Chapter One
The early afternoon train from Bath pulled into an almost deserted platform. A young woman was the only passenger to alight at the small country station. Tall and good-looking, she was smart if conservatively dressed and clutched a large Gladstone bag. Although just thirty, Jane Seymour looked younger. Fresh-faced with short brunette hair, she was a handsome rather than a pretty woman: tall, broad-shouldered, and slender with an almost athletic build.
Looking around the empty station she pulled out a map from her coat pocket. Since there was no one to ask she was going to have to find the way to her destination, Seal House, herself, and as she walked along a country lane she contemplated her dire predicament. It was only a few days since she had been dismissed from her position as Governess at Farley Hall, the country home of the wealthy Wallis family, on the pretext that she had imposed too strict a regime on her two young male charges. In fact, although she was a great believer in the strictest discipline and had not spared the rod, she had been acting on the instructions of Sir Charles Wallis, the father of the two boys. It had been the jealousy of his wife, Lady Wallis, which had resulted in her dismissal without a reference, the kiss of death for future employment. Although Sir Charles had clearly been besotted with Jane, she had refused his overtures. His obvious obsession with Jane had not, however, escaped his wife's notice.
In danger of being thrown onto the streets penniless and unemployed, Jane had been saved by a friend of Sir Charles who had, at the latter's prompting, offered her gainful alternative employment (also as a governess she supposed, but of this she was unsure). The gentleman concerned, a Mr. George Seal, had always been most interested in her methods of punishment and had been a frequent visitor to the schoolroom.
After a long walk along the road and meeting no one, Jane eventually came upon a pair of imposing stone pillars, and on the front of one of them was a small plaque: SEAL HOUSE. Turning up a rutted track between the pillars, Jane walked for a mile until she found herself almost ankle-deep in the mire, exhausted and muddy, but at last facing an imposing 18th-century mansion. The huge, red-brick building was surrounded by extensive lawns, and keeping to the track Jane skirted the front of the building and found herself in a large, walled courtyard at the rear. To one side she could see a number of horses in stables, and in some wire cages, a number of dogs barked at her. Approaching the tradesman's entrance she knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, it was opened by a nervous-looking girl in her late teens, wearing a shapeless, brown dress. Jane smiled.
"Hello. I have an appointment with Miss Browning, the Housekeeper" she said.
The words were hardly out of her mouth when a large, florid-faced woman wearing a white pinafore pushed the girl roughly to one side. Jane started to repeat what she had said to the girl, only to be interrupted by the woman.
"I heard what you said! Who are you?" she snapped.
The big woman was rather frightening and had obviously taken an instant dislike to Jane. Steeling her nerves, she replied.
"My name is Jane Seymour, and as I said I have an appointment with the Housekeeper."
The large woman grimaced and chuckled.
"Oh, the Seymour woman. I know all about you, missy."
Opening the door wide so that Jane could enter, the woman led her along a hallway to a small office. Seated at a desk was a stern-looking woman with a narrow, hard face and sharp features. Her black hair was tied in a tight bun at the base of her neck, and although in her 40's she had a firm, curvaceous figure. She peered at Jane through a pair of round spectacles perched on the end of her nose.
"At last, Miss Seymour, you have honoured us with your presence," she hissed. She looked up at the big woman who had escorted Jane to her.
"Thank you, Mrs. Grimes", she said to her, "that will be all for the moment."
With a shrug of her shoulders the big woman departed. Indicating that Jane should seat herself opposite, Miss Browning glanced at a paper on her desk then looked up at Jane.
"I see you have neither previous experience at housework nor a reference. How Mr. Seal thinks I can use you I don't know..." she muttered.
Jane was uncomfortable at the turn of events.
"I thought I was being interviewed for the position of Governess," she blurted out
The Housekeeper looked at her in amazement.
"How could that be possible? There are no children in the house to be taught."
Jane's heart sank as the Housekeeper continued.
"We only have one vacancy on the staff, that of scullery maid under the Cook, Miss Grimes, whom you have just met, and I have been instructed to offer you that vacancy."
Scratching her nose Miss Browning continued.
"The wage is 1/- a week and hours are from 6 a.m. until when you are needed, seven days a week. Every other Wednesday you will get an afternoon off if you are not needed."
Jane felt like crying but managed to compose herself.
"Thank you - I would of course like the position," she said.
