Chapter 4. Thrown out
Edward went away to London for a fortnight and things were a little easier for
most of the staff. Cook left while he was away and meals were prepared by
whoever was not otherwise engaged. One girl's efforts were quite good so Mrs.
Symonds promoted her to Cook although she doubted if the meals would suit the
master when he returned. Ruth returned to working in the kitchen but in general
was given lighter duties. Physically she wasn't capable of doing anything more.
Nevertheless not a day went by when she didn't receive the tawse for some
imagined minor infraction of her duties.
Edward brought four of his cronies back with him and they had alcohol induced
boisterous parties. Most of the better looking maids were fucked many times
until the alcohol finally brought sleep to the men. Ruth skinny appearance
didn't appeal to these horny friends so she was relatively safe from their
attentions. However, late one night when a party had been in full swing for
several hours she was ordered to take a bottle of wine in to them. Edward saw
her. "Well if it isn't my skinny little so called sister. Bet you still have a
tight little cunny. Perhaps we ought to open it up a bit."
"No Master Edward, please no." She tried to run from the room but was caught by
one of the others. Her smock was quickly removed and Ruth was thrown to the
floor and pinned down at the shoulders by two of the men. Edward removed his
trousers and showed Ruth his near hard prick.
"How would you like this nice fat cock up inside you Ruthie dear?"
"No, no. Please you mustn't do it. Please Master Edward. Let me go." But Edward
only laughed at her predicament.
"Hold her down boys while I shove this into her and make a woman of her."
Drunkenly he knelt between her legs aiming his cock at her cunt when, gathering
all her reserves of strength Ruth brought her knees to her chest and then kicked
out with all the force she could muster. Both feet landed squarely on Edward's
nuts. Edward fell backward clutching his now deflated prick and balls. He yelled
in agony for several minutes before the pain started to subside. Mrs. Symonds
looked in to see what was going on and was immediately ordered to get his riding
crop from the hall stand. "I am going to teach this little bitch to serve me
properly." He roared.
Grabbing the whip he proceeded to lash Ruth, starting from the ankles upwards.
In his drunken state, the whip marks were unevenly spaced and by the time her
reached her tiny breasts his aim was haywire and a couple of welts lay across
her face. Ruth passed out but that didn't matter to Edward. He ordered his
friends to turn her over and continued with his savage whipping. He called for
more wine and both Mrs. Symonds and Richards entered with it. Richards was
utterly appalled by the sight of a man beating a young girl even when she was
unconscious. Because there were no cries from Ruth, he hadn't realised what was
happening. Swiftly he moved, held Edward's wrist and took the whip from him.
"Stay, Sir. If you kill her you will hang like the rest of us."
Edward suddenly seemed to understand what he was doing. "Yes, the bitch isn't
worth hanging for." Turning to Mrs. Symonds he instructed her to remove the
bitch and take her to the back gate and throw her out. The housekeeper bent to
pick up Ruth's smock but was ordered to leave it. "She came here naked, she is
leaving naked," Edward snarled.
Richards carefully and tenderly picked up the limp form and carried her to the
kitchen. "Keep on and carry her to the gate, Richards," Mrs. Symonds instructed.
"No, she is not going anywhere until she knows where she is." He laid the girl
on the table. Two of the other girls stood nearby and started crying when the
saw the state Ruth was in. Richards asked them to bathe Ruth with warm water.
The housekeeper became incensed at having her authority questioned and her hand
immediately went to the tawse at her belt. Richards though, was quicker. Before
she could use it he had removed it and flung it in the corner. "Put it in the
stove," he ordered the bootboy. When the woman protested, Richards held her arms
together and tied them with cloth and sat her in one corner out of the way.
After a short while, Ruth showed signs of life but was hysterical and it took a
little while to calm her. Blood dribbled from many open wounds where the crop
had bitten deeply into her skin. The maids and he did what they could to ease
her pain but it was little enough.
Richards spoke quietly to her. "Ruth, we have been ordered by Lord Edward to
throw you out and Mrs. Symonds insists we do it. We also are not allowed to give
you any clothing from the house as Edward would construe that as stealing. While
anything might happen to you out there, it can hardly be worse than what you
have put up with here. Do you understand?" Ruth could only nod. "His Lordship
isn't quite correct when he said you came here with nothing, you were wrapped in
towels," Richards continued. "I have three of my own personal towels that do not
belong to this house. Two I will wrap around your feet and the other you can use
to cover part of your body. I am sorry we cannot do more but if you are here in
the morning Edward is likely to kill you and possibly us too."
Nearly an hour later, Ruth, barely able to stand let alone walk, was carried in
the pouring rain to the back gate. "Ruthie," Richards spoke with tears in his
eyes, "I don't want to do this but there doesn't seem to be an alternative. I
suggest you head for Fourpennies rather than Yaxford. It is a mile or two more
but they might take you in at the house and give you a job there. I've heard the
new owner, a Mr. Peter Saunders, treats his staff well but he is a womaniser too
and may want you in his bed. It may be best at this time if you keep your
identity secret and just act like a servant girl who has been waylaid. You went
to Fourpennies several times with Miss Sarah while the Babcocks owned it so you
should be able to find your way. Its dark now but the moon may come through
after this shower anyway try to get as far as you can by morning in case Edward
tries to find you when he wakes up. He's drunk now and may want to continue to
punish you when he is sober. Good luck. You sure need it." Richards kissed the
girl on the forehead and watched as she stumbled raggedly along the road. It was
eight miles to Fourpennies and he wondered how far she would get.
Returning to the Hall Richards called a meeting of all the house staff. "You all
saw or have heard about what happened this evening. You have all been on the
receiving end of the punishments dished out here. It now looks as if these will
get worse and I wouldn't want to be in anyone's shoes that is here in the
morning when his Lordship and his cronies wake up. They will have sore heads and
Edward's balls will still be swollen and painful so they will take their
vengeance on anyone who is around. I suggest we all get out while we can. If we
all go there can be no reprisals on the few who are left. What do you think?"
There were murmurs of agreement. "What about her?" piped up the bootboy,
indicating Mrs. Symonds.
"I think I know how to deal with her." For the first time for weeks Richards
smiled. "Get her clothes off and strap her to the birching horse." Despite her
protests, the woman was divested of her clothes and fastened to the horse. Her
skin showed up very white and pale in the lamplight. Her protests became more
vehement but were silenced by a cloth being put in her mouth.
"Can I whip her first?" asked one of the maids who had been thrashed several
times.
"It is better that none of us touch her," answered Richards, "Just carry her to
the dining room where the drunkards are sleeping." Quietly they carried the
woman strapped to the horse into the room. The five were snoring and didn't
awaken as the group entered. They placed the horse in a prominent position and
hung the riding crop on the nail at the side. The pot of birch rods was placed
alongside.
"I don't think I want to be in her shoes when they waken. In fact I don't think
I want to be here at all," the maid said. "You are a cruel man Richards," she
added but there was a smile on her face.
By 2 a.m. all the staff had left and the house was still.
