Louisa Revealed (6 page)

Walking into his bedchamber with the intention
of changing his clothing, Edward stopped short when he realized he wasn’t
alone.
 
His eyes took in the sight
of his wife, her hands linked neatly on top of her head, her nose touching the
wall in the area designated as her punishment corner.
 
He could see her trembling from across
the room.
 

Forcing himself to take a deep calming breath,
he kept his voice low but firm, “My dear, what do you think you are
doing?”
 
Louisa heard the question,
but felt nothing but confusion.
 
She
knew better than to turn from the wall, but also knew her response was
required.
 
Her voice stuttered as
she said,

“I’m… I’m waiting for you, Sir.”
 
Edward shook his head even though he
thought he understood her confusion.

“Come here, Louisa.”
 
Louisa turned and seeing her husband
open his arms, she flew into them.
 
He closed his arms around her and she clung to him.

“Oh, Edward, I am so sorry.
 
I know you are disappointed but please!”

“Hush, Louisa.
 
We will discuss all of this later, but
for now, please explain to me why you continue to disobey me.”
 

Louisa felt her heart begin to beat faster.
 
She felt him release her and she stepped
back just enough to raise her face to his.
 
Her eyes were wide in confusion.
 
“I… I don’t understand.
 
You
said wait for you in our room.
 
I… I
was waiting Sir.”
 

Edward shook his head even as one hand came up
to gently cup her chin.
 
“I believe
I said for you to wait for me in ‘your’ room did I not?”
 
He loved the emotions running across her
face as the meaning of his order became clear.
 
She flushed and attempted to look
away.
 
He kept her face on his by
the force of his hand.
 
“You do
remember your room, do you not?”
 
Her face turned even redder but she gave a slight nod.
 
“I’m glad, my dear but this isn’t your
room is it?”
 
This time she
reluctantly shook her head a bit.
 
Edward released her only to step to the wall and pull a bell cord.

“I… I thought we… we weren’t to… to”

“To do what little one?
 
What weren’t we to do?”
 
She twisted her hands together, her face
hot and her heart pounding.
 

“Us.
 
Using the… my… room.”
 

Edward smiled seeing both
her
discomfort as well as her fading hopes that her life had changed when her
sister arrived.
 
He accepted most of
the blame for her confusion.
 
“I
have made a grievous error, my dear, and can understand your confusion.
 
It is my responsibility to inform you of
your rules of behavior and, I confess, I have allowed my household to fall into
disarray.
 
That ends today. I
promise to correct my mistake, and also promise you will soon learn to obey my
every word.”
 

Louisa was surprised to hear him admit to making
an error and found herself not wishing to know how he planned to correct
it.
 
Her bottom began to clench as
he spoke of obedience.
 
She watched
as he left her standing alone as he removed his cuff links and began to
unbutton his shirt.
 
She felt her
heart flutter and a tingle begin low in her tummy.
 
She blushed as he removed the shirt and
stood half-dressed.
 
She desperately
wanted to step to him and run her hands across his broad chest.
 
She ached to feel his arms around her
letting her know she was loved and forgiven.
 
She unconsciously began to take the
first step.

“Stand still, Louisa.
 
You were given an order and disobeyed
me.”

“But Edward, I meant to obey you.
 
I.…”

“You are forgetting yourself.
 
When we are in this house you are to
address me properly.
 
Your behavior
today has only served to prove you are in dire need of additional
training.
 
It is my intention to
continue to provide you with that training.”
 

Louisa felt her legs begin to tremble.
 
He was speaking of things she believed
he had forgotten once her sister came to live with them at the manor.
 
They had spoken of her concern in living
as he wished when her sister was dealing with the grief of the girls losing
their parents.
 
While Louisa had her
new husband to support her in her own grief, Lucy had only her twin.
 
Hearing her husband speak of continuing
the training he had begun even before they exchanged their vows caused her
heart to pound and her blood to race.
 
“But… you… you can’t.
 
What… what
about Lucy?”

“Louisa, your sister will no longer be an excuse
for your disobedience.
 
Lucille does
not run this house; I do.
 
I do not
wish to discuss Lucille at this moment.
 
You would better serve yourself to think about my little Louisa and how
she is to behave.”
 
His words
stopped as a loud knock sounded on the door.
 
Edward pulled on his robe, stepped
around his wife and strode to answer the door.

“You rang for me, Sir,” a heavily accented voice
asked.

“Yes, Mrs. Bremmer.
 
Please escort Louisa to her nursery, as
she doesn’t seem to remember the way.”
 
Louisa gave a small moan as her eyes dropped to the floor.
 
Anna Bremmer was married to Henri, and
they had both served the Wintercrest Manor for decades.
 
Her face showed her approval at the
request with a smile, even as she stepped forward.
 

“Certainly, Sir.
 
Come along Louisa; your nursery is
exactly where a naughty little lady should be!”
 
Louisa’s face flamed at the
endearment.
 
Her lip began to
tremble as she felt a hand take her arm and pull her towards the door.
 
She wanted to beg her husband to reconsider,
but found
herself
being tugged down the hallway
towards the narrow stairs at the end of the corridor.
 
