Mastering Lady Lucinda Part 1

Mastering Lady Lucinda.

Bertrice Small.

Chapter One.

England, 1750.

George Frederick Worth, the Bishop of Wellington, had one elder brother. Lord William Worth was a colonel in the King's Own Royal West Worcester Dragoons, stationed in India. The bishop had five younger sisters, four of whom had married quite well and were nicely settled. Laet.i.tia, the eldest, was the d.u.c.h.ess of Solway. Charlotte, the second eldest, was the Marchioness of Cardiff. The third, Georgeanne, was the Countess of Dee, and the next to the youngest, Julia, was married to Lord Rafferty of Killarney. It was the youngest, however, who was a thorn in the bishop's portly side.

Lady Lucinda Harrington had been wed at seventeen, and widowed at twenty-three. Her husband, an older man, had left her his considerable fortune, which had not been entailed upon his estate. His t.i.tle had pa.s.sed to his twelve-year-old nephew, an obnoxious lad, whose mama had not been of a mind to allow Lucinda to remain at Harrington Hall under the circ.u.mstances. Lady Margaret had fully expected her son to inherit all of his uncle's goods and chattels. When he hadn't, she had become quite piqued.

Advised by her trusted barrister that she hadn't a s...o...b..ll's chance in h.e.l.l of overturning her brother's will, she had done the next best thing and ordered his widow from the hall. As there was no dower house at Harrington Hall, and as her parents were both deceased, it was George Frederick Worth, the Bishop of Wellington, who had been obliged to take his widowed sister into his household. And from the moment she had arrived, the bishop's life had been more difficult than he could have ever imagined.

"I shall only remain until I can find a house of my own," Lady Lucinda Harrington had announced to her brother and sister-in-law upon her advent at the manse. "I think London, perhaps. I have never lived in the city. I believe a small mansion on one of those delightful little squares I have heard so much about should suit me quite nicely."

Lady Lucinda Harrington smiled a brilliant smile at her brother and his wife. She was a very beautiful young woman with rich, chestnut-colored hair and bright, marine blue eyes. Her sisters were all equally stunning. They had been immortalized by one of the foremost portrait painters of the day in a great canvas t.i.tled The Five Graces. It hung in the bishop's main salon. His guests often commented upon the extaordinary beauty of his female siblings.

"You cannot buy yourself a house, Lucinda," the bishop said.

"Why on earth not, George? I am, to use a most vulgar and common expression, filthy rich," Lucinda replied.

"You are a woman, alone," he answered her.

"Because I am a woman, and alone, I cannot purchase my own establishment? That is absolutely ridiculous, Georgie!" she told him.

"I think, my dear," her sister-in-law interjected, "that what George means is that a lovely, well-born widow, without children, alone in her town house might cause unfortunate gossip. You will, of course, want to remarry as soon as possible in any event. Your new husband will more than likely keep a house in London for the season. It would be imprudent to expend monies for your own house under such circ.u.mstances. Wouldn't you agree, dearest?"

"But I do not necessarily want to remarry," Lucinda said quietly. "Remember, I was wed at seventeen, and never really had a season in London as Papa couldn't afford it with Julia's dowry to sc.r.a.pe up."

"Not remarry?" The bishop looked scandalized. "Of course you will remarry, Lucinda. You have no other choice."

"Of course I have a choice, Georgie. With my own monies I do not have to be at the mercies of some man. Robert, bless him, certainly saw to that. He advised me himself not to remarry except for love, and love alone. That, he said, was the most valuable advice he could give me. I promised him I should indeed not remarry except for love. You surely would not want me to break a promise I made to my late husband on his deathbed, would you?" She c.o.c.ked her head to one side questioningly.

"You cannot leave my home except as a bride," the bishop responded stubbornly. "Your reputation would be in tatters almost immediately, and the gossip would reflect upon us all. I know the others would agree, Lucinda. Fortunately your husband was wise enough to leave the management of your inheritance to Mr. Wythe, Senior, of Wythe, Wythe and Smyth, who as it happens are my own solicitors. I shall speak to them in the morning."

"I could also leave your house in my shroud," Lucinda said darkly, glaring at her brother. Georgie could be such a pompous a.s.s.

