Chapter 2. Teenage mistress
Sex education was not on the formal curricula but the girls received adequate
instruction outside the classroom. They knew their father took several of the
maids to his room as 'bedwarmers' and they often chatted to each other in the
presence of the girls about what when on while they were under the covers. "'E
aint arf a randy ole sod," Mary remarked to one of the other maids after a stint
as a bedwarmer, "Didn't get nar kip till near dawn and then I has to git up and
start agin fust thing." She went on to describe in some detail just how Lord
Robert had fucked her both front and back several times. "Hi's not ruff wi' it
like yer know," she went on.
Sarah and Ruth knew Mary didn't mind too much what she did in the masters bed.
They had seen her coupling several times with Jock, the stable boy. First time
is was by accident. They we playing in the hayloft when the pair came in and
made themselves a little den in the hay on the floor below. The flooring of the
old hayloft had long since shrunk leaving gaps as wide as a finger in many
places. Besides a number of the knots had fallen out giving the voyeuristic pair
a good chance of watching those below without being seen.
When the door opened the two girls froze and remained quiet, wondering if their
hideout in the hayloft would be discovered but no, Jock and Mary kept to the
ground floor and made their way to the end of the barn into a previously
hollowed out area in the hay. There they would not be seen by anyone entering
the barn. However, it was directly below where Sarah and Ruth were sitting. The
pair below didn't waste any time on niceties. Immediately Mary started to pull
Jock's breeches down and to massage his cock. For a short while she took it in
her mouth and when it was fully hard, she lifted her skirts and simply and
plainly told Jock to fuck her. "Yer'll hev to do it quick as oi gotta get back
sharpish. Oi has used up part of me break already."
"Have yer got it in?" Jock whispered.
"The sponge? Yeah, put it in afor I came oot." A few minutes later, Jock
obviously came in her and they rearranged their clothes and left.
"What did she mean about the sponge?" enquired Ruth. Sarah didn't know either
but a few discreet enquiries revealed this as a method of birth control, one
that was widely used by the maids to prevent pregnancy. It seemed effective. A
small piece of vinegar soaked sponge was inserted well into the girls vagina
before copulation and served to prevent sperm reaching and fertilising the
awaiting egg.
Knowing when Mary had her break, Sarah and Ruth spied on the couple on quite a
number of occasions until they became bored with more or less the same
performance each time.
The girls also knew how the animals on the estate went about it. The not
infrequently saw the bull put to the cows and the ram to the sheep so on the
whole they had a pretty good all round knowledge of sex, its methods and
ramifications even if they had no personal account of it. No one on the estate
would dare to touch one of the master's daughters.
One afternoon when she was fourteen, Ruth was in the masters study. She was
beginning to mature but was on the small side and very skinny especially when
compared with Sarah was a little on the plump side and whose breasts were
beginning to fill out nicely. I have already mentioned Ruth's ability in math's.
She noted the bills sitting on the spike awaiting filing and idly picked up the
top one. It was from Fred Cary the grocer. Quickly mentally running over the
figures she noted a discrepancy. They were being overcharged by £1..19s..7d.
Curious she looked at the next one. Again they were being overcharged, this time
less than a pound. One mistake could be genuine, two was carelessness but when
she discovered all seven of the grocery bills on the spike were over the mark
she knew it was dishonesty. The total overcharging amounted to £10..15s ..3d.
She looked at the bills on the other spikes. George Cary, Fred's brother,
supplied coal and his bills too were always incorrectly added and always the
total was too high and by a considerable amount, £15..14s..2d. She found
occasional other minor mistakes of a few pennies with bills on the other spikes
but nothing that probably wasn't a genuine addition error. At first her father
was annoyed that she had dared to look into his affairs but when Ruth pointed
out the errors represented a week's supply of groceries and much of the winter's
supply of coal he gruffly but not too unkindly asked "What are you going to do
about it then." He knew that once his daughter had her teeth into anything like
this she wouldn't let go. Ruth was somewhat taken aback. She fully expected her
father to deal with it but she quickly recovered and said she would go to the
village and get a refund or a credit note. It was arranged she go the following
day and Richards was to accompany her to see she didn't get into trouble.
Robert, when Ruth had left them, told Richards to let the girl do it her way but
he was to see she or the Cary's didn't got hurt. "Let her have her way short of
holding a knife to their throats and give me a full report when you get back.
She's a fiery thing and you may well have an interesting day." He smiled at
Richards when he said it.
Richards drove the trap and Ruth had him stop at a couple of other places on the
way to the village grocer. A boy was at the counter serving a customer and when
it was their turn he addressed Richards, "How can I help you Sir?" Ruth butted
straight in. "I" and she emphasised the 'I', "wish to speak with Mr. Cary
please."
"Mr. Cary is busy right now Miss. Can I get you anything?"
"You can take me to Mr. Cary right now unless you want this business brought out
in front of a shop full of customers." Ruth waved the bills in front of the lads
face. He popped into the back room and returned with Fred Cary. Addressing
Richards he asked his business. Richards replied that he was only the chaperone
and Miss Ruth was dealing with him on behalf of the master.
"What can I do for you child?" Fred asked.
"Mr. Cary, if you do not wish me to advertise the fact that you have
consistently overcharged us, I suggest we go into the back room and you stop
treating me as a child. I have Lord Lavenby's full authority to deal with this
matter and it is not just a matter of a few pence as you well know." In the back
room Ruth laid the bills on the table and asked who made the bills out. Fred
acknowledged he did but said his adding up wasn't too good. "No, it isn't," Ruth
replied, "And the total always comes out more than it should. On these few bills
it is £10..15s ..3d. That is the wages of a goodly number of staff for a week.
