The Treatment of Alice

kysaq@hotmail.com

When I think of Alice the image that flashes through my mind is of her naked and tied to the long low butchers table in the barn, her legs wide apart and the wood stove being lit. However, I’m getting ahead of myself here. Writing about events of the distant past can be difficult, the passage of time dulls one’s recollections and details become lost. There are of course, certain things that seem to become etched on our minds. Alice, a pretty but otherwise ordinary girl tied on that butchers table  is etched on mine.

When much younger I was employed in the service of a Lord and Lady Colville on a modest estate in the North of England. This was of course before the days of much education and I’d worked there since the age of 15, this was not unusual. I was neither one thing nor the other in terms of my position, helping in the gardens mainly and the main house as I was needed. Houses of that sort took many people to run, although Colville Hall was neither huge nor overly grand. Among others, the house was in the charge of Mr. Barwick the butler and under him was a houseboy, Adam, who was about my age, the cook, Mrs. Cavendish and the maid servants, Elise and Alice.

Alice I remember well from the day she first arrived. Of Irish origins, with dark hair, blazingly dark eyes and pale skin, she was quite a beauty. I think in many walks of life, certainly today, Alice’s beauty would afford her many advantages and although quiet and largely uneducated she was bright and hard working.

There was a strict hierarchy in the house. Everybody it seemed liked to be above somebody else, telling them what to do, how to behave. Mr. Barwick and Mrs. Cavendish by virtue of age and position were the most senior although ultimately it was Lady Colville whose authority went unquestioned and around whom we all knew our place. Alice was in the unenviable position of being the youngest, even Elise a year younger than I, would scold her if the fires weren’t kept correctly or she was late with her chores. Mr. Barwick in particular, despite seeming quite besotted, was unusually harsh with her. It was in a strange way like one large family and unfortunately for Alice it seemed that we had chosen her to be the naughty child.

Lady Colville took the running of the house very seriously and everybody, even Mr. Barwick paid close attention to what she said. Lord Colville was rarely seen at the house, choosing it seemed to spend his time away in the city. Elise, a incorrigible gossip would tell us how they never shared a bed, Lord Colville she said had eyes for the serving girls rather than his wife. This was she said why she and particularly Alice could rarely do anything correctly in the eyes of Lady Colville.

Times as I said were different. I remember the first time Alice was properly punished, not more than a week after she had arrived at the house, for what I don’t know. Lady Colville had instructed Mr. Barwick to discipline the young girl. In those times it wasn’t unusual of course, a swift beating was seen as the right and proper thing to do to ensure a lesson was learnt. Alice in particular, given her age might reasonably have expected to receive occasional correction.

The punishment took place in the barn by the stables just across the courtyard from the kitchens. Inside the barn was an old butchers table that everybody referred to as the pig table, originally used to butcher a carcass it had stood disused for years. The table was narrow and low, barely a metre and a half long and about knee height. The surface was rough and uneven, the marks of the knives had left deep cuts in the thick oak. Alice had been stretched along the table, Adam the houseboy, barely older than Alice himself held her arms and Mr. Barwick with his coat removed and his white shirt sleeved rolled up used a thin willow branch collected from the garden. Several of the servants watched. Alice had had her skirt raised over her back although her long underskirt was still in place and her modesty if not her dignity was preserved. Mr. Barwick gave her several hard strokes across her bottom. We shook our heads, laughed and went about our work.

In the following few weeks it seemed that every few days Alice, on the orders of Lady Colville was taken to the Barn to be punished. We thought little of it at first and although it seemed a little unfair it became rather entertaining for the rest of the household. I suspect we never questioned whether or not she was deserving of the punishment, indeed I think we found it amusing that her work must have been of such a poor standard that she found herself stretched across the table so often. “Alice on the pig table” became a source of amusement for all except Alice. The old table in the barn had found a new lease of life.

What started as a few beatings to instill discipline into the young girl soon started to become something quite different. It was early summer and as I had cleared the gardens that spring, on the orders of Mr. Barwick, I had put aside some of the thin, flexible young birch and willow branches cut from the trees. We all knew what they were for, they had been placed in a bundle in the barn.

