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This story is purely a work of fiction, using a main character inspired by David Cassidy.
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I sat quietly in the windowseat. My two cousins were giggling over some event that had transpired at a ball in the nearby small town. The curtains of the window hid me from their view, and that allowed me to eavesdrop on their conversations about the society that my uncle would never allow me to enter.
I hated my cousins with a passion. They played at being gentlewomen from the noble, landed gentry. True, their grandfather had been a lord with an estate. But my uncle and my only living male relation, was a "gentleman tenant" on the grand Catesby estate. The house was of a decent size and might pass for a small manor house in a poorer section of the country. But still, my uncle was no titled lord with an estate, he was merely a tenant, like the poorer folk in the hovels down the road.
My father was Lord Danesbury. Four years ago, he died, and sent me to live under the guardianship of his brother, who hadn't inherited the estate and only a small fortune. The sum total of my father's large fortune and the Danesbury estate were, in theory at least, mine. However, my uncle held the money and land in trust for me until I should marry. He did his best to secure the money for himself by preventing me from seeing any suitor.
Besides, he was already spending the money received in monthly payments for my use on gowns and jewels for Diana and Sara, my fat, ugly cousins. All I ever got to wear was their castoffs, worn too shabby for anyone but a servant to appreciate owning. Besides that indignity, Marcus Danesbury, my uncle, forced me to act as a lady's maid to his daughters, because he was too cheap to hire a real one.
"I hear hoofbeats on the road!" said Diana, in her irritatingly high voice. "Go see who it is, Sarah!" Sarah was dispatched, because Diana had been seated and she was too fat to haul her corpulence easily up again. Diana's gowns were so huge that I had to wrap a sash several times about myself to present any appearance of having a waist, for I was quite slender. At least, though, and I took pride in this, the upper portion of the bodices fit tightly on me.
"Why are YOU here?" Sarah snarled at me as she pushed aside the curtains, and me. "Get yourself back to the servants' quarters where you belong!"
"Who is it? Is it a visitor?" Diana demanded petulantly.
"It's David Catesby!" Sarah exclaimed. "He's just out for an afternoon ride on his black stallion, though. He isn't stopping."
Diana hauled herself out of the chair. "Let me see! He is so handsome!"
I had seen David several times, when he had visited Diana and Sarah. David was two years older than me, and interested in courting. Diana and Sarah pursued him mercilessly. He was the heir to the Catesby estate, which was presently ruled by his widowed mother. Diana had kept me busy waiting on David during his visits, but I had time enough to notice that he was certainly the handsomest young nobleman available in the area. However, as I discovered afterward, he had not shown much amorous interest in Diana, and she fancied that he was looking at me more than he watched her, and I received a beating to soothe the insult her beauty had received at his hands.
"You are still in the way!" Diana shouted at me, then turned to my uncle. "Father, Dawn has forgotten her place again!"
"I have not forgotten my place, only remembered it. Father stated on his deathbed that I was Lady Danesbury," I spat angrily at my cousin. Marcus' fat face turned purple with rage as I spoke, but it was too late to take the words back and I finished the thought. "I have more of a right to look at the Catesby heir than you do."
My uncle grabbed the thick knot of my hair, and pulled me to my feet. "I'll not have you disrespect me or my daughters. You live on my forbearance, and these two young ladies are surely what he wants to marry, not some skinny orphan whelp."
He dragged me out the door and into the flagstone stableyard that bordered on the road. Here, he flung me down on the stone pavers and began striking with his riding whip. I endured it, for it had happened so many times before that the sting of the whip bore little meaning to me.
"Now, face me. I'm going to fix your face so that young Catesby will never again insult my daughters by preferring you or even appearing to."
I clung tightly to the stones, fearing the pain of him beating my face. Marcus kicked me, and a scream ripped itself from my throat. I could feel his cruel hands seize my shoulders in preparation to turn me over against my will. In the same moment, I heard a clatter of hooves on the stones.
A new voice cut in on my uncle's venom. It was cold, cruel and imperious, but this was directed at my uncle. "What are you doing? No man beats a woman on my lands. This is the orphaned niece you took in, is it not?"
"She was disrespectful to my daughters, lord, and they must come first in my house, before my brother's brat." Marcus' usual bluster was cut down several notches.
"It is still shameful for a man to beat a lady, especially one of greater rank than he is."
I finally summoned the courage to look up and see the identity of my rescuer. A tall black stallion stood on the cobbles of the yard, and the rider stood near me. At first, all I could see was his soft leather riding boots. Then he knelt down and raised me up to a sitting position against the trough.
I raised my eyes to see who the strong, tender hands belonged to. It was the first time since my father's death that a man's touch had been gentle to me. It was David Catesby who was kneeling beside me. This was my first chance to study the young gentleman's appearance up close, and I took the opportunity to memorize every detail. If he was handsome from a distance, he was nothing short of stunning when I was close. And he was rescuing me!
I knew that I'd get another beating as soon as he left though. My uncle would surely vent his spite at being stopped on me, and he'd also be angry about how I had attracted the notice of the young Catesby heir.
I memorized every detail of his face and garments. He was dressed for a warm spring ride, in black leather trousers and a loose white silk shirt with billowy sleeves. His dark brown hair tumbled over his forehead and neck in glossy waves. David's eyes, which I had previously assumed to be a deep brown, were really a gorgeous hazel full of green and gold flecks. He also had the most beautiful eyelashes, longer than most girls', and jet black. His face was gentle and noble, with delicate features, and I hated my cousins for trying to possess him.
He was like a fine young colt, all sinewy strength and wild beauty.
"Unhand my niece, you rogue!" Marcus' harsh voice cut into my thoughts. "She is my daughters' lady's maid, and while she is a nuisance, I won't have her dishonored by you."
David stood up and I was very conscious of the fact that he was no longer gazing upon me. "If she is such a nuisance as you say, you should be glad to be rid of her. My mother sent me to make you the offer that she will complete Dawn's training in being a lady. She will gladly assume Dawn's guardianship."
"My own daughter, Diana, would gladly go with you to learn ladylike manners from Lady Catesby if she wishes to teach a girl. Diana is more fit for society than this unwanted hellcat."
David smiled lazily, revealing a dimple in his cheek. "I like the looks of your little hellcat, and you won't mind if she lives with us. Besides, she has more noble blood--it only needs training. I remit your guardianship of Dawn, and the monthly stipend from the London trust will now be delivered to the manor house to provide Dawn with all that she needs."
I gloated briefly. No more new silk gowns every month for Diana and Sarah.
"She will not be going with you. And I have the force to prevent you from taking her. You have no gun to stop me."
David's lips curled into a snarl. "Come on and try me, then. I will win her freedom and defend her honor."
Marcus charged him and I cringed. The fight would surely be over quickly--my uncle's meaty fists could make pudding of David's slender body. I could hardly bear the thought of David's wild beauty being mauled by Marcus' coarse hands. My uncle could easily ruin David's handsome face.
I looked up as they grappled. David's silky shirt had been torn open and it slipped off his shoulders. It revealed sinewy, corded muscles that flexed under his creamy skin as he inexorably forced Marcus down. Beaten, my uncle cowered on the same cobbles where he had cowed me.
I began to slip away into a faint. David scooped me up in those strong arms and held me to the tattered silk covering his warm chest that rose and fell with his breath. As he lifted me up onto his horse, I passed into sweet unconsciousness and did not wake until we entered the courtyard at Greenfield, the Catesby manor house.
tbc...