A Convenient Measure

She threw herself on the bed and started to cry.

She couldn't do it, could she? What kind of a life would she be subjecting herself to? She knew their conversation would be pleasant enough, but could she stand it when he went out to "have his manly needs taken care of"? And what about kids? She did want them and she wasn't getting any younger. But she's had no other offers of marriage. It's not Charles' fault, but she figured the closeness of her and her twin brother scared off other men. Obviously, that was not a problem with Henry.

Hours of crying and less than that of sleep that night did nothing to improve her thoughts on the matter. Still abed at ten o'clock, Eliza decided that she could make this work. She would be patient and love him until he loves her back. She must. Just how long will it take to make him fall in love with her?

Chapter 4

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes. I will marry you."

"You will?"

"Yes, you idiot."

Overcome with joy, Henry wrapped her in his arms and squeezed her tight. "Oh, thank you, Eliza. You're the best friend a guy could have."

"Now just a minute. I need to say a few things."

"Oh, sure."

"I want you to be open. Open to loving me. Open to a loving marriage."

"Uh, okay. But I've never really thought of you like that, Liza."

"I know, Hank, I know. And I'm not saying it will change overnight. But I want you to be open to your heart changing. If it never does, well that's my fault. I know what I'm signing up for."

"Uh, okay," were the only words that came out of his mouth. He was feeling quite the cad at the moment, but he also knew he had to go through with it. It will all settle into a nice, convenient relationship. It has to work.

"But what of your mother? I know she thinks us beneath your station."

"I can handle her. I will tell her that we've been secretly in love a long time, but know now that we finally must act on it. You'll have to pretend, at least publicly, to be in love me."

"I can manage that, I think."

"Great." He didn't know what to do, so he shoved out his hand like he was closing a business deal.

"You know, Hank, you might have to eventually kiss me."

"Uh, right." He bent down and gave her the briefest of pecks on the cheek. "I'll get it all settled and then we can make an announcement."

Henry was true to his word and had his mother agreeing to the marriage fairly quickly. The next day, the three friends were sitting in the Hanson's sitting room when Henry said he had an announcement to make.

Eliza looked down at the floor and Charles looked expectantly at Henry.

"Eliza and I are getting married."

Charles' jaw visibly dropped. "What?"

"I know, I know." Henry started. "But we've come to an agreement."

"Sis? You want this?"

Eliza was forced to look up from the spot on the floor she'd been studying intently.

"Yes," was her quiet answer.

"Henry, have you gone mad? Involving my sister in this shenanigan?"

"You know we get along and it's the only thing I could think of in order to keep a semblance of my life."

"Well, as long as it's convenient for you, Hank," came Charles' derisive comment. Charles was surprised at the welling of anger he was experiencing.

The room went silent for many moments until Charles finally softly said, "Elizabeth, would you please leave us alone for a moment."

Charles NEVER calls her Elizabeth, but she knew better than to say anything and quietly left the room.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?"

Henry was sure that Charles wouldn't be thrilled with the idea, but he didn't expect this either.

"I'll be nice to her."

"Nice? Nice!?! She deserves a proper husband. One that loves her."

"I do love her. I my own way."

"You know what I mean, Henry. Frankly, I've been waiting for years for you to come to your senses and ask for her hand in marriage, but not like this."

Henry looked up with glassy eyes at his best friend of over 15 years.

"You fool. Eliza's been in love with you for over 5 years. You're such a moron you couldn't see it. It took me a while, but I started to notice how she would look at you when she thought no one was watching. Then it was easier and easier to tell."

"You did? She does?"

"Yes, you ever loving idiot. Look, Hank, you're my best friend in the world save her, but you're also the world's biggest idiot sometimes."

Henry didn't know. How could he have? She never said anything.

"But...but she never said anything."

"She shouldn't have had to."

Henry's triumph was slipping away quickly. How could he be such a fool? He put his head in his hands.

"Well, there's nothing for it now. You have to go through with it. You better be good to her, Hank. Because if I find out you're not, so help me, it won't matter that you're my best friend."

With that, Charles stormed out of the room.

Henry sat there for ten minutes mindlessly staring at the room before he finally let himself out and went home.

Chapter 5

Everyone agreed it was an odd match, but most weren't surprised when they heard the wedding announcement. "I mean, they've been best friends forever," said one. "It's always best to be good friends first I always say," said another.

