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"Let me be your maid. Or maybe even one of your girls. I know ways to make a man lose his senses if I only had the chance. Could you see to let me have some part of your establishment? I would serve you well."
Feeling rage seize her once again, Eugenia began to laugh hysterically. "I can't imagine your even having the guts to ask," she said hotly. "You? In my house? Never!"
"You've got to have pity on me, Madam Eugenia," Clarissa said, bowing her head as she began to cry.
Eugenia rose and walked away from her, then swung around, gathering the fullness of her skirt up into her arms as she walked back toward Clarissa. An idea was forming. It would not only degrade Clarissa, in Clarissa' eyes, it would make Eugenia get even with her.
"I do have a place for you, Clarissa," she said softly, mockingly.
Clarissa jumped to her feet and smoothed her skirt around her. "You do? You really will take me in?"
Eugenia smiled crookedly. She had never felt so wicked. "Yes. I have a place for you. If you are willing to accept the position."
Clarissa grabbed Eugenia by the hands and clasped them strongly. "Anything, Madam Eugenia," she gasped loudly. "Anything. Just tell me. I will do it."
Eugenia jerked away from Clarissa and let her fingers fumble with the diamond brooch on her pale green satin dress.
"You can live out back," she said, eyeing Clarissa closely. "Be one of my colored girls. Live among them. They get much business, believe me. You could serve me well out there."
Eugenia could see the old hate surfacing in Clarissa's eyes as they flashed back at her. She could even see Clarissa's jaws tighten, and her lips draw into a straight line. But she knew that she had gotten the best of her. She knew that Clarissa didn't have any other choice.
"You would do that to me, Eugenia?" Clarissa mumbled, almost inaudibly.
"Why not? You would be among your own kind," Eugenia said, tilting her head upward, walking away from her. "In fact, not even that. The girls that I've made acquaintance with back in that other house are much better than you are. I would welcome each one of them to live under my roof." She swung around and faced Clarissa with a look of power. "But you? Never," she hissed.
Clarissa's expression weakened. She had no other choice, for now. She knew that she could get Eugenia in the end, she would turn the colored girls against her. Yes. Eugenia would pay for this.
"That's fine with me," she said. "If that's what you want. I need a place to stay."
"All right," Eugenia said. "Just go on out back and ask for Iris. Tell her that I sent you. That I said it was all right. I believe they have a spare room right now. One of our girls left the other day. To get her own crib."
"That's what I should've done," Clarissa hissed, her eyes narrowing as she hurried away from Eugenia. She felt hands stop her. She turned and found Eugenia face to face with her once again.
"And why didn't you, Clarissa?" Eugenia snapped angrily. "Why did you come to add more torment to my life?"
"I thought I might get better here," Clarissa answered.
"Well, feel free to leave any time you want, Clarissa," Eugenia said flatly. "I'm only doing this to help another human being in trouble. But, you should know, I would do this for a stray dog."
Clarissa didn't wait to hear more. She rushed out the front door, almost falling down the steps, then headed toward the back of the yard, her mind already working, figuring out a way she could pay Eugenia back for having degraded her. She was only partially colored. She couldn't help it if she had had a colored Mammie and a white Pappie back in Germany.
Eugenia slammed the door shut, anger seething inside her. Clarissa had been one of the worst experiences of her new life in Cripple Creek. She could be placed side by side with Madam Valerie.
Thinking about all that Clarissa had said, Eugenia now knew that Frederick had told the truth. He hadn't had a part in what Clarissa had done with the girls. And the girls were now in cribs? Only down the road apiece? It was so unbelievable. How could Frederick have had such girls as part of his life? How could he have thought they might be turned into opera performers? But yet loneliness had probably guided him in his hasty decisions. She sat back down in front of the fire and watched the flames dancing, wondering if she should approach Frederick in any way, let him know that she now understood and truly believed that he had been used by Clarissa. He had sent Eugenia roses each and every day since his last presence in this house. He even had sent her more diamonds, necklaces and rings. But she hadn't responded in any way, not wanting to get anything going with him again. She was happy in her new role as madam. But maybe she should go and tell him anyway. What could it hurt?
She rose and hurried to her room to check her appearance. How the satin dress hung so neatly from around her tiny waist, and so accentuated the largeness of her breasts. She touched the brooch and smiled. Frederick had been a friend after all. He had only acted from kindness, and possibly a deeply imbedded love. Yes, she had to go to him. To thank him. She withdrew her black velveteen cape from her closet and rushed down the stairs and outdoors without stopping. She would even walk this day. Retrace the steps that she had taken that night with Key, when she had escaped. A route that would take her in front of the Opera House. She only hoped that he would be home to accept her thanks. Even to accept her apology for having thought such things about him. True, he had been known for his kinky sex while Madam Valerie had run The Old Homestead Parlour. But from her experience she had found out that most men had a kinky nature to them, one way or the other, where sex was concerned. She would no longer hold that against Frederick. Sex was another world, apart from her and Frederick's. It shouldn't be a matter of their concern.
Hurrying along the street, Eugenia found many stares coming her way from men who were well aware of her status at The Old Homestead Parlour. They even stepped aside, without a word, to let her pass. She had become to be known as the untouchable Madam, something apparently unknown in such a house. But she hadn't yet been able to trust a man's touch, touches that would drive her
to such heights of passion that she could forget her own name. No, she was going to control her feelings. And be proud of it. She liked the reputation that she had acquired for herself. And it was making it much easier for her to be the madam over the other girls. Nothing was expected of her except to have them ready for all the requests of the many visitors each day and night.
A turn of a corner brought Eugenia in front of the large, white house, making her heart pump at a faster rate. She hadn't been in there since that horrible night when Clarissa had chained her up in the tower room. Her eyes looked upward, searching for the tower room she had been in—two to be exact. One with Drew. Oh, how she had loved that evening. How much they had shared. And in the other one it was so horrible, being shackled to the wall. Yes, she hoped that Clarissa was feeling degraded right at this moment, being placed with the colored girls. Eugenia knew well that Clarissa would hate the thought of being called "colored" herself, having set herself apart from them. It made Eugenia smile inwardly to envision Clarissa being told what to do by the five colored girls who were quite skilled in their profession. Yes, they would teach Clarissa also.
Moving onward, Eugenia climbed the front steps, and held her fist poised, ready to knock. But then she stopped long enough to swallow hard. Was she ready to enter this house once again? Was she truly ready to talk to Frederick? Had she truly brushed all evil thoughts of him from her mind? When the door swung open, she found him standing there, his face red, his brow perspiring, and clutching onto his cane, eyeing her widely.
"Eugenia?" he said softly. "I saw you walk up the steps. Are you truly here?"
Eugenia smiled warmly, seeing the frustration in his searching eyes. "Yes, Frederick," she said. "I'm here. May I come in? For a moment? I have a few things I'd like to say to you."
