Cassandra's Conflict Read Online Free PDF Page B

unevenly, but realised that the room was hot.
    'I think I'll open a window,' Cassandra said quickly.
    'They don't open,' Katya interjected.
    Cassandra frowned. 'Why not?'
    'Well, Dieter's obsessed with the girls' safety. He's always worrying that they're going to fall off their ponies or out of windows, so most of the windows in the house are shuttered and barred. There's a fan above the bed. It works very well, we've got one in our room too, and there's also air conditioning but I'm afraid we don't use ours much. It seems to dry your throat out after a while.'
    'But it's stuffy in here,' Cassandra persisted.
    For a moment Katya's eyes flashed angrily, then she gave a quick smile and putting out a hand tugged gently on what Cassandra had taken to be an out-of-date bell pull. At once a huge wooden fan in the ceiling started to rotate silently, and cool air moved around them.
    'See! I told you it was marvellous. When I'm hot I often lie on the bed quite naked and let it cool me down that way. You can't imagine how good it feels.'
    Cassandra, who was hot and sticky by now, could imagine it very well. She found that she could also imagine Katya without her clinging micro-dress lying spreadeagled on the bed, and this made her so uncomfortable that she didn't know what to say.
    Katya watched the younger woman and smiled to herself. This wasn't even going to be a contest. There were no depths to Cassandra. She was simply a surprisingly naive and as yet unawakened young woman, but there was nothing in her that would hold the baron's attention for very long. After all, it could only take a certain amount of time to spoil the innocence, and after that she couldn't imagine he'd find anything of interest in her. No, she, Katya would be the winner of this game, and she should never have lain awake half the night worrying about her opponent. From now on if she stayed awake at night it would be to plan the girl's degradation and downfall, then when the game was over she'd persuade Dieter to hand Cassandra over to Rupert for safekeeping. That way Katya would know the degradation would continue and could even, if she found a lot of pleasure in her over the next few weeks, pay the occasional visit herself. Rupert wouldn't mind.
    'I'm so glad you like it,' she said brightly. 'Lucy will be up to unpack your cases in a minute. The baron will be home shortly after lunch and he'll explain what your duties are for the rest of the day. If I were you I'd have a little rest before you come down for lunch. The bathroom's through that door there; be careful, there are a couple of steps it's easy to miss.'
    'Where do I go for lunch?' Cassandra asked.
    'When it's nice like today we usually eat out on the back terrace. The children will join us. Their manners don't matter in the garden!'
    'I thought their manners were amazing,' Cassandra protested. 'They were the politest little girls I've ever met.'
    'How sweet you are.' Katya smiled again, but only with her mouth, and Cassandra took a small step away from the other woman. Suddenly she had the feeling that Katya didn't really like her, but she knew she must be mistaken because she'd been chattering away like an old friend until then and anyway Katya didn't have any reason to dislike her.
    'Thank you,' Cassandra murmured.
    'Oh, I didn't mean it as a compliment,' Katya replied, but before Cassandra could reply Katya had turned and left the room, letting the heavy oak door swing shut behind her.
    The baron was sprawled face down on the bed, resting his chin in his hands as he kept his eyes glued to the TV set in the corner of the room. When Katya came in he didn't even acknowledge her presence, and although piqued she knew better than to try and force him to speak.
    The silence in the room grew heavy with anticipation as they watched the unsuspecting Cassandra begin her exploration of the bathroom with its sunken whirlpool bath, and the baron smiled as she looked in astonishment at the wall behind the bath