"Are you done now with your protests?" he asked again.
She snuffed, her body seeming to relinquish the fire that had burned so hotly. Even as it was, she found her husband's hand fondling her behind was about as wonderful a feeling as she could possibly have, even if she didn't want to admit it.
"You done?" he sought a response one more time.
"I am," she said, at last.
"And no more tirades?"
"No, sir."
"And no more swearing?"
"No, sir."
"And you'll behave like the lady you are with Mr. Terrill?"
At that question she bristled for an instant, and Joshua's hand, that had been almost playful as it caressed her rear, squeezed her bum cheek hard.
"Yes, oh yes!" she answered.
"That's good. I want nothing but a favorable report, or I'll take the leather to you, and you won't like that."
No, she probably wouldn't, even if the aftermath could be quite pleasant—even as this aftermath was proving to be pleasant with Joshua's warm hand tenderly caressing her flesh.
He pulled her up and into his lap, her head resting easily on his shoulder.
"I'm going to miss you," she said. "And I still don't understand. And I hate it that you're going. And sometimes Joshua Crow I can't stand being married to you." She was very sincere.
"You want some other life, lass?" he asked.
"I don't know," she pouted. "You just exasperate me so."
"You think you don't exasperate me?" he asked.
"Oh, I know I do. Sometimes I wonder how we even love each other."
"I wonder too," he said, affectionately kissing her on the cheek. "But I haven't stopped, have I?"
"No."
"And neither have you."
"No, of course not, I love you with all my heart."
"So, you'll accept my verdict about staying in Mr. Terrill's house?"
"Yes. Only because I have to."
"Then that's good enough. And there should be nothing to fear from the man. He seemed quite interested in you, Juliet. In your current status. His own situation has changed quite a bit since you last saw him. He's married."
"You said that. That's hard to believe."
"He took a wife some months ago. Perhaps she'll be some comfort for you."
Juliet couldn't imagine any woman that her former guardian would find to marry could be someone whose company she'd enjoy. But still, it was her fate to find out.
***
A day later, with a generous sigh and a passionate embrace the two parted at the door of Mr. Terrill's London house. Juliet wondered the whole time if she'd ever see the man she loved again. Not since their first rocky months together in New Bedford had the two been separate for more than a day or two. Juliet insisted that she needed her husband's comfort and firm hand to ensure any sense of peace. She'd sailed with him on all his journeys, apparently a good companion and not often in the way, even though on this particular journey Joshua was adamant that her presence wouldn't be welcome.
***
The Terrill's London house seemed as cold and cruel as the man's home in the country where Juliet had grown up. To make it all the more bleak, what had been the best part of her earlier years in the man's care was absent. The spirited horse that took her on many excursions throughout the English countryside remained at his country estate. In this city, the house was dour and damp, Juliet having her fill of the dark colors and heavy tapestries in little more than a day. The only saving grace was Mr. Terrill's new wife. Surprisingly not some bleak looking, crooked-nosed old lady, the new Mrs.Terrill was a charming, if not plain young woman, with a most pleasing personality.
Emily was tall and robust, with kind brown eyes and rather short hair for the day's fashion. She had no doubt been from a good background, though not necessarily a wealthy one. It was said that the vicar had helped arrange the marriage—a simple accommodation for both parties, giving Mr. Terrill the wife he required, and Emily a husband, even if he was an older man.
It took but a day for Juliet to be fond of the woman, even though she felt sorry for her. How glad she was, for all the fight she'd had to secure her own fate with Captain Crow, she married a man she dearly loved. She wasn't so certain of the love in this odd match. Nonetheless, she would be supportive of the new matron and as Joshua had hoped, take some comfort in her presence in the cold and forbidding London house.
During the days it was pleasant enough. When it was cold, the two women would sit before the fire and do their needlework. Some days the two even scooting the cook from the kitchen and prepared their own concoctions. When it was pleasant enough to walk outside, she and Emily would stroll through the garden or walk through the park some blocks away.
