Persuasion

by Owner

  Should she tell her aunt or uncle about this matter?

  Every part of her shouted in affirmation, but Lily hesitated to do so for

  perhaps it was all for naught. There was a possibility that it was indeed a

  hoax. That some gentleman had become peeved with her ice maiden-like

  behavior and wished to avenge his damaged ego by presenting her with this

  distasteful jest.

  Nodding to herself, for that seemed to make sense, Lily determined that she

  would not tell Millie or George. Having realized that it probably was just a

  hoax, she need not fear anything. And if it wasn't that, but was something

  more clandestine, then Lady Rutherford's ball would be a great crush. It was

  highly likely that he would not dare to cross paths with her if she stayed in

  the thick of things.

  Finally, after what felt like hours instead of a mere ten minutes, her aunt

  and uncle came bustling back. Millie had a glow of satisfaction on her face

  and Lily knew without asking that she had procured invitations for them all.

  Millie had no great need to hustle for invitations; they had more than they

  knew what to do with, but she seemed to enjoy the task. Taking to it like a

  fishwife who haggled down at the market for the very best of prices!

  After they had taken a seat, Lily leaned forward and tapped her aunt gently

  on the arm with her fan. “Is a chaperone necessary because bad things can

  happen, when an unattended female is alone?” she whispered quietly,

  although that did little to hide the urgency she felt.

  “Why, dear child, what on earth makes you ask that?”

  “I just wondered. My thoughts turned morose when you left,” she lied. “And

  I wondered if that was the reason why. London is bound to contain souls

  who wish to do others harm . . . .”

  “Naturally. This is the metropolis, my dear. But you need not concern

  yourself with those kinds of nasty and troubling thoughts. A duenna ensures

  that you remain pure and safe from any man's evil intentions. You are

  attended and your uncle and I would never do anything to jeopardize your

  safety or your good name!”

  Lily gulped, for her safety and name had unknowingly been compromised

  and there were countless other times, when she had been alone. Her aunt's

  lack of directness told Lily that to be alone, was indeed dangerous and she

  vowed to stay close to her at all the upcoming events. What had she meant

  by evil intentions? Was this . . . what she had just experienced . . . was it a

  common act?

  Unwittingly, Lily realized that her aunt had grown agitated and knew that the

  blame lay at her feet. Aunt Millie fluttered her fan rapidly and flashed it

  before her face as though she'd suddenly grown hot.

  Feeling mean and rotten for having disturbed her so, Lily launched into a

  conversation that was bound to put her aunt at ease. “The ball will be such

  fun, won't it aunt?”

  She was eyed with curiosity for this was the first time that Lily had shown

  any excitement at the upcoming balls they were to attend and knowing that

  she had indeed diverted her aunt's thoughts, Lily patted herself on the back.

  “It will, my dear. Great fun! I met such a handsome man in Lady Devins'

  box. Her son, you know. Twenty thousand a year and such a personable

  gentleman too!”

  “Will he be there tomorrow at Lady Rutherford's?” Lily asked and saw that

  matchmaker's glint flash rapidly in Millie's eye.

  “Yes, indeed! I shall introduce you to his mama and she can then make her

  introductions. Just think of what a match that would be, Lily. He's a

  Viscount. But his fortune makes up for his lack in stature, do you not think

  so?”

  Hiding a grimace, for Lily cared naught for stature or wealth - all she wanted

  was something that her parents had had. “Indeed. But let's not rush ahead,

  aunt. We might not suit each other!” she snapped a tad abruptly. She

  instantly felt guilty.

  “True, true, forgive me, my dear!”

  “There is nothing to forgive!”

  She was gifted with a beatific smile and suddenly, as the orchestra struck its

  first note, silence amongst the crowd reigned supreme as they realized the

  opera was about to start.

  What should have been a glorious occasion, for indeed the opera was a

  marvel, was instead filled with fraught anxiety. No matter how often she told

  herself that it was all just in poor taste and the result of some man's

  damaged ego, Lily could not believe it and knew that tomorrow, the man

  would indeed be there. Lying in wait for her and ready and raring to pounce

  like England's very own adder.

  She knew, without knowing how, that she would be touched by that adder's

  poison and felt dread course through her because of it.

  ****

  The hordes of people had disappeared by now. There was not one living soul

  within the huge expanse of space in the opera house but her.

  The gilded and molded decorations seemed to move as though they were

  more than just works of art but filled with life too. Above her, the frieze, the

  man at the helm of the black stallion and its white counterpart stormed

  angrily through the sky. The thudding sounds were so great that Lily felt

  them pound through her melodiously until her own heart began to beat to

  that particular drum.

  The sensation made her feel unbearably queasy and Lily had to move from

  her standing position and to a seat. As she took her place, there was a

  hissing sound, long and low and rattling. It terrified her to her very marrow

  and the queasiness returned as out of nowhere, four adders, their black

  heads moving from side to side as they slithered out of the darkness,

  approached her.

