Lady Catherine Villiers' Ball (V Story)

She stood at the top of the stairs, and gloved hand slipped daintily through a handsome young man’s arm.
“Introducing Lady Catherine Villiers and escort”
That was her cue.  She gracefully floated to the top of the staircase and proceeded to walk down into the centre of the ballroom.  All eyes were firmly fixed upon her, and for very good reason.  To say that she was stunning would have been an understatement; but then that had been her intention.  She was dressed in a long lilac ball gown that shimmered as she moved.  It clung tightly to her delicate torso and narrow waist and from there flowed down to the ground, completely covering her feet, even as she walked.  There was the most subtle of silver patterns stitched across the entirety of the dress, glimmering as the light from the chandeliers caught on the tiny threads.  Elegant silver gloves reached her elbows, and were adorned with bracelets of silver and diamond.  Around her neck was a necklace so dazzling, that it was hard to tell exactly what it was made from.  However all of this artificial beauty paled into comparison with the beauty she had been born with. Glossy raven black hair was plaited and weaved down her back, beautifully accentuated with small silver strands and diamonds.  Her face was a picture; the high cheekbones of her aristocratic heritage, her brilliant blue almond-shaped eyes and sensuous lips came together in the sort of beauty that most women only dreamed of.
As the crowed of assembled guests watched her entrance, they would have been forgiven for overlooking the man she had chosen as her escort tonight.  As with previous escorts, he was an incredibly attractive man. He had deep brown eyes and short black hair, smartly dressed in a black tuxedo.  However, the most noticeable thing about him was the huge grin that he wore on his face, giving a new meaning to the phrase “the cat that got the cream”.  His unmasked delight at being able to spend an evening the in presence of this goddess-like creature only added to her radiating beauty.
As she moved through the guests she gave and received compliments, meeting and greeting as many of the hundreds of guests that she had invited as possible.  Steadily making her way towards a raised podium along the edge of one of the walls she received a pale blue cocktail that gently fizzed in her hand, accentuating her eyes every time she brought it to her lips.
Once she reached the dais, her escort reluctantly let go of her arm, and followed a pace behind her as she made her way to the centre.  A hush fell across the guests as they awaited her speech.
This moment always gave her a thrill.  The anticipation of her audience was palpable, all waiting on her to speak.  The chance of getting it all wrong also appealed to her.  She would never be able to recover that part of her social standing if this all went horribly wrong.  But she knew she’d do it perfectly, that was part of who Lady Catherine was, a well bred aristocrat of old money who was more than capable of delivering a quick speech.
“Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen.”  Her voice was carried across the room by her own inbuilt microphone and a newly installed sound system.  “I’ll make this brief as I do know how you like to take advantage of my hospitality at these events”, accompanied by a prize-winning smile the guests saw that there was no offense to be taken at this comment and a muted laughter filled the room. “I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for honouring me with your presence tonight and allowing me to indulge in my love of all things past,” A polite round of applause filled the gap that she had left “All that’s left for me to say is that I hope you enjoy your evening.  Thank you again.”
This time there was more applause, genuinely thankful for the opportunity to show off money and taste at one of Lady Catherine’s famous balls.
She made her way back down onto the dance floor, much to the pleasure of her escort for the evening.  As she did another one of her guests took to the stage.
After saying a few words about her generosity, which she obligingly blushed at, he proposed a toast.  All the guests now had glasses of various shapes and sizes in their hands and took the opportunity to raise them to their host.  A cheer broke out amongst the guests, followed by a silence that was created by each person drinking to Lady Catherine’s health.
Not a fraction of a second later a scream rang out across the hall.  One of the gentlemen was doubled up in excruciating agony, surrounded by a small circle of terrified looking people.  His glass dropped onto the floor and smashed, breaking the stunned silence of everyone else.  Servants ran through the crowd to aid the man, although it was quickly clear that no one would be of any use.  He had followed his glass to the floor and was writhing in pain, his face a horrific red colour.  Within moments he had stopped breathing, and silence once again filled the hall.  Lady Catherine hastily made her way back to the stage through the scared crowds and gave a confused message about the guests having to leave so that the gentleman could be taken to hospital.


A grand total of ten minutes had passed, yet the hall was empty.  Lady Catherine stood in the centre with her escort, who looked stunned, yet strangely pleased at still being allowed in her presence.  Everyone had gone home and the ballroom looked deserted.  Without a word Lady Catherine made her way upstairs, dragging her escort behind her.
She had done it again.  Another clean kill with no suspicion laid on her.  The thrill flowed through her in waves.  She was truly good at this.  It had been a stroke of genius engineering the kill at her own ball.  She had been a fair distance away and had looked shocked enough to easily avoid any unwanted attention.  Of course she would set up interviews with everyone that was there, guest and staff, in order to ‘ascertain’ who had committed such a terrible act, but she knew nothing would come of it; she was too good at her job.
At the top of the stairs she turned left, almost jogging along the corridor, her escort still trailing behind her.  As she reached her bedroom door, she flung it open, and started to pull her gloves and jewellery off.  Her escort stood in stunned silence, watching the beautiful woman strip in front of his eyes.  Still disbelieving as to what his role was to be in this he lent against the frame of the door and watched avidly.
With a broad smile on her face Lady Catherine let her dress fall to the floor.  She then unplaited her hair and let it fall down to her hips.  She savoured the look on the poor mans face as she sank down onto the bed and beaconed him over to join her.  As he clumsily shed his clothes in his haste she laid back and closed her eyes; this was the way to celebrate a clean hit.
Tonight she wouldn’t be sleeping; she just hoped that he could keep up.