It was after one such day that Juliet witnessed a most extraordinary event that would forever change her viewpoint of this couple. It would as well, remind her heartily of what she had in her own marriage to her sea Captain.
Juliet had been with the Terrills for little more than a month thinking she understood the odd bond between this couple. At dusk one day, she and Emily were just returning from a long walk in the park. Entering the house, the once animated Emily was suddenly scurrying about nervously, discovering that her husband was already home.
"What have I told you," Mr. Terrill spoke sharply to her, as his bride entered the drawing room to spy his irritated expression.
"I'm sorry, love. I fear we lost track of the time."
"I'm disappointed in you," he said sternly. Eyes narrowed, he had a look on his face that Juliet had seen many times when she was a youth, always just before he punished her.
"So, she's a few minutes late," Juliet blurted out, not one to hold her tongue easily.
"Hush!" Mr. Terrill spoke to her, as Emily's eyes darted toward her houseguest, giving her just a trace of a smile.
"It's okay," Emily whispered quietly. Her demeanor was muted and subdued like her voice. She turned back and smiled on her husband with a trace of affection, and certainly a trembling fear. "Should I prepare myself for you?" she asked him.
He nodded.
Doing a little curtsy, then briefly catching Juliet's eye, the lady of the house left the room.
Juliet's eyes flashed, but she said nothing.
"Our marriage satisfies our mutual needs," Mr. Terrill seemed required to explain. "I'm sure you wouldn't understand, the recalcitrant brat that you've always been, but then that is not your business now."
"I'm sure it's not," Juliet agreed. "Though I find your wife such a gentle sort. I wouldn't think harsh measures would be necessary."
"Oh, but they are," Mr. Terrill retorted. "That is what keeps her gentle and most content."
"You plan to punish her for being a few minutes late?" she asked, still a bit dumbfound. Even when she was under Mr. Terrill’s thumb, he was not that harsh.
"I do," he answered. "At this moment, Emily is lighting candles in our room, removing her clothes, and assuming a position over the bed. That is what it is to prepare herself, submissively so. But I assure you, she'll be most satisfied when I'm finished with her."
"You've told me more than I need to know," Juliet excused herself, but at the door, he called to her.
"Juliet."
"Yes?"
"I tell you this only so you'll know that I find your rejection of my marriage proposal a great gift to me. I've found a woman who far better suited my temperament than you. I hope you're as happy with your Captain."
"I'm sure I am," Juliet said, even though this odd relationship had her head spinning, realizing what part Emily's submission played in the Terrill's marriage.
A hour later, Juliet couldn't help but witness the sounds of woe coming from the Terrill's bedroom. When Juliet returned upstairs to her room, she'd caught sight of the leather lash that Mr. Terrill was going to use on his wife's posterior. She shivered when she spied it, and shivered even more when, from her room down the hall, she heard the cruel implement as it came down on h
is wife's backside. The snap and strike was repeated, echoing for what seemed like hours in Juliet's mind, though it could be little more than a few minutes. Echoing too were Emily's anguished cries.
Juliet heard it all, the petulant lashing, the sounds of agony, and then after a brief pause, the strike of the cane. That too was unmistakable. Six times the implement made its mark. When it was over, Juliet heard the aftermath too, the lusty groans of sexual pleasure that followed. Mr. Terrill's came first as his low groan mounted with satisfaction rising, and Emily Terrill's followed, as her passions released themselves in a husband and wife coupling that made her voice soar melodically into the otherwise discordant and disturbing night.
When it was over, it was still an early hour. Juliet heard the sound of the front door closing firmly. Mr. Terrill had left. Waiting for some time in her room, she was uncertain what to do. However, she was desperately hungry and had no desire to pass the night without something to sustain her. How odd, they'd all missed their supper. Though she assumed that Mr. Terrill was at his club where he'd have his evening's repast. Likely Emily wasn't hungry at all.
