Disclaimer – Um…look at the previous chapter (chapter 6) for disclaimer. Remember…only the story line belongs to me.
A.N. – Ok, so I'm trying to write this as fast as I can without missing out on too much study or sleep. Both are extremely important! Hope this fiction isn't too boring or dragging along too slowly; I try my best to keep it going good! Here is the next instalment for all readers and reviewers! Please leave me a review at the end! It's the only satisfaction I get from sharing my work…sad huh? ANYWAYS!
Chapter 7 – A Night of Torture, A Lifetime of Suffering
Joseph sat silently as he watched Clarisse take several deep breaths, calming herself down.
He could tell she was shaking as he watched her fiddling with the rings on her fingers with her hands in her lap. She was clearly very nervous and shaken by the situation, proving to Joseph that it was very serious.
Never had he seen her react to anything in such a way.
"Alright Joseph" Clarisse spoke clearly, despite her trembling body.
"Where do I start?" she asked, making eye contact and keeping a steady gaze.
"I believe one should start from the beginning, as they often find they have to go back there if they start partway down the track. It would save yourself some time and save me much confusion" Joseph replied quietly, eyes sparkling mischievously.
"Oh Joseph, you tease" Clarisse replied, smiling sadly.
They sat in silence for a short moment, each preparing themselves with what was to come.
'What is Clarisse going to reveal?' Joseph kept asking himself, afraid of the answer.
"I guess it started in October of 1966. As I told you last night my sister was very ill during this time. She was very sick and I was caring for her as well as my two boys. Hard work, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
"Now she was staying in the palace by this time but still had her awful partner hanging around her home out in the country. He was a ghastly man! Always mistreating Marie, drinking heavily and prone to violence when angered. He was making her much worse but just wouldn't leave.
"Now, Marie needed to go and collect some medical documents and personal items from home, but I insisted she stay put and we send someone else. Marie of course, being stubborn like myself, refused to let someone she didn't know collect them. So, we made a deal. She would stay put if I went to get them personally with a driver to drop me off then collect me later on when I called for them. Rupert insisted I take a body guard, or some form of security but I refused. Who could possibly find me in an isolated cottage in the countryside of Genovia?
"So I didn't and went by myself with only the driver to take me there. With Marie's best interests in mind, I set off to collect her things from her small cottage" Clarisse paused, wringing her hands together.
"What I didn't expect, but should have, was Marie's violent partner. Mike" Joseph could almost swear that she had just spat the name.
"The driver escorted me to the entrance of the cottage where I excused him, informing him to return to the palace. I told him I may take quite some time to find the things, but I also wanted to sort a few things out myself".
Joseph reached out, taking Clarisse's shaking hands into his own, trying to provide some comfort. Clarisse looked up when they made contact, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"I didn't even know he was there until I had left all my things in the hall and made my way to the main bedroom.
"I walked in to find him heading straight for me. I had barely acknowledged his presence before he knocked me over the head, shoving me to the ground"
Clarisse was shaking uncontrollably now, and she withdrew her hands from Joseph's hold. Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, Clarisse continued.
"I tried to get up but he had hit me so hard that my vision was blurred.
"All of a sudden he stumbled over me, swearing as he crashed down upon my body. I could smell the alcohol on his breath just before he struggled to his feet again, and I immediately knew I was in trouble.
"I don't know how he managed it, but…somehow he had the – the strength to pick me up and – and throw me on the – the bed!"
Clarisse broke. The tears overflowed and poured down her face as she broke into painful sobs. Joseph reached out to her and she immediately fell into his arms. He held her tightly as she clutched at his chest; her body slumped against him.
She didn't even need to say the cursed words for Joseph to understand what happened next. She had been raped. A sudden urge to mortally harm that man surged through Joseph, making his eyes darken. But he calmed himself down, telling himself that now was not the time to lose control. He needed to be there for Clarisse now more than anyone had ever before.
Clarisse had calmed down slightly, enough to continue talking, though the tears were still pouring down her face.
"If only I had asked the driver to stay, or taken Rupert's advice in taking a body guard with me! They would have heard the commotion and done something about it" Clarisse snuggled into Joseph's embrace, groaning at her stubborn decision of the past.
