Home of the White Dolphin - Segment 08

Chapter 36

February 26, 1846 – The following morning at the home of Sir Ronald Edgeworth

“What happened?” demanded Mitchell. Once inside, Jane had joined them with Ronald nowhere in sight. Neither Mitchell nor Elizabeth could understand why she was laughing.

“I’m sorry, you two, you’ll have to see for yourself.” Jane led them down a long corridor, until they reached a closed door at the back of the building. Giving them a malicious grin, she opened the door. In front of them was a large sun-filled room. At first, the room seemed empty, but they spotted Ronald sitting on a stool, partially hidden behind a wooden easel. From their position by the door, they could only see the backing of a large canvas painting.

“Come in, my friends, come in.” Ronald waved them further into the room. Beside the stool was a small table. On it, they saw a liquor bottle next to a wineglass filled to the brim with green liquid. Ronald reached for the glass and drank its entire content in one long swallow. He quickly poured more from the bottle, explaining, “My muse, la fee verte!”

“Never mind that,” said Mitchell, when he reached the stool. “What the hell did you do to Robbie? We just saw him running out of here like a scalded cat. What happened?”

Ronald finished his drink and poured yet another glass of the liquid before answering. “Why nothing, old man. I just showed him some of my paintings to give the lad an idea of what I wanted from him.” He proudly pointed to the large wall at the other end of the room.

On it, Mitchell could see a dozen or so paintings displayed there, all of young boys. The oldest boy looked to be about 13 with the youngest perhaps a couple years younger. Most of the paintings showed the youngster posing as masculine figures of antiquity. Unschooled in Greek literature, Mitchell failed to recognize one was Dionysos, the god of wine and madness.

Other paintings had depictions of rugged men from more recent times. He saw Ronald had already painted a pirate among this group. The young boy was holding a sword high into the air and wearing a black patch over one eye. Ronald had painted him standing in front of a pirate’s chest. Knee-high black boots encased his legs, and around his narrow waist hung the sword’s leather scabbard. Other than that, Ronald had painted the boy completely naked. His exposed penis clearly suggested how excited the boy was at the time.

“For the love of…” Unable to believe what he saw, Mitchell failed to get any further words out. His eyes went from one painting after another, starting with the amateurish to the vastly improved, obviously painted recently. As the paintings’ timeline progressed, the boys’ images became more obscenely depicted. “You pervert, you were going to paint Robbie like one of these?”

Before Ronald could move out of the way, he found himself lying on the floor, his jaw throbbing from where Mitchell had landed a powerful blow.

Chapter 37

February 26, 1846 – The following morning at the home of Sir Ronald Edgeworth

Still on the floor, Ronald started grinning, amused by Mitchell’s reaction to his paintings. Jane rushed over and knelt to hand him a lacy-trimmed handkerchief. His nose was bleeding from where Mitchell’s fist had landed. “I’m fine, Jane. Stop fussing.”          Getting to his feet, he warily kept an eye on Mitchell, ready to duck. “My dear man, no need to be such a brute. All you had to do is tell me you don’t like my art.”

Ronald looked over to the door where Elizabeth was still standing. From her vantage point, she was unable to see the wall of paintings. She also hadn’t heard the conversation between the two men and was shocked when Mitchell attacked their host. Ronald smiled at Mitchell, while saying, “Elizabeth, come join us. I’d love to show you my collection.”

“The hell you will,” yelled Mitchell. He angrily called out, not turning to face the door, “Get out, Elizabeth. I don’t want you here. Go back to your room now and stay there.” Ronald and Jane were facing Elizabeth as she ran from the room. Only Mitchell missed the stricken look on her face.

“Ronald, I don’t want to hear of you letting her into this room again. Elizabeth came to help Jane, so keep your perversions to yourself.” Mitchell took one last look at the paintings, and left the studio.

* * *

There was no sign of Elizabeth once he got back to the front room. Hoping she had obeyed him and was safely upstairs, Mitchell decided to find Robbie and calm the boy down. Instead, Lord Edgeworth stopped him on the way outside.

“Captain Whiting, please come into my study and let’s have a talk.” Lord Edgeworth lived in one wing of the mansion, and the two men were soon in his book-lined study. After sitting in a comfortable leather chair, Mitchell waited silently to see what his father wanted. He knew Lord Edgeworth still hadn’t recognized him and was unwilling to tell him yet. Mitchell had introduced himself, on purpose, as only Captain Whiting.

Lord Edgeworth opened the conversation with an apology. “I saw your lad from my window a while back. He seemed upset, and I think I know why. Please accept my apologies for my son’s behavior toward the boy.”

