title: Command Performance
author: Goodfellow, Kristine
description: Archer Hudson is a world-renowned pianist with a reputation for being aloof and unsociable. Only his manager and his childhood friend know the real reason Archer is rarely seen offstage. The virtuoso not only suffers from a terrible stammer, but also Tourette’s syndrome which was unknown in the 1800’s and treated like insanity. After a concert, Victoria Hesselbeck slips into Archer’s dressing room with seduction on her mind and bitter envy in her heart. Archer quickly becomes obsessed with the beautiful, older woman. After his first sexual experience, he will do anything to please her. Victoria invites her infatuated sexual protégé for an extended stay at her mansion where Archer becomes the genius at her command. Her temperamental and unpredictable behavior causes Archer’s symptoms to worsen. Victoria’s maid, Torry Newhouse, risks her job and her life to keep the man she secretly loves from falling prey to the devious plot her unstable employer has for him.