Rogeringham

After that we slept.

74. More from Henley

We woke early, Barclay had not yet brought my shaving water, so we talked more about their time at the Dorrington's, while we waited.

The next day of their stay, Helena told me, she went for a second drive around the town, this time with Arabella. Once more she used it as an opportunity for the two of them to become more familiar. Their route about Henley crossed the bridge over the Thames and then came back into the town, where Arabella paused their journey to greet a friend of hers, before they returned to the Dorrington's house.

"And what did you discuss while you made your way about?" I asked, though I half expected Helena to close down, as she had on the day of Arabella's birthday.

Instead, she turned to me and embraced me tightly.

"Arabella told me," She explained, "what she had seen on a day out to view you soldiers fighting. Did people actually do that?"

"Oh yes," I laughed, "Just like a day at the races. They ride out in carriages, with picnics, no less, and sit at the edge of the battlefield and watch the carnage unfold for their entertainment."

"And you did not mind?" She asked, amazed at such behaviour.

"My mind was elsewhere, my love." I told her gently, "There were always other things to keep you occupied on days like that in Portugal. The French, for example, they tended to be very annoyed if they thought you were ignoring them."

Helena poked at me for taking it lightly, but really what else could I have done, I explained? My duty was to the King to do as we were ordered and my men to see that they did the same and that we all came through it as best we could. The French and the Allied troops tended to ignore the onlookers, keeping the focus of their attention on killing each other and not the viewing public.

"She said that you were all so brave to do what you did, and that she was glad that of all the people she had known in Portugal, you had come through it safely."

"I will be truthful with you, my dearest love, so was I." I said as I leaned over to kiss her. "So was I."

My kiss led to other things and soon Helena and I were in the midst of a leisurely fuck, where she rode me again, her coral-coloured nipples jiggling as she thrust up and down, when we heard the knock-knock, pause, knock-knock, that heralded Barclay's arrival.

We went out that afternoon for a drive around Hyde Park in the landau, it was a pleasant afternoon, and we had the hood down, so that we could see and be seen. Charlotte rode with us, Caroline and the twins were chaperoning Hermione in the brougham with James. The afternoon became quite warm and the sun shone brightly, so that all of the women opened their parasols to avoid being burned by the sun which would spoil their fashionably pale complexions.

For myself, I had to endure Charlotte pointing out various young ladies, emphasising their qualities as if I would be interested in them as potential matches. When they were aware of our scrutiny, the young ladies in question would primp themselves and pout, showing themselves off as if they were items in a shop, to be bought or sold. The only difference here, was that the merchandise was actively trying to sell itself.

We stopped by the Serpentine and dismounted to promenade for a while, and quite soon after that, the Dorrington's appeared in their landau, which stopped close to us. The greetings between the vehicles were enthusiastically warm, and embraces were exchanged as they also dismounted and we walked about the park, talking with each other.

My mother and Elizabeth's greetings were particularly noticeable, when she first greeted Helena - "Your Grace", Elizabeth's curtsey was quite spectacular, low and with a markedly bowed head. If a curtsey could be considered in any way sensual, this was an excellent example, and to be truthful such a thing could only have been done by a Dorrington. Helena - "My dear Lady Elizabeth" - also inclined her head in greeting, probably more than the difference in rank between the two of them demanded. However, then both women embraced warmly, and bussed each other on the cheeks.

There was no doubt that the relationship between the two women had reached a new level, which was impressive, given that they had only become acquainted for the first time at the Winter Ball before Christmas.

"Has your mother talked about her visit last week yet?" Elizabeth asked me as we walked along the edge of the lake.

"In some detail," I laughed. "She appears to have enjoyed it greatly."

"I believe we all did," Elizabeth told me. "Lady Helena is a remarkable woman, she is brave and daring and quite, quite beautiful."

"You understand now that my feelings for her are not coincidental?" I asked, she nodded.

"Yes," She agreed. "You make the perfect couple."

I was tempted to see if I could pry some more information about what occurred the previous week from Elizabeth but out of nowhere there was a sudden, and quite intense rainstorm and we were forced to repair back to our carriages and from there we returned to Rogeringham House.

