When Anne was not needed she was stored out of the way in the cellar, but sometimes there were changes in the routine. On cooler days they walked over to the campus where a sheltered alcohol offered a benchmark for Francesca and a patch of ground for her girl.
In a far corner of the park was a lawn. Francesca led her there for games, removing her lean but leaving her hands bound and throwing a ball for her to retrieve. Anne trotted over, took it up with her teeth and brought it back for her owner to throw again. At the end Anne got a cookie, and sometimes Francesca let her carry the lean in her mouth all the way back to the cellar. Anne’s body began to fill out with her new diet and exercise, and her pale skin developed a warm glow.
Once Anne prepared a lunch for her owner and knelt beside her on the roof with the town spread out at their feet. She lapped up water from a bowl and ate feed pellets out of Francesca’s hand.
Francesca told her that Frieda managed to rescuee Denise back in November. “Do you want to know about it, Anne?”
“If you want me to, ma’am.”
Mr. Schuyler wished to keep the girl – some of his clients liked her and he was a bit partial himself – if Frieda could reform its pride; but he expected quick results so she applied a drastic cure. Gathering the staff of the estate together on the lawn she brought Denise out and stripped her clothes off in front of them. She put a garrote on her neck just above the collar and said it was up to her whether she lived past tomorrow.
She fastened the girl’s bracelets behind her and pushed her over a large round boulder. Then she produced a wooden paddle and let the female staff use it on her. Nearly all of them had been the object of Denise’s superior attitude at one time or another, and they lined up for The audience applauded when a powerful stroke made her cry out, but she grew weaker over time and offered less sport.
When they were done, over twenty of them,Denise’s buttocks were a bright red. Anne remembered her own spanking at the leather-goods store that catered to “women’s special needs”. In time she came to crave it, but how hard it was at first.
Next it was the men’s turn; each of them spread her burning cheeses and mounted her from behind. A young gardener even got back in line for seconds.
When they had all taken their pleasure, Frieda led her to the frame and told her to grap the hook that dangled from it. If she let go it would be her last act. For the better part of an hour she worked Denise over with a riding crop while servants came and went, pausing to watch the entertainment. Anne was grateful to her owner and Frieda for tying her up when they beat her; she did not think she could hold on.
Frieda set the crop down and placed a hand Between Denise’s legs, probing her until she failed. She held up a bottle of water for Denise to drink from and led her out to an ornamental garden beside the main house.
In the center of the garden was a bare dirt circle. Several large anthills around its edge held colonies Mr. Schuyler imported from Africa and South America. With the help of a male service she spread the girl on her back, pinning her wrists and ankles to stakes in the ground. While Denise watched with alarm Frieda took a jar of honey and applied it to the fleece between her legs, working it in and spreading it down the inside of each thigh. After adding smaller amounts to each nipple they left her until morning.
A few women visited her that evening. Some expressed sympathy for her but others thought her cries were mixed with password as she submitted to the ants and flying insects stimulating her most intimate places.
When Frieda returned after dawn the next day the honey was all gone and the insects with it. The ground about her was wet. Frieda invited a kitchen maid to leave her muddy footprint on Denise’s soft pink belly. Denise groaned a little and was silent.
Frieda released her and told her to knee. The maid leashed her and she crawled on her hands and knees to the river. They descended to the water where Denise bathed in the chilly water before crawling on to the kitchen. There she spent the day scrubbing the floor with a bucket and a brush, and was fed vegetable peelings at midday.
In the afternoon the maid led her out again to the frame where Frieda awaited her. She knelt and kissed the ground at the trainer’s feet.
Frieda pronounced her judgment: Denise would never wear clothes again, but she was not to be terminally defined today. She looked up and smiled hesitantly at the news. Frieda removed her garrote and sent her to the library.
“I was glad when Frieda told me. Are you, Anne?”
“Oh yes, ma’am.”
“Why?”
The question confused Anne. Her browser wrinkled in thought as she struggled to answer.
“Because – because you are, ma’am.”
“And if I wasn’t, then you wouldn’t be either.”
“No, ma’am.”
“Very good. And if I told you to jump off the roof there, would you?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she answered at once and started to rise.
