Back in Service (12 page)

‘Abused, you say?’ Baines sneered. ‘She was punished for refusing to obey me and carry out a simple duty for the master. I will not brook disobedience, Mrs Carstairs, not from anyone under this roof.’

‘We must all obey our immediate superiors, but not when we are expected to perform tasks that are demeaning or degrading, Mrs Baines. Respect has to be earned. Jane was within her rights to refuse to service Sir Victor in ways she found disgusting, and you were wrong to command her to do so and then punish her for retaining her self-respect. That is all I have to say to you now, but if anything like this ever happens again, I shall be obliged to report it to my husband.’ She turned on her heels and made for the door.

‘And much good will that do you,’ the woman muttered.

Hetty forced herself to ignore the slight against Leo, but she returned to her room with the words haunting her like a malevolent echo. She knew now the Baines woman was far from being on her side. If anything, she was her enemy. Together, Sir Victor and his nurse made a formidable team, like two depraved devils whose chief delight it was to take out their frustration on innocent and trusting victims.

The urge to go and find Leo and tell him what was transpiring in his home was very strong. Ignoring her earlier scruples, she decided this was a job for a man. That Baines creature was half man herself, and Hetty knew she was no match for her, either in spirit or brute force. The woman’s will was obdurate and she would serve her vile master to the end, indulging his whims and joining in his perverse fantasies. The mere thought made her want to scream with anger and frustration.

She found her husband in the lower field talking to Bill, the herdsman. He looked up, surprised to see her, and Bill doffed his cap respectfully before retreating.

‘Hetty, what is it?’ Leo asked gently. ‘You look seriously perturbed.’

‘It is your father and that infernal woman! Between them they have gone beyond the pale, Leo, and they must be stopped from going any further.’

‘Why, my love, what have they done to you?’

‘To me not much, apart from being disrespectful and insolent, but they are guilty of gross indecency towards poor Jane. You remember how your father relishes young girls’ bottoms and loves to see them chastised? Well, that dragon of a nurse ordered her to perform fellatio upon your father, and when Jane refused, she put her over his knee and spanked her.’

‘No!’ Leo’s eyes widened with horror. ‘Such behaviour is not permissible unless by mutual consent, as with you and I, my love. Are you quite sure about this?’

‘Yes, and when I confronted Baines just now, she said the girl was disobedient and deserved to be punished. You must do something, Leo. Nip this dreadful behaviour in the bud before it gets worse.’

‘You know I have no real sway in this house, Hetty. Father still rules the roost. As for Nanny Baines, she knows me too well of old. It would be hard for me to have any authority over her now.’

Hetty was intensely disappointed; it sounded as though her husband was shirking his duty. ‘Leo, please do this for me. I am concerned for the girl’s safety. Remember how you tried to protect me when I was in her position?’

‘I was in love with you, Hetty. That makes all the difference. No man will shrink from protecting the woman he adores.’

His words struck a strange chord inside her. Was that why she was so keen to protect Jane? Did
she
adore
her?
The thought dumbfounded her.

‘So, my dear, the best thing you can do is to be of succour to the girl and keep her out of harm’s way as much as possible. Comfort her when she falls into my father’s clutches, and tell her all men are not like him. It may be her good fortune to find a nice husband like me one day.’

She could hardly believe her ears. His complacency and lack of concern shocked her so much that as she walked back across the fields to the house she found herself almost hating her husband too. As a result, she was all the more determined to protect Jane herself.

As she began ascending the central staircase, Lady Alice appeared at the top of them. ‘Ah Hetty, there you are. May I have a word with you, please?’

She followed Alice into her apartment. Her former mistress closed the door behind them and invited her to sit down before she, too, seated herself and announced with a grave expression, ‘I have received a bad report concerning Jane from Nanny Baines.’

Once more, Hetty was utterly astounded by the nerve of that woman. Such was her indignation that for a moment she could find no words to reply.

