"What the devil happened Birkett? I thought you fellows had it all arranged." Lord Mersham glowered at his aide.

"I'm sorry sir, so did we. The Parliamentary Commission seemed in favour of our scheme right up to the last moment and then Lord Beddingfield who is chairman of the commission suddenly changed his mind and persuaded most of the others to reject the whole plan. We had no idea sir that this was going to happen. In the end only three others supported me."

"Why man? Why? Why did Beddingfield change his mind? Did someone offer a bigger bribe? Did you try and find out?"

"Of course we did sir. It was your friend Lord Hathaway. He could see your plans would expand your ownership of the quayside lands at the expense of his…" Birkett started to explain.

"He's no damned friend of mine as well you know Birkett! How on earth did that old fool manage to persuade Beddingfield to change his mind? He's not overly endowed with funds, in fact I would have thought he was living well above his means."

"You're right there sir but he does have an attractive young daughter, even if she is a bit of a wild cat."

"You're not going to tell me old man Beddingfield is making a play for the daughter. That’s ludicrous. He has a quite pleasant wife. Surely he can't want her as a mistress?" Lord Mersham was puzzled.

"No sir but he has a son they don't tell much about. Pleasant enough looking lad but a bit short in the brain department so they say although that may not be entirely true. He is however heir to his lordship's not inconsiderable estate but he’s really not capable of running it or doesn’t have the interest to do so. Spends much of his time labouring in the garden so my informant tells me. Rumour has it that Lord Hathaway has arranged for Lady Katherine to be betrothed to the son. This would ease his financial position considerably because she is very free with spending his money and from Lord Beddingfield's viewpoint, she has brains enough to run the estate from behind his son."

"Damn and bugger the cunning old bastard! Sodden Lord Beddingfield stops a major development just to get a woman for his son. He could buy any number of women to do that.”

“Indeed sir, and he already has done that and we have spoken to one of the more forthcoming maids. Apparently he is very well endowed in the pego department but he was quite gentle with her. She also said he was extremely strong and could lift her around quite easily. It was she that told us he was more intelligent than many made out.”

I'll get even with both Beddingfield and Hathaway. You see if I don't." Lord Mersham fumed.

"As I said sir, the joining of the two families is only a rumour but it seemed to come from a reliable source. At the moment we do not know if Lady Katherine has agreed to the plan or even if she knows about. Two of my employees are trying to find out more but it seems to be a closely guarded secret."

"Is there nothing we can do to change the commission's decision?"

"That was only the first hearing sir. The commission now has to put its findings to Parliament to ratify it but normally that is a formality. The commission is largely composed of members of the ruling party so it is very rare for them not endorse it. The full hearing is in about three weeks and we'll do what we can to get the decision changed but at the moment the chances look slim."

Lord Mersham wanted to damn and curse the man but he knew he was needed as an ally to fight his case in the halls of power. He dismissed Birkett and sat in his favourite chair and debated what to do. "I'll summon Ruth and Sarah and maybe their luscious young nubile bodies will calm me enough to think up a revenge plan to repay Lord Hathaway for his devious deed. Better still I'll punish that boy cook reported for drinking the remainder of the port I left in the bottle after lunch. That should allay my anger so I can think clearly. I can pretend it's Horace Hathaway's arse I'm attending to."

"Your name boy?" Lord Henry Mersham demanded when the three arrived,

"Jensen M'lord," the boy replied trembling and with his head bowed. He couldn't have been more than sixteen years old and had been employed 'at the big house' for only a few weeks.

"So Jensen, you sort to steal my port wine. You thought that such a fine vintage was for your palate."

"I'm very sorry M’lord but I thought it would be better to drink it rather than pouring it down the drain."

"And you assumed that a lowly houseboy would be at liberty to imbibe the wine in preference to Cook, or the butler or any of the senior staff?"

"I'm sorry sir. I didn't think about it. It won't happen again sir."

