Mistress of the Air Ch. 03

Victoria hustled a shell-shocked Captain Wyndham out the room.

Lady Sally did nothing to hide the fact she was a strict dominatrix, indeed positively flaunted it, but seeing her in action was an eye-opener for the captain. She was oblivious to their presence, unaware of how long the pair of them stood watching the spectacle. And what an awesome sight it was. There was Lady Sally, her breasts bulging out of the corset, her black hair fanned around her as she swirled the bamboo sword like a vamped-up version of a Samurai warrior. It was the savagery of the beating that shocked the captain though.

"Victoria, I hope you don't mind me asking, but is that normal behaviour?" he enquired.

"Oh yes, that's fairly typical. And that was only a beating to be fair, I've known her be more sadistically wicked."

Captain Wyndham stroked his goatee beard, "More sadistic? Oh really."

The captain was concerned about his commission. Strangely drawn to Lady Sally's powerful, exotic presence, as he gathered most men appeared to be, he didn't consider himself submissive, let alone a masochist.

Victoria, picking up on his hesitance, clarified, "She has plenty of submissive gentlemen who come to her. I'm sure what she wants from you is your skills as an aviator, to be captain of her airship."

"Oh," Wyndham laughed nervously, "that's a relief."

"Though once you get captivated by her, there's no telling where she might take you," she added ominously. "I mean look at me... I used to be an engineer. I installed the steam-powered hydraulic water pumping station at Rudston Hall. I wore overalls all the time and wouldn't have been seen dead in women's clothes. But look at me now." She shrugged, with a bemused but kindly look in her eyes.

"Indeed." The captain was somewhat disturbed by this, but decided not to question Victoria further on the matter.

It had to be said that Lady Sally's maid was immaculately turned out. The threat of punishment was ever-present if her appearance did not meet her mistress's exacting standards, as a poorly presented maid reflected poorly on Lady Sally, which, quite simply, would not do. The captain noted how neatly her blonde wig was brushed and tied back with her maid's cap perched on top of it. Her closely shaven skin was applied with blusher, her eyes with eye-liner and shadow. The transvestite transformation was impressive, but left enough doubt in the viewer's mind to raise the suspicion she was not quite what she seemed.

Victoria led Captain Wyndham through the grand entrance hall with its marbled columns, cast-iron balustrade and teak fittings, past Lady Sally's collection of jade figurines, and onto a paved terrace. This looked across a wide lawn through an avenue of lime trees towards the ornamental lake. It was a spectacular vista.

Victoria invited the captain to take a seat at a cast-iron table with a view overlooking the park.

"I'll arrange for tea to be brought out for you. It's three-thirty. Lady Sally will join you soon. She won't miss afternoon tea... she never misses afternoon tea."

"Thank you, that's most kind of you," Captain Wyndham replied.

Wyndham sat back and waited patiently in the afternoon sun. He was relieved he'd changed out of his working clothes for his visit, anticipating, correctly, that his oil-stained, canvas coat would not be appropriate for the grandeur of Rudston Hall. He wore the light beige, woollen suit with a light blue check pattern and burgundy velvet waistcoat he reserved for special occasions.

He sat there reflecting on the magnificence of the stately home, the broad sweep of formal gardens before him and the park in the distance. His thoughts turned to his unusual employer, the remarkable Lady Sally Rudston-Chichester.

He was pulled from his reflections by Lady Sally's distinctive, crisp tone of voice.

"It's magnificent, isn't it? The fifth Earl of Rudston commissioned Capability Brown to landscape the park."

Captain Wyndham stood up to greet her and gave a little bow. Lady Sally offered her hand to him, and the captain leaned forward to place a delicate kiss on her silk gloves, which she had put back on. She had not changed, appearing still dressed in her scarlet corsetry.

She ceremoniously laid a riding crop on the table and took up a seat opposite him.

At that moment, Victoria arrived, teetering on high-heeled ankle-boots, carrying a silver tray laden with a huge tea pot, scones and patisseries.

Lady Sally waved her hand, "Victoria, would you do the honours please?"

Her maid laid out crockery and poured the tea out into the delicate china cups.

"Lapsang Souchong, from my very own plantation on the foothills of the Wiyi mountains in China," she explained.

"Tea or lemon?" enquired Victoria.

"Lemon, please."

"Sugar?" asked Victoria holding silver sugar tongs with a lump clasped between their claws.

"No thank you," said the captain.

