Puzzle Pieces: Angelique

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#CC9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="047005a0dwnjzk.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cassies Writing"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>     | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B>  </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Cassie's Writing</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="All Hallows Eve"><U><B>All Hallows' Eve</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fall Camoflage"><U><B>Fall Camoflage</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Cyrus"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Cyrus</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Roxanne"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Roxanne</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id91.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Claude"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Claude</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id92.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christmas Magick"><U><B>Christmas Magick</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id93.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Maggie"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Maggie</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id94.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Winters Deep Freeze"><U><B>Winter's Deep Freeze</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Sabrina"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Sabrina</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id96.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Frostbite"><U><B>Frostbite</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id97.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: The Collins Family"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  The Collins Family</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id98.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biding Time in Purgatory"><U><B>Biding Time in Purgatory</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id99.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Puzzle Pieces: Quentin"><U><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Quentin</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id100.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Family Secrets"><U><B>Family Secrets</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id102.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vortex"><U><B>Vortex</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id101.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Spring Whirlwind"><U><B>Spring Whirlwind</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id103.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Den of Vipers"><U><B>Den of Vipers</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>Puzzle Pieces:  Angelique</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Converging Forces"><U><B>Converging Forces</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id106.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flames of Purification"><U><B>Flames of Purification</B></U></A><B>  </B></div> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Puzzle Pieces:  Angelique</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Adam in Parallel Time"><U><B>Adam in Parallel Time</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> The woman calling herself Alexis waited for Inspector Hamilton, twirling a strand of her hair and wondering how she would handle him.  She would have to get rid of him somehow-if he learned that she was really Angelique it would be positively disastrous!  He was interrogating Julia now, but she was confidant her best friend would not give her away.  Roger had given her warning-thank heavens he served some useful purpose to her!  Why did the inspector want to talk to her?  After all, "Alexis" hadn't been around the night of Angelique's murder.  Well, she was definitely going to emphasize Quentin's jealousy, his rages, and his unpredictability-if Hamilton didn't ask, she'd find a way to work it into the conversation. </div> <div> The crest of the wave had been exhilarating-her years as Mrs. Quentin Collins, the mistress of Collinwood.  How she had enjoyed and reveled in her reign!  Everyone vied for her approval and her favors, including Quentin and even after she'd contemptuously pushed his face into her latest affair.  She enjoyed his rage and his impotent inability to control her.  She flaunted herself before everyone, never realizing that she was striking back at her father through Quentin.  That was what drove her to the powerful and rich Collins family-she wanted to escape her father. </div> <div> The first time she'd seen Gabriel Kiernan, she'd decided he was her best chance to escape her family life.  She was a nobody from town; she'd never be able to attract one of the rich and powerful Collins family.  Gabriel, though, was different.  She knew the story of Quentin Collins, too.  Her father thought it was hilarious.  He would go out and drink with Roger Collins and sometimes would participate in his parties.  He'd come home drunk and roaring with laughter, making fun of Roger behind his back.  He also found it amusing that while Jamison would disinherit his daughter for becoming pregnant out of wedlock, he'd overlook the same indiscretion in the case of his cousin.</div> <div> "It's not who you know, it's who you are," Tim Stokes would say, braying with laughter.  "If Elizabeth Stoddard had been the grandchild of the great and wondrous Quentin Collins Senior, why, she would've inherited Collinwood and all the money!  But no-who is she?  Just the old man's own daughter!"  He howled with laughter.</div> <div> Angelique and her pathetic twin sister never understood what was so damn funny.  One thing Angelique knew for sure was that Quentin Collins was the old man's favorite now, and the boy adored his brother Gabriel.  As Mrs. Kiernan, she was sure to have a place at Collinwood.  Once the elder members of the family died off and Quentin took over, he would be sure to share his inheritance with Gabriel.  It was the best way she knew how to get away from her grasping, revolting stepfather.  She knew that he would try to worm his way into her life at Collinwood, but she would take care of him so that would never happen.  She had plans, even at fourteen, looking at Gabriel Kiernan with new and speculative eyes.</div> <div> Survival of the fittest-that was what Charles Darwin had said.  She determined early on that she would be the survivor no matter what.  Her power came from her mother, herself an amateur sorcerer.  She was able to move things around and that was about all.  When she became sick with cancer, she and Angelique would entertain each other by picking objects up and moving them around the room by concentrating.  Sometimes they had several items flying around at once.  Possibly Alexis had powers, too, but she was such a quiet little mouse.  She always crept around, hiding in corners.  </div> <div> Angelique remembered with some jealousy that Alexis and her mother connected through clay, not supernatural power.  Yes, Alexis had power, too, she just chose not to use it to her advantage.  Sometimes Angelique would come into her mother's sick room to see her sister and mother sitting together, working the clay between their fingers.  They would create figures of such beauty that Angelique would seethe in jealous fury. How could making the salt and pepper shakers dance in the air compare to creating a ballerina, gracefully pirouetting?  Always, before the objects could be fired, Angelique would come across them and smash them flat with her fists.  Alexis, coward that she was, would just cry silently.  She never told their mother, who died when her girls needed her the most.</div> <div> Cowardice-that was why Alexis was beaten all the time.  Angelique would never stand for that.  In a drunken rage, Tim would rampage through the house and find Alexis cowering in the corner of her room.  What an easy target she made!  Angelique was sure that her stepfather tried to force himself on Alexis but that her pathetic panicked squealing stopped him.  He turned to her.  He was gross and heavy, but she preferred to put up with that than to deal with his fists.  She let him know that he didn't scare her, though.  Once she even had the nerve to hit him, trying to stop him during one of his evening "visits".  Without hesitation, he hit her back and then went about his business.  Still, she thought he rather admired her for her defiance because she didn't whimper and cry like Alexis.  She didn't try to hit him again; she knew he'd beat her and then take her, and she had no interest in being beaten.  </div> <div> She began to find reasons to talk to Gabriel.  