It may be thought that a lady possessed of an independent fortune errs in maintaining her own household and not placing herself under the protection of either some near male relation, or, failing the existence of such, obtaining for herself the guardianship of a husband; for it is an undoubted truth that such a lady, be she ever so plain, will not want for male admirers.
Miss Martin was however, neither plain nor desirous of male tutelage; released at last from the dutiful care of an ailing father by the timely demise of such, she found herself free in the world and possessed of a fortune, which carefully placed in the three percents, yielded an income to her of close on six hundred a year.
Her long period of suffering at the hands of her intemperate parent had left her desirous of leading a life of independence, and with that in mind she betook herself into the county of Barsetshire and the small village of Denbury where she leased a villa of modest proportions, for be her fortune ever so great her desire for thrift was greater, and set up house with a household of cook-housekeeper - of almost unimpeachable character - and her niece Mary - a girl of sixteen years and quite unimpeachable character.
Mary was the daughter of Miss Martin's foster brother Septimus the adopted child of her own mother who had departed this world shortly after the arrival of Miss Martin therein. Septimus, being but the step-son of her father, had been sent to school in Yorkshire, married young and died young along with his young wife in the Wapping train crash of '55.
Mary had therefore been dependent in this world upon her step-grandfather who had, with much reticence it must be owned, placed her in Miss Marryat's School for the Daughters of Gentlefolk, a strict, if respectable, girls boarding school. She, having now reached the age at which girls look to marriage, had been taken out of school to be introduced into society in Denbury. She was a good girl, obedient, comely (if inclined slightly to an excess of adiposity) but imbued with only a modest degree of learning, being proficient only in French, Latin, Greek and Italian and having progressed no further in the sciences than the mastery of Euclid and a knowledge of the calculus (differential and integral). Her accomplishments were also limited for although she had mastered the pianoforte and the violoncello her watercolours had been rated by Miss Marryat as no higher than 'accomplished'.
She was of slightly less than medium height with a round face, a nose of the variety known in those circles in which such things are spoken of as retrousse, deep brown eyes and an abundance of tight brown curls which she wore somewhat incongruously 'a l'anglaise'.
Miss Martin had at this juncture still not attained her thirtieth year and yet maintained both a maidenly form which was much admired, and a face of such notability that even were she not a lady of fortune, despite her advancing years, she would not have lacked for suitors.
She was an upright beauty of above average stature, athletic build and somewhat aquiline features; her violet blue eyes were quite startling and toned to perfection with her chestnut tresses which she wore up at all times.
There are those readers of this tale who will look askance at the behaviour of Miss Martin at this period of her life; seeing evidence of a sinful soul in her desire both to attend balls and dance - although far past the age at which such youthful pursuits are acceptable - and eschew the card table for what some might consider a flirtatiousness more becoming a girl of eighteen summers.
However she must be forgiven this weakness, for who among us has not succumbed to the petty temptations of life; and it must be remembered that Miss Martin, at that time in her life when youthful flirtatiousness would have been considered appropriate, had been yoked under the thrall of that intemperate parent.
Whether the gentle reader will equally forgive the other peccadilloes in which she indulged, and which are to be described in this tale, only time will tell.
For be it understood that Miss Martin had, as many ladies do, a secret vice, a species of compulsion, which perhaps she ought, by dint of prayer and supplication to have suppressed; however she did not and this was to lead her onto paths, broad and primrose strewn, down which ladies of society should not, if they wish to maintain their place in that society, venture.
This vice, she owned even to herself, she had had since the age of sixteen. At that time her father had kept a large household in Grosvenor Square in London, and Amelia, as she had then been known, had been placed under the tutelage of a governess of the name of Spriggs. Sadly Spriggs had been overly attracted to the consumption of that alcoholic beverage known to the inhabitants of London as Old Tom, a species of gin of unparalleled potency which rendered her insensible most evenings before the hour of six.
Amelia, even at her tender age, had thus been forced to learn to bathe and dress herself, a task which she accomplished with a fair degree of efficiency for one so young. Her father having not yet espoused the fashion for plumbing, it was necessary that she bathe with the use of a zinc bathing tub which was brought into her chamber and filled with water heated on the kitchen range. This task should perforce have been one allotted to the unfortunate Spriggs, but this worthy being always too far gone to accomplish it Amelia had called upon the services of James the underfootman, a handy if somewhat slow witted youth of seventeen years.
Bathing herself, resourceful girl, thus, upon the occasion of her sixteenth birthday - a task which she carried out punctiliously every month - the unfortunate Amelia had been surprised by James in the act of applying Pear's Patented Soap to her nether regions. James, forgetful of the fact that he had already completed the filling of the bath tub, had brought up yet another pitcher of water from the range.
