Note: This is the first part of a two-part story with possible further parts to come. It is set in the past. It is not intended that the setting be a clearly identified era or that any detail is historically accurate.
*****
It was a chill evening in the great hall at Halden Manor. The December wind whistled through the doorways and battened windows. The roaring flames in the vast fireplace did little to relieve the creeping cold, gamely fighting a losing battle. Guttering candles threw wildly leaping shadows across the grand room, the tapestries looming suddenly as the light played across them.
William had been summoned to an audience with Lady Jane. Only a short while before, he had returned from the marshes on a scouting mission for her ladyship. He was tired, cold, hungry and in the mood to murder a flagon of ale. He waited with the patience of duty, edging closer to the fire; hands open behind his back to soak up the radiated heat. He flipped up the bottom of his doublet to feel some of that warmth on his hose covered behind, still numb from a day in the saddle. The only others present were a couple of footmen waiting near the doorway into the private apartments. They looked half-frozen.
Into this somnolent, frigid space burst a sudden flurry of colour and energy. Lady Jane swept in, resplendent in flowing skirts and close fitting bodice. William found his eyes admiring her form. The bodice emphasised her trim figure, the swell of her pretty breasts, dipping to show just so much as decorum would permit. The pearls set in the neckline drew the observer in with a delicious entwining of modesty and suggestion. The flare of the skirts revealed nothing yet spoke volumes of womanly charms, hips, derriere, and concealed treasure.
"What news, Sir William?" Her voice commanded his attention with ease.
William stepped forward and dropped to one knee. Taking her proffered hand he dropped his lips to the backs of her fingers. He wondered whether his lady's personal servants noticed that there was actual contact, contravening social etiquette. He felt the tingle of static. The tension between them was palpable. William hoped that he could read the unspoken signals correctly.
Lady Jane stepped onto the low dais and sat upon the grand chair waiting there. Her face remained inscrutable. William stood before her and delivered his report of the growing encampment out beyond Appledore. Yet, despite the threat of those disenchanted rebels so close by, William's mind kept wandering even whilst he spoke. His eyes lingered on his Lady's cheekbones, her ears, the fine line of her neck as it flowed out to her shoulder, the pale skin seemingly luminescent in the dim room. He followed the line of pearls and felt himself stir at the tantalising curves they traced. His mind taunted his hands with ideas of plucking at the laces tying the front of that bodice. A small movement caught his attention; there from beneath the hem of her skirt peeped a slim, pointed shoe and the pale skin of an ankle. Mind racing, William dragged his eyes back to Lady Jane's face. The sparkle in her eye and the faint hint of a smirk at the corners of her rouged lips told him that the unladylike revelation was no accident. She was playing him, playing him like a puppet on a string. He faltered on but his mind filled with lewd thoughts. He wondered whether or not his submission to her publicly would be mirrored in private should such time ever occur.
"Sir William, is that all?"
He blushed at being caught dreaming, hoping the poor light would hide his sudden embarrassment.
"Yes, my lady."
"Thank you for your attentiveness today." Her words were accompanied by a wry smile, leaving little doubt in William's mind that they weren't actually a reference to his arduous day in the field.
"I may need to call upon you for your advice a little later, once I have digested your report. Please stay close. I shall have you called to my chamber as necessary."
"With pleasure, my lady."
"I do hope so." And with that she was gone in a whirl of skirts.
William strode off, mind awash, to seek out the kitchens. First things first, he couldn't think straight on an empty stomach and he had a feeling that he needed to have his wits about him if he was to walk the tightrope seemingly stretched before him.
-
William sat at the heavy oak table in the kitchens at Halden Manor. He had managed to persuade Her Ladyship's cook to serve him some of that evening's leftovers and just as importantly a large tankard of ale. Even better it was warm there, wonderfully cosy compared to the great hall.
Just as William emptied his second tankard a maid came into the kitchen and approached him. Standing demurely before him she spoke in a quiet voice.
"My Lady's compliments and would you please attend her chamber at once."
"At once?" William repeated with heavy sarcasm.
The maid simply looked at her feet, face burning with embarrassment.
"Not your fault. Lead the way." The maid looked relieved that she wouldn't become stuck between two strong wills and bustled off with William striding in pursuit.
They went up a cold, stone, spiral staircase and across the gallery of the hall before finally reaching an iron studded door. The maid knocked timidly. A second maid, somewhat prettier than the first, William observed, opened the door and let them in. As he took his bearings, the two maids left and closed the door behind them leaving William standing, looking at the silhouette of Lady Jane before a tall, narrow window, silvery with moonlight. She had her back to him as she spoke.
"I need your help Sir William." It was a statement that invited no response.
As she turned in the moonlight piercing the uneven glass panes, her form was picked out. William realized, with a peak of interest, that she had divested some of her apparel. She walked in a wide circle past him. He kept his head and body still, looking straight ahead, unsure where this was leading.
"Do we have allies?" Her voice was a whisper from just behind his right ear.
"Yes My Lady. Lord Marsham of Romney and Lord Finch of Winchelsea are with you."
The rustle of silken fabric betrayed her movement, so close, her scent filling William's nostrils. Then she was directly before him and his eyes widened. Lady Jane wore only her corset and a flowing demi-slip. Whereas her décolletage was chaste before it was now demanding attention; whereas her legs and derriere were hidden by flared skirts they were now accented by the shimmer of clinging silk. If he managed to keep his features straight his response to the visual stimulation would be evident to the most cursory examination lower down.
