“Yes,” said Gwen. “And I wore a lot of jewels. If nothing else, he’ll have something impressive to hang on the wall.”
“I’m sure you mean more to him than a painting,?
?? said Minette.
Aurelia returned with a pile of books and papers clutched to her chest, and carried them to the table where they were taking tea. “I’ve brought some things to show you, Gwen,” she said. “Books that have to do with...marital connection. In a sense.”
Josephine gave the other two ladies an exasperated look. “Are we really going to do this again?”
“Why wouldn’t we?” said Minette. “She deserves to be educated, considering whom she married. We all had to be educated too.”
“Yes, but I seem to remember all of us getting spanked last time we ‘educated’ ourselves with these materials,” Josephine pointed out.
Gwen gawked at them. “Your husbands spank you?”
The three of them stared back at her.
“Your husband hasn’t spanked you yet?” asked Aurelia. “I mean, that’s wonderful.” She looked at her friends. “Only a bit difficult to believe.”
“He has,” said Gwen, a blush rising in her cheeks. “I didn’t realize it happened to other women. Your marriages seem so happy.”
Minette laughed. “Oh, that has nothing to do with it. In fact, our marriages are probably happier because our husbands turn us over their knees once in a while. It dissipates emotional tension.”
Josephine giggled along with her. “Along with other kinds of tension.”
“There will be no spankings this time around,” said Aurelia. “Hunter encouraged me to bring these along, since...” She gave Gwen another apologetic look. “Well, you see, we came to Arlington House to try to help your marriage. And a great part of being married... Well, our husbands in particular have a fondness and reputation for...”
“Just say it,” said Josephine. “All of them are perverts of the highest degree.”
“They are all perverts,” agreed Aurelia with a sigh. “Josie has the right of it.”
“But perverts in the nicest way,” said Minette. “And once you learn about the sorts of things that arouse gentlemen, it becomes easier to maintain marital harmony. Because men can be very harmonious when they are having a good time in bed.”
“Prettily put, Minette,” said Josephine. “Aurelia, let’s dive into the naughty books.”
Gwen blinked as the ladies spread the books and drawings out on the tabletop. They were of fine paper and craftsmanship, at odds with the lurid subject matter. Naked, cavorting ladies and gentlemen engaged in all manner of shocking pursuits, and each drawing was accompanied by an equally sordid description. The Milk Maid shows her Master an extra “Measure” of Service. The Horned Gentleman makes Merrie with Lady Diddle’s Quim.
Aside from the sexual drawings, there were a great many drawings depicting corporal punishment: maids getting spanked, housekeepers getting spanked, wives getting spanked, even gentlemen getting caned like schoolboys. There were drawings of Far Eastern harems and parlor-room orgies, and abandoned masquerade balls. Gwen had never seen such materials in her life, never even imagined they existed. If she had, she might have been more prepared for the things Arlington did to her.
“Oh, this one is my favorite,” said Josephine, pointing to a pair of lords standing over a wide-eyed servant girl, brandishing birch rods and outrageous erections.
Aurelia smothered a giggle. “Josie, you trollop.”
“There is something about the look in that one’s eyes,” said Minette with a theatrical shiver. “When Barrymore looks at me like that, I run away.”
“But not fast enough to avoid being caught,” said Josephine. “I know how that running-away thing works.”
“Nothing like a chase to get the blood flowing,” agreed Aurelia. “It’s another form of teasing. Like this.” She slid a page across the table to Gwen.
Gwen flushed as she regarded it. The woman in the drawing was tied to a bed while her partner caressed her curves with a garishly colored rose.
“How…interesting,” she offered, too ashamed to admit that she’d been tied to a bed in that same way. She turned it over, only to be confronted with another drawing that reminded her of Arlington. It was the expression, the intent authority on the man’s face as he fondled his lover’s nipples. She realized, on further inspection, that the woman had whip marks on her breasts.
“Oh, my,” Minette said, studying another drawing. “Does Townsend do such things to you, Aurelia?” She turned it sideways with a goggle-eyed expression. The pictured couple did have a lot going on, with bondage, avid sex, and a line of waiting footmen with cocks jutting from their breeches.
Aurelia took it from her and nodded. “Of course. We do this every week.”
All of them erupted in laughter. Even Gwen couldn’t help but smile. For sex to be funny… But in a way it was funny. It was funny and confusing, and enjoyable, and terrifying. Gwen’s gaze fell on a drawing of a naked woman tied to a pole, being whipped by her stern-faced captor. She sucked in a breath.