  A scream shot out of her throat as they curled about her limbs, capturing

  her and holding her captive by their presence about her wrist and ankle.

  Their cold skin had her shuddering with distaste and horror and Lily felt sure

  that death was close. Felt certain that their poisonous venom would soon be

  entering her bloodstream and gift her with a killing blow.

  Terror beyond any terror she had ever experienced in her short life pulsed

  its way around her body, freezing her with a tension that made her feel as

  though she were already dead. A part of her panicked. Had she already been

  bitten? To freeze up like this was surely not normal?

  Gulping in panting breaths, Lily tried to beg for calm. But it was impossible.

  How could she be calm when she did not know if she were dead or alive?

  Instead, she began to call out and thanked God when her voice worked, for

  it meant she was indeed still breathing and of this Earth.

  “Help! Please, oh God, please help!”

  “No one will help you. You are beyond help,” a man murmured, his voice

  possessed of that same hissing sibilance that snakes were born with.

  With a gasp, she almost jolted out of her skin as the words penetrated her

  brain. “Who is it? Who's there?” she cried, terrified at the malevolence that

  coated each and every one of the man's words.

  “Why, the man of your nightmares, Lady Lily. Who else could it be?”

  Feeling a cold breath touch the warm and puls
ing flesh of her nape, Lily

  tensed and wondered what the snake-man's next move would be. She felt

  indecently certain that he would command the snakes to bite her and gobble

  her whole.

  “What do you want?”

  “You. Just you.”

  The words seemed to vibrate along her flesh through the copious nerve

  endings that were hidden within.

  “Why?” she screamed. “What have I done?”

  “What do you think you have done?” the voice countered and prodded Lily

  the one step she had needed to burst into sobbing breaths.

  “Please. Let me go! Let me go!”

  “But I need you, dearest,” came the hissing retort. This time, the words

  echoed repeatedly throughout the huge, open expanse of the theater until

  she thought she would go mad with the repetitive threat that assailed her

  ear drums.

  She began to tug and pull at her live bindings, but they merely reacted by

  coiling tighter about her. Tighter and tighter until she felt her blood begin to

  pound throbbingly at her wrists and ankles and knew that the extremities

  would be turning bright blue from lack of life blood.

  Sobs racked her chest as she begged for help, but to no avail and when

  finally, she felt that faint sting on her left wrist, Lily knew she would die. And

  with a howling cry, she shuddered as the venom poured through her system

  and had pain spreading from the source of the bite throughout every limb,

  numbing each part before she was stung with agony.

  ****

  “Miss! Miss! Wake up!”

  “No! No! No!” Lily shouted, her agitation rolling her from one side of the

  overlarge bed to the other.

  “Miss Lily! Wake up right this minute!”

  Lily felt herself being pushed and prodded into wakefulness and sat up with

  a gasp as soon as she realized that she had indeed being dreaming. Spying

  her maid-since-womanhood, Janie, she grabbed the older woman by the

  apron and coiled her arms tightly about her. “Janie! Please don't let him take

  me!” she cried, retrieving enormous amounts of comfort from her maid's

  embrace.

  “Tosh, Miss Lily! Who's going to take you? Don't be daft!”

  The broad Yorkshire accent brought her down to the ground and with the

  bang she needed. Gulping, she lifted a hand and rubbed her sweaty brow.

  “No. No, I'm sorry, Janie,” she whispered, her voice trembling with the force

  of the terror that had assailed her during that nightmare.

  “Don't be sorry for having a nightmare, lass!”

  “What time is it?” Lily replied with a faint smile.

  “Time to get ready for tonight's ball.”

  “I napped that long?”

  “You were restless and I knew you needed to sleep, so I let you. Your aunt

  was asking after you and I told her you'd almost swooned.” Janie ducked her

  head sheepishly. “I know it wasn't my place, Miss Lily, but she would have

  fussed around you and I knew it wouldn't have helped.”

  “Don't be afeared, Janie. You did right and I thank you! Sometimes my aunt

  can be . . . well, I'm sure you know,” Lily said comfortingly as she patted the

  maid's hand.

  Janie ducked her head again and Lily knew that she was biting her tongue.

  Lily patted her hand again and then squeezed it in understanding.

  Ever since Lily had arrived in London, Janie had had clashes with both Aunt

  Millie and her lady's maid. The former seemed to think she could destroy

  Lily's routine, a routine which Janie lived by. And, Aunt Millie also seemed to

  believe that she could simply ask Janie to make alterations to any and all of

  Lily's clothes, at the drop of a hat, regardless of whether or not Lily

  happened to like the outfit! That was something that exasperated both Lily

  and her maid!

  The latter, on the other hand, simply believed that as she was the maid of

  the lady of the house, she was head of the staff and a more pompous and

  irritating woman, Lily had ever met! Janie's temper and patience had been

  sorely tested these months past. How she had managed to hold her tongue,

  Lily did not know. Janie was used to speaking her mind, Lily often

  encouraged it. She must have felt as though she were being driven around

  the bend!