With a smirk, the woman turned from her desk and pulled a long, pliable, crook-handled bamboo cane from behind a filing case. This she carefully placed on her desk and pointed to it.
"One further thing," she said. "I'm sure you recognize this since I'm sure you've handed out many thrashings. Well, this is what I use on the bottoms of scullery maids who displease me and are lazy, so beware!"
The Housekeeper stood up and instructed Jane to follow her. After going through a labyrinth of narrow hallways, Miss Browning eventually threw open the door of a small bedroom containing little else but two narrow beds, on one of which lay a brown dress the same as Jane had seen the girl who had let her in wearing. The Housekeeper turned to Jane.
"I am assuming you are able to start immediately?" she snapped.
Jane nodded, too upset to speak. The woman continued.
"You will share this room with Daisy, the other scullery maid. On the bed is your dress: it might be a bit short as our scullery maids are usually a lot younger than you are. Get changed and go down to the kitchen where Mrs. Grimes will tell you your duties."
Miss Browning closed the door, leaving Jane to her own thoughts. Determined not to cry she started to change, taking off her fashionable clothing until she stood in just her underclothes. Next, she put on the sack of a dress, which to her dismay finished just above her knees. Woolen socks and heavy black shoes completed the uniform. At that moment Daisy, the other scullery maid who had answered the door on Jane's arrival quietly entered the bedroom. Looking nervously behind her she whispered:
"I thought I'd just come and see you were all right, I don't want Cook to catch me or she'll tan my hide."
"I've just been shown Miss Browning's cane and been given a warning," Jane whispered back.
The girl pulled the back of her sack-like dress up to her waist to expose a pair of very womanly and completely bare buttocks. Their attractiveness was spoilt by a pattern of red cane stripes that covered not only her buttocks but much of her thighs as well. There were also a number of strange clusters of nasty-looking, red blisters. Shocked, Jane was for a moment speechless. The girl, however, reached behind her to point at the cane marks.
"Miss Browning's not kidding, she gave me six bloody hard cuts of the cane yesterday for not cleaning the floors to her satisfaction. The blisters are from Cook's special wooden butter pat: it's got horrible holes that give you blisters. They are both cruel cows."
There was one thing that Jane desperately wanted to ask the girl and she managed to get a word in edgeways.
"Where are your drawers? Have they been confiscated due to you being punished?"
The girl laughed.
"If you're a scullery maid you don't get drawers: they like to keep us bare-arsed so we're always ready for a whacking."
Daisy nodded towards the pile of clothing on Jane's bed.
"There ain't no drawers amongst that lot is there? You'll be kept bare-arsed like me. It's terrible a lady like you having to submit to that indignity."
A sound outside the bedroom door startled the girl, and she quickly left the room after first checking that the coast was clear.
Having dressed and feeling very vulnerable not wearing drawers, Jane very nervously made her way to the kitchen where the scowling Cook awaited her, standing with her hands on her hips. Mrs. Grimes looked Jane up and down and laughed.
"Well, well, well! What a comedown for Miss Lardy-dardy," she quipped. Oh yes, I know all about you, girl."
Jane stood blushing in her horrible, brown dress as the Cook continued.
"First of all you can clean your mess off the floor: you made the mess with your muddy feet, now you clear it up!"
Jane looked on, not knowing what to do. Getting angry, Mrs. Grimes shouted at her.
"Get that scrubbing brush and bucket in the corner, then get on your hands and knees, girl, and clean it up!"
Pink-faced, Jane grabbed the brush and bucket and sank to her hands and knees, feeling to her horror the short, brown dress riding up her thighs to expose her bare bottom. Behind her, she heard a chuckle as the Cook caught sight of Jane's rump. The Cook then grabbed the hem of Jane's brown dress and pulled it up her back, fully exposing her bare buttocks. Standing back to admire the view she laughed.
"Now you look like a proper scullery maid with a bare arse! Of course, that rump should be decorated with nice red marks, but we'll get to that later."
Later, after scrubbing the floor until it was spotless, Jane was put to work preparing vegetables for the House's evening dinner. Finally, after a meal of left-over, cold stew, Jane was allowed to go to bed and totally exhausted she dragged herself up to her bedroom. Daisy was not yet in bed but came into the room as Jane washed in a bowl of cold water, and when she was finished she fell fast asleep in a few minutes.
