He watched Domnika’s expression through the process. She had begun the meeting decidedly against the young man, but he could see her impression of the man had improved markedly. And whether Darby realized it yet, he liked Domnika as well. His expressions of delight showed he thought her unexpected remarks to be wonderfully refreshing. Even her offer to put laudanum in their tea had set Darby to laughing so hard their fight ended from the lack of anyone still in the mood to argue.
As the hours passed the respectable time for visitors to remain, Amy reluctantly allowed Darby to leave, but only with the promise he would come again. Ann offered Friday as a day he could return and while Amy had been hoping for tomorrow, she gracefully accepted defeat. Of course, her other suitor could not be left out of the invitation. Thus, she invited Chavier, fresh from the garden, to come and stay for dinner as well.
Chavier had kissed her hand. “Nothing would please me more.” He leaned towards her and for one dreadful moment, Antonio thought he intended to kiss her, but he only whispered something in her ear. Amy nodded and thanked him. Antonio noticed Darby did not seem particularly happy to have such an impressive competitor for Amy’s hand. He hoped if nothing else, Chavier’s suit would encourage Darby to shift his attention to Domnika, leaving Antonio to worry about Chavier. While he knew Chavier to be a fine actor, he was not convinced the admiration he saw in his commander’s eyes was merely an act.
The moment the suitors left, he attempted to sneak Amy upstairs for pleasure, but she begged off, saying she had to talk with Catherine.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. “Find me the moment you have finished your task.”
He noticed Ann watched from the hall. Once Amy was gone, she entered the room and closed the door.
“After a rocky start, you seemed to regroup well enough.” She smiled at him. “I’m proud of you, Antonio. What we have asked is not easy for you and there is risk, but if you continue as you ended today, I have no doubt you’ll have Amy as your wife as soon as it’s possible. I gather from the way she sparkled this morning that you enjoyed your bath?”
“Yes, but I do apologize for the water on the carpet. Amy’s enjoyment took me by surprise.”
“I hope you were not one to believe that all ladies lie about like a dead fish.”
“Not at all. Still, I have never known any woman who enjoyed herself quite so much as Amy.” He watched the girls walk in the garden. “I only wished I had followed your advice from the start.”
“I will remind you of that the next time you ignore my excellent advice. Now to McAllister, I gather he held up under Amy’s interrogation enough to keep him in the running?”
“You should have stayed. Amy has a real talent for pulling out information.”
“I knew that after fifteen minutes, but to my question, how did he hold up?”
“Very well. In fact, I will go so far as to say he is a remarkably fine young man and his intentions with Amy are completely honorable. He is a very acceptable suitor and you should not attempt to chase him away.”
“Antonio, I watched the girls go into the garden, she could not possibly be eavesdropping.”
“I am being sincere, Ann. If I have to risk Amy being lost to another man, then I would prefer he be the best society can offer and not the worst. I am satisfied Darby would make someone a very fine husband. I don’t intend that someone to be Amy, but I would prefer him to remain on the field, for it lessens the chances of lesser men to enter. With the serious intentions of two such gentlemen, you will not be faulted for shooing away the lesser suitors who would simply distract from these two excellent prospects.”
Ann sighed. “Your points are well made and logical, and I cannot argue with any of it, but having a real contender on the field does increase the risk.”
“Amy will be sought by men even after she becomes my wife. I must either trust that she loves me as much as I love her or go mad with jealousy. I have decided upon the first course of action.”
“After this mission ends, do not tarry long in asking for her hand,” Ann warned.
Antonio laughed. “That will not be a problem, I can assure you.”
***
The conversation in the garden was far soberer. When Amy relayed her message from the count, Catherine’s body heaved with misery.
“He does love me. He did all along. I would not allow myself to believe it, but a part of my heart clung to the hope. I felt like such a fool holding to it even when all evidence was to the contrary. If only I had been the first with child!”
Domnika looked shocked by her declaration. “Yes, then he would be dead, and you would have had to live with the fact it was your mother who killed him.”
Domnika’s words brought true fear to Catherine’s face. “You don’t think they… Oh God, Amy you must find proof that he still lives.”
“I am quite certain he does. Chavier said he sailed that night.”
“But that sounds wrong. What ship would debark in the middle of the night?”
Amy grabbed her friend’s hand. “Catherine, the count never planned to remain beyond the night. His intention was to come to the ball and steal you away. The ship waited for departure because he was there to abscond with you.”
Catherine burst into a torrent of tears.
Domnika stroked her back. “Catherine, did you really want him to steal you from your mother and your wonderful life here? He could not marry you. He has a wife. Could you really live a life where every day you secretly hoped for another woman’s death? Could you be happy that your children, who carry some of the finest blood of England, would be labeled bastards? Would you want them to bear the contempt that Amy has suffered?”
Domnika forced Catherine to look up and face her. “You did the right thing when you refused to go with him. In making that choice it did not matter that he truly loves you. That knowledge only gives you consolation that your heart had not been toyed with for jest. It does not change the only reasonable path out of this bog. You made the right choice, Catherine. You took the only path you could.”
