CHAPTER SIX
"Eli! Eli! Stop please!" She yelped. Eli covered her mouth with one of his hands as he began to kiss down to her bodice.
"No! Eli! Stop it!" She tried to yell. She squirmed violently, but Eli's grasp on her arms was strong, there was no pushing him away from her breasts. He then took his hand from her mouth, and cupped her breast with it, as he thrust himself against her.
"Eli you let me go you pig!" Felicity yelled. Nobody came to her rescue the music and merriment at the ball covered any noise she made. While Eli was caressing her breast she was able to get a hand free and push him away a little. For an answer he pushed her down onto the sofa, and jumped on top of her. He began kissing her neck and bust again. In one more fit of rage Felicity managed to push him away again.
"Come on Felicity it's all right," he hissed. "This will be our secret. Do you not like adventure?"
"What kind of a disgusting pig are you?" Felicity said revolted. She sprang up from the couch. "You are no decent man!"
"Decent man?" Eli snorted. "Do you know who I am? I am a Merriweather!. A wealthy, powerful Merriweather! I will marry only the girl from the most wealthy, and powerful family, not a family such as yours. All the wealthy girls are ugly, and Eli Merriweather deserves only the best. Come on Felicity, I can give you many great things, it will be our secret." He got up off the couch, and closer to her.
Felicity's green eyes were glaring, her body shaking with the terror, upset, and anger she was now caused. How dare the vicious, repugnant, pervert take advantage of her, and then insult her family that way!
"I would rather die than be your whore!" She screamed and she smacked him across the face with the side of her fist. Eli was shocked, and Felicity was stunned that she could hit that hard. His hand reached up to touch the trickle of blood that oozed from his lip. He glared at her, Felicity's heart leaped into her throat, she felt sick to her stomach, and dizzy.
"Why you shrew! You filthy termagant!" Eli yelled, holding his lip. "I will make sure you are ruined in this town. No man will ever have you."
"Don't you threaten me Elias Merriweather," Felicity seethed.
"I don't have to do anything," Eli said bitterly. "You aren't even fit enough to be some fisherman's fancy woman, let alone the wife of a gentleman!"
"Gentleman?" Felicity shouted. "You will never be a gentleman. Get out! You sicken me!"
Eli glared at her, Felicity was afraid that she would be getting a bloody lip to match Eli's. Then he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.
Still trembling, Felicity sunk down onto the sofa in her cloud of green silk. Her heart was still racing and coming down after all the upset. She did not cry. She had too much pride for that. What had just happened was not her fault, and she had taken care of herself. She had broken out into a cloud sweat. She felt messy and dirty.
"Disgusting," she grunted allowed. Glassy-eyed, she caught the glitter of the crystal decanter filled with brandy sitting on the bar. Except for a few sips of currant wine, Felicity had never touched alcohol in her life. Father had always kept a bottle of Scotch back in his counting room at the store. Back when she worked alone with Ben, she was always trying to persuade him to let her try some of it, but she never did, and never would. That was so very long, long, ago. Ben. Ben would never have let this happen to her, if he had stayed in Williamsburg. Ben was more than likely dead, or he had long forgotten his life back in Virginia.
Felicity knew she would have to return to the ball soon. Elizabeth would be worried, what if Eli did try and ruin her. After all it would only be her word against his. A Merriweather was more powerful than a Merriman. A drink. Perhaps if she had a swig of the brandy it would settle her nerves, calm her down.
Felicity stood up and swished over to the bar. She lifted the heavy crystal plug off the decanter and took a whiff of the fine brandy inside.
"Glorious," she sighed. "Perhaps I will have more than a swig. I should get drunk." She took a tumbler and filled it three-quarters full with the brandy. She closed her eyes and took a hearty swig. The pungent taste engulfed her entire mouth, and burned her throat as she choked it down. Her eyes watered, but she went to take another swig.
"Whoa, a tiny little lady like you cannot drink that much. Why that's enough for a large man," a voice said from the big leather chair facing the fire. Felicity yelped in shock.
"Oh my!" She exclaimed.
The man got up from the chair, and turned to face her. He was tall and lean, with brown hair not quite long enough to pull back in a queue, so it hung around his face. He looked to be around thirty, possibly older. His eyes were so piercingly blue, that even though she wasn't too close to him, she could tell their color.
"Have you been here all this time?" Felicity stammered turning red faced.
"You didn't see me waltz in through the locked door," he answered with much sarcasm. "You and that blundering fool disrupted a peaceful sleep I was having, and I do not sleep often."