She knew he had girlfriends but that didn't matter.  She knew that he saw her as a kid; that was all right too.  If there was any benefit at all to her stepfather's attention, it was learning the acts that pleased men the most.  She just had to bide her time.  Gabe was handsome and he was also kind.  He didn't treat her with contempt and was always courteous and friendly when she talked to him.  All she had to do was wait and grow up a little.  </div> <div> The first complication to her plans was college.  She didn't think that Gabe would go away to college, and so she was dismayed to learn that he was going to Long Island.  It was so far away!  She knew Quentin was agitated about it; he was moody and irritable.  Once in a while, she would talk to him as well.  He was such a little boy, though.  Still, it was from him that she found out that Gabriel was going away.  Hiding her dismay, she pretended that it was wonderful that Gabe had this opportunity to further his education.  She asked where Gabe was going.  She got all the information she needed from Quentin.</div> <div> After Gabriel left for Long Island, she began to write to him.  She just wanted a penpal, she said, because she was lonely and he was so nice to her.  She was pleased when he answered her.  She kept up a correspondence with him until he came home after the semester was over to see his mother and brother for the holidays.  He was still staying with the Haskells; he was still banished from Collinwood, and she thought Jamison Collins must be a hard, cruel man.  He came over to see her during the holidays, shocking her stepfather, to thank her for her letters.</div> <div> She thought her stepfather might be angry, but he wasn't.  When he came to her that night, drunk and sloppy, he was still coherent enough to express some admiration for her cunning.  "I know what you're up to, my girl.  Part of Collinwood-not a bad ambition for a girl like you."  He laughed.  It was because he thought he would have a part in her future-she would have the last laugh, though.</div> <div> Gabriel came as her date to her senior prom and then he came to her graduation in June.  He was struggling in college; she encouraged him to keep trying-and to keep seeing her.  She pretended that he was the first boy she had sex with.  It wasn't hard to fool a boy-or a man like Gabriel, she'd learned.  She'd fooled several of the boys in school before word got around about her.  She had to watch herself after that; although Joe Haskell was working at the cannery and was already engaged to be married, she didn't want anyone to hear anything unsavory about her that would get back to Gabe.  She thought he was nice, but dull.  Unfortunately, most nice boys were very dull.  She preferred the exciting, wild boys but knew she had no future with them.</div> <div> The day after graduation, Angelique was shocked when her mousy sister announced that her art teacher helped her win a scholarship and she was leaving.  She left the house with her bags packed, and she left no forwarding address.  "Ungrateful child!" Aunt Hannah complained.  Angelique was jealous and angry-jealous because Alexis was escaping first and angry because she'd been so clever at keeping it a secret.  </div> <div> Angelique had another disappointment to deal with as well-this summer, Gabe was working on Long Island.  She suspected that was happening because of Aunt Nancy.  During spring break, just six weeks before graduation, Gabe brought Angelique with him to Easter dinner at Aunt Nancy's house in Boston.  While Quentin and her mother accepted her, Aunt Nancy was cool toward her.  Angelique felt her own hackles rising, sensing that Nancy knew all about her.  It didn't matter.  Nancy wasn't going to stop her, and if she tried…</div> <div> Ultimately, though, it wasn't Aunt Nancy that interfered with her plans.  It was Gabriel.  He wasn't easy to control-not like the boys in town.  He had a mind of his own.  He claimed to love her; he claimed he wanted to marry her-all in good time.  He wanted to get a good job and be able to provide for her first.  Aggravated, she chafed and wondered why it didn't seem to occur to him that his future was at Collinwood-with Quentin.  He was certainly protective enough of his brother.  </div> <div> Little Quentin wasn't so little anymore.  He was on Long Island at some private boarding school.  Angelique mentally congratulated him on his ability to escape the grasp of the Collinses.  From what Gabriel told her, they were vicious people-like sharks.  She wasn't afraid of them, though.  She was positive she could control them through their weaknesses.  She would have them all eating out of her hand after she married Gabriel.</div> <div> She was coming to see him on the weekends, telling her father and Aunt Hannah that she was visiting her best friend in Bangor.  It wasn't hard getting her friend to cover for her; she didn't care whether her father and Hannah believed her or not.  She and Gabriel would take Quentin out for an ice cream soda or to the movies or out for a sail, depending on the weather.  He had several friends now but most often, he brought along a quiet boy named Cyrus.  Angelique tolerated them; it was an act that she was willing to put on to please Gabe and keep him tied to her.  She would spend the nights with him and then go home Sunday afternoon.</div> <div> Gabriel was slow to graduate; worse, he was in the ROTC, and that meant that when school was over, he would go into the service.  He was working, too, and Angelique fully expected him to ask her to marry him.  Instead, he surprised her by telling her he was going into the Marines-to the Green Beret.</div> <div> She was furious.  "What are you doing that for?" she exploded.  "Are you out of your mind?  What about us?"</div> <div> "I'm doing this for us, Angelique," he explained patiently.  "Don't you understand?  My grade point average isn't that great.  I'm not going to be loaded down with job offers.  This is a great opportunity for me.  The military-they take care of you."</div> <div> "You're too old!" She burst into tears.</div> <div> "I just made it in," he said, holding her gently.  "Why are you crying?  This is a good thing for us."</div> <div> "But you're going to go away!"</div> <div> "Well, for boot camp, yes, but then we can get married."</div> <div> "And go where?"</div> <div> He considered.  "I don't know."</div> <div> "Oh, Gabriel!"  She dabbed at her eyes, trying to think if she had enough power to change things.  She'd invested six years of her life in this man.  Joe Haskell was a father already.  She should have been married to Gabe by now and expecting a child already.  If it had been anyone else, it would have happened already.  She wasn't ready to give up her dream of living at Collinwood, though.  "How long?"</div> <div> "It depends on if I want to make a career out of it.  Think of it-we could travel the world.  Wouldn't you like that?"</div> <div> She didn't answer directly.  Instead, she asked:  "What about when Quentin takes over Collinwood.  Won't he need you?"</div> <div> Gabriel's face clouded over.  "I'm sure he will.  And I'll be there to help him.  I'll always be there to help him.  He's still just a kid, Angelique."</div> <div> "He's not little," Angelique objected.  "He's not a child, Gabe.  He's graduating."</div> <div> At that, Gabriel smiled.  "You know, you're right.  He's not a baby anymore, is he?  I need to get that kid laid before I go."</div> <div> "Gabriel!"  Angelique pretended to be appalled.</div> <div> Gabriel laughed out loud.  "I'm sorry-don't pay me any mind.  Look, he's got four years of college ahead of him. Penn State or Harvard or where ever it was he said he was going.  By then, I'll be back to help him."  At her expression, he took her into his arms and amended, "We'll be back to help him."</div> <div> Angelique was bitterly disappointed but, once again, was unable to manipulate Gabe into doing her bidding.  She wrote to him while he was at Parris Island.  At the end of boot camp training, he came home on leave, and they spent a lot of time together.  He was very excited.  "Listen, they're going to be sending me to a school for a few weeks for special training.  After that, we'll get engaged, all right?"</div> <div> A special assignment?  She wondered where.  "Gabriel, do you think they might send you to Germany?" she wondered.  She thought she might like that.  She found out that her timid sister Alexis was in Florence, Italy of all places!</div> <div> He shook his head.  "I don't know where they'll send me yet, Angelique."  He was more interested in the training itself, not where he'd be sent.  </div> <div> She had a feeling of foreboding.  She arrived back home in a stormy mood, chasing her Aunt Hannah from the house.  She wanted to be left alone.  She gathered some of her things together to try and cast a spell so that she could see into the future.  