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  ‘I am not sure,’ Lady Alice said.

  ‘I have found, from my limited experience in these matters, that the most effective punishment is not simply physical but also includes a degree of mental and emotional humiliation,’ Hetty insisted, employing all her powers of persuasion. ‘What better reminder to Mrs Baines of where her place is than to have her whipped by a young woman she regards as inferior to her in every way?’

  To her relief, a smile spread over Lady Alice’s face. ‘A splendid idea, Hetty, and we shall all be present to witness her painful humiliation. It shall be something of an after dinner treat for us all.’

  They dispersed to prepare for dinner, and Hetty felt a wild excitement as she anticipated the spectacle of the hateful Baines being given a severe trouncing. They agreed Lady Alice should summon the woman to her chambers as if to discuss some aspect of her husband’s health, and when she arrived, she would find the four of them there prepared to inflict her chastisement. Hetty was given the task of selecting a whip from the summerhouse, and it proved a pleasant one. For the first time the place held no terror for her as she unlocked the door, entered the shadowy space and walked straight towards the sinister cupboard. She already knew, to her cost, the store of implements within it, and she had already made up her mind which one should be used on Nanny Baines – the infamous Longton Quirt, no less.

  She bore it back to the house by a circuitous route, anxious lest she should be seen, for the whip was too large to conceal beneath her cloak. She took it up to Lady Alice’s apartments, where she knew she would find Jane alone as her mistress took her pre-dinner sherry downstairs. She decided to give her some instruction in the use of the implement, for it was cumbersome to wield and seemed to have a mind of its own; practice was required.

  At first Jane was reluctant to even handle the thing. ‘But Miss Hetty, it brings back such terrible memories.’

  ‘Never mind, you are about to conquer them all. Hold the handle firmly, like this, and then let me see you crack it a little, just so.’

  After the demonstration Jane made a feeble attempt to imitate it, but with very poor results. So Hetty took her by the wrist and performed the action for her. She could feel the girl’s pulse racing as she lifted her hand again and again, forcing her to make the lash snap and bite through the air. Then, when she finally let go of her wrist, Jane produced better results by herself.

  ‘Good, good,’ she said encouragingly. ‘Now let me see you aim at something.’ She looked around and saw a large Indian brass cachepot containing a pot of jasmine. Taking out the plant, she turned the brass vessel upside-down and instructed Jane to aim at it. ‘Imagine this is Nanny Baines’s backside.’

  A promising look of determination passed over Jane’s face as she bit her lip in concentration, and Hetty felt both proud and enamoured of her as she struck out at the brass pot.

  ‘Well done, Jane. You certainly have the hang of it now, my dear.’

  It was time to go down to dinner, and she left Jane looking far more confident than before. It was perhaps too much to hope she would be relishing the prospect of inflicting punishment, but at least she was now better prepared for the task.

  Dinner was a more muted affair than usual, with Sir Victor in rather a huff, presumably because he had been forced to endure another of Baines’s blanket baths instead of being attended to by the delectable Jane as he had hoped to be. Hetty tried to discuss the progress of the village summer fair with Lady Alice, but received monosyllabic replies. Leo and his father also carried on a rather curt conversation about matters to do with the estate, but the general atmosphere was stilted and Hetty was glad when the gooseberry tartlets were brought in, signifying the end of the meal was near.

  Before they left the dining room, she saw Lady Alice ring for Nanny Baines. The nurse entered and made to wheel her charge back to his quarters but was intercepted by the lady of the house, who passed her a murmured message. Hetty smiled to herself in anticipation.

  Later that evening, Lady Alice offered Leo and Hetty, and even Jane, brandy from the bottle she kept in her bedside cabinet. ‘This is good for steadying the nerves,’ she told them.

  Jane sipped hers apprehensively, Hetty and Lady Alice drank moderately, but Leo gulped his down in one go and asked for more.

  For once, his mother did not give him her usual disapproving look. ‘How are we to set about this business, Leonard?’ she asked him whilst pouring his second glass.

  ‘As the man of the house, I shall confront her,’ he offered. ‘Leave it to me. I shall act as spokesman for us all.’

