May 29th 1831

'It is six weeks since I last wrote in this journal and I have caught up with all the main events that has gone on since my arrival. Much has happened since I last penned any words here. Martha has left and is now married. I miss her. She was a fun thing in bed but I wish her well. She married a shipping trader in town who had been to one or two of our Saturday entertainments with the squire and taken Martha to bed and obviously liked her performance. Still it was with some surprise I received and read his calling card one Wednesday morning. Wm. Forsdyke, Shipping and forwarding agent.

"I'm now a widower," he told me after the usual preliminaries and need a woman to keep me company and to control my two daughters who since their mother died some nine months ago have become arrogant and profligate in their spending. I am at the Quay too much to keep the check on them I should and haven't much time for the social events where I might find a wife. In any case, the eligible women there are seem mostly to be on the look out for a man solely for their money." I had to agree with him. "I've been to two events here and know you like to pass on the ladies in your keeping in return for a small monetary consideration to compensate you for your loss." I thought he would want a lady nearer his own age which I guessed about mid to late thirties so I was much taken aback when he enquired of Martha. I remembered he'd paid to spend a night with her but didn't think he had any special feelings for her other than to stuff her cunnie. I also remembered she'd told me afterwards he'd liked his arse spanked hard and she had to do this before he rogered her.

"Martha will be a considerable loss to us," I pointed out, "She's one of the younger ones and is a good worker and brings in a considerable sum at the Saturday events. Any monetary consideration would need to take care of that loss." I started my bargaining. Price was not the only thing I thought of. She was good in bed and I had become very fond of her and wanted her to find someone that would be kind to her. I wasn't sure of William Forsdyke and his real motives. I guessed him to be a wealthy man who lived quite well but not ostentatiously. With the age difference and his having two daughters almost as old as Martha, I wondered if she wouldn't just be a drudge to get his meals and satisfy his lust. "Would you mind if I asked one of the ladies to walk around the grounds with you for a little? I will consult with Martha and if she's agreeable we can negotiate a price."

Martha wasn't concerned about his age, "After all," she said cheekily, "I'm living here with you!" The daughters were another matter. Much depended on the authority she was given to chastise them. We discussed this and other related problems until Mr. Forsdyke returned and we could put our reservations to him. At the end of a long talking and bargaining session, we agreed Martha should go on loan for two weeks. During those two weeks she was to act as his wife and have the same authority. At the end of that time she would return and stay here either until someone more suitable came along or Mr. Forsdyke married her.

"How did you get on?" I asked when she returned.

"Very well Sir," she replied. "Unless he changes his mind, we will be married in three weeks time."

"You got on alright with him then?"

"Oh yes, once I found out how he liked it. When I spent the night with him here I just had to spank him before he got it up enough to poke me. At his place he had a special strap he called a teaser. A sort of belt with the end split into three fingers, each nearly an inch wide. It was quite soft and I guessed it was just to titillate to get an erection, indeed without being spanked on the arse he had difficulty in performing. He used it on me a few times and it stung but didn't really hurt. Just warmed the arse nicely. Nothing like Alice's strap or the birch.

When he was ready for bed or rogering, we'd undress and he would lie over the end of the bed and I'd lay the teaser smartly on his bum. I'd hold his prick in one hand and with the other, lay each stroke in quick succession so he didn't really feel the pain before the next hit. He'd take about twenty hits before I would feel his prick stiffen in my hand and perhaps half a dozen more before it was hard enough to use. Then it was in and bang bang until he came. At first he didn't do more than that but by the end of the first week I had persuaded him to slow down and enjoy it more and make me enjoy it too. His prick isn't as big as yours Sir, but he can use it nicely when he wants."

"Any trouble with the daughters?" I asked.

"Oh yes there was at first but I got William to tell Sarah the cook and Pru the housekeeper, they were to help me if I needed to restrain one or other of the girls for punishment. Even after only a few hours there, I could see they were in sore need of some discipline. At dinner that first evening they were less than polite to me and even to their father they were rude and arrogant. "Why don't you punish them?" I asked him in bed on our first night. "I don't think it is right for a man to discipline his nearly grown up daughters in the way they need to be. I don't expect you will have any such qualms and I will not chastise you if I come home one evening to find they cannot sit for that day or the next few. Remember I have seen the birchings Winsberly deals out at the Workhouse," he answered. "As long as they are not marked for life, you can punish them hard. They need it to be sure."

