Chapter 4
"You like being spanked?"
Irene's hopes to see more of Cynthia's reputed misdeeds over tea were coming to fruition with a vengeance. The brazen hussy didn't seem to have any idea of what was appropriate conversation for tea.
Not that Eleanor was helping to curb her at all. She seemed completely unaffected by Cynthia's overly familiar queries and her determined snubbing of social niceties. The young woman was dressed prettily, looking every inch the proper young lady, but after fifteen minutes of general chatting about the weather, Cynthia had turned to Irene and asked if her husband spanked her too. Which had made Lady Grace sit up, coming out of her silent reverie, and blinking her wide blue eyes with astonishment.
Up until that moment, Irene had been just a bit worried about the other woman. She'd shown up for tea unexpectedly, but had barely said a word after everyone had exchanged greetings and she'd been introduced to Cynthia. Irene had wanted to ask how Alex had convinced her to accompany him to Bath, but a surreptitious head shake from Eleanor had her holding her tongue. It became quickly obvious that Grace wasn't happy about her relocation out of London, as she had been basically been lost in her own thoughts until Cynthia's completely indiscreet and inappropriate question.
When Irene had looked to Eleanor for help, her sister-in-law had already shrugged and given her a significant look, as if to say 'well, you wanted to see the real hoyden.' Irene had answered, rather stiffly, by just nodding her head, which had led to Cynthia's second question - did Irene find it enjoyable? Irene had immediately said of course not, causing Cynthia to theorize that perhaps Hugh didn’t do it correctly. That had motivated Irene’s shocked query.
"Well, not always," Cynthia said boldly. For her part, she was rather enjoying the aghast looks on the other women's faces. Well, on Irene and Grace's, anyway. Eleanor was already inured to Cynthia's more brazen starts, she just calmly sipped her tea, although two spots of color high in her cheeks indicated that she wasn't entirely unaffected by the indecent line of conversation. "The Earl's hand is very hard... but there is something quite exciting about it, isn't there?"
Irene sputtered, and Cynthia had to stifle a giggle. With flaming hair like that, she'd assumed Irene would be more volatile and less prim, but that wasn't the case at all. If anything, she was the most uptight of all the ladies in the room. Even Lady Grace looked more curious than condemning.
"What about birchings? The Earl threatened me with that the other day... what's it like?" she asked.
Eleanor coughed and Irene looked as though she might faint. Grace just shook her head immediately and then looked at the other two, as it became quite clear that both of them had endured such a thing. The delicate blush on Eleanor's cheeks had heightened to a bright pink, and Irene's hands were beginning to tremble so badly that she had to put her teacup down.
"How can you even think something like that might be enjoyable?" Irene asked, practically glaring at Cynthia.
For the first time in days, Grace felt like truly smiling. While she and Irene were on much better terms now, she couldn't help but enjoy the other woman's discomfiture. It was quite nice not to be the most scandalous lady in the room. Cynthia might be young, but Grace already liked her quite a bit. Given a bit of polish, Cynthia would have been every bit as popular in London as Grace had been herself; having met her, Grace wasn't at all surprised that the Earl of Spencer had snapped her up for himself. They were two Originals, and a free spirit like Cynthia would suit the wild Earl down to the ground.
"I don't recommend it," Eleanor replied, less vehemently, giving Irene an amused look. "Sometimes Edwin... well, he makes spanking almost nice. I don't think that's possible with a birching."
"Nice?" chorused Irene and Grace together, in matching tones of bewilderment. Eleanor's flush brightened even further, but her hand was steady on her tea cup. There was no danger of spilling even a drop onto the delicate blue and white damask of her skirt.
"When it's not a punishment," Eleanor said stoutly. Like Cynthia, she was finding her own enjoyment in being able to shock her friends. After all, she was well aware that Irene would be disciplined by Hugh for misbehavior, and Cynthia had already confided in Eleanor about her own experiences. Grace hadn't seemed at all condemning over Cynthia's revelations, which had bolstered Eleanor's confidence in sharing her own secrets. "Sometimes we just do it for fun."
Now even Cynthia looked thunderstruck, not to mention more than a little intrigued. "You mean, you don't have to get in trouble to earn a spanking?"
"You try to be spanked?" Irene asked the younger woman, before Eleanor could answer. She looked as though she was getting a headache, trying to assimilate all these new ideas.
Cynthia rolled her expressive brown eyes; the smile on her face was pure mischief as she continued to twit Irene. "Of course... I like it, remember?" Then her expression changed, as she wrinkled her nose. "I didn't like being belted so much..." Although, she had found great pleasure afterwards. But she wasn't going to bring up the particulars of that encounter. It took quite a bit to embarrass her, but she wasn't ready to ask the other women if they'd ever been punished inside their bottoms.
That was too new of an experience for even her to be brazen about.
"Belted?" Irene whispered, looking horrified. "He belted you?"
Nodding, Cynthia smiled sweetly. "When I snuck into his bedroom and tried to seduce him."
Grace burst out laughing, quickly setting her teacup down on the table so that it didn't spill. The laughter looked much more natural on her face than the forlorn expression she'd been wearing for most of the morning, so Cynthia was glad. Her own eyes sparkled merrily. She might not be an acknowledged beauty like Eleanor or Grace, but both of them seemed to like her. Irene was too polite to be rude, even if she was scandalized, but she didn't seem to dislike Cynthia, for all her disapproval.
They were a diverse group, not just in looks, but also in temperament. Despite Grace's maudlin demeanor when she'd first been introduced, Cynthia recognized the spark and fire of a fellow troublemaker in her. The same spark that she'd felt from Eleanor. Irene would be the one to keep them toeing the line, she was sure. Shocking her was quite a bit of fun, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that Cynthia wasn't the only one who felt so. The Countess would probably approve whole-heartedly of Irene as a calming influence on Cynthia. For herself, Cynthia wondered if the prim redhead, with her aura of innocence, might be corruptible.
"But you aren't married yet!" Irene said, sounding exasperated, as if she had no idea what Cynthia had been thinking.
"But we will be soon," she countered. "He'd already touched me anyway, after spanking me in the carriage. What difference could it make?"
"Now I know where Alex is getting his ideas from." The unexpected statement from Grace had all three women looking at her curiously. She hadn't spoken loudly, but her words had dropped into silence while Irene had been absorbing Cynthia's logic and Eleanor had been watching Irene with amusement. Seeing them all staring at her, Grace felt a blush rising in her own cheeks.
Listening to the other women talk about their own experiences had been quite a relief. She'd managed not to think about her first spanking for the past few days, although she'd also avoided earning another one. Being put over Alex's knee again, so intimately exposed to him, and so horribly vulnerable afterwards, was not something she would repeat by choice.
Especially right now. She knew very well that Hugh was in l
ove with his wife, and that Edwin was as well - no matter what Nell thought. It followed that the third member of their triumvirate would also marry for something other than convenience. All of the men spanked their wives, not maliciously, but because they cared enough to correct their behavior. In Eleanor's case, it sounded like sometimes it happened for other reasons as well. When she'd first set out to estrange herself from Alex, she'd felt sure that she would drive him away; it would be a much easier way to handle a wife once she was no longer convenient anymore.
Instead, he had tracked her down, announced his intention to reconcile, and when she'd insulted and cursed at him, he hadn't shut her out or hit her... he'd spanked her.