Lessons of Love (39 page)

“
It
’
s best we don
’
t even ask questions like that. I
’
m going to need you to lift her up. They
’
re bringing her bath an
d I sent someone for th
e doc.”

“
I a
in
’
t supposed to touch her.”

“
Michael for Heaven
’
s sakes. You
’
re not going to molest the girl! You
’
re gonna help me is all. I can
’
t pick her up. She
’
s dead weight when she
’
s out like this.”
Lily went to the bed and grasped the hem of
Jolie
’
s torn nightgow
n, pulling it up and over her head, gently untangling her wounded arm. Michael gave a low whistle at the sight of
Jolie
lying naked on the bed. “
She is a pretty one isn
’
t she. She
’
ll bring a high price. Too bad it
’
ll be lining Gregor
’
s pocket.”

Taking
Jol
ie
’
s hand in hers, Lily patted it and rubbed her cheek. “
Wake up now, sweetheart. Time to open those eyes. We
’
re gonna give you a bath and tend to that arm. Wake up now, honey.”
Lily rubbed
Jolie
’
s hand briskly, trying to get her to open her eyes. As she d
id her fingers passed over the large diamond on
Jolie
’
s hand. Lily stopped in shock and gazed at
Jolie
’
s finger. A wedding ring? The girl was married? What had Gregor done? He
’
d actually st
olen a woman from her husband?

Lily glanced over her shoulder and
saw that Michael was still busy assessing
Jolie
’
s attributes and was therefore paying no attention to what Lily was doing, so she quickly slipped the wedding ring off
Jolie
’
s hand and dropped it into the pocket of her gown. “
Go check on that bath water. If
we don
’
t have her cleaned up by the time Gregor gets up he
re, he
’
s going to raise hell.”

After he left, Lily quickly went to the door and turned the key in the lock. The mystery woman on the bed gave her a definite sense of unease. L
ily pulled the diamond wedding ring from her pocket and looked it over. One thing was for sure, this woman came from a wealthy family. The man who bought her this ring must be rich beyond belief. The stones were exquisite. She held the ring up in the lamp
l
ight and it was then that the insc
ription inside caught her eye.

“
Well I
’
ll be. What have we here?”
Lily squinted and moved closer to the lamp. “
My heart
’
s love,
Jolie
.”
Lily
’
s heart did a flipflop in her chest. “
Jolie
? I
’
ve heard that name.”
She went bac
k to the bed and patted
Jolie
’
s cheek insistently. “
Come on luv, Gregor will be here any minute. Wake up fo
r me and tell me who you are.”

Lily pulled the rag from
Jolie
’
s mouth and continued to lightly slap her face until
Jolie
’
s eyes finally fluttered op
en. She tried to focus but all she saw was a vague shape hovering over her haloed by the lamplight. “
That
’
s a girl. Wake up honey and tell Lily who you are. Come on,
Jolie
. It
’
s on the edge of my brain but I need you to help me out here. Who
’
s your husband
, sweetie
? What
’
s your husband
’
s name?
’

Jolie
opened her mouth but no sound came out. Her tongue was dry as a bone and grit from the dirty rag coated her mouth. She tried to speak, tried to tell this woman, whoever she was, that
Cole
was her husband, but
try as she might, she couldn
’
t utter a sound. Her brain was screaming out that it was
Cole
, but all Lily heard was silence. Before she could give
Jolie
some water, the door behind her opened to admit the servants with the copper tub followed by Gregor. She
quickly stuffed the rag back in
Jolie
’
s mouth and slipped the wedding ring back in her pocket.
Jolie
’
s myster
y husba
nd would have to wait.

Lily stood back as the tub was filled with steaming water and watched with disgust as Gregor sat on the edge of th
e bed toying with
Jolie
. He groped at her, pinching and pawing, but the girl remained unmoving. Lily wasn
’
t sure if
Jolie
was truly in the depths of unconsciousness again or if she were merely playing dead to avoid facing the monster molesting her. After a
particularly harsh slap, which only gained him a tiny whimper, Gregor seemed convinced that
Jolie
was truly out. He rose, instructing the two servant girls to bathe her carefully and sat at the small table in the room, motioning for Lily to do likewise as
he once again pulled the
forged deed from his pocket.

