Chapter 9, Part II. School's in Session
18-year-old Ashley look out the window of the patrician Jaguar as it sped along the country lane towards the old, gabled building surrounded by a gravel drive. She tugged uncomfortably at the wide school tie clasped at the collar of a crisp white schoolgirl shirt. She shifted her weight nervously as she turned to observe the ancient manor home the car was approaching. The soft, luxurious leather seats of the gracious vehicle molded perfectly to the anxious girl's shifting haunches as she twisted her torso. The car came to a halt. The building, thought Ashley, looked established and imposing, a short series of steps leading to a wide heavy oak door bordered in wooden carvings. A heavy iron knocker in the shape of a lion's paw looked like it would require more strength than the young girl had to rap for attention and gain admission. Not that gaining admission would be high on Ashley's list of desires when standing at the door. If anything, the brooding presence of the building and the mysterious and ominous circumstances whereby the young lady had come to be there elicited in her troubled mind a wish to flee more than to enter. She glanced quickly at her uncle in the driver's side of the vehicle, setting the parking brake. She didn't imagine that he would be amenable to agreeing to forego the day of "education" he had arranged and take her home.
Edward had come to her a few days before, and surprised her with the news that she was to start to attend classes. He had said this would prevent her from becoming idle during her summer. Ashley hadn't expected to be going to school while in England, but the though of meeting and fraternizing with her contemporaries excited her. So it was with eagerness this morning that she'd donned the uniform her Uncle had prepared for her: the aforementioned crisp white shirt, a pleated gray skirt, and thigh high white stockings. For all extent and purposes, Ashley's schoolgirl uniform would have been proper for a schoolgirl of 13. The one variation on the ageless dress her Uncle had made, he'd put to her as, "of course, Ashley, for your uniform we will forego the plain undergarments and flat heels appropriate to younger girls. You will wear your delicate, black strapped heels. And, of course, it is always appropriate to wear nice underthings. Let me see...." While Ashley had watched embarrassed, Edward had gone to her underwear drawer. True, she told herself, he'd bought most of the lacy undergarments. But still she blushed to have him finger through her lingerie, possessively taking up and examining one after another lacy transparent panty, or unfolding a large cupped, supportive but decorative brassiere with a hint of a smile which Ashley knew came from imagining her breasts and body in the garments. She had blushed as Edward picked up the bra and used a hand to push out each cup, clearly imagining what the cup would look like when supporting Ashley's full, heavy, young breast. The creamy smooth satin would complement, he imagined,the hint of dark olive skinned hue of her skin, and the decorative lilac floral pattern on the sides of the cups would grace the outer curve of his niece's swelling feminine globes.
He settled on a pair of panties that sported lace and silk construction in pale lavender in the front, and a smooth, semi-transparent, full rear. At the hips a pair of violet ink ruffles extended across the top of the back of the panties, forming a vestigial skirt around the sides and rear. Ashley saw they would not provide much protection from prying eyes, though at that point she had no notion of how many such eyes would soon be enjoying her undress.
Her Uncle was silent on the drive over, and Ashley caught a glimpse in the distance of an old manor like house, appearing and disappearing between the tall trees surrounding it. The car stopped at the gate for a moment, where an unseen camera approved them, causing the gate to swing open automatically, and the car to enter the grounds of the old building. Ashley watched the school blink in and out of her sight warily. The though she kept coming back, the thought that caused her to shiver in fright, was the phrase with which Marquist had dismissed her, "We shall see each other again soon enough, little Ashley, when your lessons resume."
Could Marquist be one of the teachers at this school? "Please no," thought Ashley to herself, envisioning the strict punishments the old pervert would dream up. Another shameful thought came to her mind unbidden. "Hopefully there will be other girls and he won't concentrate on me." Ashley's concerns were prescient, and though as she would find out in due course, there would be other girls, Marquist and the other masters of the approaching institution would have plenty of occasion to give her the attention due the nubile and lovely young lady in their charge.
After the Jaguar had pulled up to the stern, ancient building and Edward extinguished the engine, he turned to his niece. "Ashley, I expect you to be on your most ladylike and best behavior today. I am delivering you to the experienced hands of the masters of this school. Let me be clear. If I receive reports of your behavior being anything but fully complacent and agreeable, or any misdeeds or disobedience on your part, you will be made to regret it. Do I make myself clear?"
Ashley hung her head, and nodded her assent. Quickly looking up at her Uncle she obeyed his gesture waving her out of the car. She stepped down onto the gravel drive, the small stones crunching under her black, open toes heels, and closed the car door behind herself. On the gravel beside her Uncle's Jaguar, three other elegant cars were also disgorging their occupants. Three other girls, about Ashley's age, stood confused outside the cars that had brought them there. Superficially, they all looked alike, wearing the same uniform of white cotton blouse, striped tie and gray skirt. Only their stockings and footwear differed, one wearing schoolgirl socks and flat shoes, and other the black or, like Ashley, white stockings and high-heeled shoes appropriate to a young woman, rather than a schoolgirl. Ashley noticed that all the girls appeared, just as she did to be nervous and tentative.
Ashley stood on the gravel drive, uncertain what to do next, as her Uncle drove away. The cars the other girls had come in also drove around the drive towards the rear of the building, and Ashley imagined, the exit.
Unknown to her or to the other girls being delivered to the "school," the men who had dropped them off, Ashley's Uncle, and the two others, parked their cars in the rear, and entered the building. They smiled broadly at one another, and exchanged pleasantries, as they made their way to a special room that had been arranged for them.
