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“We’ve already established that you are not a ‘big girl,’ Lucille. Regardless of your opinion, fair or not, disrespect and blatant misbehavior are never, ever overlooked in this house. You did not act as a grown woman and simply converse with me about something you didn’t understand. Had you, perhaps you would have discovered your beliefs are incorrect. However, we will not be able to converse about anything except what is to happen to this poor little bottom. Now do your duty, Lucille, or perhaps you’d like your entire lesson applied right here?” Anna ended her statement with another swipe of the tawse against Lucy’s sit spot.
The threat… no, the promise was the final push Lucy needed. “Please… please may I have my tawsing?” Lucy said as the first drips of her tears slid down her cheek to plop onto the carpet under her head. Anna finally lifted the tawse from the girl’s bottom.
“Yes, you may.”
Lucy stiffened and gasped. The words had not come from the housekeeper. Turning her head and swiping back the curtain of her hair, Lucy saw Edward leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom. She immediately turned bright red with shame. How long had he been standing there? How much had he heard?
“Please, sir… please, I’m so sorry,” Lucy tried, thinking perhaps she could show her contrition before the tawsing began. “I just didn’t understand what Mrs. Bremmer was doing with my clothing. I… I didn’t mean to be naughty. I promise to mind—”
“Of course you promise, Lucille,” Edward said, not moving a muscle. “It is so easy for a little one to promise anything when she is turned over a lap, her bloomers at her knees and her bare bottom positioned for punishment.” His words immediately caused the shame at her position to burn hotter, realizing this was all her own fault. Edward continued, “As you are aware, promises mean very little. Actions prove your desire and, young lady, since I’ve seen Molly coming up and down these stairs several times in the past half-hour, I’m quite positive that a simple misunderstanding is not all that is going on here. In fact, I’d be willing to wager that some little girl thought she’d outsmart her elders. However, as I’m sure you are now aware, that little plan failed quite miserably, didn’t it, Lucille?”
Feeling like the fool he most likely considered her to be, Lucy could only nod. “I-I suppose…” His lifted brow had her swallowing hard and rephrasing her answer. “I mean, yes, sir.”
“That’s correct and the only action you shall be doing in the next minute is to offer your naughty bare bottom to Mrs. Bremmer’s tawse, understood?”
When Lucy could only nod, he shook his head. “No, Lucille. I need to hear your answer so there will be no misunderstanding of what you are going to do. Tell me exactly what that will be.”
She’d not only lost the battle and the war, she had lost the entire campaign. Knowing her bottom would be burning for quite some time, she said, “I’m going to ask Mrs. Bremmer to forgive me and then I-I’m going to lift my bottom up and ask her to give me my tawsing… sir.”
“That is correct,” Edward said before turning to look at his employee. “After you release Lucille, have her spend her day tailoring her new drawers into the open style that you recommended. I’ve come to agree our little one will find the style quite the lesson. I believe having to tailor the drawers will teach her that she should be grateful for all that is provided to her.”
“Certainly, my lord,” Anna said and without another word, lifted the tawse and brought it down with a crack against Lucille’s bottom.
The room was soon ringing with Lucy’s cries and pleas for mercy. The tawse lifted again and again and again, bouncing sharply onto her bottom, each stroke sounding like a crack of a whip. Lucy learned that Mrs. Bremmer had been correct. Having her bottom tawsed was far more painful than either a hand spanking or even a paddling. Each stroke caused her bottom to burn and itch as the separate strands of the stiff leather bit into different spots on her buttocks. She was soon struggling, her hands clawing at the carpet, the tips of her toes scrabbling behind her where they were locked beneath Mrs. Bremmer’s leg.
“Owww, please… please, no more!” she begged, shrieking as the tawse bit into her sit-spot. She no longer cared if the entire household heard her cries. All she wanted was for the horrid tawsing to stop.
“I’m sorry! Please, oh please, stop,” she cried to no avail.
“I’ll stop when I’m assured that you, missy, will never again question my authority or have any doubt about the painful lesson my tawse can deliver.”
Lucy made the mistake of reaching back with her hand in an attempt to grab hold of Mrs. Bremmer’s wrist. Anna simply slapped the tawse against the back of Lucy’s thigh, causing her to arch and screech again.
