Chapter 11

Even then, Mistress Penelope did not pull in on the reins of her original plan. The only flaw in it, actually, had been that she assumed all the young women in the manor were engaged in sexual affairs already. It shocked her to find out they were not. Personally, I blame that on the fact that life in the manor was so dismal, and we had such few staff that everyone was busy all the time, and had no time for the frivolity of sex. Actually, come to think of it, the only residents of the manor who were getting any sex at all, when Penny arrived ... were the horses. And perhaps Mrs. Hennesey, except that wasn't done in the manor. In any case, she had reached the age where fertility drops off, and women rarely conceive.

In any case, since Penelope planned on getting as many young men to Sally's party as possible, she figured it would be better if there were as many young women there as possible too.

To that end, she set about seducing the rest of the staff.

I suppose it wasn't odd that she started with Jane first. Jane was our housemaid. Her direct supervisor was Mrs. Hennesey, the Housekeeper, who was also responsible for the activities of Cynthia, the parlor maid, and Suzette, the laundry maid. But Her Ladyship often interacted with Jane, who was more visible than the other two. As for Mrs. Hennesey herself, she had been with the family almost as long as I had, and was a humorless woman, for the most part. She had badgered me incessantly about the workload on "her girls" as she called them. Normally, in a house of this size, there would have been another five or six maids. So I consented to have a number of the rooms on the upper floor closed off and shuttered. The furniture was draped, and the curtains closed. I required only that the staff clean those unused rooms once a year in the spring.

So we got by with only three maids. In fact, there was actually little for Cynthia to do in her role as parlor maid. Our Lady had not begun receiving visitors, so Cynthia usually helped Jane with her duties.

It was precisely because Jane could rely on Cynthia (and vice versa later in the game) that Jane could afford to spend time "lollygagging" as Mrs. Hennesey called anything that wasn't one of the girl's direct duties. If she took a few extra minutes at lunch, to peel an apple for desert, she was "lollygagging." If she spent too long in the morning curling her hair, she was "lollygagging." And if Mrs. Hennesey would have known she was visiting with Jenny one morning - even though Jenny had invited her - she would have barked "Quit'cher lollygagging, girl! There's work to be done, there is!"

But she didn't know, because all of Jane's work was being done by Cynthia, who knew exactly where Jane was and, for all I knew, hoped to be there herself one day soon.

Our Lady was a brilliant strategist. She knew that girls and young women craved to be accepted by other girls and young women, both as equals and as friends. Females are inherently social, or so she says. And in the manor, with so few servants, the girls there suffered from an inability to form friendships as close as they might have liked. At least that was Penny's theory.

To that end, she had Jenny, who was high up on the complicated social ladder of the estate, arrange to "bump into" all the other girls, and lament that they never got to spend any time in casual pursuits, such as gossiping, and talking about boys and such. Of course the other girls salivated at the idea of being a confidant of the number one lady's maid of the house, and agreed with her ... even poor, shy Marie, in the kitchen.

And so a plot was hatched. Because Cynthia and Jane could cover for each other, it was easy to establish a date for each to slip away and soak in the attentions of other girls for a bit. Marie was harder, but the mistress had an idea about that too. It was decided to work on Jane and Cynthia first, and tackle Marie's debilitating shyness last.

Jane was first, for the very practical reason that, as the house maid, she fell third in the line of responsibility for running the house. I was first, of course, followed by Mrs. Hennesey. And while the reader may think that being the last to make independent decisions about household matters is much ado about nothing, she was still able to give instruction to the other maids, and cook. On rare occasions, Mrs. Hennesey herself would accept orders from Jane, as long as they were couched in terms of "Her Ladyship wishes me to inform you it is her wish that..." And as long as she used that same justification, she could send both Suzette and Cynthia on errands. As long as everything got done, Mrs. Hennesey would be happy, which meant she would be in the kitchen with cook, sampling whatever the next meal was to be. This was the primary reason Mrs. Hennesey barely reached five feet and weighed twenty stone or better.

The point is that Jane, once debauched, could arrange for the other girls to have time to receive the same sad treatment.

But it was necessary to preserve the reputation of the estate, His Lordship and, of course, his new, young wife.

Jane was quite plain, from my point of view. She had all the attributes of a woman, though they were somewhat muted as yet. Of course she was but fifteen years of age, and so wasn't quite ripe yet. I liken her to a peach, at that stage in the ripening process that is hard and crunchy. It is sweet, already, but lacking the soft, luscious, juicy, toothsome nature of the fully mature. Sally, by comparison, had two years further in the maturation process, and it plainly showed. Her breasts were full and heavy, with perfectly formed nipples. Sally's body was fully ready to answer to nature's call and become a mother.

Jane was short, of the same height as Mrs. Hennesey. Her uniforms prohibited one from gauging her form well. There was a bulge in her bodice, but that was about all one could detect as to what features of Venus she possessed. I was to find out that her breasts were cone shaped, with round, puffy nipples which, in truth, appeared to be areolas without a nipple attached. They were brown, though, and stood out starkly on her white breasts. It was clear, the first time I saw her, that she spent her days inside, and the sun never caressed her naked skin.

