Authors: Maggie Ryan
“Yes sir, I’m sorry Sir.”
Edward allowed Lucy to squirm and
struggle until she wore herself out.
Only then did he lift her skirts and lay them up across her back.
She sobbed at the shame of it all, and
suddenly her desire for independence in making her own decisions paled in
comparison to the decision her guardian had obviously made.
She began promising better behavior when
she felt her drawers being drawn down until her bottom was bare.
Edward lifted his hand and brought it
down again and again on the swells of her bottom.
Lucy hadn’t been spanked since she was a
child, and was horrified at how awful the experience was.
By the time Edward finally allowed her
up, her bottom felt as if it had been branded and her throat ached with her
begging for him to stop.
Edward
spoke only to order her to the corner and promised a second spanking if she
didn’t keep her dress up and her spanked bottom on display.
Lucy had been mortified, but
obeyed.
She stood sobbing in the
corner, even as she heard a similar spanking being given to her sister.
Edward had sent his wife to another
corner and the girls had stood for over an hour, skirts lifted and bottoms
exposed, until the redness of their spankings began to fade.
Hearing Edward speak now in that same
no-nonsense tone of voice forced Lucy to admit she would not win this battle,
either.
Biting her tongue, she
mumbled, “No sir, I don’t need a reminder.”
Edward nodded as if her answer had been
expected.
He turned to Thorne.
“Perhaps sitting on a well-striped
bottom will help her concentrate more fully on her lessons.”
He smiled imagining the small woman
squirming on the hard seat of her desk chair.
He also found himself grateful for the
time alone with Louisa that the offer extended to him.
“Yes, I believe it would serve her well.
She will also spend the rest of the
weekend buried in her books.
I also assure you that if she should show a lack of enthusiasm; her
bottom will pay an even higher price than it will during her appointment with
me this evening.
Thank you again
for your generous offer.”
Lucy
failed to hear her sister’s gasp and wouldn’t have understood
its
meaning even if she had.
Louisa’s bottom clenched and she
shuddered at the renewed flare of pain as she found herself praying hard for
her husband to be merciful.
Lucy tried to control a new rush of tears at
Edward’s words.
She wondered if a
person could really die of embarrassment.
If so, she would soon be a corpse.
Headmaster Thorne opened the door and stood back to usher them out of
his office.
As they walked down the
corridor towards the front of the building, Lucy kept her eyes on the floor.
She was conscious of others in the hall
and knew that everyone was aware of what had transpired in the headmaster’s
office.
She was ashamed of her
behavior and absolutely humiliated that she had been so soundly caned that her
cries must have echoed around the school.
She was unaware that several students were looking at her in sympathy
while professors simply smiled and were pleased that the deceitful young women
obviously had gotten what they deserved.
Her history professor saw the look on Lord Wintercrest’s face and knew
unquestionably that these two had not yet paid the full price this man would
deem necessary for their misbehavior.
Lucy was led into the room where mathematics was taught.
Professor Lloyds stood from behind his
desk and understood from the obvious distress on her face that she had been
well punished.
His heart ached a
bit as he found he had a soft spot for the young woman.
“Professor, I’ve offered your services as you
suggested, and Lord Wintercrest has graciously agreed that Lucille should spend
a few hours under your excellent guidance,” the headmaster spoke as he led Lucy
to stand in front of her professor’s desk.
He smiled and added cruelly, “Of course, she probably will need reminding
to sit still as she does her lessons and I hope you show a bit of mercy.
After all, it is indeed difficult to sit
on a well caned bottom – especially since she misbehaved and earned extra
strokes.”
Lucy heard her sister
gasp and clenched her hands at her sides.
The man was just plain cruel.
Of course everyone was aware of what had
taken place, but to mention it so blatantly was just hateful.
Professor Lloyds seemed to agree as he said,
“I’m sure Miss Furniss has learned her lesson, Sir.
I have no doubt that she will attend her
studies with the utmost concentration.
Please, Lord Wintercrest, she shall be ready to return home in time for
dinner, if that meets with your approval.”
Edward thought the man brave to be so brazen in front of his employer
yet found his respect grow.
Before Thorne could open his mouth he said, “I
appreciate your help, Sir.
I
believe you will find Lucy far more attentive this afternoon.
Have her ready to return home in four hours
if you agree.
I realize that will
not be enough time for Lucille to learn all she needs for her examination, but,
as I’ve assured Headmaster Thorne, she will also spend her weekend with her
head in her books or her bottom will pay an even bigger price.”
Thorne was upset at being left out of the
conversation, but found he was satisfied with the knowledge that the little
sneak would have her bottom reddened several times before she returned to his
school on Monday morning.
He left
the room thinking that with this silly girl’s grasp of mathematics, there was a
very good chance that he’d have the opportunity to personally witness another
round of discipline in his office soon enough.
He was smiling as he walked Lord
Wintercrest and his wife from the building.
Edward shook his hand and thanked
him again and Louisa properly gave him a small curtsy and again thanked him for
his discipline.
She hated leaving
her sister in this building but desperately wanted to get away from this
man.
Edward thanked him once more
and then turned his wife and led her to their carriage.
Henri, their driver, nodded to his employer and
gave Louisa a very stern and disapproving look.