  The waiting was tedious, and as the faint chimes of the hall clock could be heard striking ten, the tension in the room grew almost unbearable. Hetty glanced at the quirt lying behind the sofa, visible only from where she was sitting. It would be put to good use soon.

  Finally, there came a knock at the door and everyone stiffened. Then Leo called, ‘Come in.’

  The look on Baines’s face was one of gratifying astonishment when she saw the group assembled in her ladyship’s bedroom.

  ‘Come in,’ Leo commanded, his voice menacingly quiet, ‘and close the door behind you.’

  ‘I – I thought I was to speak to Lady Alice alone,’ Baines said in confusion.

  ‘Well, as you see, there is quite a welcoming party arranged for you,’ he replied tartly. ‘Mrs Baines, we have been hearing one or two things about you that concern us all.’

  ‘Really, sir? I cannot imagine what they might be.’ Despite her bold words, she looked decidedly uncomfortable. She was twisting the hem of her apron in her hands and looking from face to face as if trying to discern what this might be about.

  ‘Jane, show her the evidence,’ Leo ordered gently.

  Although she had been forewarned of this necessity, Jane paled and her trembling fingers fumbled with her buttons. Hetty walked over to her and gently opened the front of her blouse to display the red marks crisscrossing her breasts. They had faded somewhat since the morning but were still plainly visible.

  ‘This was a particularly cruel and unnecessary punishment to visit upon her,’ Leo cast judgement for them all. ‘But that is not all. My mother and I have been hearing further stories about you that have made our flesh crawl with horror. It seems you are the accomplice of my father’s base desires and lewd cravings, willing to subject Jane here, and even my dear wife, to the grossest of indignities in order to satisfy his evil lusts.’ His former nanny opened her mouth as if to speak, but he silenced her with a penetrating stare and an upraised hand. ‘One moment, Mrs Baines, you shall have your say soon, but first let us hear from my wife.’

  ‘Yes…’ Hetty cleared her throat. ‘I have been obliged to watch Sir Victor whip poor Jane mercilessly, egged on by this woman. She is ever more than ready to strip the clothes off Jane’s back and apply the whip herself, if need be. I believe she takes a perverse pleasure in seeing pretty young women hurt and humiliated.’

  ‘Is this so, Mrs Baines?’ Leo’s expression was hard. ‘The truth, now.’

  ‘Sir, I wish only to serve my master, your father. I dare not disobey him, sir.’

  ‘Only obeying orders, eh? Is that the despicable shield you attempt to hide behind? Well it will not do, Baines. Such behaviour will not be tolerated in this house.’

  ‘That is not fair, sir. I was hired as nurse to his lordship to do his bidding in all things. If he asks for a servant to be disciplined, that is his business. My duty is to obey him, and him alone.’

  Hetty had anticipated she would take this line of reasoning, and was prepared for it. Pulling herself up to her full height, she faced the gorgon. ‘Mrs Baines, you are aware Sir Victor is an invalid, are you not?’

  ‘Of course, miss, that is why I was taken on.’

  ‘And part of your duty is to monitor the state of his health, am I right?’

  ‘Yes, miss.’

&nbs
p; ‘Mental as well as physical?’

  ‘I suppose so…’

  ‘Did you not feel his sadistic urges towards young Jane here were excessive and quite inappropriate for a man in his position, Mrs Baines?’

  She clearly feared a trap now, but apparently saw no way of avoiding it. ‘I do not know what you mean,’ she hedged sullenly.

  ‘Then let me make it plain,’ Lady Alice suddenly stepped in. ‘I was the one who hired you, and I thought we had an understanding you would keep me informed as to his lordship’s health, both physical and mental. So why did you not tell me he was indulging in all kinds of wayward and cruel behaviour towards my own personal maid? Was it not your duty to inform me, Mrs Baines?’

  The woman had the decency to hang her head as she mumbled, ‘I suppose so, my lady.’

  We have got you now! Hetty thought with a surge of pure joy. We have got you good and proper now, you witch, and you are going to get what you deserve!

  Chapter 16

  ‘Well, as far as I am concerned, this all amounts to gross dereliction of duty,’ Leo declared, giving Nanny Baines a look of utter contempt. ‘The question is, how are we going to deal with this reprobate, mother?’

