he was about, and
injured the other person. However, he'd begun to feel anger and deep-seated loss
during his last session with Mrs. Huntington, and instead of spanking his way through
it, he'd fucked her with no concern for her pleasure then further acted the rotter by
demanding she leave without explanation.
When he had looked at her, bent over the daybed, he'd pictured Abigail, and
from there he been lost. It was then he knew he'd have to exorcise the past if he was
ever to have a future.
Since his arrival at the Park, he'd begun to feel healthier, more able to handle the
ultimate task. He'd cried rivers of tears. With every bout, he'd felt cleansed a bit more.
Oh, he would never forget his wife, but what he wanted to be able to do was to
remember her with fondness, and not with all-consuming grief. He wanted to one day
find someone else to love, and not compare, always finding his new partner lacking in
one respect or another. He wanted to be able to give himself permission to go on and
live.
Prentice set a date for the final task at hand. He'd not cried for several days, and
was anxious to return to his life in London. He must make amends, and accept that his
erratic behavior may have well caused Mrs. Huntington to seek other means of
satisfying her needs. However, he would apologize, and attempt to make up for his
rudeness, and self-absorption.
His visit to Abigail's grave would be on the morrow he determined. He would go
early in the morning, and by mid-day, he would be on his way back to London.
* * * * *
Desiree's journey involved an overnight stop at an inn, though the trip could
have been accomplished in one long day, had it not been for a broken axle and weather
that wasn't fit for man or beast.
The Buck and Doe Inn was comfortable, if not luxurious, with sufficient food and
an adequate bed. Desiree had entered the establishment, sans maid and drenched to the
bone. What a miserable turn of events! After the axle broke, nearly toppling the
carriage, and injuring the coachman, she'd had to ride astride, in the rain, the mile back
to the inn.
With the nerves she was experiencing at the thought of presenting herself at
Wycroft Park, the last thing she needed was difficulty with her transportation.
A hot bath and a good night's sleep would go a long way toward steeling her for
the day ahead. The innkeeper assured her that Wycroft Park was only ten miles away,
and he'd informed her that arrangements were being made to have a suitable carriage
waiting for her in the early afternoon of the next day.
She'd gone over and over what she would say to Lord Wycroft. However, none
of her planned explanations sounded as convincing as they had in London. She felt
almost foolish, traipsing over the countryside after a man she positively loathed, just so
he could spank her arse and give her a rogering she'd never forget. But then again, she
wanted what she wanted. She'd never felt so alive as when Lord Wycroft was inside
her, driving himself deeper, the linen of his trousers abrading her duly spanked bottom.
That last night they'd had together had been one of the most satisfying, and yet
disappointing nights of her life. Despite Lord Wycroft's admonitions, she had employed
her wooden phallus and had enjoyed all the pleasure she had been denied. The thought
of how decadent it was to even own such a thing made her quim weep.
There were times, during these past ten years, when she had silently thanked
Prentice Hyde for taking her maidenhead, for he had introduced her to a world of the
flesh she had come to appreciate. However, the result of that one decision had ruined
her life, for society placed great value on a woman's virtue. She'd adopted the stance
that a man should be happy to get someone with experience, lest he have to teach her
all the fine points, but she somehow couldn't envision such freedom for women. Men
wanted to marry a virgin, yet worked diligently to see how many