Tiptoeing down the hall, Juliet was on her way to the kitchen when she suddenly stopped, surprised to see the door to Emily's dressing room open wide, almost as an invitation. Standing transfixed for some moments at the door, she watched as Emily Terrill brushed her sleek brown hair, now gleaming in the candle's glow.
The woman turned, and Juliet jerked.
"I'm sorry," she said, about to dash off.
"No, no. Please stay," Emily said quietly.
"Stay?"
"Yes, stay? It's really all right. He's left, and it's just me."
"But you're naked," Juliet said.
"Indeed, I am," Emily said, staring down. "But you've seen naked women before."
No, she hadn't, but that hardly seemed the thing to say. As natural and unassuming as Emily was, it didn't feel odd to walk into the room. Juliet noticed readily how the young matron's ample bosom moved easily, how perspiration glowed on her brown skin.
"Would you like to see my marks?" she asked Juliet.
"I . . . I don't know."
Though there was no need for a reply, for Emily was turning in her chair so that Juliet couldn't help but stare down at the woman's rear and see the small welts there. She rose, so that Juliet had a good view of the entire punished bottom. The red of the lash had mostly faded, but the signs of her yielding were obvious: the marks of the cane and where the lash had been extremely harsh.
Emily turned back around, and reached for her dressing gown, slipping her arms inside, and then sitting down again. "I knew you were curious," she said.
"You suspected that?"
"Your husband punishes you too, he said as much."
"He told you?"
"He discussed it with Mr. Terrill when he proposed this visit."
"I guess he did," Juliet remembered the conversation she'd had with Joshua just before he left.
"I got the feeling that for you, this is quite a different experience," Emily said.
"I think so," Juliet agreed cautiously.
"I'm sure you think my marriage is odd, our age difference, and this particular aspect, this submission. But the truth is, I am quite satisfied. Mr. Terrill gives me what I couldn't get from just any man. He's a very passionate man."
"I wouldn't have believed it possible," Juliet said. She couldn't disagree with Mrs. Terrill; the woman before her was as content and peaceful as any one she'd ever known. It made her think of her own marriage and wonder, wonder that the peace with Captain Crow was always much harder won.
***
Days after the remarkable revelation of Emily's submission, the two women were out on errands together, Juliet insisting that Emily accompany her to the shipping office, where she hoped to have some word from Joshua. For all the vagrants that populated that region, the office was not in a neighborhood of London where two women should be traveling unescorted. Though Juliet assured her friend that the trip would be brief, and in broad daylight there was nothing to worry about.
However, just as the women were leaving the office, they were accosted by a scroungy man, who took to pawing at Juliet, which resulted in a the young woman's loud scream. Unfortunately the scream brought another surly chap running. The man's hands going around the stunned Emily, both women were drawn into an alley to a certain horrible fate. A wild shriek from Juliet and there was the sound of boots flying across the cobblestone, a few noisy thuds and the women were rescued by a constable, much to their great relief.
"You two realize the danger in this section of the city?" the outraged policemen asked them.
"Why, it's hardly two in the afternoon," Juliet retorted.
"You're a foolhardy woman if you think that it's safe anytime of day around here."
"Why, I've been here a couple times a week since I've been living in London," Juliet said. "Nothing like this has ever happened."
"You have?" Emily said, wide-eyed, realizing where Juliet had been on her mysterious excursions.
"You're playing with you life, ma'am," the constable said.
"Why I've been in rough seaports with my husband, all kinds of dangerous territory. Nothing ever happens."
"It did this time. And you can be glad I was here to rescue you. You might not be so lucky next time."
"Well, be that as it may, we'll be on our way," Juliet retorted.
"And so you shall. I'll have you escorted home. No more skirmishes for you."
"That won't be necessary."
"Indeed, it is. I should think there'll be a furious husband when your antics are found out."
"Oh, please no," Emily cried.