  “Did you pick out a dress for me, Janie?” she asked, changing the subject to

  ease Janie's discomfort.

  “Aye, miss. The silver one.”

  With a nod, Lily scoured her mind for a memory of a silver robe but came up

  with nothing. Undisturbed, for she trusted Janie's taste implicitly, she

  shrugged her shoulder nonchalantly. “Fine. Fine. Is my bath ready?” she

  asked, more interested in the prospect of the soothing warmth from the hot

  bathwater, which she hoped would ease her still racing heart.

  “Aye. Waiting for you in the garderobe.”

  “Fabulous! I feel rather disgusting.”

  “Well, these town folks all smell rather disgusting to me, miss, and I doubt

  you smell as bad they! Come, I let you sleep overlong so we must hurry with

  your toilet.”

  With a sigh, Lily acceded to her maid's wishes. Quickly, she was pressed into

  the bath and she soaped her private areas and generally refreshed her body

  from the damp blanket of sweat that had overcome her upon waking.

  As soon as her thoughts pressed on her dream, she quickly scurried away

  from it and concentrated on Janie's bustling form.

  Once cleansed of the natural oils her body produced while sleeping, she

  stood and patted herself down with a cloth before alighting from the tub and

  returning to her chamber, where Janie had laid out her dress for ease on the

  bed. At its side, were the jewels she was to wear.

  Janie, armored with Lily's chemise, helped her change into it and then led

  her over to the bed and helped her into the dress. Lily looked down as she

  was molded into the silver material and still did not recognize it as one she

  had selected from her modiste.

  “Wait a minute, Janie! This isn't a dress of my aunt's choosing, is it?”

  Janie tutted. “Honestly, that's from having far too many dresses for your

  own good, miss, that is. Fancy not knowing! This arrived last week, after

  your visit to that French woman.”

  The latter was said with a sniff. Janie was certain Madame Boliage was lying

  about her noble lineage and was instead a lady of the night. Not that Lily

  was supposed to even have any awareness of that term! But then, Lily knew

  of much that was classed as indecent for a virginal lady's ears!

  “I don't remember it.”

  “Well, I was there when you chose it, miss.”

  “As long as that's the case. You know me, Janie, I'm never all that interested

  when I'm at Madame Boliage's.”

  “That's true. Is it any wonder your aunt was forced to make the decisions for

  you, when you first came to town, miss!”

  Lily grinned. She had always enjoyed Janie's forthrightness and in the midst

  of the pompousness that was London, it was always refreshing to be scolded

  by her maid. “Forgive me, Janie,” she said with a smile and curtsied her

  apology. Her polite gesture was received with a snort and a tug on the

  fastenings at her back, which had Lily yelpin
g slightly.

  When Janie had finished titivating, she moved to the looking glass and

  nodded her approval. It was a deceptively simple dress, a complex mixture

  of Roman styling and an Empire silhouette, high-waisted to suit the latter,

  but resting in swathes and swags as befit a Roman toga. It was tight at the

  bosom, but not indecently so and the silver added a rosy peach color to her

  skin.

  She sat at her dressing table and allowed Janie to dress her hair. Matching

  silver velvet and silk ribbons were slotted through the curls and pulled into a

  pleasant style that displayed Lily's face superbly. It was tousled yet as with

  her dress, artfully and deceptively difficultly fashioned.

  Her jewels were naught but wired ear rings and an arm ring, both cast in

  silver with pearls adorning them. They augmented her appearance and had

  she not had the threat of the night before cast over her, then there would

  have been some sense of anticipation for the evening ahead.

  As had been the natural course of the recent weeks past, she'd felt

  excitement during her toilette but almost moments after arriving at

  whatever jaunt her aunt was taking her to, it had instantly diminished into

  that apathetic boredom. For wherever they seemed to go, there were always

  the same tedious people, similar music, warm lemonade and the overlong

  dances that seemed to go on for a decade!

  Now, she wished for that! Wished that it could be so simple. For even

  tediousness was a vast improvement on what she was feeling at this

  moment in time!

  Fear, dread, horror - the melange of emotions had a sick feeling settling in

  her stomach and it added a greyish tinge to her skin, which thankfully wasn't

  all that noticeable. Except to herself!

  “There we are, miss. You look beautiful!”

  “Thank you, Janie.”

  “Those gents don't know what they're missing. Why you've not been offered

  for yet, is beyond me. That silly girl, Lady Derst's daughter . . . . Well, I

  know her maid and she says that she's never met a sillier and more

  ridiculous chit! Yet she's had offers aplenty! It's not fair,” Janie complained

  gruffly.

  “Ah, but you're forgetting, Janie. I'm not silly enough to fall for the ploys of

  the rake hells or those after my fortune. They know that and so, they steer

  clear of me. And for that, I'm most grateful! Regardless of their unsuitability,