Chapter 16
A Woman of Loose Skirts
The Walcotts looked like a very fine family. Their father was a tall, handsome man with a hearty laugh and a ready smile. His baritone voice rang out almost always in a friendly manner. His daughters were soft spoken, or shy. Arthur had watched the family alight from their beautiful carriage from the perch of his balcony.
The man was in fitted green trousers with a white undershirt and black tailcoat. His hat looked to be one of fine material, glistening and expertly shaped. Arthur saw him remove it a few moments after alighting. On the man’s head was thick, black hair that had been properly brushed back. Arthur saw him bow and knew his sister was on the stairs to welcome the family. The sisters then came out of the carriage one after the other. Arthur couldn’t tell which was senior or junior from where he was, but they were dressed in the same gown, a virgin white gown that had a cone shaped bottom.
They arrived rather early for the dinner, and Arthur suspected his sister told them to arrive at just that time so she could put pressure on him. Five minutes after they had gone in, Lady Teresa came bounding into his room, talking about treating visitors well and how he should be downstairs with them by now.
“I am the Earl, Teresa. They will wait for me, and regardless, it’s hardly time,” he said.
“It’s time enough for you to be with your guests,” she said.
Arthur scoffed. He would go down when it was time.
“The Baron is around Teresa, he is joining us for dinner.”
“Which one of the Barons?” Teresa asked, turning back to look queerly at her brother.
“The Baron Zouche,” Arthur said.
“Zouche? Rebecca’s father? What kind of message are you hoping to send to the visiting family?” Lady Teresa asked.
Arthur smiled.
“No message. He came around, and I invited him for dinner,” Arthur said.
Lady Teresa shook her head and mumbled something that Arthur didn’t hear.
“Just come downstairs in time,” she said, before pulling the door open and leaving the room.
Arthur took as much time as he could. When he got downstairs to join them for dinner, dusk was long passed, and lamps were lit everywhere. He walked down the stairs and went through the door by the right, through the parlour and into the dining room.
Their dining table was long and rectangular but with rounded heads. He could see the empty seat left for him at the head of table. Lady Teresa was seated opposite his empty seat, at the other end of the table. The first thing he heard as he walked into the room was the laughter of the retired General Walcott. He liked the man immediately. The man’s seat was by the right side of his seat while he could see Rebecca’s father seated by his left. Baron Hugh Fitzroy seemed to be enjoying himself too because he was smiling. Arthur spotted his teeth in the dazzling dinner lamp lights as he entered. The General saw Arthur first.
“Lord Bexley,” he said, standing up.
Baron Zouche stood up next before the two Walcott girls looked to their side, jumping up as if in fright. As expected, his sister was the last to stand up, but Arthur excused her sluggishness by stating to himself that she saw him last. She was backing him.
“Welcome, Lord Bexley,” the General said.
Arthur walked to his seat and nodded.
“I am sorry for coming down late. I had a few things I was attending to upstairs,” Arthur said.
Things like sleep and watching the sun sink into the horizon.
As Arthur sat, the rest followed. Arthur looked to the side of the table and saw the Cook waiting on the wings. She looked into his eyes, and he nodded. She then came over to the table and started removing the lids of the plates and bowls that covered the table. Arthur looked at the two Walcott girls.
They had similar faces with small iterations in particular features that summed up to make one far more attractive to him than the other. The one beside their father looked older and more beautiful. She had the same round face, white skin and button nose that they both had, but her lips were full and puckered as if in a pout. Her younger sister didn’t have that. They both had very full bosoms, but Arthur preferred the way the older one sat erect rather than the slightly slouched posture of her younger sister..
Arthur watched as his sister carved out some part of the roast turkey for all of them on the table.
“This turkey was very well done, Miss Evelyn,” Arthur said, looking at his side to the Cook.
She smiled and curtseyed.
“Thank you, Earl,” she replied.
Agreements to his observation rang out from almost every other person on the table.
“So General Walcott, how is life after the army?” Arthur asked after everyone had been served.
The General swallowed the food in his mouth and washed it down with the wine served.
“Boring,” he said in a voice that shook the entire room.
Every other person on the table laughed except his two daughters, who just continued eating. The first raised her gaze, catching Arthur looking at her. Arthur figured they were used to their father’s funny outbursts by now.