Chapter two
After what only seemed a short time later Jane was shaken awake by Daisy, and sleepily asked what she wanted. She was stunned to discover it was almost 6 o'clock. After dressing, the two maids hurried along the dark, cold hallways to the kitchen. The house was silent as Daisy explained that the first chore was to light the fires. After several hours of hard work, Mrs. Grimes suddenly appeared. It was obvious that the Cook was in a foul mood: the two scullery maids found themselves gripped by the back of their collars as she berated them over some chore they had supposedly forgotten to do. Once in the kitchen, Mrs. Grimes produced a large, wooden butter pat through which a number of small holes had been drilled, and the appearance of this implement caused Daisy to break down in tears. Bringing a hard-backed chair into the center of the room, the Cook seated herself and glared at Daisy.
"You know the drill, girl, don't you dare keep me waiting!" she snapped.
Sobbing, Daisy hurriedly took off the brown dress and stood before the Cook, naked and shaking. Jane, shocked by the turn of events, couldn't help staring at the girl's trim figure: her breasts were small but pert and her buttocks full and womanly. Unfortunately, the Cook also seemed to find the girl's body of interest, especially her buttocks. Without a word, the girl laid herself across the older woman's knees, and gripping Daisy's hands Mrs. Grimes pulled them high up her back, restricting the girl's movements. Licking her lips she observed her target with glee, and lifting the pat high in the air she brought it down with a sharp crack across the girl's right bum cheek.
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!
The effect on the girl was spectacular: no sooner had the pat left its vivid pattern of red blisters than she let out an unholy scream, and violently struggled to climb off the Cook's lap. The Cook gritted her teeth.
"Trying to get away, are you? Well, miss, we have a long way to go yet!" she snapped.
Then, starting with the left bum cheek, she proceeded to apply a barrage of hard smacks to every inch of the girl's tender bottom.
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
In a short time she had turned the girl's pretty bottom into a mass of red, raw, throbbing, blistered skin, and as Jane watched Daisy's bum almost seemed to swell before her eyes. The Cook was far from finished. She breathed in deeply, now panting and red-faced, and pulled the girl further forward so that her tender, white thighs would be in reach.
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
Time and time again the wooden pat smacked hard across the white skin of Daisy's thighs, and Jane was transfixed as the girl's legs parted to show her most private places, modesty forgotten, as she tried to avoid the awful sting of the pat. At last, the Cook stopped beating the girl and pushed her off her lap, and pointed to the corner.
"Nose to the corner, brat!" she hissed.
With her swollen, red buttocks twitching uncontrollably Daisy hurried to do as she was ordered, and Jane noticed that she didn't attempt to rub her sore bottom. The Cook then turned to Jane.
"So you see how naughty girls are dealt with here, now let's deal with the second naughty and very lazy girl!"
Jane swallowed hard. She knew she could walk out of the job, but also that she would be destitute if she did. Although as a Governess she'd handed out many spankings, she'd never been beaten herself. Trying to control her shaking knees, she removed the brown dress to stand stark naked in front of the Cook. Jane was proud of her curvy body but acutely embarrassed by the Cook's leering. Quickly she positioned herself over the woman's knees, and to her dismay the Cook did the old trick of pushing one knee between Jane's thighs, exposing her pussy. Jane didn't have time to mull over this development before the hard, wooden pat landed with a loud smack across her right bum cheek, quite knocking the wind out of her.
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
The pain was unbelievable and caused Jane to bite her lip to stop herself from crying out. The second and third blows landed on her right cheek, causing her to try to lessen the appalling sting by clenching her buttocks.
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
CRACKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
Mrs. Grimes had taken Jane's right arm and twisted it up her back, and however much she twisted and turned the hard pat still found its target: tears trickled down Jane's face as she was unable to take the pain. Finally, after sobbing like a baby, she was roughly pushed off the woman's knee onto the floor, and landing on her tender rump she gave a plaintive whimper. The Cook smiled, looked down at Jane, and pointed to the far corner of the kitchen.
"Painful isn't it? You'd better get used to it! Nose in the corner, girl!" she snapped.
