Cynthie began to doze as her maid's gentle hands washed and stroked her body. Molly, the maid, had done this for her mistress many times before. Cynthie had never thought about it, just accepted it as her due. But the activities in the stable were vivid in her mind's eye. the sleepy feeling passed off and she began to really feel the girl's hands upon her. Molly was the daughter of the Irish cook. She was young, perhaps, but quickly beginning to ripen into a woman. Her hair was a rich red and always tied back properly. Her eyes, normally cast down when speaking to her mistress, were a deep green. Her body was stocky, yet shapely. Large round breasts threatened to burst out of the thin cotton shift the girl wore.
"Molly, look at me," Cynthie said quietly. The girl bashfully raised her gaze to her mistress' face. "You are truly beautiful, ma chere," she said, stroking the girl's cheek. "Are you still a virgin?"
Molly's pale cheeks reddened and she dipped her head in embarrassment. She glanced quickly up again, then nodded, her auburn-gold curls bouncing in the afternoon sunlight. "Yes ma'am," she said in an almost inaudible voice. "I hope to marry one day and my mother told me that no decent man would marry a woman who is not pure."
Cynthie chuckled. "Perhaps in Ireland that is the way. But you are in France now, Little One. Men here are somewhat more worldly." As Cynthie ran her fingers through the luxurious tresses, she began to get the germ of an idea. "Are you not curious about the act of love?"
The blush on Molly's cheeks deepened. This time she giggled before answering. "Oh, but I know all about it, Mistress! I've watched the beasts. And... and... well, we lived in a very small cottage back home. I heard my Da and Mother sometimes. And...." the girl stopped abruptly and glanced at her mistress then away.
"And...? And what, Molly? What else?"
"Well...," the girl gulped before going on boldly. "Well, one morning when I was in the garden gathering herbs last week the gamekeeper surprised me." Cynthie pictured the new gamekeeper the Lord had hired only last month. He was young and handsome. Yes, she thought, he would certainly be attracted to this one. Cynthie's pulse quickened at mention of the young man.
"Surprised you how?"
"He came up behind me and held me to him. I was afraid and struggled, but he held me fast. He turned me around and kissed me hard on the lips. Then he took my hand and thrust it into his breeches! His...his...thing was hard and stiff! It gave me the strangest feeling! I was afraid I would faint and awake no longer a virgin! So I squeezed it roughly and he released me, howling in pain. I ran to the kitchen door and safety." She looked at Cynthie with wide eyes before going on. "It felt so strange in my hand, hard, yet soft and smooth. Are all men like that, Ma'am? Can that huge thing really fit inside our...?" the girl could not bring herself to utter the vulgar name she'd heard a woman's private parts called. Cynthie felt her heart go out to her. Molly was so innocent, yet so beautiful, it was amazing she had lasted this long without losing her maidenhead.