Chapter 11

Cassie, who was frantically trying to recall the events of the previous night, did not notice the deadly hush that suddenly descended on the room. Mr Reynolds had just left Ellington's side. He had walked towards the expectant audience and had put up his right hand to silence them. Once everyone was quiet, he said, in a loud, clear voice, looking over to Emerald, 'is everyone here?' She nodded and smiled in return. Then he said, 'we shall begin.'

Mr Reynolds took a deep breath and addressed the gathered assembly. He said, with the same loud, clear voice, 'you are probably wondering why we have called a meeting so early in the morning. Unfortunately, after the events of last night, we feel that we have been left with little choice.' He stopped and looked over at Ellington, who nodded for him to continue. He took a deep breath and then took another step forward towards his audience. 'Major Ellington and I, expect loyalty from every single one of you, no matter who you are. We expect our orders, whatever they may be, to be carried out to the letter. In return for your cooperation, we make sure that you are looked after, and you have everything you could possibly need. Without our invaluable help, many of you would be on the streets, plying your trade for a pittance in the doorways of London. We give you food and shelter, and, more importantly, our protection.'

As he spoke, he strolled over to a chair and leant against it. He stopped and looked at his audience to gauge the effect his words were having on them. Happy that everyone was looking at him expectantly, he continued. 'We do not ask for much,' he said seriously, 'just loyalty.'

After another long pause, he left the chair and walked back towards his audience. 'Last night,' he eventually said, 'someone in this room lied to us and tried to mislead us.'

There was a gasp from the room, and the gentle murmur of conversation could again be heard. Mr Reynolds put up his hand, once more, to silence them. Once the murmur had died down, he continued. 'Major Ellington asked this person to do one simple thing, but they ignored their duty.' He looked out at the sea of faces that were looking at him, and said, 'not only did they disobey his direct orders, they also smuggled into the club unsanctioned visitors.'

There was another gasp, and the buzz of conversation began to crescendo throughout the salon. Cassie, who was now visibly shaking, heard one of the girls, who was sitting directly in front of her whisper, 'who could it be?' Her companion replied earnestly, 'I don't know! But, I wouldn't want to be in her shoes. Have you seen the Major? I don't think I've ever seen him look so angry.'

The sick feeling, in the pit of Cassie's stomach, intensified, as she slowly began to realise that he was talking about her. She was beginning to remember more from the previous evening. Not only had Verity been here, in this very room, but her sister had witnessed first-hand her own shameful behaviour.

She looked around the room for the nearest exit and was about to leave when Emerald grabbed her roughly by the arm. 'No, you don't,' she whispered fiercely, 'you are to stay here and take your punishment.'

Cassie looked up and saw that Major Ellington, his expression dark and foreboding, was walking purposefully towards her. The cheroot that she had been holding fell to the floor, as she stood frozen to the spot, every muscle in her body paralysed by fear. Once he reached her, he seised her arms and began to drag her roughly towards the front of the room. 'This is the bitch that openly defied me,' he said through gritted teeth.

Once they had reached the front of the room, he threw her down onto the floor. 'Get up,' he snarled.

Cassie tried to lift herself up, but she did not have any strength left in her body. 'I cannot,' she said weakly, 'please.'

'I'll help you then,' he said, as he grabbed hold of her hair and pulled her up from the floor.

Cassie cried out, but the pain did not stop, it only intensified as he pulled her hair harder. 'Let go, please, let go. I will stand,' she cried out.

He let go of her hair and stood her in front of everyone. In the commotion, the wrapper that she had been wearing, had fallen to the floor, leaving her standing naked in front of everyone. She felt a deep sense of shame and put her head down so that her hair covered the upper part of her body.

'Rosa,' Major Ellington said in a voice that did not hide his anger, 'disobeyed my orders. She sent someone else to take her place, and, when she should have been doing her job, she was entertaining guests that had not been authorised by me. And it was because of these guests that we had a visit from the military last night.'

He then pulled back her hair and whispered in her ear, so that no one could hear what he said, 'you knew I wanted your sister to stay and join us. Yet, even after everything I have done just for you, you still dared to disobey my direct orders.'

'Verity could not have stayed here,' she said, her head still down, 'this is not the place for someone like her.'

He pulled her hair back once more. 'Be quiet,' he snarled, 'last night, you chose your sister over me, and now you are going to have to live with your decision and take your punishment.'

He let go of her hair and walked over to the table. Cassie glanced at the tabletop, and a cold fear crept through her, as she now saw clearly what he had been touching. 'Tie her up to that pillar,' he said to Reynolds, pointing at a large column near the centre of the room, 'and make sure the knot is secure.'

Reynolds quickly obeyed. He seised Cassie's arm and dragged her towards it. 'No, please,' she said to him as he pulled her roughly across the room, 'please, I beg you, do not do this.'

Once she had been tied to the pillar, Ellington came over to her and whispered fiercely in her ear, 'it is too late, my dear, too late. You should have thought of that before you blatantly disregarded my wishes and had a private audience with your sister without telling me.'

'Emerald,' she said weakly, 'she told you.'