Next morning after Will had given Sarah and Pru their instructions to help me and he'd had left for the quay, I went into their room and ordered them out of bed and to get themselves and their room cleaned up. "Sod off slut!" Rachael yelled at me in a most unladylike way. I ripped the bed covers off them and was not surprised to find each of the girl's nightgowns were raised and each had their hands in the others quim. I decided to be like Alice and not raise my voice but to try and sound authoritative. "So, I'm the slut am I? It looks like there are two others as well. Now get up and clean yourselves and this room."

"You heard Rachael, Sod off. You're only here for a few days to warm father's bed and then he'll find someone better," Elizabeth shouted as she pulled the covers up again.

"I'll be up again in five minutes and if you are not up and starting to get ready by then you are in trouble girls." Again I kept my voice down which they may have mistaken for weakness but it wasn't for long. When I next entered the room I was followed discreetly by Sarah and Pru and Briggs the gardener handyman. Both Sarah and Pru are big women and not to be trifled with. Both had not only been on the sharp end of the girl's tongues but had received punishment from William for alleged offences against them. Both were keen to see them get their just desserts. Briggs carried the staff punishment chair. This is a heavy solid oak chair with a low upright back, the top of which is hollowed downwards to fit a persons belly. On the all four legs are leather straps, which are fastened around the person's wrists and legs so once they were bent over the back and fastened, they couldn't move. You might like to get one Sir. It was very convenient for general spanking with strap or cane or whatever, Sir."

"Sounds as if I might need one if you get to stay here Martha," I teased but she ignored it and went on.

"The second time I pulled their bed clothes right off on to the floor, Rachael swore at me like a docker, until she saw Sarah and Pru. "Well, well," I said, "Where do young ladies learn language like that? I would have thought the daughters of a gentleman would have a more refined choice of words. Maybe in a short while we'll hear more words from your colourful dictionary." I asked Briggs to put the chair in the middle of the floor, which provoked another hail of abuse at a man being in their bedroom when all they had to cover them was their nightgowns. They also knew what the chair was for as they had caused most of the staff to be punished in it on many occasions. "Stand in the doorway Briggs," I ordered, "Don't let either of them pass until I say so." From the folds of my dress I produced the cane I brought from downstairs and pointed it at Rachael. "Bend over the chair girl." Rachael was the older of the two, nearly sixteen and only two years younger than me. As I guessed she refused. I nodded to the two older women and they grabbed the girl and although she struggled and screamed, she was no match for them. As the got her to the chair I fastened her ankles and between us we removed the one piece of clothing she had on and strapped her wrists. Briggs eyes almost popped out at the sight of the young girl's tits as they hung down, Sir but that didn't stop him from catching hold of Elizabeth when she tried to escape. I used a curtain tie cord to tie her wrists to a bedpost. She wouldn't get away again. Both girls still tried to abuse me until I gagged them with scarves."

"They we not best pleased with you by then?" I laughed at Martha.

"No, that's for sure. Given half a chance I would have been dead. Once more I did something Alice does here. I kept them waiting. I paced the room swinging the cane every now and again, allowing it to rest on Rachael's bum for a few moments or on Elizabeth's thighs. Then I made an Alice speech."

"Seems to me you learned a lot from the way Alice runs this place," I said.

"That's true, Sir. I spoke slowly and clearly but quietly. "Girls," I said, "I may be here for just two weeks or it may be for the rest of my life. Whichever it is, you are going to be doing exactly as you are told. As far as you are concerned, while I am here I am your mother and I will treat you like children and if you err from what I believe is right, then your bums will feel the strap or like today, the cane. As you rightly pointed out, I have come from the Workhouse and I'm proud of the fact. I know what it is like to be strapped, caned and birched for my wrong doings. I know exactly how it feels when the cane first bites into the tender flesh of your bottom. The searing fire line that spreads and before it has gone far, is joined by another and another and yet more until you think you will pass out. But you don't. The pain is there. A terrible pain. Yes, I know what you will go through and I have no doubt those watching will know too. As you again rightly said, I am here for two weeks to start with. Let me assure you, that by the end of that time, you will just be able to sit comfortably again. Unless that is, your misbehaviour warrants another application of the rod. Is that clear girls?" Neither of the girls moved so I repeated the question and swished the cane noisily through the air. Both girls nodded.

