Jewel Ascending Ch. 07

Jewel hated to do it but...she poked Donna right in the side.

"Whuh?" Donna gasped momentarily as her eyes opened.

It took her a moment to remember where she was before she stretched and smiled easily at Jewel.

"Good Morning Beautiful." Jewel greeted.

"Good Morning my Jewel." Donna replied, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Jewel smiled. 'Her Jewel'. It felt right.

"Why did you wake me? I was having such a pleasant dream." Donna asked softly with confusion.

"It's just morning. My staff will come in soon with breakfast so, you know..."

Jewel indicated Donnas' current state of undress.

"Can't they wait?" She asked.

Suddenly the doors to the master bedroom opened and Jewel giggled as Donna sat up in a panic and struggled to disentangle her nightie from her waist and pull it up over her breasts and down over her hips.

Jewel sat up as well. She admired Donnas' exposed naked body for as long as she could, then admire her figure of her now covered form.

Jewel's staff entered. One maid crossed the room and opened the window drapes to let in the natural light while another fluffed up the pillows behind Jewel and then Donna as yet a third maid brought over breakfast trays and placed them precisely across their laps.

"Good morning Lady Delacroix...and Miss Hancock," Dianne greeted, following the staff into the master bedroom "I hope you slept well."

"Yes, very well" Jewel answered with a huge smile.

Dianne waved to a maid, indicating she should open a window. The whole room had a faint aroma of sex.

"What is my schedule for today?" Jewel asked. Jewel was amused as Donna for her part seemed a bit off now after the sudden intrusion of four other women into the bedroom.

"It's Sunday my lady. Church service is at 10AM. You will arrive early and light a candle for your departed husband, as you always do, and after church you have a day of rest until tonight. You will entertain guests tonight arriving this evening for an informal dinner at 7pm."

"Sounds wonderful." Jewel replied.

"Miss Hancock, Shall I call a cab for you to take you home?" Dianne asked icily.

Dianne was disappointed with Jewel. Why would Lady Delacroix have sex with a woman? Dianne wondered if this would affect her courtship with Kyle. Dianne hoped to be rid of Donna quickly. She hoped she caught the hint about lighting a candle for her departed husband. Lady Delacroix was still in mourning after all.

Dianne knew that Lady Oldsworth would also be attending the dinner tonight and her son Kyle as well. Dianne was eager to keep up her social media posts with stories of the burgeoning romance between Kyle and Jewel. A female lover was a distraction she didn't want Lady Delacroix to have.

"So maybe after Breakfast I can give you a tour of my home." Jewel offered.

Donna lifted the cloche covering her plate and was impressed with the presentation of her breakfast. This must really be living, she thought.

"Yes. I'd like that."

**

The Tour of Delacroix Mansion.

Jewel and Donna showered...separately, Jewel sadly noted. Jewel was very happy to loan Donna some clothes for the day. Jewel invited her to church but Donna politely declined. She had work at the coffee shop later.

So dressed in simple morning dresses, white for Donna and black again for Jewel, Jewel took Donna for a quick tour of her mansion.

The upper floor was easy as it was her private quarters and a dozen guest bedroom suites complete with private sitting areas and individual bathrooms.

She skipped her master bedroom, her closet, her private bathroom, (formerly) Count Delacroix's private bathroom and closet. Donna had already seen that last night and again this morning.

Jewel escorted Donna down the grand staircase to the main floor. It was fun to point out that the grand staircase had stairs that mirrored each other on the left and right side of the room leading down to the expansive main hall and foyer. It was designed so the master and mistress of the house could each descend a set of stairs and impress their guests.

Jewel spoke knowledgeably about the ornate chandelier that dominated the ceiling and illuminated the room. The foyer and main hall flowed easily into a large ballroom that also connected to the conservatory at the back of the house.

The mansion could easily entertain over 100 guests in a formal setting, 300 if necessary.

Off the main hallway to one side Jewel treated Donna to tours of the private Library, her salon; her private office study, and some sitting rooms.

Coming back through the hall and ballroom they toured the conservatory where Jewel pointed out beautiful and rare plants and flowers preserved in living glory.

It was raining so Jewel skipped the tour of the outdoor gardens and simply showed Donna the expansive commercial grade kitchens, scullery, and pantry before finishing up the first floor with the large formal dining room.

They peeked into the clean and roomy garage that housed Count Delacroix's, now Jewels, auto collection.

"And now for the fun stuff...the basement" Jewel

"What's so fun about a basement?" Donna asked.

"Easy...the wine cellar!" Jewel practically laughed out loud as the stone and oaken walled room was filled with thousands of expensive and rare bottles of wine.

Jewel offered to open a bottle for Donna and have a glass of wine, it's 5-0'clock somewhere, but Donna merely smiled and politely refused.

"Let's cut through here; these are only the mechanical rooms but on the other side are a daylight basement and that's where we have my gym and my endless pool."

As they made their way through the mechanical section of the basement Donna spotted something.

"What's down that way?" Donna asked.

"Umm..." Jewel had to pause and think. She rarely ever crossed through these rooms and wasn't exactly certain. She had to mentally think about the layout of the mansion above to figure it out.