"Clarisse…" Joseph spoke for the first time in all her storytelling.
"Did you call for security? Did you get help?"
"Only afterwards Joseph, and by that time Mike had realised what he had done and shot himself" Clarisse whispered.
"By the time Rupert and his security had arrived, I had cleaned myself up somewhat and thrown out all the…evidence of what he had done to me. I don't know why I did that. I could have just told Rupert…but…I was ashamed. It showed me as weak and vulnerable, something I never admit to. So I kept it all to myself.
"As far as everyone was concerned, Mike had just given me a short beating before realising he had abused the Queen. Being so distraught from this revelation, he promptly went outside and shot himself.
"As I was the only witness and the accused was dead, my word was the spoken truth. They just didn't realise that something was indeed missing…" Clarisse was becoming more stable and relaxed and so sat up opposite Joseph again. She wiped away the tears and blew her nose.
"Oh Clarisse…" Joseph said compassionately, running his hand down her face.
"You've kept this to yourself all this time. Why?"
"I don't know. I was too afraid at the start and it soon became so big that it was vital it remained a secret. You see…it didn't end there" Clarisse's eyes bored into Joseph, taking all his attention.
"What I've been thinking about ever since Dr Fitzgerald visited was what I actually began to notice in the start of November that same year. It wasn't the Dr that came to the palace to see Marie; it was me who went in search of him myself.
"Things were not going well for me. I was constantly ill and depressed, something the rest of the palace put down to my incident at the cottage. How right they were, in part.
"I disguised myself, covering up from head to toe, and sneaked out of the palace. I walked into town to a clinic I had heard the maids talking about one day. Apparently the Dr there was very good and kept all information confidential. So I thought I would pay him a visit.
"Dr Fitzgerald was of course shocked to see me there but I made him swear to keep it all confidential, even explaining partly what had happened. He was very good to me and immediately vowed to help me in any way he could without being found out. So he ran some tests, and we both prayed my suspicions would be wrong, even though we both knew it was in vain.
"Well my suspicions turned out to be correct" Clarisse paused, Joseph clutching her hand in tense silence.
Clarisse looked up, fresh tears flowing down her face from eyes showing such deep pain and sadness that Joseph could almost feel it ripping his heart to shreds.
"I was pregnant."
OoOoOoOo
Clarisse's revelation had taken so much out of her that she had not long after cried herself to sleep. Joseph had stayed with her, holding her tightly to him, whispering comforting words into her ear even as she slept soundly.
He had known something was troubling her, but nothing to the extent of what she had just told him. He couldn't believe what she had been through all those years ago and all the years since. She must have felt so alone!
Joseph told himself to treat Dr Fitzgerald with utmost respect from then on. That man had helped Clarisse so much and kept it all in the shadows so that not even the hospital knew what had happened. What a situation…
Joseph now understood everything. The real reason why Clarisse was admitted to hospital; her pain in not being able to be with her dying sister, especially at a time when they both needed each other desperately; and why Clarisse had acted so strange when speaking with Dr Fitzgerald when he was at the palace. It wasn't a fever that Clarisse had suffered when Marie had passed away; it was childbirth.
But what had happened to her child? Joseph had an idea of what had happened to Clarisse's baby girl, whether she was ready to except it or not.
Joseph began to waken Clarisse as he saw the time of day and realised it wouldn't be much longer till they would be interrupted again by Clarisse's 'duties'. They needed to finish this talk, even if Joseph knew it was cruel to wake Clarisse and make her tell the rest of the dark tale.
Clarisse's eyes fluttered open, and Joseph apologised for waking her but also explained why he had. They needed to get this over with.
It was time to completely open the wound.
'And you probably don't want to hear tomorrow's another dayBut I promise you you'll see the sun again.
And you're asking me why pain's the only way to happiness
And I promise you you'll see the sun again.'
Dido – See the Sun.
A.N. – Ok so here is the end of this chapter. What do you think? Good? Bad? I hope it isn't too bad because I did this instead of studying more for my exam tomorrow morning. Naughty me! But then it was a late update…the next chapter will be posted within the next…4 days! I promise!
Until then, adios!
Annette-Rose