Chapter 15: Brighton Peer

The Prince Regent's Pavilion at Brighton is an extravagant architectural confection of English Gothic, Indian Palatial and, as a result of the Prince's predecessor, European Brutalism. The concrete and steel wing added ten years ago in an attempt to provide more comfortable living space was generally judged to have ruined the façade as seen from Old Steine but still the Pavilion presented a pleasing and mildly eccentric profile when viewed from most other directions.

Miss Voutrakis and I were lodged in the new wing. Julian's military colleagues had relocated my equipment without, it seemed, damaging anything and Miss Voutrakis appeared sanguine over the events of the past day or so. This I judged to be a direct consequence of her continuing penetration by the anal plug that was proving such a valuable aid to her behavioural adjustment.

By good fortune for the first week of our sojourn on the south coast the Prince was away and, as a result, we were allowed to make use of the main body of the Pavilion. This I thought was particularly useful. The splendid interiors were, I felt, the ideal backdrop for Helena's re-introduction to domestic tasks that would allow her to hone the skills that would be so beneficial when she had domestic staff of her own to direct.

Helena objected strongly when I announced that her role in the Pavilion was to be a continuance of her duties below stairs.

"That fucking Prince is going to marry me – that's all sorted, now innit? He had his grope and liked what he felt. I shouldn't be skivvying!"

Helena's outburst after what had seemed, albeit reluctant, acceptance of her training regime, took me somewhat by surprise. It was clear that there was still much to do in supressing some of her tendencies. I knew now how to overcome her protests but gave her a beating for her insolence in any case before applying the anal penetrator that quickly gained her compliance.

Within moments of introducing the beast she was happy to curtsy for me (keeping a very straight back I noticed – no doubt the result of the penetrator) and to put on the uniform I had selected for her. With her obedience assured, I was able to hand her over to Mrs Bridges, the chief housekeeper, to be used on whatever tasks she saw fit.

By the time Helena returned at the end of the day, it was clear that Mrs Bridges had taken every advantage of the additional pair of hands. Helena was dirt-streaked, obviously tired, a strand of hair hanging loosely from her cap, with her hands red and raw from the work she had done. I had her remove her uniform and kneel to tell me of the day's tasks.

Her account was no doubt one that would be familiar to any domestic. The endless round of menial tasks, the constant correction for the slightest failing, the impossibility of keeping clean.

Her account concluded, I returned her to her cage for the night, removing the plug only after she had been imprisoned. The stream of expletives that emerged once the plug was removed was as though a verbal enema had been administered to her. I left her shouting and cursing to sleep as best she could, suspecting that the effect of her efforts in the day would soon overcome her anger and frustration at the manner of her use.

At the end of the week, Helena was no more compliant without the penetrator but her appreciation of household tasks had increased greatly. I judged that, with the proviso of the use of a penetrator whenever compliance was needed, Helena was close to the completion of her training.

As I reached this conclusion, Julian Castwich appeared to announce that the Prince was to visit the Pavilion on the next day and would be most pleased if Miss Voutrakis could attend upon him.

Successive occupants of the Pavilion had managed to provide a series of reasons for the local populace to take against them. Most recently Prince Lewis had requisitioned the building used by the last few generations as a popular concert hall and theatre in order to return it to its original function as a stable block. The populace of Brighton was hardly pleased that The Dome – as it was known – no longer hosted popular musical concerts from artists such as Mr James Hendrix and Mr Sydney Barrett or cinematographic extravaganzas but instead was home to sixty-two horses. For the most part the inhabitants sighed and turned their cultural attentions to the delights of the West Pier Pavilion but the episode added to the unrest between the Royal Family and their immediate neighbours.

As well as the restoration of The Dome and the cultural vandalism of the Brighton Pavilion's brutalist wing, a further construction project by the Prince had infuriated the residents of the town. Being fond of his yacht he had for some time felt it most inconvenient to have to leave his vessel at the nearby marina before driving through town ("As some form of passing spectacle for the masses, no doubt," he had said) in order to visit his seaside palace. It was only the clear understanding by the local populace that if they objected the Prince would relocate his favours along the coast – with severe consequences for the town's economy – that resulted in the plans being approved. The council and local worthies gave in and the result had been one of England's shortest canals

The Royal Brighton Canal is less than 200 yards in length. From the lock gates through which it is entered alongside the East Pier, to the dock immediately alongside the Pavilion it rises 30 feet and possesses some unique features. The lock gates and sluices for example, are powered by a network of hydraulic pipes that allow the Keeper of the Royal Canal to press a single button in order to allow the Prince's yacht to pass.

It is hard to know which aspect of the canal annoyed the residents the most. To construct it, a number of properties were compulsorily acquired and demolished. However, the Prince's natural parsimony had meant that only those directly in the path of the canal had been so acquired. Others, alongside the canal, were blighted by the construction, the noise of the gate's hydraulics and the comings and goings of the Prince and his friends. The dock built beside the Pavilion also dominated the surroundings and the canal made it difficult to travel from east to west along the sea front (the Prince had decided that the canal needed no bridges because of its short length). The result had been that the Prince's presence in the Borough was now viewed with some sort of sullen acceptance at best and with outright hostility at worst.