By Governess
liviaarbuthnot1@gmail.com
Copyright 2023 by Governess, all rights reserved
* * * * *Chapter 60
Sharp at three o’clock, Cordelia made her way to the Fairclough’s apartment.
“Come in, Cordelia. I expect you want to know how William got on this morning. But first let me ring for some tea and cake.”
They chatted inconsequentially for some minutes before Mary arrived with the tea and set it down with great care before them.
“Well done, Mary. Thank you. That will be all for the moment.”
“I must say, Diana, that Mary is really shaping up well. You’ve certainly licked her into shape.”
“Yes, I’m very pleased with her. The cane hasn’t been used for a few
days now. In fact, David’s its main beneficiary at the moment. Mary
reports any wrongdoing to me, but I’m wondering whether the time has
come to trust her to punish him herself. What do you think, Cordelia?”
Cordelia smiled and raised her eyebrows.
“Well, having seen you cane young David, I’m surprised you’re considering relinquishing the pleasure to another.”
She frowned.
“But it’s not just that. Discipline is more than just smacking a
bottom, as you well know. Every smack of the hairbrush or cut of the
cane has to be creative and reforming. And for that, I think, the
chastisement has to be administered as an expression of maternal love.
I am not sure that allowing Mary to punish David is going to provide
that.”
She gave a little grimace.
“Well, you asked and that’s what I think.”
Diana frowned.
“But Mary would be acting under my authority and I’d make sure David
understood that. But you know, I can’t disagree with what you are
saying. After all, the reason we took David into our home was to
provide exactly that maternal care that had been missing from his young
life. But, of course, there was also my longing to have a small boy
under my authority, and to provide the discipline he needs. Retrieving
a hairbrush from the drawer and using it as I used to used is a real
pleasure. And you are right, would I really want to relinquish that?”
Cordelia nodded.
“No, of course you wouldn’t. But tell me what does Mary do with David
at the moment? Does she supervise his school work? I assume from the
incidence of the unfinished sums, that she does and fairly regularly.”
“Yes. I’ve prepared a work sheet for each day of the week and she
supervises him. She’s a bright girl and quite able to help him out most
of the time.”
“And what happens if he misbehaves or is reluctant to work properly?”
“Then, as I said, she refers him to me and I take the appropriate steps to ensure his compliance.”
“And that means?”
“A sound spanking or, if it’s particularly serious, a caning.”
“I suppose, at a stretch, you just might consider allowing Mary to deal
with things like a simple lack of application in his work, or if he is
disrespectful.”
Diana shook her head.
“What you
said about his needing a strong maternal authority made such a lot of
sense, Cordelia. Authority needs to derive from a single source. To
allow Mary to share in that, when she is just a servant, seems wrong.
And once she gets a taste for taking down his trousers and pants and
turning him over her knee, I suspect she’d probably wouldn’t refer him
to me when she should. So, no. I think not. Does that make sense?”
Cordelia nodded.
“Yes, it does. I was aware when I was birching McCourt how Mary seemed
almost breathless, and from time would give little grunts of what
seemed suspiciously like pleasure.”
“And it wouldn’t surprise
me if at the end her knickers weren’t sopping wet from the sheer
excitement of it. I’ve never horsed a boy across my back, but I can
imagine how it would feel with his writhing in response to each cut of
the birch. It must be very arousing. So, yes, once she had permission
to spank him herself, she might well be reluctant to refer him to
someone else to be punished.”
“Yes, like Mary, there are some
children who find witnessing another child’s punishment really exciting
and pleasurable. I was one of them. Watching my brothers punished was
something I always looked forward to. And horsing a boy as Mary did and
feeling every cut of the birch throbbing through your own body as he
writhes in agony must be even more pleasurable and exciting.
She hesitated.
“I’ve noticed how Elizabeth can be quite flushed when she sees me punish one of the other girls in class.”
“That doesn’t surprise me, Diana. She finds the sight of her brothers
being stripped and spanked of enormous interest. And, rightly or
wrongly, I have indulged her by asking her to help from time to time in
restraining a boy who is resisting. My mother never sought my help in
that way, but I confess that on one or two occasions I made sure their
naughtiness was brought to her attention.”
“What a little minx!”
“Well, I never lied to get them into trouble or pretended they’d done
something when they hadn’t! And if a child of mine told me one of their
siblings had secretly defied me, then I would praise the informant for
their honesty and sense of duty. And I see nothing wrong with that. And
I’m sure you don’t either. But. Diana, you haven’t told me about
William.”
“Neither I have. Well, first he was made to sit on
the pot in front of the class and that I am sure was an eye opener for
most of the girls, although not perhaps for Elizabeth. But before that
I caught Sarah Higgins passing a note to another girl proclaiming her
love for William Lavington. So, when it came to wiping the bottom of
little two-year-old William, who better to do it than Sarah! If William
found sitting on the pot in front of a class full of girls an ordeal,
then having his bottom wiped by one of them must have increased that a
hundredfold. His whole body blushed with the shame of it.