The tea was deliciously refreshing on a warm spring day.

"Victoria. Don't be such a dilatory dolly. Captain Wyndham is my guest. You should offer him a scone. Really!" She explained in an aside to the captain, "she can be so inattentive. She needs a good reprimand to keep her on her toes."

A plain scone with a spoonful of homemade strawberry jam and another of clotted cream was placed on a plate for the captain.

Lady Sally got down to business.

"So, captain, how is work progressing on my airship?"

"Very well madam, the fit-out is nearly complete. She should be ready to launch for the summer season as scheduled."

"And the experiments with the dimethyl aether propulsion, are they successful?"

"Yes, they've been incorporated into the engine's design. There's no doubt your airship will be the fastest in the sky."

"Excellent, and my airship designer, Mr Barnes-Wallis, I trust he's well?"

"Yes your ladyship. He's so young though, but a brilliant technician and designer. He bamboozles me with his technical knowledge of airship construction. He's quite a genius."

"Yes I know, Wyndham. I have an intuition about people. He has a first class honours degree in engineering and did his PhD on geodetic design. He was an exceptional student who came highly recommended. That young man will do exceedingly well. He will go on to great things, I'm sure-dam busting things, I dare say," she laughed.

Captain Wyndham proceeded to explain in more detail how work on the airship was progressing.

"We shall be ready for a test flight in May and, provided that goes without any hitches, your ladyship will be able to set off on her adventures in late June."

"That's excellent, captain. I'm so excited, I can hardly wait. I shall attend her official launch of course. And there's such a lot of packing to do. Well, that is to say, Victoria has a lot of packing to do for me. You will love it won't you my maid?"

"Oh yes," she concurred. "Will madam be taking all her corsets with her?"

"Well, of course, Victoria. One can never have too many corsets. If I don't take them all, then the very one I have a fancy for might not be there."

There was one matter that intrigued Captain Wyndham, and he plucked up the courage to raise a somewhat delicate matter.

"Excuse my asking Lady Sally, but the expense of your airship must be enormous, yet you are a young woman. How can you finance such an extravagant project?"

"No, I don't mind you asking in the slightest, captain. I came into my inheritance when I was only eighteen and I've accumulated many business interests over the last decade. As to the costs of my airship project, it's very simple. I own a brass mine in Zanzibar and I dedicate the profits from this venture, which are considerable, to the building of my airship. As I'm sure you'll know the demand for brass has gone through the roof in recent years."

"A brass mine? But surely..."

"Dare you question me, captain?" Lady Sally intervened, her eyes flashing with indignation.

"Well, no Lady Sally, it's just that surely a brass mine..."

"... must be a most singular and unusual object. Indeed, it is, captain!"

Captain Wyndham decided against entering into a discussion on metallurgy and the nature of alloys with the formidable Lady Sally.

He smiled politely, "Oh yes Lady Sally, indeed it must be."

"Come captain, you must sample a patisserie. I understand from cook they are passion fruit eclairs."

The captain examined the plate, and the cakes did look delicious. They were long and plump with light-brown, flesh coloured, choux pastry, covered in a similar coloured icing. Lady Sally put one on his plate and took one for herself.

Lady Sally attacked the patisserie with relish. Her pearly-white teeth bit into the soft pastry so firmly the cream oozed out the other end. There was cream over her red lips too, which she licked off sensuously. Captain Wyndham was transfixed as he watched Lady Sally roll her tongue around her lips before taking another bite. Realising he was staring, he turned attention to his own éclair.

As he bit into it, cream squeezed out of the pastry over his fingers. They were, indeed, exceedingly good cakes. The combination of sweet choux pastry, tangy fruit icing, and rich cream was perfect.

"I simply love messy food," remarked Lady Sally before sliding a finger between her lips to lick cream off. "I wanted to bathe in whipped cream once but cook said there wasn't enough cream in the dairy to cover my breasts, which I think rather impertinent of her, don't you think?"

"Yes, Lady Sally," mumbled the captain through a mouth full of éclair.

"Well, I must say cook has surpassed herself today. Those eclairs are delicious. You must pass my compliments on to her, Victoria."

Her maid looked askance, "Is that wise, madam? After all, you don't want her getting too full of herself..."

"... she's too full of herself as it is. Yes, I know. Perhaps you are right... on this occasion."

Lady Sally finished off by dabbing her lips with an Irish, damask napkin, which, as she explained to the captain, made for the highest quality table-linen. She continued with her business.

