her buttocks reflexively clenched the moment the black leather tawse was rubbed across her bared flesh.
Anna said firmly, “Lucille, I can sit here all day because I assure you, you will not be let up until you ask me for and have received a tawsing.”
Lucy gritted her teeth at the threat but decided that if the housekeeper could sit all day, she could simply do even better. She allowed herself to relax her muscles until she was draped like a boneless rag doll over the woman’s knee. She didn’t exactly know where to place her hands but she finally tucked them at her chin in order to keep them off the floor, determined not to support even an ounce of her weight.
“Comfy?”
A bit surprised to hear the question, Lucy squirmed before catching herself. Hanging upside down was not exactly conducive to comfort, but she’d die before admitting any such thing. “Yes, thank you. And you? I’m not too heavy for you am I, Mrs. Bremmer?”
The servant actually chuckled. “Not at all, Lucille. After all, you’re not the first young woman to be over my lap. Not counting your sister, I’ve raised five daughters of my own.”
Lucy was surprised yet again. Turning her head, she looked up at the woman. “Really?”
“I don’t tell fibs, Lucille,” Anna said, her tone indicating she was a bit offended.
“I just mean… I’ve never seen you with any children.”
“My daughters are all grown women with husbands of their own. My grandchildren are being raised as all little ones should to best prepare them for life. Learning to respect their elders and to behave in order not to be in the position you find yourself, missy.” As if to emphasize exactly what that position might be, Anna continued to rub the tawse all over Lucy’s upturned bottom.
Lucy turned back again, furious at herself for being caught up in a conversation in the first place when she was supposedly proving a point. She was also a bit angry that no matter how she tried, she simply could not seem to refrain from shuddering as the tawse moved over her skin and then moved down to rub against the very sensitive creases where her bottom met her thighs. Reaching up, she rubbed her fingertips across her forehead where a bit of a headache was beginning as the blood rushed to her head.
Several minutes passed before Lucy became aware of another presence in the room. She lifted her head briefly to see Molly had returned. Her maid’s arms were full of clothing.
“Thank you, Molly,” Anna said. “Just hang them in the wardrobe if you please.”
Molly nodded and was soon placing identically styled dresses into the wardrobe. After she finished, she began to open the empty drawers in her dresser to place folded undershirts and new bloomers into them. As she bent to fill the last drawer with several pairs of stockings, she glanced over at Lucy. Lucy flushed and looked away. Instead of a member of a highly respected household, she suddenly felt ridiculous and very childish turned over a lap, her bottom bared in the time-honored position of a disobedient child about to be spanked. She wiggled a bit and took several deep breaths, not quite understanding how exactly she’d wound up in this situation, but quite desperate to remove herself from it. She was extremely aware of every movement of the implement on her bottom and her color deepened. With a final sigh, she conceded.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Bremmer. I… I just don’t understand. I… I didn’t mean to disrespect you,” Lucy said in a soft voice. When the housekeeper didn’t respond, Lucy sighed and tried again, willing to offer apologies for what the older woman must have considered some type of slight. “I won’t speak to you in that way again. It was just a misunderstanding. There is no need to… um… to sp… spank me.”
Anna continued to stroke Lucy’s bottom with the tawse as if she hadn’t even heard Lucy’s confession. Lucy had no idea what the woman wanted but knew her head was really beginning to pound. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. If it makes you feel better, I admit I was wrong. But you can let me up now as I’ve learned my lesson.”
Despite her second attempt, it wasn’t Mrs. Bremmer who spoke next, it was Molly.
“If there is nothing else, Mrs. Bremmer, shall I go help the other girls pack Miss Lucy’s trunks?” she asked.
“Yes, Molly, you may,” Anna answered. “But first,