Now leaning forward, Lord Harrington’s body language communicated his earnestness clearly. He truly was concerned about his daughter, as well as his family’s name, and he wanted to be able to trust Edwin to take care of her. But he also needed Edwin to keep her from disgracing herself, if they were to marry.
"I would certainly like to make her happy," said Edwin truthfully, although his ideas on how to do so were much more closely aligned with her father's than with the lady's own. "However, I'm not quite sure you've made as much progress as you think." And he described Eleanor's rude behavior from the night before as Lord Harrington's face darkened, ending with a request that she not be punished as he'd rather not have her feeling any more antagonistic towards him than necessary at this juncture.
"Thank you for telling me," Lord Harrington said. "I will allow you to handle it as you see fit. Please rest assured that her mother will be suitably chastened for not informing me of our daughter's antics." Edwin shot him a look of surprise and Lord Harrington smiled. "Ah, you thought the Lady is exempt from the discipline of the house? Absolutely not. In fact, I rather believe that she's come to enjoy it. You will find that disciplining a wife is altogether a different thing from disciplining a daughter."
"I see, my Lord," said Edwin feeling rather stunned. The idea of the demure and graceful Lady Harrington bent over the arm chair - which happened to be the one he was sitting in - to receive a spanking from her husband was both shocking and rather arousing itself as he realized how many delightful years he would have ahead of him with Eleanor. "Well, I should be very happy to marry Eleanor. Last night I actually had the thought that she would make an ideal wife for me, although I had planned on courting her properly."
Lord Harrington waved his hand dismissively. "No time for that, she'd just use to get into more trouble. The sooner I shackle you two together, the happier I'll be."
They hammered out the marriage agreement rather quickly after the solicitors were called to join them, with Lord Harrington looking extremely relieved now that he knew his daughter would be in good hands, assured that she would have no chance to dishonor or shame their family with a stalwart and responsible husband like Lord Hyde. Promising to return that afternoon to propose, Edwin left to secure a special license so that he and Eleanor could marry on the morrow.
Chapter 2
"What?!" Eleanor asked her father, staring at him completely aghast. Her hands clenched in the skirt of her father-approved modest beige morning gown, she felt faint for the first time in her life. This could not be happening.
"You will marry Lord Hyde tomorrow," her father said calmly, before continuing to new information as if he hadn't just announced the most awful fate imaginable. "It's quite a good match, I believe." He was smiling, so obviously proud of himself for arranging her marriage that she wanted to scream.
"But it's too soon! I just came out yesterday!" she protested, her mind racing. The fact that he had made her insides quiver last night didn't make a basis for a good marriage, and Lord Hyde's strong personality certainly didn't make for the kind of marriage Eleanor wanted. Somehow she instinctively knew that he wouldn't be at all malleable or inclined to give her whatever she wanted. After all, heated glances and seductive words or not, he'd known her for too long, had heard her waspish tongue. There would be no honeying her way with sweet words and promises when it came to him. After all her hard work attracting an acceptable court of suitors and her father was going to cut her off from them before she could even attempt to bring one up to snuff!
"You're lucky I let you come out at all with the way you ended up behaving," her father said sternly, his smile fading a little. "I certainly hope you aren't arguing with me Eleanor. This is a good match. He's young, wealthy, and eager to wed you. You could do much worse."
She could also do much better. Eleanor shook her head, furious, unable to verbalize her thoughts, and her father's smile faded further, his face darkening.
"Eleanor, you will marry him. Tomorrow. He will be here to propose this afternoon and you will accept him."
"Please Papa, don't make me do this," she begged, reduced to it by her panic. "I don't want to marry him."
The look on his face darkened even more and solidified. "You want to marry one of those idiots that you can push around, is that it? Lord Cawdor or Count Bryant? Yes, I saw you leading them around last night. They're not worthy of a woman like you, and the fact that you would even consider lowering yourself to marrying one of those buffoons only highlights the need for someone wiser to make such important decisions for you. Count Bryant is heavily in debt thanks to his gaming habits and Lord Cawdor doesn't have the wit or the will to keep you in line, you’d ruin both his good name and ours within a month."
