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Edmund repeated his instruction. “If you refuse, I shall take you over my lap and the punishment will be prolonged.”
Alice heard him and found she responded as if he had taken over her hands and fingers. She didn’t want to suffer his punishment; she didn’t understand why he insisted on it. Hitching up her skirts to her waist, gathering the layers of fabric about her, she twisted around in the confined space and knelt between his legs, elbows on the seat.
The shame of the position, knowing Edmund had a perfect, if shady, view of her posterior made tears prick in her eyes.
“Why, Edmund?” she blurted out. “Why do I have to apologise to a stranger?”
“Caroline Fanshawe lost her parents, like me, when she was but a child. Her elder brother, Frederick, took on the responsibility of raising her,” explained Edmund. “Her brother and I were well acquainted. Freddy joined another regiment with the rank of Captain. During fierce fighting with the French, Freddy was captured. Injured, his captors treated him badly until a French doctor witnessed his neglect and intervened. By then, Freddy though alive, had to lose a leg to gangrene. The doctor saved his life and kept him alive until a prisoner exchange was arranged.”
Alice swallowed hard. She began to understand what Edmund was telling her.
“Freddy returned to England, under the care of his sister, who gave up any plans of marriage to nurse him. She asked me to help trace the doctor, so she could send him her personal thanks. The correspondence, the subject of this malicious gossip, are not love letters, the doctor is already married, it is simply the exchange of information between two people, who have over the years become friends.”
A tear trickled down Alice’s face. “I will write the letter. I will be most apologetic and I
will tell everyone I meet that there is no scandal to speak of.”
“You should feel guilty, Alice, but that is not the reason I am punishing you. You said you would be respectable in the company of others, you haven’t been. I asked to you to do something, you defied me and refused. Do you not trust me? I am your husband and have your best interests at heart. Maybe this was a test—to ask you to do something without explanation. I am sorry to say, you have failed.”
Alice let out a tiny sob, she truly felt disappointed at her behaviour. Edmund had done nothing to paint her in a bad light at the dance, he had introduced her to many people and she had hung on to the first piece of gossip and repeated it with little consideration. “Please punish me,” she said looking over her shoulder.
Edmund picked up the nettles at one end. “We have little time, you must be quiet. The coachman is not to be alarmed.”
Alice tensed, buried her face and took hold of the sleeve of her pelisse between her teeth, biting down hard.
* * *
The oil lamp shone a light across her buttocks, each crescent curvature, pert and firm in aspect, while pliant to touch. Edmund adored her splendour briefly before refocusing on his task.
“Spread your legs apart, Alice,” said Edmund. “Stick your bottom up a little farther. Good girl.”
He picked a leaf from the stem, a single variegated leaf and held it in his gloved hand. With his other hand, he spread her cheeks apart. Alice flinched at his touch: his gloves would be cold.
“Hold still,” he instructed leaning forward.
With the leaf between his fingers and thumb he pressed against her sex, the folds and with a sweep of his hand, drew the leaf upwards, into her cleft, over her quivering bud, pausing to rub slightly.
Not a noise left her lips. The stings were not immediate, they would come over her gradually and with increasing ferocity. Picking up the three stems, he swept them back and forth across her cheeks, without force, almost as if he held a feather duster. The leaves made contact with her skin and tiny wheals, scarlet and livid, began to raise as he continued to administer the nettles.
Alice’s feet jiggled and she let out a muted whimper. Deciding she had reached her limit, he gave one final swish of the nettles, harder than previous and it whipped across her lobes. Tossing the nettles out of the carriage, he scooped his wife up, allowing her skirts to drop and gathered her into his arms.
Tears streamed silently down her face. As he had asked, she had kept still and quiet. “You took that punishment well, braver than many soldiers I know. You will feel it for a while, but once we are in our bedchamber, I will soothe you with ointments.”
“Edmund, I am sorry I didn’t do as you asked. I do trust you, honestly. I am… adjusting to this life and I will not always be good for you.”
“In public you must try hard. In private,” reflected Edmund, aware of his hardening cock, “maybe I shall not be so exacting. A paragon of virtue is not what I desire. Do not despair, I am pleased with you.”
Alice snuggled into his coat and he held her close to his chest.
Half an hour later, Alice lay naked on their bed with Edmund by her side, smearing the cold unction on her bright welts. Each time a finger traced about her anus, she moaned softly, toes curling up and fingers clenching the pillow.
“Does it sting still?” he asked.
“No, the salve is deliciously cold and soothing,” she murmured. “It is your touch I adore.”
Edmund took the ointment and smeared about his forefinger. “If this hurts too much, say so and I will stop,” he whispered into ear. His finger toyed about her puckered entrance, then with a push, the tip entered and she released a deep exhale. However, she didn’t ask him to stop.
His finger continued to play with her tight passage, stretching and probing until his knuckle slipped inside her. With a firm hand, he wiggled his finger briskly and her labia swelled dramatically in response. With no more stimulation, he watched Alice implode with an orgasm. Chuckling, he withdrew his finger and washed in a basin of water. Returning to the bed, Edmund nudged Alice over onto her back.
