Tess St. Claire

My Word...he sure looks the part! Although, when I saw him this season on 'Deadwood' I had to do a double take at first...he looked taller for some reason Hollywood seems to agree with this man! I hope to meet him again!

Disguise

"When ye sez game o' cards, does ye mean gamblin' or parlor games? Cause if'n ye mean gamblin', I'm sure we could lighten yer purse for ye." She smiles wickedly. "My dear Jacky...gambling is the second thing I do very well!"

Masquerade

Tess walks up to Jacky. "First of all...I shall be no one's lap dog...that role is fit for only men...and that particular man must prove himself worthy...in more ways than one!" She quickly looked at the crowd that had gathered. Silkie sitting next to Striker and Jacky and Ransom partaking a bit of champagne. "I see you lot have made yourself quite at home. Who can I interest in a game of cards?"

Tess stood in the middle of the street as several soldiers ran off after the two ruffians. She was more than upset. Her face showed signs of hostile intent as the taller of the two soldiers continued to ask questions. “When did you find him dead M’Lady?” Tess shot the soldier a look. “Why do you waste my time with such questions? I shall go to the local magistrate myself if you continue to waste more time. They are getting away and I am shocked and appalled that I must defend my actions to you. I am Lady Tess St. Claire! Port Royal is becoming a vat of disgusting low lives! If it were for my dealings with the local sugar cane farmers I would leave here tomorrow.” She shook her head with disbelief. “I swear that God himself should destroy this ‘Sodom and Gomorra’! I cannot believe such men exist in this world. Who would ever think of killing a man and stealing him from his death bed?!” She pressed her finger into the soldier’s jacket. “I expect them to be caught and the body brought back to me! If you don’t there shall be head to roll!” With that, she turned and reentered the Inn.

Come Ransom...Captain Striker and the lot of you... Would you evening chance eating with me about? You know that some shell fish can be very deadly indeed.

And dearest John...what is wrong with the love of money? Or for that matter, the love of station?

“STOP THEM!” Screamed Tess St. Claire from the front entrance of The Shipp Inn! “Murders! Murders! They’ve done in Master Killingsworth!” She quickly made her way down the middle of the street running after the two as they carried the body of her beloved cousin away.

Oh come now Johnny! says Tess looking somewhat upset. You know our fathers wanted us to marry. It was a good arrangement for both houses! You never truly understood your father's way of thinking, did you?"

“Hush fool! Do you want the whole of Port Royal to know I have you hidden here in my room? Tess just shook her head. “You are in too deep cousin and I am sure that Darnly does not want you to make any more mistakes, cousin.” Killingsworth looked over at Tess in shock. “Yes, I know why you are here, Reggie. You were instructed to bring back the whore McKinney for Darnly, is that correct? She said smiling lightly and tucking his covers in as she did so. “Do you wish to know what else Darnly has been up to in your absence in London for I will be happy to tell you?” She drew close to his side and whispered to him. “He has found Lilly’s bastard son, Hector, whom was hidden away in a north-country farm. All he needs now is his sweet little whore. But I have other plans for her. She will not make it back to Darnly nor London. I plan to take her out of the picture completely. Why, you may ask?” She said smiling again, then kissing her cousins cheeky. “So I can have my dear Captain all to myself! Darnly has offered me a great sum of money to take care of a few things here in Port Royal, cousin and one of them is you.” She then kissed him full upon the lips. Killingsworth now looked on in horror as she told her tale. His mind now overwhelmed and he began to shake. His body now was drenched in sweat. “You will fail at your attempt, Tess. You cannot be serious about these matters? We …we can work together. I can manage the girl while…you.” “Shh…” Hushed Tess as she stroked his hair softly. “Do not fret yourself with such things, Reggie. Just close your eyes for a bit. The poison is working nicely. May the Angels take you to your rest, dear cousin?” In a state of panic, Killingsworth tried to move from his bed, but the drug she had slipped into his tea made is muscles lock and now he reeled with pain from it. His stomach was now on fire and his body was thrown into fits. All the while Tess watched him die. After a few moments, it was over with. The lifeless body of Reginald Killingsworth lied dead in the tiny little bed in the Shipp Inn. Tess kissed the forehead of her cousin and pulled the sheets over his head. “May God have mercy on your soul.” She whispered. She withdrew from the bed and soon she would send for Sam to help her in the disposal of the body. Port Royal now had another more deadly member to its' population. Tess St. Claire.