Elise, as was her habit, had come running one day to tell how Lady Colville herself was to supervise the punishment of Alice. Elise could barely contain her excitement. Lady Colville seemed to want to make an example of the poor girl and insisted that not only should Alice’s skirt be raised but that her underskirts be lifted and her knickers be removed. It was the first time I had seen Alice protest and struggle. It took both Adam and Peter the stable hand, to hold her in place while Mr. Barwick pulled her skirts up over her back and bared her buttocks for a thrashing. In those times a thrashing on the bare was not unknown but rarely for girls once they reached a certain age and certainly never as a spectacle to others.

I recall a certain delight in seeing her milky white skin and even more in seeing the outline of her private areas framed between her bottom and thighs as she was bent onto the table. In fact I remember a stirring in my loins even as the birch made red marks across Alice’s exposed flesh and for the first time I remember she cried out during her ordeal. I like everybody there looked to the authority of Lady Colville, imagining that Alice must have committed some terrible deed and was deserving of the humiliation. She was a very pretty girl and, I suspect I was not the only one fascinated and a little excited by her state of undress.

After that day things became worse for Alice. It seemed to mark a threshold after which every rumour and every tale about her wrong doing was believed. Somehow having been exposed in such a manner we now believed her to be a girl of dubious morals. Nothing could have been further from the truth of course but it suited us to believe that she had brought her harsh treatment on herself.

In the summer months when the sun shone and life always felt a little easier it seemed the one person who never stopped working was Alice. The worst jobs and the longest days seemed always to be hers. To her credit she worked hard and without complaint but this did little to change matters. Whether Lady Colville was there or not taking Alice to the barn became an entertainment for the household. Mrs. Cavendish would shake her head at the naughtiness of the girl while Elise would giggle. Mr. Barwick, more than most would be keen to raise her skirts. Often before the red marks of a previous punishment had faded Mr. Barwick would be adding more. The sight of Alice’s naked buttocks  became commonplace and we used to hold her down so that Mr. Barwick could apply the willow to areas as yet untouched by the stinging cane.

My work being mainly outside the house meant I missed much of the goings on. It was from Elise, often over lunch eating Mrs. Cavendish’s fresh baked bread, that I heard the news of the main house. Elise would always come running to tell me when Alice was to be taken to the barn or to report some of the terrible crimes that Lady Colville had accused the poor girl of.

The day that Lady Colville, in a fury, declared young Alice to be “ ... no better than the trollops who entertain my husband,” shocked even Mr. Barwick, the most unflinching of us all when it came to carrying out Lady Colville’s wishes. I remember Elise came running to tell me that Lady Colville had declared that Alice was to receive a thrashing from top to toe for, “flaunting herself brazenly” she said. It seemed strange for as far as anyone knew Alice had spent the morning cleaning the silver but there was no argument to be made. This time Lady Colville had declared she would apply the strokes herself.

It is hard for me to impress upon you at this point the humiliation that Alice must have experienced even given the indignity of the punishments she had so far endured. Lady Colville insisted she be stripped of all her clothing and held on the pig table. It took Mr. Barwick with the help of Adam and Elise some time to strip the struggling girl, ripping her clothes in the process. In those days even a husband might not have been afforded a view of his wife that was presented to us of Alice that day. Her long black hair normally bunched tidily away spilled down in stark contrast to her white skin. It was Elise I remember who undid the buttons as best she could while Mr. Barwick held her arms and her clothing was peeled away. Her breasts, plump and erect with neat dark nipples, were bared for all to see while her skirts were roughly pulled to the ground. All that remained of her garments were the white woolen stockings clinging to her legs. She was held naked while Lady Colville scolded her before she was placed on the table.

Elise I remember looked on with wide eyes as Lady Colville delivered blow after blow to the naked girls bottom, breasts and flanks. It seemed she wanted no part left without the red marks of the birch digging into her pale white skin. Mr. Barwick kept a tight hold of Alice’s wrists while Adam held, not without difficulty, her feet. She was stretched out on the long low table, held first on her front while she was thrashed on her bare buttocks and then turned on her back, no area of her smooth skin spared. Lady Colville’s insistence that she was no better than the farm yard creatures sunk her status lower, if that were possible. If truth be known most farm animals were treated with more dignity. Once her punishment was over she was paraded, still naked, back to the house and taken to her room by Mr. Barwick. We all sat down around the kitchen table for a hearty meal, all that is except Alice who was to remain in her room and Mr. Barwick who joined us a little while later.