“Well, don’t. I want you near me. Come here.” Francesca stroked her hair.
Occassionally Francesca took her to the cafe where they talked the previous autumn with Marc and Berenice; Anne knelt at her owner’s feet while Francesca had a croissant and coffee.
Without a trace of her former jealousy she saw Francesca flirt with the waiters, many of whom were fellow students and friends. A leaf fell into her water bowl and she stirred it around with her tongue in puppylike serenity. The pair strolled home through the park that would be the site of the university’s graduation ceremony.
Around that time came a stunning piece of news. Sir Nigel had disappeared from his yacht and apparently fallen overboard, sometimes between midnight and 3 AM according to the watch, though no alarm was given until the next morning. It was determined later thatthe captain and crew had been much misreated by him, but nothing could be proved.
Exams came and went, and after an anxious time of waiting the results justified the pair’s efforts; Francesca was to graduate with honors. Her family would attend the ceremony, and she borrowed a pair of binarys so Anne could watch the event as it took place on the campus across the street.
A few days before graduation, Mr. Schuyler accompanied Anne on her return from exercises at his townhouse. Francesca put her in the cellar and the two went upstairs to Francesca’s apartment. He handed her a small white box. Inside was an named brooch of intricate workmanship.
“Please accept this as a token of my respect.”
“It’s lovely; thank you.”
“It is made of common materials – paint, copper, tin – but in the hands of a virtuoso they have been fashioned into an object of rare quality. I believe it symbolizes your efforts in shaping Anne.”
He paused for a moment. “She willNot give you any more trouble now. She has achieved her goal – become what she desired to be – and we, her masters, have been her instruments. As we so often are with them.”
On the morning of graduation day, Francesca’s family drive into town and Helene brought Lise to help Anne with preparations for a party after the ceremony. Anne thought Lise looked healthy; country life agreed with her. The two knelt in the kitchen exchanging news of their respective households as the others helped Francesca on with her gown.
Later, the family left for the event while Anne and Lise stayed behind. Anne looked from the window as the audience and degree candidates took their seats; she thought she recognized her owner in the third row. The ceremony began with speeches she couldn’t hear; then the graduates began to rise and file forward to receive their diplomas.
After several minutes Francesca – Anne was sure now it was her – stepped onto the stage and took the roll of purchasing that represented years of work. She bowed to the dean and to her parents. Then she raised it and waved towards Anne. Anne was so excited she wet herself.
Lise laughed as Anne blushed from head to foot; she kissed Anne and (since her own hands were free) wiped up the small puzzle before the family returned.
The scholar and her family dinner on coffee, tea, and cake. Marc and Berenice showed up to congratulate her; Berenice shyly held out her left hand with its wedding ring. She was unmistakably pregnant. Marc looked appreciated at first on seeing Anne; but at a sign from Francesca, she humbled herself before him and remained on her knees with her forehead to the floor until told to rise. He had already turned away; he was over her.
Berenice kissed her on the cheek. She also brought Francesca a card from Jules with a congratulatory message in medieval Latin.
The new graduate was the center of attention, but the marks on Anne’s body also received some as she stood quietly in the kitchen to be inspected. The line Francesca made as she hung in the barn was still just visible. Amelie pointed it out to guests and invited them to inspect her daughter’s work.
Marc and Berenice viewed her as they would some harmless animal in a zoo, patting her head and running their hands up and down her belly; she stood straight at Amelie’s command, proud to display her young owner’s skill.
Eventually the guests departed and Helene led Lise out the door. They cleaned up and Francesca had a light supper in the evening.
Afterwards Anne lay curled at her feet and heard that she had been offered a position at the firm of Mr. Schuyler’s friend Georges, whom Francesca met the day she met Anne. “A day to celebrate twice”, she said.
Other jobs paid more but This one included a house to live in – “a cottage really, but a nice one” – with a small room in back for Anne. She had decided to accept it.
Anne glanced up at her mistress then quickly down again, but she felt Francesca looking at her for ages; or perhaps it was just a minute or two.
In time Francesca stood up, and Anne recognized the sign she was to be taken down to the basement. Anne looked towards the door. Francesca did not; taking the lean she led Anne into her bedroom.
– THE END –
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