The Education of Amelia; or a Bawdy Tale of the Introductions of a Young Woman of Means into the Passions of Love and Desire
Amelia urged her horse forward and over the fence. Splendor sailed through the air. It was as close to flying as a person could ever get, Amelia thought. Splendor landed gracefully and she galloped him up toward the crest of the hill.
The sun was bright and the day was warm, but with a light breeze. She slowed the horse to a trot as she reached the big oak at the top off the hill. Someone was sitting at the base of the tree. Amelia brought Splendor to a walk, as she got closer. It was a man. He was sitting so that his back was too her, but he must have heard her approaching because he turned and looked at her. It was the O'Leary boy. His father ran the small freehold at the bottom of the hill along Westerly Road. And, he wasn't wearing a shirt.
He stood up quickly when he saw Amelia and she stared at the ripple of muscles under his skin. It made her go all fluttery in her stomach. She tried to look away, but couldn't.
"Ma'am," he said touching his forelock.
"What's your name?" Amelia demanded, covering her discomfort with a fierce exterior.
"Tatam, Ma'am. Tatam O'Leary. My father's got the freehold down yonder." He inclined his head down the hill.
"Oh yes, O'Leary," Amelia said. "What are you doing here?"
"Resting Ma'am. I was fixing the stile, but the sun is hot and I needed some relief."
Amelia nodded, trying not to stare at his bare chest. She felt hot and uncomfortable herself. She urged Splendor forward a bit so that she was in the shade of the oak, but this also brought her closer to the O'Leary boy. He stepped forward and took Splendor by the halter, stroking the big horse's soft nose.
"Fine horse," he said looking up at Amelia.
He was surprisingly handsome. He had dark eyes with long lashes and unlike other commoners he did not avert his gaze when looking at her. He stepped closer so that he could stroke the horse's flank and she caught a whiff of him, a sunny, lemony scent mixed with a light smell of sweat. Her heart beat a bit faster and she found that she was having trouble catching her breath. She stared at the thin trail of hair that descended from his belly button and disappeared into the top of his trousers. She looked away.
"Splendor. His name's Splendor," she said.
"You ride him well. I've seen you at a distance. You ride better than many a man."
"Thank you." She should go. Her stepfather would not approve of her being alone with any man let alone a laborer's son and an Irishman at that. "Do you ride?"
Tatam smiled. "Oh I can ride, but I don't much get the opportunity. Asides, the horses I ride are better suited to pulling a plow."
Of course, it had been a stupid question. She hadn't even meant to ask it, but something about his naked closeness and his smell was making it hard for her to think. She had this odd desire to reach out and run her hand over the muscles in his arm, the same way she would run her hand over Splendor when grooming him. She swallowed hard and shifted in her saddle. "I should be going."
"Aye, as should I. I still have much to get done." He gave her a big smile and stepped away. "Perhaps I'll see you out riding again sometime."
"Perhaps." She watched him turn and walk way toward the stile in the stone fence at the edge of the field. She flicked the reins and Splendor started forward.
**********
"Cousin Charlotte should arrive today," Amelia's stepfather said when she came down for breakfast the next morning. Amelia had never known her real father, he'd died before she was born. Lord Cosgrove had always seemed like a young, benevolent uncle to her, rather than a father.
"Oh good," Amelia said. She didn't know her Scottish cousin, but anything to break up the monotony and routine of manor life was welcome. Cousin Charlotte was a temporary replacement for her Governess, Miss Atkins, who'd been called away due to family illness. Charlotte was young for a Governess, just 24, a few years older than Amelia. If her family had more money it would have been shocking that she had not come out. Most women her age were engaged or married by this time. But Charlotte's father, who was some distant cousin of Amelia's mother, was a doctor. A country doctor at that, and did not have the means. Amelia would come out the next year when she turned 19, if Miss Atkins had any say in it.
It was a wet dreary day, so there would be no riding. With Miss Atkins away there would be no schoolwork either.
After breakfast Amelia wandered up to the library to search out a book. Instead of choosing a book from her stepfather's library, she chose to look at the shelves that held her mother's books. Her mother had died when Amelia was only eight and she hardly remembered her. Her books were one of the few tangible reminders Amelia had. Miss Atkins did not have a high regard for the romances and novels of the former Lady Cosgrove and did not encourage Amelia to read from "those shelves," as she referred to them.
Amelia let her fingers run over the spines of the volumes, finally settling on a book by Jane Austin. She took it over to the day bed by the window where there was more light and began to read. The book was good and engaging, but after a time she found that her thoughts began to wander to her encounter with Tatam O'Leary. She could see him in her minds eye, shirtless and muscular. She remembered how she'd wanted to touch him and the lemony, sweaty smell of him.
She remembered the thin line of hair that ran from his belly button and disappeared into his trousers. Her breathing became shallow and she felt flushed and warm. She closed her eyes picturing him. She imagined his hands on her waist and her hands against his hard chest. She was more than just warm now. She let her knees fall apart a bit under her skirts. She felt hot down there. In her mind Tatam's hand stole lower, pressing against her belly. Then it travelled lower still, until he was pressing it between her legs. Amelia sighed.
Then she opened her eyes. Her own hand was pressing down on her skirts and she felt damp between her thighs. Miss Atkins had hinted about this and about the sin of it and what happened to those who gave in to such sins. But it felt so good. Amelia wanted to hike up her skirts and open her pantalets. The thought shocked her, but the naughtiness of it was also appealing.