“Really,” Baron Fitzroy said, “I expected that you would cherish the life without the dangers of a war and rigours of constant travel now.”
“That’s exactly why it is boring. You will find out, my friend that the possibility of death is like a spice to every action one does. It is scary and uncertain, but what is the spice of life if not uncertainty,” he continued.
Arthur agreed but said nothing. He observed too much deference any time he gave his opinion since he became the Earl. He didn’t fancy it much.
“So what are you doing now to spice up your life again?” Lady Teresa asked.
“I am going for dinners all over the country,” he said with a serious tone.
There was a small pause due to held breath. The silence shattered into short laughs and small chuckles, even the General’s daughters managed to laugh. Arthur drank a bit of wine, thoroughly enjoying the dinner. The General was one jolly fellow.
The rest of the dinner went on like that with small talk and big laughs punctuating the soft munching of mouths and tinkering of cutleries against china plates. When the dinner was over, Miss Evelyn came with two more stewardesses who cleared the table. The General and Baron Fitzroy wanted to smoke and so left the room to the cards room. Lady Teresa walked out immediately after them. Arthur knew it was a ploy by her to leave him alone with the girls. The younger girl seemed in a haste to go out of the room and rushed out after Teresa, almost catching up to her.
Arthur stood up as the older girl stood up.
“Thank you, Lord Bexley, for having us this fine evening,” she said.
Her voice was rather deep for a woman’s, melodious in a way. Arthur liked the sound of her voice.
“It was no bother. It was a pleasure having you. Please, I wasn’t told your name,” Arthur said.
“I am Vivian. My sister is Veronica,” she said.
Arthur nodded and started walking to the door. Miss Vivian was faster though and got to the door before him. She rested her back on the door, effectively shutting it. Arthur didn’t understand what she was doing, but he went closer to the door.
“You are in the way, Miss Vivian,” he said.
She didn’t reply. Instead, she moved closer to him and held him by the breasts of his shirt. Arthur could feel the spiciness of her breath on his face. She smelled like wine, flowers, and a sweet scent he couldn’t recognize. Arthur liked her scent, but he wasn’t pleased with the current course of her actions.
“What are you doing?” Arthur asked her.
“I am here to please, Lord Bexley,” she said in a soft, drawl of a voice.
She threw her hands around his shoulders and locked them behind his neck. She didn’t need to lean much into him for her bosoms to press onto his chest. Arthur was confused.
What is this chit doing?
“I’d advise that you stop this now,” Arthur said without sounding angry.
She must have mistaken his cool tone for a surreptitious consent. She was wrong.
She pulled Arthur closer to herself and opened her mouth. She joined her mouth with his, trying unsuccessfully to push his lips open and properly merge their lips together. Arthur pushed her away gently and shook his head. Miss Vivian emboldened by his calm reaction then shot her hand between his thighs, grabbing his member. Arthur, in a fit of annoyance, pushed her away roughly. She fell back, hitting the chair and almost crashing into the dining table.
“You must be raving mad to attempt this sort of absurdity,” Arthur said.
He walked up to her, causing her to draw back onto the table’s smooth surface. There was fear in her eyes.
“Did Teresa put you up to this?”
The young woman didn’t answer. Her eyes glistened, and although Arthur could still sense fear, he noticed she didn’t move backwards anymore. Arthur disgusted with her guts and debauchery started walking out of the room.
“Lady Teresa didn’t need to put me up to this. I know what you want. The entire county knows of your preference in women,” she said slowly.
Arthur turned back, shocked by what she said.
“What did you say?”
She smiled as she noticed she had got his attention. She stood up from the table she lay on and walked to him again. She hooked one gloved finger into the space between the button holes of his shirt, tickling his chest with her finger.
“What do I need to do for you to choose me? I can do even more than your darling, just to become your wife,” she said.
Arthur knew who she was referring to, but he was unwilling to play along.
“Even if you had a hair’s width of a chance before, now it’s all gone. I would have ordered you out of my estate if not for your father’s amiable character,” Arthur said, starting to get inflamed.
“Oh, such a shame because I would have treated you better than your dear Rebecca. It is common knowledge, what both of you did when no one was looking,” she said.
Arthur didn’t speak, but he was shocked.
