"Alex?" A soft, feminine voice was pulling Lady Alexandra Beaufort from her fitful sleep. "Alex, it's time to rise, sleepy head." With a slight jarring of the bed next to her, Alex slowly blinked to consciousness, and to the full light of day streaming through the windows. Her eyes snapped shut at the shock of light invading her sleepy peace.
"Ungh... wh... what time is it?"
"Twelve noon, dearest." With a chuckle, Alex's sister Maggie threw back the bed coverings, and barely managed to conceal her surprise at seeing her youngest sister's completely naked form sprawled across the bed. Her tiny waist gently flared to rounded hips and offset her swollen breasts, which were tipped with pink, puckered nipples. She had a triangle of soft, curly, dark auburn hair between her legs that was beaded with moisture.
The shock of cold air was exactly what Alex needed to rejoin the world of the living. Her first reaction was to try to rise, but instead she hissed in pain and curled back into a fetal position; her bottom hurt excessively.
"What's this, Alex? Are you suffering ill effects from your ball last night?" Maggie had an inkling what Alexandra was suffering from, and if her suspicions proved correct, it had nothing to do with an excess of dancing.
"What? Oh... no... The ball was wonderful. It's... I'm just a bit overtired, I think." Memories of the events of earlier that morning rushed through Alex's mind: crying out in pain, tears streaming down her face, and her father's excruciating invasion of her bottom. A hot wave of embarrassment washed over Alex, and she hid her face. Marriage lessons had not gone as Alex had expected, and she feared she had proved an ignorant pupil.
"Overtired? From sleeping until midday? Tell me what vexes you Alex. Are you ill?" Maggie gently sat on the bed next to Alex and reached a hand out to stroke her sister's flushed cheek. Tears sprang from Alex's eyes and she turned her head to look pleadingly back at her eldest sister.
"Oh, Maggie!" Alex exclaimed through sobs, "I fear I shall prove a most unworthy wife!"
"Of course you shan't!" Maggie's eyes softened, and she climbed onto the bed, spooning behind her sister. She gently stroked Alex's arm and brushed her raven hair behind her ear. "Did Papa begin your marriage lessons then? Tell me what happened."
As her sniffles abated, Alex began to explain how the events of the early hours had transpired, sure to detail all her father's words and actions. Maggie's stroking of Alex's arm became just a touch more insistent through the telling, and her breath became hot on the back of Alex's neck. "But Maggie, when Papa's member was inside my bottom, it did pain me so very much, and I cried out, and he pulled my hair, and... and I think perhaps he was punishing me. Have I done wrong?"
Maggie smiled at Alex's innocence, and resumed affectionately brushing her fingers through Alex's dark hair. "I think you've done very well, Mouse." Alex sighed at the childhood affectation given her by her older sisters. "It is difficult for Papa as well, you know. The lessons." Alex turned in Maggie's arms to look quizzically at her sister. The Duke had certainly seemed strained in his attentions; perhaps that was because it pained him as well.
"Difficult? How?"