“But when I came to punish Sarah for her misbehaviour, I had what I can
only describe as an epiphany. I suddenly asked myself why I was
strapping the girl’s hands when she had a soft sensitive little bottom
that could absorb huge amounts of discipline. When I tawse a girl’s
hand, she can’t hold a pencil for several hours whereas two dozen
strokes across her bare bottom might cause her to sit uncomfortably but
it leaves her able to do her school work like any other of the girls.
So, I announced to the class that from then on all punishments would be
administered with the girl kneeling on her school bench and bent over
her desk. And that is the way Sarah was punished. And, Cordelia, I
could never have imagined the satisfaction that comes from taking a
leather tawse to a bare bottom. And I simply can’t wait for the next
girl that needs punishment. I just loved the way the tawse hugs the
contours of the buttocks and raises that band of raw inflamed flesh.”
Cordelia smiled.
I know. I never regretted buying a tawse for Samuel’s tenth birthday.”
She hesitated,
“But I’ve a question about the tawse that I want to put to you, Diana.”
Diana raised her eyebrows.
“Well, when I punish the two boys before the assembled orphanage on
Sunday, I know I will be expected to use the birch, but honestly,
Diana, I would much prefer to flog them with the tawse. And I‘m not
sure what James would think about that.”
There was the sound of a door opening.
“Well, that sounds like James now., Cordelia. So, you can broach the matter with him directly.”
“Good afternoon, Matron. Perhaps you might squeeze me a cup of tea from your pot.”
He sat down and Diana rang for Mary and asked for a third cup.
“James, Cordelia has just raised something about the flogging of Graham and Clough on Sunday.”
Cordelia felt strangely nervous as she explained her wish to punish the
two boys with the tawse rather than the birch. James Fairclough
frowned.
“I have to say, Cordelia, that I am not
enthusiastic. The birch is regarded by most as the most severe and
feared implement with which to punish a boy. And with good reason. And
the threat is all too apparent in its appearance. The eager spring of
the twigs as the splay out from the stock with their promise of scoring
a boy’s bottom until its streaked with blood and smarting beyond all
expectation. I may have mentioned that my own governess, Miss
Ravenscourt, who tutored me when I was unfairly sacked from my prep
school, was a skilled disciplinarian who birched me regularly. I
suffered dreadfully at her hands, but deep down I found comfort and
security in submitting to her. And I am more than convinced that she
made me into the man I am today. And I believe that every small boy
needs such discipline and administered, wherever possible, by a mother
figure like Miss Ravenscourt.”
He nodded.
“And you, Matron, are that mother figure to the boys in this orphanage.”
Cordelia experienced a frisson of pleasure at his words.
“And that, Principal, is exactly why I would prefer to flog Graham and
Clough with the tawse. I have nothing against the birch, but as a
mother its use does not come naturally to me. It’s far more of an
institutional implement of punishment. I know you might say that the
orphanage is an institution and that this public flogging falls into
that category, but as far as I am concerned it is no more public than
my spanking William or Samuel in front of the rest of the family. And
surely that is wholly in line with your desire to provide a mother’s
affection and discipline.”
She paused, drawing breath.
“And that is why I wish to use the tawse on Sunday. I agree they both
richly deserve a public flogging. I’m in no doubt about that.”
James Fairclough smiled at his matron’s vehemence.
“That is very ably put, Matron, if I may say so without being
patronising. But I remain unconvinced. Miss Ravenscourt was very much a
surrogate mother and her use of the birch was entirely maternal in its
intention and in its outcome. So, I see nothing in birching Clough and
Graham that renders it contrary to the loving and motherly atmosphere
we are aiming to achieve in the Orphanage. But we cannot get away from
the fact that the Orphanage is also an institution. We set strict rules
that go beyond those in a natural family in order to maintain its
cohesion and we rightly punish those with some severity. But where the
moral law is so flagrantly transgressed, as in this case, only the
severest of punishments is appropriate. And that for me is a sound
flogging of at least three dozen strokes of the birch well laid on
across the boy’s bare buttocks.”
He paused.
“You may
favour the tawse Matron but while that may be suitable for classroom
misdemeanours, I hardly think it is indicated here.”
“I am not
sure that is correct, Sir. The tawse comes in a variety of weights
ranging from light to, medium and heavy with the most punishing being
an extra heavy weight belt. The strap I use at home is of a medium
weight and is certainly respected and feared by the children. But I
agree that in view of the brazen and scandalous nature of the boys’
behaviour clearly something of greater severity is required.”
She paused before continuing.
“Some years ago, I visited a friend in Glasgow. She was a Justice of
the Peace and while I was there, she invited me to attend a session in
court as a visitor. I remember there were two teenage boys, arsonists,
who had set fire to a garden shed. They were each sentenced to 36
strokes of the tawse, and I was invited to witness their flogging. Each
boy, in turn, was fastened to a special bench which has two holes in it
for his arms to dangle through. As there was nothing to press against
other than empty air, it was impossible for him to lever himself up,
and as a strap was fastened around his waist, he was completely
immobile other than being able to twist a little and wriggle his legs
and feet.