She'd been practicing her skills over the years with varied success; she had a feeling if her mother had lived she might have been more successful.  She closed her eyes, concentrating, but she didn't understand the images she was seeing.  A truck, painted odd colors of green and brown.  A young Oriental.  Other men in green uniforms, standing around and laughing.  It didn't feel reassuring.  She would have to act.</div> <div> Help came from an unexpected source-Aunt Hannah introduced her to a friend, an older, stone-faced woman named Julia Hoffman.  Angelique gave her a cursory greeting and went about her business, noticing that the woman's eyes followed her around the room.  Finally, Angelique turned to look the woman in the face, challenging her.  To her surprise, the woman didn't back down.  In fact, there was an expression in her eyes that communicated quite clearly to Angelique that this woman wanted to know her better.  Curious, yet not willing to give an inch, Angelique sent a thought to the woman as she left the room: If you want to talk to me, come to the train station.  </div> <div> She was planning one of her weekend trips to see Gabriel.  As she sat on a bench at the station, she wondered about the strange woman.  Who was she?  Why had she affected her the way she had?  She could see the woman coming toward her, her hands deep inside the pockets of her overcoat.  She stood up to wait, her eyes narrowing.  The woman called Julia Hoffman walked right up to her and said softly, "I heard you.  I came."</div> <div> "What do you want from me?" Angelique asked suspiciously.</div> <div> "I want to help you get your heart's desire."</div> <div> Angelique was surprised, her brows contracting suspiciously.  "Why?"</div> <div> "Because you are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen-and because you have power.  And I want to be part of your life, part of your destiny."</div> <div> Angelique was surprised at this stunning revelation but carefully masked her thoughts and feelings.  She examined this Julia Hoffman carefully, noting that the woman was unsuccessfully trying to hide the adoring look in her eyes.  Interesting, thought Angelique.  She wondered what it would be like to be with a woman.  "Where are you going?" she asked.</div> <div> "Where ever you are-so that we can talk," Julia answered.</div> <div> Angelique smiled, a brilliant smile that lit up her eyes.  Now the woman called Julia smiled back, allowing the adoration she felt to show fully on her face.  "Well, this should be a very interesting trip, indeed," she said, taking Julia's hand.</div> <bR> <div> So began the courtship, friendship and relationship between Angelique Stokes and Julia Hoffman.  Julia had precognitive powers of her own.  She was not as powerful as Angelique was, but she had style and technique.  She was willing to share what she knew with Angelique in exchange for friendship-and favors.  Julia was an old friend of Hannah's, an ex-lover, and she'd had her eye on Angelique for a long time.  Finally she'd managed to finagle an introduction from Hannah.</div> <div> Angelique had never had someone to confide in-especially not another female.  To her, the other girls were either featherbrains or rivals to be defeated.  She told Gabriel and the other boys a little about herself, playing up the fact that she had a cruel stepfather who beat her and her sister (she would never ever tell what she and her stepfather really did together) in order to elicit more sympathy from them.  It was easier to manipulate them then.  Otherwise, she told them what she thought they wanted to hear and she was usually right about that.  There was no one else who really knew her inner thoughts or feelings-until now.</div> <div> Julia was non-judgmental.  She didn't want Gabriel for herself.  She didn't want to interfere with Angelique's plans.  She wanted to help Angelique.  Julia listened during the trip south to New York City.  After a time, she said, "You have to bind him to you, my dear."  When Angelique looked at her curiously, Julia smiled craftily.  "You know what I mean, don't you?"</div> <div> "We are already bound," Angelique answered.  She was glad she was able to talk to someone so openly about this.</div> <div> "But you're not pregnant," Julia pointed out.</div> <div> "He takes care of that," Angelique answered.</div> <div> "Well, we must find a way around that then," Julia declared.  "He'll have to marry you regardless of where they send him."</div> <div> "Of course," Angelique agreed.  Gabriel was an honorable man.  He was very careful and very responsible-much to her frustration.  She knew what happened to Quentin, and she knew well that Gabriel did not want anything like that to happen to his child.</div> <div> "I'll help you," Julia said.  "Have you ever used a doll?"</div> <div> "A doll?" Angelique was surprised.  "I don't practice voodoo."</div> <div> "No, it's not necessarily that.  You have power.  I'll help you channel it-you'll see."</div> <div> Angelique sighed with relief and gave Julia another brilliant smile.  "I won't forget this, Julia."</div> <div> "You are so beautiful," Julia whispered, reaching out to stroke Angelique's hair.  Angelique smiled, feeling a heady, tingling sensation surge through her body.  Yes, she wondered what it would be like to be with this woman, but that would have to wait for the trip back to Collinsport.  She knew instinctively that Julia wouldn't mind waiting.</div> <bR> <div> Angelique did not become pregnant, although not for a lack of trying.  She and Gabriel went to Stonybrook to pick up Quentin.  Lately, the boy had taken to bringing along a date, a pretty dark haired girl named Marie.  In a way, this double dating made it more difficult for Angelique to put her plan into effect because Gabriel began to spend more time with his brother, obviously counseling him about women and responsibility. Frustrated, she was cranky on the trip back.  Julia comforted her, stroking her hand and her arm.  "Don't worry," Julia assured her.  "There is time."</div> <div> Being with Julia was very much to her liking.  She didn't have to pretend to feel something she didn't.  Julia seemed to know instinctively where to touch her to arouse and please her.  It had to do with the fact that they were both women, Julia explained.  A woman always knew how to please another woman.  A woman was always patient, never hurried-not like a man.  Angelique thought Julia was right.  However, they both acknowledged that men were necessary to gaining power.  Angelique had to have Gabriel.  "Next time," Julia assured her.  In the meantime, they practiced with dolls.</div> <div> Angelique decided to try casting a spell on her father.  She was delighted with her success.  She didn't want him to be able to perform the act with her.  She took the doll, wrapping her father's handkerchief around it, whispering words over it.  When her father staggered drunkenly into her room, he was mortified to find that he was impotent-that had never happened before.  Angelique's heart sang with the thrill of her power.  She couldn't wait to tell Julia!</div> <div> Lying in each other's arms, Julia whispered, "Now you do the reverse spell on Gabriel."</div> <div> With a great deal of anticipation, Angelique cast the spell.  After a few weeks, she realized bitterly she'd failed.  "It's not just Gabriel-there's you, too," Julia explained.  "We have to take that into account." Angelique was puzzled until Julia reminded her that they had to figure out when she would be fertile again.   They watched the calendar carefully and determined Angelique would not be fertile again until after Gabriel left for training.  "Be patient," Julia soothed her.  "It will happen-I know it will."</div> <div> Gabriel was gone almost until the Christmas holidays.  Over the summer, Angelique was surprised when Quentin came to visit her.  He seemed so young, although he was getting ready to go away for college.  This was his last free summer, he said, and his brother asked him to look out for her.  Angelique felt both pleased and contemptuous.  Did Gabriel really think she needed the protection of a boy?  He was so good looking, though…Angelique was tempted.  She thought about seducing him but when she searched his mind, she realized it would be a disastrous mistake.  At the end of the summer, Quentin left for Penn State, joining his friend Cyrus Longworth in Philadelphia.</div> <div> In the meantime, Angelique practiced her craft.  When Gabriel came back in December, she was ready for him.  She wanted to announce their engagement.  It might have happened were it not for another trip to Boston and another visit with Aunt Nancy. When Gabriel postponed the announcement, Angelique decided she would have to take care of Nancy.  Aunt Nancy was advising Gabriel to wait and see where his assignment would be.  