A Wedding in Wottfordshire

Cousin Susannah's summer wedding festival becomes a romping romance for the maiden of honor as she seeks her mystery lover.

This period romp and romance taking place in the summer of 1824 is written for the Summer Lovin' Story Contest 2023. It has an element of mystery combined with a slow buildup but there are a number of fun and erotic scenes along the way to keep it interesting. I hope you'll enjoy it, and I thank you in advance for reading and for your vote.

© SouthernCrossfire - 2023. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 1: Day One

My cousin Susannah's wedding promised to be the largest event of the year in Wottfordshire and the surrounding area so she chose early July to host it. With roads like ours, a winter snow, a spring rainstorm, or the varied and ever-changing weather of fall could result in the guests and even members of the wedding party arriving late or not at all, so her parents invited the guests to arrive two or three days in advance of her nuptials for a wedding festival and to stay a day or two afterward. As I was to be her chief attendant, it was my duty to arrive earlier.

I arrived on time after a small delay, but whether I'd arrived safely was a matter of debate.

While on the way to Wottfordshire from Humden, my tiny village some six leagues distant, a highwayman had stopped my family's old coach to rob me, but it hadn't turned out as either of us had expected. Now, barely an hour later, still reeling from the shock, the surprise, and the fading euphoria, I disembarked from the coach with Renald, my shy young coachman, and Hilary, my handmaiden and sweet friend, to be met by Susannah and several of her family's retainers.

"Catherine! Oh, it's so good to see you, dear cousin!"

Susannah, two years my junior but the closest thing I had to a sibling, was always so excitable so I hugged her close when she threw her arms around me while the others looked on. However, I wasn't expecting the worried whisper in my ear.

"Cat, don't speak. We have to talk privately. As soon as possible."

She kissed my cheek and I did the same before we parted. That was when she noticed my face. "Oh, my dear! You look flush. Come, the journey must have been tough on you."

Looking to the servants, she added, "We go to her room to let her rest. Quickly, bring her bags."

Susannah's words told me that she had a problem that I, as her maiden of honor, must solve, but I had one of my own, determining the identity of my mysterious highwayman who'd only identified himself under his hooded mask as Rob. He had appeared to know me, or at least know of me, and he seemed to know that I would be in the carriage. Someone had known that I was coming on that road and had told him, with the most likely candidates being those closest to me, either here in Wottfordshire, or possibly, in Humden.

Though I tried my best to hide it, I looked askance at each person about us, wondering who among them had betrayed me, while realizing that, in all probability, I would never know.

My thoughts were interrupted when, seconds later, Susannah hooked her arm in mine and led me away.

***

Born the daughter of a minor lord in a remote part of the realm, I became, very much against my will, a Lady in all but name with the unexpected passing of my mother when I was 15. Forced by circumstance, I directed the household and much of the operation of our manor over the ensuing years. Now, over six years later, having grown into the role at the ripe old age of 21, I was faced with losing the chance at the actual title someday and all the good that Father and I have done. My concern grew with each step I took as Susannah led me upstairs to the room next to her own.

"Cat, dear, perhaps a bath is in order? Your face—"

I held up my hand to cut her off, not wanting her to remind me of the guilt that was already threatening to suffocate me.

My father had inherited the lordship of our little village and a mountain of debt quite unexpectedly in his youth, and he'd spent many years working hard and paying it off before he met my beautiful mother. She was the younger daughter of the baron's younger brother, who himself became the baron on his brother's passing without an heir. Despite being nearly twenty years her senior, Father was a handsome, honest, and kindly man, and he eventually won Mum's heart.

My mother is now long gone and my only material possession linking me to her is the gold locket she gave me. It originally held a tiny portrait of her mother, my grandmum, but when I was ten, she entrusted it to me with her tiny portrait as her mum had done with her. Mother gave me a lock of her golden hair that I kept in the locket and it became my most treasured possession, a tiny cache of beloved memories. It became doubly so when everything else she once possessed, including grandmum's portrait, was lost in a fire.