She blushed hotly as he opened the
carriage door.
Louisa was helped
into the carriage and she gingerly took her seat giving a small, barely audible
gasp.
The carriage dipped again as
Edward entered and sat beside his wife.
She clasped her hands in her lap, wishing she could clasp Lucy’s
hand.
“I am so sorry Sir,” she began, hoping to
relieve the tension in the small confines of the carriage.
Edward simply lifted his hand, “Enough
Louisa.
I don’t wish to hear your
apology again.
What I wish to know
is exactly how you managed to pull off this charade. How did you arrange to
leave the house this morning?”
Louisa couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
She gazed out the window and tried to
gather her thoughts.
Evidently she
was taking entirely too long to answer her husband’s questions. “It isn’t a
difficult question young lady.
There is no need for your hesitancy.
I want to know the truth, and if I
disbelieve any word of your explanation, then you can rest assured you will pay
for every one.”
Louisa couldn’t
stop a small shiver from running through her body.
She nodded and dropped her eyes to her
hands.
“I… I hid in the storage box, Sir.”
Edward nodded, having thought that was
the case.
However, it was far from
satisfactory.
“How did you get away from Mrs. Bremmer,
Louisa?
We both know she keeps a
close eye on you when I am not at home.”
The young woman nodded, a tear sliding down her cheek.
She felt worse now than she had in
Thorne’s office.
She knew what she
had done was wrong, but she also knew that her husband detested deceit.
“I… I told her I wasn’t feeling well.
I… I told her I was going to lie down
until… until tea.”
Edward nodded
trying to picture how his wife could have pulled off such a prank.
Louisa brushed the tear from her face
and continued,
“She… she goes to market on Friday and… and I
told her that you had instructed me to stay in bed and rest.”
His understanding bloomed. He knew that
his employees would obey his every word and, by association, trusted the
supposed mistress of the manor to do as well.
He would discuss the situation with his
housekeeper, but he had a good idea that she would be almost as angry as he
about being caught up in the girl’s deceit.
“It was very naughty of you to lie to Mrs.
Bremmer, Louisa.
I thought we had
learned a lesson about being deceitful, but it is obvious that my little lady
needs another lesson.”
Her head snapped up and her mouth opened.
“No… no please Edward….”
“Hush!
We will continue our discussion at home.
When we arrive, you are to go
immediately to your room, put your nose in the corner until I join you.
Until then, I suggest you remain quiet
and think only of what you need to do to assure me of your contrition.”
Louisa closed her eyes and stifled a
small moan.
She knew that her
sister might be even now sitting on a hard chair with her bottom burning, but
she also knew that her own bottom was evidently going to burn even hotter soon
enough.
She opened her eyes and dared a glance at her
husband.
He was looking down at
her, his eyes stern, and she gulped before she whispered, “Yes sir.”
He nodded, knowing she would do as she
had been told, and then settled back to relax during the short ride home.
Edward surprised his wife by reaching
down and taking one of his wife’s hands into his, pressing it lightly.
This simple, loving gesture caused her
to want to lean into him, want to apologize again, but she knew it would not be
welcome.
There would be a time for
apologizing as well as a time to take comfort in her husband’s arms.
However, she knew from past experience
that time was a long way in the future.
Nothing else was said on the long drive home.
The carriage pulled up in front of the house and
Edward stepped out when Henri opened the door.
Edward turned to help his wife down and
she softly thanked him.
He nodded,
“Louisa has something to say to you Henri.”
His wife looked up at the older man who
had always treated her kindly.
She
saw the look of disappointment on his face, and her feelings of shame and guilt
grew deep inside her.
“I’m… I’m sorry, Sir.
I… I
won’t… won’t
ever do it again.”
Henri saw that
she was indeed sorry, and knew she would soon be paying for her decisions.
He also knew how very angry his own
wife, Anna, still was, having discovered the young mistress was nowhere to be
found. He nodded at Louisa and said, “Thank you, Miss but you caused the
household much worry when we couldn’t find you.
It was a very, very naughty thing to
do.”
Louisa’s face flamed at his
words even though she accepted the truth of them.
“Yes sir.
I’m very sorry.”
Edward
nodded and looked down at his wife.
“Go along Louisa; I shall join you in a few moments.”
“Yes sir,” Louisa answered, her face flushed as
she turned to walk into the house.
Edward watched as she climbed the stairs, her steps slow.
He smiled, knowing she was in pain from
her caning, and most likely thinking about what else her bottom would be forced
to endure before the evening was done.
He walked into his study and poured himself a drink.
As he stood looking out the large window
that overlooked the gardens, he smiled, remembering the image of the two
sisters standing side by side, their bottoms giving evidence to their misbehavior.
He knew that if he were to be totally
honest with himself, he would have to accept some of the blame for today’s
actions.
He had allowed his desires
and even his steadfast rules to be broken the moment he had accepted Lucille
into his household.
If he had stuck
to his guns and not given in to his wife’s pleas, perhaps Lucille’s bottom
would still be sore for her own disobedience but Louisa would never have dared
to take part in the deception.
He
finished his drink and vowed his leniency was over.
It was far past time to take his
household in hand as he had originally intended.
Edward placed his glass on his desk and
left the room.