He was going back for more training. Again, Angelique felt her hackles rising.</div> <div> "I thought you loved me," she pouted.  She was furious.  She'd pocketed one of Aunt Nancy's handkerchiefs and planned to "take care" of her as soon as she got back to Collinsport.</div> <div> "I do, Angel," Gabriel said.  She winced, hating that name.  "It might not be such a good idea right now, that's all.  I think I know where I'm going, and I couldn't take you with me, anyway."</div> <div> "Where is it?" She'd turned away and spoke through gritted teeth.</div> <div> "Vietnam."</div> <div> She'd never heard of the place.  He explained where it was, and she felt angrier.  He was making such a mess of everything!  She would have been delighted to go with him to Germany or London.  This place sounded absolutely awful-a steamy jungle in the middle of nowhere!  She wouldn't be able to practice having parties in the middle of a rice paddy!</div> <div> In fury, she wrapped the handkerchief around the doll and had Julia bring her a long hatpin.  She didn't notice that the initials on the handkerchief read FJS-it belonged to Nancy's husband, Frank.  She didn't realize her mistake until after the news came that Gabriel's Uncle Frank died of a massive coronary.  She began to sense that Julia was becoming impatient with her carelessness, although her lover soothed her with kisses and assured her, "We know you have the power, Angelique.  It was you-only you."</div> <div> Through Julia's tutelage, Angelique had become attuned to her body.  She knew she was pregnant; it was as if she felt the moment that conception occurred.  She stroked Gabriel's hair as he slept, pleased-he had no idea what she'd done.  He was going away soon, that was true-he was leaving for this strange country she'd never heard of within the week.  When enough time had passed, she would write to him.  He could get leave to come back and marry him.  Maybe he could get transferred, too-to a nice embassy in Berlin or Paris.  She smiled.</div> <div> The news crossed in the mail.  She wrote to Gabriel, confessing that somehow something had gone wrong; she was pregnant, and she was frightened.  She poured out her feelings of loneliness and fright-she did not want the child stigmatized.  Would he please ask for emergency leave so that they might get married?  The letter was already on its way when two uniformed Marines arrived at Collinwood to talk to Helen Kiernan-one was an officer and the other was a chaplain.  They brought with them the news of Gabriel's  accidental death.</div> <div> Angelique and Julia huddled together, stunned.  A few days later, Angelique got a letter from one of Gabriel's close friends, a buddy who'd known how much Gabriel loved her.  Angelique ripped the letter to shreds in a rage.  "The fool!" she screamed.  "Why did he do it?  He's ruined everything!  What am I going to do now, Julia?"</div> <div> Julia replied coldly:  "Marry Quentin."</div> <div> Angelique turned to her, ready to turn her fury onto her lover.  How could Julia suggest such an idiotic idea?  Quentin was still a child!  She stopped suddenly, coldly considering.  No, he wasn't a child.  He was very young, but he wasn't a boy.  Even better, he was the heir.  Her status in the family would be better than it would have been if she'd married Gabriel.  Perhaps it was a good thing after all that she hadn't married Gabriel.  She'd be a widow now-without any position at all.  With his brother dead, would Quentin really bring her to Collinwood?  Not likely.  Her face softened from rage to almost joy.  "Julia, you are, as always, a genius."</div> <div> Julia smiled.  "We have to plan this carefully, Angelique.  Nothing must go wrong this time."</div> <div> "Yes," Angelique agreed. Julia was right-she'd always been right.  She sat down to listen and to plan.</div> <bR> <div> Angelique waited another month before she contacted Quentin.  She was impatient and chafing; she was already almost 12 weeks pregnant when Gabriel died.  She had to get Quentin to marry her before she started showing.  Julia assured her that she still had time; with a first baby many mothers never began to show until they were more than six months along.  Julia didn't think it would be a good idea to approach him at the funeral when his grief was still so fresh.  As always, Angelique realized that Julia was right.</div> <div> She waited in the ice cream parlor for Quentin to show up.  He had classes until four and suggested dinner; she countered, telling him she needed to see him as soon as his last class was over and that she had a craving for ice cream.  There was a silence, and she wondered if he "got it".  After a few seconds, he suggested this ice cream parlor; it was just a block from Penn State.  At about quarter after four, she saw him coming and rehearsed again what she needed to tell him.  There was no one else in the shop; that was good.</div> <div> She watched him walking toward the shop, really looking at him.  He was handsome-much better looking than Gabriel was.  Gabriel had been broader in the shoulder but they were about the same height, both of them very tall.  She knew from listening to Gabriel talk that Quentin was smart, too-a very good student.  Gabriel was sure that he would be a clever businessman, too.  Yes, Angelique thought, this was probably all for the best.  Quentin was smiling a little as he approached her.  She let her eyes fill with tears and stood up to greet him.  </div> <div> His smile froze as he took her hands.  "Angelique!  I was really surprised to hear from you.  I was going to say that I was glad to see you, but I can see something is wrong.  What is it?"</div> <div> "Oh, I'm sorry," she looked down.  "I didn't mean to react like this.  It's just that seeing you-you look so much like him-" She fumbled for a handkerchief.  She sat back down in the booth.  He started to sit across from her, looking distressed, but she said, "No, sit with me, please?"  He obligingly slid into the booth beside her, helping her unfold the handkerchief.  She saw that his eyes had become misty.  Good.</div> <div> The waitress came over as Angelique discreetly dabbed at her eyes.  "Is everything all right?" she asked.</div> <div> "Yes, thanks, we've just had a loss in the family," Quentin explained.  "Two rootbeer floats-is that okay?"</div> <div> "It's my favorite," Angelique lied sweetly.  She looked over at Quentin, who looked grief stricken but also concerned for her.  She took his hand.  "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to come all this way and start crying the minute I saw you."</div> <div> "I understand," he mumbled.  "I know you miss him."</div> <div> "Yes, terribly.  My heart is broken," she agreed pathetically.  "It's much more than that, though.  That's why I came here-because I need help.  I don't know what to do!"</div> <div> His blue eyes met hers, and she knew she'd already won him.  She saw his grief, his concern for her, his love for his brother, and his determination to help his brother's girl-no matter what he had to do.  She would reward him well-and they would be married by Thanksgiving.  She wouldn't be showing yet, thank goodness!  She couldn't wait to call Julia with the news.</div> <bR> <div> Angelique enjoyed being with Quentin up to a point but then he would irritate and exasperate her.  He was a good lover, much better than she expected for one so young.  He was pliable, too, and very willing to please, and so she was able to teach him many of the things that Julia did for her.  She would become exasperated with him because he wanted to cuddle with her afterward.  When she was done, she was done.  She wanted to be left alone. She did not want to be caressed and hugged possessively.  Well, she would teach him-once they were married.</div> <div> Impulsively, Quentin decided that they needed to marry as quickly as possibly-within the next week or two.  He wanted to go back to Collinsport with her to tell his cousin Jamison and his mother.  "What are you going to tell them, darling?" she worried.  That was the only complication-what would the family think?  There was Biblical precedence for this kind of thing, of course, but she didn't know how much faith the Collinses put in that.</div> <div> Quentin gave her an odd look before answering.  She realized her mistake-calling him darling.  Maybe even seducing him this early had been a mistake.  She could see that he was wondering about the endearment but he didn't ask her about it.  To cover, she lowered her eyes and whispered, "My God, you just look so much like him."  She allowed her eyes to fill up with tears again and felt him gently stroking her hair.  Angelique almost sighed with relief.</div> <div> "Jamison Collins is a ruthless son of a bitch," Quentin finally answered.  "I'm afraid of what he might do if we tell him the truth.  Would you mind very much if we told him that the baby is mine?"