“You look surprised. We know both of you enjoyed the sweetness of your bodies even before you left. Why else would she feel so aggrieved?”
“You are pushing me, Miss Vivian,” he growled out.
“I haven’t pushed you as hard as Rebecca Fitzroy. It’s totally fitting that her father is here, isn’t it? I could show her father that I am more of a vixen than she is. You, My Lord, would know of course,” she said, putting her right index finger in the middle of the neckline of her gown and dragging it to show more of her bust.
Arthur was speechless.
Where did this girl hear rumours of such falsehood? Rebecca was chaste, and it had taken me till my last night before I could have her.
Arthur wanted to speak but decided that it would only aggravate issues. The young woman had probably figured that her misguided boldness had made her lose favour in his eyes so she was slinging as much mud as possible. It was better to hear her out and find the source of all the bilge she was spouting. It would help to properly defend Rebecca’s image too.
“You seem dumbstruck, My Lord. Is the truth too shocking for you? The truth usually is. We didn’t need to be greater informed, even though we were, about your love for loose women. It has long been word on the dit. So why are you discovering a sense of responsibility now that you are the Earl?” Miss Vivian said.
She walked back to him and laid her fingers seductively on his chest. Arthur said nothing. He felt nothing more than a blinding rage and a yearning to slap the remaining of the little sense the girl had, but chivalry kept him in check.
The chit dropped her hands to his member again and pulled it gently.
“You could have me here and now. No one would know a thing. It would be just like old times, you and Miss Rebecca in the woods of your estate,” she said.
“Where did you hear such stories?” Arthur asked.
The chit smiled.
“Nothing is hidden under the sun, My Lord, even for you,” she said.
It has to be Teresa.
“Teresa told you to do this, didn’t she?” Arthur said, feeling surer than ever.
“She didn’t need to tell me much. I knew what to do. I know what men like you want,” she said, pride in her own abilities ringing out in her voice.
“She just told you about Rebecca and me.”
“That was all. She didn’t tell me alone. Every woman who comes into this estate with a mission to have you as hers has been properly informed about your preferences for Miss Rebecca and why,” Miss Vivian said, smiling evilly.
“I am sorry to say this, Lord Bexley, but you didn’t use enough of your wits with Miss Rebecca. Everyone knew both of you were on course to get married, but what you didn’t know was that she had many men offering. You fell head over heels for everyone’s woman. Our Earl’s son, the cuckold, a rather pitiful story. You only needed to leave for three months for her to jump on the next best thing.” She turned up her nose as she was adding to her critique, “Which wasn’t much, an ageing pastor really puts you in bad light.”
The young woman wasn’t very smart. Arthur didn’t expect her to open up so easily except if Lady Teresa hadn’t informed them in a way indicating it was a secret. She had probably told them in a manner indicating the stories of Rebecca were common knowledge. Arthur felt none of the brotherly love he sometimes felt for his sister. He hated her for once again standing between him and the love of his life. He would deal appropriately with her but first he needed to get this stupid girl out of the way.
Arthur placed his hands on the girl’s wrist and moved her hands off his body. He placed his arms around her waist drawing her closer to him. She broke into a smile, thinking Arthur was finally coming around. He flexed his arms and lifted her off her feet, slowly carrying her to the dining table. He placed her on it and moved back a bit. The young woman, who was already charged with want, opened up her lap, throwing her gown backwards and revealing white thighs.
“Here,” she said, pointing to the centre between her legs.
Arthur nodded and walked to her. In one quick movement, he slapped her hard across the face. The chit wasn’t prepared for such an action and took the impact of his slap full on. She fell face forward, placing her head on the polished dining table. Arthur walked to the door and opened it. He spoke to her without turning back.
“Leave my estate immediately and never for any reason step foot here again. If you see me or my carriage on the streets of Derby, please run or hide. You deserve greater punishment for your incredulity than mere hands grazing your cheek,” he said and opened the door.
Her sister stood at the other side, looking as if she wanted to come in.
“Go and help your sister. Take your leave as quickly as possible,” Arthur said.
She stepped aside, giving Arthur space to pass through.
“And where is my sister?” Arthur asked.
“She went into the house, My Lord,” the girl said.
Arthur turned to look at the younger sister.
Cool under pressure, maybe I was wrong, and you are the better one.
Arthur nodded and walked out of the room.