Astoria Park Resumes

At first, Elizabeth put up some resistance to Simon's advances but his persistence soon resulted in him making love to her and the bed bounced in time to the lovemaking of the two couples. Bella cried out in ecstasy as Roderick filled her with his semen. If Elizabeth had not been occupied by Simon's lovemaking she would have come to the realisation that this was not the first time that brother and sister had been lovers.

-o-0-o-

William sat with several other fathers outside the Headmaster's office. Memories of his youth came flooding back. Memories of many times sitting outside the Headmaster's office, of the waiting for the inevitable application of the cane across his buttocks, memories of the difficulty he had sitting for several days following the cane.

The door opened and they were all ushered inside and shown chairs spaced around the wall of the office. "I have asked you all to come here today to discuss a very serious matter." The Headmaster looked over his spectacles at them. "It has been brought to my attention that your sons have been drinking in this school. We have carried out an extensive investigation into this matter in an attempt to find the boy responsible for this infraction of school rules. We have asked that boy to come forward to no avail. As senior students, it is beholden on your sons to set a good example for the junior boys. The example that they have set is not one that we care for, and because of this we are obliged to mete out a suitable punishment that will set an example that will discourage a repeat of this behaviour."

"I have chosen a punishment that I feel fits the crime. I could have expelled your sons from this school but I felt that this would further enhance the status that they have achieved. I could cane them severely but again this would enhance their status. I have decided that a public humiliation is in order, so, for the rest of this term, your sons will have to, while going about the school day, wear a placard that states that they have brought the good name of this school into disrepute. This includes while they are on school excursions, playing a sport, both internally and against other schools. If their behaviour improves, and if they give an undertaking never to do anything that will bring shame on the good name of this school, I will have the signs removed next term. If this does not happen they will be required to wear it for the rest of the year. That will be all."

The men were summarily dismissed and trooped from the office and the school. "It could have been worse." Observed William to Thomas Chilcott. "They could have been expelled and I've already secured a place for William at Cambridge."

"My son has a place there as well. I want him to have a complete education before he comes to work for me."

"I'm afraid that William has no interest in running Astoria Park, so I want him to receive an education that will benefit me in some other way, such as Law."

"Then who will run your property?"

"I just hope that Elizabeth will marry someone who is interested in a career on the land."

"I don't think young Roderick Hamilton has any interests other than having a good time. They have been seen together a great deal lately."

"I knew that she was friends with Isabella Hamilton, they were at school and now the Constance Armitage Academy together, so it seems natural that she should become friends with the brother. What else do we know of him?"

"His parents are very well off and throw some of the most lavish parties, only the most interesting and important people ever receive an invitation. He did well enough at school but has shown little interest in the family business other than as a source of money. He is seen at the races and at certain gentlemen's clubs where there is gambling."

"Does he have any other friends?"

"Only the one friend that I am aware of. Simon Coulthard and he have been friends for years and it seems as Simon and Roderick's sister are more than just friends. Like Roderick, his interests lie in pleasure, his father is a 'Remittance Man' and has a ready supply of money from England and are well enough off for him to indulge in that lifestyle."

"It seems then that I'll have to look elsewhere for someone to manage the property."

-o-0-o-

Thwack! "You have been a very bad boy." The rattan came down hard on Sir William's bare buttocks. He was dressed in a schoolboy's uniform of grey flannel shorts that were now around his ankles, a white shirt, grey coat, tie and boater hat. His shoes were black and his grey socks were also down around his ankles. "Repeat after me you slimy little toad, 'I've been a very bad boy'."

Juliana was dressed in the cap and gown of a school teacher and nothing else.

"I've been a very bad boy."

Thwack! "Louder! I want to hear you!"

"I've been a very bad boy!"

"What have you been?"

"A very bad boy!"

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Sir William was trying hard not to make a sound but to no avail, with a grunt, he lost control and semen shot from his penis and splattered across the polished timber floor. "Now look what you've done! Get down there and lick it all up!"