I was surprised at how thin her waist was, and how it made almost boyish hips seem larger than they were. She had not the full hourglass shape of Sally and The Mistress, but that made no difference to the boys who debauched her. I suspect, after watching what I will eventually complete reporting, that had she a grain sack over her head, the boys would not have cared, and would have happily fucked her not even knowing who she was.

Jane was the village fletcher's daughter. In time of unrest or war, a Fletcher thrives, but when there is peace, his business consists of serving only hunters, and times get difficult. It was to be expected that he might indenture his daughter to The Earl. It fed and clothed her, and put a few coins in his pocket for the rest of the family to survive on. That left only her brother Frank for her father to support. When he was busy, he needed Frank's help, and if Frank went elsewhere, he'd have to hire a helper. Plus, when he didn't need the boy, he was free to accompany the forest warden on his rounds, as a hunter of sorts. He was a good shot with a bow, and His Lordship did not begrudge the loss of rabbits in the woods. Once Jane was a member of the cabal, it was thought she could bring her brother into it as well, providing a potential mate for one of the girls.

It was determined that, because she already knew Stephan, and because by now, Stephan (always a quick learner) was a fairly accomplished lover, he would be the male who broke her in. The eventual goal, that of marriage, was given less priority, initially. Jane had given no thought to marriage. Nor had Stephan. Marriage to such young and insulated youth seems but a dream, lived by others. But once they were slaves to their lust, thought of marriage would come naturally, if only to ensure a source of continued lusty activity.

Plans, tried and true, are preferable to guesses as to what might work, so Her Ladyship determined an outing was in order. Sundays, of course, were days of rest. Mrs. Hennesey had that day off, and always went to the village, where her married daughter lived. Ralph Tilly lived there as well, of course, and she always returned with stories of her grandchildren, and was in an improved mood.

Jenny approached Jane. "Milady has said Sally and I may have a picnic. You are invited to come with us."

It was just that simple. Cook had been notified that three would picnic and, assuming one would be Her Ladyship, had prepared a delicious repast. Stephan, fully briefed on the plan and his part in it, waited to make his entrance in a copse. Sally and Jenny already had the poor girl engaged in chit chat when they arrived at a flat place beside the stream, which Sally announced was perfect. The blanket was spread, and the victuals unpacked.

When the first bite had been taken, Stephan came whistling down the path, footloose and carefree.

"What have we here?" he grinned, upon "spying" the girls. "Is there enough for me?"

"Most certainly not!" said Jenny. "You would have been invited if there were, and since there is not, you obviously have not been invited." She stuck her chin in the air.

"Aren't you putting on airs," he said, still grinning. "You weren't putting on airs the other night when you kissed me."

"Oh!" gasped poor Jane.

"He's lying!" yipped Jenny, making her face get red by holding her breath and pushing against her diaphragm.

Sally waved a hand. "Jane is our new friend. Friends don't keep secrets. We should just tell her."

"Tell me?" squeaked Jane.

Sally was bold. "Stephan is practicing with us, so that when we have sweethearts, we will know what to do, and will not fumble."

"Sweethearts?" Jane looked a little dazed now.

"Of course," said Sally. "I want a sweetheart some day. So, too, does Jenny. Don't you?"

Jane swallowed. She was completely out of her element. These two girls she saw so often were so much more grown up than she felt. She had never thought to seek a sweetheart ... but she wished she were as sophisticated as they.

"Why are you here?" asked Jenny, staring up at the boy, and giving Jane the respite she needed to gather her thoughts.

"I'm going swimming," he said.

"But we were here first," she complained.

"You do not appear to be using the stream," he pointed out.

"But you always swim naked," she moaned. "You flaunt your manhood incessantly."

Jane gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. The two girls ignored her.

"You've seen me many times that way," said Stephan, in an off-hand manner. "You never complained before."

"Poor Jane wasn't with us then," replied Sally darkly. "She is of a sensitive nature, and not used to seeing naked boys cavorting about, showing off how they can make their little penises get all stiff and hard."

Now both of Jane's hands rose to cover her mouth. Her eyes were round and huge. Sally turned to Jane, as if she had just thought of something.

"Are you?" she asked. "Have you ever seen a boy in the altogether?"

"No, Miss," said Jane, her voice barely discernible. She often addressed both Sally and Jenny as "Miss" even though that wasn't entirely proper.

Sally turned back to Stephan. "See? Don't be an oaf and scare the poor girl. Go off and swim elsewhere."

"I want to swim here," said Stephan, who promptly began to disrobe.

Jane's hands went from her mouth to cover her eyes. Slowly, though, her fingers spread apart ... just a little ... so she could peek between them.

"He is such a handsome cur," sighed Sally as he dropped the last of his clothing. He was, in fact, stiff as a board already.

"And you are such a harlot," commented Jenny, trying to make her voice match the words. She had never called anyone a harlot before, though, and wasn't sure how it should sound.

"You have lain with him too," countered Sally.

Jane was speechless then, and began to breathe at that rapid gasping rate that often renders a woman unconscious for some reason. She knew what "lain with" meant, on an intellectual level. She had no idea about the mechanics of it all, but the term itself had some meaning to her young mind.

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Penelope, Mistress of the Manor

Lubrican

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