and for the briefest of moments she felt upset that she wasn’t getting this response.

  “I didn’t fall for him, I’m just interested. I don’t like all that over the top stuff. I’m not a prize to be wooed like that.”

  “So instead you prefer a boorish fool who insults you. Well that makes perfect sense to my romance addled brain.”

  “I didn’t say I preferred him, I just said he interested me,” Melissa was getting angry now; she’d supported Sarah through far worse choices. Twisted a piece of the green taffeta between her fingers, she stared at the gold embroidery for several moments, taking the time to calm herself down.

  “I wasn’t contemplating matrimony.”

  “Oh I’m glad to hear it. He has a terrible reputation. He seduces women, he ruins them,” Sarah’s voice was getting louder and angrier as she spoke. “Not only that, he is a gamester and a cad.”

  “Sarah please.” Melissa finally held up a hand to forestall the flood of words. There was nothing in that speech that she did not agree with and her friend was right, Justin Lestrade had one of the worst reputations in London, especially worrying since he was so young. He frequently had to leave the capital through one scandal or another. Duelling, wenching or gaming, he was reputed to be quite the terror and yet Melissa could not stop thinking about him. Despite her anger earlier, there was something about him that called to her.

  “I know all this about him and I don’t love him or anything silly like that. For heaven’s sake there wasn’t enough time for any of that to happen. I just feel I should know him better.”

  “That’s the way it starts,” Sarah murmured with a wisdom that seemed strange coming from her lips.

  “Well. I don’t think I will get to know him better. He couldn’t even wait for me to finish a hand of Quadrille before he found another.” Her voice was hard, determined, and so different from the clamouring in her heart. Yet she had to say it, there was no other way of putting Sarah off. “So you have nothing to worry about, I doubt I will be eloping with Lestrade at any point in the future.”

  “Hmm,” A suspicious glance swept over her, before Sarah sighed and decided to let the subject drop. “Anyway, did you note Anna’s dress? It was positively indecent; I swear that her abigail doesn’t like her one bit.”

  Melissa sighed with relief as life returned to a more regular footing, she still thought about those hazel eyes yet, as Sarah pointed out, why would she be attracted to a boorish fool with a terrible reputation.

  “You did well with your dress tonight, green suits you,”

  “It’s just a shame about the powder, I prefer my real hair to this po
wdered mummery,”

  “I’ll tell the court that shall I,” Sarah laughed at the look on her friends face. “This is only the height, nay the pinnacle of fashion and you scorn it. For shame girl,”

  Melissa shook her head at the mock outrage on her friends face and joined in the general sense of laughter. “So I saw the King tonight,” she finally stammered out, desperate to draw the subject away from Justin and any other men in the room.

  “Yes, I saw him too, he’s barely awake half the time!” Sarah said with a lightly bored tone. “There are far more interesting things to look at.” She unsheathed her fan and lightly tapped her hands with it. “So.. have you heard about the murders?”

  “Murders?” Melissa queried wondering at the change in conversation but not overly shocked by it. Sarah’s mind flittered sometimes from subject to subject and it was hard to keep up unless you were used to it.

  “Yes the murders. I heard Papa talking about them to Lord Turnville. Apparently there’s been a rash of murders in the lower districts…”

  “Sarah there’s always killings amongst the lower district.”

  “Ahh but not like this,” Sarah said with a distinctly annoying tone of voice. “A fair few of them are of our class. Apparently they were taken from their beds and brought to London. My father’s spent a fortune putting locks on my shutters. It’s almost impossible to sleep at night.”

  “Sarah,” Melissa exclaimed, an incredulous note to her voice. “That can’t be right surely. I’d have heard from Papa, The talk would be all over the capital. I would have heard something,”

  “You would have heard if they news was being spoken of openly, but its not. You see most of the girls were…” She considered and drew Melissa closer, lowering her voice to a confidential whisper. “Well not particularly modest or well brought up. Known for indiscretion they were, just the type to leave their beds in the dead of night and follow a rake. My father believes that they leave home and run into trouble on the streets.” Sarah gave a wry smile. “My father’s using it as an object lesson in following the rules of good behaviour.”

  “Sarah,” Melissa protested with a smile. “You’re not overly silly, you wouldn’t sneak out to follow some foolish gallant.”

  “Oh and how would you know?” She gave a careless toss of her head, making her wig wobble dangerously. Throwing a would be mysterious smile at her friend, she continued. “You don’t know all my secrets,”

  “Really?” With a bark of surprised laughter, Melissa stared at Sarah. “Do tell,”

  “Not on your life,” Sarah glanced over Melissa’s shoulder and smiled broadly at the sight behind her before turning an apologetic glance towards her friend.

