Miss Strang Chapter 81

By Governess

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This story is intended for adults only. It contains depictions of forced nudity, spanking, and sexual activity of preteen and young teen children for the purpose of punishment. None of the behaviors in this story should be attempted in real life. If you are not of legal age in your community to read or view such material, please leave now.

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After tea, Miss Strang escorted us to the library. She strode ahead and we followed, breathless and anxious. After a firm knock on the door she entered and ushered us in. My father, who was sitting on the far side of the long table, looked up.

“Good afternoon, Miss Strang. Come and sit beside me. The children will stand.”

He looked at John and breathed in deeply.

“Well boy, did you learn anything from what you saw at the reformatory this morning?”

My brother blushed, looking nervous and flustered.

“I . . . I think so . . . Sir.”

“So what did you learn?”

“That . . . that if you break the law, then . . . then you’ll be punished.”

“And the boys you saw. How were they punished?”

“One . . . one was birched. And the other was f . . . flogged with . . . with a tawse.”

“And how many strokes of the birch did the first boy, the boy Cameron, receive?”

“P . . .please, Sir. It . . . it was thirty strokes.”

“And the boy, Burns? How many strokes did he receive?”

”F . . . forty . . . Sir.”

My father rested back in his chair.

“Yet you heard me in court sentence Cameron to twelve strokes, and Burns to thirty six stokes. So what do you conclude from that, my boy?”

John reddened, and looked down in confusion.

“I . . . I’m not sure . . . Sir.”

“Then I will tell you. It means that a boy who deserves a severer punishment than the law allows will not escape. That the reformatory where he is sent will provide what is lacking. And if necessary repeat that punishment . . . ”

He paused,

“ . . . and repeat it again and again. Every time he transgresses. Do you understand, boy?”

“Ye . . . yes, Sir.”

He turned to Miss Strang.

“I understand that both boys are to be punished for their thoughtless and wicked behaviour toward Mrs Mountfield over the last year, when my wife was ill and the household was under the greatest of strain. Tell me again what steps you have taken in that matter.”

“Well, Sir, I have explained to both boys that there is no question but that they must be punished. Mrs Mountfield has given me a list of their offences and I have weighed those in the balances and apportioned punishment to each child. Each is carrying around his neck a small bag of pebbles. For each pebble a separate chastisement is to be given.

“And that Miss Strang is the penalty that you, as their governess, have determined.”

“Yes, Sir”

“And that is entirely appropriate. But there are limits to what can be achieved in the schoolroom. Just as there are limits to what I can impose in my court.”

He paused, breathing in deeply.

“As you know, Miss Strang, it was my belief that my elder son would benefit from a spell in the reformatory. Under a regime that was severe and demanding and which would provide the opportunity for him to develop fortitude and manly virtues. You counselled me at the time that this was too punitive and that he had done nothing to merit such ignominy.“

He again paused and compressed his lips, before continuing.

“But what do you say now, Miss Strang? Would not both boys benefit from such a regime?”

My governess looked down before replying.

“Well, Mr Arbuthnot, in principle I see nothing against such a step. The consciences of both boys are heavy with sin, and need to be purged and cleansed. That might be done in the familiarity of the schoolroom as I was envisaging.”

She frowned.

“But their sustained commitment to sinning over a whole year does suggest a more austere regime. Where nothing familiar can comfort and console. Where every aspect of their lives, whether waking or sleeping, is subject to the harshest discipline. Where friendly intercourse is forbidden and where one word spoken without permission is severely punished.”

I felt a trickle of icy cold within me at her words. My father nodded.

“So Miss Strang you would assent to both boys being placed in the reformatory for a spell of corrective training?”

“Yes, Mr Arbuthnot, reluctantly I would.”

She paused.

“But you will recall that I promised Mrs Mountfield that she would have the satisfaction of participating in the boys’ punishment. It was she who bore the brunt of their thoughtless and wicked folly over the past year. That should not be overlooked.”

“No, Miss Strang. Indeed, it should not be.”