Tess looked down at Killingsworth with horror. “’Tis this true? I heard of a Captain being shot two days ago. Are you sure that it is Captain John Sterling?” Killingsworth nodded for a moment. “The man has some luck, though. He never seems to fall from grace and he always has someone helping him out. Damn it all to Hell!” Tess’ eyes narrowed at her cousin. “Yes, God’s hand always follows him.” The room went quiet again. Killingsworth looked back at Tess. “Oh please don’t tell me that you have come all this way to negotiate a wedding proposal with him…again!” “Please Reggie. I do not need a lecture from you…of all people!” She wiped her tear drenched face with the back of her hand. “I would have been married to him these last seven years if it weren’t for that whore he married from Covenant Garden. How he fell in love with her I will never know. He gave up everything…money, title, ME! Now look at him. The court shuns him as well as his father. If he had a brain in his head he would marry me. I can give him money, power, and he could show his face in court without shame!” The room again went silent. There were only stares between the two of them. It was then Tess drew a cup of tea from the small pot she had sitting on her writing desk. “Cousin, I am glad that I came here to Port Royal as soon it did, for you would have been at the hands of the hangman’s noose.” Killingworth just looked up at her and sneered. “Lies…all of it lies.” It was then she looked down at him with loving concern. “Do not lie to me cousin. I am not a fool like the rest of our family. Do you not think I remember that little episode while you were in the last semester of school? That too, ended poorly. If it weren’t for my father’s intervention on that matter, you would be dead by now. I am surprised that you have not been picked up by the local magistrate for you actions. What forced your hand this time, cousin? Did your ego get in the way of your male erecting again or mayhap it was your speech being mocked by one of the locals?”

Tess St. Claire listened to the man’s foot fall walk away from her doorway. She took a deep breath and waited before she opened the door. The hallway was clear once more, but before she shut it, she realized that the flower she has posted outside her door was now gone. She quickly grabbed another and tied it to her door knob. “There…” She said to herself as she suddenly heard someone coming up the stairs. This time, the sound was heavy and there were two sets of foot fall. She quickly shut the door and took a seat at her writing desk.

As the door opened, Tess St. Claire looked at the young dashing man that stood before her. She remembered his face from the Tavern earlier and was very surprised to see him and not the young man named Jack before her door. “Yes..yes…may I help you?” She said, somewhat put off by her discovery. The man only smiled at her and uttered a friendly hello. “I am sorry but you have made a horrid mistake. The whores are down stairs in the Tavern if you wish a night of fancy. I, sir, bid you good night!” And with that she slammed the door in the young man’s face.

Early upon her arrival Lady Tess St. Claire was told that Reginald Killingsworth’s lodgings were next to hers. She floated down the dimly lit hallway to the door next to hers. First, she listened to the door just to make sure she wasn’t entering a room that was already occupied. Then, from her hair she took a pin and picked to lock to obtain access to his room. Never mind the fact that she learned that little trick while she was carousing with those of lesser station than she near Rose Alley back in London. She was of the belief that everyone, no matter who they were, could easily climb the ladder as well as fall from it. She never forgot who she was or where she came from, but life deals an unfair hand to those even with wealth. She pushed the door open and quickly found a candle and lit it. The room was left clean and straight. The bed had been made and Killingsworth’s items were still where he left them. It was then she began her search. From books to draws, to writing table to pockets; Tess searched the room for any evidence of Killingsworth’s business. With a sigh she threw her hands up in the air and then threw her head back in anguish. “Oh! How could I have come this far and not fine anything of …” As she opened her eyes she suddenly saw something neatly thrown up into the rafters of the room. There was a sack resting between two beams. “Hello?” She muttered as she quickly grabbed the desk chair and pulled it to the middle of the room. Gingerly, she stood very still upon the chair and pulled down the sack. She jumped off the chair and quickly untied the sack to find several pieces of clothing drenched in blood. She first looked at the items is shock and horror. The rumors were true. It was Killingsworth who killed Molly. Tess refused to let fear take her over. She quickly placed the blood stained clothes back in the sack and placed the sack back where she found it. As she placed the chair back under the writing desk she realized that her assignment had now became a more deadly challenge. Darnly had no idea that the man he sent to recapture his lovely Lilly had murdered a woman. As far as Tess saw it…this changed to rules. Tess quickly blew out the candle and snuck out of the room before anyone saw her in there. As Tess quickly entered her own lodgings she let out a sigh. “Why did he have to do such a thing?!” She murmured to herself. She walked to the window and looked out to the street below. “God help me, but for those involve I pray I have the strength to do what I must do.”