Eliza looked simply beautiful in her simple white dress the morning of the wedding when Charles went to check on her with a soft knock on her door.

"Sis? It's me."

"Come in."

"You look amazing, Eliza."

She smiled up at him, but it was a sad smile. "You think so?"

"I know so." Charles sat down in front of her and put his hand on her leg. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

She nodded.

"Ok. I hope you know what you're doing. Well, let's go then." He pulled her to her feet and gave her the biggest twin brother hug he could.

---

Henry was sweating nervously as he waited at the church. His big idea had turned his life upside down. What the hell was he thinking? She deserves better than this. She deserves better than me. It was too late now, though.

Could he grow to love her as a husband should? Honestly, he didn't know what love was. Sure, he knew what carnal lust felt like and he supposed you'd want to do it with your wife, but what was real love anyway? He certainly never saw it at home. His parents tolerated each other, but there didn't seem to be any real love that he could see.

He hadn't seen much of Eliza or Charles since the announcement was made. He was too guilty. Too ashamed. It certainly wasn't the fairy tale wedding that many brides dreamed of.

Suck it up, he thought. Eliza should get your best. But would it be enough?

Standing up next to the priest, he gazed down the long aisle as Eliza emerged with her father. She did, in fact, look quite lovely in her wedding gown. Words were said and vows were exchanged, but it was all a haze until the priest uttered the words, "You may kiss the bride."

He did his duty, but was pretty sure his kiss was about a 2 on 1-10 scale. Nonetheless, it was announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sewell." A round of cheers went up from the small crowd in attendance. The ensuing dinner at Sewell Manor was a fine, if staid affair.

At the end of the evening, Henry's brother Lewis gave the parting words and said nice things about the bride and groom, finishing with, "But I'm sure the bride and groom want to retire to their new home now, so we should bid them good night. Or should I say that they want to retire to their bedroom?" A raucous roar of approval came forth from the crowd. Everyone seemed happy about that prospect except for, perhaps, the bride and groom themselves.

It was a short carriage ride from Sewell Manor to their new home on the eastern edge of the estate and Henry's mind was consumed with thoughts of their wedding night. Unfortunately, his thoughts were not like most husbands on their wedding nights.

His mind was in overdrive. "Could I love her? I mean make love to her? No, I couldn't possibly. I mean, it's not as though she's unattractive. It's just, she shouldn't have to endure my particular appetites. It would be better to not subject her to my, uh, oddities."

It had started simply enough. One night while enjoying the company of one of the ladies at the club, she pinched his nipples. Hard. Whilst she was riding him, she pinched his nipples without asking and he almost threw her off of him it hurt so bad. But he didn't and he found his pleasure increasing. When he finally spent, she pinched harder than she had before and his climax was the most intense and pleasurable he'd ever felt. By a long shot. It was followed by an intense shame, but he was back with her wanting more a mere two days later. The same thing happened. His orgasm was other worldly as she pinched and teased his nipples. It progressed from there, with her slapping him in the face or beating on his chest. One night, she dripped hot wax onto his chest as she rode his cock to fruition. Soon, he didn't want any sex other than this rough sort of sex he had with her. Over the years, the pain and pleasure never ceased with the only downside being that Henry knew he ruined himself for any normal sexual relations.

How could he expect Eliza to do those things he needed?

He couldn't. And he wouldn't make her. But Eliza knew what she was getting into. Damn! Why couldn't his mother have just left him alone? He had neatly separated his two lives, the orderly one and the debauched one. He had reconciled them in his mind. He knew was a good person generally and as long as he had an outlet for his fetishes, he could be good member of society. But that was all ruined now, wasn't it?

"Penny for your thoughts, Henry?" Eliza asked as they reached the front door of their new home.

"What? Oh, just thinking about the, uh, business, things I have to take care of tomorrow."

Eliza fought off the urge to cry. He wasn't thinking about her at all.

Closing the door, Henry cut into the awkward silence, asking, "Are you hungry? Do you want some tea?"

"No. I couldn't eat another bite. I rather think we should go to bed."

"Yes, right. Let me show you to your room." He led her up a wide stair case to a large, but cozy room. There was a sturdy four poster bed covered in white linens with the warmth of the now smoldering fire still noticeable in the room.

"Well, alright, then. Good night, Eliza."

"Henry?"