Reluctantly, she removed her hand and picked up her book again. No more thoughts of Tatam O'Leary, she told herself.
She'd only read a few pages when she was interrupted by a commotion in the courtyard below. Looking out she saw a carriage drawing up to the front door. This must be cousin Charlotte arriving. She stood, straightened her skirts and went to meet her.
Amelia reached the bottom of the stairs to find her stepfather greeting a slim, pretty woman with thick red hair. She saw Amelia over her Lord Cosgrove's shoulder just as Amelia reached the bottom step.
"You must be Amelia," Charlotte said, and came forward and embraced her. Then she stepped back and look her cousin up and down. "Aren't you the flower of youth?"
Amelia blushed. Charlotte laughed.
"Tell me what do you like to do?"
The sudden, forthright question surprised Amelia. "Ride." It was the first thing that came to mind.
"Oh good, I love horses and riding over the moors," Charlotte said. "What else?"
"Reading."
"And what do you like to read?"
"Well I'm reading a book by Jane Austin right now," Amelia said and glanced at her stepfather to see if he disapproved, but he was watching the two girls with amusement.
"Oh we're going to get on tremendously!" Charlotte declared
"Denby, take Miss MacCarthy's trunks up to the Silver room please," Lord Cosgrove said to the footman waiting by the door.
"Oh, you're going to be next door to me." Amelia said to her cousin.
"I know, I asked to be close by. I want us to be friends."
Amelia spent the rest of the day helping Charlotte and Annie, the chambermaid, unpack Charlottes clothes and get her settled in her chamber. The more time she spent with Charlotte the more she liked her. She was the opposite of Miss Atkins. She laughed and smiled for one thing, but it wasn't just that, she never once admonished Amelia about her manners or how she stood or walked.
"So what are your plans for Amelia's education?" Lord Cosgrove asked at dinner.
"We'll start slow I think," Charlotte replied. "I'll want to get a good sense of where she is and what she knows."
"My sense is that she has more knowledge of manners and religion than of any real learning," his Lordship noted.
"And you want her to have real learning?" Charlotte asked.
"I want my daughter to be able to think and fend for herself," Amelia's stepfather said. "One day this estate will be hers, God willing, and she must know how to run it. She should know math, prose and rhetoric. Can you help her with those?"
"That's very progressive of you, sir. I certainly can help her with those subjects. Perhaps some basic biology and chemistry also?"
"Whatever you think best," Lord Cosgrove said.
Charlotte looked over at Amelia and smiled. "We'll have fun."
*********
Amelia was running through the woods. It was dark and someone was following her. She could hear them crashing through the underbrush. Branches tore at her and tangled at her ankles, but she pushed on, terrified.
Then he was there in front of her a dark shape. She wasn't sure how she knew it was a man, she just did. She opened her mouth to scream.
"Don't, I won't hurt you."
It was Tatam O'Leary. He was shirtless in the moonlight. He stepped closer to her and she was enveloped in his smell.
"I didn't mean to scare you."
She turned her face up to him. She wanted him to kiss her and he did. He leaned down and their mouths met. His lips were warm and his breath was hot. He pulled her close and she could feel the hardness of his muscular body against her. And there was another hardness pushing against her skirts.
She pushed herself against him wanting to feel all of him against her body. His breath was sweet like new grass and his arms around her felt strong. She ran her hands up his back. It was like stroking Splendor, the same warm muscle and hair. Hair? But she couldn't think about that now. All she could do now was cling to him. His hand had found the firm round flesh of her loins. She sighed into his mouth. Amelia felt like she was on fire and melting at the same time. And she was wet. Very wet. It came as a bit of a shock to her.
Then she was naked, how she didn't know. She pressed into Tatam, embarrassed, even in the dark. But something was pressing back, pressing between her legs where a hot stream appeared to be trickling from her. She pulled back and saw his manhood rising dark and enormous between his legs. She gasped. It looked like Splendor's member, but it extended upward and curved back toward Tatams hard stomach.
"Touch it," Tatam said, his voice husky and soft.
Repulsed and fascinated she did. It felt like a snake, hard and silky.
"Mmm," Tatam made a noise in his throat.
Her hand looked tiny against his giant member. She stroked it and he moaned, his hips moving to meet each stroke. She wanted more, she wanted it inside her. The idea came from nowhere. She'd never even entertained such a thought before. She moved in closer, and still stroking, she pushed him between her legs. Carefully she rubbed his massive knob up and down her own sex. She shivered. It felt like heaven. She'd seen horses mating in the fields, but she never imagined it could feel like this. Her hand was slick with her own juices. She pushed Tatam's cock between her folds and tried to get it inside her, but it was too big.
"Turn around."
She turned and he pushed her forward on to all fours. She could feel her juices on her thighs; her nipples were so hard they hurt. She reached up and pinched one, sending a shudder through her body. She cupped her breast as she felt Tatam maneuver his thick member between her legs. She spread herself wider and wantonly lifted her backside in the air. She felt so depraved and so excited all at once. She wanted him insider her in the worst way.
He snorted and she glanced behind her. It wasn't Tatam it was Splendor. She almost screamed, but the feeling of his big, black horse cock pressing against her engorged sex felt so good she moaned instead. He bucked forward and she pushed back trying to meet his thrusts. She was panting and there was a wonderful tightening in her belly that was starting to spread. Splendor bucked against her shaking her body. A light was spreading before her eyes, like dawn.
