Dr Casswell's Plaything (26 page)

A while later we walked back to the courtyard where the horses were saddled and ready. Without another word we mounted up and headed towards the castle. I cannot tell you how anxious I was nor how close to tears, but as the miles passed I began to feel easier; at least whatever the outcome, by the time the sun set I would know my fate and that of my master.

As we rode through the fields it was impossible not to feel the air of neglect and sadness in the landscape. All along the roadside the fields and cottage gardens were untended, the crops not harvested, and we saw many cottages where no smoke rose from the chimney.

I sensed the unease of Usher’s men. We could be leading them into a plague, and yet I knew Usher would not turn back, and neither would I.

And then at last we saw the outline of the castle against the skyline, and my heart rose into my mouth. It was all I could do not to kick my mount on and gallop up to the gates. Usher looked across at me.

‘Stay here,’ he said. ‘My man and I will see if we may enter, find out what news we can.’ And so he rode on with just his man at his side and I waited with the rest of Usher’s entourage, who looked anxiously over their shoulders as if there was some chance that they might spot the fever creeping up on them.

We waited and waited just beyond the walls, and then I saw at last the gates open and Usher’s manservant riding towards us. ‘We are bidden to go inside,’ he said.

I searched his face to see what else he might know. He looked me boldly in the eye.

‘What other news is there of the castle?’ I asked.

He shook his head. ‘None, my lady, only that I am to take you to Lord Usher.’

Take me to Lord Usher? So that he may comfort me, console me?

I mounted up and rode with him to the castle.

The great courtyards look unkempt; where there should be wedding banners and bows there was nothing but a sense of death and illness. I looked from face to face, trying to find one I recognised; some I knew were Cassandra’s servants, but what unnerved me more was that each and every one wore a black band on their arm. Who was it that had passed on? My eyes filled with tears again.

Looking up to the main steps I saw Lord Usher staring down at me, and beside him a face that made my heart stand still in my chest.

He was alive!

My master stood alongside him, eyes heavy, his whole demeanour pale and weak. I dismounted and ran up the steps, not caring whether the Lady Cassandra saw me or not, my relief was such that I would have lost my life for that instant. He opened his arms to me and I rushed into them without an instant’s hesitation. The smell of him, the touch of him, the feeling of his arms around me; I had truly come home. He held me at arm’s length and looked deep into my eyes.

‘Oh sweet Beatrice,’ he murmured, pulling me close, his lips pressed into my hair. ‘I never thought I would ever see you again. The Lady Cassandra is dead,’ he said in little more than a whisper, and without any emotion. ‘She was amongst the first to succumb to the fever, but I was too ill to seek you out. I thought you were lost forever.’

I shook my head. It did not matter. I was home now.

‘But I will see to it that you will never leave me again,’ he vowed, and taking my hand, led me inside.

I thought I knew what devil drove him, but I was wrong. To my amazement Father Orme was standing in the main hall. ‘Marry us,’ my master said.

Orme looked from face to face.

‘You heard me,’ my master said. ‘My cousin Usher and his men have come to celebrate a wedding, and by God there will be a wedding for them to dance at.’

After a few awkward moments Orme lifted his hands and smiled. ‘Indeed,’ he said ingratiatingly.

And so it was done. I was married in the gown Usher had given me, my master dressed as I had seen him at the top of the steps.

And afterwards, while Usher danced, my lord took me to his chamber.

‘Take off your clothes, wench,’ he said, settling down upon a couch. I did as I was bidden, revealing the fine lines of the black silk corset beneath that nipped my waist and lifted my breasts like a feast for his hands and eyes.

My master beckoned me closer, and I dropped to the floor and crawled to him. He ran his hands over my face and throat and shoulders. ‘Bring me my riding crop,’ he ordered.

I looked up into his eyes as I handed him the ornate leather handle.

‘Now, on your hands and knees, I will teach you never to leave me again,’ he said, drew back the whip, and brought it down across my warm and eager flesh so hard that I screamed in a wild and hungry mixture of delight and pain. He brought the whip back again and once more it explode across my full buttocks. Again and again, and with each new blow I cried out, writhing and gasping from the hurting.

Finally, when my punishment was done, he dropped to his knees behind me and with no prelude drove his cock deep inside me, hands on my hips to pull me back onto him. As he began to move I slid my fingers down between my thighs to rub the little bud that glowed deep within. One hand of his joined with mine and the brush of his fingertips was enough to take me to the place of no return. Driving his hips hard, he pressed his fingers and cock home. I cried out, this time in pure pleasure.

‘Welcome home, sweet wife,’ my master murmured, as he drove me out to the very shores of madness…

Sarah lay the last few pages down on her lap and looked at Casswell, who smiled. ‘Time for us to go home, too,’ he said.