“
Now then, as you can see,
Cole
signed all rights for this place over to me. You, your brothel, and all the women here who owe us a single cent now belong to me. If you or any of them can pay me, the
y are free to go.”
Gregor knew damn well that all the girls at Lily
’
s had been lulled into accepting loans which they could never possibly payback because of the high price charged for room, board, and security. When they had first found themselves on the
streets, it had been stay at Lily
’
s and be protected, or go at it alone in a man
’
s world, and the choice was obvious. Natchez was no place for a young girl on her own, even one who chose to sell herself. At least the clients at Lily
’
s were gentlemen inste
a
d of the scum that crawled out fr
om the gutters near the docks.

Lily took the paper from Gregor and made a show of looking it over but they both knew it was just that, a show. Though she could read and write to some extent and had some business sense in r
egards to the brothel, she knew nothing about contracts and deeds. It certainly looked legitimate. Still it puzzled her.
Cole
had bought the place from her when she
’
d fallen on hard times a few years back so he could help her out and have a front for selli
ng the girls, what was this all about? What had changed? Lily certainly didn
’
t want to take anything Gregor said at face value. “
Why would
Cole
do such a thing, and why didn
’
t he come here himself? I rais
ed him, he owes me that much.”

“
You didn
’
t raise hi
m you cold hearted bitch. He raised himself. You sim
ply allowed him to stay
here.”

“
He was never hungry.
I never let anyone beat him.”

“
You never mothered him either
,
so quit yer bitchin
’
. He
’
s got better things to do now than worry about the likes of y
ou. He saved you once so you ought to be grateful and simply accept his decision. Haven
’
t ya heard the rumors?
Cole
’
s gone all respectable. It was supposed to be for show but he went and fell for some rich bitch in New Orleans. Got himself a little wife an
d joined high society. He
’
s got no use for the likes of you or me. He practically begged me to take this
place off his hands so I did.”

A light had gone on in Lily
’
s head when Gregor had reminded her of
Cole
’
s marriage. One of their clients had been talki
ng about the grand ball he
’
d attended at
Cole
’
s plantation in honor of his new bride. She remembered the conversation quite clearly because the man had gone on and on about how beautiful
Cole
’
s wife was
,
and said he wanted a girl just like
Jolie
for the nig
ht.
Jolie
. Just like
Jolie
. A small woman with long golden hair that flowed in a halo around her head and green eyes, just like the woman in the bathtub across the room. Lily had to get rid of Gregor so she could send word to
Cole
. Something was very wrong
here.

“
Well it looks like things are in order Gregor. Why don
’
t you go relax and I
’
ll have one of my girls come up to tend you. I
’
ll see to this girl. It just so happens there
’
s a man from Boston staying in town who
’
s been asking about our
‘
special
’
serv
ices. Seems he heard we could find him a permanent whore of good breeding. Shall I send word that we have what he
’
s been looking for?”
Lily held her breath. If Gregor agreed it would explain the need for a
messenger to leave the house.

“
Aye. Send word tha
t I want to meet with him, but give no other details you stupid fool. If he wants this one he
’
s going to have to ask right out and I
’
ll need to check his background. In the meantime get her clean and doctored up. But mind me now, no one removes that gag b
u
t me.”

“
She
’
ll ne
ed food, water, and
medicine.”

“
Call me first. Is that understood?”
The menace in Gregor
’
s voice was clear. The last thing he needed was for
Jolie
to start rambling on about
Cole
. He would tell
Jolie
that he had Celia in another room
,
and
if she dared tell anyone who she was, then Celia would be sold to the most sadistic buyer Gregor could find. That ought to
keep the little bitch quiet.

The coldness of his words and the sinister look in his eyes chilled Lily to the bone as she watched G
regor and waited for further instructions. He glanced at her, saw the look of unease on her face and was satisfied that she
’
d do as she was told. Finally he rose, determine to rest and have some fun for the rest of the night. He
’
d certainly earned it. “
Se
n
d me Marie, Lily. She knows just what I like
. She
’
s still here isn
’
t she?”

Lily shivered as she thought about poor Marie
’
s fate but knew she couldn
’
t refuse Gregor
’
s request. Their only hope was for her to get word to
Cole
while Gregor was distracted. “
Ye
s, she
’
s here. I
’
ll tell her you
’
re the boss now and t
hat you want her immediately.”

“
Very good, Lily. I believe you
’
re learning. See how easy it can be? You do as you
’
re told, and we
’
ll get along fine. Remember, I want to be notified when this one wakes
up.”