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Chapter 8
Men of every size and age were holding the hands of all sorts of women, exactly as Edward was doing, Louisa’s hand covered by his much larger one. Even that was unusual as in Lucy’s experience, she had seen men leading their women either with a hand pressed against a back or with their companion’s smaller hand tucked into the crook of their elbow. Other differences were even more blatant. Most every woman around her was dressed far, far below her chronological age. Frilly dresses barely covered stocking-clad knees. Lucy saw the lacy hem of bloomers hanging down to peek out beneath the hems of the childish dresses. Only a very few women were dressed as she was and Lucy understood quickly that these women were not wives; they were nannies or governesses who were paid to help with their small charges. Looking to her right, she saw Mrs. Bremmer in a new light. Could she also be fulfilling two roles? One of housekeeper and one of caretaker for the very mistress of that house? It made sense as she remembered the authority the woman had been given by her employer.
Suddenly Lucy realized that while the women around her were smiling and calling out to each other, giving little waves, she found herself feeling uncomfortably out of place. She wondered at that quick thought as Edward led them up the stairs and into the building. Only once inside the foyer did Mrs. Bremmer leave them, moving to join others, Henri among the men milling about. Edward guided the twins down the center aisle and then into a pew only a few rows from the front of the church. Lucy looked around and saw dozens of people filing into the pews. She never would have believed that this many people lived the sort of life she had never dreamed could exist. She was twisting to look behind her when Edward bent toward her.
“It’s quite impolite to stare, Lucy. Keep your eyes forward and sit still.”
She blushed but obeyed, her hands folded into her lap, her ankles crossed though they didn’t quite reach the floor. She looked across Edward to see her sister was seated on the other side and sighed. He hadn’t needed to remind her to behave. After several minutes, the room quieted as people settled. Lucy stiffened as the door at the side of the church opened and a man clad in a long black robe entered. She immediately thought of Headmaster Thorne and remembered the awful caning he had given her. She was determined not to draw any attention to herself for fear of what might happen and unconsciously moved a bit closer to Edward. She only realized what she’d done when he looked down at her, a stern look on his face but instead of chastising her or worse for squirming, he looked forward and evidently understood her reasoning for doing so. Looking at her again, he gave her a small smile and a soft pat on her leg as if to reassure his ward that she was safe. Unless, of course, she misbehaved.
Lucy was glad to lower her head when the pastor began the service with a prayer. It gave her a few more minutes to compose herself, the man’s voice far less harsh than Thorne’s had been. The congregation then stood and sang several hymns before sitting down again. As the service continued, Lucy felt her mind begin to drift. The room was still and quickly becoming stuffy. She wished she could use her program to fan her face, but her attention was soon caught as a man in a pew in front of her stood and pulled his own little girl out of the pew. She was attempting to drag her feet, but the man was having none of it. They left the service, and though Lucy wanted to glance behind to watch the girl’s journey, she knew to do so would be to cause Edward’s attention to be drawn to her. She tried to focus her attention on the pastor, who had simply paused in his sermon until the couple had left through the doors at the back of the chapel. She heard the pastor preach about the necessity of honoring thy father, but noticed he said nothing about a mother. She heard him speak about little ones’ needing discipline and boundaries and, when he paused yet again, it was for another couple to leave.
Lucy wondered what was happening when throughout the service another few couples would leave for a few minutes only to reappear and take their seats. She swore she could hear the first woman she’d seen being taken out sniffling once she had returned but couldn’t be sure. An hour passed, and still the service continued. Lucy wanted to shift in her seat as her bottom was aching, but even as she very cautiously began to lean a bit to the side, she saw Edward bend toward Louisa who had been wiggling about for the past several minutes. Lucy blushed when she saw Edward’s hand slide up under the hem of Louisa’s skirts and then heard a sharp but muffled yelp. She froze, not desiring to discover what it was that he had done. She saw her sister nod, her lips trembling in reaction to whatever her husband whispered softly into her ear. The service finally began to draw to a close. Lucy had never been as thankful when they stood to sing the closing hymn. She bowed her head for the final prayer and was looking forward to returning outside to feel a cooling breeze, turning to move out of the pew. However, her hopes were dashed when she felt Edward pulling her back down onto the hard pew. Lucy barely managed to suppress a moan as her bottom again took her full weight. She glanced over at Edward seeing him give a small shake of his head, the warning to behave clear in his eyes. She sighed softly but obediently returned her glance to the front of the church.