"Now, you must come to my workshop. There's something I need to show you that is most pertinent to my adventure, indeed to your role as my airship pilot. It is the main reason for our meeting."

They strolled along a gravel driveway, Victoria holding a parasol over Lady Sally to shield her alabaster skin from the glare of the sun. They came to a series of single-storey, brick outbuildings.

"These are my workshops," Lady Sally announced.

On entering, Captain Wyndham looked around; everywhere the benches were strewn with sprockets, circuits, conduits, brass dials, copper pipes, cogs, gears and pistons. The walls were covered with the tools for working them.

Drawing the captain to one side so her maid didn't hear, Lady Sally explained what went on here, "This workshop is where my artificers and arcane engineers have been building dastardly devices to take on my adventures."

"Dastardly devices?" queried Wyndham.

"Oh, don't be so naïve captain. Toys for me to play with."

"You mean, like dolls?"

"Oh really, captain... sex-toys! Though, in a manner of speaking you are not so far from the mark. These are of a clockwork, electrical or steam-powered variety, built by my team of engineers to my own design, naturally. After all, I have a natural flair and expertise both in sexual arousal and corrective punishments.

"See those two crates over there," she said pointing to the corner, "they contain the objects I want to take with me. Take them back with you today. I will arrange for you to use my charabanc to convey them to the airship station.

"But hide them and, on no account, tell my maid. Victoria is so nosy, she'll go snooping around opening them. I want them to be a surprise. And besides, she'll get over-excited if she sees what I'm taking... and that's not good for her."

Captain Wyndham gulped. Crates of mechanical sex toys; he wondered what sort of venture he was letting himself in for.

"Of course, Lady Sally. I won't say a thing."

"But this isn't what I've come to show you. Come and take a look at this," she said, beckoning Victoria to join them. "You will both find this interesting, though for differing reasons, I expect."

Lady Sally led them over to a crate, about the same height as her, standing upright against the wall. She pulled open its front to reveal a brass figure. She was a thing of beauty, expertly moulded in shiny brass. The detail in the figure was exacting. The curve of her breasts with the circle of their areola was just perfect. In the place where her nipples should be, there were two red bulbs. Her brass features had a wistful expression which managed to appear both robotically detached yet sensual at the same time.

"This is Clarissa."

"Blimey," gasped Victoria. "She's wonderful, madam. Is she a plaything?"

"No, she's not, so don't get excited, Victoria."

"No," exclaimed Captain Wyndham. "This is an automaton."

"Not just any automaton, an automaton pilot. Open her up, captain."

He released the panel in her abdomen from its catches. It swung open to uncover an array of dials. The captain stroked his goatee bear as he examined them closely. There was a compass, an altimeter, a statoscope, chronometer, a speedometer, the devices necessary for measuring distance, speed and direction. He gasped. This was the latest in airship technology.

"Do you see her nipples," said Lady Sally, pointing to the red bulbs. "They will light up in an emergency. A little touch of my own I found rather amusing. I have to confess, even my workshops do not possess the skills for such sophisticated technology. Clarissa was made in Germany, as you will discover, because the factory where she was manufactured will be our first port of call."

"She's amazing," said Captain Wyndham.

"She's so sexy," exclaimed Victoria, reaching out her hand to run it across Clarissa's shiny, brass tits, so perfectly formed and realistic looking.

Lady Sally rolled her eyes, "Oh really, Victoria, do control yourself."

"Can I dress her, madam? Please let me dress her. I can find her a wig and something nice from madam's wardrobe to put her in."

"Oh, if you must Victoria. If it will amuse you, but you must keep the control panel accessible, so no corsetry I'm afraid."

She turned to Captain Wyndham.

"You must take her back to the airship station, captain, and install her in the cockpit. I have an instruction manual for you, which has been translated into English." There was a twinkle in her eye, "Of course, this will mean you need not be confined to the control room for the whole voyage, captain. During normal operation Clarissa will be able to do the routine flying, leaving you free for other things..."

Lady Sally left the last sentence hanging ominously in the air.

"So, captain, until the day of the launch. It will be a wonderful occasion. I had better return to my slave now. It's tiresome, I know, but I suppose I ought to release him from the cage I confined him to, and let him get on his way."

"Thank you, Lady Sally. Like you, I can't wait to see your airship in flight. It's been a remarkable afternoon, your ladyship... in more ways than one."

"Adieu captain. We will meet again soon."