"You witnessed what that pig did to me, yet you didn't do anything?" Felicity demanded. "You didn't utter a sound?"
"That was great entertainment," the man returned. "Better than cock fighting."
"How could you silently watch a man take advantage of a lady, and not do a thing?" Felicity asked in shock.
"You looked like you could take care of yourself," the man shrugged. "That punch you threw at him was amazing. Where did you learn to fight like that? George Washington could use you for his army!"
"I do not find this very amusing at all. You are crazy, and had no right hiding out in here," Felicity exclaimed.
"It would have been very amusing if the fool would have gotten you out of that dress for a bit," the man said teasingly.
"All men are pigs!" Felicity shouted and turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm, she began to struggle.
"I was teasing," he said. "Felicity."
At the mention of her name Felicity stopped squirming and looked straight into his blue eyes.
"How do you know my name?" She sneered.
"Why I heard that clod keep saying in his fit of passion for you," the man replied. "Felicity, I am sorry."
Felicity stared into his eyes. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry that someone had seen the incident. She felt like such a fool. There was something about the way he said her name, she liked. He made her name sound so pretty when he said it. "Here," he said. He took a giant swig of the rest of the brandy in the tumbler. "I'll show you how to drink brandy the proper way." He bent selected two small brandy snifters and poured a much tinier amount of brandy into them. Then he twirled the snifter over a candle.
"Who are you?" Felicity demanded. "I haven't seen you around anywhere, are you from Williamsburg? What do you do? Whatever are you doing?"
"Women ask so many questions," the man sighed. "I am warming the brandy for you. Tis better that way."
"Tis not," Felicity retorted.
"Judging by the way you drank that first sip of brandy, I do not reckon you are a connoisseur," he said looking at Felicity with much amusement.
"And you are?" said Felicity.
"I've had my share of good drink in my time," the man responded.
"Well do you have a name?" Felicity asked again. She noticed a large scar on his right hand.
"Yes," he nodded, but did not offer any information.
"May I ask what it is?" She pressed.
"No," he answered.
Felicity took that as her cue to not ask any more questions at the moment.
"Now try it, it will go down much better," he offered her the snifter. Felicity examined in. "I didn't poison it Felicity," he remarked as he picked up his own snifter. He said her name again, and it made her shiver. Slowly, she lifted the snifter to her lips, and closed her eyes. The brandy was warm and sweet in her mouth. It coated her throat and filled her whole chest with warmness, and gave her a strange feeling of being at peace. "You do not need to close your eyes when you drink Felicity. Tis not a kiss," he remarked. He finished his brandy with one gulp, and poured himself a little more.
"Now will you tell me your name?" Felicity asked as she poured herself more brandy. "Tis not proper for a lady to except anything from a man she does not know."
"Tis not proper for a woman to drink like a lush," the man said and took her brandy snifter away. "My name is Andrew. Andrew Matthews. You can call me Andy, Andrew is just an awful name."
"Pleased to meet you Mr. Matthews," Felicity said and did a half-hearted curtsey. Andy didn't seem to be much for manners anyway. "I must be going now. They will be missing me at the ball."
"Yes, Felicity," Andy agreed. "Your long line of gentlemen callers are probably having withdrawal by now."
"No, not them," Felicity shook her head. "Just Theodore Plutt."
"His name is Theodore Plutt?" Andy said surprised. "With a name like that he has to be one dashing fellow to have a girl with the likes of you."
"I am afraid he is not, he is quite annoying," Felicity said as she smoothed out her dress and prepared to go back out.
"You better eat something," he remarked as they stepped out into the hallway.
"Why?"
"Because your breath smells like a brewery. Or perhaps I could steal a quick dance with you, to sober you up." They were now just about to enter the ballroom. Elizabeth had been watching for Felicity and saw her friend talking to a gentleman from afar.
"I will never dance with you Mr. Matthews," Felicity replied. "Not after you sat back and watched me be taken advantage of, as if you were at a concert or play."
"Oh you are much more delightful to look at then a play," Andy said rather playfully.
"You are heartless," Felicity returned.
"That I am, Miss Felicity, that I am."
Felicity stalked off into the ballroom. She wanted to go right home, away from the Merriweather mansion, and all it's terrible memories. This night had been a total disaster.
"There you are Lissie," Elizabeth greeted. "I was getting worried about you. Where have you been? Theo has been worried. Who was that gentleman you were just talking to? I have not seen him before."
Andy is right, thought Felicity. Women do ask too many questions.
"