Both Catherine and Amy sensed Domnika spoke from her heart. Until that moment, Amy had not realized Domnika had lost her heart to Nicolas. She had never admitted that. She had been ashamed of her feelings, for she knew Nicolas was not worthy of her love, but she had loved him all the same.
Chapter 45
Upon ending her conversation with Catherine, Amy sought out her true love and they hurried upstairs to express their feelings in private.
She shivered in delight as he undressed her first. “It is most unfair. The task of undressing you is far more difficult.”
Antonio laughed and tweaked her nipples. “Nonsense, I haven’t half the buttons and hooks. All you have to do is remember my cufflinks.”
“Hands down,” she scolded and placed his hands to his side. “You scramble my brain so, that I cannot think, nevertheless, remove cufflinks.”
His hands returned to her body before she finished her scolding. By the time he was undressed she was desperate for release of the hunger he raised within her.
His lips had barely kissed her between her legs when her body exploded in sweet waves of pleasure. He laughed and pulled her tight against him. Her hands located his hot pulsating rod and stroked it until his hunger was met as well.
Dressing after their exchange of pleasure Amy realized how lucky she was. She had fallen in love with a great man, so that her passions did not lead her to disaster, rather to a life of bliss. She hoped Catherine and Domnika would someday experience the wonderful joy and sense of rightness that came from loving a man worthy of them.
“What are you smiling with such smugness about?” Antonio teased, pulling her into his arms.
She curled her arms around his waist. “I want Domnika and Catherine to find great men to love, so they can experience what I have.”
He kissed her softly. “Ah so you’ve fallen for Chavier, have you?” he sighed in pretend-disappointment.
After dinner Antonio whispered he had to go out.
She hid her disappointment admirably. “Wake me up when you return.”
“I’ll wake you up if I’m injured,” he promised.
“Don’t get injured. I’ve far more pleasant things in mind.”
He laughed. “I will wake you up regardless of the time and my state of well-being.”
Once he left, she sought out Ann and interrogated her on Catherine. At first, Ann had focused on Catherine’s mental characteristics, but Amy gently shifted her to physical aspects. “Did she run much as a child? Was she loud or quiet? Did she raid the kitchen for cookies?”
“No. She never raided the cookie jar.”
“Did she not like the cookies?”
“If they were warm, but not once they cooled. And all too often the cook would forget to call her in when they were warm and then she would mope about all afternoon.”
Further interrogation determined that Catherine’s preference for freshly cooked food went beyond cookies. Once food cooled, she would eat only a bite. Moreover, cold sandwiches she would never touch.
“Later, she became less difficult, but when she was two, I could barely get enough food inside her to keep her alive.”
Amy persisted with her questions about Catherine’s childhood through the evening. After the third hour, Ann interrupted the interrogation. “Are these questions meant to discover the count’s power over Catherine?”
Amy admitted they were.
“Then ask as many questions as you like.”
Chapter 46
Amy found Catherine and Domnika upstairs receiving reports from the captains on their day’s excursion to the park. The troops had held firm and did not break rank, even when a small puppy broke loose from its leash and darted about. Davy asked the distraught lady if they might assist in capturing the pup and then ordered the troops to surround the pup and approach. At his command, all the children sat down on the ground, and the puppy would approach its fence of children and then retreat to the center of the circle. Davy pulled a ball from his pocket and bounced it from hand to hand. Soon the pup barked, wanting the ball to be tossed its way. Davy ignored the pup, set the ball down in his lap, and spoke to Lisa beside him. The moment the pup went for the ball, Davy rolled it to its back and gently rubbed its stomach. With the enemy subdued, he reattached the leash collar and returned the pup to the lady.
In gratitude, she bought all twenty-seven soldiers a sweet treat.
Davy reported the vendor was very generous with his counts of sweet and two of the soldiers tossed their bits on the ride home. Other than that, the only casualties were four uniforms stained with grass, one knee scrapped and one soldier in solitary corner for disobeying a direct order of his captain.
As Amy waited for the reports to conclude, she visited Diana, their injured soldier. She could see marked improvement in Diana’s mental and physical health. Only her eyes betrayed the haunted shadow of her torture by a sadist.
Amy sat down on the bed beside her and lifted one of the smaller children to her lap. She normally loved the sweet smell of the children, but tonight Colly smelled less than fresh.
Diana grimaced. “Sorry, Benny threw up in the carriage and Colly was doused with the mess. We are waiting our turn for a bath, aren’t we Colly?”
The little girl nodded her head and looked up at Amy. “Diana says I still stink, but I can’t smell it no more.”
“Any more,” Amy corrected her. “Let’s go see Catherine and Domnika, shall we?”
Colly’s eyes rounded. “Am I in trouble?”
“Not at all, I just want to see if Catherine can figure out what you smell like.”
“I think I smell like Benny’s stomach and it must be awful in there.”
