Chapter 13. Escape
"What happened between the time of the Inquisition scene and your murder?"
enquired Eric. They had âeen back in 2001 for a fortnight and the episode was
now on disk. "Surely not too much could happened to you in that period?"
They were sitting comfortably on the settee in front of a blazing fire. Violet
turned the television off and took up the narrative.
Geoffrey largely left me alone for a while. I had my own room. Flora became my
personal maid as Mildred was very pregnant and then had her baby, probably
Geoffrey's or one of his guests, and all the staff now seemed to treat me with
respect. While they wouldn't disobey a direct order from Geoffrey, they used a
very free interpretation of them to my benefit. Geoffrey sensed this but didn't
want a major staff revolt and he had enough financial worries to keep him
occupied. His business sense was about as good as his card playing so debts
mounted and he had to sell off part of the farmland to save himself from losing
the house. He also reduced the number of staff, particularly the outdoor staff
to under half their original number.
It was about three weeks before I could venture down the stairs and then only
with help. I started to take my meals in the kitchen until Geoffrey ordered me
to eat dinner with him in the dining room. We ate almost in silence and even
when he had guests, I limited my conversation to monosyllabic answers.
It must have been a month or more after the Inquisition that he came to my room
late at night. He'd been drinking. Dismissing Flora who had taken to sleeping in
a small bed in my room so as to be on hand if I needed help in the night, he
ripped the blankets back and slurringly said, "It's time you took on your wifely
duties again. Get that nightdress off. You know you aren't allowed to wear
anything in bed."
I was fearful that he might want to whip me again and quickly, or as quickly as
I could, removed the nightdress. Although the marks from the cat had begun to
fade my body still looked like a fishing net with all the red welts and scabby
places where the knots and whip ends had cut me. Leaning over me, Geoffrey felt
my breasts causing me to whimper in pain. "Still just a little tender I see," he
said. That was a gross understatement. With some trepidation I watched him
undress and waited for the inevitable pain as he climbed on top and entered me.
It was just bearable so I lay there quietly and let him have his way. It wasn't
long before his sperm flooded my inside. Afterwards he looked angry and instead
of offering his cock for me to suck clean he slapped my face hard. "Stupid
bitch. Haven't you learned yet you are supposed to fuck me back and not lie
there dead?"
My cry brought Flora to the room followed by Beyers. Beyers picked up Geoffrey
and carried him still naked to his bedroom. One of the maids followed with his
clothes. In my later wanderings I wondered why Geoffrey didn't stop them or
didn't fire them later but curiously he never said a word and neither did they.
The maid pulled the bedclothes back on his bed, Beyers dropped him in and then
covered him. Not a single word was said. Thereafter Geoffrey only spanked or
used the tawse when he thought he could justify its use. It was another month
before he made use of my body again and being less sore I did try and co-operate
and respond to him.
Whenever Geoffrey went away, Grace and Martha were still ordered to keep me
under strict observation but now they were much more liberal in their
interpretation of the instructions and came to my room at night and slept with
me and even dragged Flora into our sexual games.
For some months life at Studenhall was reasonable for me. I still had to
entertain Geoffrey friends when they played cards of came over for a social
evening. Sir Percy though was never invited.
In six months health-wise I was almost back to my original self. I still got
twinges of pain when I made certain moves and I had nightmares but they had
become much rarer.
About this time my parents came home from Italy. It was a chilly Autumn here and
they had left the warmth of the Italian sun. It was probably this that caused my
mother to contract the bronchitis and die within the month. I was heartbroken
having seen them only once since their return. Geoffrey was afraid I might run
home to stay. He would lose face and would lose the small income my money
brought. Before their return, the house was empty with only a few caretaking
staff to stop the place falling apart. I couldn't have stayed there without
further financial help.
Somehow father heard of what happened to me and when I refused to leave,
threatened Geoffrey if he ever harmed me again. He also knew of Geoffrey's
mounting debts, not just from gambling but from general trading. All his
inherited capital was long gone and he was relying on two ships bringing him
enough income to tide him over for another year. Unfortunately, largely because
he hadn't enough money to invest in the maintenance of the boats, they weren't
well enough equipped to ride out a storm in the Bay of Biscay. Both ships
foundered within hours of each other. Geoffrey could now see the house sold and
all the staff leaving him with nothing but more debt.
