All was not well, though. A valuable client complained of Anne as "stale" and Mr. Schuyler wondered if it was time to replace her. He mentioned this to his neighbor Sir Nigel, who proposed a trial. They made a plan and told Francesca to carry it out. She returned from the conference that evening bearing news: Anne would be put to a test the next day, after which he would decide whether or not to "extend her residency".
Anne sensed that despite her upbeat manner Francesca was not sure of success. She didn't know what the examination would consist of - Francesca would not say - but she understood that failure would be fatal. The signs of Francesca's unease were invisible to an outsider, but Anne saw she was worried and anxious. Each of them spent the evening trying to cheer the other up with an unconvincing show of confidence. Francesca stayed longer with Anne that evening; Anne wondered if this might be their last time together and treasured Francesca's goodnight kiss more than ever.
She did not sleep much that night. She remembered Paul saying on the evening she gave herself to him that her owner would care for her "as long as she was worth maintaining". That had to end sometime.
The next morning Francesca arrived early at Anne's cell accompanied by Mr. Schuyler. Both of them wore solemn expressions. Francesca told Anne she had to prove her usefulness and justify her continuation here. She knelt and listened with lowered head, her collar still attached to the ceiling tether. Her breakfast was lighter than usual, and in any case she could not eat more than a bite of it. The spare furnishings of her cell which she never paid much attention to before seemed inexpressibly dear to her.
After about an hour Francesca returned with a male servant who served as a security guard on the estate when a girl might give trouble. He stood in the doorway while she removed Anne's tether and leashed her, and followed them as she marched Anne to the frame on the lawn.
Anne saw it all with unnatural clarity. How Mr. Schuyler, Frieda, Paul, Carol, and a tall, athletic gentleman sat facing them and looked up at their arrival. How the stranger toyed with a garrote in his left hand.
Frieda rose and took Anne's leash, grasping the end at her collar to hold her firmly in place. Francesca methodically spread Anne's arms and legs into an X facing her audience and pulled the ropes so taut that Anne was suspended a short distance off the ground. The man with the garrote held it out as if measuring it. The guard fondled her breasts and she smiled at him before he turned and walked away.
Francesca picked up a large steel-shanked crop that Anne had never seen before and looked over at the stranger. He nodded; grim-faced, she turned toward Anne and struck.
The ferocity of her attack was like nothing Anne had ever experienced. For a moment she thought Mr. Schuyler had chosen this way to execute her. Then she went out of her mind and her screams rent the air.
The session lasted about twenty minutes. Sir Nigel gestured to Mr. Schuyler, who told Francesca she could stop. Anne continued to scream, though weakly. Francesca stepped forward and slapped her twice and she was quiet.
The reactions of the audience varied. The sight of the broken figure before him appealed to Sir Nigel and he was eager to try it out. Mr. Schuyler was impressed with Francesca's power and economy of motion. Carol watched the exercise with eagerness, her teeth bared, savoring Anne's degradation and eyeing the garrote hopefully. She wondered if Anne would struggle much when he applied it. Paul noted that Anne's stripes would enhance her value to a certain class of buyer and wondered if Mr. Schuyler could be persuaded to sell her back, maybe at a discount as damaged goods, hmm. Frieda gave no hint of her feelings.
Paul helped Francesca lower Anne from the frame while Frieda wiped down the crop and put it away. Francesca led Anne to a large round boulder nearby. Casually, unheard by the others, she whispered in Anne's ear "Do your best; this is it." She draped Anne over the rock whose rough surface scraped her wounded belly, and held the end of the leash as Sir Nigel mounted her from behind.
Anne had just enough presence of mind now that the beating had stopped to take the hint and understand the importance of making a good show. She opened herself to him and responded as well as her flickering consciousness allowed while he rode her, moaning seductively each time he drove deeper.
Eventually Sir Nigel emptied himself into her and withdrew. She wiggled her behind a little for him and heard him laugh before he turned away with Mr. Schuyler and Paul to confer in the library.
Some time later - she could not guess how long - footsteps approached them on the gravel path. Anne lay quietly on the rock, expecting to feel the garrote on her neck at any moment.
She heard Mr. Schuyler speak. Francesca grasped her collar and pulled her back on her feet.
Three times on the path to her cell Anne stumbled, and each time Francesca put her strong arms beneath Anne's to support her. Once inside, she hung Anne by her wrists from the ceiling; she could not possibly lie on the floor in her condition. Grave but joyful, Francesca bathed her wounds with sweet oil, waiting for her to come around.
"You passed," she said. "I'm very proud of you." Anne smiled but no words came. The image of a hog carcass passed through her mind again and she pictured herself hung up by her heels.
"You'll have to stay like this till you're better. I'll come by as often as I can." Anne drank slowly from the bottle of mineral water that Francesca held between her lips; she would not be given solid food for the next few days. Francesca went over and sat in the window alcove, reading a book and looking at her charge from time to time, providing water and shooing away the flies and insects attracted to her. Anne shivered with pleasure whenever Francesca touched her.
The morning became the afternoon and the afternoon lengthened to evening. Frieda brought a request from Mr. Schuyler to have dinner with him. Francesca assisted Anne to the latrine, hung her up again, and left. The flies returned and she learned to accept them.
