Chapter 2

Sir William Hardman, better known as Doctor Hardman to his colleagues and peers, was not the sort of partner in life that Honeysuckle ever contemplated as infinitely possible in that period of time immediately preceding the fateful ball at Hampshire Hills.

She was not quite certain what was the deciding factor in her quick decision to accept his offer of marriage and was perplexed by her sense of having made the right choice because her opportunity for a lasting union was diminishing with each ragged breath.

Honeysuckle had the secret insight of her well-hidden hunger for sensations of a sensual nature and she could tell the Doctor was experienced in such matters to a degree that would release her from any responsibility for arranging boring coupling details or extending flirtatious invitations with innuendo or physical signals of nocturnal desires in a submissive feminine manner that rubbed her the wrong way.

She really hated those games that were second nature to most females in well-behaved society because they spoke to her of a certain level of duplicity and deceit was never her forte, if the truth be known.

Honeysuckle was much better at the direct approach to coupling confrontations and she was more comfortable with whispers under her breath right in her partner’s ear than in disguised suggestions easily misunderstood by a member of the opposite sex. There could be no doubt where things were headed after her verbal prompt and she generally followed the lead of her spouse with instant obedience and an attitude that aided and abetted his every intent. In a way, she was much more suited to a “make me take it” feminine response pattern than keeping up a pretense of denial when every pore in her body demanded the touch of masculine control.

Sir William was a man that had traveled “around the world” in the arena of sexual matters and he was swift to introduce his new bride Honeysuckle to the joys of exercising all her feminine entryways in pursuit of “tingles” of memorable magnitude. Of course, the both of them adhered to the rules of a strict society that precluded sampling the merchandise before the purchase and their explorations were limited to breathless groping and rude fingers in unexpected places.

Her sisters were both well satisfied with their “Ball” successes and it helped to take a lot of the pressure off of Honeysuckle’s quick acceptance of a marriage offer from a man twice her age.

Rose did manage to tick Honeysuckle off with her constant references to the youth of her new intended. In a way, she was certain the unscrupulous girl was doing it just to get her goat and she was succeeding far beyond her own expectations. The eldest sister was eager to retort to her younger sister’s shocking lack of discretion but she hesitated because it seemed mean-spirited to detract from her immature joy at being able to pick the youngest of the trio of applicants for her hand in marriage. Besides, she was not at all impressed with the gentleman in question after hearing his conversation at some length whilst taking tea the following day. His name was Reginald and he was about as boring as a fellow could possibly get without driving his conversational partner to either drink or suicide. In fact, Honeysuckle was a bit amused by the sheer lack of guile in Reginald’s attitude and attributed it to a distinct lack of developed depth of character or any history of normal achievements in a society that valued excellence. It did not escape Honeysuckle’s notice that young Reginald was uncommonly blessed with excessive size in the crotch area of his physique after they were all treated again to a display of Rose’s “see-thru” fabrics that highlighted her feminine folds in graphic “up close and personal” viewing pleasure. She was tempted to call Rose’s attention to her shocking lack of propriety but it seemed like a petty act and in all honesty the sight of Reginald’s monster business emerging from repose was reward enough for the disgusting reality of masculine control.

Honeysuckle was reasonably secure in her belief that she had Sir William under firm control in the “promise of sex” department and since her wedding was to be in the very near future, things seemed well on track to an explosive wedding night filled with new experiences for the both of them.

It was quite a shock to Honeysuckle that her sister Lily admitted to her in the secure confines of her private bedroom that this same Doctor was the one that had been accused of fondling young girls at the finishing school located near his ancestral home in the North Country. She spun a tale of terrible indignities on young virgins and several nurses of innocent character made sullied by his demands of an indecent nature.

Of course, Honeysuckle dismissed the suggestion outright knowing that almost every male doctor under forty was accused of the same thing even if all they did was to take a young girl’s pulse or attempt to examine the state of her internal organs with either ear or fingers. The more mature females were strangely silent about such matters and seemed anxious to receive all aspects of their physical testing as quickly as possible when a trip to the Doctor was on the agenda. In any event, she made no change in her plans for making the marriage official and the course seemed certain that she would be safely married long before either Rose or Lily marched down the aisle with their pretty lips trembling in anticipation of a long-awaited wedding night.

On a visit to Doctor William’s ancestral home, Honeysuckle met his extended family of brothers and cousins as well as a pair of young girls he told her were his “wards” from the sudden demise of his cousin Charlie in one of those dreadful wars that constantly nagged at the public conscience in a way that made ordinary citizens quite happy they were not concerned in matters of military service in any way whatsoever.