"You could," he agreed, not in the least intimidated. "She is such a minx," he said later that evening to his wife as they prepared for bed. "She hasn't changed a bit, I fear." He walked across the chamber to where his wife's maid was laying out Caroline's night garment. "You are dismissed, Molly," he told her.

"Yes, yer worship," she said, bobbing a curtsey and hurrying to the door, casting him a coy look over her shoulder as she went.

Opening the door, the bishop gave her bottom a friendly smack and winked. "I'll see you later," he whispered to her, then closed the door behind the serving girl. After walking back across the room he began to pull the pins from his wife's blond hair as she sat at her dressing table. When he had discovered them all, he picked up her hairbrush and began brushing her hair.

"Ummmm," Caroline Worth murmured. She loosened the tie on her chamber robe. She was quite naked beneath.

The bishop watched in the mirror as he stroked her thick, long hair. Finally he set the brush aside, and leaning over he cupped her two b.r.e.a.s.t.s in his hands. Caroline had large, pear-shaped b.r.e.a.s.t.s with enormous nipples. He fondled the flesh and pulled the nipples out to their full length, one by one. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s felt weighty in his big palms. Their eyes met in the mirror as she pulled her nether lips open, smiling.

"Come, and have a little taste, darling," she invited him.

He grinned. Anyone seeing his elegant, proper wife would never imagine what a wanton she was when the bedchamber door was closed. He released her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and knelt between her thighs, bending his head to lick at her and suck her naughty little c.l.i.t. He knew exactly what would happen, and it did. Caro was quickly aroused by his actions.

"I want to f.u.c.k," she moaned to him. "Hurry, darling! I am so very, very hot for it!"

He slid her off her stool, pulling her to the floor where she lay, legs stretched wide, arms open and inviting. The bishop pulled off his own chamber robe and fell upon his wife, f.u.c.king her until she came in a great, gusty sigh, her juices crowning the head of his p.e.n.i.s generously. He groaned, well satisfied.

"Twenty years married, Caro, and I still want you," he told her.

"Me, and half the female servants," she teased him mischievously.

"I cannot help it if I am a man who needs to give love, darling," he told her. "Besides, you always get my best, Caro. You know, this is what Lucinda needs."

"Love?" his wife replied.

"No, a good stiff c.o.c.k up her c.u.n.t," he answered.

Caroline giggled. "Ohh, George, you are really so naughty for a clergyman. Now get off me, and let us get into bed. I'm freezing. Tell me, did you ever . . . well, you know, with your sisters?"

He laughed. "w.i.l.l.y and I had a bit of a go with Laet.i.tia and Charlotte before he went off to India. After he was gone they wouldn't, and we never f.u.c.ked them. It was just kissing, and sucking, and fondling." He chuckled with the memory. "Their husbands got their cherries, or so I presume. Neither w.i.l.l.y nor I ever did."

Her nightgown now on, and her person comfortably ensconced in their bed, the bishop's wife said, "What are you going to do with Lucinda, George?"

"Well, she is still young, and certainly a beauty. Her pedigree is respectable. She's rich. We'll have a husband for her in no time at all, m'dear. I guarantee it!" the bishop rea.s.sured his wife.

A year pa.s.sed, and Lady Harrington remained domiciled in her brother's house. It had become a battle of wills between the two siblings. Lucinda wanted her own home in London, but the bishop would not allow her bankers to release the necessary funds for such an extravagant purchase. George wanted his sister to remarry, but there wasn't a gentleman who came to call who suited Lucinda at all; and woe to those who engaged her attention for a time and then had the temerity to propose marriage. A second year pa.s.sed. George Worth decided that a trip to London was absolutely in order if they were ever to rid themselves of his youngest sister.

At twenty-five Lucinda was considered an incredible beauty. The virginal debutantes in that London season of seventeen hundred and fifty paled before her presence. As there were no great heiresses that year, Lucinda, with her comfortable income, became the most sought after female in society, despite her age. The younger of the fortune-hunting lordlings amused her, and she was tolerant and kind to them. The rakes and roues were quickly dismissed with a sharp word and a toss of her chestnut curls. Lucinda had no time for fools, or men who thought all women gullible before their manly presence.

