A child from the past

No mercy

After they got home, the two woman tried to pick up the pieces they left behind a few days ago. Eliza's husband Sean was still convinced he was a great lover - to others unfortunately - while Eliza had her first date planned with Lord MacFilan next Friday.

The moment she had seen him walking towards their table, that day at the restaurant in Dublin, it hit her immediately! This was love at first sight! She couldn't take her eyes of him and his soft warm voice felt like a comforting, cosy blanket on a cold winters night. She hadn't felt this kind of warmth flowing through her body for years. His beautiful brown eyes had enchanted her and the moment he lay his arms around her waist, while dancing, she realized she was lost. She could only wish for him to feel the same way. When she left the restaurant at the end of the evening, Shane had taken her hand and gently kissed it, while he gazed into her eyes. Than without any words spoken, he took her face between his hands and gently kissed her lips. Thinking about it, Eliza could still feel his soft, demanding lips on hers. It had weakened her knees and her heart had bounced on places she didn't even knew was possible. And now she had to wait just a few days before she would see him again. She could already feel her heart beat between her thighs. She had to be careful though, Sean wasn't aloud to find out she meeting another man. He would kill her first.

Eliza grinned thinking about her conversation with Ashley. Talking about a new lover was one thing, but finding a man this pretty and this sweet so quickly, was something she could only have dreamed of. With her thumb she lovingly stroke the letter in her hand. It was Shane's. He had send it to Eliza, who gave it to her. It turned out to be, the feeling was mutual. The words he trusted to the paper only for Eliza to be read, were full of respect and love. She didn't know if it would turn out into an affair - time would tell - but if it would, she wouldn't feel guilty in any way.

**********

Meanwhile it hadn't been any better at Ashley's residence. The first three days, she succeeded to avoid her husband as much as possible, by going horse riding or wandering around the garden. At diner though, she had to sit at the same table as George did. Sometimes he behaved himself kindly and they even had a normal conversation once, but most of the time he tried his best to humiliate her.

Edgar - the butler - always hated it when his Lordship acted like that and he tried his best not to show Lord Ashley his displeasure. Being just a servant, he was not aloud to speak and God forbid, to have an opinion of his own. Ashley stared at her husband at the end of the table, hoping that one day he would realize what he really had. That she was worth fighting for. Sadness and emptiness filled her heart. Especially now she knew, there wasn't any escape for her, by fleeing away with someone else.

Diner had almost been finished and Ashley as well as George had not felt the need to lead a conversation with each other. The only sound audible was tapping of the cutlery on the plates. Sometimes a cough from George interrupted the silence, but no words were spoken. Caitlin sighed and decided to try and have some interest in his go about during the day. "How did business go today sweetheart?" She asked as friendly as possible and looked at him with a sweet smile on her face. She hadn't thought about it, but woman in this era weren't aloud to interfere with their husband's businesses. Slowly George looked up from his plate and gazed at her. His eyes were cold and emotionless. "What's wrong dear?" Caitlin asked while she nervously fidgeted at her napkin on her lap. "Your dresses have been arrived" he said without giving her any answer to her former question. His eyes narrowed to small stripes and he looked at her as if he was already undressing her. "You really tried your best, didn't you?" He continued and his smile didn't promise her much good.

Caitlin heard Edgar softly coughing in the corner of the room and she realized bad news was coming her way. "I presume you still remember which price you have to pay to get your dresses back, or did you forget?" George smiled, but it didn't even came close to a sincere friendly smile. "When I saw all those dresses you had bought, I thought, she must crave me so badly, because you do realize every dress has his own price, didn't you sweetheart?" He started to laugh real loud, while his eyes remained cold as ice. Shivers went down her spine, seeing him laugh without any feeling of compassion for her what so ever and she got a terrible feeling in her stomach. "Don't you worry darling" he said far to sweet when he saw fear in her eyes "I promise you, we will certainly both enjoy this."