Moving Elizabeth to a position where she could see her sister's bottom, I laid on a hard stroke. Rachael jerked but could not cry out. I waited and gave her another. Again I waited. "Rachael, I know it is worse being gagged during a caning. I'm going to remove yours now before I continue. You may cry and scream but it you start to abuse me with your tongue I will replace the scarf and give you extra strokes of the cane." I repeated what I said to make sure she understood. She cried out and then did a tremendous yell when I gave her the next. By the sixth, she was pleading for me to stop and promising to behave and do as I said but I went on and gave her a baker's dozen. By then she was a sobbing, crying wreck. A dozen with the cane is bad enough for us but for a girl who had never been smacked before, it was pretty gruesome. She wouldn't be crossing me again in a hurry. Sarah and Pru released her and laid her face down on the bed. We didn't bother to tie her.

Elizabeth cringed in fear when we untied her hands and ordered her to the chair. She seemed too frightened to move and had to be dragged to the chair. In fairness I gave her the same treatment as her older sister but perhaps didn't lay it on quite as hard. The result was the same. Two naked blubbering girls lay side by side on the bed. Briggs I noticed had a large protrusion in the front of his breeches but I wasn't about to be disloyal to William on my first day. Before I left, I ordered the girls to remain exactly where they were, "If you move so much as an inch before I come back, I'll repeat the caning across your front." I knew they believed I would.

Fortunately cook kept some of the patent Gran. Mabel cream you have Sir so after leaving the girls for a quarter of an hour I went back to them. They hadn't moved. They stared pleading and renewed their sobbing and yelling. "Silence," I snapped. "You had your well deserved punishment for your behaviour to me and for some of the ill things you did before I arrived. The cane has wiped that slate clean but any wrong doings in the future will be dealt with in like manner. As the punishment is finished I do not wish to prolong the pain any more than necessary but unfortunately it will be a long while before it goes. This cream, as I know from personal experience, will help to ease it and perhaps make it a little more bearable. I shall put it on this first time but I will be as gentle as I can. At lunchtime, you may put it on each other. However, by that time you will have washed and put on a light dress. You may help each other and you won't get into trouble with me if you play a little with your cunnies and titties. I do know that seems to help. By afternoon teatime, I shall expect to see some order return to this room. You will not want to move about, but it will help if you do. You must and I repeat, must, clear this place up. By dinnertime you will dress properly for your father's return. You will eat with us but I will ask for extra cushions on your chairs." Again I made doubly clear to them what they had to do. I heard them complaining loudly to each other when I closed the door.

When Sarah took in their lunch, I followed. They were still both on the bed but their crying had died down. I knew they wouldn't want much to eat but insisted they had a bowl of soup. I told them they were free to move around the room and that Sarah or Pru would bring the cream when they collected the bowls. I reminded them of the clearing they had to do in the three hours that were left before tea. Again I heard them complaining when I left the room but it quietened when I opened the door again and ordered less noise.

Following Sarah when she took the tea tray in, I noticed the place was much tidier than earlier. There were still items of clothing not put away. "You have made a feeble start," I said to them in front of Sarah, "If you don't want a taste of this strap you had better get this room clear and tidy when I return in one hour or." I slapped my strap hard on a cushion.

"We're telling father when he gets in," Elizabeth remarked, "He'll throw you out."