The field surrounding Lucinda finally narrowed itself into the three most eligible men in London. Richard Rhodes, the Duke of Rexford, was tall with naturally blond hair and silver-gray eyes. He was so proud of his hair color that all of his wigs, but the formal ones he must wear to court, were the exact same color as his hair. He was a great horseman, and his home in Kent, Rexford Court, was considered one of the finest houses in the country.

Hamlet Hackett, Marquess of Hargrave, was his best friend. A portly young man of medium height, he was prematurely balding with a fringe of nut brown hair growing around the pink back of his pate. His eyes were a deceptively mild blue. Even with the finest wigs made, he still had the look of a well-fed monk; although it was known in certain circles that Hamlet Hackett had the libido of an amorous alley cat. Not a maid at his home, Hargrave Manor, was safe from his naughty ways. He eyed Lucinda as though she were an especially tasty pastry and dreamed of making love to her. He did not, however, share his thoughts with Richard Rhodes, who he suspected had similar notions.

Lucinda's third suitor was Lord Benjamin Bertram of Bancroft Hall, near Oxford. This gentleman was outrageously wealthy and had been the target of ambitious mamas for the past five seasons. He was a very tall and thin man whose hair and eyes both were a nondescript brown. His face was lean, almost severe. Lucinda Harrington was the first woman he had considered worthy to bear his name, and his heir, for he could trace his antecedents back to the long-ago time of Alfred the Great.

George Frederick Worth was delighted by all three suitors for his sister's hand. Whoever she chose, it would be a triumph, and add sheen to his family's escutcheon. Heeding his wife's advice, he did not champion any of the trio as a favorite.

If the truth had been known, he didn't care which one Lucinda picked, for all three were eminently suitable.

The season was drawing to a close. They would soon be returning to the manse. The bishop was growing more nervous by the day. "Has she said nothing to you, Caroline?" he finally asked his wife. Often women talked to other women before speaking to the men in their family.

Caroline Worth looked uncomfortable. She attempted to avoid her husband's gaze. At last she said, "Lucinda says she has found the perfect house for herself on Traleigh Square, near the park."

"What?" The bishop struggled not to shout, but his temples were beginning to throb. He swallowed hard, and drew in several deep breaths to calm himself. Then he demanded of his wife, "Has not one of them declared? G.o.d only knows they have monopolized her time enough."

"She has refused all three," Caroline murmured in a tiny voice. "She will have her own home again, George. I do not believe she will remarry until she gets her way. Unless you want her living with us forever, I beg you to give in to her in this matter." Then Caroline Worth burst into tears. "I want my home back, George! I am to have another baby, and I want my home back again! The manse is not that big. Clarissa is too old to be in the nursery any longer, and I need the bedroom your sister inhabits for her."

"She has refused all three?" The bishop's face was purple with his outrage. "And you did not tell me?"

"It only happened in the last week." His wife wept nervously. "You cannot make her marry if she doesn't want to, George. This is not the middle ages."

"She must be made to reconsider," the bishop said firmly.

"She has publicly insulted them," Caroline told him. "It is quite the giggle of the Ton, George. I am surprised you have not heard the gossip. I doubt they will reconsider asking her again after what she has said about them."

"What has she said?" the bishop demanded of his spouse.

"She said the duke has a face like one of his own horses and not one of particularly good blood lines. And Hargrave reminds her of the elephant at the tower zoo; and Lord Bertram is a stork in too colorful feathers."

George Frederick Worth was almost apoplectic in his outrage. "d.a.m.n her for a high-flying filly!" he swore. "By G.o.d, she needs a good lesson in manners. It's obvious Robert Harrington had no idea what he was doing when he left her his fortune. Or he spoiled her rotten. Either way I have the problem to contend with, and I must solve it."

"Let her have the house," his wife pleaded tearfully.

"No, d.a.m.nit, Caroline! I will bring my sister to heel if it's the last thing on this earth that I ever do. She will remarry, and she will remarry well. She will not bring shame upon this family, or her sisters' families, by her outrageous and willful behavior," the bishop declared angrily. Then seeing his wife's stricken face, he put his arms about her. "Another baby, eh? That will be nice, m'dear." He gave her a small hug, then released her. "I am going to the club now, Caroline, to see if I can repair the damage Lucinda has caused. It is not necessary to hold dinner for me, or to wait up for me. I will probably be some time. You must take care of yourself now, my darling. And in a few weeks' time we shall return to the manse. When is the baby due, Caroline?"