The chastened schoolboy did as he was told. He didn't flinch as several more sharp blows cut across his buttocks, each leaving a red weal.

"Because you have been such a bad boy you will go to bed without dinner!" William got to his feet and headed for the bedroom. "Stop! Where are your manners? What do you say when I give you an order?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"That's better! Now get to bed and don't stir until I tell you that you can."

"But Mistress,"

"What is it you snivelling little worm?"

"I need to go to the toilet."

"That's not how you ask to go to the toilet!"

"Please Mistress, may I please go to the toilet?"

"Yes you may, but don't spend all day there or else I'll think that you are doing something else."

"No Mistress." He backed out of the room and headed for the toilet. It was all a part of one of the regular games that they played, although the marks of the cane were real enough. On his return, Juliana administered a salve to his buttocks that would help to minimise the bruising and allow him to sit down at the dining table.

"William, I have been thinking of ways to improve our friendship and at the same time our wealth."

"We have discussed this before, if you take on more girls the police will close you down, you have a small but profitable operation that is sufficient to provide you with an ample income."

"That is not my proposal. Apart from an accommodating young girl, what is it that men look for?"

"The clubs have gaming rooms where cards can be played. Is this what you are planning?"

"In a way, yes. My plans are for a gaming establishment that will provide gambling at cards as well as other games of chance. It will have young girls as hostesses who will take care of the gentlemen, provide them with drink and encouragement to participate in activities."

"These girls, will they be required to provide additional services of a more personal nature?"

"No, they will not. However, if the gentleman concerned, and the young lady come to a private arrangement then facilities will be provided."

"I suppose that you are asking me to provide funding for this venture?"

"I would not ask that of a friend such as you, my love. However, if you should wish to invest in this venture, I will accept your investment in more ways than one." She kissed him and, taking care not to add to his discomfort, made love to him.

-o-0-o-

"Do you know darling Ben, I have allowed you to do things to me that I would never allow William, and do you know why? It's because I have very strong feelings for you, I love you. You do love me don't you?"

Ben was still inside Priss, he had just had yet another orgasm, she was on top of him and he had a clear view of her breasts, still youthful after three children, as they moved in time with her slowing movements. It was as if she was riding a horse straddled rather than the more conventional side-saddle that ladies used. He had lost count how many he'd had over the last several days, but that would all have to end tomorrow, because William would be back from his trip to Sydney. He would have to make the most of the time available to them. "Yes I do love you, this love is something that I never thought would happen to me, ever."

"I wish we could go on forever, but William will be back soon. I know that he's been with his mistress."

"There must be some way that we can continue to be with each other, there must."

"I don't see how. When he is here he seldom leaves the house. Unless,"

"Unless what?"

"Unless I take an interest in the running of the property, that will allow me to ride out to meet you somewhere, somewhere where we can be alone to love each other."

"Won't he become suspicious of your interest? You've never shown any interest in the past."

"I can say that I need to know more about the property so that I can look after things when he is away, and so that he doesn't feel obliged to rush back home. He just might jump at the chance to go to Sydney more often, especially if I don't want to go with him."

"It's worth a try." Ben's hand had once more found its way between her legs and Priss was moving in response to his finger. They were soon locked in each other's arms again.

-o-0-o-

"They's at it again." Bessie, one of the maids, said as she sat at the kitchen table.

"It's been every night since Mister William left for Sydney." Mrs Wilson, the housekeeper said.

"There'll be hell to pay if he were to find out."

"And who's going to tell him, you?"

"I just might."

"Listen to me you stupid girl, just because he's had his way with you, and you're havin' his kid, doesn't mean he'll toss her out and wed you. You just tell him about your state and he'll see you right, but you'll have to leave here."

"But I don't want to leave. I'm in love with him and I want to wed him."

