Lady Westbrook's Discovery (8 page)

“Right,” said Felix rising to his feet. “I think I should like to return home, now. Are you coming Margaret?”

“Yes, of course,” said Margaret, looking slightly taken aback by Felix’s brusqueness.

“Paul, Jasper, Charles, please feel free to use our other coach to get you back to your respective homes. Ask the driver to return when he’s done.”

“Of course,” said Paul.

Margaret embraced her son. “You boys take care of yourselves,” she said to Jasper and Charles. “The world is not kind to young men of your disposition. You must learn to be more careful.”

“Stop writing letters to one another for one thing,” said Paul. “You live in the same bloody halls.”

Having said their goodbyes, the party rose to their feet. Felix studiously ignored the hateful looks that the pub landlord was sending in their direction. He suspected that the landlord had been in on Flint’s scheme and was none too happy about the way things had turned out. It really would be best to get out of here as quickly as possible
, thought Felix. We really don’t want things turning any uglier.

Felix was uncharacteristically quiet during the coach journey home.
With Paul, Jasper and Charles returning to their respective homes in Cambridge in the other carriage, Felix and Margaret travelled back to Surrey alone.

He stared out of the window, resting his chin on his hand, a slight scowl across his face.

“You’re angry,” said Margaret.

Felix did not answer, although he shrugged his shoulders by way of a response.

“Is it Jasper? You are repulsed by his behaviour? By his unnatural impulses?”

Felix flashed her a ferocious look. “Is that what you think? That I’m bothered about what two men get up to in the privacy of their own rooms? That they indulge in something that I would quite like to try myself? I’ve known my brother long enough to ... anyway, it is of no consequence.”

“Then it
is
me who you are angry with?”

“You lied to me. You deliberately concealed your plans.”

“It seemed safest not to tell anyone at all. There was the danger of the police becoming involved. I couldn’t risk anyone speaking to the authorities. The more people knew the greater the danger to Jasper.”

“You saw me as a threat? As potentially dangerous to Jasper’s well
-being?”

“I don’t know...”

“He’s your
son
, Margaret! Surely you know that I would do anything to help and protect him, for your sake?”

“And you did. The way you and Paul managed the situation was wonderful.”

“It would have been more easily resolved if I had been in full possession of the facts. It was only by pure good fortune...”

“I’m sorry. I should have waited for you.”

Felix shrugged again. “There’s no point in my getting annoyed about it. You did what you felt you needed to, in order to protect your child. I need to accept that.”

Felix continued to stare out the window
, and the rest of the carriage journey passed in silence.

Dinner was a subdued affair that evening. Felix was polite and solicitous towards Margaret
, but there was none of their usual animated, companionable conversation. Margaret might have welcomed the peace and quiet – it had been an emotionally exhausting day – but she would have rather discussed it with her husband than sit there rehashing the events of the day to herself.

Felix, however, only seemed to want to converse with the simplest of platitudes.  After dinner
, they both read in the drawing room for an hour or so. Then Felix put down his book and went over to where Margaret was sitting and kissed her quickly on the forehead. “It has been a long day,” he said. “I think I should like to sleep in my own room alone tonight.”

Margaret nodded her agreement. After he left the room, Margaret found that the words of her book had turned to unreadable hieroglyphics. She continued to stare,
not reading, at the page, her eyes filling with tears and her heart beating wildly.

The next morning at breakfast, Felix
seemed polite and affable but had clearly wanted to get away as quickly as possible, avoiding spending any more time with her than was necessary. He went to his workroom, where his laboratory was set up, and stayed there for the whole day.

That night, he once more slept alone in his bedroom while Margaret, with a heavy heart, slept in hers.

Four days passed and Felix continued to sleep apart from Margaret. It had been unthinkable up until now. For the first six months of their marriage, they had spent every night they could together in the same bed.  On the rare nights that they didn’t make love, they would still lie close to one another, savouring the warmth and closeness, enjoying being the first thing that one another saw as they woke in the morning.

Margaret missed the intimacy so much it caused
a physical pain in her chest. Is that it, then? she wondered sadly as she brushed her hair in front of the mirror in her bedroom. Had the honeymoon period ended already? Had her deception over Jasper’s blackmail quashed any feelings Felix had for her so completely that there was nothing remaining but vague companionship?

Because, Margaret had to concede, there had been nothing hostile in Felix’s behaviour over the last few days. He was kind and courteous. This evening, he had engaged her in conversation about electric
conductors over dinner and read her an article about Thomas Edison from one of the scientific journals afterwards.

But that wasn’t enough any longer. Margaret wanted so much more. She missed the jokes and the teasing and, yes, she really missed the sex. She couldn’t bear the thought of returning to a life where such a thing was absent. There isn’t even the incentive to produce an heir, she thought bitterly, to entice her husband back into her bedroom.

The uncharacteristic stab of self-pity brought Margaret back to herself. She set down her hairbrush with such force that it made a loud crack as it connected with her dressing table.

This is ridiculous, she thought. I know where his bedroom is. I shall go to him.

Felix looked surprised to see her when he opened his bedroom door in response to her knock. Nevertheless, he ushered her in.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“No,” she responded. “I’ve missed you. I want to be with you. I wish you to carry out your husbandly duties.”

“Right. Of course. I have been a little distracted lately
,” Felix answered vaguely.

He put his arm around Margaret’s waist and kissed her. Her body immediately responded to his touch. She leaned into him in order to deepen the kiss
, but he had already pulled away and was leading her towards the bed. He climbed beneath the covers, and Margaret followed suit.