She almost stumbled, trying to keep up
with the forced march.
 
“Stop
dragging your feet, Louisa.
 
You
brought his Lordship great disgrace with your horrid behavior today.
 
You have been naughty – yes, very,
very naughty, and I believe his Lordship has plans to teach you a much-needed
lesson.
 
If you ask me, it has taken
far too long for you to learn your place.
 
His Lordship has been lenient with you, and this is how you repay his
kindness.
 
What you need, Miss, is a
good hard thrashing!
 
Believe me,
the quicker you learn to obey, the safer your bottom will be.”
 
Louisa was stunned to hear the
housekeeper speak so boldly and so openly.
 

Before her marriage, she had learned almost
immediately that her husband-to-be would demand strict obedience, and had taken
her across his knee to prove his seriousness on a half-dozen occasions.
 
Louisa had been highly embarrassed the
first time he had lifted her skirts and lowered her bloomers.
 
Her reaction had been to sob with shame
while he spanked her bare-bottomed for the first time.
 
Spankings weren’t new to her; their
father spanked his daughters while they were young and she also knew he spanked
their mother.
 
Being across Edward’s
knees had taught her that, while he would be stricter even than her father, he
was also the only man she desired.
 
He always held her after he spanked her, always made sure she understood
why she had gotten spanked and reassured her that she was precious to him.
 
It wasn’t until after they had wed that
his more specific requirements came into being.
 

The very night of their wedding, she learned
that she was not to be the true Lady of Wintercrest.
 
To her confusion, she learned that he
chose to consider her more as a child than a fully-grown woman.
 
He repeatedly called her his ‘little
lady.’
 
Her husband knew it
embarrassed her for her title, something that should demand respect with her
station, had been reduced to reminding her that she was nothing more than his
child bride and not an adult, titled woman of society.
 
Her rebellion at the idea had started
immediately, when she flatly told him he was a fool and that she had no
intention of being his child.
 
She
had learned instantly that she had bound herself to a man that meant what he
said, and had the means to prove it.
 
She was soon stripped naked, turned across his knees and spanked long
and hard as he lectured her on the roles of those in his household.
 
By the time she had been let up, she was
a sobbing mess, her bottom burning hotter than it ever had before.
 
When he turned her to sit on his lap,
she had buried her face in his chest and sobbed out her contrition.
 
His arms had wrapped around her and the
feeling of love and security she felt set her correctly onto the path he had
chosen for her.
 
Her training had
begun, though she hadn’t realized it at the time.
 

Edward had continued to train her slowly, but
made sure he was always consistent.
 
She had learned to call him Papa instead of by his name when they were
in their home.
 
She had learned that
while Mrs. Bremmer might ask her opinion occasionally,
any
true decisions were made by either Edward or the housekeeper
.
 
Edward had chosen his mate very well; he
watched his bride easily slip into her role.
 
Everything had been going exceptionally
well, until the day the news came that there had been a horrid accident.
 
Louisa’s family carriage had overturned
on a sharp curve and rolled over several times.
 
Lucy, who had miraculously been thrown
from the wreckage, had been the only survivor.
 
 
She was now orphaned, with no close,
living relatives.
 
Edward had no
choice but to take the young, bereaved girl into his home.
 
Truth be told, he hadn’t considered the
implications her arrival would have on his personal life.
 
However, Louisa had begged him to allow
Lucille to be welcomed without having to live as a small child.
 
The girls were identical in so many
ways, and Louisa had made her choice, but Lucille was still an innocent young
woman; Louisa believed
she would be scarred by living in a
household such as theirs
.
 

Edward had eventually agreed, but had assured
his wife that, while he would allow her to be more appropriately dressed when
her sister was in their presence, he would continue to treat her as his
child-wife in their bedchamber.
 
The
discipline, of course, would continue regardless of who might live with
them.
 
He would simply not tolerate
disobedience, and he expected his wife to respect that fact.
 
Louisa had eagerly agreed, and for
several weeks now she had been allowed to be the woman of the house, had not
been forced to take naps and had not had a bedtime that she thought
ridiculously early.
 
Most
importantly, she had not had to spend a single moment in that horrid room at
the very top of the house.
 
Being
marched
there
now made Louisa’s heart pound and her
blood race through her veins.
 
She
found she was far more terrified of what was going to happen in her own home
than of the caning she had just received.
 
Hearing Mrs. Bremmer speak so frankly caused her great fear, as well as
intense shame, and she knew the staff would soon be told that Lady Wintercrest
was again to be simply, “Miss Louisa.”
 

She watched as Mrs. Bremmer pulled a set of keys
from her pocket.
 
Keeping one hand
firmly around Louisa’s arm, she used the other to unlock the door before
them.
 
She stepped inside, and
pulled Louisa in behind her.
 
Louisa
wasn’t released until Mrs. Bremmer had closed the door and dragged her charge
into the center of the room.
 
Louisa
stood trembling, her hand absently rubbing at her arm.
 
“I’m… I’m sorry for deceiving you Mrs.
Bremmer,” Louisa said softy, “I didn’t… didn’t mean to worry you.”