</div> <div> The look of astonishment on her face was genuine.  The idea had never occurred to her, but it was brilliant!  She felt a moment of admiration for Quentin.  "But…" she began to object, but it was only an act.  She was thrilled with the idea.</div> <div> "Angelique, did you really want to get rid of the baby?" Quentin asked then, looking troubled.</div> <div> Time to act again.  She bit her lip.  "I didn't see any other way around it.  I didn't know what else to do-I'm not even sure this is a good idea, Quentin.  Do you know that you'd be throwing your life away?  You don't love me, do you?"</div> <div> "I do-I've always thought you were beautiful," Quentin muttered.  He pressed his face into her hair.  "I always thought Gabe was lucky.  I'm not throwing my life away by taking care of you and Gabe's baby.  I don't think so anyway."</div> <div> Good, Angelique thought, smiling.  This was going to work out perfectly for her.  "I'll come to Collinwood with you when you talk to your cousin Jamison," she offered.</div> <div> "No!" He objected, immediately and emphatically.  "You let me take care of it, Angelique-please."</div> <div> "All right, if you say so," she agreed meekly, thinking that this would give her an opportunity to spend the evening planning-and engaging in other pleasurable activities-with Julia.  She would go and stay with Julia in Rockport.   Quentin would certainly understand that.  He knew that her father was abusive-he just didn't know to what extent.  The last person she wanted to see now was her father.  He wanted her to become a Collins but had not yet realized that marrying Quentin would mean the end of their "special" relationship.</div> <bR> <div> Angelique paced the floor of Julia's living room apartment, biting her thumb.  She wondered if Jamison Collins would be angry enough to disown Quentin.  She hoped not and she rather doubted it, but Quentin was right-he was a mean, ruthless old man.  He'd already disinherited his daughter Elizabeth for being in the very same position she was in now.  Suddenly she began to laugh.</div> <div> "What is it?" Julia asked curiously.</div> <div> "Do you realize what Jamison Collins has brought on himself?" Angelique could hardly speak.   Her eyes filled and spilled over with tears-they were tears of mirth mixed with terror.  She was suddenly very afraid of Jamison Collins.  Julia waited patiently for Angelique to get control of herself.  "Imagine, Julia.  His daughter Elizabeth becomes pregnant out of wedlock, so he disinherits her.  Why not?  He has a son-Roger.  And when his son turns out to be a disappointment, he is also disinherited.  He doesn't try to forgive his daughter-no, he looks outside his immediate family for whom?  The illegitimate child of a cousin!  Why?  Why would he do that?"</div> <div> Julia shrugged.  "Sentimentality, I suppose."</div> <div> "It makes no sense!"  Angelique bit her thumb again.  "Julia!  What if Jamison Collins disinherits Quentin now?"</div> <div> "He won't," Julia said in a smug, confident tone.</div> <div> "How can you know that?  What is Quentin to him?  He has Chris Collins-surely a sterling specimen.  He'd make a fine heir, wouldn't he?"</div> <div> "No-Jamison Collins made his decision years ago.  He'll abide by it.  He hasn't groomed Chris," Julia objected.</div> <div> "But-" Angelique could feel her tension building.</div> <div> "Angelique, you must concentrate.  Come and sit down."  When Angelique was sitting, Julia began to massage her neck and shoulders.  "Relax and concentrate.  You'll see.  You have nothing to worry about."</div> <div> Angelique felt herself beginning to relax under Julia's ministrations.  Of course everything would be all right.  Julia was right-she was always right.  She felt Julia's lips on the back of her neck and shivered with pleasure and anticipation.  The heavy knocking at the door startled them both.  Angelique looked at Julia, wide-eyed.  Julia got up to answer the door.  </div> <div> Angelique could hear murmuring and went into the foyer to see who was there.  Her hands went to her mouth in shock.  Julia stepped back to admit Joe Haskell and Quentin.  Quentin had obviously just been in a fight and looked like he'd gotten the worst end of it.  "He wouldn't let me take him to the doctor, I'm sorry," Joe was apologizing.</div> <div> "Never mind that!" Julia snapped.  "Bring him into the living room-we'll have him lie down on the sofa."</div> <div> "I'm all right," Quentin insisted.  Joe and Julia got him onto the sofa.  He resisted their efforts to make him lie down.  Angelique sat down next to him, gingerly touching him on the shoulder.  He turned his battered face toward her and she winced; she couldn't help herself.  "I'm afraid we'll have to put the wedding off for a week or so," Quentin was saying.  "I think I'd break the camera."</div> <div> "Stop joking!" Angelique cried out, taking the ice wrapped in a washcloth Julia pressed into her hand.  She pressed it to Quentin's mouth, which was bleeding.  </div> <div> "Ouch!" he complained and took it from her.</div> <div> "Who did this to you?" Angelique asked, feeling the anger building inside her.  She looked at Joe, who backed up a few steps under the intensity of the rage in her eyes.</div> <div> Quentin laughed bitterly.  "Who do you think?"</div> <div> Angelique looked at him, thunderstruck, her hands clenching into tight fists.  Did he really think it was funny?  No, she could sense that he didn't.  She sensed Julia moving around, bringing in another ice pack and a glass of scotch on the rocks.  Ever the efficient Julia, managing the crisis and cleaning up the mess, Angelique thought gratefully.  She couldn't bear to touch Quentin's face; she moved aside to let Julia minister to him.  She stood watching, thinking, her eyes mere slits now.  Jamison Collins would pay for this outrage.  Oh, yes, he would pay.  Not now, perhaps-it was too early.  There would be a reckoning, though, and he would answer for this outrage.</div> <div> They were going to go before a justice of the peace, but Nancy Sweeney intervened and asked them to come to Boston to be married there.  The priest of her church was willing to marry them in a chapel, and Quentin's family-on his mother's side, anyway-preferred that he be married in some kind of church.  Cyrus was Quentin's best man, a befuddled expression on his face most of the time.  Julia stood up for Angelique; she wouldn't have had it any other way.  Tim and Hannah Stokes came from Collinsport to Boston.  The only other representatives from the family were David Collins and his family-his wife Rose and sons Chris and Tom.</div> <div> They'll pay and pay, Angelique thought spitefully.  She hardly listened as Rose Collins spoke of giving Angelique the name of her obstetrician.  "I beg your pardon?" she asked, shocked.</div> <div> Rose gave her a slightly superior smile.  "It seems at my age I am in the same fix as you.  You are pregnant, are you not?"</div> <div> Initially pleased that this branch of the family had come to their wedding, Angelique was furious at the woman's condescending manner.  "Yes," she replied shortly, "but since Quentin and I will be living in Philadelphia, I will see a doctor there."</div> <div> "Oh, I see-then Quentin is still a student?"</div> <div> "Of course."  Angelique turned away, looking for either Julia or her new husband.  Was it possible that Jamison would take Quentin out of school?  He hadn't really said he was still heir to the Collins fortune; she'd just assumed it.  She found Quentin and found a reason to take him aside.  She managed to find out that Jamison had not disinherited him nor had he ordered Quentin out of school.  Angelique was relieved and managed to get through the rest of the evening.</div> <div> Angelique managed to get through the next few years only because of Julia's help and support.  She knew that Quentin adored her and, as much as possible, she tried to love him.  She was bored and felt trapped in the tiny little apartment she and Quentin lived in.  Jamison was being stingy with the money, she thought bitterly.  Quentin needed to study at night and didn't want to go out to the movies.  She would leave him, on the pretext he needed to be alone to study well, and would go off with Julia.  </div> <div> During the winter, she became ungainly as her pregnancy advanced.  It wasn't easy to get around; her ankles swelled and it snowed often.  Quentin didn't want her going out, and she nearly went mad with frustration.  She was tired of playing housewife, and she was tired of being pregnant.  She was tired of pretending to be the content little wife.  Quentin was irritable, too, and they often argued.  </div> <div> What was most annoying was that he always wanted to make up, many times long before she was ready to.  He reminded her of a pit bull without teeth, she thought angrily.  A pit bull would clamp on and hang on to the death, and Quentin was like that after an argument.  