They did it every night.
Danetta let him tie her up in the same position, blindfold her, and do whatever he pleased, which would always please her.
She was starting to wonder if she'd become pregnant soon.
That thought, and quite a few more, were chiseling at her psyche as she rode with her husband in a carriage one evening. They were on their way to Lillitu's dinner party.
While there were daily visits with lessons from Lillitu on the days leading up to the party, they'd also sometimes see public pleasure gardens, which often had hedge mazes, small and informal concerts, zoos, acrobatic performers, and even athletic competitions. Danetta had heard that one recently constructed pleasure garden had amusement rides, peculiar machines that moved people about for the simple joy of it.
The couple also visited more formal theaters. There were many plays, grand concerts, ballets, and other fun things to sit back and watch. They also took regular walks together, usually in shopping districts. Restaurant and coffee shops were also on the list of favorite places to visit.
Danetta was slightly nervous every time she went out to the public, even though she felt proud to have Erdgar as a husband, even if he did smell funny sometimes and acted a little bit too placid. While people in general were polite, nobody had any hint of warmth in them.
When Erdgar's appearance was noticed, and it often was, there would always be staring, which her husband ignored. The lower class people were more timid when they were seen reacting negatively to Erdgar's mask. They knew their reputations could be impaired for disrespecting an aristocrat. The upper classes were less afraid to be caught giggling or gossiping about him, but they never said anything obviously cruel to the couple's faces, except for something nasty carefully hidden in a statement that seemed polite on the surface.
Danetta thought that if she became pregnant, perhaps they'd be considered a bit more normal. As her heavily ringed fingers pressed together in her lap, the jewelry lightly tinkling against themselves as the carriage jostled on the street, she imagined herself heavily pregnant.
Once the little creature in her belly would become something Danetta would call a child, her waist wouldn't be as pinched in as it normally was. It would be large and rounded. She'd have to wear a special set of stays that didn't constrict her body as much and had more laces for a growing waistline. She'd also have to keep herself in her home during the later months, because she was a high class woman. Pregnancy was considered to be a mostly private topic, anyway.
She could speak about it with her husband, though, without fear.
"Erdgar, I imagine you'd want children soon."
She heard him say, "It would be best to have someone to inherit my title and estate."
"I'd be honored to bear your children, Dear Master." Danetta nodded and looked up at his covered, shadowy head.
"Ah, Dear Mistress," Erdgar said with a mild laugh, "a child of mine would be a child of yours. It would be our child. You would bear our children."
Danetta smiled at him. "I hope our children will know their father's face."
His tan colored leather gloves constricted around the handle of his cane. It was a different cane than the one he normally carried around. It had a wider handle, which was covered in beautiful dark blue lacquer with white and red flower designs. Each flower's outline was drawn in silver.
"Ah ... Sweet Danetta, that's also my hope, but you must remember that you've married a coward."
"So you say, Erdgar." She admired his body for a moment, remembering how he had oh so delicately kissed her lips the night before. His tongue had lightly grazed her lips, as if he'd wanted to plunge the organ into her mouth. However, he never did so. He might have been afraid to press his mouth too closely to her. Perhaps he had some scars near his mouth he didn't want her to feel.
His coat and breeches were of a matching fabric. They were a very pale blue with embroidery in gold and coral colors. His waistcoat was the most coral thing on him, a pale orange color base with white buttons. Even his mask of wrapped fabric was brighter. He had chosen fabric of a white color, wrapped several times about his head, with the typical little holes at the eyes and nose. He must have his own method for crafting each piece of fabric, so that once it was properly fitted on his head, the holes were in their correct places.
Danetta loved to see him in a merry outfit, a pretty outfit for both spring and summer. She had never been to the sea, but his color scheme reminded her of a faint concept of a seashore. "Erdgar, despite your condition, you're a stunning picture."
"I can't possibly be so lovely to you, especially under the obscurity of night." He tapped the carriage's floor with his expensive cane. This seemed to be a habit of his. "Certainly, all these lavish colors are ruined by the lack of sunlight."
"Oil lamps and candlelight are quite ample for my purposes, Erdgar."
"That's sensible, I suppose." He tapped the carriage floor again. Then he drummed his fingertips on his cane's handle and cleared his throat. "You seem beautiful to me, no matter what light you're under. Perhaps I should reconsider my logic."
Her ears, cheeks, nose, throat, and bosom all turned pink at his statement, but she was very happy and proud.
Danetta clapped her hands together when the carriage stopped at Lillitu's townhouse. She gripped her closed, pink hand fan with excited fingers as she watched her husband exit the carriage. The fan's attached cord was looped about her wrist, keeping it from falling, which was wise, because as she was helped out of the carriage she had to keep her skirts in check. Then she took her husband's arm with proud fingers. Her shoulders were straight. Her head was high.
A butler let them into the house and led them to a drawing room full of guests. Danetta didn't know the anyone's names, but she knew the ones with crests on their clothing were nobles. Danetta had her own crest, a silver pin with white pearls bordering the edges, on the center of her neckline. She forced a smile as she noticed the speculative, judgmental looks of the other guests, and then she went with Erdgar to a corner of the room.
Nobody tried to speak to them. Danetta leaned in closer to her husband. When she felt the weight of his hand on top of her coiffure of braids, she sighed.
Not even five minutes passed, and three more people emerged. Danetta gasped. Erdgar's fingers stiffened on her shoulder.
Duke Kristof Bransted and his sister, Lady Bethaline Bransted were together, dressed impeccably and looking a little bit unimpressed at their surroundings. The third person arrived a moment after them. It was Batren Saivio, Danetta's father. He had on a remarkably nice coat. Danetta assumed it was new because she had never seen it before. It was a shiny red color with pretty buttons.
Why ... in the world ... did Lillitu invite these people? Her father, Danetta could somewhat understand. The Bransteds, though? Why the Bransteds? Why did they even come? Danetta didn't even think that Lillitu cared for them. She knew what the Lady Bransted had done to her dear friend!
Danetta made a little mournful noise, but she calmed down when Erdgar bent down to whisper in her ear, "Don't speak to them unless they speak to you. The same for your father."
As if he knew he was being spoken about, Danetta's father tried to approach them, but he was interrupted when Lillitu, the cheerful little hostess, pranced into the drawing room and announced that it was time for dinner. Still clinging to her husband for emotional and physical support, Danetta walked with him and the other guests to the formal dining room. Hired musicians were playing stringed instruments for the guests' pleasure.
She ended up sitting between Erdgar and her father. Lillitu was gracious enough to see to it that Erdgar didn't receive any plates or beverages. What bothered Danetta was that Lady Bransted was sitting across from her husband, and Duke Bransted was sitting across from her. The Duke Bransted gave her casually licentious looks every once in a while, but he didn't speak to her. He spoke with his sister and the other person beside him. His sister spoke to him, obviously, and to the other person next to her.