I was in my study reading a letter from Henry, when Charlotte came to see me.

We had had no real opportunity to talk while we were out - aside from her teasing me - but now it seemed that she wanted to chat, so I offered her a glass of the madeira and we sat together and talked about the events at Henley. I asked about playing the piano in the nude for a group of dancing nymphs.

At least Charlotte had the decency to look embarrassed.

"We had all had far too much to drink that night." She admitted sheepishly, "The game_"

"Questions and Commands?"

"Quite so," she said, "It got completely out of hand. Once mama and Lady Elizabeth had retired to bed, we started doing silly things_"

"What sort of things?"

"Childish dares, most of which involved one of us kissing or touching another. And as the game progressed, they became more intimate - at one point I ended up frigging Arabella's cunny, and another time she frigged Hermione while they kissed for two minutes. Anyway, one thing led to another and we all ended up undressed, and someone called for music, so I played and they danced like crazed bacchantes." And like that, she dismissed their debauchery as mere girlish hi-jinks.

Charlotte caught the look on my face and laughed. "Oh William! Really, it was just high spirits! Young women - and only young women, having the sort of adventures that you had as a young man. And that was probably the worst of it," she declared. "The rest of the week we were quite demure and behaved more in line with our social positions, we talked a lot and sang together and played parlour games. And learned much more about each other.

"Did you know that Arabella shaves herself like that black girl you told me about in Jamaica? The one with the dil doule? Of course, you didn't know, how could you? She only began doing so recently, I am thinking of doing it myself, it looks like it would be most refreshing during the heat of summer."

I nodded; it would indeed be more comfortable when the weather was warm. "But you should not describe yourselves as Bacchantes." I told her, drawing a curious look. "Maenads would be a more fitting name," I suggested.

"Were they not the same?" she asked.

"The Bacchantes were Bacchus's followers, and they did do the sort of thing you described, but they were mere mortals. The Maenads on the other hand, were all divine_"

Charlotte squealed with laughter. "And, of course, we are all divine. Thank you, William!" Charlotte hugged me closely. "You are the very best brother."

We talked for the rest of the afternoon, Charlotte told me about the library at the Dorrington's house, which contained a wide selection of erotic literature from ancient writers - similar to Catullus, to more recent authors such as Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, who is also known by the pen name of the Marquis de Sade. Charlotte described spending some time perusing de Sade's Justine, and his 100 days of Sodom, but then admitted that it seemed a little extreme for her tastes. She had enjoyed what we had played at but thought that what de Sade described would not be so enjoyable.

She went on to describe other, more sociable activities, such as riding in the carriages to beauty spots around Henley, along the river and about the town. Arabella invited some of her friends to picnic, and they all shared a pleasant afternoon on the river bank. Elizabeth even arranged for them all to be taken on a river cruise in rowing boats, crewed by her footmen. All in all, she said, it had been a very pleasant interval, away from the intense scrutiny of The Season, even if it had been a little lewd at times.

The most important part, Charlotte said, had been to become better acquainted with Arabella. She really liked her, I nodded, no, my sister said, she really, really liked her. But, she laughed, she promised that she was not going to steal my bride from me.

"As lovely as Arabella is," my sister added, with a gentle pat of her hand on my prick, "I like the feeling of one of these in me much better."

I asked her how Helena had enjoyed herself.

Charlotte told me that she thought her mama had enjoyed it greatly, certainly the carriage rides and the picnics, but then told me that Helena and Elizabeth had often left the young ladies to their own devices and retired early. I noted this and said nothing.

75. A short interlude and an oratorio

We went out again that evening, dodging the showers that still fell, to go to a perfectly excellent performance of Mr Handel's Messiah, which was very rousing and quite moving. After that we were invited to a soirée at the home of Sir John Armstrong, a man who had done business with my father, and who kept trying to talk business with me throughout the evening. I realised that I should make time to talk to Sir John, after all we did share some business interests, but I was simply not in the mood, and kept trying to change the subject, though he was quite insistent.

Fortunately, Helena feigned illness, saying that she felt weary, so as soon as was polite, we repaired to Rogeringham House.