  Lady Alice appeared to deliberate. ‘I am a great advocate of “do unto others as you would have them do onto you”, therefore, I believe Mrs Baines should receive the same treatment she has meted out to others.’

  ‘That is unfair!’ the woman cried. ‘I do not deserve punishment of any sort since I was merely carrying out my master’s wishes.’

  ‘Your sick master’s wishes,’ Leo pointed out coldly. ‘Do you suppose the staff in mental asylums do anything the inmates ask of them?’

  ‘Are you telling me Sir Victor is insane?’ Baines retorted.

  ‘He is morally feebleminded,’ Lady Alice explained. ‘He has been for years, and I made that quite clear to you when I employed you. I expected you to rule him with a rod of iron, but instead you have used the rod on this poor defenceless girl. Shame on you, Mrs Baines.’

  Hetty was growing tired of all the talk and suggested they proceed to the punishment. Lady Alice agreed, and Leo stepped behind the sofa to pick up the whip. As soon as she saw it, Baines began snivelling.

  ‘Not that, my lady, please, anything but that,’ she begged.

  ‘So you are a coward, too, are you?’ Leo snarled, brandishing the whip at her. ‘Hetty, Jane, seize the hypocrite and make her ready. You can lay her over the sofa.’

  The woman began squealing like a cornered pig when she realised there was no escape. Hetty seized her left arm, Jane her right, and together they pushed the formidable figure facedown across the sofa. Then Hetty lifted up the nanny’s voluminous skirt and flannel petticoat to reveal her enormous drawers. Without hesitation, she yanked them down to her knees, exposing her slack buttocks.

  Leo rolled up his shirtsleeves and stood poised with the Longton Quirt in his hand. Seeing the length of the lash, Hetty was afraid she and Jane might inadvertently receive a taste of it if they continued to hold their victim down, and glanced around the room. ‘Lady Alice,’ she said, ‘please hand me those curtain ties.’ They were thick ropes with tassels at the end, just the thing for securing Baines’s wrists and ankles to the legs of the couch. She struggled wildly, but Leo came to lend a hand and soon they had her trussed up like a calf bound for market. She looked a sorry sight sprawled heavily on the delicate furniture, her great bulk making the cushions sag beneath her, but Hetty’s heart held no pity for her, only a gratifying sense of justice.

  The atmosphere in the room was tense as Leo raised his right arm with the whip trailing down. ‘This is for all the times you beat me when I was a boy,’ he declared, and there was a terrific crack as the lash came down square upon Baines’s defenceless buttocks.

  ‘Ah!’ she cried. ‘Damn you all to hell! You will pay for this! To hell with you all!’

  He repeated his punishment with even greater vigour, making her wail in agony. Then suddenly her mood changed and she appeared chastened. ‘That is enough punishment for a poor old woman like me, please!’ Instead of cursing she resorted to grovelling. ‘Oh, it hurts my poor bottom so! Stop now, I beg of you. I will never lay another finger on anyone, I swear it, so long as you leave me be!’

  ‘Did you listen to poor Jane’s entreaties when you were whipping her?’ he asked relentlessly. ‘Or did you listen to my own? Of course not, so why should we heed you? Another strike is coming your way right now, so prepare for it.’

  As the woman continued crying and snivelling like a baby, Hetty’s heart hardened against her even more. The miserable creature could not take the punishment she doled out so freely herself. Even a sensitive creature like Jane had shown more restraint and dignity when being whipped.

  The third stroke caught the nurse in her arse crack and made her screech like a banshee. Already her cheeks were red and Hetty knew all too well how smarting the pain must be. Then Leo announced he would not be doling out any more chastisement and the woman visibly relaxed.

  ‘Thank you,’ she gasped. ‘Thank you!’

  ‘I said I would not be administering any further strokes,’ he added, clearly enjoying the situation. ‘But there is someone else who deserves vengeance for the torment you have inflicted upon her. Jane, take the whip and deliver three more strokes, if you please.’