“These materials are quite explicit, aren’t they?” she said, to cover her distress.
Aurelia gave her an apologetic look. “My husband amassed this collection in his younger days. It is a bit shocking, isn’t it? But you needn’t do the things in these pictures. You need only browse over them to feel inspired, and gain new ideas. One of the most lovely things about marriage is the pleasure you can give one another in private moments. Perhaps you’d like us to help you think of things to do with Arlington to increase your marital happiness. Improve your ‘connection,’ as you say. If you have any questions, the lot of us have been married awhile.”
“Yes, to utter perverts,” said Josephine.
“And we would be happy to be very open about anything to do with marital intimacy,” Minette assured her. “You needn’t be embarrassed at all.”
“Goodness,” said Gwen. “How very kind of you. But...” She leafed through a few more of the pages, only to be polite. “But this is not our problem. Our intimate life is...in good order.”
Josephine looked at the other two and shrugged. “Well, it is Arlington. One imagines he would ask for what he wanted.” She turned to Gwen with an expression of concern. “Does he ask you for all sorts of troubling things?”
“Josie,” Aurelia chided. “That’s private.”
“Don’t pretend you’re not curious,” Josephine said back to her. “Tell the truth, Gwen, he’s awfully commanding, isn’t he? I always imagined he’d be a very demon in bed.”
Minette giggled behind her hand. Aurelia tried to look outraged, but ended up looking curious too. “Is that the problem, Gwen?” she asked. “Is Arlington...too much?”
Gwen rubbed her temple and took another sip of tea. “Sometimes he seems too much,” she admitted. “But I...”
She looked at the three of them. They had been so forthcoming, even bringing Lord Townsend’s naughty books for her to look over. She decided to be forthcoming also. “He can be a demon, yes,” she said, using Josephine’s word. “But I like it. I enjoy it. That part of our marriage is all right. Maybe too good.”
“How can it be too good?” asked Minette. “If you enjoy one another, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Goodness, when Barrymore gets going sometimes, he rather shocks me, but I’m the first to admit I enjoy it all the same.”
The other ladies nodded in unison. “If you and Arlington are well matched in that way,” said Josephine, “it bodes well for your marriage all around.”
“I don’t know,” said Gwen. “I’m afraid it just reinforces his feelings that I am not a proper lady. That I’m not some duke or earl’s daughter, with courtly manners and an impressive pedigree. I came to him a plain miss, reared in the country. My father isn’t a wealthy man. He only earned his barony from being in the war. I’m afraid that—” Tears welled in her eyes again. “Oh, the duke disdains me so. I’m not even sure he means to do it, but he does. I’m tired of feeling that I don’t make him a worthy partner.”
Aurelia reached to squeeze her hand. “Oh, Gwen, you mustn’t think that.”
“Everyone thinks it. Not just him. There h
as been much gossip about our uneven match.”
“This for gossip,” said Josephine, snapping her fingers. “And Arlington has never seemed a man to stand on circumstance and titles. I’m a baron’s daughter too, you know, and he’s never thought the lesser of me.”
Because you are not married to him, Gwen thought. Nor are you Welsh, or common-born. “It’s not even a matter of social inequality, or gossip,” she said aloud. “It’s that I always dreamed of marrying a man who loved me. I know that sounds silly.”
“It doesn’t sound silly,” said Minette. “We all dream of a loving marriage. I don’t know a woman in the world who doesn’t. But it doesn’t always happen right away, especially when it comes to arranged marriages. Sometimes love takes time. Please, Gwen, don’t give up on Arlington yet. He’s a wonderful, caring person. I pray for your happiness every day. We all do. We’ve all become something like family, and families help one another.”
“Yes,” said Aurelia. “You must give your marriage more time, and as for the gossip, our holiday gathering will put those wagging tongues to rest. You and Arlington can welcome everyone to your home, and they’ll see how perfect you are together.”
“I don’t know about having a big party,” said Gwen. “If I cock it up, like I did the royal audience—”
“You won’t cock anything up, not with us to help you,” said Josephine. “Minette can do the guest list and Aurelia will do the planning, and I’ll handle the music and decorations. All you have to do is spend time with Arlington, and let love develop. He cares for you, Gwen. Minette was right when she said he’s changed. I think marriage shall suit him nicely, once the two of you have got things in hand.”
“And then there shall be babies,” said Aurelia, “and laughter and love, and all the things you’ve always wished for.”