76. Helena, Elizabeth and bathing

Once we had returned to Rogeringham House, I asked for a light supper for Helena and I, in my room, which we ate naked in bed. It felt quite decadent, to have the dishes on trays on the bed before us, and at one point some drops of a sauce from one of the meat dishes dropped onto Helena's breast. It was too good an opportunity to miss, and I bent my head and licked it off. Of course, I could have simply scooped the sauce off with my tongue, but instead, I spread the sauce about, even applying some to her near-by nipple, before I cleaned the upper surface of her breast.

Helena laughed and shivered as I did it, but it was clear that she enjoyed it immensely because no sooner had I finished with her right breast, than she deliberately smeared some sauce upon her other breast.

"Minx!" I laughed, before applying myself to that task, only to find that Helena had a finger full of the creamy sauce and was smearing it over her nude mons and upper quim.

This was going to descend into messiness, so I removed the trays and glasses to the table and pinned my mother to the bed, placing myself over her in the soixante-neuf position. Helena reached up and guided my hips down towards her face, while I lowered my head down and began to clean up the mess on her cunny.

It wasn't long before the cleaning was done, no time at all in fact, and soon we were quite involved in mutual frigging, licking and sucking. The creamy taste of the sauce that Helena had smeared on herself, had been replaced by another cream, a different, more piquant tasting sauce that flooded my tongue as she arched her hips up to my mouth. She pressed upwards as I bent my head down. Her cums were little ones, but no less intense for that, each jerk of her hips, each pulse of her thighs drove me on to give her more, more, more.

And so, it continued, Helena came and came and came again, until she begged me to stop, all the while continuing with her hand to frig my cock or fondle my pills, or even penetrate my arse with her finger.

When my spend did come down, I drenched her face beneath me, literally dousing her with ropes of jism, that wound across her nose and lips and cheeks.

Helena sputtered, coughing as some of the spend fell into her mouth.

"Oh William!" She laughed, "You have made such a mess!"

I moved to lie beside her and with a sigh of resignation, continued my task of cleaning her. "It is you that is the messy one, mother." I told her between licks. "I have spent the best part of the last hour cleaning you up!" I continued to clean my mother's face by scooping up jism on my tongue and feeding it to her welcoming mouth.

"But it has been enjoyable, hasn't it?" She giggled. "I do not believe I have come as much as that before."

Helena pulled me to her, clutching me tightly. "I do so love you, William," then she paused and looked at me, "Just in case you ever wonder," She advised. "I would not want you to think otherwise."

"Your love always has been, and it always will be, the pillar upon which my life is built." I told her.

Helena threw herself on me again, almost smothering me with the fierce passion of her embrace.

After that we lay for a while. I took a cloth off the wash stand and wiped us both down, "I am thinking," I told her, "Of commissioning a bath house, such as Elizabeth has."

"Here?" Helena asked, meaning here in the London house.

"I thought perhaps at Rogeringham Hall, but we could look at some sort of accommodation here as well." I added.

She nodded, "I was most taken with the arrangement, I used the steam room at Elizabeth's house several times." Helena paused, staring into the space above her, as if re-living a memory. A half smile lingered on her lips.

"As well as a more satisfying way of taking a bath," I said, "The possibilities of such a facility are quite interesting."

Helena's half smile broke out into a fully blown lascivious grin. "They are indeed." She agreed.

"You and Elizabeth have become quite firm friends." I noted.

"Yes." She agreed, "We have, which surprised me."

"How so?"

"When you first mentioned her, and I encountered her at the ball, I thought she might be a rival for your affections." Helena held up her hand as I went to answer her. "Don't forget how jealous I am," She reminded me. "But I did feel that way, I believed Elizabeth to be a competitor, but the more I learnt about her and her philosophy, I realised that she was not.

"Elizabeth made love to you, but she told me that that was the end of it. Not only did she recognise that you are devoted to someone else, but she does not want to be involved with anyone in the long-term anymore." Helena laughed, "She said that as far she is concerned, it is now 'find them, fuck them and then forget them'."

I got up and poured a glass of wine for her.