Mitchell leaned back in the chair, and casually crossed his long legs. “So, M’Lord, you know about Ronald’s paintings?” He tried to keep the disgust out of his voice. “You could have warned me to keep Robbie with me all the time.” Out of curiosity, Mitchell asked, “How long has he been like that?”

Lord Edgeworth left his own chair and opened a drawer in his desk. After taking something out, he returned to hand Mitchell a drawing. “This was the first Ronald ever drew. His younger brother was only seven at the time and probably didn’t know Ronald was watching him.”

Looking down at the charcoal-drawing, Mitchell felt ill. His immediate reaction was to tear the paper to shreds. “This is…” He couldn’t get the words out and fought to keep from vomiting. The painting was of Mitchell as a youngster after skinny-dipping in the estate’s lake. The moment Ronald caught was of Mitchell laughing, leaving the water with one foot already on land.

Lord Edgeworth took the painting from Mitchell’s shaking hand. “That’s my Melissa’s son. He’s dead now, lost at sea.”

Chapter 38

February 26, 1846 – In Lord Edgeworth's study

Already knowing the answer, Mitchell asked, “Melissa is your wife?”

Still holding the drawing and taking a seat behind the desk, Lord Edgeworth shook his head. “No, my bitch of a wife died a couple years ago, may she rot in Hell. Melissa was the best thing in my life, a sweet young girl. My wife hired her as a maid when Ronald was about 15.” He looked off into the distance, smiling at a long-ago memory. “After my wife had Ronald, she refused to let me in her bed again. Since Melissa was a year younger than Ronald, I hoped he would find her appealing.”

Mitchell leaned forward, eager to hear more about his mother. “So what happened to this Melissa?”

Lord Edgeworth looked at the drawing. “For weeks I wondered if Ronald had made his move on her yet. Honestly, I did try to put them in each other’s company, but my son was having nothing to do with her. One Sunday afternoon, he and his mother were out visiting friends. Looking for something or other, I forget what now, I came into this room and found Melissa down on her knees cleaning out the ash from the fireplace.

“She didn’t hear me come in. Unobserved, I watched the provocative sway of her body underneath the maid’s black uniform, as she bent back and forth to sweep out the collected ash. When I silently came into the room, I knelt behind her and eased my hands under the uniform skirt. She let out a scream, not knowing who was behind her. When I grabbed her legs, she fought back until I’d dragged her from the dirty fireplace and onto the carpet. This caused her long uniform to ride up, exposing her legs. Even the heavy black stockings she wore didn’t stop me.”

At this point, Lord Edgeworth was deep in his long-ago memory. “When she saw it was her employer, Melissa pleaded with me to leave her alone, that she needed this job. All this time, she was crying and trying to push me away. I knew my wife hired Melissa only after a doctor proved she was a virgin. The bitch wanted to be sure Ronald would be the father of any baby Melissa had.”

“But you said he wasn’t interested in her? Didn’t your wife know that?”

“She was always blind to his sexual preference, and continued to hope for a grandchild for years.” Lord Edgeworth smiled when he continued. “I convinced Melissa that afternoon her uniform was all dirty and wrinkled. She was such an innocent, sweet girl and believed me when I told her I’d leave and get her something else to wear. After we both got up off the floor, she took off her uniform and shyly handed it to me. Melissa became nervous standing there in just a chemise when I stayed in the room.”

Mitchell didn’t want to hear any more and stood up, preparing to leave. “I think I’d better check on Elizabeth. Maybe we could continue this conversation before I leave this afternoon.”

“Sit down, Captain, sit down. Elizabeth is fine. I’ll make sure she settles in once you leave. I suppose I should tell you why I chose Jane to be a wife for Ronald, seeing as you’ve seen his art.”

Relieved at not having to hear how his father seduced Melissa, Mitchell sank back into his chair.

Chapter 39

February 26, 1846 – In Lord Edgeworth's study

Lord Edgeworth went to a sideboard and poured brandy into two snifters. After handing one to Mitchell, he returned to sit behind his desk. “I first met Daniel Templeton, the girls’ father, at university when we were both young. After he returned to Boston to take over his family business, we continued to stay in touch.

“I eventually married and soon after that, we had Ronald. A few years later, Daniel wrote that he was marrying the only daughter of a wealthy Bostonian. I met her once, when I visited them after the two girls were born.” Lord Edgeworth thought for a second. “I think Jane was four and Elizabeth was almost two. Cute little girls, but Daniel’s wife had a face like bulldog licking piss off a nettle. I often wondered how Daniel kept it up long enough to put two children in her.