“Keep that hand down, little girl,” Anna ordered slapping the other thigh. “Naughty girls are punished and must show they accept their punishment. Put your hands down and don’t reach for your bottom again.”
Lucy sobbed, but as the tawse continued to punish her thighs, she finally submitted. Once her hands were flat on the floor, the tawse was returned to her bottom. While the pain was still dreadful, it was less than the inferno burning on the backs of her thighs. Time seemed to stretch into eternity before the tawse finally stopped falling though the servant continued to rub the leather over the welts she had painted onto Lucy’s bottom. Lucy continued to sob and gulp for air as she wagged her bottom from side to side. She swore she was burning more than she had under her guardian’s leather strap or even Headmaster Thorne’s cane She moaned and continued to promise to be a good girl, not even truly aware she was speaking. Anna allowed her to cry for several minutes.
“Your tawsing is over. You are to rise and go stand in your corner. Keep your gown up and that naughty bottom displayed,” Anna instructed as she released the girl. Lucy continued to sob, her chest heaving as she pushed herself off the housekeeper’s lap and stumbled to the appropriate corner.
“Gown up, Lucille,” she heard and sobbed harder realizing that Edward had stayed to witness her discipline. Lucy raked her gown up to bare her hot, aching bottom. She shifted from foot to foot, the burn so intense she couldn’t remain still. When she felt a large hand pressing against her lower back, she instantly stiffened at the contact.
“Settle, little one. I know your bottom is burning but you must show your contrition and remain still during your corner time. If you continue to move about, Mrs. Bremmer will simply give you another dose,” Edward warned her.
Barely managing to cut off the wail she began to utter at his words, she nodded and with a last little shuffle, she forced herself to still her legs. He removed his hand and used it to brush her hair from her face. She turned her head just slightly but when she saw his look of disapproval, she immediately turned back and pressed the tip of her nose into the junction of the two walls.
“That’s my good girl,” he said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Keep your gown up, your bottom out, and, Lucille, I shall see you in my study before bed.” Lucy couldn’t stop the cry at those words. Edward allowed it for a moment before continuing, “It has been several days since you’ve been given an appointment, Lucille. I am disappointed to discover you haven’t learned to be a good girl for me and Mrs. Bremmer. Perhaps another lesson this evening will help remind you that you’d rather behave than be put to bed with a hot, throbbing rear.”
Lucy lost her breath for a moment and then sobbed harder, her voice echoing her distress. She knew her bottom would eventually stop burning from the tawse but that the fire would be reignited this evening.
* * *
Watching Edward leaving the library,Lucy wiped her cheeks and once more picked up her needle. The memories of the day’s beginnings had only reminded her of how this day was going to end. The only thing she could possibly strive for now was to not make it any worse on herself. She made her stitches through the fabric as quickly as possible so as not to be late for her appointment. Lucille shivered as she made her final knot. She folded the garment and set it atop the pile that had gradually grown during the day. She twisted her hands together, massaging her sore and pricked fingers. She had been sewing for hours, and though grateful she was finally finished, she knew her punishment was not yet complete. She took a deep breath and forced herself to her feet.
Her face flushed as she felt her skirt slide down to cover her bottom. She had been sitting on the settee, her skirts lifted and wadded up behind her in order that her bottom was bare on the cushion of the settee. She had not been allowed drawers all day long and had been conscious of her nakedness beneath her new dress. Mrs. Bremmer had reminded her each time Lucy had to sit to lift her dress properly. Lucy had been embarrassed when having to stand after taking her seat at the dinner table in order to lift her dress. She’d done so as quickly as possible and could only pray that neither Edward nor any of the many servants had seen her bare bottom being pressed to the surface of her chair. She swiped her hands down her skirts and then bent and picked up the stack of items. She stood, wincing a bit at the pull of the weals that burned hottest in the creases of her sit spots courtesy of Mrs. Bremmer’s tawse. Taking another deep breath, she swiped a tear from her cheek and began the journey to her guardian’s study.
Chapter 2
Edward heard the timid knock on his door and pushed aside the business correspondence he had been reading. He had already completed working on the household accounts while waiting for Lucille to finish her sewing and come to him.
