Melissa was seated alongside the big table that had served as Bethany’s whipping block the previous evening with her back to the door.
I had been just long enough for Bethany to also turn her back to the door.
Now she was standing in front of Melissa and, as I watched, she slowly lifted her skirts to reveal her pale white globes.
The faint marks I had seen earlier that day were invisible to me now and her bottom was perfect, small and firm.
I found myself transfixed. Unable to take my gaze from the scene before me.
Bethany was just inches from Melissa and the older woman reached out her hand and began to caress the younger flesh in front of her.
She cupped the firm globe in the palm of her hand and began to knead, pressing her fingertips into the flesh and softly squeezing and releasing.
I could not see either of their faces but it was obvious to me that both of them were enjoying each other very much. I could hear Melissa breathing quite heavily and little moans were being emitted from the young maid standing in front of her.
Bethany slid her feet apart as Melissa slipped her had beneath her and between her thighs.
I could easily imagine how she was feeling for I too was having those strange sensations in my stomach and between my legs.
I had, without realising, moved my hand down to the hot place between my legs and, having lifted my nightgown, was gently toying with the firm button which seemed to have grown stiff under my touch.
Even just this light contact was sending funny little shocks all through my body and made the muscles in my stomach twitch and ache. Deep inside me I could feel the most pleasurable sensation building. Just like it had when Bethany had kissed me.
“Surely,” I thought to myself, “if it feels so good, it can’t be wrong, can it?”
I continued to watch the scene unfolding in front of me.
Melissa leaned forwards and kissed Bethany on the bottom.
“What an odd thing to do,” I thought but her flesh looked so pretty it made me feel that I wanted to do the same.
Bethany, one hand holding her skirts and the other out of sight in front of her, bent further forwards and, as Melissa moved slightly in her chair, I caught a brief glimpse of her tiny hole and, below it, the soft folds of her vagina.
My face was burning now. I had no idea why but the sight of her was making me burn up.
My own fingers now were rubbing up and down between my legs. The feelings that were overtaking me were like nothing I had ever experienced but the sensations were out of this world. I didn’t understand any of it but I certainly was not going to stop now!
Standing unseen and watching this private spectacle made me feel so terribly naughty and I was ashamed of myself for being so rude but I just couldn’t help myself!
My chest was beginning to tighten and my heart was pounding but still I watched as Melissa leaned forward once again and seemed to kiss Bethany right on her vagina!
Not just a kiss but a very prolonged contact, her head moving up and down as if she was licking her. I had seen dogs and other animals do such things but people?!
I gasped involuntarily in astonishment and Melissa suddenly sat upright! Bethany released her skirts and spun round.
By this time I had run silently to the far side of the dining room then spun around as if I had just entered and walked back towards the kitchen door as it swung open. Both Melissa and Bethany appeared there and I tried to brazen it out.
“Oh, Miss Victoria! I, erm, can I get you anything?” Melissa asked, looking rather sheepish and her lips glistened a little in the dim light.. “Have you been here long?”
“No,” I said, taking a deep breath, “I just came down to get a drink. I could not sleep.”
“Oi’ll get yer one, Miss. What would yer loike?”
“Oh, just a glass of water please, Bethany,” I replied, not wanting to wait another minute for milk to heat. “Thank you.” I added.
“Are you all right? You look a little flushed,” Melissa asked as the younger maid disappeared into the kitchen behind her.
I smiled weakly, had she guessed?
“Yes, thank you.” I told her, “It is a warm evening and I got too hot in bed. Probably why I could not sleep.”
“Hmm, yes, more than likely,” she replied but her eyes had narrowed a little. I was sure she knew.
“There y’are, Miss Victoria.” Bethany handed me a glass. “Oi let the water run fer a bit so it is noice and cold fer yer.” She smiled and winked and immediately I felt the blood rush to my face.
“Th… thank you, Bethany,” I stammered a little and took the glass from her outstretched hand then, smiling again at the two of them, turned and walked as quickly as I dared without seeming to run away and returned to my room.