He didn't want her to stay angry with him.  Because he was contrite, his persistence was doubly annoying.  She would leave the room, and he would follow her.  One day she couldn't stand it anymore and slapped his face sharply, shocking them both. Unlike her father, he wouldn't hit her back even though he was very angry. Angelique was horrified, but the feeling of power and pleasure she'd felt when she hit him was hard to deny or to forget.  She swore she wouldn't hit him again, throwing her arms around him and kissing him passionately.  She was almost overwhelmed with sudden desire for him and was delighted to find he was just as aroused.</div> <div> "You mustn't hit him again," Julia reprimanded her when she confided in her friend.  "It's humiliating to a man.  You don't want him to leave you."</div> <div> "He won't leave me," Angelique answered.  She was sure of that.  He loved her.  More than that, Gabriel tied him to her.  She didn't hit him again until after baby Daniel was born again in March.  </div> <div> It was a dreadful experience.  She remembered little of it except that there was a lot of pain, masked by something the doctors gave her to make her forget.  She didn't forget; her mind was too strong.  I'll never do this again, she swore to herself, relieved that she'd had a boy.  She didn't want to see the baby at first.  "Take him away," she'd say to the nurse.  "I need to sleep."  She asked for the baby only when she knew Quentin was coming.</div> <div> Quentin was nauseatingly delighted with the baby.  He's even more sentimental around the baby than he is with me, Angelique thought, watching him.  He was always picking the baby up and holding him.  "Why don't you let him alone?" she asked once, irritably.  Quentin looked over at her, surprised and hurt, and she realized this would be a subject of contention between them.  She thought the baby should be named for Quentin, the "father".</div> <div> Quentin disagreed.  "No, let's call him Gabriel."</div> <div> "Are you out of your mind?" Angelique shouted.  </div> <div> The baby began to cry in Quentin's arms.  "Ssh, it's all right," Quentin soothed the infant.  He looked at Angelique, anger flashing back in his own blue eyes.  "Take him, will you?"</div> <div> "No!  You're the one who keeps handling him!"  Angelique bit back further angry words when she saw the look in Quentin's eyes.  She realized she was going too far.  "I'm sorry, I'm just tired," she apologized, trying to sound like she meant it.  She held her arms out.  "Let me take him."  As Quentin gently laid the infant in her arms, she asked:  "What do you want to call him, then, if not after you and not Gabriel?"</div> <div> "Daniel," Quentin muttered.</div> <div> "Daniel?  What on earth for?"  She managed to quiet the crying infant and could only watch in shocked amazement as Quentin doubled over, laughing bitterly.  Had he lost his mind?  What was so funny?  She never did understand his reasoning and never found out why he'd found the whole thing so funny.</div> <bR> <div> Having the baby in the apartment now was driving her mad.  Quentin was carrying a double load; he and Cyrus both wanted to finish school early and go on to Harvard.  Quentin wanted a master's in business administration, and Cyrus was applying to medical school.  Angelique was sure that this meant another cramped apartment.  She railed at Quentin.  Why didn't he go home and start taking over the business from Jamison?  Quentin shouted back at her, and she hit him again.  For a moment, she thought he would hit her back but instead he turned and put a hole in the wall with his fist.</div> <div> "You're not a man!  You're a child!" she yelled at him as he stalked out of the apartment.  The baby began to squall, and she covered her hands with her ears.  She knew where he was going-he would find that strange friend of his and drag him into some bar.  She could still hear the baby shrieking and bit her lip until it bled.  "Be quiet!" she shouted.  She wanted to pick the baby up and shake him.</div> <div> The door opened, and Julia walked in.  Angelique dissolved into hysterical tears of gratitude.  Once again, Julia had saved her.  Otherwise, she was sure she would have done something awful to that screaming brat.</div> <bR> <div> In Boston, there was some relief.  As much as Angelique disliked Quentin's aunt Nancy, she grudgingly put aside any thoughts of vengeance against the woman because she was so helpful with the baby and kind toward the couple.  Nancy had remarried and moved to Beacon Hill; the young Collins family were frequent guests at the large house.  </div> <div> Angelique was happier; Quentin's cousins and their families interested her and accepted her.  They had nicer quarters, and Julia was now living with them.  Angelique convinced Quentin that she couldn't do without Julia's help.  She lavished a great deal of affection on him to convince him that having Julia move in would definitely be to his benefit.  Overwhelmed, Quentin gave in.  There was always someone to watch the baby, then, and Angelique could come and go as she pleased.   She didn't resent the baby nearly so much and found herself beginning to love him at last.</div> <div> Sometimes Quentin would invite friends to come over.  Except for Cyrus and his pale girlfriend, Sabrina, Angelique enjoyed the company.  She especially enjoyed flirting with the male friends, knowing that it infuriated Quentin and their dates.  It made the sex between the two of them more interesting; she liked to tease him with the flirtations to an almost violent frenzy.  She always told him that he was the one she wanted, but when they were finished, she got up.  He didn't like it; he wanted her to stay and cuddle.  She laughed and said she didn't like cuddling.  She would leave the bedroom and seek out Julia.  She knew Quentin didn't know what was going on between the two of them, and Julia didn't care what passed between Angelique, Quentin, and the other men.  </div> <div> There began to be other men.  Angelique enjoyed practicing control and perfecting her arts on them.  In this way, she planned to control and run everyone at Collinwood, particularly that old goat, Jamison Collins.  At the end of the semester in May, Quentin was finally returning to Collinsport to spend the summer working with Jamison Collins.  He brought his wife, little Daniel, and Julia with him.  The conflict began almost immediately, and Angelique decided it was time to put an end to Jamison Collins.</div> <div> Jamison summoned Quentin to his office as if he was a child and began to dress him down for putting on airs, showing up with a personal maid to Angelique.  Who did he think he was?  Angelique and Julia hovered outside the door, listening to the angry voices coming from within.  He's no coward, Angelique thought approvingly, listening to Quentin shout back at Jamison.  She jumped, hearing the sharp sound of a slap and Jamison's harsh voice:  "Don't you dare take that tone with me-you're still a boy, married or not, do you understand me? I hold the purse strings and you answer to me!"  Next came a gasp from Jamison.</div> <div> "Sir, you may hold the purse strings, but I'm no boy," came Quentin's voice.  "I may have to answer to you, but you don't pull my strings anymore.  You treat me like a man, now, sir, I demand that much from you. Don't lay another hand on me-I'm warning you."  Suddenly, the door swung open and Quentin brushed by them both without seeing them.  Angelique looked into the office and quickly surmised that Quentin had pushed his cousin back down into his chair behind the desk.  </div> <div> Their eyes met.  Angelique turned to go away, but Jamison called her back.  "Oh, and bring your servant with you," Jamison added contemptuously. Angelique held her head up and went into the office with Julia.  "I didn't get a chance to show the young damn fool this."  He reached into his desk and pulled out a manila folder.  He threw it on the desk.</div> <div> "What is that?" Angelique demanded.</div> <div> "Oh, I have had someone watching you, my dear," Jamison answered coldly.  "Quentin may be a fool, but I am not.  I know what you've been up to, you with your men and your lesbian lover there."</div> <div> Angelique was shocked but managed not to show it.  "Is that so?" she said coldly.  "How dare you?"</div> <div> "I look after my interests, missy.  I'm not about to let a hussy like you ruin my plans.  I know what you're after-you want the Collins name and you want prestige. You've got the Collins name.  I can give you the prestige.  How much do you want and where do you want to go?"</div> <div> Angelique barely felt Julia's hand on her elbow.   Her face flamed with unrestrained fury.  "You'll regret what you said," she hissed, turning on her heel and stalking away.  Julia was right behind her.