  Baines yelled imprecations at him, calling him all manner of names under the sun, and Jane looked terrified, but Leo walked up to her and placed the Longton Quirt firmly in her grasp. ‘The honour of Longton is in your hands now,’ he told her solemnly. ‘Do your worst.’

  ‘Remember how I showed you, Jane dear,’ Hetty whispered, taking the opportunity to plant a kiss on the girl’s soft cheek. ‘Think of what she has done to you. Or if that will not move you sufficiently, remember how she has also tormented me. Now raise your right hand and strike. Do it.’

  Her words seemed to have the desired effect, because Jane drew herself up to her full height, her nubile figure lending such dignity and grace to her pose she resembled an avenging angel as she raised the whip high in the air. Then with a calm, steely-eyed expression, she flicked her wrist as she brought her arm down and the lash snaked forth from the handle in a sinuous movement that found its home on the bare flesh of her erstwhile tormentor’s posterior. The tip of the whip bit cruelly into the woman’s right buttock, causing her to yelp in agony.

  Calmly, Jane ran the full length of the rough leather through her hand as if she wished to savour her victim’s pain to the full, then she raised it again and aimed at her other buttock. Baines screeched as the searing heat scourged her flesh again, and a look of deep satisfaction passed over Jane’s face as she inflicted a third and final blow. ‘That is enough,’ she announced. ‘I am avenged and she is chastened.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ Leo asked. ‘Are you satisfied you have repaid her for what she did to you?’

  She nodded. ‘Quite sure, thank you. I do not wish to grow cruel and become like her, punishing not for the sake of correction but for the pleasure of inflicting pain. I am not like her, and never will be.’

  Hetty felt her eyes fill with tears. Jane was so noble, so pure. It seemed no amount of depravity could ever sully her innocent soul.

  When Baines realised her ordeal was over finally, she tried to raise herself off the sofa, but she had to wait to be released from her bonds before she could do so, grunting and groaning and pulling her voluminous drawers gingerly up over her raw backside.

  ‘Now get you gone,’ Lady Alice dismissed her with a look of distaste. ‘And mend your ways, Mrs Baines, or I shall not hesitate to have similar punishment inflicted upon you again in the future.’

  The woman slunk from the room, looking cowed and strangely shorter than before.

  ‘They always say the biggest bullies make the biggest cowards,’ Leo remarked sombrely, and then suddenly laughed.<
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  ‘I think Baines will take pains to avoid upsetting any of us again in future,’ Hetty added, and giggled helplessly.

  Even Jane was smiling as they left Lady Alice’s rooms. Hetty and Leo went to their own quarters, where they sat in their sitting room facing each other whilst sipping glasses of Madeira.

  ‘Leo, I need to speak to you further about Jane,’ she began tentatively. ‘Do you not think it would be immoral of me… I mean of my brother, to continue his courtship of her even though it can come to nothing? She is thinking of marriage, Leo. But if he were to abandon her now, I know she would be utterly bereft. Is there no way out of this quagmire of deceit? I feel responsible for having brought it about, so I now have a conscience over it.’

  ‘Leave it to me,’ he said, setting his glass down and opening his arms, so Hetty set her own drink aside and went to sit on his lap. He nestled his cheek against her bosom. ‘I shall think of some solution, my love, but right now I want you to think only of me. Let us pretend we are back in our garret in Paris where we were as happy as we were poor… listen, can you hear the bells of the Sacré Coeur?’

  They kissed deeply and Hetty felt his hand caressing her breasts and stimulating her nipples to a tingling hardness. Yet her mind was still on sweet, delectable Jane and the dalliance they had shared. As her husband took her to bed, planting warm kisses first on her bosom and then on her moist labia as a preliminary to penetrating her, she was reliving the exquisite sensations making love to another woman had aroused in her, feelings so wonderful she longed to experience them again.

  Once Leo had fallen asleep beside her, she found herself quite unable to follow him into the realm of dreams. It was not that her husband had failed to satisfy her, far from it, but the thought of making love to Jane whilst pretending to be George possessed her imagination; filling her with teasing fantasies and keeping restful slumber at bay. She considered creeping out of bed, putting on George’s clothes and sneaking into Jane’s bedroom. It was a daring plan, yet once the idea took hold she could not rid herself of it.