He walked across to the bell. After a while Annie entered.

“Bolton, will you please ask Mrs Mountfield to step into the library for a moment.”

After a minute or two there was a knock at the door and Mrs Mountfield entered.

“Mrs Mountfield, I have been discussing with Miss Strang the measures we need to take to correct these two boys for their disgraceful behaviour towards you over the past year. As you see each boy has a small bag around his necks. In each bag are a number of stones corresponding to an offence and a punishment. Miss Strang had intended to administer their punishment in the schoolroom, removing a stone after each chastisement, until all had gone.”

He turned to Miss Strang.

“And that would have extended over several weeks, Miss Strang? Is that right?”

“Yes, Mr Arbuthnot. That was the intention.”

“And Mrs Mountfield was to be responsible, under your authority, for administering some of the necessary discipline?”

“Yes, Mr Arbuthnot.”

He turned back to Mrs Mountfield.

“But Miss Strang and I have been discussing whether this is the best method of bringing these two boys to heel. In my judgement they need to be taken out of the schoolroom and placed for a while in the reformatory. Miss Strang is an excellent disciplinarian but the ambience of the schoolroom and the familiarity of home are not conducive to what is required. A stricter and more unremitting regime is needed.”

He paused.

“However, as you bore the brunt of their rudeness and misbehaviour, it is only right that your agreement should be sought for the measures we are proposing to take.”

“Well, Sir, I’m not sure that it’s my place to give an opinion. But what I do say is that something needs to be done. Those two boys ran really wild before Miss Strang came, and they made my life a real misery. I’m not a vindictive woman, Sir, but I believe in punishment. And those two boys earned themselves more than a good thrashing, that’s for sure. And if they don’t receive their deserts, then there’s no justice in the world.”

She was flushed and a bit breathless.

“And there’s another thing, Sir. Miss Strang told me that I’d have the satisfaction of whipping them myself. And I’d be sorry if that was denied me. And that’s the truth, Sir.”

My father gave a grim smile.

“I have no intention of denying you that pleasure, Mrs Mountfield.”

I glanced at my brothers. John was flushed with an angry look on his face, although I could see that he was also fearful. Simon was simply drained of colour, twisting his hands in his anxiety and biting his lip.

“Not so long ago, in Germany, when a delinquent was sentenced to the House of Correction, Mrs Mountfield, she would be given a whipping to welcome him; and then a further whipping to mark his release.”

He smiled.

“So I suggest that you, Mrs Mountfield, should provide such a whipping to both boys as a farewell to their home and as a welcoming foretaste of what lies in store for them.”

He smiled.

“In the German Houses of Correction the whipping would have been administered with a bull’s pizzle.”

He paused. I had no idea what a ‘bull’s pizzle’ was, but it sounded as though it was something to fear.

He looked at Miss Strang.

“But that is clearly not appropriate for boys of this age. Instead, Mrs Mountfield, I would suggest an extended session for each boy, across you knee, with a solid wooden hairbrush applied with vigour to the bare bottom and thighs.”

Mrs Mountfield’s eyes were dark

“Thank you, Sir. That’s much appreciated, I’m sure.”

“So I suggest, Miss Strang, that each boy should be in his nightshirt by five o’clock, and report to you and Mrs Mountfield in the schoolroom. Both boys will then go to bed with a well whipped bottom. And I suggest that from tomorrow John reverts to his own clothes. I am sure the discipline of dressing John as a girl has had a beneficial effect, but in the reformatory he will need to wear the appropriate uniform as all the other boys.”

He looked at John.

“So, my boy, have you anything to say?”

Both boys looked ashen. Simon was blinking as though he had emerged from a dark room into harsh and fierce sunlight. John was fighting back tears as he stuttered out a desperate entreaty.

“P . . please, Sir, don’t send me to the reformatory. I promise to be good. Please Sir.”

My father smiled.

“I am afraid, boy, that your whining and unwillingness to accept your fate is but a further indication of the need to flog some backbone into you. And the reformatory will do just that. Not another word.”