That was exactly why she was interested in Cawdor! Bryant hadn't been one of the men that she favored, but Cawdor would have done perfectly. Although of course she wouldn’t have ruined him, but she would have had all the beautiful dresses she wanted, and dripping jewels, a husband who would adore her and… everything! She shook her head again, wanting so badly to stamp her foot and scream and throw the kind of tantrum that she used to indulge in up to a few years ago. "I won't!"
Lord Harrington sighed, somehow instinctively knowing it would come to this. His wife had indulged their daughter far too long and he hadn't been paying proper attention or he would have put a stop to it much sooner. Now it was too late and he could only be thankful that Edwin, who was already wise to some of Eleanor's tricks and wouldn't allow her to run wild, had been so interested in her. As much as he would have liked to give Eleanor a proper debut, she'd already shown last night that she couldn't be trusted to be a proper lady.
"You will. Last night you came within a hairsbreadth of shaming the family. Do you know how many matrons saw you leave for a walk about the terrace with Lord Cawdor? And come in looking flushed, like you’d just been kissed?” Eleanor winced, because of course the truth was that she had just enjoyed her first kiss. “You were almost ruined at your come-out ball Eleanor. I will not give you the opportunity to actually do so. If you continue to argue I will spank you."
"But Papa, surely you can't -"
Her father stood, patience wrung out that she was still trying to fight with him. "Over the chair Eleanor."
"No, Papa, please!"
"You're trying my patience Eleanor. You are my daughter and your duty is to obey. I have indulged this conversation long enough. Position yourself over the chair."
Letting out a small sob, Eleanor indulged in stamping her feet as she got into position. It did very little to vent her emotions; she should have left when he told her to and now she bitterly regretted not doing so. By now she'd learned that her father didn't bluff. Lifting up her skirts was the worst part, baring her bottom and vulnerable places for punishment. None of her other friends ever mentioned having to do anything remotely like this, not since they were small children, only her father was so old fashioned and stodgy. They got to wear prettier dresses than her too, with lower necklines, in better fabrics, and go shopping whenever they wanted. They didn't get lectures about proper behavior or immodest gowns. It didn't occur to Eleanor that most of those that were currently unmarried didn't actually need those lectures and that most of her friends were more firmly under the control of their mothers’, whom were all much stricter than her own.
She could hear him opening the cupboard and she winced. Please not the birch, she thought. Unfortunately she was not much heartened to hear the familiar slap of the leather tawse against her father's open palm.
"Ten strokes and I hope this is the last time I will have to punish you," he said. "After all, you marry tomorrow and then you are his responsibility."
The last time? Suddenly Eleanor didn't feel quite so bad. Surely things would be different in Lord Hyde's house. And perhaps she could contrive some manner to escape; if she put off the bedding for long enough then she could run away and have the marriage annulled later.
Leather whistled thro
ugh the air and landed with a crack across the round globes of her bottom.
"One."
Gritting her teeth, Eleanor dug her hands into the leather cushion on the seat of the chair. The last time. She could get through this. Another stroke landed, just below the first, and air hissed out between her teeth.
"Three," she heard her father say as pain flared through her thighs.
Burying her head in the chair, she let herself cry her way through her last punishment, her heated buttocks twitching as the strap fell on it again and again. She would find a way out of this; she might not be able to avoid marrying Edwin, but once out of her father's household she would find a way to have the marriage annulled and then she could have the life that she wanted, the life she had planned for. She would be loved and adored, not dictated to and disciplined or sent away to Brighton to languish.
“Ten.”
The last stroke fell and Eleanor let out a long sigh of relief. Although her buttocks felt fiery and sore, they didn’t hurt nearly as bad as some of the punishments she’d received in the past. And this was her last one.
“Now what do you say Eleanor?”