We started to tease Alice mercilessly, Adam and Elise in particular jokingly referred to her as the little pig. Tales were told in an effort to see the “piggy on the table” although it seemed little effort was needed. Every few days Lady Colville or Mr. Barwick would decide that Alice needed once again to learn her place and she was dragged, often as not in tears begging for a reprieve, over to the barn. Sometimes we’d all watch as she reluctantly removed her clothes other times out of spite we’d undress her ripping her clothes knowing that no new clothing would be forthcoming. She soon had nothing but tatters to wear.

Alice while still working all day and into the night in the house now had a new station, she was everybody's to tease and taunt. While never completely naked it wasn’t unusual following one of her punishments for her to work wearing just a thin tattered underskirt. In this state Mr. Barwick would often supervise her scrubbing the floors, on her hands and knees, her breasts swinging. “The little sow showing it’s teats,” Lady Colville was fond of saying. It was only really Mrs. Cavendish who used to make her cover up.

The fact that Alice was now stripped for her punishment and increasingly allowed little decent clothing, led Lady Colville to accuse the poor girl of having no morals or decency, flaunting herself she said. Despite the ridiculous logic, everybody was willing to accept this argument and it seemed right that Alice was punished further for her brazen ways. It became popular to apply the birch rods not only to her breasts and buttocks but between her open legs and inner thighs to temper her dirty thoughts and ungodly ways. “Punishing the piggy” as Elsie used to call it became our amusement and like all good tormentors we made her admit to her sins in order to punish her further. 

On days when little happened stories were often made up to amuse us, or perhaps justify our treatment of Alice. The tale that quickly took hold was that Alice used to touch herself, that she enjoyed her nakedness and was pleasuring herself at every opportunity. We liked to joke that she was secretly excited by her treatment. Lady Colville, only too happy to believe Alice was some shameless girl maintained that it was an illness for which prayer and punishment were the only cure. What started as a vicious rumour became something much more.

Lady Colville consulted the Vicar about Alice’s illness. Elise, always on hand to hear all conversations it seemed, reported that he explained that it was not uncommon in young girls, “A shameless masturbator,” were the words he had used. He described how, if left alone her fingers found their way between her legs pleasuring herself and leading to impure thoughts and godless ways. The Vicar it seemed spent a good part of the afternoon explaining to Lady Colville the dreadful illness. So shocked had Lady Colville been, Elise described how she took to her bed for the remainder of the day and could not be disturbed.

The staff were assembled and with a shame faced Alice, her head bowed, Lady Colville explained with difficulty how Alice was possessed of impure thoughts and habits and that as a Christian household we could not ignore her dirty ways. An illness she had called it. The young girl was in such a state that Lady Colville could do no more than get her to nod in affirmation. That done she was taken to the barn, her clothing removed and she was given a thrashing in order to quell her desires. It was with a renewed sense of righteousness that we watched the birch rods lay stripes across her buttocks and breasts.

Alice had a small room in the main house with no more than an iron frame bed and small table. On the recommendation of the vicar and following Lady Colville’s orders, each night Alice’s wrists were secured to the bed frame thus preventing her from succumbing to temptation. Quite often, before she was put to bed, the large tin bath was placed in the courtyard outside the kitchen and she would be given a cold bath. The cold water Lady Colville said would reduce her unnatural urges. It was often Mr. Barwick himself who would roll up his shirt sleeves and soap her down sometimes using an old scrubbing brush on her delicate skin. She would be stood in the icy water and inspected, her nipples erect and rigid with cold would be declared evidence of her sexual excitement. She’d be stood naked and shivering by the large fire in the kitchen while she dried off before being taken to her bedchamber where her wrists would be secured.

Elise told me with a mixture of fascination and horror how both Mr. Barwick and Adam made nocturnal visits to Alice’s small room where her hands were always tied. The servants rooms were small and the walls thin. Elise, whose room was next door to described how she’d be kept awake by the rhythmic creaking of the bed frame. The blame for this behaviour of course we attributed to Alice, she was it seemed a bad influence on us all.

Lady Colville’s attempts to cure Alice of course went unabated. Now utterly convinced of her evil ways she had an ointment made up, once again, on the advice of the vicar, a man it seemed quite familiar with the masturbatory habits of young girls. Applied to the genitals it would, he said, discourage any promiscuity, improper behaviour or indeed impure thoughts. Every few days, still tied to the bedposts, Alice would now have an application of the cream applied between her legs. The house would echo with, first her pleading as she was washed and cleaned, followed by her screams. Elise told me that they had to use a razor to clean her so that the substance could be properly applied to her skin. She said she’d never seen anyone so wild as when they held her open to smear it on, proof she said that Alice was indeed possessed. She further explained how even the slightest touch of the ointment on your fingers gave a hot burning sensation. She described with horror how, held with her legs splayed apart, Lady Colville would repeatedly insert a rounded wooden implement covered in the cream inside Alice before smearing it on the outside of her genitals.

