Lessons of Love (41 page)

“
That
’
s right,
Jolie
. He doesn
’
t want you anymore so you better be a good girl. I can find a nice buyer for you, or one whom I know will beat you every day of your life and the same goes for your colored bitch, so just keep yo
ur mouth shut and d
o as you
’
re told, understand?”

Jolie
nodded mutely through a veil of tears and brought her hands up to her ears to try and block out Gregor
’
s evil laughter as he left the room. Her world was crashing down around her and her reason for l
iving was gone. What had she done? Why had she been so cold to
Cole
? Now poor Celia would suffer the same fate as her, and it was all
Jolie
’
s fault. The doctor came in and
Jolie
turned her face away to hide her tears, pressing her lips together in a grim l
ine when he fussed over her kindly and asked what was wrong. She had nothing to say to anyone, nothing mattered anymore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Cole
had spent the last day and a half since his collapse working in his office, digging through old files an
d writing letters to any and all of their old contacts inquiring about
Jolie
. Sitting home, basically doing nothing but writing and waiting, was driving him insane but he knew he was the only one who could go through his records thoroughly enough, and he c
ertainly was the only one who could write the inquiry letters. Anything else would be considered too suspicious by the men they
’
d dealt with in the past. Still, the waiting was enough to
make him jump out of his skin.

At the moment he was pacing in his st
udy like a caged panther, muscles bunched, ready to spring at the slightest noise or inclination, walking back and forth, within the confines of these suffocating walls where he was destined to stay. He wanted to be out there physically looking for
Jolie
,
but he also knew this was the place for him. Jonathan was perfectly capable of organizing the searchers, relaying
any information as it ar
rived.

Cole
reached the far corner of the room and turned yet again, running a hand back through his hair and growlin
g deep in his throat. He had to do something, anything to find his wife. Just as he was about to call for his horse to be saddled, he heard a rider approaching the house at breakneck speed. A flicker of hope burst forth from inside him and his heart leapt
into his throat as he rushed out of the house. A small rider was racing across the lawn, recklessly jumping hedges and fences. Surely this must be the break he
’
d been waiting for.
Cole
raced across the lawn to meet the boy who pulled up sharply at his appr
oach. “
Are you Master
Cole
? I have a message for Master
Cole
.”

“
Yes. Yes that
’
s me. What do you have? Do you have news of my wife? What is it boy?”
The boy pulled the folded paper from his pocket and handed it to
Cole
.
Cole
snatched it from his fingers an
d practically tore it in his haste to unfold the creased paper. His eyes flew open wide and his heart skipped a beat a
t the words on the missive.

“
Jonathan! Jonathan come quick. I know where
Jolie
is. We have to hurry.”
Cole
’
s world turned into a blur
of motion as he prepared to leave for Natchez. His head was spinning and his heart was filled with both joy and fear. Yes, he now knew where
Jolie
was, but what condition was she in and how soon would she be sold? Sometimes the girls went through Lily
’
s in
as little as a day, sometimes it took as long as a week or two. He barely heard the words of those around him as he mounted up and raced down the lane towards the hell where hi
s wife was being held captive.

Jonathan watched him go, then mounted up and si
gnaled to the group of men who sat ready to follow his lead. They would follow
Cole
to Natchez and do anything necessary to ensure
Jolie
was brought home safely. Jonathan also planned to be the one to kill Gregor personally. The man had betrayed them all a
nd committed an unforgivable crime. The fact that
Jolie
had been abducted on his watch still ate away at Jonathan
’
s gut, and he hoped putting a bullet through Gregor
’
s vile heart would ease his conscience. He also wanted to be the one to be found guilty if
someone had to pay for the crime of Gregor
’
s death. Only then would the horror of
Jolie
’
s fat
e be eased from his shoulder
s.

He urged his horse into a faster gait, wanting to stay close to
Cole
. He and the men would give
Cole
the solitude he needed in his
pain, but be close enough if any trouble should come on the way to Natchez. Jonathan knew he would never let his friend down again.
~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Doc Martin had left after applying an herbal poultice to
Jolie
’
s wound and prescribing the proper medicine an
d care. The complete void of emotional response in his patient hadn
’
t escaped him, and the doctor wondered just what it was that Gregor had said to the girl to make her so utterly lost.
Jolie
was like a puppet. He moved her arms and spooned Morphine betwee
n her lips all without the tiniest bit of response from her. It was quite clear that
Jolie
had no will to live, and the doctor knew it decreased her chances of fighting off the infection in her arm. He
’
d finally left with one last worried glance, and a pro
mis
e of returning in the morning.