"October," she told him. "Oh, I hope it is a little boy. We already have one for the army and one for the church. We need but an admiral now." She gave him a small smile.

"I should not mind another girl," the bishop declared.

"But what if she's like Lucinda?" his wife asked.

"No daughter of ours will ever be like Lucinda," George Worth said firmly. "We will not permit it, m'dear." Then he gave his wife a loving kiss and departed for his club.

At White's he quickly spotted his sister's three suitors huddled together conversing. He hurried over to greet them. "I must apologize for Lucinda," he began. "Caroline was so shocked by my sister's behavior she has only just confided in me. We're expecting another child, y'know, and it doesn't do for her to be upset."

Then to the bishop's surprise, the Duke of Rexford said admiringly, "I have never met such an arrogant wench as Lucinda. By G.o.d, she has spirit! Just the kind of woman one wants to sire heirs upon."

"Aye," the Marquess of Hargrave agreed with his best friend. "No namby-pamby virgin for me either. It's your sister, or I shall remain a bachelor."

"She needs, however, to be taught a lesson in the proper deportment of a lady toward a gentleman," Lord Bertram said quietly. He looked meaningfully at the bishop. "She is very beautiful, and her bloodlines are excellent; but she is far too independent. She must be instructed in how to be subservient to her husband. Does not St. Paul mention such conduct in a woman as proper and Christian, my lord bishop?"

"Yes," George Worth said slowly, wondering if Lord Bertram was hinting at what he suspected he was.

"Lady Lucinda needs to be mastered," Lord Bertram said softly.

"My G.o.d, Bertie, you aren't suggesting ..." the duke began.

"I am," Lord Bertram responded. "Never knew a girl more in need of such correction than Lady Lucinda."

"But we ain't never had a lady up before our court," the marquess interjected. "Just serving girls, merchants, and farmers' la.s.ses. An occasional shop girl, or saucy governess. We've never mastered a real lady."

"Which is not to say we can't," the duke said. "Lucinda has insulted us all when all we did was offer her marriage. Did you not tell me, George, that she offended half the country gentlemen round and about the manse? Isn't that why you brought her to London for the season? So she might have a bigger field in which to husband hunt? Well, the wench has had three most suitable and magnanimous offers which she has publicly scorned. That was bad enough, but she has made all three of us a laughingstock. I cannot go anywhere our friends do not neigh, George. Poor Hammie and Bertie have suffered from her mocking tongue as well. I should like that tongue to be taught more pleasant diversions such as licking my c.o.c.k. Would you gentlemen not agree?"

"Only if it is my c.o.c.k she licks," the marquess said with a wink.

"Then, my lords, I suggest we bring Lady Lucinda before the court of the Devil's Disciples for judgment as soon as possible," Lord Bertram responded.

"It would be quite unseemly for me to attend that particular session," George Worth said. "Neither my wife, nor Lucinda, could possibly imagine such a secret society as ours, gentlemen. If my sister is to be given over to The Master for correction, I should not be there."

"Certainly not!" the trio agreed with one voice.

"However, George, you must help us make the plan by which we will trap the lady, putting her in our tender charge," Lord Bertram told the bishop.

"And after she is mastered, she will be forced by the very nature of her situation to choose a husband from among the three of us," the marquess concluded gleefully.

"How much time will you need?" the bishop asked his companions.

"I think at least a month," the duke considered, and looked at his coconspirators, who nodded in agreement.

The bishop thought for several long minutes, and then he said, "Only Caroline would be concerned as to where Lucinda has gone. Two of my other sisters are in Scotland, another in Wales, and Julia lives in Ireland. There will be no one to ask embarra.s.sing questions, gentlemen. I believe the solution is to tell Caroline that Lucinda has gone to Ireland to visit Julia."

"Lucinda must appear to be planning such a trip," Lord Bertram said, "else your wife grow suspicious."