He pushed her nightdress to her thighs
and then, lying on top of her, he entered her swiftly with none of his usual playful attentions.

Margaret had been slick with desire
, already ensuring Felix’s easy entrance. As she lay beneath her husband, however, she felt less and less aroused. Even while he was inside her, even as his length pushed into her, he seemed miles away. His body responded to its own impulses, seemingly oblivious of hers. It was as though he scarcely noticed she was there at all.

Tears began to well in her eyes. “Stop this,” she said hoarsely. “Please stop.”

Felix looked at Margaret’s tearful face in surprise and immediately pulled out. She scrambled out from underneath him, her nightdress falling back down over her legs as she stood from the bed. She headed towards the door.

Felix leapt after her, entirely naked. He grabbed hold of one her wrists as she tried to flee. “Margaret, don’t go. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Tears were falling freely down her face. “I am not going to do this again! I am not going to have the kind of marriage where my husband barely notices whether I am there or not. Even while he is making love to me!”

“It wasn’t good, I know. I
don’t think I was in the mood...”

“I’m sorry! I was wrong to do it!” she shouted.

“What?” He looked baffled.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell
you where I was going. I’m sorry I took the money from the safe without consulting you! I’m sorry I didn’t trust you with Jasper’s and Charles’s secret!”

“Why are you bringing this up again? You acted quickly and did what you thought was best for your son. It’s fine. It’s all over.”

“No it isn’t all over!” Margaret was shouting now. She could not remember the last time she had raised her voice in this way. Tears were still running down her face and she wiped them away angrily with her hand. “It isn’t over while things are like this between us. I might have been the one at fault to begin with but you’re at fault now. You can’t keep avoiding me like this. It is no way to behave. If you think I have acted badly then you should punish me for it and have done with it!”

Felix dropped her wrist.

“Punish you?” he said softly.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to be punished?”

“I think I deserve it. I promised to love, honour and obey you. I shouldn’t have turned away from you when I needed you most. I should have had more trust in our marriage. As you should now.”

“This isn’t a game, you know.”

“I know.”

“If I punish you, it will be severe. More so than last time.”

“I understand.”

“Wait there,” Felix said, disappearing into his bathroom. He reappeared a moment later. He had put on a dressing gown and was holding a thick leather razor strap that made Margaret’s eyes widen in shock. He went to his chest of drawers and removed a necktie.

Margaret stood nervously
; she hadn’t moved from her position next to his bed.

“Hold out your hands,” Felix said.

Margaret held out her arms shoulder distance apart, palms upwards. Felix firmly pushed her wrists together and bound them securely with his necktie.

“Turn around,” he said. Margaret turned so that she was now facing his bed.

“Lift your arms,” he commanded. He took her bound hands and tied them to the upper part of the frame of his four poster bed. Her arms were lifted as high as they could be without forcing her onto her tiptoes.

Felix held up Margaret’s nightgown with one hand and with the other he snapped the strap across her backside in a series of rapid swats. Each time the leather connected with her flesh, it resounded with a loud crack. Tears sprung to Margaret’s eyes.

He then put the strap down on the bed and took a step closer to Margaret. Margaret felt him take hold of the collar of her nightgown and rip it sharply. He ripped the length of its back and the seams of the shoulders so that the garment fell in tatters to the floor. Margaret gasped slightly, finding herself suddenly naked and exposed, her wrists still bound above her head, tying her securely to the bedframe. Felix picked up the strap again. He took a few steps back before coming forward again in what was almost a run, bringing the leather strap down with force on her bare backside.

“Yow!” Margaret could not help crying out with shock. She was grateful that she had the bedpost to lean into as she suspected that the force of the blow would have sent her flying otherwise. Felix repeated the action several more times, allowing himself a few steps run-up to increase the impact of the blow. Each time the strap connected with her bare flesh, Margaret felt a jolt of intense pain and could not help herself crying out. Her backside felt as though it were on fire. Each stripe across her bottom burned like a brand.

She honestly didn’t think she could take anymore. She had gone past the point where she cried out at the strokes and was sobbing uncontrollably. Margaret heard the leather strap being brought back again, heard the quiet swish as it cut through the air before landing with a loud thwack on her reddened posterior. She wanted to be brave, but her composure had broken down entirely. The pain was indescribable.  By the time Felix laid the strap on the bed, Margaret’s bottom was covered in multi-hued throbbing stripes.

He stood behind her, placing his hands on her belly and nuzzling her neck, his face against her hair. Despite the pain in her backside pulsing through her entire body
,  Margaret wanted Felix inside of her. It seemed he wanted the same thing, too. He reached up and undid Margaret’s wrists from the bed frame. He left her hands tied together though as he turned her round and placed her arms over his head. He lifted her up and she instinctively wrapped her legs around him. He held her tightly and thrust his erect manhood inside her. Margaret gasped in pain as his strong hands cupped her bruised bottom, but the pleasure of feeling him inside her outweighed the discomfort. He slammed her against the wall of his bedroom where he pounded into her repeatedly, passionately, and hungrily sought her mouth with his own.

Margaret felt his body stiffen and relax as he reached his climax. He bore
her across the room to his bed, flinging her down on the covers and burying his face between her legs. He coaxed the damp folds of her womanhood with his tongue, teasing her clitoris and pushing her towards a thundering climax that made her cry out with pleasure and release.