Back in Service (20 page)

‘Do not fear, my dearest,’ she whispered, ‘I shall be standing up for you. Be brave.’ But despite her manly exterior, Hetty was feeling anything but brave. Both Nanny Baines and Sir Victor had good reason to extract vengeance on Jane, and she doubted she would be able to prevent the girl receiving further punishment. If she did manage to intervene, she feared it would only be at great cost to herself.

Sir Victor was sitting in his wheelchair wearing a smoking jacket and inhaling a fat cigar. The smoky room reeked of tobacco and Jane coughed as she entered, which only seemed to enrage Nanny Baines further. She seized the girl by the neck and shoved her down to her knees before the surprised master of the house.

‘I found this pair of reprobates in your summer pavilion, Sir Victor. Imagine that, sir, in your private sanctuary. They were defiling the place with their foulness.’

‘Really, nurse?’ Hetty saw the old man’s eyes gleam with interest. ‘Tell me more.’

Baines pretended reluctance, but Hetty could tell she was dying to go into detail. ‘I cannot, Sir Victor. Their behaviour was altogether too lewd to be described.’

‘Now come, Baines, I do not have to order you to reveal all, do I? If these miscreants have done wrong, I need to know about it so the punishment may fit the crime.’

‘Well, Sir Victor, I went to the summerhouse because I had reason to believe Jane would be there. Now I see it was all a ruse implemented by this audacious young gentleman to get Lady Alice’s girl alone.’

‘Ah yes, her ladyship is in York with this gentleman’s brother-in-law.’ He leered first at Jane and then at Hetty.

‘At any rate,’ Baines went on, ‘I entered the place thinking to find Miss Jane hard at work with her brush and pan, but instead I found…’ She frowned.

‘What did you find, Baines? Come, you may speak freely. If this pair of degenerates can practice debauchery, they can surely bear to hear their disgusting deeds described. Spill the beans, Baines, every last one of them.’

The nurse coughed and continued putting on a show of reticence, but finally she launched into her tale. ‘Well, as I said, I found the pair after they had been engaged in their liaison for some time. Heaven knows how they might have proceeded had I not interrupted them. Miss Jane was lying facedown upon the sofa with her nether garments hitched up, and Master George was bestowing filthy kisses upon her naked posterior.’

‘Disgraceful behaviour for an innocent young virgin like Miss Jane, I agree.’ Sir Victor’s eyes shone with lascivious amusement. ‘Do you think this wicked lad seduced her?’

‘I do not know how far they had gone before I entered, but I saw a whip lying on the floor near the couch, and I swear the young lady’s nether regions were crisscrossed with red stripes.’

Sir Victor removed the cigar from his mouth and blew a lazy smoke ring. ‘So, we may assume physical chastisement had taken place. But to what end? Had the young lady committed some gross misdemeanour?’

‘I do not know, Sir Victor, I have simply related what I witnessed.’

‘In that case, we must enquire of the young man. Master George, did you have good reason to apply the whip to Miss Jane’s buttocks? Answer me straight, if you please.’

Hetty was in a dilemma. She did not wish to get Jane into worse trouble than she was in already, so she shook her head. ‘Not on my own account, Sir Victor.’

‘Then why did you whip her, you scoundrel? Surely not for the sheer pleasure of seeing her arse redden with your stripes?’

‘No, Sir Victor.’

‘Then why, boy?’

‘Because she requested it.’

Sir Victor gave a brief snort of a laugh and looked down at Jane. ‘Is this true? You asked this chap to whip your naked bottom, girl? Explain yourself.’

‘I – I thought I had done wrong, sir.’

‘Wrong? How?’

Hetty sensed Jane was struggling to invent a story. ‘I had not cleaned the summerhouse thoroughly, sir. I left a pile of dirt behind the screen and beneath the sofa. When Master George saw it, he said I should be punished and asked me whether I would prefer to be whipped by Nanny Baines or by him.’

‘That is true,’ Hetty broke in, keen to corroborate the story.

‘Then we must ask why you were so keen to inflict such a penalty on the girl,’ Sir Victor stated reasonably. ‘Was this for your own perverse satisfaction? It would seem to me you simply wanted an excuse to kiss the girl’s arse afterwards.’