"I think that way leads to the back of the grotto, basically a huge hot tub kind of thing. It's a historic feature that is in an artificial cave that's mostly just under the conservatory. Normally you go into it from outside by a garden path. I think the room with the pool pumps and filters and stuff that support it are that way."

"Can I see it?"

Jewel paused. It would be easier than going back up and around and through the house and gardens. Plus they'd avoid the rain.

"Sure."

Part way down the dimly lit corridor Jewel and Donna came to an oaken medieval door.

Donna noticed Jewel become hushed and appeared frightened and tremulous, all color seems to have drained from her.

"I...I...didn't know this was here." Jewel said. She appeared stunned.

Donna pushed open the door and flipped on a light switch and was astonished to see a sex dungeon.

Jewel yelped in fear. She was overcome with nausea and a feely of queasiness. On the verge of collapse she stumbled at the open doorway and watched as Donna walked slowly inside.

The large square room with stone walls and dark grey carpet lay before her. The room was replete with equipment anyone even remotely familiar with BDSM would recognize.

There was a spanking horse, a St. Andrews Cross, stocks and pillories, cuffs and bonds hanging off hooks from the wall, paddles and crops, a hoist, and other such and sundry equipment.

Donna looked mostly amused at the display of fetish equipment and had not noticed Jewel's unease. She stopped at a table near the pillory and picked up a weird looking helmet. It looked new and had a hinged metal framework to enclose the head. There was a metal blind across the eyes and a bit or gag that looked to fit into the mouth and compress the tongue.

"What is this thing anyway?"

Jewel swallowed hard.

"That's a 'scold' helmet."

"Does this thing actually work?" Donna still seemed amused by the awkward thing.

"Yes."

Donna put the scold helmet back down on the table and noticed that in one corner of the room there was a large cubicle with a small low door.

"What's in there?" Donna asks.

"Darkness." Jewel answered, then fainted collapsing onto the floor.

**

Jewel awoke to find she was in her sick room. Worried staff looked as her doctor stood over her. Jewel saw that Donna stood on the opposite side of the bed from the doctor, her face plastered with worry.

Her doctor gave Jewel a thorough examination and after questioning diagnosed her with exhaustion before recommending rest and sedation.

Jewel and Donna both ignored the sedation pills as the doctor finished, politely excused himself, leaving Jewel and Donna alone.

"I never knew."

"Knew what?" Donna held Jewels hand and stroked her hair as she spoke softly, voice barely above a whisper.

"It was here the whole time."

"The sex dungeon?" Donna asked.

"No...Just...dungeon." Jewel corrected.

**

"I always thought that they took me away somewhere. I never knew that my torture chamber was right here in this house the whole time."

"What do you mean?" Donna asked, concerned.

"Torture and Darkness." Jewel answered softly, a quaver in her voice.

"There was another time I tried to escape. I had found a mule, basically a specialist who said she could ferry me across the sea to Italy. It cost a fortune to me as I wasn't able to get cash easily. And like most of these deals, it was half up front, half on delivery. When I escaped the house and made it to the rendezvous I was caught right away."

"By who?" Donna asked sympathetically.

"It had been a set up the whole time. The mule was just a plant to lure me to see if I was faking happiness in marriage."

Donna struggled with her emotions seeing as Jewel was so close to breaking down before her.

"Suffice it to say that I was taken to what I thought was a remote location and..."

"You were tortured." Donna finished Jewel's sentence.

"Yes."

Jewel struggled to reign in her roiling emotions. Donna remained silent and waited patiently for Jewel to continue.

"They threw me into that dark cell...and left me there."

"I thought I would starve, or die of thirst."

"In absolute darkness, alone, afraid, in my own waste..."

"I had given up and was ready to die when suddenly a door opened and I was dragged from the cell."

"I was washed with a hose. Someone forced food and water down my throat. They gave me drugs of some sort; I remember the needle entering my arm." Jewel absentmindedly rubbed her arm where the needle had penetrated her skin.

"And then the torture began. A hood was placed over my head and..."

Jewel sobbed but no tears would escape her eyes.

"They wanted to compel cooperation and obedience."

Jewel looked up into Donnas beautiful eyes.

"They got it."

Donna could not conceal her expression of horror upon hearing of Jewel's ordeal.

"I have no idea how long I suffered. Time lost all meaning..."

"Nothing but pain...and darkness..."

Jewel finally broke down and cried, her tears streaming down her cheekbones.

Donna wrapped both of her arms around Jewel and took her tightly into her embrace.

Donna felt shame for her assumptions back at boarding school about Jewel being a stereotypical spoiled and unhappy child. Donna had simply assumed that Jewel was unhappy with her marriage, nothing more. She had preyed upon Jewel for shallow and selfish reasons. She had viewed Jewel as another sexual conquest, and sought to use her to satisfy her libido and ego. Donna felt ashamed of her assumptions that lead to her seduction of Jewel back in boarding school.

Donna gripped Jewels hand and held tight. She had misjudged Jewel. Fate had saw fit to give her a chance to make things right.