Wiping her hand across her tear-stained face, Jane made her way to the corner. After half an hour Mrs. Grimes picked the two maids' dresses from the floor, then ordered them to go to their bedroom. As still naked, they scrambled to leave the kitchen, the Cook slapped their legs and buttocks, and frantically trying to avoid the hard, red palm they tripped over each other and ended up in a heap on the floor. After further slaps they arrived at the bedroom, crying and rubbing their very sore nether regions. Ten minutes later Miss Browning, the Housekeeper, having obviously spoken with the Cook, arrived with her cane in her hand. Without any explanation, she gripped Jane, who was still naked, by the ear and led her along the hallway. Opening a door, she thrust Jane into an unused bedroom: but for the iron frame of a bed, the room was empty. At the foot of the bed was a bolster, and tapping on it with her cane Miss Browning snapped:
"Over this bolster with you! I'll teach you to disrupt my house!"
At that moment the Cook entered the room, and at a signal from the Housekeeper, she seated herself on the bed, leaned forward and gripped Jane's wrists, and pulled her over the bolster. The Housekeeper tapped the long cane on Jane's already sore buttocks.
"I knew you'd be trouble, girl! Now let's see how you like a good thrashing" she growled. "That backside hasn't even begun to feel a proper punishment yet!"
Taking careful aim, Miss Browning lashed the cane down hard across Jane's bare rump, the tip of the cane biting into the side of her tender right thigh.
SWISHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...CRACKKKKKK!!!!
Jane howled: this was a severe punishment, and all she could think was that Lady Wallis had arranged this as her revenge. Stroke after stroke of the heavy cane landed on the already red hillocks, reducing Jane to a sniveling infant.
SWISHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...CRACK!!!!
SWISHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...CRACK!!!!
SWISHHHHHHHHHHHH...CRACK!!!!
Tears filled Jane's eyes. She knew her bottom must look like a ploughed field! What sort of future did she have in the hands of these two women? After she had had six strokes of the cane, the two women left the room locking the door behind them. Jane lay curled up on the bed, sobbing.
An hour later the door flew open and Cook stood at the door. She threw Jane's brown dress on the bed.
"Now get dressed and get back to work!" she snapped.
After dressing, Jane walked stiffly from the room, only to meet Daisy also looking red-eyed and disheveled. Together they walked back to the kitchen where the Cook allocated them jobs.
Chapter Three
A week later, unbeknownst to Jane, a letter was received at Seal House: it was from the master of the house, Mr. Seal, who was away on business. It was addressed to the Housekeeper, Miss Browning, telling her to make sure that she gave the vacant position of Lady's Maid to Jane Seymour. Miss Browning crumpled the letter in her hand: just when, thanks to Mrs. Grimes, the 'girl' was getting broken in, she had to appoint her to a position in which she would be virtually untouchable.
So it was that a day later Jane was brusquely informed by the Cook that she should report to the Housekeeper. Nervously Jane went to Miss Browning's office, and there she was told by the visibly angry woman that she would be elevated to the position of Lady's Maid straightway and that she should report to Mrs. Seal in the lounge. She should also collect her things from the bedroom, as she would in the future be sleeping in a bedroom on her own on the second floor, near Mrs. Seal's rooms.
Ten minutes later Jane was making her way to Mrs. Seal's lounge. The brown, sack-like dress had been taken away from her and replaced with a nice cream dress, and she'd been given all sorts of nice underclothes and shoes. Making sure she was presentable, Jane knocked on the door to Mrs. Seal's lounge. On being told to enter she was faced by a petite, very dainty lady in her forties, Mrs. Seal herself, who explained Jane's duties, which were basically to look after Mrs. Seal's clothes and make sure the suite was tidy.
Jane had hardly started her duties before some of Mrs. Seal's jewelry disappeared: a very valuable diamond brooch had been taken from her bedside jewel case, and the police were called in the form of the local bobby, PC Stone. Tall and lumbering, he arrived quickly at the house: Jane assumed he'd been sent for by the Housekeeper. However, no serious searches had been made for the brooch, which made Jane feel anxious about what exactly was happening. She was told by the Housekeeper that the constable wanted to search Jane's bedroom, and in her presence, he carried out the search. As he pulled out a drawer, laying amongst her underwear was a small box. The Housekeeper arrived at this point with a smug look on her face. The policeman plucked the small box from the drawer and opened it, and nestling in the bottom was Mrs. Seal's brooch. Looking grimly at Jane, he gruffly asked if she had anything to say.r"