"You get those silly thoughts out of your head! He'll never marry you, he's gentry and you're just a maid. You're not the first young girl that has found herself in your situation, and like as not, you won't be the last. Now tomorrow you're to strip the sheets off her bed and take them to the laundry and boil them, we can't have any stains for him to see. And you say nothing, you hear?"

"What became of the others?"

"He gave them some money and found an obliging young lad to wed them. They seems happy enough."

The young girl's thoughts began to centre over which of the young lads on the farm she would like to wed, if she can't have the Master, she would aim for the best of what was available.

-o-0-o-

William kissed Juliana just inside her front door. She was naked, the reason that they did not open the door. "There must be some way that I can get away from the property more frequently."

"Do you really need to be there all of the time?"

"No, Ben is quite capable of taking care of things in my absence, so I could give him more responsibility, that way I can spend most of my time here, with you."

"I would like that," she took his hand and placed it between her legs, "I would like that very much. You know that I'm in love with you don't you?"

"As I am with you. It is a real pleasure being with you after having to spend time with that cold bitch of a woman I'm married to. She trapped me into marriage in the first place. We had made love the once and then she told me that she was with child and that I was to wed her. Her father was the Magistrate and he could have caused a great deal of trouble for me. He went to my father and arranged it all. I was to marry Priscilla and settle on land that they bought here in New South Wales or I would find myself in prison. At first, she allowed me some liberties with her but since Isobel was born she has slept in her own bed and only allowed the occasional contact, and then it is without any enthusiasm. The only relief I have found there is with the young girls that work in the house."

"All that will change when you are with me."

"I know that, and it is all that keeps me sane." He kissed her one more time and then entered the carriage that was ordered for him, and that took him to the railway. Reaching Goulburn, he strode to the stables where his horse waited to take him back to Astoria Park.

-o-0-o-

"How long have you been with your brother?" Elizabeth and Bella sat on her bed.

"These past six months. We have always been close and it seemed only natural that when he didn't have a girl to love he should come to me."

"But isn't it wrong to make love to your brother?"

"We have thought of that, but each time we have tried to stop, we have given in to temptation again."

"Do you love Simon?"

"Yes, but not in the same way that I love Roderick. He is a very good lover and if I didn't have Roderick to compare him with I would be satisfied. Who do you think is the better of the two?"

"Roderick, because I love him."

"So you see what I mean, when you love someone, truly love him, no other man can compare with him."

"It feels funny somehow that you and I are the best of friends and are in love with the same person, who just happens to be your brother."

"Oh I wouldn't let that come in the way of our friendship, in fact it, could bring us closer. How would you feel if, when Simon isn't here, both of us making love with Roderick?"

"How many other men have you made love with?"

"A few, they were just boys and it was nothing compared to Roderick and Simon. They just put their things into me and pushed it in and out a few times and then it was all over. I felt nothing, I might just as well have been a whore, only I didn't get paid for it."

While they were talking Bella's hand had been resting on Elizabeth's thigh, her fingers moving in gentle strokes on the bare flesh. Now her fingers advanced along the inside of her thigh towards the junction between the legs. Elizabeth's eyes closed as the fingers approached her vagina, her legs moving apart to allow access. This she felt was not right but, at the same time, she was powerless to stop.

The sensation that she felt when the finger parted her labia sent electric shocks through her whole body and soon she was lost completely in the gentle loving of her friend and lover. Bella drew her down onto the bed and straddled her chest and moved so that she could replace her fingers with her tongue. Elizabeth needed no instruction to realise that she was expected to reciprocate and soon her tongue imitated every movement of the more experienced tongue pushing into her.

-o-0-o-

Isobel closed the book that she was studying and stared out the window of her dorm room, her thoughts were the home that she had not seen for months. One part of her was anxious to return to Astoria Park, if only for the two weeks of mid-year holidays, the other part wondering if either Elizabeth or Will would bother to make the journey and if the relationship between her parents would still be as strained as it had for as long as she could remember. The part that wanted to be there was stronger, much stronger, than the other, for she was drawn to the land, and wanted more than anything to find a useful life there, not for her the shallow existence favoured by Elizabeth.