‘You may be right, sir,’ Hetty agreed, hoping she had succeeded in diverting all the blame onto herself.

The lie seemed to work. After a telling-off from Sir Victor, and instructions to complete the cleaning of the summerhouse forthwith, Jane was allowed to leave the room. However, George’s ordeal was not yet over, it seemed. Nanny Baines was dismissed with thanks for bringing the matter to her master’s attention, and then Hetty found herself quite alone with Sir Victor for the first time in ages. As far as she knew, the master had never discovered the secret identity of her brother. Only Leo and Lady Alice knew the truth, and it was in the interests of both parties to withhold the information from Sir Victor. Now, however, she feared exposure. There was an evil glint in the old man’s eyes as he surveyed her, and she knew he was hatching some plan that would involve her in one form of depravity or another.

‘Sit yourself down, George, and let us talk, man to man,’ he said at last, pointing to a nearby armchair.

Hetty did as she was told, remembering to spread her thighs in a masculine fashion as she seated herself.

‘Now then, I want the truth about young Jane. How far did you get with the wench? Have you rogered her yet, and if so, how many times?’

‘I – I cannot speak of such things, Sir Victor, it would be improper.’

‘Improper my arse! We are alone. No one shall hear us. And you may as well know I would tup the maid myself given half a chance. Mind you,’ he gazed dolefully down at his lap, ‘half a chance is about as good as it gets these days.’

‘I am sorry for your infirmity, sir.’

‘It is the very devil, especially as my desires have hardly diminished. A case of the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. You cannot imagine how frustration sets in under such circumstances. It is like being in a hell of one’s own making. And tempting creatures like Jane, with her damnably pretty face and trim figure, only make it worse.’

‘Then I shall not add to your torment by describing my encounter with her,’ Hetty said primly.

Sir Victor reached out and grabbed her hand urgently. ‘No, no, you do not understand, young man. It is my aim to recover my lost potency by any means available to me. When I hear such stories, I feel a stirring, faint but encouraging, and I wish to strengthen my responses. I am sure that in time I will be able to regain my manliness if I try hard enough.’

He heaved such a big sigh Hetty almost felt sorry for him. ‘Perhaps Lady Alice…’ she began, but was interrupted by a dismissive snort.

‘That old trout could do nothing even if she
were
of a mind to arouse me. I have had more excitement from one of Baines’s blanket baths than I ever got from my wife’s bed. No, the woman is past it, so I must look to younger flesh to reinvigorate my body. When I was your age, I could enter Onan’s Olympics twenty times a day and still be left with enough juice to take a dash in the housemaid’s bloomers. Ah, those were the glory days…’

Hetty smirked. ‘I am sure you were very virile, sir.’

‘Still am at heart, boy, still am.’ Sir Victor sighed again and took another puff from his cigar. ‘So give me a thrill now and tell me all about Jane. Is she as innocent as she looks, or are the fires of Venus burning strong in her inner temple? Speak frankly.’

‘I have not ravished her, sir, and I believe her to be a virgin still. Yet I know she is a warm and tender female who will make someone a wonderful wife one day.’

‘Rubbish, boy, do not give me any of that mealy-mouthed nonsense. I want to know if you have seen her titties or felt her cunny. What is she like, man?’

Seeing he would not be content until she had gone into detail about Jane’s feminine attributes, Hetty elaborated, hoping to get it over with as soon as possible. ‘She has lovely full breasts, with pink nipples I have licked and sucked a little.’

‘Good, good, and below the waist, did she let you venture there?’

‘I have stroked her silken thighs and felt the heat of her sex, but nothing more.’

‘But you would like to, would you not? You would like to grope through the undergrowth and plunder her picnic basket, admit it.’

Hetty allowed herself a rueful grin, for the old lecher was right. ‘Well, yes, I suppose I would.’

‘And you might have got there if that Baines woman had not interrupted your revels?’

‘I am not sure, sir. It is a big step for a girl like Jane to lose her maidenhead.’

‘That is what they are all led to believe, but once that step is taken things look a good deal different, I can tell you. A slice off a cut cake is never missed. You may go back again and again, and they will thank you for it as they get to like it more and more. Take it from one who knows. I have cracked the cherry of many a girl under this very roof. And a good number of them have later thanked me for removing all the terrors of their wedding night and letting them know what to expect from their husbands.’