Then Rob, the highwayman, sought to take it away, and desperate to keep it, I traded the only other thing I had that might be perceived of similar value to some but which I valued far less, my maidenhead, for it. Rob took that in the locket's place just as willingly, I think, and with great gusto but also with much tenderness.

While a great lover who took me to heights unimagined, Rob wasn't a very good robber, for he left all of my other possessions with me when he departed, taking nothing but my heart. That, I fear, I gave him inadvertently, and now I suffered as Susannah led me through the manor house, with me giving a suspicious glance at each person I encountered on the way, wondering whether they were the one who had betrayed me to my mysterious ravisher, the same man I now, in my blissfully addled state, believed I might love.

"Cat? Well?"

In truth, I hadn't heard a word she said, so I feigned exhaustion from the trip for my inattention. "Suzie, please. Perhaps a bath and a sip of sherry will restore my body and my focus."

"Yes, of course! Quickly, do as she says!" Susannah said to her servants. "Prepare the bath and fetch sherry and refreshments."

Since it would take a while to prepare the bathwater, we went to my room, and Hilary, almost as addled as myself following her temporary imprisonment and unexpected enlightenment with an even more shocked Renald, unpacked my things while Susannah made small talk, asking after her few friends and acquaintances in Humden. With the whole of our village not numbering more than a hundred souls, there was little to tell, so I soon switched our focus to one of my happier pursuits, that of our horses.

As a girl, spending time with our horses was my favorite activity, far more so than my schooling at Mum's side. She taught me reading, writing, and ciphering, Latin, French, and the Classics, and most of all poetry. She also taught me how to cook, clean, and sew, and many of the things that went into managing a household.

Though I developed an appreciation for most of that in later years, in my youth I hated them all and, no matter how dearly I loved my mother, as I got bigger I couldn't wait to escape her grasp to see our horses. I loved to ride Blossom through the paddocks in my childhood and pastures as I grew. As a teen, I graduated to Charger, my horse that I'd raised from a foal, on the usually quiet roads of our sleepy village. Charger's flying hooves brought the rare excitement to my dreary corner of the world.

In addition to riding and caring for them, Father taught me about judging horses, purchasing and selling them, and, finally, breeding them. Our stock became known as the finest horseflesh for miles around, and I continued to improve it even during his dark times in the bottle following my mother's death.

Three years ago, just before Father emerged from his long stupor, I'd purchased a young filly for our future breeding stock from Mister Nigel Andrews, a breeder of fine horses some miles further south of Wottfordshire. It had been an interesting time, with me finding myself interested in a man for more than his knowledge or skill for the first time in my young life. For the first time, I felt a hint of fire in my heart and the hunger of desire in my belly.

During his short stay in our village, Nigel had expressed a similarly great interest in me. He'd evaluated our stock and made suggestions on how it could be improved while paying me even more attention. On the evening before his departure, he had given me my first kiss as we walked, but despite his apparent expectations and my own desires, it had ended there. My responsibility to my father outweighed any budding desires of my own, so I'd thanked him as we concluded our deal and watched with a heavy heart as he took his leave to head home the next day.

He'd written me a letter soon thereafter, but I'd only responded in detail to the business portion and politely declined the rest, knowing that any relationship between us was not meant to be.

The young filly was a great start in improving our stock and she'd quickly become Susannah's favorite during her next visit. Susannah spent more time leading the young horse than she did riding Blossom.

"How is my Chessie?" she asked. "You were talking of breeding her last summer during your visit."

"Bred successfully with Saint, yes, and now she has a little one of her own, a foal of almost two months. He'll be big, strong, and fast like his father before too long."

"And Chessie is broken to the—"

"Excuse me, milady, but the bath is prepared," said Mary, Susannah's chief maidservant as she rushed into the room. Being a large manor with a corresponding staff, Suzie was always rather formal and her servants treated her accordingly, unlike the friendly, usually informal relationship I had with Hilary.

Susannah seemed flustered, forgetting what she was asking, but seemed to welcome the news nonetheless. "Come, Cat, we restore your vigor and can talk in private."