The pastor stepped out from behind his pulpit and walked to the center of the steps at the front of the aisle. This time when he spoke his tone was sharp, causing Lucy to jump a bit as she was again reminded of the headmaster.
“Every little one who required their papas to tend to them during service, please come to me now.” Lucy found her attention riveted as a half dozen women reluctantly walked toward the front of the church. She could hear the young woman in front of softly pleading though it was in vain, as her husband… no, Lucy supposed like Edward, the man was the woman’s papa… stood and guided her from the pew, popping the back of her dress before pointing to the front. The woman was crying as she slowly trudged up the aisle until she stood before the pastor. Lucy found her heart go out to the gathered women somehow knowing that whatever was going to happen wouldn’t be pleasant.
She heard Edward say very quietly to his wife, “If I have to correct you ever again during service, little lady, you too shall go forward to receive personal retribution from the pastor.”
“Yes, Papa,” Louisa said very softly.
Lucy continued to look at the group of women gathered before the pastor, each one wearing a pretty frilly dress with huge bows and lace-edged bloomers peeking out beneath their petticoats. All looked exactly like small girls though some were women were far older than others. Regardless of their true ages, all were standing with their hands twisting and faces becoming stained with the quiet tears they were shedding. Lucy looked across the congregation and saw that, while the seated women looked extremely sympathetic to their peers’ plights, the men were nodding, as if they understood the need for discipline in any and all situations, regardless of place or audience.
Lucy found her heart beating faster and looked to the front of the church again. Evidently satisfied that no other girls were to join those already gathered, the pastor nodded and turned away. He walked to the side door, opened it and stepped aside as every woman walked slowly through it. Instinct told Lucy that each one was already sorry for drawing unwanted attention to themselves. Only after the pastor had also stepped through and then closed the door did Edward rise, gesturing for Lucy to step out of the pew. Lucy followed Edward as he led the way back down the aisle and out into the large foyer. Once out of the chapel, the atmosphere lifted and Edward greeted several men by name, shaking their hands and chatting for a few moments. He was relaxed, his smile coming often as Lucy watched him bend to either speak to or kiss a few women on their cheeks. She felt out of place but also fascinated by the glimpse into a world in which both her guardian and her sister appeared to be very comfortable. She watched as Louisa greeted a few women with small squeals of delight and enthusiastic hugs. Her sister’s demeanor astonished Lucy, as she appeared to be happy, even though she’d been reduced to the age of a small child. Lucy attention turned from her sister when the chapel door behind her opened. A young woman, probably Lucy’s age, walked through the door, her face streaked with tears, her eyes darting about those gathered in the foyer. Suddenly, she gave a cry and ran past Lucy to a man who knelt to embrace her as she flew into his arms. Those near could hear her making her apologies.
“I’m-I’m sorry, Papa. I won’t be naughty in church ever, ever again, I promise!” The man smiled and gave the girl a kiss on her cheek. Soon the door opened again to reveal another woman who cried and ran to hug her husband and make her own apology. Lucy’s head turned to follow each woman, witnessing the teary, contrite reunion of what she now admitted was yet another littleoneand herpapa. After the door opened for the final time, Lucy watched as the pastor entered with the last young woman’s hand held tightly in his. Her face was also tearstained, but she was not allowed to run for comfort from her husband. Instead, the pastor walked with his naughty parishioner until they stood in front of a much older gentleman.