‘It seems she made the Hungary water far too weak for Sir Victor’s needs,’ Lady Alice continued, ‘even though she was expressly told to make it as strong as possible. Furthermore, when asked to rub it into his poor aching limbs, the girl apparently refused. Can you credit it? Surely she must realise a man in my husband’s position is entirely dependent on the goodwill and good offices of his servants to make life bearable. What on earth was she thinking of, insulting a poor invalid like that?’

‘Perhaps there was more to it than that,’ Hetty suggested tightly, still finding it hard to contain her anger.

‘How do you mean?’

‘Forgive me, but you know very well Sir Victor is given to making free with the servant girls, pinching bottoms, and so on. I dare say he took some liberty with Jane which caused her to want to keep her distance.’

‘Hmm, you may be right, but surely Nanny Baines would know the rights and wrongs of the case?’

‘I think Mrs Baines probably relishes the power she has over your husband. Who knows what really went on? I would not put it past her to be in league with him.’

‘Surely not!’ Lady Alice looked shocked. ‘She is the soul of propriety, otherwise I would not have entrusted my dear little Leonard to her when he was a baby.’

Hetty sensed she had overstepped the mark. As far as she knew, Lady Alice had never been on the receiving end of Sir Victor’s debauched appetites since they had always slept in separate bedrooms even before his accident, and she could recall only one or two occasions when he approached his conjugal duties with anything resembling enthusiasm. His wife knew of his depraved gatherings, of course – she was the first one to first dress Hetty up as George so she might attend Sir Victor’s private parties and spy on the proceedings – but presumably she believed all that degenerate activity had ceased once he found himself confined to a wheelchair.

As for Mrs Baines, Hetty supposed the woman must appear prim and proper to those who could not adequately interpret her behaviour. They would regard her domineering manner and sharp tone as the marks of an efficient nurse, not of a cruel and ruthless woman with a lewd appetite.

‘Well, if Jane was rude to Sir Victor, my lady,’ miserably, she conceded defeat for the moment, ‘she must make her apologies. I shall ensure she does so, if you wish.’

‘Yes, thank you.’ Lady Alice sighed wearily. ‘I do not wish to be bothered with such matters.’

‘Shall I get Jane to make you some tea?’ she suggested, and received a fond smile in return.

‘Ah Hetty, you know my needs inside out. I confess that, much as I like Jane, she is nowhere near as sensitive and thoughtful as you were, my dear.’

Obliged to seek Jane out after leaving Alice’s rooms, Hetty did so with a heavy heart. She had no good news to give her. It seemed the girl’s reputation was sullied in all quarters, and Leo would not be her champion. So it was left to her to be Jane’s sole defender and protector in the perilous world of Longton Hall.

The only advice Hetty felt she could give Jane was to avoid Nanny Baines as much as possible, but when she told her as much, the girl burst into tears.

‘Oh Hetty, how on earth shall I do that? If she summons me to Sir Victor’s apartments, I must obey.’

‘I know, dear, but please let me know whenever that occurs, if you are able. Then, if you are delayed too long, I shall find some pretext to call there myself.’

It was the best Hetty could do, even though she knew it was not enough. Holding Jane close to comfort her, those familiar feelings of desire nearly overcame her again, but she steeled herself and resisted the urge to kiss and fondle the pretty creature. And control proved even more difficult when Jane herself planted a soft wet kiss on her cheek and murmured, ‘Hetty dearest, I do not know what I should do without you now.’

A week later, the event both young women feared finally occurred. Nanny Baines insisted on Jane fortifying the Hungary water, and Hetty showed her how to make it good and strong. When the call came for her to bring the new distillation to Sir Victor’s apartments, Jane hurried to tell Hetty about it. Her face was flushed and her tone anxious and Hetty did her best to reassure her.

‘I shall allow just ten minutes by the library clock,’ she told Jane. ‘If you have not emerged by then, I shall knock on the door and demand entry. Do not worry, I shall not desert you in your hour of need.’