Hetty marvelled at the man’s self-deception. Had he forgotten the fate of poor Sarah, who had been used by him and then dismissed when she became pregnant? And what of Hetty’s own lost friend, dear Rose? She was punished for standing up to him and left Longton for London, preferring to walk the streets rather than be subjected to Sir Victor’s tyranny. The man was a monster, yet he would never admit it, even to himself.

‘What is going through your mind, young sir?’ He noticed Hetty’s thoughtful demeanour. ‘Perhaps you envy me? I dare say you have not made so free with the girls as I have, is that it?’

She nodded, biting her tongue.

‘Or do you perchance prefer the company of your own sex? Some fellows do, and I must confess I often weary of the company of women now I cannot take full advantage of their charms. A young chap like you might easily take my fancy…’

The remark horrified Hetty. In her disguise she had assumed herself safe from his physical advances, but it seemed no limits could be placed on Sir Victor’s depraved sexual appetites. He was looking at her lasciviously, his eyes roving over her face and body as if trying to discern what lay beneath her clothing. If he decided to find out, he would be in for a serious surprise.

‘You put me in mind of Dick Palmer, a boy at school,’ the old lecher mused. ‘I went to Ramwell, a minor public school in Hertfordshire, and we had a few unusual customs and rituals I found quite exciting at the time. Indeed, when I recall those scenes I still find myself growing agitated, even after all these years and in my present disabled state. In fact, I have a mind to re-enact some of them here and now.’

Hetty’s extreme disquiet must have shown on her face because he laughed gruffly. ‘First, however, young fellow, I shall be obliged to punish you for making free with one of my household staff. Kindly ring for Baines, if you will.’

Her soul was in turmoil. She was unwilling to face her punishment, and knew that if she rushed from the room Sir Victor could hardly follow. She might escape to her own quarters and divest herself of George’s garments and be safe as Hetty again. However, if she put into operation her emergency plan and announced her brother had left in a hurry, there would be no more sweet encounters with Jane.

These thoughts sped through her mind, but she soon decided to see the ordeal out. When Jane heard George had taken his punishment like a man, surely she would be even more kindly disposed towards him. So she rose to press the bell in the wall, and almost immediately the heavy stride of Nanny Baines could be heard approaching down the corridor.

‘Ah, Mrs Baines,’ Sir Victor declared as she stepped into the room. ‘George here has been misbehaving with the servants and needs correction.’

‘Do you recommend the Ramwell double indignity, sir?’

‘Indeed I do. Prepare us both, if you would be so kind.’

Hetty’s mind and pulse were racing. Her main fear was disclosure. If her identity was revealed, Leo might be dragged into it and Lady Alice as well. Now she began to regret not heeding her first instincts and making good her escape.

Baines walked up to Sir Victor and, to Hetty’s amazement, opened his smoking jacket and revealed his privates. Then she commanded Hetty to lower her trousers.

Terrified of exposure, but knowing a refusal would not be tolerated, she contrived to lower her pants while keeping her underwear concealed beneath the tail of her shirt. But then her heart quailed when Baines barked out a further command. ‘Underpants
down
.’

Somehow she was able to bare her bottom while continuing to hold her shirt over her genitals, and without further ado, Baines forced her to kneel in front of Sir Victor’s wheelchair. His pathetic tackle was now fully exposed, pale and wrinkled but with the tip crowned by a drop of clear liquid. Hetty shrank from the sight in distaste.

‘The Ramwell double indignity is a punishment reserved for the most severe misdemeanours,’ Sir Victor explained. ‘Sexual abuse of female members of the staff falls under that category, and is the crime of which you stand accused. How do you plead, guilty or not guilty?’

‘Guilty, sir,’ Hetty admitted reluctantly, since there seemed little point in prolonging the torture.

‘The double indignity consists of two forms of humiliation, one active, one passive. The culprit will be obliged to perform the service of fellatio upon a senior male, in this case myself, and while the act is being performed to the best of your ability, several strokes of the cane will be administered to your naked buttocks, a task to which Mrs Baines is well suited. First, however, you are obliged to thank me and her for bestowing upon you this singular punishment, which under the circumstances may be considered a merciful and light sentence.’