“I’m sorry Father, for disobeying and arguing with you. I know you only want what is best for me.” The truth of those words suddenly struck her. Although she might hate her father’s methods, she didn’t doubt his love or that he wanted her to have a secure and happy life, they just disagreed on what would make that life for her.
Something of her thoughts must have shown in her face because her father smiled at her, perhaps hearing the ring of sincerity in her voice.
“I do Eleanor, I really do.” And to her surprise, he embraced her gently and didn’t tell her to stand in the corner before giving her permission to leave the room. “Oh, and Eleanor? Could you tell your mother I’d like to see her in here?”
******
When Edwin was shown into the salon that afternoon Eleanor and her mother were both sitting on the sofa looking rather uncomfortable. The redness around both of their eyes indicated that tears had been shed sometime in the past few hours and they were shifting uncomfortably, as if their bottoms hurt. Had Lord Harrington already administered a punishment to his wife? And had he gone back on his word about disciplining Eleanor or had she earned a red bottom for something else?
Wondering if his future wife had been soundly spanked this afternoon made Edwin’s breeches feel rather tight, but he tried to push such enticing thoughts out of his head for a more appropriate time. After exchanging the usual courtesies and a few comments about the weather, Lady Harrington excused herself, claiming a need to find her maid, ostensibly to give Edwin and Eleanor a few minutes alone so that he might propose.
For herself, Eleanor was so wrapped up in herself that she hadn’t even noticed her mother’s discomfort or red eyes, even when she and her mother had been having a discussion about Lord Hyde’s attributes and her mother’s joy over her daughter’s ‘happy match.’ It was all enough to make Eleanor want to slap Lord Hyde across his smug, handsome face. Yet nothing stopped the tremor that went through her body as he moved to seat himself next to her on the couch, far too close to her for comfort.
Oh, what was her father thinking?! The hastiness of this match would cause more gossip than anything Eleanor had done. Although since she and Edwin had known each other for so long, perhaps the gossip wouldn’t be quite as bad, it wasn’t as if they were strangers after all. He was one of her brother’s closest friends. Looking into his dark, brooding eyes, she couldn’t stop the flush that came to her cheeks. Unconsciously she shifted away from him, wincing as the weight on her sore bottom changed. Unfortunately the cushions on the sofa weren’t soft enough to comfort a thoroughly chastised bottom like hers.
“Lady Eleanor,” Edwin murmured, bringing her gaze back up to meet his. Her crystal blue eyes were filled with anxiety and excitement, the little catch in her breath as he leaned closer to her telling him that she was not unaffected by his presence.
“Lord Hyde,” she said, her voice formal, stilted. Yet the look she was giving him was that of an innocent, awaiting a stolen kiss, with her head and lips tilted just so. It was an instinctive response and not one that she would have made knowingly.
Sliding down onto one knee in front of her, Edwin impertinently put his hand on her thigh. Eleanor drew in her breath quickly as his hand seemed to sear her skin through the fabric of her gown. No man had ever touched her in such an inappropriate spot before! If only he wasn’t so handsome, so big, so exciting… her reaction to his touch was more than a little disturbing to her.
“Eleanor,” he said, his voice becoming more warmly intimate as he used her Christian name. Her cheeks flushed becomingly. “We’ve known each other for years now and last night at your ball I realized I’d never seen another woman I wanted to make my wife, not until I really looked at you and saw the young woman you’ve become and not the little girl I’d known all my life.” His hand reached up and brushed her cheek, Eleanor jerked back. The touch of skin on skin was too fiery to be born, although it didn’t help when his hand settled back onto her thigh. The ring of truth in his voice disconcerted her, he actually sounded as if he was saying nothing but the honest truth! Was it possible he truly had a hidden tendre for her? That he truly wanted to marry her for something other than her father’s money or request? The idea appealed more than she wanted to admit. “I know this is quite sudden, but I want you to understand that this is what I truly want. Please, do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
There was no mention of love or adoration in his little speech, but she didn’t doubt his words. Edwin had never been a liar and there was sincerity in everything he said, although she couldn’t account for why he was sudden speaking of these feelings now. Perhaps he would be easier to influence than she thought. Surprisingly flustered, Eleanor cleared her throat to try and find her voice, it came out in a husky whisper.
