Agnes M. had been raped by her stepfather when she was 18. It wasn't violent, other than the pain of her maidenhead, but it did leave an emotional scar. To protect herself she developed what you might call tough scar tissue over everything associated with the act. And that most definitely included all sexual contact with boys or men.
Her features weren't so unattractive on their own, but she did nothing to enhance them, and her stern visage did its part to forestall any potential romantic interest. In the event someone might get past all of that she was prepared to share her proper religious attitude complete with quotes from the Good Book to make clear that she wasn't interested in any dalliances prior to marriage. Without the distractions of other young girls Agnes had spent all of her time studying the successful farms. She knew all about rotating crops and how and where to get the best price for their harvest.
She was already of an age where most would consider her a spinster when she met and married Jake, a widower. For her the marriage was all about running the farm. Jake never mentioned anything about romance, but he did talk about companionship and someone who was 'good with the books' to help him run the farm. He had two grown sons who continued to come help on the farm, so she felt no need to accommodate his sexual desires for the sake of a family. She thought he would be past that part of his life, to her it seemed like this would be the perfect marriage. But her attitude about sex was a surprise to Jake who had expected at least disinterested acquiescence.
"What about your wifely duties?" he asked in a huff.
"What about them? I might just as easily have said 'I don't feel well', or any number of other excuses. I chose to be honest with you."
"Legally I have rights as a husband," he said exasperated.
"Really?! You sure you want to go there? Your recourse is a divorce. You, a middle aged man, are going to go into a public court and claim that your wife doesn't want to have sex with you?"
Jake had to admit that when she put it like that it did make him sound pretty small and immature. And he had to admit that her ideas for improving the farm were solid. So the dispute died out and was not discussed again.
Some months later Agnes noticed his interest in the farm had waned and he was generally lazy and unproductive compared to when they first married.
A friend and neighbor, Mildred, guessed what the problem was immediately. She tentatively suggested the possibility of sexual contact between Agnes and Jake, but Agnes rejected that idea out of hand. So Mildred had to explain that Jake was most likely depressed and sexually frustrated, and that he must have taken to masturbation with a vengeance and was mentally and physically exhausted for anything else. Agnes admitted she suspected that he was "taking care of his carnal needs privately" but until now had no interest in knowing more. Mildred was firm, the only way to help their marriage partnership was for Agnes to take charge of his sexual activities.
Agnes didn't really want to know anything about it, let alone be in charge of it. If Jake was abusing himself to the neglect of the farm why not simply confront him with her suspicions and admonish him about the sinfulness of his activities and make it clear that he should put his attention back to the tasks at hand.
"It's not that simple," Mildred said. "He would just lie about it, cut back enough to meet your minimal approval on the farm work. You will have to know about and control each of his episodes."
"Why can't I just take control and see to it that he doesn't do it at all, ever?" Agnes asked honestly as if that were a real option.
"I understand your feelings, Agnes. But a man's sexual needs are different." Mildred went on explaining with care and respect, "they're like a fast flowing stream fed by constant rain in the mountains; you could dam the stream up, but eventually the water has to get out some way, even if it just flows over or around the dam." Agnes seemed to understand the analogy. Mildred pressed on. "By removing yourself as an outlet for his sexual desires he turned to 'unregulated' outlets. Thank goodness it appeared to only be masturbation and not costly and dangerous trips to prostitutes." The horror of this last possibility allowed Agnes to see the logic of Mildred's position.
With Mildred's guidance they began a search for Jake's masturbation place and 'materials' in the first and most obvious place, the toilet. Jake apparently wasn't expecting Agnes to care at all what he did as long as it didn't involve her, or else a better hiding place might have been found. His materials were hidden in a loose board of the wainscoting just behind the toilet seat.
"Look at this filth!" Agnes exclaimed, shocked.
The material was actually pretty tame ─ a few French lingerie postcards and some "poetry", Ode to the Flower of Venus, describing in great detail a woman's sexual parts, and their power.
"We should just burn this rubbish!" Agnes exclaimed.
Mildred took a deep breath. "Agnes, you want to catch him in the act. That way you can make him feel ashamed. He will be agreeable to your terms. Once you have possession of the materials you can control when to make them available to him. THAT's how you take charge of the problem."
"I don't know, Mildred. Won't I be contributing to his sin by making this available to him? Isn't it like saying I think it's OK for him to do this?"
"Remember the river, Agnes. Even if you call this contributing to a sin, it's a damn sight smaller one than what will happen if you try to damn up that river and never let it out." Then winking, Mildred added, "Besides, I'm betting you can make him feel pretty guilty about it every time you allow him to use his materials."
For the first time since they found Jake's secret stash Agnes smiled. "Yes, I expect I can," she added. Then she looked puzzled, "But how often should I allow him to abuse himself?"