My mother gave a huge sigh, surprising in that it seemed to come from nowhere. "Your father did not only isolate your sisters, you know? He isolated me as well - I had no friends, no one to confide in. Oh, I had your sisters, and I have you, but I missed having a woman of my own age to talk to. It was nice to have Emily Dodgson to talk to, but she has her own life to live. And anyway, I feared to let her be too involved in our lives. If she had discovered our relationship, who knows how she would have felt. I worried that she might have had a breakdown. So, Elizabeth has become the friend I needed, a friend who is also my confidante."

I nodded.

"She and I shared so much this last week, we talked about many things. There is much that we agree on, and there are things that we do not - but we can respect each other's views. The chief thing," Helena went on, "Is that she understands me and does not judge, and I feel the same about her."

"And Arabella?" I asked.

"That was harder to come to terms with," she said, "She is everything that you advertised her to be - young, attractive, intelligent, sensual and willingly adventurous. Oh, I did see her as an issue at first, but there are times when we must over-ride our fears, and consider the future, and in this case, succession is my main concern. That was what decided me that we should proceed. That and the fact that Arabella is wonderfully amiable. I found that the more that she and I became acquainted, the more that I liked her, and that has made the resolution to that situation easier than I thought it would be."

"So, your mind is at rest, then?" I asked.

"Oh, I suppose I will always worry about something," she laughed, "Raise five daughters and have a son who is away fighting in a war and there is always some spectre of doubt lurking somewhere in your mind. But for now, I am content."

And with that Helena lay back upon the bed, resting on her elbows. She parted her legs invitingly, and looked me with a girlish smile, "Come to bed, William, I need your cock filling me."

Well, I suppose that when it is put like that it would be churlish to make a lady wait.

After I had done my duties, and Helena and I were sitting on the couch by the fireplace, drinking a very pleasant rioja, and sharing some sobranie tobacco in the churchwarden pipe that she had given me for Christmas.

"Elizabeth has a very fine pipe," she said, "It was made in China, and has a long, straight, black stem, and a tiny silver bowl. It makes her look very exotic when she uses it."

"She uses it as if it were a prop in a theatre, or a portrait?" I suggested.

Helena nodded, "Yes! Yes, she does," She laughed.

"Elizabeth does it with everything; a pipe, a glass, a carriage, even another person," I laughed, "We are all props, in the portrait of her life."

Helena looked at me, "Is that a bad thing?" she asked.

"It is neither good nor bad, simply the way she is, as much a part of her as her skin or her hair." I laughed.

"Did you both share the pipe?" I asked. Our "intermissions" between our bouts of love-making had become dear to me, as we talked I was privileged to see a totally different Helena - my Venus of the bed chamber - and while we talked, I learnt more about my mother and she about me.

"I did!" She laughed, "I introduced her to this." Helena waved the pipe to encompass the pair of us, "Sitting and talking, though Elizabeth preferred to drink chocolate at night rather than wine, or rum. She says it feels better in her stomach."

"You slept with her each night?"

"Yes." Helena replied. "We would sit and talk for hours, long into the evening, - we had broken down any barriers on that second night - so it seemed natural to sleep in the same bed. Most of the time we just slept, but sometimes we would indulge with each other." Helena broke off with a sly smile, as if she was recalling something to her memory.

"It was very interesting," she said, "Some nights Abigail would join us, but she never stayed the night. I learnt a great deal of what pleasures a woman's body can offer."

Helena placed the pipe down, and drank the remainder from her glass. "Now come back to bed, I just want to sleep with you 'til dawn and be loved."

"It will be my greatest pleasure, my love," I told her as we climbed into bed again.

77. Co-ordination

An invitation arrived for a garden party at General Bradley's house on the other side of Hyde Park. I asked Helena to respond as soon as she could, which, apparently, she did.

It is a measure of how complex the whole social season, and our involvement with Elizabeth and Arabella, had now become, that the Rogeringhams were now secretly co-ordinating our social calendar with that of the Dorringtons. Arabella and her mother wanted to know which invitations we were accepting so that they could accept the same ones. It was a note from Elizabeth Dorrington that started the next chapter.