"Yes?"

"You know. You could stay."

He paused in the doorway.

"I mean, you can have me. I mean you can take me sexually. I am your wife after all."

"Now, Eliza, we talked about this. I can't."

"Can't? Or won't?"

"What does it matter?"

She could no longer hold back the tears. "Dammit, Henry. Don't you find me the least bit attractive? Am I that repulsive?"

"It's not that. It's just...just. It's not you okay. It's me."

"Hank. I don't care about any stuff in your past. I just want you to love me. Please."

"I'm sorry, Eliza, but I can't." With that he shut the door and went downstairs.

Eliza cried herself to sleep on her wedding night as her new husband drank half a bottle of brandy and wallowed in self pity in his study.

Chapter 6

Eliza felt horrible and couldn't manage to get out of bed in the morning. A soft knock came at the door.

"Lady Sewell?"

Was that her? Was she Lady Sewell?

"Yes?"

A servant came in carrying a tray of food. "Master Henry asked that I bring this up to you. He, uh, said you weren't feeling well and might want to take your breakfast in your bed."

"Yes, um?"

"Langley, ma'am."

"Yes, Langley. Please put it on the table there", pointing to the small table near her bed. She hardly felt like eating, but eventually she did eat a little something of the eggs and toast.

When she finally rose from bed, it was almost noon. She searched and found her husband in his study. He looked worse than she did in all likelihood.

"Henry, I'm going for a walk. Would you join me please?"

"Sorry, Eliza, I can't." He only half looked up. "Too much work to do," he lied.

"Henry, if we could just talk about it."

"No, I won't talk about it. Enjoy your walk."

She did not enjoy her walk and the next few days were not enjoyable either. Finally, she knew not to expect her husband to come to her bed and resigned to herself that she was in a loveless marriage. If she could only get Henry back to the way he was when they were just friends, maybe that would be enough.

Four days into their unorthodox marriage, he actually joined her for breakfast and she did her best to sound cheery, even if she was not. The next few days were painful in a way the first few weren't, but, eventually, they settled into a routine. They could enjoy each other's company during the day, but would part at night. It wasn't what Eliza wanted, but it was all she could hope to have at the moment.

For his part, Henry was barely able to fight off the depression. He hadn't seen his special friend in over a month. His balls were fit to burst, but his shame would not allow him to visit his ladies of the night now that he was married. Before the marriage, he thought he would have no pangs of guilt on visiting the club to have his needs met. After all, Henry had made it clear he had outlets for his sexual appetite. But leading up to and after the marriage, he just couldn't do it. He respected Eliza too much. He also couldn't ask Eliza to lower herself to his level in the bed.

One morning, when he was feeling a little better than he had, he was happily buried in work when he remembered that his parents had wanted them over to dinner. Not thinking what his wife was doing he bounded up to his wife's bedroom. She was not in her bed and, without thinking, he entered her bathroom to find her in the middle of a bath. Her breasts looked positively amazing as they bobbed in the rose hip water that was adding a sheen to her small, but firm breasts. He instantly felt a twitch in his pants.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my dear. I should have knocked." Henry looked away.

"Nonsense. My body is all yours anyway." Eliza couldn't believe the forward words coming out her mouth, but perhaps she's grown bold the last week or so. She made no attempt to cover up her breasts.

"Um, well. I guess I will just talk to you later." Henry rushed from the room, but not before Eliza caught sight of the growing bulge in his pants.

Feeling a heat between her thighs that had nothing to do with the hot water she was soaking in, she chuckled to herself, "Well, he is a man after well." Even though a wife of almost a month now, Eliza didn't know much about sex. She knew that a man's member would get hard and, after that, he could insert into the woman. Based on what was happening to her at the moment, she figured desire for one another "greased the skids" so to speak. It pleased her greatly to see that she could have that affect on him. But how could she get him to WANT to make love to her?

Emboldened by the events in the bathroom that day, she thought she could be a gentle lure to her husband. This was her marriage too and she wasn't going to to sit around and do nothing. Something was holding him back from taking her as he should. She didn't know what it was, but knew she couldn't broach the subject. She could, however, entice him to the point where he couldn't stop himself. She knew enough of men's desires to know they ruled over them much of the time. She just needed to figure out the triggers for her husband.

Instead of dressing properly the next morning, she kept her night shift on when she visited Henry in his office.

