The Diary of A Victorian Disciplinarian - Part 6
Once again, Emily and Arabella continue to devise their own entertainment.
With the discovery of Emily Havercock’s diary the veneer of respectability and prudishness that has covered Victorian society has been peeled away. The first entry is presented here and is free to read.
Further entries are appearing as they are deciphered and, as they reveal explicit details of birchings, sapphic affairs and all manner of indecent goings on, so you will find these are hidden behind the paywall.
See all the entries on the Contents Page
21st May 1894
Alice Blackthorne has departed, giving no further insight into her plans other than eliciting an agreement from me to call upon her at her London house. She gave no indication as to whether Mr and Mrs Horsham should accompany me. Our life in the country has resumed its most pleasant routine as we, once again, continue to devise our own entertainment.
Flexton house is of a modest size and surrounded by grounds that are barely large enough to be considered an estate, consisting of the gardens, stables, a small barn where the carriage is stored and two paddocks.
The stables at Flexton house are set back a modest distance behind and to the side of the main house. The doors face towards the paddocks where the three horses graze, and as such, the building is quite secluded.
Mr Horsham employs a groom gardener to look after the horses and do odd jobs on his land. He is a young man of about twenty and the son of a large family that lives on one of the smaller tenant farms in the area.
Arabella has told me that the farm where he lives is barely large enough to support the family, as he has three sisters and two brothers, which means his income from tending to Mr Horsham’s horses and land is a lifeline to the family. He walks the two miles to Flexton house every morning, grooms, feeds and lets the horses out onto the paddock. He then goes about any other tasks Mr Horsham requires before returning to the farm for the day and retracing his steps in the evening.
Earlier today, Arabella and I were walking towards the paddock when a sudden squall of rain appeared as if from nowhere, the sky being blue with only a few light grey clouds scudding across it. Giggling like schoolgirls at our sudden drenching, we sought sanctuary under the cover of the stables.
For a house such as Flexton, the stables were quite spacious with a large rectangular room at the front and four stalls to accommodate the horses. Peeping over the half doors revealed that three had been mucked out and laid with fresh straw ready for the horses to return later that evening and the fourth was used as a storeroom for various tools.
“Ah, I am soaked,” Arabella said as she twisted to unhook her dress. “Help me please, Emily. I must shake some of this water off.”
“And what about me?” I asked as Arabella slipped off her dress and shook it.
She hung her dress over one of the half doors and turned to unbutton mine.
“You do not wear stays,” Arabella said as I divested myself of my dress and hung it beside hers.
“No,” I said. “I relish the freedom not being bound up allows.”
“Then I must remove mine as well.” Arabella began to unclip hers. “Oh, such a release,” she said as she flung the garment across the stables, her breasts swinging freely beneath her chemise.
“Let us hope the groom does not return and find us in such a state of undress,” I laughed.
“He’s quite handsome,” Arabella grinned. “And I am feeling quite liberated since I met you,” she added with an impish smile.
“It would appear you are having more indecent thoughts,” I said sternly.
Arabella floated around the stables as if she were walking on air. She stopped beside a rack on the wall. “Look at this,” she said, taking down a riding crop from the rack. “Maybe I should be punished for my improper ideas.”