</div> <div> "Think about it!" the old man called after her and laughed, unpleasantly.</div> <div> "Angelique!" Julia hissed, pulling at her elbow.  Angelique finally stopped and followed Julia to her room.  "Why not take him up on his offer?"</div> <div> "Are you mad?" Angelique burst out, shocked.</div> <div> "What if he shows those reports to Quentin?" Julia worried.  "This way, he will give you a great deal of money to stay away."</div> <div> This time, Angelique was sure that Julia was wrong.  "It won't nearly be enough.  It's nothing compared to what Quentin is going to inherit, dear Julia.  And I would give up the power and the prestige of being Mrs. Quentin Collins."</div> <div> "Much good that it does you!  There is still Jamison Collins!  There is still Quentin's mother!"</div> <div> "One thing at a time, Julia!"  Angelique smiled smugly.  "Jamison and Quentin have had their little spat-I am sure they won't make up before tomorrow night.  And tomorrow is Saturday-Jamison will go fishing with that drunk, Sam Evans."  She looked into Julia's eyes.  "Perhaps he won't come back from his trip.  It is time I paid him back for everything he's done to Quentin and me."</div> <div> Julia smiled back, coldly.  "I'll help you, my love."</div> <div> "Yes, Julia, I'll need your help.  Once Mr. Collins has put out to sea, I'll need you to help me locate those files and dispose of them.  Quentin must never see them."</div> <div> This time the plan would work, Angelique told herself.  Sometimes Jamison and Quentin went fishing together; today would not be one of those days because of last night's arguments.  She locked her door about an hour after Jamison left, going into her private bath and filling it with water.  She had a toy sailboat.  Kneeling beside the tub, she began her incantation.  The boat would sink, and Jamison and his drunken friend would drown.  Quentin would be able to take over the entire enterprise, then.  They need not return to Boston at all!</div> <div> A sharp rapping at the door spoiled Angelique's concentration.  She stumbled, recovered herself, then began murmuring again.  "Angie, honey, are you all right?" Helen called to her.  Damn the woman! Angelique thought angrily.  Another drunken fool to take care of.  She stopped again momentarily to call out:  "Yes, I'll be right there!"  Hurriedly, she finished her spell, dipping her hand into the water and swirling it around.  The motion caused the toy boat to sway back and forth several times.  Helen kept knocking and Angelique grit her teeth in frustrated irritation.  Finally, the boat went over on its side.  Angelique hurriedly began to drain the tub.</div> <div> Helen was still knocking.  Picking up a robe, Angelique pulled it around herself and opened the door.  "Good morning, Helen," she greeted sweetly.</div> <div> "How're you, Angie?" Helen asked, her words just a little slurred.  Angelique grimaced inwardly.  She disliked the nickname Angie as much as she'd detested being called Angel. "I was worried about you-I know about what happened."  Helen moved forward.  Aggravated, Angelique stepped back to let her into the room.  They listened to the water gurgling.  "Oh, took a bath?  That's nice and relaxing.  The water in this bathroom drains really slow, though.  I'll show ya what I used to do-"</div> <div> Before Angelique could stop her, Helen had gone into the bathroom.  She burst out laughing.  "You play with boats, Angie?" She chortled.</div> <div> "Well," Angelique began to snap and only just managed to control herself.  She was curious.  "How do you know what happened last night?"</div> <div> "I know my son, honey, and I could see something was wrong."  Helen turned back toward her.  "Look, I know how unpleasant that old man can be.  Believe me-I know.  I've had to live with that son of a-well, I'm sure he'd have thrown me out on my ear if it wasn't for my boy."  Helen smiled crookedly.  "I just wanted you to know you have a friend here."</div> <div> Angelique smiled, feigning gratitude, and hugged Quentin's mother.  It was nice to know she had an ally, although not a very useful one.  She also didn't appreciate how close Quentin was to his mother.  That would be a problem some day.  "Thank you," she whispered to Helen.  "That means so much to me.  I haven't felt welcome or wanted here."</div> <div> "I know, honey.  I've been all through that," Helen answered with sympathy.  "Don't worry, though-the old man won't live forever."</div> <div> If you only knew, Angelique thought with a smile.  She'd managed to shake Helen's company, searching for either Quentin or Julia.  Helen didn't waste any time locating her son, she noted resentfully; she found the two of them in the sitting room, their heads close together, talking. She didn't want to spend any more time with her mother-in-law, and so she looked for Julia.  She was still with Julia when Jamison should have returned and didn't.  Success!  Angelique thought smugly.</div> <div> Several family members went out on boats to help the Coast Guard search.  Quentin was among them although Angelique asked him not to go.  "I have to," he answered.  She wondered if he could possibly still have feeling for that vindictive old man.  She noticed that Roger didn't go.  He stayed behind in the drawing room, drinking.  Angelique went in to talk to him-everyone was of potential use to her, whether she could use them sexually or not.  </div> <div> She found Roger rather entertaining and refreshing; she knew that her father sometimes went out with Roger, and he spent the evening entertaining her with some tales of their exploits.  Obviously, he tried to shock her and told her he admired her open-minded attitude and the adroitness with which she'd managed to get into the family.  She grinned at him appreciatively.  She knew how he felt about Quentin; still, he would be a useful ally indeed.  She kept plying him with liquor all night, laughing at the things he said.  He was quite intelligent and had a biting sarcastic wit.</div> <div> Sometime during the night, the men returned from searching for Jamison.  The old bastard was still alive-it was the captain of the ship, Sam Evans, who'd drowned.  Very well, Angelique thought, I'll just go back to the dolls and the pins.  They were the most effective, and she said nothing when Hoffman silently brought her the doll without being asked.  Hoffman knew what worked best, too.  First Jamison, then Helen, then Nancy, Angelique thought to herself.  The timing had to be just right so that people didn't become suspicious.</div> <div> Jamison was hospitalized.  He'd been in the water a long time.  Yes, Angelique thought, and that water was cold.  What a shock to the system-perhaps an irreversible shock.  Angelique felt bold.  She took the doll with her and went to visit Jamison in his hospital room.  The old man was asleep, his face gray with exhaustion and shock.  Angelique searched among his personal belongs and found a still-damp handkerchief.  She began her incantation, and her murmuring woke the old man.  "What are you doing here?" he managed to croak out.</div> <div> "You dare to think that you can stop me," Angelique whispered to him, feeling her anger build.  Jamison saw the expression in her eyes, and he began to look frightened.  "Yes, you should be afraid, old man, because you haven't much time!"  She held the doll up, showing him, and then slowly pushed the pin through the heart of the doll.</div> <div> Jamison screamed loudly, rolling on his side and pushing the button to call a nurse.  Alarmed, Angelique withdrew the pin and quickly thrust the doll into her purse.  She opened the door and cried:  "Help!"  Already, she could see doctors and nurses rushing toward the room with equipment.  She turned back to Jamison, who looked at her with wide, terrified eyes and hissed:  "If you live, old man, stay out of my way!"</div> <div> He did live-just barely.  He'd had a massive coronary that destroyed a great deal of his heart muscle, leaving him in a weakened condition.  He would need Quentin more than ever-he would not be able to run the business anymore.  He stayed confined to his room most of the time, a mere shadow of his former self.  Within two years he was dead of another heart attack.</div> <div> Angelique was firmly established as the mistress of Collinwood, but now there was another conflict-Helen.  Quentin loved and respected the old drunk, and she had certain habits and customs Angelique couldn't stand.  She didn't like the parties Helen and Mrs. Johnson arranged.  There were too many Kiernan family members around-they were not of the right social class at all.  Angelique began to work on Quentin.  Mrs. Johnson had to go-Julia would make a much better housekeeper.  Quentin wouldn't hear of it.</div> <div> Angelique went to Helen next.  Very sweetly, she hinted that Helen was actually hurting Quentin's social standing.  Wouldn't it be better if she moved to Boston and lived with her sister Nancy?  