A Lady Under Siege

31


In her chamber Sylvanne weighed the knife in her hand. “I was hoping for a tool with greater substance,” she muttered.

“This is better,” Mabel asserted. She didn’t tell her Mistress it was a gift from Gwynn. Instead she said, “If I’d stolen a larger blade, ill intent would be suspected, should it ever be discovered. One of this size is more readily explained. We can say we need it to trim wicks and toe nails and the like.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Sylvanne said. “It will draw less attention to itself, and therefore be more easily manoeuvred behind his back.” Hesitantly, and lacking confidence, she practiced a stabbing motion, bringing the blade toward herself, as if stabbing him in the back as he embraced her. She thought, Could I really do that, when the time comes? Could I harness the fury it would need?

“You’ll need to lure him close, ma’am,” Mabel counselled. “You’ll need to use all your charms to draw him to your bed. Honeyed words and gestures spin the loveliest of webs.”

“I’ll spread a deep colour over my lips. I’ll wear my golden belt low upon my hips,” Sylvanne murmured.

“Now you’re talking, ma’am,” Mabel praised her. “Make him as potter’s clay in your hands.”

AFTER DINNER THOMAS PAID his usual evening visit to Daphne’s chamber, and found Sylvanne dressed in the exotic costume of a gypsy woman, holding his daughter’s hand and guiding her through some intricate dance steps, while the servant girl Beth clapped time on a tambourine. Daphne was likewise dressed up for make-believe, in the shimmering clothes of a Moorish harem girl.

“Daddy, Sylvanne is teaching me how to dance,” she giggled excitedly. “Shall I show you?”

“I am all eyes,” Thomas replied. “Where on earth did you get these outfits?”

“Sylvanne’s been telling me tales from the Arabian nights,” Daphne replied. “I said I wished to go there, but she said why not bring Arabia to my bedroom? She gave specifications to the sewers and embroiderers, and they made all these just to please me. Aren’t they splendid?”

“They are. Almost too splendid. Too revealing, for a girl your age.”

“Oh don’t be a prude, and watch me dance,” she admonished him. Slipping tiny silver cymbals onto her fingers, she tapped out a faint beat for herself as she slid across the stone floor in beaded silk slippers like a wisp of cloud in a blue sky. Her movements, while graceful, showed her to be in that gawky phase of life when a girl is all boney limbs and large feet. Thomas, the doting father, was nonetheless entranced at the sight. But soon enough her concentration lapsed, her feet stuttered, and she lost her place in the dance. She stamped her feet in frustration, hung her head and pouted like a child.

“I never do it right,” she cried. “You show him, Sylvanne. You do it beautifully.”

“Me? No no,” Sylvanne demurred. “This dance is meant for a young girl to attract a husband, not for an old widow to perform in public.”

“It’s not public, it’s only Daddy and me,” Daphne insisted. “Besides, you’re almost family, you spend more time attending to me than anyone else, and you’re the best company. Daddy, tell her to perform. Don’t tell her, demand it!”

“I would like to see it,” Thomas said.

“Goody-good,” Daphne shouted. “Then you must. You must!”

The girl slid the cymbals from her fingers and handed them to Sylvanne, then retreated to give her space to move. Sylvanne took a deep breath, and began to tap a beat with the cymbals, softly at first, then building in strength as she gained confidence in the purity of her rhythm. She began to dance. With her hair loose and flowing, and her wrists describing small circles in the air like songbirds chasing their tails, she had never looked lovelier, Thomas thought. He glanced at Daphne, who looked thrilled and absolutely mesmerized. His eyes were drawn back to Sylvanne as the dance progressed and matured into a creation of extreme sensual enticement. Her hips swayed to the perfect beat of her fingers, and presented her body as an offering to him. He looked searchingly into her eyes, and was certain he saw desire reflected back at him.