“I had no idea…” she cleared her throat again. While she still wasn’t sure that marriage to Lord Hyde was what she wanted, at the very least it would get her out of her father’s house. And then she could find a way to annul the marriage and flee to her mother in Brighton, surely one of her swains would be willing to meet her there and elope to Gretna Green. Kilcairn or Cawdor would probably consider it the height of heroic romance. That was probably for the best, her strange attraction to Edwin was dangerous and not to be indulged. But for now she must play the part that she had been assigned. “I accept.”
He gave her a wry grin, as if acknowledging her rather lackluster response. Then, to her shock, he stood, pulling her to her feet and into his arms in one swift movement.
“What are you-?” she started to say before he cut her off.
“Let us seal it with a kiss.”
And then his lips were on hers. They were soft, warm, and insistent. Eleanor shuddered at the sensation of his strong arms wrapped around her, easily holding her against him. The muscles of his broad chest flexed under her hands as she pushed at him. Then one of his hands slid down her back and squeezed her bottom, eliciting a small gasp of pain as his fingers dug into her abused rear. Edwin took advantage of her open lips to slide his tongue into her mouth. He tasted of spice and mint, his tongue both shocking and exciting her, as did this entire encounter. Somehow the heat in her bottom seemed to change under Edwin’s hand, from merely painful to rather arousing. Making a small mewling noise Eleanor squirmed against him, although she was no longer entirely sure that she wanted him to let her go. Something new and fantastic had flared to life inside of her, making her sore bottom feel almost good as his hand squeezed it, and she could feel herself yearning for… something…
With a show of willpower that Edwin considered nothing less than heroic, he released Eleanor’s soft, curvy body, reluctantly letting go of her luscious bottom. While it was possible she had gasped because she was shocked at the liberties he’d taken by touching her so intimately, Edwin was sure he’d heard some pain in her voice, meaning th
at she certainly had at least been spanked before he came over. The idea inflamed him. Spanked the day before being wedded to him and soon he’d have the right to put his hands all over her lovely body. To administer that discipline.
For her part, Eleanor stared at him, very much like an awed child as her body trembled now that he was no longer holding her up. What on earth had just happened? Why had she responded to him like that?
The man was more dangerous than she’d realized. While she’d heard about the effect a rake could have on an innocent young woman, she had never experienced it for herself and had no idea that it was so overwhelming! A man like this wouldn’t be controlled by her. There was no way she could marry him.
“Ah, is everything alright in here?” her mother said, appearing in the doorway to see them standing and staring at each other.
“Quite,” said Lord Edwin with a smile as he turned to face her, taking Eleanor’s hand in his. “I have asked the Lady Eleanor to be my wife and she has accepted my proposal.”
“Oh how wonderful!” exclaimed Lady Harrington, as if the news was unexpected. “I am thrilled to be the first to wish you happy.”
Eleanor gave her mother a sickly smile, the best she could do under the circumstances. Oh… how was she going to get out of this?
*********
Married. The slim gold band around her finger seemed more like a shackle, chaining her to the charming, handsome man at her side who was smiling as if he’d just won a fortune at White’s. Somehow, despite the short notice, her parents had managed to round up a small assembly of guests, including one young lady that she suspected was included for her brother’s benefit. Miss Irene Chandler was the daughter of Baron Standish. It was well known that Miss Chandler's family wasn't very flush and her dowry didn't have any money, but was a bit of land that abutted directly next to some of Lord Harrington's. If Hugh and Miss Chandler were to marry then that land would become part of the Harrington estate, something that Eleanor knew her father wanted.
Birching His Bride (Domestic Discipline 1) Page 3