"I know just how to get Lucinda to agree to such a visit,"

George Worth said with a grin. "For two years she and I have argued over her desire to purchase her own home in London. She has found a house she likes on Traleigh Square. I shall allow her to buy it and make all her plans for decoration. Then I shall suggest she visit Julia, while it is being done, and be back in London by the autumn. That gives us the summer months should my sister prove more recalcitrant with The Master than we antic.i.p.ate and he need more time with her. The house, of course, can be quickly resold once she has married again. It will be well worth the cost of the decor to allow us this time. Besides, Lucinda can afford it. She will still come to a new marriage a wealthy woman. Is this plan suitable to you, gentlemen?" the bishop asked them.

"What about her maid?" the duke said. "No lady would travel without her maid, George."

"Polly? A most naughty piece of fluff, my lords. She will certainly go with my dear sister. And when the time comes for Lucinda to make her choice, Polly will, I promise you, offer you all a most charming entertainment along with her mistress. She's a juicy f.u.c.k if there ever was one. I shall miss her, but whichever of you gentlemen wins Lucinda will have Polly in your household, too. I envy you. I have had a most enjoyable two years with Polly, and her sister, Molly, who is Caroline's maid. They are wickedly lewd la.s.ses."

"We shall notify The Master, then, my lords. Let us meet here again at the same time next week to coordinate our plans," the duke said. The agreement secured, the gentlemen bowed to one another and sat down to play cards.

The next morning the bishop, his wife by his side, called his sister into the morning room. "Caroline has convinced me that you will not settle upon a second husband until you have your own home," George Worth began. "I do not want you unhappy, Lucinda. Therefore I have instructed your bank to release to you any and all of your funds. You may purchase your house in Traleigh Square, m'dear. I am not convinced this is the best road for you to take, but it is obvious you will not travel mine until you gain your own way in the matter." He smiled a small smile, feeling not the least bit of guilt.

"Ohh, George!" Lucinda cried, clapping her hands together in delight. "I shall send to dear old Mr. Wythe and have him negotiate with the agent. Is there time before we leave London?"

George Worth smiled more broadly. "Of course," he purred. "And, Luci, you must make arrangements for your decor before we depart. The house, I have not a doubt, will need work. We shan't leave London until you have made all of your arrangements, m'dear."

Lucinda flung her arms about her older brother and kissed him soundly on both of his smooth cheeks. "You are, Georgie, the very best brother a girl could have! Even if you are a bit slow," she said.

"Slow?" He was offended. "Whatever do you mean, Lucinda?"

"If you had done this two years ago, it would have been ever so much better," Lucinda told him. "But at least now you have listened to reason and come around to a more sensible frame of mind. I am so very glad!" She kissed him again, then turned to her sister-in-law. "Dearest Caro, thank you for interceding for me," Lucinda said.

"I agree with George, Lucinda, but I also realize that you will not be content to remarry until you can have your way. You are not, I fear, at twenty-five, in the first flush of your youth any longer," Caroline Worth noted sharply. "Having refused three such fine offers as you had, it will not be as easy next season to find a husband."

Lucinda bit her lip to keep from laughing. Poor Caro, for whom a man, children, and home were everything. She could not understand anyone who did not have the same ambitions as she had. There she was married to George, a sweet, but dull fellow, with five children, and yet another on the way. She was as content as a sow in warm mud. I do not, Lucinda thought to herself, think I could have stood living with them much longer. "I believe, upon reflection, that I should remain in London this summer while the house is being refurbished for me," she said.

"London in the summer is a cesspit," her brother p.r.o.nounced. "Buy your house, and make your plans, m'dear. Then why not go off and visit Julia in Ireland. You and she always got on quite well. You haven't seen her since you married. Or go up to Scotland to see Laet.i.tia and Charlotte, or perhaps Georgeanne over in Wales."

Lucinda thought a moment. Her brother was being very reasonable, and he was right. London's reputation in summertime was foul. "I shall go to Ireland to visit Julia and her Brian," she decided aloud. Julia had always been fun. Her other sisters bored her.

"I shall write to Julia myself," the bishop said to his youngest sister. "When you have concluded your business, m'dear, I shall arrange for your travel. I have been given to understand that Dublin is quite lively even in the summertime."