  “I’m sorry but I promised Lord Carlson the next dance,” she was already moving as she spoke to reach the side of her latest flame. “We’ll talk later I promise,” And with that she was swept back into the crowd, leaving Melissa alone in the corner watching the dancing couples with a wry smile on her face. She might have known that Sarah would not stay with her long.

  “May I have the next dance?” A richly dressed young man held out his hand toward her and after a moment’s hesitation, she took it. Leaving behind her thoughts about Lestrade for the time being, she threw herself back into the ball. She danced, flirted, smiled and accepted invitations. At least twice she saw Justin on the edges of the crowd, yet he was talking with Mary and did not look towards her. Irritated by his lack of regard, she moved away from him and inwardly fumed at his attitude and her willingness to see good in him.

  “May I cut in?” She started as Lord Montjoy spoke at her elbow, his pale eyes regarding her partner with a mild curiosity. Blanching slightly, the callow youth moved aside and Montjoy caught hold of her.

  “I was hoping to get a dance,” His voice was sibilant in her ear and her skin crawled at the suggestive notes that flowed across his words. Still, he could do nothing untoward in the middle of such a crowd and she didn’t want to make a scene. A polite smile edged over her features, hiding the revulsion she felt at his touch as they began to dance.

  “You’ve been extremely well received,” he murmured against her ears as they moved through several complicated steps. “You are a goddess here you see,” The words which she had heard from gallants the whole night sounded ominous falling from his lips and she suppressed a shudder. He manoeuvred her through the crowd, his steps sure and strong as the music dragged on; prolonging Melissa’s discomfort. Montjoy kept whispering sweet nothings in her ear and she though she managed to kept her distaste from him, she still froze inwardly every time he opened his mouth. They had been dancing for perhaps two minutes, when Melissa became aware that he was moving them away from the main hallway and its throng of people and toward the gardens.

  “Excuse me,” She spoke politely and tried to pull away, mindful of her mother’s warnings. She didn’t want to be caught alone in the gardens with Monjoy. One glance at the hot, intense gaze in his eyes told her that his intentions were anything but honourable.

  “I’d prefer to stay within.” Swallowing the panic that threatened to overwhelm her, Melissa came to a stop and tried to move away from him.

  “But it’s quite loud and over-populous in here,” Montjoy’s voice slithered over her objections and he kept walking towards the door. “We can’t conduct proper conversation in this crowd,” In response to her feeble efforts for freedom, his hand tightened on her wrist and he pulled her forward. It would now take a strong wrench of his arm to pull free and that would create a fuss she could little afford. In desperation, she flicked her eyes over the crowd hoping to catch someone’s eye, yet Montjoy had placed his body between her and much of the soiree and no one came to her rescue.

  “I have another dance sir, I do not wish to be late,” She spoke more forcefully, trying to pull her hand away yet his grip was strong and he still drew her onward, towards the yawning doors and the dark gardens beyond.

  “It won’t take a moment; there is something I wish to show you,” His arm dropped to her waist and slid about it with a creeping familiarity. His fingers settled beneath her ribs and as the shock of his audacity flooded her veins, Melissa ceased her attempts at politeness. Anger boiled through her. How dare this abhorrent rake place his hands on her? Scarcely taking the time to think, she rounded on him, bright spots of vivid colour shining through the powder on her cheeks.

  “LET ME GO!” Her voice snarled out between her lips with a volume that surprised even her. Even as the words left her mouth, she was pulling her hand back to shoulder height and as her shout reverberated around the room, she let fly. With a loud crack, her hand connected with his cheek as she slapped him with as much power as she could muster. “I do not wish to walk in the gardens with you.” The sound of flesh striking flesh and her loud exclamation echoed through the hall and drew the immediate attention of the soiree. People near them stopped dancing, their eyes fixed on the spectacle with shock and interest. Near the buffet, Sarah looked up and stared at Melissa with a troubled look on her face. Several of her gallants from earlier began pushing their way through the room towards them and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Justin, The blue clad noble was stood near the main doors, his hand on Mary’s arm and his eyes fixed on her. His face was hard to read, yet his eyes never left her even as Mary muttered something in his ear.

  “You she-devil!” Montjoy hissed as he raised a hand to his reddened cheek, his eyes blazed, wounded pride and anger battling in his watery gaze. “I’ll teach you..” Oblivious to the scene around him and angry, he raised his fist against her and struck downwards only to have the strike thwarted by a solid hand which seized his fist and twisted the lavender clad arm into a painful position.

  “You dare raise your vile hand to my sister?” Marcus’ voice was low and shot through with menace as he painfully twisted Montjoy’s arm. Around them, the crowd was still, everyone watching the action with shock. “You even conceive of it? How dare you sir!”