And now for the continuation of Venetian Vixen. As I said before, don’t read this post in your cubicle or while operating heavy machinery. And under no circumstances should you read this aloud to small children or individuals with heart problems.
If you haven’t already read the beginning of the story, start here: Chapters 1 & 2
CHAPTER 3
Benedetta awoke the next morning with a start. Dawn’s rosy fingers had not yet crept through the crack between her bedroom drapes, but she could hear a lone cock crowing in the courtyard.
She was not the only one awake so early; agitated murmurs and quiet weeping drifted to her ears from the hallway, but she could only make out the words “Moor,” “strangled,” and “jealousy.”
Curious to know more, Benedetta got out of bed and hurried to the door to put her ear up against it. She could make out the light tones of her chambermaid, but a deeper voice joined the conversation soon after she began to listen.
“…Iago had said Cassio was the object of her affections,” said the chambermaid.
“That deceitful snake?” scoffed the male voice. “I went to university with him. He is never to be trusted. If only I had arrived a few days earlier! I could have warned Otello of his nature.”
“They say that Iago has not yet been found. The soldiers are searching the town, and…” the maid’s voice got louder as she got closer to the door. Benedetta backed away, but not quickly enough, for the door opened to reveal her standing in the middle of the room, wearing nothing but her gauzy summer chemise and a slightly shocked expression.
The occupants of the hallway were likewise surprised, standing frozen for several seconds. The chambermaid reacted first, exclaiming, “Oh, your ladyship! I did not think you would be awake,” and hastening into the room.
The man standing in the hallway, however, just stood there, staring unabashedly at her with a grin on his face. Benedetta realized that he was the mysterious man from the day before. “I didn’t realize people could blush there,” she heard the man chuckle as her maid closed the door.
******
CHAPTER 4
The door slammed shut in Guilliermo’s face. Still grinning, he turned and walked down the hall toward his own chambers.
He had spent half the night trying to discover the identity of the woman who had so bewitched him. After bribing almost all the footmen in the palace, he was informed that the lady in question was staying not 20 yards from his own apartments. His intent had certainly not been to spy upon her maidenly charms…but now that he had spied them, he could not get the alluring vision out of his head.
That long, flowing hair, those taut rosebuds peeking from behind the veil of that incandescent gauze! The mere memory was enough to make his nethers begin to stir. He shifted uncomfortably, nodded to the guard standing in the hall, and entered his chamber.
His manservant, Ferrando, had been nodding off, waiting for Guillermo’s return. Upon hearing the door open, he leapt to his feet and knocked over the platter of meats that he had carefully laid out for his master some six hours prior.
Guillermo looked at Ferrando with one eyebrow raised.
“Any news, signor?” Ferrando squeaked as he hastily picked up the mess from the floor.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Guillermo crowed, and he recounted his encounter with Benedetta in the hallway. Ferrando, having put the platter to rights, proceeded to fill Guillermo’s bathtub with warm water, making noises of consternation or appreciation at the appropriate time during his recitation.
“I also discovered,” Guillermo added as he picked up a sausage from the platter and slid it into his mouth, “that she is a Medici.”
Ferrando nearly dropped the bucket he was holding. “A Medici? Signor, are you sure you want to dabble in the affairs of that family?”
Guillermo grinned again as he remembered Benedetta’s gauze-clad figure. He removed his trousers and stepped into the tub, his appreciation for Benedetta fully evident on his own naked form. “Oh yes, I am certain I want to dabble in her affairs.”
(to be continued…)