“Iolanthe!” she screamed—partly from fear, partly from anger and embarrassment and partly from the burning pain she felt in her abdomen.
Iolanthe, however, didn’t come. Marie’s screams were met by Mala who shuffled out of the house toward Marie.
“Untie me!” Marie pleaded.
“What you think I come for to do?” Mala grumbled.
“How could she do this to me?” Marie gasped as Mala untied her.
“Don’t rightly know.” Mala shrugged. “She wants you back in the house.”
Mala helped Marie to her feet and, in an unusually compassionate move on her part, helped the woman limp into the house.
Iolanthe descended the sparkling mahogany staircase, grinning with each step.
“You sow!” Marie growled weakly.
“I know,” Iolanthe winked. “Mala, leave us.”
Mala nodded and disappeared to the dark corners of the house which served as her habitat.
“Come into the drawing room,” Iolanthe smiled at Marie.
“Why?”
“So you can rest.” Iolanthe replied plainly. “You’ve just lost a child, Marie. I know how exhausting that can be. I’ve lost three.”
“You done this to me.” Marie began to sob. “You killed my baby—with poison--and then you put me out on the street to be mocked!”
“And you ruined my hands.” Iolanthe smiled. “In my business, a woman needs her hands.”
“So, you murder my child and then humiliate me?”
“Yes.” Iolanthe nodded watching as Marie painfully settled onto a richly upholstered chair. “I’m a monster. Didn’t you know?”
Marie wiped her eyes.
“You got to thinkin’ you were high and mighty, Marie. You got to thinkin’ that you were better than me, that you were able to make a fool of ol’ Iolanthe. Ain’t no one can get the better of me, Marie Laveau. No one. And, I don’t want you thinkin’ that they can.”
“Fine, Iolanthe.” Marie whispered. “You win.”
“I know.” Iolanthe chuckled. “So, now that I’ve shown you that I am the better of the two of us, I trust you’ll cooperate with me.”
“What have I got now that you could use?” Marie whimpered. “When you killed the child inside me, you took away my power—my future.”
“Oh, now, you’ve still got plenty of power, Marie Laveau.” Iolanthe clucked her tongue. “I just want you to remember that anything you got is mine and mine alone.”
“I want to go home.” Marie sobbed.
“And, you will.” Iolanthe sighed. “But, not until you pledge your fidelity to me.”
“Why?” Marie screamed.
“This very day, the Duke of Fallbridge is about to board a ship on his way back to England. That man has caused me far too much trouble. Just a few weeks ago, I had made a brilliant arrangement. I was to have a new girl—a fine English lady, a beautiful diamond and money in my purse from giving Edward Cage a child. What have I got now? Burned hands, no diamond, no money, an angry Edward Cage, and no English girl. As I have just shown you, I don’t like when folk try to get the better of me. I want what I’m due, and now that you’re mine, you’re going to help me get it.”
“How?”
“Cooperation, Marie. Cooperation.”
Did you miss Chapters 1-447? If so, you can read them here. Come back on Monday, January 30, 2012 for Chapter 448 of Punch’s Cousin.
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