"I wouldn't count on it girls," I laughed. "I will certainly be there when you do." I think my coolness unnerved them a bit because they started sobbing again. Sarah and I left. Half an hour later Sarah told me when she collected the tray, they had started to clear more stuff away. I didn't appear overly satisfied with their efforts but told them to dress ready for dinner and suggested light, loose dresses. "Be in the drawing room at six," I told them. Ten past six and they still hadn't arrived down. I sent Harry the boot boy up. As instructed he knocked and walked straight in. Neither girl had anything much on which caused some consternation to the boy as well as the girls but he gave them my message. "Mistress Martha says for you to be down in five minutes. You are late already. If you are not down by then she is coming up to encourage you." From downstairs I heard them shouting for Harry to get out.

Six minutes later, I was about to go up with my strap when their door opened and they came down. They were dressed but hadn't spent too much time on their hair and faces. Redness and moisture showed around their eyes but was overshadowed by the hate within the eyes themselves. "Ah there you are girls. Please wait in the drawing room while I have a look at your room." It was much tidier although I could have found fault had I wanted. "Well, that's an improvement," I said when I returned to them. "It's a nice evening, so shall we walk in the garden until your father arrives?"

"It hurts to walk," pleaded Rachael.

"It will ease after a few yards, and it will hurt to sit so we'll walk." Slowly I took them into the garden. We met Briggs and I had a few words with him and suggested he might like to give us a guided tour. The girls blushed deep red when he looked at them. Briggs showed us round and named the flowers and plants which I found very interesting but the girls just followed more or less silently behind, Only giving little groans every now and again when their stumbling steps aggravated their bum muscles."

"I'll wager you acted as though you already owned the place Martha," I suggested.

"You're right Sir, I very much enjoyed playing mistress of the house and lording it over those two snooty little girls but I still wasn't too sure how Mr. William would react when the girls levelled their complaints at him. I knew what he had said, but when faced with his own daughters having been caned he might change his mind. I needn't have worried.

Elizabeth started the complaints as soon as William entered the dining room but he silenced her saying, "If you have anything to say about the way Martha has treated you, I will hear it after dinner is over. Now sit down quietly. I see she has thoughtfully provided extra padding for your seats so be grateful for that." The girls looked daggers at me and Rachael started to say something but William silenced her. Throughout dinner we talked quietly about the weather and what he had done that day. One of his ships had just arrived in, which is why he was a little later than usual. Then we had coffee. Real coffee Sir, not the stuff from dandelion roots. This came from a place called Africa. One of his ships brought it. It was lovely Sir."

I knew Martha's conception of geography was limited to the town on one side and Bromton on the other, a distance of no more than twenty miles. London was some place outside this world. Likewise Africa was probably a town that could only be reached by ship. "You're getting into society ways now Martha." I said to her, "We won't be good enough for you soon."

"Oh, I shan't forget my life here Sir," she replied and then continued her tale. "William took his brandy into the drawing room afterwards and we all followed. Rachael asked for the girls to talk to him alone but he refused saying, "I know Martha caned you this morning so you can say what you wish to in front of her. I know I can also verify the story from the staff who witnessed it. First show me what she did to you girls."

"You don't mean you want to see our.?" stuttered Elizabeth.

"Yes, I want to see your bottoms. Only then can I judge how badly you were treated." After a pause when the two looked at each other, trying to gauge their sister's feelings, both girls turned and lifted the hem of their dresses. Neither wore bloomers to lessen the chafe on their bottoms. "What about the other side. Did you get your fronts caned too?" William asked. The girls were very shocked at this suggestion. "I know at the Workhouse the ladies get whipped front and back. Isn't that so Martha?"

"Yes it is, Sir," I agreed, "Sometimes it is all for the same punishment. At others it is when we've earned another and our bottoms are still not recovered enough to take the whip there."

"Now daughters of mine, tell me why you were punished and I will judge if Martha has been unduly severe." They made it sound as though I had just entered the room and thrashed them for no reason. William bade me be quiet while they told their story and after gave me chance to tell mine. "So Martha we have my daughters saying a very different story to you. Two against one." For a moment I thought he was going to side with them but before I could utter a word he got up and rang the bell. Pru came in and he asked for her version, which was most like mine. "Two against two now. Do you wish to change your story girls?" Still they didn't. William asked for Sarah and she again confirmed mine. "Do I have to send for Briggs, daughters?" They shook their heads. "So Martha is telling the truth?" The girls nodded, yes. "So, not only did you deserve the punishment, you lied to me about it. You, I guess, are annoyed I have invited her to come and live with me. Well for your information, she is staying. One of the reasons I asked her here was to take over from your mother and lie with me in bed. Another was to do what your mother should have done, and which I also seem to be unable to do, and that is to take some of the spoiled untouchable nature out of you. She chastised you for your behaviour to her. I am now ordering her to do it again, in any way she wishes, to punish you for lying to me. I will also come and inspect your room and see that you did what she asked of you and to see if it was done in a proper and satisfactorily manner."