“Thomas, this is the second week in a row that your little Margarite had to make a private atonement. Even though I could tell she must have received quite a thorough switching in the last few days, you are evidently not leading her along the proper path. Since I had to spank her last week after service, she was given a particularly sound paddling today. You aren’t doing her any good allowing her to continue this misbehavior, Thomas. I know you love your little one and that this is somewhat new to you, but you must not coddle her. Margarite needs her papa to be consistent and very firm if she is to learn to behave appropriately.”
The man appeared to be embarrassed, and in full view of the entire congregation immediately turned his wife around and lifted her dress. He raked her bloomers down to her ankles to look at her bottom, which Lucy saw was indeed extremely red and swollen. She watched as Thomas held his little girl with one hand and began to spank her with the other.
“I’ve warned you, Margot. I will not allow you to continue to misbehave during service. You just wait until I get you home. I’m going to blister this naughty bottom until you can’t sit down comfortably and you shall wear a nice thick reminder until you learn I mean business.”
“Nooo! Please, Papa… please…” the little woman shrieked as he continued to spank her.
Lucy was stunned and looked around to see all eyes except Edward’s focused on the domestic scene. Instead of watching Margarite getting her spanking, he was watching his ward. Lucy felt her face flush as her eyes met his to see him lift his hand and twirl his finger as if telling her to turn around and watch. She swallowed hard, but obeyed and was in time to see the last of the spanking. Margarite continued to wail even as her hands cupped her bottom and she bounced in place ignoring the looks of the congregation. The pastor knelt down and took her hands away from her bottom.
“I am happy that your papa is going to make sure you are a well-punished little one, Margarite. You have been very naughty, both last week and today. You are a very spoiled little girl who needs a good hard hand. If I see you walking up the aisle next week, young lady, you will be attended to last. You shall place yourself over the spanking bench before the entire congregation, and your bottom will pay the price of your naughtiness with a dozen strokes of the cane.”
The girl wailed at the threat and then when her papa popped her again, she managed to say, “Ye… yes, sir, Pastor Reed. I’m sorry. I-I’ll be a good girl.”
The pastor nodded and pulled the woman into his arms. She leaned against him and sobbed. He allowed her to cry for a few minutes before putting her away from him. Lucy saw the girl’s face burn as the pastor reached down and pulled her bloomers back up over her naked, spanked bottom. The man smiled, bent forward and kissed her cheek.
“Go with your papa and learn your lesson, little one. You’ll be a better little girl because of it.”
Thomas thanked him, and taking her hand, led his little Margot from the church. After their departure, the parishioners began to talk among themselves again. Lucy watched as Pastor Reed made a point of speaking with every man who had seen their little one return from his office. Each man nodded and assured him that additional lessons would be given at home. The poor girls left, all sniffling while making impossible promises of future perfect behavior. Lucy felt for the poor girls knowing that if what their papas had said was the truth, each one had another spanking if not more to look forward to. As the last couple left, Lucy found herself praying that their papas would be lenient and forgive them.
Suddenly, she became aware that the pastor was approaching her and stepped back only to bump into someone. Looking up she saw Edward looking quizzically down at her. All she could do was shake her head as words had totally failed her. Edward looked from her and then back, giving her a smile.
“It’s okay, Lucy. You were a good girl during the service and have no need to fear Pastor Reed.” He waited until the man reached them and pulled Lucy from behind him where she’d attempted to hide. Keeping his arm around her shoulder, he used his free hand to shake the pastor’s and thank him for a lovely service.
The pastor nodded and then spoke to Lucy. “Whom might you belong to? I don’t believe we’ve met, though you do bear a striking resemblance to our Miss Louisa.”
Belong to?Lucy felt her face flush and had no answer. She didn’t belong to anyone.
Edward chuckled and saved her from answering. “This is my ward Miss Lucille Furniss. Lucy this is Pastor Reed.”
Lucy nodded but didn’t know what else to do.