“Well, these two teenagers were each flogged with a
tawse. Each stroke was delivered at the rate of about one every half
minute, and slowly thick inflamed bands were raised on their flesh. And
as stroke was laid over stroke the skin burst and their buttocks became
visibly raw. Afterwards just gently putting on underpants must have
been an agony, and sitting on that wealed flesh a torture beyond
belief. After they were led away, I inspected the tawse that had been
laid aside. It was marked with an XH which, I understand, is what most
extra heavy weight straps have embossed on them. So, the idea that a
tawse cannot rival the birch in its severity is, I would suggest,
wrong. I would say that a tawse such as that is even more punishing and
more to be feared that the birch”
“Well, I can assure you,
Matron, the birch that would be used to punish Clough and Graham would
inflict an agony equal to that of any tawse, whatever its weight. I
have already asked for four rods of three feet to be bound up,
insisting on particularly tough, leathery twigs, full of sap, and so
lithe and limber that just the sight of them will bring a boy out into
a cold sweat.”
Cordelia flushed.
“Please don’t think
I was suggesting that a tawse such as I saw flaying those two boys in
Glasgow would be right for Clough and Graham. My point is that I’s
simply incorrect to say that a tawse cannot rival a birch in its
severity/”
There was hint of irritation in James Fairclough response.
“You are like the Grand Old Duke of York, Matron. You’ve lead me up to
the top of the hill only to lead me down again. What exactly are you
proposing?”
“Simply that I would prefer to punish the boys
with a tawse rather than a birch. But it needs to be of an appropriate
weight. The boys are only ten years of age. They may be depraved but
they are not a pair of teenage arsonists.”
“They may not be
arsonists, Matron, but their depravity in my eyes is far more serious.
Arson is an offence against property; their depravity is an offence
against the whole moral order. A garden shed burnt down is no doubt a
loss to the owner, However, moral depravity corrupts all who indulge in
it and if not rooted out will spread throughout a community such as
ours. I am surprised that you treat it so lightly.”
“Well,
Principal, I am sorry that you consider my moral judgement at fault. As
Diana well knows. Both boys have already been severely chastised by me
and the genitals they abused have been subject to an exceptionally
painful discipline. I hope that shows I take their depravity as
seriously as you do.”
The Principal was already regretting the manner in which he had expressed himself.
“I apologise, Matron, if I have affronted you. Please accept my
apologies. As you know, I value all that you do here, and respect your
judgment. And I hope that is mutual. If there is a difference between
us, I am sure it can be resolved.”
He breathed in deeply.
“But given the extent of the moral depravity that we both recognise, a
severe birching still seems to me the most appropriate punishment.
However, I’ve noted your predilection for the tawse over the birch. And
as the offence took place in one of the dormitories that fall under
your supervision it is only right that I take your reservation
seriously. However, whatever implement if used, it needs to provide the
severest of punishments. Both to deter the boys from a repetition and
to make clear to every boy here that such depravity will not be
tolerated.”
He turned to his wife.
“Didn’t you tell me that a new saddler opened in town some months ago?”
“Yes. Crampton’s. just past the bank and left into Cleveland Row. And I recently saw in their window a selection of tawses.”
“So, Matron, how about a trip into town to purchase a tawse?”
“And what weight of tawse are you expecting me to buy, Sir”
“Well, it must be clear from what I have said that I regard an extra heavyweight tawse as appropriate for the job in hand.”
“And there we differ, Principal.”
“Well, we have an impasse.”
He turned to his wife.
“Have you any thoughts, my dear?”
Diana frowned.
“Well, one thing is clear that on Sunday two boys are ging to be horsed
and flogged and there is an urgent need to reach an agreement. And I
think we are all agreed on the need for an exceptionally severe
punishment. Perhaps, Cordelia rather than simply raising an objection,
would tell us what exactly she has in mind.
“Thank you,
Diana. I in no way dissent from the need for severity, A flogging
should certainly leave each boy sobbing and squirming with the marks of
a significant chastisement etched on his hindquarters. The point I am
making, or trying to make, is that that can be achieved for boys of
Clough’s and Graham’s age without resorting to an extra heavyweight
tawse; and at the same time leave a powerful impression on those
watching. The tawse I use on my own children is a medium weight and I
believe the belts used in the Orphanage are a medium weight, too.
However, given the nature of Clough’s and Graham’s offence, I suggest
the next weight would be entirely appropriate, which is the heavyweight
tawse. And despite the Principal’s advocacy for a tougher birch, I
would suggest that a rod similar to that used to flog McCourt would be
quite severe enough for flogging Clough and Graham on Sunday.”
She paused, awaiting a response. James Fairclough turned to his wife.
“So, what do you think, my dear?”
“Well, as you said, we ought t to take Cordelia’s reservations
seriously. But in the end the decision rests with you, James, as
Principal. What I suggest is that tomorrow Cordelia visits Crampton’s
and purchases both a heavyweight and an extra heavyweight tawse and
then, having examined them, we can decide on the way forward. Does that
commend itself? How do you feel about that, Cordelia?”
“Yes, that seems helpful and a first step towards resolving the matter.. Thank you, Diana.
“Yes, Sir. It does.”