Of course to avoid treatments Alice would confess to almost any wrong doing. Lady Colville felt vindicated, as the outpourings from poor girl told of how she had indeed sinned and how grateful she was that Lady Colville had cured her and she begged not to be treated with the ointment. The whole household was given the opportunity to hear the confessions which despite her pleas were usually followed by further applications of the ointment. Once her wrists were secured it was often Elise or Mrs. Cavendish who would clean the girl  after which, given the fury with which she sometimes resisted Mr. Barwick and Adam were needed to hold her open for Lady Colville. Given the opportunity to confess her ungodly habits at this stage she would sometimes be reprieved, other times not. Once applied and the action of the ointment took effect, with her legs still securely held wide open, Lady Colville would hold a rag to her genitals. Alice of course in an effort to rid herself of the ointment would rub herself wildly against the rag, her hips moving obscenely, her red swollen genitals on fire. Of course Lady Colville and the Vicar assured everyone that this was Alice trying to stimulate herself, an example of the treatment forcing the evil to leave her body and proof that further efforts were needed. Lady Colville felt it instructive for all to see the treatment and we’d often crowd into the small room to see Alice, wrists and sometimes ankles tied to the bed rubbing herself wildly against the rough cloth held between her legs. The redness and swelling that followed was seen as the “little piggy” getting over excited.

As Lady Colville’s efforts to cure her continued Alice performed fewer chores around the house although she’d still be marched down to the barn or scrubbed in the yard as Lady Colville ordered. She was now kept naked almost all the time and even Mrs. Cavendish rarely bothered to cover her up. The Vicar became a frequent visitor during this time and spent time with the girl to counsel her, he would often take a bowl of water and a flannel to her room to clean and soothe her. Mr. Barwick was still a frequent night time visitor to Alice’s room.

Lady Colville, tired by what she saw as Alice’s continued efforts to stimulate herself, declared ever more strict measures were needed. Her final effort to rid the girl of her lustful ways came after much consultation with the vicar. She had it transpired made arrangements for a new girl to take her place, but not before everything possible had been done to cure Alice.

Alice was firstly confined to her room for a period of days with only Elise taking her food and Lady Colville and the Vicar spending time with her. It was after much speculation and rumour that it became evident what Lady Colville had decided. Mr. Barwick who had been told one evening and finally, unable to keep his silence, whispered to us all. The course of action, however shocking, everyone agreed was the best thing to be done given the situation.

Alice, Lady Colville had decided should be stripped, cleaned and cauterized in a effort to restore her spirit and health. It was fitting it seemed that she decided the pig table was the most suitable of places where Alice could be tied and treated, the small wood stove in the barn could be used to heat a small metal implement that would be applied to the source of all her problems and finally cure her of her ills. I, being rather young and by no means a man of the world needed a brief and rather shamefaced explanation from Elise for me to understand that it was Alice’s clitoris that would be treated. The Vicar had it seemed agreed that this was the best option available and would attend in order to offer guidance and prayer. The only one with no knowledge of what was to happen was Alice herself.

With a mixture of fascination and curiosity the whole household was in a state of excitement when Lady Colville had Mr. Barwick take Alice to the barn one morning. She was taken straight from her bedchamber and led across the yard, goose pimples on her skin in the cold morning air. She stood and shivered while Mr. Barwick and Adam spent some considerable time deciding how best to bind her. Lady Colville had specified that she was to be  “... on her back, legs bent and tied, spread as though to receive a gentleman.” Eventually with no regard for the girls dignity any more than if they had been bailing hay they were able to step back and view their work. Alice was tied with her arms outstretched above her, her young breasts pointing rather dramatically upward and her legs bent, pulled back and spread painfully wide. It wasn’t until much later that morning that Elise was sent to the barn only to find that the unfortunate girl had soiled herself. Much commotion followed with Alice needing to be untied. Mr. Barwick had her put in the water trough while Elise cleaned the pig table before Adam and Mr. Barwick tied her once again ready for her treatment.