Pale and trembling, Jane went off to obey the nurse’s orders whilst Hetty made for the library, where she waited for what felt like the longest ten minutes of her life. At last she ventured forth and made for Sir Victor’s quarters. Creeping up to the door of his apartment, she put her ear to it and then her eye to the keyhole, but she could hear and see nothing. Perhaps, her business concluded, Jane had already been dismissed.

She was just turning away when she heard a noise from within the room; a faint cry she recognised as Jane’s, and it was enough to spur her into action. She banged her fists on the door until it was finally opened and Nanny Baines’s impassive countenance loomed over her.

From her reticule, Hetty produced a small bottle of toilet water and brandished it in the nurse’s face. ‘I heard Sir Victor wanted some strong Hungary water and I have just the thing,’ she declared. ‘This is a special recipe I made myself.’ Although the nurse was blocking the doorway, she was so surprised by the intrusion Hetty managed to push past her, and the scene that met her eyes when she entered Sir Victor’s bedroom made her gasp in shock.

Jane was stretched facedown on the bed stark naked, her wrists and ankles tethered to the four bedposts. Sir Victor sat helpless in his wheelchair, but in his right hand he held a long riding whip he was quite capable of wielding from his position.

‘What is going on here?’ Hetty cried, although the question was rhetorical. She was sufficiently familiar with his lordship’s depraved tastes to know exactly what was taking place. Then suddenly strong arms seized her from behind.

‘Interfering little cow!’ Nanny Baines hissed in her ear. ‘You are not yet mistress of this house. That honour belongs to Lady Alice. As for this part of the house,
I
am mistress here, and no one enters without my express permission. You are trespassing, Mrs Carstairs.’

‘Leave her be, Baines,’ Sir Victor said calmly. ‘I know her of old and she is no threat to us. If I spread some of the secrets from her past, her reputation would be so sullied she and my son would be the laughingstock of the neighbourhood.’ He raised cynical eyes towards Hetty with a sardonic smile. ‘And we do not want that, do we, my dear? Not when you and that milksop husband of yours will be lording it here at Longton after I die.’

‘Are you trying to blackmail me?’ she demanded, her voice quavering with indignation.

He laughed. ‘Nepotism and blackmail, the two great forces which oil the wheels of society.’

Her attention was drawn back to the bed, from which muffled cries were emanating, and she realised Jane had been gagged as well as bound.

Sir Victor noticed her staring at the helpless girl and sniggered again. ‘Does this charming scene remind you of anything, Hetty? Of my wonderful parties, perhaps, where all kinds of diversions were enacted for my enjoyment and that of my guests? Well, I am about to indulge one of my private pleasures. Will you stay and watch, or will you leave us in peace and say nothing about it to any living soul? The choice is yours.’

Reluctant as she was to witness Jane’s pain and humiliation, Hetty felt she must stay. Perhaps her mere presence would be enough to soften the blows for the wretched girl. It was too much to hope she might be able to intercede on her behalf.

‘She was insubordinate,’ Nanny Baines was kind enough to explain Jane’s current position. ‘And now she must be punished for it.’

‘Yes indeed, but do not imagine I shall spare her just because you are a witness, Hetty,’ Sir Victor warned. ‘Maybe the sight will remind you of former punishments and, dare I suggest, former pleasures, too?’

Hetty cursed him beneath her breath. The old rogue would never change. He prided himself on understanding women’s secret needs and desires and, she had to admit, he often divined them correctly. Yet she was not here because she wanted to take pleasure in Jane’s suffering. The thought was too disconcerting to even consider, yet she knew it was somewhere near the truth. But what her soul truly ached to do was comfort the girl afterwards, to soothe her tender young flesh with gentle caresses and loving kisses…

‘Nanny, please wheel me closer to the bed,’ Sir Victor commanded.

‘Certainly, sir.’

Once he was positioned within striking distance, Hetty’s eyes widened with fear as she saw him raise his right hand and shake the whip so the long black thong rippled like a malevolent snake.