Once there, I threw off my robe and climbed quickly into bed after opening the windows a little at the bottom. I was so hot and I noticed that the tops of my legs were wet. I touched myself and found the source of this moisture.
“Oh crikey,” I thought, I have disgraced myself again but, as I thought that, I found that the liquid was not like urine. It was thicker and slippery and I found that as my finger moved around it did not stick but slid smoothly across the flesh,
Almost immediately, all those feelings I had, when I had watched the two maids, returned. I touched the firm button once again and it throbbed beneath my touch.
The more I rubbed it, the stronger the feelings began and the faster I circled my finger, the more intensely I felt them.
The muscles around my whole body began to contract, especially in my abdomen and my stomach seemed filled with butterflies, fluttering incessantly inside me.
Suddenly wave upon wave of intense pleasure swept over me, causing my back to arch and my bottom to lift off the bed and I pressed hard against the little button, holding on to the feeling as long as I could until, slowly, I sank back onto the bed then turned onto my side and curled up into a ball, breathing steadily now and feeling unbelievably happy.
I had no idea what had just happened to me but it was the most wonderful feeling I had ever experienced and I knew that I wanted to feel it again.
For the first time since I had received the news of my parents demise, I felt calm and relaxed, as if a great plug had been removed and all my pent up anguish and stresses had suddenly been flushed away and, in what seemed like minutes, I drifted off into a calm, untroubled sleep.
I awoke with a start. The room was still dark and the silence broken only by the gentle ticking of my watch on the night-stand beside my bed. I picked it up but could not tell what the time was as it was still too dark. The dawn had not yet broken.
The curtains drifted slightly in the minimal breeze through the still open window and the most unpleasant aroma of a cigarette drifted in from outside.
Getting out of my warm bed I went to the window, parted the curtains enough to get my head through and peered out into the dark courtyard below.
At first, I could see nothing but then, I spotted the faint orange glow as whoever was there drew on the cigarette that was the obvious source of my disturbance.
I was about to call out when I saw the door to the servants quarters, opposite my window, open.
In the brief wash of bright light I saw a woman step out into the darkness and quickly close the door behind her.
“Maggie!” I breathed. I watched as she walked quickly towards the cigarette glow.
I waited, hoping that neither of them had seen me at the window.
I need not have worried, they were too engrossed in each other to even look up.
“Charlie, are you mad? What do you mean dragging me out of bed at this time of night? Throwing stones at my window indeed! You could have woken the whole household.”
“Come ‘ere Maggie!” I hear a familiar voice say. “I want a word with yer.”
“You’ll get more than a word if you get caught, you idiot. Look at you, you’re drunk!”
“Yeh well, maybe.” The familiar voice again. Who was it? I tried to think but I was still a little sleepy. “I’ve got sumink for yer.”
My eyes were becoming accustomed to the gloom and I could vaguely make out the movement of the man’s arm as it reached out towards the maid.
“Where’d you get that much from?” Maggie sounded surprised. “That’s not just from selling a few dodgy items on the black market.”
“I got mates. I tell ’em fings and they pays me.”
“Charlie! What kind of things?” Maggie sounded worried.
“Never you mind. All you need to know is that I can pay you what I owe you.”
My brain was spinning, trying to think where I had heard that voice when suddenly, it came to me. The lorry driver who collected me from the station!
What on earth was he doing in the courtyard in the middle of the night?
My attention was returned to the couple when I heard Maggie’s voice hiss.
“Stop it, Charlie, not here. Someone might see.”
“Don’t be daft, woman,” I heard Charlie say. “There’s no-one awake at this time o’ night.”
“The noise you’re making will have everyone awake! Now stop it!” she hissed.
“You’re such a tease, Maggie Slater!” To my shock I heard a loud slap and saw Maggie fall to the ground.
There was silence and I watched, mouth wide open, as she slowly pulled herself to her feet. She stood before the dark figure in the shadows.
“That, Charlie Manston, is the last time you will lay a hand on me!” she hissed loudly. “If you so much as lay one finger on me again, it will be the last thing you ever do.