"Dear, I was thinking of going to the library later today. Do you want to come?"

Henry looked up to see his tall wife with just a sheen of fabric on. She clearly had no undergarments on and her pert, shapely breasts could clearly be seen. His cock gave an involuntary twitch.

"What? I, uh, whew. I, uh, sure. I want to come. I mean, I can go with you."

She smiled, acting as if the desired effect she had on her husband was something she hadn't noticed. "Great, plan to leave around two then?"

"Uh, uh, sure. Yeah." Henry stammered the words out as he couldn't take his eyes off his slender, lithe wife's body.

Just before she left his office she exclaimed, "Oh there it is." She pulled up her shift like she had practiced countless times in her room this morning whilst picking up the hair pin she had purposely dropped on the floor on the way into his office. It was a long, slow bend at the waist, leaving not much hidden from the eyes of anyone looking on right then. And Henry was an enthusiastic observer of the sight before him. She straightened and briefly glanced over her shoulder, giving her husband a wry smile as she exited the office.

Henry looked down to see a huge erection in his pants as his thoughts were bombarded with his wife's sexy display.

Eliza could feel the wetness between her legs. By the time she got back to her bedroom, she had a strong desire to rub herself down there. Is this what sex feels like she wondered? It feels pretty damn wonderful, so why is her husband avoiding it with her?

That afternoon on the way to the library, there was a fire in Henry's eyes she had not seen in a long time. Not only that, but he gripped her hand shortly after leaving their house and held her hand the entire way to the library. She can scarcely recall what they talked about, but she knew it was the happiest she had been since they got married. Their lovely afternoon spilled over to the nicest dinner they've had in their married life. She could only hope this great day would continue.

Getting up from the dinner table, Eliza stood close to her husband and feigned a stretch and yawn, showing off her breasts as best she could. There were mere inches from Henry's face. "Well, I'm tired. I'm off to bed."

Henry rose heatedly. "Dammit, wife." He gripped her behind her waist and pulled her close to him. The heat of their bodies was intense and Henry could barely contain himself. His other hand flew to her hair as he pulled her into him, smothering her mouth with a hot kiss. She let out a low moan. He must consume her. He must take her. His lips devoured her neglected ones. He coaxed her to open her mouth and his tongue explored, too. She wasn't experienced, but it seemed to Eliza that he was enjoying it as much as she was.

His mouth left hers and traveled to her ears and neck, all the while holding her waist firm. He was on fire for her. He pulled her even closer and she could feel his hard length pressing against her belly. She felt like a puddle in his hands. Indeed, a puddle seemed to be forming in her groin. Not knowing if she should speak or not, she hoped he would continue. His breathing was getting more intense and she was getting lost in her desire for her husband. She knew that she wanted him in her desperately, but given how the first month of their marriage had gone, she dare not ask for it.

After a continued escalation of kisses to the point where she thought she might burst then and there, Henry pulled away from her. "I'm sorry, Eliza." Between ragged breaths, he continued, "I should not be taking advantage of you in this way. It isn't fair."

He moved to back away from her. She gripped his shoulders as hard as she could. She could feel the power in his shoulders and knew she wouldn't be able to physically stop him from leaving, but she could appeal to him.

"No, what's not fair is making love to me only halfway. I need you, Henry. I need you to make love to me. I need you in me. I need your, uh, thing in me. I need it more than I've ever needed anything."

"You don't understand, Eliza. I'll ruin you. I'm not...I'm not right."

"Ruin me then. Just take me. Make me yours. Plunge into my depths. You don't have to be soft. Take me, Henry. I'm begging you."

He couldn't resist her words anything longer. Indeed, he couldn't resist his urges. Lifting up her dress and petticoat, he grabbed her small, firm ass and placed her on the table. His pants were off quickly and his hardened shaft was ready for its prize. He supposed he should be more gentle as he was sure this was the first time she had sex, but her words raised his blood to such an extent that he couldn't be gentle. He lined up his engorged shaft at her slick, wet opening and plunged his length into her in one thrust. She was so wet, it slid in easily, but still she let out a shriek of pain. He stopped momentarily and saw the fear in her eyes. He thought to stop this madness and began to pull out, but she tightened her legs around him and pulled him into her. Soon, an easy rhythm was gained while Henry was railing his wife where they had been eating dinner only minutes before.