Editor's note: this story contains scenes of non-consensual or reluctant sex.
A mistress is better than a master.
It was Christmas 1898 and Anna was fed up. Fed up because it was cold and miserable,fed up because she was alone, and fed up because her mother had arranged for Thomas to visit that evening.
Thomas was, to Anna's mother, the ideal husband; 30 years old, from good stock, already a man of land and property and certain to inherit a lot more from his elderly parents - probably sooner rather than later.
A marriage between Anna and Thomas would ensure her daughter's comfort for the rest of her life and, more importantly, it would provide herself with secure home on the estate. This was the way it was; if you marry the daughter, you have to look after her mother. Perfect.
The problem for Anna was that she quite simply didn't like Thomas. Yes, he was good looking, and he did have a fine body, and in fact he was very pleasant in his ways too, especially to mother, and that alone made life so much easier for Anna. Mother could be difficult at the best of times.
No, the problem was that Anna just didn't like him. She didn't feel anything when he was in the room, no twinges, no desires, nothing. To be honest she was not sure how she was meant to feel because, she suspected, she had never experienced one of "those" feelings.
She had spent many evenings by the fire with her older sisters while they giggled about how the men they wanted made them feel dizzy and light headed.
Once her sister eldest sister, Marie, spoke of a "dampness" when a potential lover had gently kissed her neck. Anna had laughed along with the story but had no real idea what her sister was talking about. Perhaps, she thought, she never would. Perhaps she was just different.
Anyway, Thomas coming over this evening, was definitely making her more fed up than usual, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Mother and Anna lived alone, her father having died some years before, apart from Minnie. She was not quite a servant, not quite a cook and not quite a dresser. She was a little bit of everything; she lived in the house, often ate with them and occasionally travelled with them too. She would help mother dress in the morning and if Anna was to attend an event she would help her dress for that too, in fact she would have been better described a Senior Housemaid – had there been any others to be senior to!
For Minnie today was a good day because it was her duty to help Anna prepare for Thomas's arrival, so at 7:00 pm precisely she knocked on Anna's bedroom door as instructed.
They both got on very well together and Minnie was really quite informal in her company. Far more so than mother would have liked. But Anna was happy with it this way, Minnie has become her friend and her confident since her elder sisters had married and moved away and it was to Minnie that she turned when she was fed up – like today!
Anna was already in the tub when Minnie knocked and she called out to beckon her in. Minnie immediately started sorting out the corsets and gowns that she knew Anna would want to wear to greet Thomas. Nothing too pretty, just a sensible evening gown, with silk ties, ivory buttons and lots of lace. Exactly how a woman of Anna's position should look, pretty without being provocative.
Anna was still in the tub when she called for Minnie.
"Would you scrub my back, Minnie" she casually asked.
Without a word Minnie took up the long wood handled brush and soaped it up. She often did this for her mistress, in fact it was in the tub that they had some of their most intimate conversations. Minnie sat on a chair and gently rubbed the brush in circular motions up and down Anna's back.
In fact they both loved this, Anna because it felt good, and Minnie, because it brought her so close to her mistress. A privileged position only she enjoyed. Oddly, today they did not talk, Minnie just carried out her duty in silence. She occasionally glanced at Anna's beautiful body and felt a sort of flutter in her tummy – it was all a bit improper and she often had to look away to contain it.