***

Hilary helped remove my clothes as she's done so many times, setting them to the side for cleaning or brushing as needed, having already put out my new set for after the bath.

"Excuse us, Hilary. Lady Catherine and I have much to discuss." She gave a double wave, backhanded, dismissing her, but Hilary's eyes flashed to my own as her face showed concern, most likely for my welfare as well as for the need to discuss the events of the day. My nudity was nothing to her, so her eyes stayed focused on my face rather than dropping to look at my exposed bosom, my tight belly, or my blonde patch below. My breasts were generous in size but not overly large, each with a pert upturned nipple that pointed at the slightest touch.

"Go, dear. We'll call you when we're done. You can have a turn in the bath then."

I looked at Susannah expectantly and saw her eyes firmly locked on my tits, which still appeared somewhat more full than her own. Raising an eyebrow drew her attention from her touch of jealousy to matters at hand, leading her to nod and Hilary to give a smile in return before she slipped out of the room. Susannah locked the door behind her and then held out her hand, offering to steady me as I stepped into the tub.

"You are as perfect as ever, cousin, Venus incarnate, leading me to hope, feverishly, I might add, that my husband will find my own form even half as pleasing. Your...golden hair is as beautiful as ever and makes me weep over my own dark mop."

I laughed lightly, wondering if she'd originally planned to say "hair" rather than the focus of her attention before catching herself. While her own hair was shorter and darker than mine, it was by no means plain and it suited her perfectly.

"Suz, your hair is beautiful, too, dear, and with the face of an angel and your well-rounded behind, you have nothing to fear in that regard. I'm quite sure he'll adore you completely, and that he will please and be pleased by you many, many times."

She also had the benefit of the softest skin and the nicest hands imaginable. Unlike my own, they were soft and callus-free. She did little work around their manor, with her mother in charge but Susannah having free reign to direct the servants not expressly on tasks for Aunt Eliza. As the youngest of Uncle John and Aunt Eliza's three children and the only survivor after the childhood death of her first brother and the loss of the other fighting in Africa very early in the year, she was quite used to being pampered and she clearly enjoyed it.

The water in the large cast iron tub was hot as I dipped my toe into it, but not so hot as to keep me from stepping on in. Feeling it engulf my calf, I sighed happily since the water for baths in the wooden tub at home was usually far shallower and was barely tepid in comparison to this great luxury.

With my foot on the bottom and the sudsy water up to my knee, I gripped Susannah's hand a bit more tightly as I stepped over the side with my other foot. We smiled at each other as I did, with her possibly matching my fond memory of the many times we'd shared a tub in our youth while our mothers talked and laughed beside us.

Standing in the tub, I released her hand, gripped the sides, and slowly lowered myself into the heat, my eyes closing as I settled down into the water. As I approached my sex, pleasantly sore from being so used earlier in the day, I winced but forced myself down, giving a little gasp in the end as my patch, stomach, and bosoms were immersed in the sudsy water. Holding the sides, I leaned back and gave a contented sigh, feeling the water embrace me and ease my tensions.

Suzie laughed. "A bath is a truly wondrous thing, isn't it? Taking away the concerns of the day while offering a bright clean start for the morrow.

"Mmmm, yes," I agreed, thoughts of the earlier events fading slightly before opening my eyes to look at her. Not knowing if the walls might have ears, I whispered, "Susannah, tell me, what's wrong?"

"The wedding, it may be off."

I looked at her incredulously, shocked beyond words, so I gasped, "Suzie, what did you mean? Why might the wedding be off? Do you wish it to be?"

"No! Not at all! I...I love Wilfred, but he has given me the option to withdraw, if I wish, due to his condition." She fidgeted nervously, like a little bird moving from spot to spot beside a park bench, waiting for more crumbs to fall.

And, following the initial surprise, that was the way I began to feel too. I glared at her, expecting her to volunteer the information we needed to solve her problem rather than make me pull it out of her bit by bit. When she failed to take the hint, I said, as forcefully as I could in a whisper, "And?"

"Cat, his new surgeon thinks him unable to have children."