"Sorry, ma'am. I wouldn't feel right." And taking the two gentle woman to a carriage, the constable gave the driver strict instructions to accompany them to the Terrill's doorstep.
***
When they arrived home they were both relieved to find that Mr. Terrill was not yet home. When he did arrive, all seemed quite normal. However, after a typically civil meal, a confrontation ensued, making it clear that the incident with the constable had been found out. The stern husband knew everything.
"I knew this would happen eventually," Mr. Terrill said, turning to Juliet. "I couldn't imagine having you in my home without your causing me this uproar. To have dragged my wife into your crimes offends me greatly."
"Mr. Terrill," Emily's soft voice sounded almost angry.
"Hush, wife. You'll get your due."
"I would hope you'll be kind to her," Juliet said. "This is my fault."
"Indeed. Though I fault her for her lack of moral conviction, for not standing up to you."
"She could hardly leave me to go alone," Juliet snapped indignantly.
"Yes. I realize that my wife wouldn't put you in that position. Though, I don't know why it matters, when I've been informed that you've been traveling in that neighborhood on many days."
"It's only to secure information on my husband's return."
"That information you already have. We know his plans."
"But I get anxious."
"I can see. But that's no reason to put your life and Emily's in danger."
"I don't think it's your business where I travel too. And I'm truly sorry for having insisted that Emily go with me."
Mr. Terrill shook his head. "You are forever an impudent brat. You'll go to your room and strip naked, I'll attend to you there."
"Surely you're not serious!" Juliet reacted to his suggestion.
"I am. I have your own husband's permission, and it's not like I haven't already administered plenty of discipline on your backside. You wish to defy me now, I'll have no choice but to lock you in your room until you submit."
"Is that what you do with you wife?" Juliet snapped angrily.
Mr. Terrill stopped short, not expecting a well-turned reply.
"What I do with my wife is my business," he finally said. "And I daresay, you speak another word to me in such a manner,
Juliet, you'll swear you've never felt such wrath to your misbehaving bum. And you can be assured your good husband will hear a full report on your insolence and vile behavior."
Juliet seethed.
At the same time she was vanquished. The alternatives presented her were few, not the least of which was out and out rebellion. But that would set very poorly with Joshua Crow. She hated thinking that their reunion, whenever that might be, would be clouded by the prospect of her husband's anger. She was afraid he'd never her see her side in this conflict, not at least until after her backside was raw.
Seething still, Juliet obeyed Mr. Terrill, just as she'd done so many times before. Gathering her skirts to her, she rose from her seat and fairly raced to the upper floor of the house and her room.
The punishment was like reliving the past—except that she was completely naked as he instructed. Upturned over the end of the bed, she was forced to wait for some time while Mr. Terrill paced behind her fuming. Anxious herself for the punishment to proceed, she spouted something with a rancorous tone, and heard five minutes of the man spewing his wrath, as she'd known him to do on such occasions.
"If you so much as speak again, or wiggle that fat fanny of yours, I'll tie you down, you understand."
Understand she did, but comply, she didn't. Just enough defiance of him, and he was good to his word, taking scarves from her bureau and tying her ankles to either end of the foot board and her wrists to the upper rail. There was no way she was going to move. Already she was regretting her rash behavior, but there was no way out of this chastisement, cry or beg as she might. Mr. Terrill would never give in an inch, until she was duly rewarded by this wrath for her disobedience.
He began with a wooden paddle, one she recognized from years before. The unforgiving wooden business end was twelve inches long and several wide, and for its ease in handling had always been one of her guardian's favorites.
She stopped looking out of the corner of her eye when she saw the man draw back his arm. Gritting her teeth, she felt the first blow and the mighty sting that followed. Slow and methodical, Mr. Terrill laid on each smack. Each resounded in the air and each was greeted by a impassioned moan from Juliet. She did squelch much of her response, trying to meet this punishment bravely, with a degree of pride she often tried at such times.
A Wild Night On the Island & Other Stories Page 10