Lucille was a fresh eighteen with golden ringlets of hair and a fresh, innocent face with bright blue eyes and soft, pink lips. She had a petite body with little breasts that she wished were bigger. She wore only the finest dresses and demanded expensive jewelry from her father. In fact, she demanded everything from her father. Lucille was quite the expensive daughter, one far more expensive than her father could afford.
The intention was for her to marry up. She wanted a prince, but a duke or a count would do. Someone with royal ties and one of those old, romantic castles filled with servants and hidden corridors. That is what she dreamed of.
First, there were the etiquette lessons, then the music lessons - both the harpsichord and the harp - with riding lessons and beauty care as well as wardrobe, instruction, and dowry. Indeed, Lucille was a very expensive daughter. While her father was a man of means with a healthy estate in the country called Hartwood, but her expenses were beyond his means, especially as the silver market took a downward turn with the troubles in the northern mines.
It was about to all be worth it as the young Count Stahl was about to arrive to see about Lucille as a potential wife. Lucille was beside herself with excitement. The Count was a dashing young man with black hair and a noble posture. He was also in the line of royal succession and fabulously wealthy. She thought Count Stahl perfect though she hadn't met him yet. There were odd rumors about him, but Lucille and her father dismissed those as mere gossip. There was always gossip about men like the good Count. But we shouldn't concern ourselves with Lucille too much yet, let's turn our attention onto her governess, Velma.
Velma was thirty two at the time of this perverse tale, with reddish brown hair, a slightly chubby face and giant breasts she tried her best to hide under modest dresses that were a size too big for her. She wore eye glasses and was a most prudish sort of woman. Velma disliked sinful behavior of all kinds and had raised Lucille to be pure and innocent, though she now feared that she had helped raise a most spoiled child.
Childish, in fact, was the best way to describe Lucille who had never been punished or spanked in all of her eighteen years. It was something that Velma had disagreed with but Lord Hartwood, Lucille's hapless father, would have none of it. He doted on his little angel and spoiled her as much as he could and more than he could afford. Velma often argued with Lord Hartwood about it, but it was always a losing argument. Velma knew that it would come to a bad end. If only she had known how terrible it would all turn! She may have fled in the night and left the whole rotten family to their deserved fate. If only Velma had, she would have saved herself from the degradation and humiliation that she would be forced to endure at the hands of perverse villains! But alas! We get ahead of ourselves.
As Velma sat in Lucille's bed chamber, Velma thought that Lucille was acting very inappropriately concerning Count Stahl and didn't mind saying so. "You really should get a grip on yourself," Velma told her. "This is no way for a young lady to behave. It's indecent and no man of honor would want a bride who is so indecent. You must be more reserved and modest. More" - Velma paused to think of the right word - "conservative." Yes. That was the right one. Conservative.
"Oh, don't be so dull V-, I hear that the Count is positively progressive. Libertine, I believe was the word I heard. I don't know what it is but it doesn't sound very conservative to me."
Velma gasped in shock. "A libertine? You are not marrying a libertine."
"Oh, yes I am, V-. It sounds very exciting whatever it is."
"Libertines are the most foul and degenerate creatures. Devils in the guise of men. They are the most awful sort of villains, likely to kidnap you and ravage you for days before leaving you in a field somewhere, dishonored and broken. You have never known such sexual cruelty and I pray that you never will."
Lucille stood near an open window. The summer breeze was coming through, playing with the golden ringlets that fell over her cheeks. Her interest seemed aroused. "Truly?"
"I do not like that look," Velma said. "Whatever sinful thoughts are in your head, cast them out immediately. You'll be ruined and without your prince or duke. No man of honor would take you. You'll be destroyed."
Lucille wasn't listening as usual. She picked up one of her romantic novels and drifted off into one of her daydreams, pretending to read. That always drove Velma mad and the governess had to leave before becoming infuriated with her young charge.
Velma visited Lord Hartwood in his study. He was an older man with a thick, white mustache and a round head. He had a pleasant, often jolly but also aloof demeanor. He was having tea at his desk with some papers in front of him. Today, he looked absolutely grave. Velma saw right away that there was something wrong, though she decided it best not to pursue it. Instead, she asked, "when is Count Stahl to arrive?"
"Any day now," was his distracted reply. He grabbed up the papers and quickly shoved them into the top drawer of his desk. "Soon," he answered again as though the question was repeated. He spoke very quietly. "Very soon, I should hope."