My brother looked down. I glanced sideways and could see the tears trickling down his cheeks. He made no sound, standing in silent, hopeless distress.

“And I need not detain you further, Mrs Mountfield. Thank you for your understanding and co-operation. Miss Strang will expect you in the schoolroom shortly before five o’clock.”

Mrs Mountfield smiled and inclined her head.

“Thank you, Sir. I’m pleased to be able to help, I’m sure.”

When Mrs Mountfield had gone, my father turned to Miss Strang.

“And now my daughter, Livia. Am I to understand that she proved rude and restive when disciplined before Mr and Mrs Innes and their daughter. And as a consequence you sentenced her to a further twenty four strokes of the birch?”

“That is correct, Mr Arbuthnot.”

“And that flogging has still to be administered?”

“Yes, Mr Arbuthnot.”

“And Livia has also been told she is to serve as Mrs Innes’s personal maid. As a lesson in humility and obedience.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“And at the moment she is dressed as a boy.”

He paused. I could feel my face burning with shame. Fearful of what my father might be intending.

“So, Miss Strang? How is all that to be resolved?”

Miss Strang frowned and her lips compressed. She looked severe and forbidding.

“Well, Mr Arbuthnot Livia must, as she has been told, serve in the capacity of personal maid in the Innes family. I am in no doubt about that.”

“And the flogging, Miss Strang?”

She paused.

“Well it is certainly time the Bank of Chastisement called in that particular debt. It should be postponed no longer.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“I had intended to flog the girl myself, but I wonder whether correction would be better achieved if it were done by another.”

I was trembling and there was a tightness across my chest.

“Perhaps, Miss Strang. What have you in mind?”

“May I suggest, Sir, that tomorrow, when the two boys are taken to the reformatory, Livia accompanies them, dressed as she is now. In boy’s clothes. There she would be taken to the punishment room and birched. As the boy Cameron was birched, by Mrs McLaughlan. And I suggest her punishment should be witnessed by her brothers.”

My father nodded.

“Yes, Miss Strang. That seems entirely appropriate.”

“And at the conclusion, she would be dressed in her own clothes and taken to the Rectory, where she would no doubt de made to wear an under house parlour maid’s outfit and be subject to the rules and disciplines of the Innes’s household.”

My whole inside seemed to shrink within me.

My father nodded.

“But with Livia ensconced with the Innes and with my sons in the reformatory, there will be little to occupy you, Miss Strang. I envisage Livia being under Mrs Innes tutelage for at least a week, possibly several weeks. And in the longer term, until my sons have served their sentence . . . ”

“Indeed, Mr Arbuthnot. Given these circumstances, you may decide that you do not wish me to remain in your household as governess.”

She paused.

“But Livia will still need instruction when she returns. And she is reaching an age when the cords of discipline will need, on occasions, to be drawn more tightly than they have been till now.”

“Indeed, Miss Strang. I am sure Livia would benefit from your continuing as her governess. And the boys, too, when they return from their spell in the reformatory. But in the meantime it may be that you would wish to take on other responsibilities.”

“Yes, Mr Arbuthnot. As we have discussed, I might be able to assist at the reformatory, much as I understand Rachel Innes does. And perhaps associate Livia with that work in due course. With your permission, I will speak to Mrs McLaughlan about that.”

“Certainly, Miss Strang, I have no objection to your pursuing such a possibility. And I know that the Innes take in boys who are falling behind in their studies and need coaching to bring them up to an acceptable standard. There might be a role for you to play there.”

“Thank you, Mr Arbuthnot. That is certainly something to explore. I am also writing a short book of advice for young governesses. So, you see, there is no fear that the Devil will find my hands idle.”

She smiled.

“Well, Mr Arbuthnot, perhaps I had better take these children back to the schoolroom.”

“Indeed, Miss Strang. And perhaps you would come and see me after the children have settled down for the night.”

(to be continued)

(The End)