"Both girls were horrified at being ordered to be punished again. I knew they expected to be caned over the stripes they already had but I had other ideas. We all trouped up to their room and outwardly it was fairly tidy. Certainly it was much better than it had been. William opened the top drawer of their chest and we saw all their clothing had been stuffed in any old how. To my surprise he emptied it on the floor and added to the pile with every drawer he opened. I could see the frustration of many months of tolerating their bad manners was all coming out. The girls saw it too and were very frightened and were again pleading for him to stop. Begging for forgiveness and promising to be good girls in future, they even said sorry for being nasty to me. I knew better than to let them off. Had I done so they would have gotten away with it in the future. William opened their wardrobes and while these were a little tidier, he still dumped everything on the pile. "In the morning, immediately after breakfast, you will sort this heap out. Some of the stuff you have long since grown out of, some you've never worn. Clear out at least half of this and ask Briggs for a potato sack to put it in. I will donate it to the Workhouse. I'm sure some of the women there would make better use of it, eh Martha?" I of course agreed.

"Rachael, Elizabeth, listen carefully both of you. And stop whining!" William shouted at them angrily. It appears to me you only half did what you were told to do so I am going to suggest to Martha that she has only half punished you. Martha, you will carry out the other half of the whipping immediately. Girls, by lunchtime tomorrow I want this heap reduced by half. One half will be put away tidily the other in the sack. Martha will inspect them. I am sure she will know what to do if you haven't fulfilled my order properly. Now I will leave her to inflict such pain as is necessary for you to understand and fully comply with my wishes." With that he stalked out of the room shouting, "Get Briggs or the houseboy to help you if they resist Martha. Leave the door open so the staff can hear them squeal." I knew also he wanted to hear them."

"Sorry girls, you heard what your father said. You tried to cheat on me and it's back fired. Take your dresses off and lie on the bed." Both started begging and I thought Rachael was going to refuse so I started for the door as if to shout for assistance."

"Please Miss Martha," Elizabeth for once really looked contrite, "Please Miss, don't hit us any more. Our bodies cannot stand it. We'll die."

"I almost felt sorry for her but as I was told at the orphanage and here, it was for their good in the long run so I would carry out the whipping but not in the way they expected. "Undress," I ordered again and this time they did. I arranged them side by side on the bed but facing opposite ends, The crotch of each was level with the breasts of the other. Next I bound Rachael's ankles to Elizabeth's wrists. Likewise with the other pair of ankles and wrists. I fastened both sets of bindings to the bedposts. The pair lay stretched out, the pain in the bums forgotten as their young titties and bushy pubic triangles pointed to the ceiling. By now they guessed where the lash would fall except they feared it was to be the cane again and were crying and sobbing. I left them to see what other instruments for the punishment of servants were available. I returned with the leather reins from a horse. At some point the reins had broken and the fittings removed for use on the new one. The remaining strap was some ten feet long and about an inch wide, like the reins on most horse carriages Sir. It had been stored with the other punishment stuff ready to make a new light strap or something, Sarah said. I doubled the strap and, with Pru's help, bound the loop for about a foot with twine to make a handle. For a few minutes I practiced swinging it on a low stool imagining it to be one of their bums. It landed with a resounding CRACK!, partly from the impact and partly from the two parts slapping together. It's something you might want to try Sir. Makes a lot of noise, hurts a lot but doesn't mark too badly."

"I might want to try it on you, you little minx," I said but she just pouted.