Elise and Mrs. Cavendish spent a half hour both trying to stop the girl sobbing as well as using a razor to leave the girls genitals shaved and smooth so that she could be treated without hindrance. Elise, despite herself, couldn’t help but giggle at how obscenely naked Alice looked, hairless and spread wide as she was.

It was nearly two hours later that the vicar arrived to be received by Lady Colville and nearly and hour later when the wood stove was lit. In that time we all went to view with amusement Alice in her state of readiness, pulling her apart to inspect and tease the small nub that had caused her problems. Amazed at her hairless crotch, we rubbed between her legs and squeezed her breasts and nipples to see if we could detect the unnatural urges of which she was soon to be cured. It was several weeks later that Elise had admitted to me that she had returned to the barn with some water for the poor girl only to see Mr. Barwick succumbing to animal urges. She told with shock how Alice made barely a sound as Mr. Barwick, his course hands gripped tightly on her naked breasts, was thrusting himself between her open legs.

When Lady Colville and the vicar arrived they insisted that soap and water be brought. The vicar was meticulous in ensuring that the girl was as clean as she could be and she was soaped both inside and out.

Once ready for her treatment it was only at this point and in front of the assembled household staff that Lady Colville explained to Alice what was to happen. Her reaction was enough for Mr. Barwick to have to put a rag in her mouth and secure it so that her wailing was reduced to a few moans. There was quite a jolly atmosphere despite the seriousness of the situation. Lady Colville had provided some drink and Mrs. Cavendish had made some cake.

It was Elise, because her fingers were smallest and less likely to be in the way who was given the job of holding Alice open while Mr. Barwick applied what looked like a small metal poker heated in the wood stove until red hot. The only sound was the muffled panic from Alice as we watched Mr. Barwick, the hot metal in his hand, kneel down, Alice’s soft pink genitals open before him. As the heated metal touched Alice it became apparent that the ties that held her down were barely sufficient. Thrashing madly in a hysteria that Lady Colville attributed in part to her illness, Mr. Barwick had great difficulty as Alice’s hips bucked wildly. The hot metal touching not only the tender folds of Alice’s labia but in the commotion catching Elise’s finger and finally the inside of Alice’s thigh as well. Elise in considerable pain needed to soothe her finger in some cold water before things could continue.

It was, Lady Colville explained, necessary to treat Alice a second time to ensure the job was done correctly. Alice once again started to pull wildly against her bonds. The iron was put back in the fire and we all watched as Alice made quite a display. Mrs. Cavendish made Elise giggle by likening her to a freshly caught fish. Adam went about securing the bonds more tightly in the hope that the second attempt would be more successful.

Both myself and Peter assisted in holding Alice’s legs flat, so much so that we feared we might snap her in two but not wanting a repeat of the first effort we held firm. Elise sitting astride Alice pulled her wide apart, making sure the skin slipped away from the offending nub of her clitoris. Mr. Barwick applied the curative hot metal, this time more firmly and long enough to satisfy Lady Colville. It was difficult to ignore the frightful moans from Alice, her illness it seemed, no longer allowing her to act in any normal fashion.

Mrs. Cavendish had prepared a large roast of pork by way of celebration,  and Lady Colville had seen to it that drink was made available to all. Alice remained bound, smelling salts were needed to revive her and a little rubbing alcohol was applied between her legs. This caused another outburst, giving Lady Colville little choice but to instruct that she remain tied lest she ruin the evening meal for others. The gag was removed and although she made a pitiful and tearful attempt to aplogise Lady Colville remained firm and she was left while everybody made their way to the kitchen. Mr. Barwick was given the choicest cuts of meat and Elise, suffering from the burn to her finger was toasted for her part in what had been a difficult day. Periodically someone would take some water to pour onto Alice and speed her return to good sense.

You may be wondering what happened to Alice subsequently and whether or not there was any recurrence of her illness following the treatments. She remained in the house for only a further week until she was well enough to leave her bed. Lady Colville felt the treatment had been most successful and turned her attention to others in need, in particular Emily, Alice’s replacement who Lady Colville immediately put on a regime of cold baths to temper her youthful spirit. She no longer felt the need to retain Alice in her employ. In fact it was out of kindness and concern for the girl that the Vicar took her on as a maid at the vicarage, providing room, board and guidance. Stories reached us that Alice’s stay at the vicarage was not without incident but that is another story.