Amelia, thus surprised - like Diana taking her ablutions - in a state of nature, knew that she ought, like Diana, to cast the unfortunate James to the ravishing hounds; but somehow the experience of being thus observed imparted to her receptive body a feeling more akin to pleasure than anger, and she bade James empty the pitcher into the tub, and was even so far emboldened as to request that he bring yet another to refresh the warmth of the water.
So much did this exercise please Amelia that she henceforth instituted these refreshments of her bathing water as a regular occurrence each time she bathed; a process which continued for several weeks during which time, being a girl of exceptionally cleanly habits, she bathed no fewer than six times.
I fear that you, gentle reader, will already have attributed to Amelia motives for these displays of her naked form which were not entirely pure; and I fear that in this attribution you will not be entirely mistaken for she had discovered that being thus viewed in a state of nature aroused in her feelings which she had not hitherto experienced; feelings which led her to indulgence in that vice to which young persons are so often tempted and can so rarely resist.
In this however I must beg my readers indulgence on behalf of the poor girl, for such had been the lack of the education she had received on such subjects that she did not realise that an act which gave so much pleasure was one which was forbidden by the strict morals of our puritan society.
Indeed such a slave had she become to this vice that she was tempted to indulge in it even as James, with some care, and no little enjoyment, entered her chamber bearing his pitcher of water.
It was however a situation which could not continue long without discovery, for from time to time the wretched Spriggs made efforts to overcome her reliance upon the calming effects of Old Tom and betook herself to Amelia's chamber with the intention of seeing to the welfare of that young lady.
So it was that one September evening as Amelia stood in her bath unclothed before James indulging in that very act which is so abhorrent to the likes of Spriggs when that unworthy lady entered the room. The result of this discovery was that James was indeed thrown to the ravishing hounds, figuratively if not physically; and, Spriggs having fetched her punishment strap, Amelia received a chastisement upon her bare posterior condign to the wickedness of her behaviour; for as is known to all governesses, condign chastisement of the bare posterior is the only way to discourage such behaviour in young girls who might otherwise fall into ways of wickedness and impurity.
I fear however that this chastisement, repeated though it often was during the rule of the governess, failed to achieve its worthy aim; for at the time of our current tale Miss Martin was still wont to regularly indulge, though it must be said that in deference to the opinion of public morality such behaviour she limited to once a week upon a Wednesday evening. Such however was the guilt which Spriggs had induced in her with regard to this indulgence, that she invariably felt the need for chastisement that equalled, if not exceeded, that which in former times had been administered by her governess. Of course it being impossible that a lady of such mature years be so chastised, in order to achieve this aim she enlisted the services of her niece Mary, she of the quite unimpeachable character, to act in the role of proxy.
The young girl, who had been brought up an orphan in a secluded institution, understanding this to be a normal duty of a niece, obliged Miss Martin by the removal of all her garments, adopting a position of forward bending and permitting the chastisement of her posterior; for which girl, if given the opportunity, would not relish the opportunity to oblige her aunt to whom she was beholden, by allowing a glow to be imparted to the her lower cheeks.
All of this, it is needless to say, passed unknown to the fashionable circles of Denbury; the most fashionable of which was, as is invariably the case in a small market town, led by the wife of the rector, the redoubtable Mrs Twinge. Though it must be said that although the details were unknown the result did not pass unremarked for Mrs Twinge had been heard to comment to her diminutive confidante Miss Dimmock that it was strange that the niece of the newly arrived Miss Martin always politely turned down the offer to be seated on a Thursday morning.
Mrs Twinge, it must be noted, ruled the roost in Denbury, not so much on account of the position of her husband, who was indeed ruled equally as vigorously as the roost, as on account of her indomitable will. Miss Martin however was possessed of no little will of her own and was a fair match for the rector's wife, and all would, undoubtedly, have passed quite merrily for many months had it not been for the arrival in the county town of Barchester of the Honourable Oswald Pointdexter.
Oswald Pointdexter was, in point of fact, a representative of that unfortunate class of scions of the lesser nobility, the younger son. The laws and customs of England being such that all land, wealth and property appertaining to the title pass ineluctably to the first born male, the younger son is, by force of circumstance, thrown upon his own resources by way of making a mark in the world.
In doing so the social conventions of the age do not permit to him any taint of what is termed 'trade'; the younger son who would set himself up as purveyor of meat, fish or fruit is forever cast into the outer pit of the infernal regions never to be mentioned again. Until recent times indeed the only professions considered suitable were the army, the navy and the church.
Oswald Pointdexter considered the former too exciting and the latter too dull and would have been in a quandary indeed had it not been for a remarkable change in the attitude of polite society towards the arts. It had long been held a gentlemanly pursuit to indulge in poetry and painting, but only as a dabbling amateur; however the success of such notables as Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Sir Frederick Leighton had rendered the profession of professional artist as one acceptable within polite society.