Upon the last report, Domnika and Catherine declared the winning squad for the day and dismissed the captains. Amy joined them, placing Colly in Catherine’s lap. She flashed Domnika the signal for ‘silence’.
“What do you think I smell like, Colonel Cat?” Colly asked just as Amy had instructed.
Catherine breathed in and then kissed her on her forehead. “Sugar and spice and everything nice.”
Colly laughed and shook her head widely in disagreement.
“No? Then what do you think you smell like?”
“Benny’s tummy.”
Diana timidly entered. “It’s time for Colly’s bath.”
Domnika grabbed the girl from Catherine’s lap and returned her to Diana with such a look of disgust that Amy burst out in laughter. Catherine stared at them in confusion and asked what was funny.
“May I speak now?” Domnika demanded.
Amy nodded her head as she continued to laugh.
“Catherine, you have no sense of smell. I suspected it before, but Amy’s test just proved it with certainty. Colly smelled so bad that I almost lost my dinner.”
“Well, of course I can smell, everyone can smell.” Catherine furrowed her brow in agitation.
“You can smell fresh baked cookies,” Amy said.
“Yes, I can. There, you see Domnika you are quite wrong. I can smell fresh baked cookies.”
“But you can’t smell cold cookies.”
Catherine hesitated before she answered. “It is possible that my sense of smell is not as acute as some, but I can smell.”
Domnika shook her head. “I’ve asked you two days in a row which perfume you preferred, placing one on the right and one on the left.”
“Yes, and I gave you my opinion. Just because you might not agree with my choice doesn’t mean I can’t smell.”
“You always choose the right hand. I switched the perfumes out, so you chose the opposite one on the second day.”
“So, I changed my mind. Really, Domnika your test is no more valid than this one.”
“How is my test invalid?”
“Because you had Colly ask me what she smelled like. I would hardly tell the sweet thing that she smelled like vomit.”
Amy sighed. “She has a point. We need to develop tests that will prove conclusively what Catherine can and cannot smell.”
***
Catherine was not keen on being their test subject and she hoped her mother would side with her that it was nonsense, but while the declaration that Catherine might have a severely limited sense of smell surprised her mother, she received no pardon from the tests.
To prevent Catherine from answering based upon visual clues, they placed a blindfold over her eyes. Then they presented various odors and asked her to describe the smell. They kept a record as to what she said she could and could not smell and how she described the odor.
When Antonio returned at two a.m., their test continued. His worried look turned to confusion when he saw Catherine blindfolded at the table with various plates lined up before her.
“Whatever you did, Catherine, confess now. You do not want to eat the next plate’s content,” Antonio warned her.
Amy covered his mouth. “You are ruining our tests. Domnika, put that plate further down the row.”
“Is this test to see how long it takes a prisoner to crack if given inedible food?” he whispered into her ear.
Her body shivered with delight at the warmth of his breath. She pressed herself against him and spoke softly. “We have discovered Catherine has a very odd sense of smell.”
Catherine turned towards the sound of his voice. “Antonio, please make them stop. They have been torturing me for hours with these hideous smells.”
Ann yawned. “We could have stopped hours ago, if you would only cooperate and tell the truth about what you can and cannot smell. We have rotated these dishes in front of you three times now and every time you have given it a different description.
There is nothing wrong with lacking a sense of smell, Catherine. We just need to know what you can smell and what you cannot.”
“And if I tell you this, can we stop the tests and go to bed?”
All three answered ‘yes’ in unison.
“Very well, I smelled the warm cookies and the chicken soup at the first of testing and I have not smelled anything since.”
“But we tested warm cookies and chicken soup several more times,” Domnika objected.
“Well then, you’ve broken my sense of smell entirely and I’m most put out, because when I can’t smell my food, I cannot taste it either.” Catherine removed her blindfold. “The tests are over.” She stared at the collection of items on the table. Besides the cookies and soup, there sat a pile of horse dung, a rotted mouse, spoiled cheese, a plate of cut onion, and what looked to be a bowl of urine. She lost her temper. “You three are undoubtedly the most unnatural mother and friends a girl could possibly have!” She then ran from the room.
Domnika shook her head in annoyance. “I don’t know why she’s so angry. We’re the ones who had to smell these dishes for the last five hours.”
“Well, thankfully, my nose ceased to work hours ago,” Mrs. Halloway admitted.
Both Domnika and Amy looked at her in surprise. “I think we need to test you as well, but tomorrow, when you’ve regained your sense of smell. I expect Catherine will refuse any further tests, but I would like to see just how long your sense of smell remains broken.”
“Yes, and at least we’ll get truthful answers from you,” Domnika added.
Chapter 47
After their exchange of pleasure, Antonio cuddled her in his arms. “Why is determining the acuteness of Catherine’s smell so important?”
“Uncle John believes Catherine’s ability to resist the count better than most was due to a physical difference, something that set her apart from the typical young girl. Her poor sense of smell was the only difference I’ve yet to discover.”
Love's Betrayals (The Extraordinary Life of Amy Winston Book 2) Page 26