That was even more unexpected since part of the marital alliance between families, even beyond love between the partners (if happily that was indeed the case), was to be able to continue the line. Inability to conceive and produce offspring was a very serious issue, and that was doubly important in this case considering our family's recent history including her brother Jonathan's recent death in Africa. With Susannah being the last of the direct line, it was up to her to find a suitable partner and produce heirs to continue it.

Luckily, Susannah took my dumbfounded silence as a prompt to continue.

"I don't know the details, only that the new surgeon has examined him in detail and found him incapable. I love him, Cat, but my parents want...no, my parents need this alliance to be consummated and an heir produced. They had such high hopes for Jonathan after our elder brother's passing in his youth, and still mourn him daily. This wedding, I hope, will be the impetus for them to move on and look to the future with grandchildren someday. However, if Wilfred is truly incapable, then I fully believe that they will be prepared to call it all off and start the matchmaking over again despite my own wishes."

"Oh, Suzie, I'm so sorry," I finally said, understanding the problem. "What are we going to do?"

"You, Cat, must go to him, give him my love, and get the facts."

As the maiden of honor, it was my duty. Unfortunately, as a not-quite 22-year-old woman who'd had her first-ever actual sexual experience just a couple of hours earlier, I had no idea what to do, how to go about it, or how to solve the situation. However, though being so inexperienced, my mind had long been quite fertile and capable of imaging numerous situations well beyond my experience, so perhaps I could come up with something. Therefore, I sought more information as my mind churned, trying to come up with ideas and options. "And if it's true?"

"I...I don't know. Perhaps we run away."

"Susannah! Shhh! Don't say such things."

If she did, then, as the closest living relative, a child I might someday have might be forced to inherit in her place. I looked at Savannah's rigid upbringing versus the relative freedom of my own and suppressed a shudder at the thought. This made it doubly important that I solve this mess and get it right.

Savannah took my hand and patted it with great certainty as she said, "I know, Cat, but I'm sure it won't come to that. I'm quite certain you'll find a way to work it out so Wilfred and I can be happy together."

***

Chapter 2: The First Evening

Perhaps unable to face each other under the circumstances, both Susannah and Wilfred elected to dine in their own quarters that evening, her in her chambers adjacent to my guest room and he in his guest room on the third floor in the east wing.

Unfortunately, I was not offered the option, and being a guest and Susannah's representative, I felt it my duty not to beg off from attending the meal. Dressed in my evening gown with my hair well-coiffed, my makeup in place, and much on my mind, I made my way to the banquet hall.

On seeing my aunt and uncle, I greeted them with hugs and kisses, and inquired about how they'd been doing since I'd seen them last at Jonathan's memorial. It was a brief encounter but they appreciated it, and Aunt Eliza said she looked forward to spending some time with me later in the week.

Responsibility called then, stacking on top of the frustrating realization I'd already reached when I had a few moments alone to collect my thoughts. On arriving, I'd been blissfully addled, not able to think straight due to the combination of fading euphoria and the growing sense of embarrassment at what I'd done, when I focused solely on who might have betrayed me.

No, not only was the person who'd betrayed my plans and my presence in that coach either in my home village or here in Wottfordshire, Rob, the brigand himself, might be as well! While I would probably never know the identity of my betrayer, there was a chance, admittedly small, that I might be able to discover Rob's identity.

That, after all, was what I really wanted anyway.

Therefore, I made a round of the dining room, greeting or meeting each guest in turn, thanking them for attending, and giving Susannah's regrets for feeling unable to attend. To my surprise, the guests understood and the discussion quickly moved on before I had to move to the next guest and repeat the process.

As I did, the name of each person had to be remembered, but I took an extra step with each of the men, observing them closely, trying to determine their general build and the color of their eyes, the only two things that I knew about Rob with any certainty. Having only been with him in the relatively dim lighting of the enclosed coach and seeing him as he stepped out before getting on his horse and riding away, he stood probably two to as much six inches taller than me so he would be no taller than 6-feet, and his eyes, the only part of him I saw, were a deep brown.