I was asked to plead help from father but he refused to give a penny to the
blaggard. He would ensure I was looked after but Geoffrey could go to the
debtors prison for all he was concerned. It was not long after that father had
his fatal riding accident except that I found out later it was no accident.
Geoffrey had arranged his murder hoping that when I inherited the money, he
would be able to get his hands on it.
Father often rode along a nearby forest track and at one point there was an old
oak with a low branch. He knew it was there, he knew the way round it but took
great delight in ducking under at the last moment. To those that found him it
seemed as if he left it too late. However, my retracing in time saw he had put a
rope from the base of the branch and as father rode to it lowered it to catch
him under the chin and dismount him. He gave father a swift blow to the forehead
with a stout branch and that finished father.
To Geoffrey's dismay, father's solicitors had tied up the will so only I could
get at any of the money. Geoffrey had to beg for loans and when I didn't give in
to his demands he threatened to thrash the money out of me. I gave him just
enough to keep us in the house and made sure it went to who it was supposed to
go. However, I absolutely refused to pay his gambling debts and it was these
demands that Geoffrey was most afraid of.
We had a visit one day from two large men who said the were debt collectors.
When I refused to pay the exorbitant amount of the debt plus the high interest
they charged Geoffrey suggested he might make me earn the money 'like last
time.' Unfortunately for him, Henrietta was serving wine at the time and carried
the remark back to the kitchen staff. Eventually though, the men agreed to call
again at the end of the week, by which time Geoffrey said he would have
persuaded me to pay.
That night, Beyers slept in my room on the spare bed and Flora in with me. We
locked the door and put a chair under the knob. Geoffrey must have known this
for he never came. He had to travel to London the next day to a shipping
tribunal. The mate and some of the crew from one ship had managed to launch a
lifeboat and survived the storm until they were picked up in the English
Channel. Now they accused Geoffrey of endangering their lives by not properly
maintaining the boat. The hearing was scheduled to last several days but
Geoffrey hoped his part in it would be over in a few hours. He was very wrong.
I and the staff expected him to call on Madame Warboys while in London and
arrange for my return visit so I deemed it wise to escape. Mildred when she
heard came and asked to come with me and to bring the baby. She was followed by
most of the other girls and surprisingly by Beyers. Grace and Martha decided to
stay. They could handle Lord Geoffrey and even if they were thrown out, Grace's
mother had a guest house at Lowestoft where they could stay and find work there.
At mid-morning break in the kitchen I explained the situation to them or at
least the parts they didn't really know. I told them I owned my father's estate
and had money enough to keep them in the short term at least. "There is already
a full or nearly full compliment of staff there already so there could be some
unrest if they think you are going to oust them. I will have to make it clear
that your positions are temporary until you find other employment and I will be
able to give you all a good reference." I thanked them all for coming to my aid
and again gave them the choice of coming on a temporary basis or staying at
Studenhall. They all decided to come with me and in the end Grace and Martha
decided to move to Lowestoft.
As you might expect the rest of the morning was a flurry of activity with
everyone packing. Cook made us our last lunch and left the kitchen with all the
unwashed pans and plates on the tables. We took two carts and four horses and I
left cash to pay for them and a note for Geoffrey to say he could buy them back
later if he wanted.
You probably can't imagine the look of surprise on the faces of the staff at The
Beeches when we all arrived. They had no idea of what was going on until I
called them all together and explained it to them. As I expected there were some
that were disgruntled but most accepted the situation and eventually the two
lots of staff mingled and worked out a satisfactory routine. Henrietta and Mary
soon found other work as did Jones. Beyers and two of the groundsmen acted as
bodyguards and had a routine for patrolling the grounds at night. For this I
paid them a few shillings extra. I needn't have worried too much. The tribunal
tied Geoffrey up for three weeks during which time the debt collectors came and
took away the silver ware and anything else valuable that was still left.
At the end of the first week the tribunal was adjourned until the Monday and it
was dark on Friday before Geoffrey arrived back at Studenhall. By then the
ground staff had all gone to look for other work because it was obvious they
were neither going to be paid nor was there a cook to feed them. I went back to
watch when I became a wandering soul. He arrived in the drive and yelled for the
groom to get his horse. No one came. He yelled again. Not a soul about. Entering
the house he came upon all the clutter left by our feverish exit. Still yelling
he went into the kitchen. No fire, no food, just unwashed plates and congealing
scraps. He swore blind he would kill me and that was the one thing he did
actually do or as it turned out, half killed me.
