Chapter 4

Summer days are some of the best on the Turner Estate in Scotland. The weather is warm, the sun shines, and everything seems so much better—almost perfect, really. Lady Lucy Turner relaxed on the sun lounger halfway in the open French doors of the large conservatory attached to the grand Turner house. It was designed to face south, to catch as much light as possible all year round. It made a perfect suntrap for relaxing. These were Lady Lucy’s lazy days. There is not much to do, and there are not too many cares or worries. Just slow, sunny days and long, leisurely evenings.

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Beside the sun lounger was a low table with fresh homemade lemonade. Lady Lucy sipped from a tall glass and closed her eyes. All she could hear was the sound of bumble bees and the chirping of bird song. Life could hardly be better, she thought to herself.

The past months had been fraught and tumultuous but also very liberating for Lady Lucy. It had all begun when her late husband, Lord Robert Turner, had died of a sudden heart attack. Leaving her a widow at the age of thirty-seven, with a fifteen-year-old teenage son. Which had caused her to be suddenly thrown into grief, confusion and also freedom. Her marriage was not a happy one. In fact, in recent years, it had become something of a living nightmare of abuse, shame and sadness for Lady Lucy; however, with Lord Turner’s death. She found herself liberated from all of that.

The weeks and months that followed reshaped Lady Lucy’s life. She dismissed her husband’s old-fashioned, fuddy-duddy lawyers and accountants and brought in her professional advisers. She then transferred money and property into her own name, making herself financially independent. Her teenage son, young Robert, would inherit the family estate and titles when he was twenty-one. Until then, she controlled the Turner family estate.

The sunshine made her drowsy, and Lady Lucy drifted off into shallow sleep with soft dreams about flowers and birds and bees,

At about 3 p.m., Lady Lucy awoke and returned to the main house. She entered the library, opened her laptop, and browsed through her messages. There were two usual things: adverts for items she had no wish to buy and other circulars. Then, she opened another email account. This one was for private messages from an adult website called Caledonian Cupid. It was an adult swingers site that Lady Lucy had joined shortly after her husband’s death. She had chosen this site because nearly all the members would be from Scotland, and she had the urge to contact and meet up with other people for no-strings-attached sexual adventures. About a dozen messages from couples and singles had sent her a message to her profile.

Lady Lucy was delighted with the messages but disappointed. All the people who had contacted her appeared genuinely interested in her, yet they all lived so very far away—some from hundreds of miles away. She sighed and reviewed the messages again, rereading them and pressing the ‘Like’ button on each one she read and liked.

She closed the laptop and went to the kitchen, where she saw Mrs. Peggy Doyle, the Turner family housekeeper. ‘I am making tea. Do you want one?’ Lady Lucy asked Peggy. ‘Yes, I’ll join you. Make a pot, and we can have a blether together,’ Peggy replied. ‘What’s the matter with your face, your ladyship? You look like you lost a pound and found a shilling?’ Peggy asked. ‘Oh, nothing much, just a few messages and emails.’ ‘Not bad news, I hope.’ Peggy asked. ‘No, nothing like that, more disappointing than anything else.’

Peggy Doyle had been the Turner Family’s housekeeper for decades. She knew and understood just about every secret the family had. ‘Why not call that Mr David Quires of yours and invite him to the house for the weekend? He’ll cheer you up no end.’ Peggy suggested. Lady Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled at Peggy. ‘He is still running that art exhibition down in Edinburgh.’ ‘Oh, is that the one with your portraits in it, you know, the nice ones, not the ‘Other’ ones.’ Said Peggy with a wink and a smile. ‘Yes.’ Said Lady Lucy. The lovely portraits of Lady Lucy were several tasteful nudes that David Squires had painted of her. The ‘Other’ ones were more erotic portraits and some almost pornographic portraits that hung upstairs in Lady Lucy’s bedroom. ‘So you’re on your own then?’ Peggy asked her. ‘Not entirely on my own, Young Robert is around the place somewhere.’ Lady Lucy said. ‘Don’t be too sure of that. Since you bought him that mountain bike, he has been off down the woods, up the hills and along the river banks.’ Peggy told Lady Lucy. They both sat in silent contemplation for a few minutes, drinking their tea and eating some homemade biscuits that Peggy had stored in a cupboard.

‘Why don’t you invite some of your friends to stay for the weekend?’ Peggy suggested. ‘There are twelve bedrooms in this house, and most of them are empty.’ Peggy said. Lady Lucy turned to Peggy with a startled look on her face. ‘Of course!’ Lady Lucy exclaimed. ‘I can invite people to come here; I don’t have to travel halfway across the country to meet people; they can come here.’ She said. ‘There you go, one cup of my homebrewed tea and the solution to all your problems are solved. Peggy said. Lady Lucy then got up and went back upstairs to the library. She opened her laptop and re-read the messages from those who had contacted her via the Caledonian Cupid website.

She answered them all with a polite thank you and then selected one message in particular that intrigued her. I was from another woman called Fiona, who lived north by the city of Inverness. Her message and profile caught Lady Lucy’s attention. Fiona was of a similar age. She was tall and a brunette, divorced. Like Lady Lucy, Fiona was bi-sexual. She liked men and women, boys and girls. This was something that Lady Lucy had thought about and fantasised about but had never had the opportunity to experience. Fiona also had a fifteen-year-old son called Billy. In the photo Fiona sent with her message, there was a toy ‘Teddy Bear’. This was a coded signal that some swingers often used to indicate that they had particular sexy, erotic kinks. In this instance, the ‘Teddy Bear’ indicated that Fiona and her teenage son Billy had a sexual relationship. Lady Lucy answered the message back with more details about herself.

Several hours later, Fiona’s answer came back. It also included selfie photos of her in her dressing gown with a toy teddy bear. This was a signal from Fiona that she also had a sexy and kinky relationship with her own son, Billy. Fiona included more details about herself and accepted Lady Lucy’s offer to travel down from Inverness to spend the weekend; she would also bring Billy, her teenage son, along with her. Lady Lucy agreed and set things in motion.

Friday afternoon arrived, and with it, Fiona Baker arrived from Inverness in a little red Ford car. She had also brought with her fifteen-year-old son Billy. ‘Welcome to Turner House.’ Lady Lucy said. Lady Lucy liked Fiona’s look straight away. Fiona was tall and beautiful, and her hips had a sexy sway to them. Fiona came right up to Lady Lucy and kissed her on both cheeks and then she gave one long kiss on the lips. ‘Thanks for inviting me, or I should say us!’ Fiona said. Fiona’s son, Billy, was a fine, strapping young man, and Lady Lucy kissed him on both cheeks and another kiss on the lips. Fiona admired the big country house. What a great house. It’s enormous, and it must be very impressive inside.’ Said Fiona. ‘Come inside and see for yourself.’ Lady Lucy invited them in.

Inside, Lady Lucy introduced her own son, Robert, to Fiona and Billy. ‘I do hope we will all get along together.’ Lady Lucy said. ‘I am sure we all will get along. It is very nice to meet you, Robert.’ Fiona said, kissing him on both cheeks and then kissing him on the mouth.