'Of course, my dear,' he said still whispering, so that only she could hear him, 'she tells me all your sordid little secrets. How much you drink and smoke, and whether or not you are doing your job as a whore properly. She tells me everything?'

'But, how could I betray my sister,' she said, turning around and daring to look at his face, 'I could not. I never thought Emerald would betray me.'

'My dear,' he said through gritted teeth, 'Emerald's loyalty to me is unquestionable.'

He then walked back over to the table and, once more, fingered the object that was still resting on its surface. Ellington called Reynolds over to help him remove his smart blue tailcoat. Once it had been removed, he then loosened his cravat and rolled up his shirt sleeves. He took a deep breath and stretched out his arms, before carefully picking up the object. As he held it in one hand, he gently tapped the palm of his other hand with it. Cassie, lifted-up her head high enough to see the object's highly decorative thin rose-wood shaft, that culminated with a long thin leather strip. She recognised the object immediately; it was his riding whip.

'Please,' she begged him, 'you do not have to do this. I have learnt my lesson. I will...'

He stopped her short, by thrashing the whip onto the floor, just in front of her. 'Stop talking, you ungrateful little bitch,' he spat out, through clenched teeth. He pointed at her with the whip and said, 'there is nothing you can say that will make me change my mind.' He then turned to Reynolds and ordered, 'get her hair out of the way.'

Reynolds came over and checked that the ropes were secure and pulled her hair roughly across her shoulders. The ropes dug painfully into Cassie's wrists, and no amount of struggling was going to break her free. All she could do was shut her eyes and wait for the inevitable.

After what felt like an eternity, she heard the leather strip swish through the air, before it cracked down on her back. 'Ah!' she cried out, as pain, unlike any she had experienced before, shot through her body.

There was a brief silence and then she heard the swish of the leather whip again. 'Ah!' she cried out again even louder, as she experienced a pain even more intense than the first. Each time he hit her, the pain intensified until she began to see dark spots dance before her eyes.

After he had whipped her five times, sensing that she was about to pass out, he stopped. 'That will be enough, I don't want you to faint just yet. I want you to be conscious for a little longer.'

Cassie, weak with the pain, slowly lifted up her head to look at him, and said, 'why are you doing this to me? I have done everything you have ever asked me to do.'

'But, last night, you failed the ultimate test,' he whispered harshly, and you chose not to betray your sister when you had the perfect opportunity to do so. You let her slip through my fingers and for that, I will never forgive you.'

'I could never betray her,' she said, putting her head down again, 'I love her too much to see her here.'

'And that is the problem,' he said, through gritted teeth, 'if you truly loved me, like you have claimed to me these many times, you would have not thought twice about telling me she was here.'

'I do love you,' she said weakly.

'No! you do not,' he said brutally. 'If you truly loved me,' he said, holding her chin with his hand and squeezing it hard, 'then you would have convinced your sister to stay.'

'I could not betray her,' Cassie said, trying to sound defiant, 'I love her too much.'

'You are an ungrateful little whore,' he said gripping her chin harder, 'after everything I have done for you, I expect you to do as you're told.'

Cassie said nothing in return, she just continued to look at him, trying not to recoil from the pain. As she looked, into his cold eyes, she saw nothing but bitter anger. She certainly did not see the man she thought she had loved with every fibre of her being. Instead, tied up and humiliated in front of everyone she knew, she realised that he had taken her love and used it against her. She was ashamed to think that it had not taken much persuasion, on his part, to convince her to debase herself and perform abhorrent acts, all in the name of love.

But, when was love ever meant to be one-sided? What gave anyone the right to inflict their will on another? And then, suddenly, as she continued to stare into those cold dark eyes, she saw him as he really was.

'I'm glad she got away,' she said, as she looked at him defiantly. 'And, you were right,' she said, banishing the weakness from her voice, 'I do not love you. What I foolishly thought was love, transformed me into the shameful wreck of a woman I am today. In fact,' she said, still looking into those cold eyes, that were almost black with rage, 'I do not think I ever did love you. I just felt some girlish attraction to you, that has since faded into nothing. What I thought was love, kept me tethered by your side, obeying your every sordid little whim. I never refused, even when what you asked me to do was so deplorably contemptible, it sickened me. But, betraying my sister, is the most repugnant and distasteful undertaking you have ever expected from me. You may still own my body,' she then added triumphantly, 'but you have never owned my soul.'

'I'm going to break that body of yours, and I'll break your soul in the process,' he growled through gritted teeth. 'You'll soon be begging me for help, and I will help you. I will help you turn yourself into the dirty little slut you really are. A slut that will do any sleazy trick for a drop of gin and a few coins.'

Cassie, whose hands were still tied around the pillar, spat in his face. 'I hate you,' she said, loud enough for everyone to hear, 'and I hope you rot in hell.'

As he wiped his face with his handkerchief, he looked at her, cold fury in his eyes, 'you will live to regret this.'

He then turned around and walked over to Reynolds. 'Cut her down and put her in the basement,' he said to him, 'make sure that she is securely bound and give her nothing but water. Before the day is out, I want her to grovel and beg me for forgiveness.'