Her face was up close to Charlie’s and even from my room high above I distinctly heard him squeal.
“All right, all right, I get it!” he appeared to be standing on tiptoe as if trying to climb backwards up the wall against which he was leaning. The glowing cigarette had fallen from his lips to the ground and his voice was suddenly an octave higher.
Peering into the darkness I realised that Maggie had a handful of his trousers in her hand and guessed, from his demeanour, that it was not just the coarse wool of his uniform she was holding!
“Good girl, Maggie!” I thought, smiling to myself as she continued.
“You don’t know me well enough to mess with me, Charlie Manston, so don’t you forget this moment.”
I guessed she squeezed him a little harder before releasing him because he gave another squeal before slipping down the wall to a crouch with his hands held tightly between his legs.
“Now you get out of here and don’t come back for any reason but business, got it?”
Her voice was so menacing it sent shivers down my spine.
She swung a kick at him as he staggered off into the darkness then turned and went back inside, closing the door quietly behind her.
I stayed for a moment, transfixed and staring at the now empty courtyard below.
My mind was in a whirr. What on earth was going on? What could Charlie Manston be paying Maggie for?
I had heard some of the girls at school talk of street floozies but I thought that was in big cities. Surely Maggie was not one of those was she? No, I couldn’t believe that, Charlie must have borrowed the money. Yes, that would be it.
I returned to my bed and slipped back under the covers.
I awoke again to the sound of the birds and a bright glow around the edges of the heavy drapes. I checked my watch.
Hmm, six forty-five. Throwing back the covers, I jumped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Unlike the night before there was no water already, there so I pulled the cord by the basin and didn’t have a long wait before the door to the servants quarters opened and Sally entered, carrying a large jug of steaming hot water.
“Good morning, Miss Victoria,” she said breezily, “I trust you slept well.”
Mmm, yes thank you, Sally, I did.”
She poured about half the water into the basin and placed the jug on the wash stand.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked.
“No, thank you,” I replied, “This will be fine.”
Once I had washed and dressed I went straight down to the dining room where I found my aunt already at the table. She looked up as I walked through the doorway.
“Good morning, Victoria. Did you sleep well?” she asked.
“Yes, I did, thank you.” I lied again, as I had to Sally. I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble so I didn’t mention the altercation I had witnessed in the early hours.
“Aunt Helen…” I began, hesitantly.
She looked up from the newspaper she had open on the table and looked over the top of her half frame spectacles.
“Do you have any plans for today?” I asked.
“Yes, many,” she replied. “Did you want me for something?”
“Oh, well, nothing that can’t wait…” she must have noticed the disappointed tone in my voice for she said: “Can it wait until tonight? If it is important I am sure I can rearrange something.”
“No, no, I wouldn’t hear of it!” I exclaimed. “I just wanted to talk to you about something but it can wait until tonight.”
“Are you sure, Victoria?” she asked, removing her spectacles altogether.
“I am sure.” I said, “It is not nearly important enough to spoil your plans.”
“All right,” she replied, “If you are certain…”
“Oh, yes. It can wait.”
At that moment Maggie entered and asked if she could get me anything. She had a slight bruise on her left cheekbone.
“Maggie!” I exclaimed, “What has happened to your face?”
She put a hand to her cheek.
“It is nothing, Miss. Bethany left a cupboard door open and I didn’t see it. I walked into it.”
“You will have to be more careful.” I said in a mock stern voice. “We cannot have you walking into things.” I will have a word with Bethany when I see her!”
From the edge of my vision I could see Lady Helen smiling but then I noticed the look of alarm on Maggie’s face.
“Oh, no, Miss. There is no need. I gave her a good telling off. She won’t do it again I am sure.”
“Hmmm… all right then. We shall see,” I replied.
There was a pause until Maggie asked again: “What would you like, Miss?”
“Like?” I asked, puzzled.
“For breakfast, Miss.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” I considered for a moment before asking for some toasted bread and honey.
She turned and went back to the kitchen almost as though she was running away.
I called after her.
“Maggie, one more thing…”
She stopped dead and slowly turned back to face me.