"No I'm sure it won't Jensen, not after we've given you something to remember it by." Lord Mersham turned to the two maids. "Girls, you have far too much clothing on for the work I wish you to do. Disrobe now. Treat Jensen as your audience like you do when I have guests. Ruth and Sarah sensuously undressed each other while their master relaxed and smoked a pipe and Jensen looked on, open eyed and open mouthed. The girls curtseyed in front of him and then his lordship. He clapped and praised them and tried to put his erection into a comfortable position. "I'll save it for later," he decided. "Undress Jensen girls. Still treat him as a guest of mine."

Slowly and with much rubbing of their bodies against the houseboy, the girls did as they were told. Jensen knew better than to move any more than he had to for the removal of his clothing. "Is that as big as it gets?" his lordship enquired.

"It seems like it sir," Ruth answered, "I suppose it is because he's still only a boy sir. Maybe it will grow later on,"

"Right Jensen, drag the whipping bench into the centre of the room." He pointed to one of several devices placed alongside a wall of the room.

"Please M’lord, I'm sorry, it won't happen again. I…"

"Get the bench and stop blabbing," Lord Mersham demanded crossly. Jensen knew he'd no choice. If he refused others would be summoned and he would get a further thrashing. The sight of a naked Jensen with his five-inch pego swinging, dragging the bench on which he would suffer, amused his employer and the two girls. All three tried to embarrass him further with their comments.

"Lie on the bench Sarah." The order surprised her and for a moment she hesitated and looked in askance. "Yes girl, lie yourself along it. You know how." Sarah complied. "Ruth, put plenty of spittle on Jensen's pego and some in Sarah's brown hole. Such a small one will get lost in Sarah's love tunnel."

Sarah signed with relief. She had a pretty fair idea now of his lordship's intentions. He'd taken her back passage a number of times so she shouldn't have too much difficulty with the boy's even without any goose grease. Jensen shook as Ruth guided his pego to the offered arsehole. "Push it in," Ruth commanded, "It won't go in on its own. All the way and keep it there." Sarah felt his pubic hair against her bottom and his balls swung gently against her cunnie.

"Strap him down tight Ruth. Just give him enough slack to move his pego a little so Sarah gets some pleasure from it." Jensen had been trying bravely to hold back his tears but now he was bent over on top of the girl and fastened helplessly, they began to flow. They trickled in rivulets around Sarah's neck but she didn't complain. She knew the boy's ordeal was far greater than hers. "I think a cane rather than the birch for this lad. Find a suitable one Ruth. I want his arse well marked as an example to the other boys and the maids too for that matter." She selected a middle length, medium weight one and showed it to him. He nodded, "Use it Ruth. Thrash him well while I sit back and enjoy this pipe and the music of his squeals. Lay it on good and hard, just like I would." Ruth looked at him in surprise. She'd been on the receiving end of the cane several times but had never used it. "Yes, Ruth, use it. It should be quite entertaining to see your titties moving around as you swing the cane. You are able to swing the cane aren't you?"

"Yes, sir." She didn't really feel confident, nor did she really want to hit the boy. He might make life difficult for her when the master wasn't around, but there was no alternative. She had to do it, and do it hard. Bringing her arm well back she brought the cane down across the centre of Jensen's buttocks. He let out a loud scream and began pleading but it was Sarah's voice that caught their attention.

"He's pissing in me! He's pissing up my backside." Ruth started laughing and this quickly followed by his lordship. At least it lightened the atmosphere.

"I'll make sure I have a piss pot handy when we free him Sarah," Ruth replied when she was able. Once in control of herself again, Ruth applied another stroke and then one more to the boy's arse. Soon the welts appeared and she felt sorry for him but she knew she had to continue. Her aim was not that accurate but she did try and spread the strokes over a wide area. Even so some crossed others causing even more pain. He'd had about twenty stripes before Lord Mersham called a halt.

"Lay yourself on top of him Ruth and open yourself," he ordered. The exertion and the stimulation of using the cane made her very wet and the lord's entry was easy. He fucked her hard and soon shed his load. "Release them Ruth and clean him up. I need to be alone to think."