Act Two
Interlude
The
knock on the door of the chamber was permitted to proceed. The slender female
figure in the stiff high neck gown stepped in and walked to the bed. Her face
was covered by the half mask that reveal only her lips. Her hair was cut with
the bob-cut above the ears.
“I
am here …. My love.” The lady said.
“Elementary,
you are. I desire you to be here.” The other figure, a male by gender in the
chamber stood by the window looking to the street below. “Your arrival was seen
by me.”
The
man there was dressed in a bathrobe and smoked the pipe unlit then. He was
masked the same as the lady but his hair design was swept back revealing the
forehead. He kept his lookout at the window, looking earnestly at the corners
for any moving shadows.
“I
can see no one has followed you.” The man took an imitation of the puff with
the pipe. “It’s desired that our liaison be kept discreet.”
“Yes,
my love. I had told the driver to make two rounds of the black before I was to
disembark.”
“One
cannot be too careless, Ophelia. Society frowned at us but naught they know of
our needs.” The man replaced the pipe on
the table nearby. “Haste not by choice but an act of the needs.”
“I
am aware, my love.” The lady proceeded to unbutton the front of her dress but
the man was impatient. He stepped toward her and pulled the dress apart with
the buttons springing free.
“Dear
Sir!” The lady was to protest but the man was without any care. He latched his
lips on her exposed flesh, taking huge bites on the nipples.
“Sir…”
The lady tried to push him off but he was stronger.
“Protest
no more, Ophelia. The torn shall be compensated as our needs of ours shall be
consumed.” The man’s hands were at the hem of the dress dragging it up and
tearing the last resistance to his lust. He was in and then was quick when he
released his pent-up feelings.
“Begone
now. You will be paid handsomely for your damages.” The man pulled back his
bathrobe while the lady adjusted her clothing.
“Thank
you, Sir. Shall there be a next time?” The lady asked.
“Leave
me!” The man roared out. “Reynaldo, send the lady away.”
The
aide of the man rushed in and pulled the lady away. He was soon to return to
the chamber to find his master seated by the armchair holding the violin.
“She
left, Sire. I had paid her for indiscretion.” Reynaldo reported to the man.
“Was she …”
“There
was no part of her that I liked. She was at best …. a whore. At worse, a whore
who can’t even act the moans of the scene.” The man picked up the pipe once
more. “You need to be more …selective. I expect nothing but the best.”
“Aye,
Master. I will try better.” Reynaldo acknowledged his shortcomings. “It was
long the delay for you.”
“Yes,
it was. At the castle, I had to confront her daily and yet was unable to do
what I desire. It has been years and even the holidays away, we can’t be
together…. Alone for any. She still harbors the urge for the impotent one, and
despite my overtures, she still thinks him the one to take her virtue.”
“Aye,
Master. It pains me to see you ….deprived.”
“Deprived!
I was not. I could have any I want. Their sacrifice offered with their sight
removed, I am pleased for the one I was to release my desire was not them but
her. Yet she was denied to me.”
“Aye,
Master. She may come to …. Desire you one day.”
“I
hope so, Reynaldo. But first I must part them away. Hamlet does not deserve
her. He is impotent to her love. Ophelia shall be mine, and mine only.”
“Yes,
Master. Your father asked of you.”
“So
soon, and it was only a night that I had left him.”
“He
cares, I guess,” Reynaldo muttered.
“Yes,
he is concerned but he cares more for Norway. It what’s keeps him moving. I
wonder how he fares now that the King is dead… prematurely. Instead of the
Prince, an Emperor sits there. His plans go awry. He sees the Prince as
inconclusive.”
“Yes,
I heard that he holds other plans now.” Reynaldo slotted his words carefully.
“The
Great Chamberlain is forever revising the script to appease the actors. I
wonder who he has in mind now with the King dead.”
“To
whom or for whom, it shall be determined,” Reynaldo uttered.
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