"Provided he has worked well and not shown signs of other bad habits you could start him off weekly, but then taper him off to once a month over a 3 or 4 month period. See how he does on the once a month schedule. Just like too much will make him lazy, too little will also make him irritable and disagreeable over little things. You can adjust his schedule based on these cues; however, in no event should it become so routine that he knows when it will be allowed. You will need to keep the materials hidden and also stay vigilant to ensure that he doesn't resort to unauthorized masturbation. Now let's discuss how you will surprise him in the act."
The planning for that little surprise got Agnes excited, and as Mildred discussed the masturbation habits of men Agnes was getting a pretty clear idea of when Jake was taking care of his lustful thoughts.
Then getting a little thoughtful look, Mildred said, "I suspect that Jake might be the kind of husband who might need and benefit from physical discipline for more serious infractions; for example, masturbation without permission. Do you have that same feeling?"
It was clear from her expression that Agnes had never thought of it, but was already warming to the idea. She was especially excited when Mildred mentioned that should she ever need to punish him she should do so immediately following one of his masturbations as it would be a more painful lesson.
Agnes had planned the discovery of Jake masturbating with great care. She had subtly disabled the bathroom door lock, and wedged a small piece of plaster behind the loose wainscoting panel. When the loose panel was removed the plaster would fall to the floor. It wouldn't make a loud sound, but if one were close by listening, it could be heard.
Jake headed to the toilet just after breakfast. Agnes slipped down the hall and listened at the door. At first it was just Jake with a toothbrush, but soon enough she heard the small splat of the plaster chunk hitting the linoleum floor. She gave him just enough time to get fully involved before opening the door and rushing in.
"Agnes! What are you doing!?" a startled Jake managed to say while he was trying to hide his hard on at the same time the pictures fell to the floor.
"Apparently catching you doing something you shouldn't. Is this how you have been wasting your time? When there are chores to be done?"
Jake struggled for words. He denied that he did it very often, he said he only did it because they had no sex life. Attempting to turn it around on Agnes didn't work because she was prepared for this.
"I wouldn't care about your filthy habit, but your work on the farm has clearly been suffering. And I can think of no other reason why. You are not sick in bed, you don't seem to have any joint aches and pains slowing you up."
Ashamed and at a loss for anything to say that would successfully counter her argument, Jake acknowledged that perhaps it was taking a bit too much of his time and attention.
"Well I can help you there. From now on that bathroom door stays open, and I'll take charge of these," she said gathering up the pictures and papers.
"But wait, those are mine..." he stammered out before thinking that might not be the best thing to say.
"Don't worry. Against my better judgment I'm not destroying them. But I will decide when you can have access to them for...for...THAT activity." The disgust in her voice was palpable. "And don't think that you'll be doing that even without your dirty pictures. From now on I'll let you know when you can do that. And believe me, it won't be very often if you don't get back on track with the farm!"
"Yes, ma'am," Jake answered almost instinctively, sitting quietly on the toilet.
Agnes liked the sound of that. Acting almost on instinct herself, she decided to capitalize on this moment.
"Well, get your clothes on! You're finished in here," she barked and was immediately rewarded with another "Yes, Ma'am".
Over the next few days Jake threw himself into work on the farm with a fervor never seen before. Agnes knew he couldn't keep up that pace. She even suspected he was thinking a strong showing would put all the trouble in the past, and things would return to the way they were. Even Agnes couldn't imagine the full extent of how things had changed, but she knew that things were never going to be like they were before. She kept a close watch on him, especially for anytime he might be alone. She made no secret of her watching him, feeling that would reinforce the idea that he couldn't get away with anything.
Following Mildred's advice after about a week of hard work, Agnes handed a large brown envelope to Jake and announced that he could have the use of his "dirty pictures" as she called them. Jake almost ran to the bathroom while saying thank you over his shoulder. "Leave that door open," Agnes shouted after him. She didn't know why that was important, but just felt that he shouldn't feel all that private with this at any time.
Things seemed to be improving around the farm. Jake was working well again, though his initial week's efforts were not duplicated, as she had suspected which only made it easier to let a few days more than a week pass before making his dirty pictures available to him again. She was gradually increasing the time span, as Mildred had suggested, while keeping an eye out for "cheating".
Agnes began to wonder about the power these pictures had over him. The women in the pictures didn't look like they had ever done a decent day's work in their lives. But that wasn't what he was thinking about when he looked at them, she thought to herself. She looked at them closely. Were these women really more attractive than her? Maybe, or was it just that they had those naughty expressions on their faces while showing their unmentionables? And this poem, what was that?
Ode to the Flower of Venus
There is a delicate flower,
Whose sight belies awesome power.
Pink petals in a bushy thatch
Flare enticingly for the catch.
Her musky scent drives good men wild.
