Prelude
I have put this chapter into 'Erotic Couplings', just like the first chapter, but you'll find some parts fit elsewhere. The story will make more sense if you read chapter 1 first, but it's not essential.
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Mary woke up first and looked at the clock. They had overslept! She woke Jane and both girls dressed quickly and rushed down to the kitchen. Edwina, the cook, who had already been there a couple of hours, shook her head. "About time too! Come on, their lordships will be down anytime now, wanting their breakfasts."
"Have they rung yet?" As was common in large houses of that era, each room in the house had a cord hanging in the corner, which was connected by a rope to a bell in the servants' quarters. When pulled, the cord caused the bell to ring and a small wooden indicator on a spring to swing from side to side, to show in which room the cord had been pulled.
"No, not yet; you're in luck today."
Jane, who was nominally Lady Fenwick's chambermaid, poured some hot water from the kettle into a basin, added some cold water to it and took it up, as she did every morning, to Lady Fenwick so that she could wash herself.
Mary cut the bread that Edwina had baked earlier and put it into a basket. A bell rang. The two women looked up at the indicator board - Lord Fenwick's bedroom.
"He's on his way; hurry up." Edwina poured hot water into the coffee jug, which already had ground coffee beans waiting in it and handed it to Mary. Both their lordships liked strong hot coffee and they liked it as soon as they arrived in the dining room. Mary walked off, carrying the bread and coffee on a tray, grabbing the butter dish as she went. Edwina shook her head again: "Those two girls! I don't know how they get away with it. Things aren't like what they used to be in my days."
Mary and Lord Fenwick both came into the dinning room from opposite entrances at about the same time. "Good morning Mary! Ah, coffee, just what I need."
"Good morning, mi Lord."
Neither of them mentioned the fact that he'd fucked her brains out the night before. He looked at her though and chuckled. She seemed to be walking alright again now; probably still be a bit sore though.
Mary put the coffee, bread and butter on the dining table and left the room. A few minutes later, Lady Fenwick arrived. "Good morning, Dear. Did you sleep well?"
"Good morning, Penelope. Yes, thank you and you?"
"Yes, I finished my book and fortunately, it had a happy ending, so I slept like a log afterwards." She helped herself to some coffee and took a sip. It was nice and hot. "So, tonight's the night!"
"Pardon? Oh, the Summer Ball; yes I'm looking forward to it."
Mary returned with some boiled eggs. They both thanked her and she left again.
"I'm going into town this morning to have my hair done for tonight and then I'm meeting my friend Heather for lunch in the new cafΓ© in the High Street."
Lord Fenwick looked up from his egg, somewhat surprised. "Why can't the hairdresser come here like she normally does?"
"Ralph, Dear; you're so out of touch. The days when the working classes come running as soon as we call them are sadly coming to an end. With all these new factories, they have money nowadays and the trades-people can get all the work they need without running around looking after us. There's a new hairdressing salon in the town, which all my friends are raving about and if one wants one's hair done, one has to go to them. They're so busy, I had to book the appointment months ago. And in any case, the hairdresser's a 'he', not a 'she'."
"What? A male hairdresser! I'm not sure I like the idea of another man rubbing his hands all over my wife."
"Oh, Ralph! He'll only be touching my hair and it's in a public salon with lots of other people about, so I'm sure everything will be fine."
He wasn't entirely convinced, but there was clearly no point in pursuing the matter, so he just went back to his egg. He shook his head; what was the world coming to?
Moments later, the butler walked in, carrying a small tray. "Some post for you, mi Lord." He placed the letters on the table near Lord Fenwick.
"Thank you, James." The butler turned and left the room. Lord Fenwick leafed through the letters - only one important one - from his friend and business partner, Sir Reginald. He'd read it when he'd finished eating.
After breakfast, Lady Fenwick briefly returned to her room to get ready for her trip into town then went down to the coach that was waiting for her. Lord Fenwick watched her go before walking up to his retreat.
Meanwhile, the two servant girls cleared the dining table and re-laid it for lunch. "He'll be ringing the bell soon," predicted Mary. "I forgot to pretend to limp to make sure you get a turn."
Jane was laughing so much, she had to put the tray with all the dishes on it back on the table to avoid dropping the lot. "Yes, after what he did to you last night, it's bound to be my turn this morning." They returned to the kitchen. Sure enough, after a few minutes, the bell rang. The three women looked up at the indicator. "I'll go," volunteered Jane.
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