Perhaps you should employ one to do your addition for you. And I haven't been
through the ones that are already filed away that could almost certainly add to
the total."
Ruth knew from his manner he knew the bills were too high and refused to accept
his apology. Instead she demanded a full refund. Fred queried the amount but
after spending some time going through the figures he had to agree with Ruth's
accounting. "I will come to the Hall and see his Lordship about this. Would you
mind informing him Richards."
"Miss Ruth had his Lordship's full authority to deal with the matter Mr. Cary.
It is in her hands."
"I cannot deal with a young girl."
Ruth interrupted, "You can and you will. Either you deal with me and we
negotiate payment or I have Richards send for the constable and have you
arrested for dishonesty. Which is it to be Mr. Cary?" The fire in her voice
caused Fred to stop and realise he would have to tread carefully if he wasn't to
end up in jail or his business ruined. "What do you suggest?" he enquired, "I
haven't that amount in the shop at the moment."
"You will give me a credit note for the full amount and continue to supply our
grocery needs until the debt is paid. I shall check every bill you send and will
check with Cook that the quality and quantity of the goods is up to standard so
don't think of passing on inferior goods or reducing the amount." After further
argument this was agreed to and Ruth left with the credit note. As she left she
asked where his brother George might be found.
"Probably in the Dukes Head, Miss Ruth." It was the most respectful response she
had received from him.
George was indeed in the Dukes Head. Ruth sent Richards in to ask George to meet
her outside and when he refused to leave the bar and his cronies, she marched
in. "Well if you will not come outside to see me, I must deal with this in here
in front of your friends. You have overcharged us for coal this year by
£15..14s..2d and we have come to collect the debt." George's cronies laughed.
George had boasted often enough how he had defrauded the Hall and bought them
drinks on the strength of it.
"Take this little slip of a girl away Richards. She's hardly out of her nappies
and shouldn't be getting her nose dirty with anything like this."
Ruth banged her fists on the table but said quietly, "You deal with me or I
fetch the bailiffs. I have my father's authority to collect the debt and to do
it in the way I think best."
"You don't scare me girlie. Take her away and wipe her arse, Richards." The
comment was greeted with coarse laughter and further comments from his friends.
Outside the pub, Ruth turned to Richards, "Take me to Groton and Groton please."
Groton and Groton were the village solicitors. Old Mr. Jeffrey Groton saw her
first and then passed her to his son James. James was a newcomer to the business
and eager to make a name for himself and this young girl was the daughter of
Lord Lavenby. It could lead to him to higher paid work. After looking over the
figures he agreed with Ruth that the errors looked deliberate and when Ruth
suggested it might have been going on for some years but hadn't looked for older
bills as yet, he suggested they serve a summons for George Cary to appear in
court to face charges of theft.
"I don't want to put him in prison," said Ruth, "He has a wife and two children
and probably spends any spare cash in the pub but we don't want him cheating on
us again. A credit note like we have from his brother will do."
James understood her concern but suggested after hitting him with the summons,
George would be more ready to negotiate. Nearly an hour later the three plus two
burly bailiffs that Groton and Groton employed on a part time basis returned to
the Dukes Head. The group were still drinking and laughing over the incident but
fell completely silent when James and Ruth approached their table. "George Cary,
I have a summons here for you to appear at the magistrate court tomorrow on
charges of theft," intoned James.
"You don't believe that little bitch do you?" George Cary snarled.
James replied, "Unfortunately the facts are clear. You tried to cheat his
Lordship of a considerable sum, probably much more than the £15..14s..2d on
these bills. We have yet to go through the bills you sent for previous years so
unless you can repay the money owed I foresee you will be going to prison for a
long time. Can you repay the money?"
"You know I do not have the money right now and putting me in prison won't get
it for you either."
"You are of course right but there are other, more honest coal merchants in the
village that would supply the Hall and who would take over your business while
you were away. Miss Ruth here is quite prepared to do that and she has already
found the coal they supply is cheaper than yours without the extra added to the
bill but she is prepared on his Lordship's behalf, to negotiate other ways of
clearing the debt you have incurred. Do you wish to do that here or in my
office?"
They adjourned to the office and there Ruth determinedly stuck out for the best
deal she was able to get. She accepted a credit note for the £15..14s..2d and
agreed not to delve further into past invoices. In return George Cary was to
supply coal to that amount over the next twelve months and not only was the coal
to be of the best quality but it was to be at a lower price per cwt. Ruth argued
that because he delivered 5 tons at one time there was less labour and less
carriage than delivering to local households a few bags at a time.
On the way home Richards congratulated her on the way she handled the problem
and the deal she had been able to get. This was duly reported to his Lordship
who started to take a keener interest in Ruth and her abilities. He allowed her
to help with his work in the study and she learned to read the business news and
to try and interpret what might happen in the stock market. He found she had an
uncanny judgement. To try and prove it one way or the other, he gave he an
interest free loan which she could use to buy stocks and products of her choice.
He had to do the buying and selling because of her age but it was all done on
her say so and the money was paid into a bank account in her name. By the end of
the year she was able to repay the loan and had over £700 in hand. She increased
this to over £1,000 by the end of the second year.
As a by-product of her interest she learned to read legal documents and to
understand the meaning behind the formal wording. Robert came to rely on her
more and more. She saved him a lot of time and increased his income
considerably. Eventually she knew as much about his business as he did.