“Miss?” she said.
“May I have some milk with that please?”
“Oh, erm, yes, of course.” She smiled as if relieved. “Cold?”
I smiled and nodded.
Once Maggie had disappeared back into the kitchen and the door had closed behind her, Lady Helen looked up from the newspaper and asked: “What was all that about?”
“Aunt Helen?” I feigned ignorance.
“I was not born yesterday, young lady. You had a tone in your voice and Maggie was clearly uneasy about something. What is it?”
I didn’t answer immediately. I wasn’t sure whether I should say anything to Aunt Helen just yet. After all, what had I seen? I didn’t want to get Maggie flogged if it was just a tiff with her boyfriend but, at the same time, I felt there was more to it than that.
“It was nothing, Aunt Helen.” I finally answered. Trying to sound as innocent as I could.
Lady Helen held my gaze with her beautiful blue eyes unblinking. I resolved not to break the contact first and I felt a little smile creep onto my lips.
Aunt Helen frowned before saying:
“Hmm… All right.”
She returned to her newspaper then spoke without looking up.
“I have no plans for this evening if you still wish to talk to me about something, Victoria.”
“That will be fine, Aunt Helen, thank you,” I replied.
“I can still change things around if it is important, you know.”
I sat back in my chair.
“No, it is not that important,” I said, “It can wait.”
The next half hour passed quickly and I had not been surprised when a much younger maid brought my breakfast to the table.
She didn’t speak and I did not enquire after her name.
Aunt Helen spoke about the news and the terrible things that were happening in Europe and I listened intently. Trench warfare was a terrible thing and the sooner this infernal war was over the better. I now had first hand experience of the ruination it was causing to men and their families.
Folding her newspaper and placing it upon the small trolley beside her seat Aunt Helen stood.
“If you will excuse me, Victoria, I have much to be getting on with. I will not be here for lunch but if I may make a suggestion?”
I stood also as I replied.
“Yes, of course, Aunt Helen.”
“If you see young Thomas again why not have a picnic with him in the secluded garden?”
“What a lovely idea!” I enthused.
“You must get permission from the medical people, of course, he may have special dietary requirements.”
I went over to her and kissed her cheek.
“Thank you so much,” I said, “I will ask Phil.”
“Yes, you do that,” she replied, smiling sweetly. “You can tell me all about it over dinner tonight.”
She touched my shoulder then turned and left.
As the big door closed with a click the door to the kitchen swung open.
“Oh, Sorry Miss Victoria, I thought you had gone.”
“I am about to Maggie,” I replied, You may clear away, I have finished thank you.”
The maid seemed hesitant to come nearer, keeping her bruised face hidden and went instead to the sideboard.
“Maggie,” I began, “Are you all right?”
“Yes, fine thank you, Miss. Why do you ask?” As she spoke she kept her face turned towards the task at the sideboard.
“Hmm,no reason…” I paused, “You can talk to me you know, if you need to.”
“Thank you, Miss Victoria, I will remember that.”
Still unsure, I didn’t press her on the matter but bade her good morning and returned to my room.
It was still a little early to be bothering Philomena about the lunch but I was feeling a little excited about the thought of a picnic with Thomas. I hoped he liked the idea and I couldn’t wait to organise it so I put on my shoes and headed outside.
It was a beautiful morning and the sun was quite low in the blue, cloudless sky.
It had not yet warmed the air and I was glad of the shawl I put around my shoulders.
Pulling it tighter around my neck I walked across the grass to the secluded garden. I didn’t expect to find Thomas there but thought I would just sit for a while and enjoy the morning as the world came to life.
As I walked across the lawn I left little footprints in the dew so, just for fun, I began to walk in different directions.
First, a circle, then to the left and a sharp turn to the right. each time I looked back at the pattern I had left on the grass.
For a short distance I walked backwards and watched a footprint appear as I took each step.
I turned back round to walk forwards and stopped suddenly. My heart missed a beat in surprise.
“Good Morning, Victoria. You are out early this morning.”
To be continued…