Now Lily was sitting on the bed, a bowl of broth in hand, trying to persuade
Jolie
to eat something and having no luck at all.
Jolie
simply turned her head from side to side to avoid the spoon, and refused to open her mou
th. Why should she eat? Her reason for living was gone. It was better to die here than to be sold as a
plaything to some rich buyer.

“
Come on honey, I know you
’
re upset but you need to eat something.”
Lily was dying to tell
Jolie
that she knew who she was
and that help was on its way but the guard Gregor had assigned was hovering and it wasn
’
t safe. “
Just a few spoonfuls
,
then you can sleep. I know the medicine Doc gave you will put you out soon, and you need something in your belly first.”
Lily again moved
the spoon towards
Jolie
’
s mouth but she turned her head. In response Lily made an exaggerated show of spilling the soup all over
Jolie
’
s chin. She muttered at herself and picked up the linen cloth, leaning in to wipe
Jolie
’
s mouth, being sure to keep her
finger
’
s over
Jolie
’
s lips.

“
I know who you are, and I
’
ve sent word to
Cole
.”
Lily
’
s words were barely whispered but
Jolie
heard them none the less. Her eyes flew open wide at the revelation and Lily pressed more firmly on
Jolie
’
s mouth in a show of wipin
g up the spilled soup. For a second, one glorious heartbeat,
Jolie
was filled with elation, before she plunged back into despair. It didn
’
t matter that this woman knew who she was. In fact, Lily had done something that was very dangerous, and
Jolie
was sur
e the other woman would be punished for her actions.
Cole
knew where she was and didn
’
t care, and now Lily would be in t
rouble for trying to help her.

Jolie
wanted to warn Lily but knew it was impossible with the guard in the room so she simply shook her
head, bringing her arm up and pushing Lily
’
s hand away from her mouth. Lily thought
Jolie
would try to speak at the good news but
Jolie
simply turned away and closed her eyes. She couldn
’
t help Lily by telling her the truth, and she certainly didn
’
t want t
o eat. All she wanted was to go to sleep and never wake up again. A sob hitched in her chest and
Jolie
bit her lip, fighting back her tears as she fought to escape into the so
ft hazy dream of the
Morphine.

Time past and
Jolie
drifted in and out of her dru
gged sleep. She kept her mouth closed to any food but readily accepted the Morphine that allowed her to slip away from reality. Gregor came and went, sometimes slapping her awake, sometimes touching her with his filthy hands until she wanted to scream, bu
t
through it all
Jolie
remained mute and passive. There was no life left in her, she was a mere shell of
the vibrant woman she
’
d been.

The buyer from Boston came to inspect her late in the evening of her second night there. Lily had no choice but to send w
ord to the man after she
’
d summoned
Cole
. Gregor would have become too suspicious if the buyer never turned up. Before his arrival Gregor had come to
Jolie
’
s room and instructed the servants to dress her in a white silk and lace nightgown that was low cut
and exposed the swell of her breasts. He had her hair brushed and curled, powder applied under her eyes to hide the dark circles and rouge put on her cheeks to hide the pallor caused by her illness and indifference for life. As before,
Jolie
sat like a pup
pet, never moving, simply existing, a doll being played with
and dressed for show.

The man, a Mister Holden had entered with Gregor with much fan fair and good natured joking. He
’
d spoken about her like she couldn
’
t hear them, and she acted in turn like s
he was deaf.
Jolie
refused to respond to him and his wandering hands, she even managed to remain mute when Gregor pulled her from the bed and striped the nightgown off her body so she coul
d be inspected like an animal.

Mister Holden had touched and prodde
d her. Caressed and pinched, assessed her attributes, and actually tried to stimulate a feeling of desire inside her by stroking her between the legs. The only thing
Jolie
felt was revulsion, and it was all she could do to swallow the bile that rose in her
throat. In the end Mister Holden had left saying he wasn
’
t interested in bu
ying an ice queen for his bed.

Gregor had returned to her room in a fury moments later, disgusted by her lack of response, and had beaten her severely with a belt across her back
and bottom until she lay curled in a ball on the floor mewling helplessly. The only thing that had saved her from his rage had been the arrival of Doc Martin who had put a stop to the beating by threatening to expose Grego
r
’
s true activi
ties at Lily
’
s.

Th
e doctor had gently picked her up and placed her back in bed, spooning more of the blessed Morphine between her lips before turning her over onto her belly and instructing the servant to carefully apply a soothing salve to the worst of the welts.
Jolie
sim
ply allowed herself to slip back into the comforting cotton haze that was induced by the powerful drug. Life had no time, no purpose, no meaning anymore. She didn
’
t know how long she
’
d been at Lily
’
s and didn
’
t care. A day? A week? It didn
’
t matter.
Cole
h
adn
’
t come and he never would. All
Jolie
wanted was blackness and death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~