Her thoughts were for the future, she sighed, what future? Wills had no desire to take over the property from his father, his thoughts were on pleasure. Elizabeth's thoughts were also of pleasure, of that she was certain, the last time that they had spoken Elizabeth was full of stories about how she, and her best friend Bella, were planning to find suitably wealthy and profligate partners who could keep them in the manner that they saw was their right. Her father seemed to be spending more and more time in the city and unless her mother took an unexpected interest in the running of the property she had visions of its demise, unless.

I will save my world, I will learn all that there is to learn about running a property and I will save the day. This is my goal and I will succeed. I will.

She sighed and changed into her nightdress before brushing her teeth, saying a brief and, to her meaningless, prayer before climbing into her bed and sleep.

Chapter 3

William sat opposite Priscilla, his meal finished and a large brandy on the table in front of him. "Young Wills and a couple of his mates were caught drinking. One of them helped himself to the communion wine, at least it was the good stuff, or so they say, and not the stuff they give the boys. They might have got away with it except one of the boys is the son of a Publican, and he was caught with a couple of bottles of gin that he'd taken from the cellars in his bag. His father had accused his staff of theft and it wasn't until he followed up on the information that they gave him that he found the real culprit."

"What will happen to them?"

"They are required to wear a sign around their necks, at least for this term, that proclaims that they had brought the good name of the school into disrepute."

"William, I had a situation while you were away that required me to make a decision on something that I was uncertain about. We have a sowing crew coming in later this week and I had to arrange for additional supplies. I had to ask Robinson about what you would normally do before I could decide what to do. I think that I should take a greater interest in the day to day running of this place so that I can do things while you are away. I also think that you should give Robinson more responsibility in the running of the farm, he seems to be perfectly capable, and he can delegate some of what he already does to another hand, to give him more responsibility. This way you can spend more time in Sydney taking care of the administration of the property."

"I'll think about it, I need to be certain that you will be able to carry on in my place. I'll talk to Ben in the morning, if he agrees I'll try it and see how it goes."

Priscilla tossed and turned in her now lonely bed, her hand unsuccessfully taking the place of Ben. She was pleased with the way that William accepted her suggestion, now all that was necessary was for Ben to back up her plans. She smiled to herself as she dreamed of having him in her bed again.

William was not alone. Bessie was beside him, his sperm leaking from her vagina. "Sir."

"Yes, my Dear." He didn't remember her name and was playing it safe.

"You knows as to how we be doing this regular like? Well I be carrying your child and I don't know what to do, I don't want to leave here."

"I will see you right. I will give you money and I will arrange for one of the hands to marry you, that way you can stay here and have your child."

"But it's your child as well."

"We both know that, but this will be our secret, we certainly don't want the boy you choose to know now, do we?"

"I suppose not, Sir."

"And we can still get together when I'm at home." It was a statement, not an agreement.

"I don't know about that Sir, it'll look strange, me seeing you when I'm wed."

"Very well, until you are wed we'll see each other. I'll just have to live without the pleasure of your company in my bed then, won't I?"

"I'll have to do the same as you."

"Well then my girl, we'll have to make the most of tonight then. Come here, child."

-o-0-o-

Ben lay in his bed thinking of whether he could carry out his role in the deception, whether he could convince William that Priss was capable of taking over some of the running of the property. He would make a start in the morning, he needed to ride down to the river to inspect a windmill that pumped water to troughs so that the cattle didn't have to risk the boggy soil on the riverbank when they went to drink. He would suggest that Priss should accompany him so that she could make a list of any parts needed to carry out any repairs. The river was a good half-hour ride from the homestead building and there was shade where they could safely make love. He reminded himself that he needed to take a sheet to place on the ground for them to lie on.