Free EscapeWithMe by Ruby Duvall Page B

approached the bedroom. Sam looked up as the door
opened.
    “A fat cull indeed.” Mrs. Hayes rubbed her neck. “He was
about to give you a nice tumble, n’est-ce pas ?”
    Sam frowned and sat up. “How could you lie to me?”
    “Very easily,” Mrs. Hayes said with narrowed eyes. “I could
smell the desperation on you the moment that puff guts dropped his cabbages,
and desperate girls believe anything.”
    “You tricked me.” She pounded her fist on the bed.
    “Miss Reed, you make it sound as though you did not at all
suspect my trade. The downstairs salon alone should have given it away. You
have no one to blame but yourself.”
    “What else could I have done? This was my only option—”
    “Well there you have it, mademoiselle .” Mrs. Hayes
stepped close, looming over Sam. “For women in our situation, this is the only
alternative. This is all I’ve known ever since Jane Douglas fed me the same lie
thirty years ago. You wouldn’t have lasted more than a night or two if you
hadn’t met me. Here you’ve good food and a bed. You’ll have a decent income if
you do as you’re told. Your handsome jack tar has already paid for your board
for the month.”
    Sam swallowed, swiftly coming to understand just how deep
her ocean of problems was. The woman’s logic was sickeningly sound. “How do you
do it? You lie with whoever pays most and without any respect or affection.”
    “What is it that you just did with the lieutenant?”
    Sam’s face burned with shame. She looked down at the bedding
and swallowed the urge to cry. Mrs. Hayes was right. Sam had nothing and no one
to protect her. She had pounced on her only opportunity for food and shelter,
and she had been perfectly willing to give sexual favors to a paying customer.
What moral high ground did she have to stand on?
    “Attraction is enough. You’ll learn that soon enough. Even
then, money is usually the only attraction.” Mrs. Hayes walked around to the
foot of the bed. “Now stand up.”
    “Why?”
    “You’ll stand up now or I’ll have Mr. Hull come in here.”
    Again, the urge to cry nearly overtook her. She pushed
herself to the edge of the bed and stood while wishing she had the guts to slap
Mrs. Hayes. Though she towered over the shorter woman, she was docile as Mrs.
Hayes pulled her chemise up and over her head.
    Mrs. Hayes inspected the chemise for a few seconds and then
smiled. She chuckled as she held up a portion of it for Sam to see. “Made your
debut, did you? I knew I should have charged him more.” Sam was mortified to
see streaks of blood on the chemise. Mrs. Hayes balled up the undergarment.
“I’ll be holding on to this until he returns. You’ll find another one in the
closet there.”
    Sam wasted no time retrieving a new chemise. She didn’t want
to be naked in front of Mrs. Hayes any longer than she had to be.
    “For the time being, you’re restricted to the house, Miss
Reed,” Mrs. Hayes said as Sam pulled on the new chemise. “Between breakfast and
supper, you may leave your room, but business begins at sunset and I’ll not
have you wandering the halls when our guests come and go. Do you understand?”
    “Yes ma’am.”
    “Good.” Mrs. Hayes walked to the door. “Your jack tar
returns at eight o’clock tomorrow, and I expect you to service him again. If
you don’t, you shall service Mr. Hull.” The bottom of Sam’s stomach completely
dropped out. “If the lieutenant is well pleased, you’ll have earned a reward.
Don’t disappoint me, Miss Reed.”
    Mrs. Hayes left. Sam heard the soft sound of a key turning.
She looked at the bed and its twisted blankets and wasn’t tired in the least,
but with nothing else to do, she blew out the candles and lay down in an
attempt to sleep.
    Her body was stiff under the covers. Her eyes constantly
flicked to the door of her room with every creak of the house, no matter how
slight.
    “Damn it,” she whispered. She rolled out of bed, grabbed the
chair and jammed it