“Anyway,” said Lord Edgeworth, after pausing to take a tip of brandy, “I didn’t see Daniel again until years later. It was soon after his wife slipped away in her sleep. He raised the girls all by himself after that. We had corresponded about our children, and he knew how worried I was about Ronald’s disinterest in females. We both decided to join our families together, marrying Ronald to one of his girls. I was alone by then, my wife and Melissa plus my youngest son all dead.”

“Two years ago when I arrived in Boston for the second time, Daniel invited me to spend the night while we chose which of his daughters would marry Ronald. In his letters over the years, he’d gone into detail how well he’d readied Jane for marriage. His invitation also included a night with Jane, something I looked forward to after years without enjoying a woman.”

Mitchell, even though he knew of Jane’s past sexual experiences, was surprised that his father also knew and still wanted her for a daughter-in-law.

No longer looking in Mitchell’s direction, Lord Edgeworth continued, “I stood there staring out into his garden where the girls were, delighted to see how different the two of them were. Jane had just turned 15 at the time, looking like a beautiful angel with the sun shining on her blonde hair. But, I couldn’t stop looking at the dark-haired child sitting on an iron bench quietly reading. As I looked out the window at her, a breeze gently pressed her muslin frock against her slender body.

“Her father saw which girl caught my eye. He said, ‘That’s Elizabeth, and she just recently started to bleed. I don’t think she’d be good for your son. Despite my best efforts, my stubborn 13-year-old still is a virgin.’ Hearing that, I knew I wanted her that night, too. Daniel agreed to let me have a go at her, warning me he’s tried her with other men over the years and always failed.”

Chapter 40

February 26, 1846 – In Lord Edgeworth's study

Mitchell was finding it harder to listen as his father discussed Elizabeth like this than when he’d talked about Melissa. He knew, though, he took Elizabeth’s virginity, not his father and admitted he was curious how she rejected him. He didn’t have long to wait.

“When night came, Daniel handed me a mask saying, ‘Jane’s excited when a man comes to her wearing a mask and pretends to attack her. It also will hide your identity so she won’t know you’re the father of her future husband.’ He made sense, and I put on the mask. Daniel had written he liked to stay in the room when Jane was with a man. It surprised me a bit when he left immediately after I went in her bedroom.

When Lord Edgeworth laughed at this point, Mitchell didn’t see anything funny and frowned. Seeing that, his father went on to explain, “In the room lit only by one candle, I could see Jane lying in bed. The vixen was pretending to be asleep, even though I knew Daniel told her to expect a stranger during the night. After I removed my shoes, shirt, and belt and put them on the floor by the bed, I was ready to see if Jane was as good as her father claimed. Undoing my britches, I got down to business. She squealed and gave tiny screams as she squirmed under me, pretending to fight me off. Just as I came, filling her with a thick stream of my cream, the bedroom door opened.

“In walked Daniel, returning with Elizabeth. Even though I’d just climaxed, I could feel myself getting hard again, knowing I’d be in her sister next. Daniel dragged Elizabeth across the room and shoved her on the bed close to where I still was lying on top of Jane. Elizabeth was struggling and crying for Daniel to not make her do this. When I pulled out of her sister and reached for the younger girl, one of her flailing hands struck her father.

Mitchell saw his father wince before finishing what happened. “Daniel grabbed Elizabeth by her long hair and pulled her away from me. She landed on the floor next to my pile of discarded clothes. I watched in shock when he ripped the nightgown from the terrified girl, picked up my belt, and began to slash the strip of hard leather across her body repeatedly. Behind me I heard Jane laughing, but even that didn’t drown out the sound of my belt coming down on her sister’s soft flesh.

“When Elizabeth let out a final scream and fell to the floor unconscious, I saw blood flowing from her face. Daniel had suddenly switched to the buckle end of my belt. With his last vicious swing, he aimed for her shoulder and missed. Instead, Daniel accidentally, though perhaps on purpose, hit her cheek with the sharp edge of the buckle. It gouged her face all the way from her eye to her mouth. He told me to get dressed and leave, that he’d take care of Elizabeth. That was the last I saw of her until you arrived yesterday with both of the girls.”

Mitchell closed his eyes in horror when he heard Lord Edgeworth finally say. “Even with that scar, Elizabeth is beautiful, and her father wrote she’s still a virgin. Tonight she’ll finally know what a man feels like when I tear through her maidenhood. After you and the boy are gone, I’ll be moving Elizabeth from the servants’ floor to my bed. ”

Seeing the leer on his father’s face and watching him rub his hands together in anticipation of the coming night, for the second time in less than a day, Mitchell felt he was about to vomit. Instead he staggered out of the study, knowing if he stayed any longer he would kill his father, thus making Ronald the next Lord Edgeworth.

Continued in next segment

Home of the White Dolphin - Segment 09  (GC) Chapters 41 thru 45 #2091579 by J. A. Buxton