As soon as I entered their bedroom, I cracked my new whip. Even as I went in they looked at me with fear and when they saw and heard the whip they shrieked like banshees from hell. I didn't keep them waiting long but went straight to the bedside and lashed across Elizabeth's breasts and Rachael's crotch. With each stroke I worked along their bodies until the lash reached Rachael's titties. I gave them a minute or so rest and then started again from the other side of the bed. Their screams could be heard throughout the house and probably into the next village. If it is one thing they did have in their favour, it was good lungs. As I started from the second side of the bed I noticed William looking in the door and when I finished I beckoned him in. "Do you think this is sufficient Sir?" I asked and he seemed to think it was. I also noticed the protrusion in his nightshirt and took him back to our bedroom to make use of his erection. Seeing his daughters whipped had aroused him, which was most unusual. He performed well and I came loudly and so did he."

"When he dozed off after his exertions, I went back to the girls without bothering to put anything on. They renewed their screaming until I ordered silence. Even then they continued sobbing. I got their flannels from the washstand and wet them. While I had my back to them, they must have seen the stripes across my back and bum from the last birching you gave me. They were pretty tender still and showed up quite blue and purple. That shocked them. "Will our bodies look like your back?" Elizabeth asked through her tears."

"Something like I guess," I replied which started them wailing again. "These marks are from the birch rod and are finer and deeper than those I have just given you. Your bottoms will be pretty much the same colour come the morning." After laying the cold wet cloths on them for a while, I untied them. "Girls, I know you like playing with each other's bodies. It doesn't worry me in the least that you do so. I've seen and done it myself with girls at the orphanage and workhouse. If it helps you get over the pain a little, do it. I'll have Sarah or Pru bring you the cream and some larger wet towels so you can treat each other. I don't expect you will sleep too well but if you disturb others, expect to pay the price for it. You understand me?" They did. Breakfast is at eight o'clock. I will ask Sarah to arrange a call for you at 7.30. You will put on a light dress and attend breakfast at the large table in the kitchen like the rest of us do when your father isn't here. Afterwards I will see if your bodies need any further treatment with cream and then you can make a start on sorting your clothes and clearing this room."

"So it was I got control of them and while they hated me, they did what they were told. By the end of the fortnight we had a sort of truce. I didn't whip them any more and condoned, even helped them with their girl to girl loving. However, I made really sure they knew I would have them caned of whipped again if it was necessary. Rachael did try it on with Briggs when he brought some produce into the kitchen.

"Do you have to come in here in your dirty clothes when ladies are present?" she said to him thinking I was in another room. Unfortunately I was just returning."

"Bend over the table Rachael," I ordered in my sharpest voice.

"I'm sorry Miss. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Bend over or do I have to ask for help and get the cane Rachael?" That put the fear of God into her Sir. Her stripes were still very tender and sitting was still not comfortable. She bent over. "Your may lift her skirt Briggs and give her bottom a dozen hard smacks." He didn't need any further telling. Rachael lifted up as the first spank found its mark but without being told, Pru and Sarah held her. Elizabeth watched alarmed. Both girls had started wearing bloomers again so Briggs didn't see anything much but he told me afterwards how much he appreciated tanning the snotty girls arse."

"I think that's about it Sir. Much of the daytime the Master was at the Quay but twice he stayed home all day when he didn't have a ship in port and of course on Sundays we went to church. Several times in the first week I had to show him how the girl's stripes were faring and afterwards, when I had warmed his bum a little, we fucked hard for a goodly while before blowing out the candle."

"Do you think he will come back for you Martha?"

"I think so, unless the girls turn him against me while I am here."

A week later, William Forsdyke came and expressed his intentions of marrying Martha and said he had arranged for the ceremony to be performed by the Reverend Jenkins on Saturday week in the local church. As I remarked I was both pleased and saddened to lose her but I did make sure I had my fill of her delightful cunnie before she finally left.

"Well, at least one or two of them seemed to have worked her way out of this workhouse," Margaret remarked as she and Jeremy read through the latest passage. "I wonder if I will ever do that?"

"There are very few people in this world rich enough to pay the price I would ask for you Margaret!" Jeremy's reply pleased his companion. She leaned over and kissed him and they cuddled together until the spell was broken by, "Up you get now. Time to start dinner."