She could take Mrs. Johnson, her good friend, with her.  Shocked, Helen began that drunken sentimental weeping Angelique could never stand.  "Of course, I'd do anything to help Quentin!" she wept.  "I know how hard it is for him here, with all them cold cousins looking down their noses at him!"</div> <div> "It doesn't help that they have you to remind them to look down their noses at him," Angelique sighed. "Oh, dear, I do hope I'm not hurting your feelings.  It's just that I love Quentin so…"</div> <div> "I know you do, my dear," Helen blubbered.</div> <div> Fool, Angelique thought contemptuously.  She smiled when Helen said that she'd call Nancy and see if she could come for an extended visit.  She had just told Daniel a story, turned his night light on,  and was walking down the hall to her room when she saw Quentin striding toward her, his face dark with fury.  He grabbed her by the arm.  "I want to talk to you!"</div> <div> Angelique looked at his hand and then into his face.  "Take your hand off me!  How dare you!"</div> <div> "Don't play that game with me now, you bitch!" he snapped.</div> <div> She was shocked. He'd never called her a name before.  She hit him, hard.  "Would you like everyone to hear?" she hissed at him.</div> <div> "Mommy?  Daddy?"  Daniel's quavering voice came from his still opened bedroom.</div> <div> "It's all right, son, go to sleep!" Quentin called back, his voice tense with fury.  He dragged her the rest of the way to her room and opened the door, pushing her in.  He slammed the door behind them.  "I don't give a shit who hears!" he roared.  "What did you say to my mother?"</div> <div> "Your mother?" Angelique repeated, incredulously, to buy time.  Her eyes grew huge with fury.  She might have known Helen would go whining to Quentin.  "What are you talking about?"</div> <div> "Why did you tell her to leave Collinwood, Angelique?"</div> <div> So, Helen really had gone crying to Quentin.  Playing innocent, she said defensively, "I didn't tell her to leave Collinwood, darling.  I suggested that she might be happier with your Aunt Nancy. I know she's been unhappy here with the Collinses-they've been cruel to her."</div> <div> He wasn't fooled.  "Your concern for my mother is quite touching!"  His tone was sarcastic and angry.  He began pacing.  "It's also not quite believable, dear Angelique!  Just what is it you want, anyway?"</div> <div> She felt her own anger rising.  "How dare you speak to me so!  I'll tell you what I want-respectability! I am your wife-I should be giving parties, not your mother!  And how can we gain respect when your mother doesn't invite the right people?"</div> <div> "And just who are the right people, Angelique?"</div> <div> "Not your Kiernan cousins!  What happens when they come?  Your mother and those cousins of yours get drunk and sing!  Or even worse-they fight!"  She saw Quentin's face suddenly drain of its angry red color.  His eyes became narrow slits and his hands actually clenched into fists.  Goaded, Angelique continued:  "We should be inviting the Jennings family and Mayor Billings and his wife, and that new young pianist, Bruno Hess, and the financier, Damien Edwards and his wife, and…"</div> <div> "And what do you know of high society, you whore?  Or have you been fucking the blue-bloods now?"</div> <div> She couldn't believe her ears.  She lost control of herself and flew at him in a fury, slapping, kicking, and scratching him.  He put his arms up to defend himself but made no move to hit her back.  "You are a fool, Quentin Collins!" she screamed at him with all the contempt she could muster.  "You are under my control now, you always have been, and you always will be!  You will not interfere in my plans, do you hear me?"  Somehow, he and her father became confused images in her mind, and she knew she was lashing out in rage at her father as well as at Quentin.</div> <div> He managed to get his arms around her, pinning them to her sides, dragging her to the bed and pushing her down.  He was very aroused, and so was she.  Yes, she would let him have her because she wanted him now, too.  He kissed her, hard, and she tasted the blood in his mouth.  She caught his cut lip in her mouth and sucked the blood from it, exhilarated and feeling drunk with power.  He thought he was in control, but he wasn't-oh no, she was manipulating him as if he was a puppet.</div> <div> As he ripped her blouse open, one of her hands became free and she reached up to rake her fingers across his face.  She was gratified to see the scratches beginning to bleed, and she used her fingertips to wipe off the blood so she could taste and savor it again.  He didn't seem to notice, tearing at her clothes and his own, he pushed her legs apart and moved between them.  Both of her hands were free now and she used them to slap and punch at him, as if she wanted to fend him off.  He grabbed her wrists and pinned them to either side of her head, pushing into her.  She screamed, climaxing immediately, and driving him to a maddened frenzy.</div> <div> When he was spent, he sat up almost immediately.  In spite of everything, he was still a decent man, she thought contemptuously.  "I'm sorry," he muttered.  He was apologizing to her-in spite of the scratches, the bruise on his cheek, the cut lip, and the bloody nose! He was sorry-in spite of the cruel things she'd said to his mother!  It was too funny.</div> <div> She laughed.  "You are a fool, Quentin Collins!  Get out of here!"</div> <div> He got up abruptly, pulling his pants up and putting his shirt on.  He looked down at her, and she almost thought he would apologize again, but he didn't.  His face was battered, and she wondered what cover story he would give this time to explain the bruises and scratches on his face.  His features hardened, and there was real hatred in his eyes for the first time.  She stopped laughing.  He left the room.</div> <div> When Helen Kiernan didn't leave the house fast enough, Angelique arranged another accidental death.  With Helen out of the way, Angelique was free to fire Mrs. Johnson and install Julia in her place.  Quentin was too grief stricken to make any attempt to stop that injustice, and Mrs. Johnson was unceremoniously told to remove herself from the premises.  Now Angelique was free to be mistress of Collinwood as she saw fit, and she established a reign of terror over the other family members.  She was free to do exactly as she pleased, entertain whom she pleased, and go to bed with whom she pleased.</div> <div> She didn't know whether she really loved Quentin or not.  She supposed she did.  She still desired him from time to time, and she knew that in spite of his hatred, he also still loved and desired her.  Otherwise, their relationship continued to deteriorate.  Their arguments echoed down the halls of Collinwood, and she continued to take great pleasure in hitting him, knowing he wouldn't hit her back.  The rest of the household members knew what was going on; no one protested.  Elizabeth was horrified but too frightened to speak up.  Roger openly approved and applauded her; she grinned, knowing how much he hated Quentin and enjoyed seeing him humiliated.  The only people who might have spoken up for Quentin had long since moved to Rose Cottage.  David and Rose Collins had removed themselves and their daughter Amy after Jamison died.</div> <div> All of the obstacles had been removed, one by one, Angelique reflected.  She'd been at the zenith of her power, heady and almost drunk with it.  She'd been taking lover after lover, learning new spells, practicing her magic-and then it had all abruptly ended with the séance.  She never would have dreamed that Quentin would be capable of killing her, but apparently she'd seriously misjudged him.  Julia told her that was her weakness-she never could quite get hold of her power completely, and she never could quite control Quentin completely either.  Her failings-but they would be corrected now.</div> <div> There was a knock on her door.  Inspector Hamilton must be finished with Julia and was now ready to question her.  She composed herself, concentrating with all her will until her breathing had becoming slow and regular and her features had become calm and cool.  She stood slowly and went to the door.  She was in control now and ready to take care of the good inspector.  This time, nothing would go wrong.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id103.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Den of Vipers"><U>Den of Vipers</U></A>    <A HREF="id105.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Converging Forces"><U>Converging Forces</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Adam in Parallel Time"><U>Adam in Parallel Time</U></A>     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cassies Writing"><U>Cassie's Writing</U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>