“I shall make myself very clear, Jack.” Said Lady Tess as she lent forward and whispered to him. “Bring Reggie Killingsworth back here to the Ship Inn and I promise you that you will be well rewarded. Let us say, 20 guineas?” She watched the man’s face brighten at the price. “I see by the expression upon your face that is an agreeable sum to you.” She quickly stood up and gave him a half a crown. “Make sure you bring him through the kitchen’s entrance up the back stairwell. My room is the last one at the end of the hall. I shall mark it with a flower. Now, do as you are told and remember what I have said!” The man looked down at the coin in his hand. “Do not fail me, Jack. You do not wish to cross me. You will be very sorry if you do.” It was then she walked away and passed the young Captain smoking his pipe. He looked over at her and gestured a nod of greeting. Then Tess St. Claire walked up the stairs back to her room leaving Jack to start thinking hard about how he was going to retrieve the injured man.

"Ye know of his whereabouts, then?" She said looking somewhat flustered. She couldn't believe her luck. How could Killingsworth elude her for almost two days, and yet end up back in her lap before the day was done. "Very well...if you do know of him and his whereabouts, describe him to me." She wasn't going to be swindled out of her cash that easily. She watched the young man fidget a bit upon her request. "Come now...I am sure if you tell the truth, you will also be able to tell me why he hasn't been back to his apartments here at the Inn." She smiled to herself. By God, She thought to herself. I am witty!

Lady St. Claire looked over at the man who stood before her. “Jack, is it?” She said with a smile. “I have all ready obtained my need for a hired hand, thank yee. If yee are looking for work, I fear I do not need more than one man to suit me as of the moment. Go back to the docks with thee.” She watched the man’s face fall as she turned back to the two twins making a bit of ruckus in the tavern. Their boisterous tones carried out unto the streets. It was then the man cleared his throat once more and whispered in a low tone. “I think I can obtain something that ye been looking for. A certain person of interest to you, Lady. For the right price, he can be obtained within the evening.”

So False Ransom...you keep friends close, but your enemies closer? I would be very warry of such dealings....especially with a THAT man.

Execution

Tess places down her bowl of coffee. “You are quite bold and presumptuous in addressing your betters in such a fashion!” "I am a Lady...and will be addressed as such!" She barked at him. Here eyes narrowed a bit as she waited for his apologies. “You know who I am? ‘Tis very odd, I do not remember you nor your face. Do you work here at the Inn? If so, know your place and address me properly!” She turned back to her attentions of the two men in the alley. “What’s your name, boy?”

She sat outside The Ship Inn and took her coffee. She watched the crowds mingle back in forth as the day progressed. Still mulling around in her mind was the urgency of obtaining the whereabouts of Reginald Killingsworth. Time was an issue for her. She did not like being away from home too long. There were matters that she had to attend to with her father and others. She missed the sights and sounds of covenant garden. Yes, she was no stranger to that place, or the carrying-ons that occurred there. She could always find a game of cards with those willing to be parted from their money. She got the ‘sickness’ for the game three years ago and got the reputation in for it too. All was going well until one night she ran out of time…and money. She had pushed her luck too far that night. The stakes were high. The bid was against a well known suitor from the French court. Unfortunately, she wasn’t concentrating on the game very well. Perhaps it was too much wine, tobacco or mayhap, the seductive promises of the French suitor. She lost everything…money, vouchers for her small sums, and her womanly ‘virtue’. Now, she planned to pay off her debtors with the money she would get from doing this odd ‘task’ for Lord Darnly. He was willing to pay more than enough for her time and service. She had many talents and Lord Darnly was certain that she could carry off his request. She looked up from her bowl to see two young men walking down the back ally. Both were fair in age and in color. Though, they both could do with a hot meal and perhaps a stock of new clothes. She watched as the two bickered with each other, heavy tone of their accents sounded Gaelic. She pursed her lips for a moment and with narrow eyes she pondered a plan.

Now...now, do not upset yourself Ransom. Killingsworth isn't worth that much trouble. I should know. He's really not that bad....just has issues with expressing himself. If you have any questions, just PM him when you can...I'm sure he'll be happy to help out...

Tess St. Claire looks over at the three of them. She shakes her head at them. "Come now Reggie, you must know that you are not the sort to be giving information! You barely escaped from your torture and now you treat Ransom with ill-manners such as these? You are no blood cousin of mine!" She throws back her last drop of port and slowly removes herself from the table. "I need to get back to the Inn. I must finish some business. Please be a good sport and pick up the tab? That's quite nice of you Reggie..."

Lake of Fire