Copyright 2026 by Governess, all rights reserved
[2,145 words]´
* * * * *ISOBEL, MARIA AND DOROTHY AND THEIR TWO
BROTHERS HOWARD AND MILES PART II
I then instructed Isobel and Maria, to get
dressed and go to their rooms and lie on their beds quietly for half an
hour.”
I watched as they showed visible signs of distress as their clothes
rubbed against their punished flesh. Once they had departed, I turned
to Mrs Castlemain.
“So tell me about the boys.”
“Well, they’re energetic and lively, and often in
trouble. Both were on the school bill this week and, I’m
sure, still have the marks to show for it. But come and meet
them.”
The boys were in their playroom. Both were reading. Mrs Castlemain
explained to me that no noisy energetic games were allowed in the
house. For those they had to go out into the grounds.
“Stand up, boys. This is Miss Strang, your new
governess.”
I extended my hand which both shook in turn. And each politely greeted
me with a formal How do you
do’. Yet both had that bubbling spirit of
naughtiness that without firm restraint could, I knew, well up into
more reprehensible behaviour. These boys needed strict rules and
limits, clear boundaries to prevent that stream of naughtiness
overflowing into a veritable flood of sin and wickedness. That may
sound dramatic, but it is easy to underestimate the scope within a
child for truly destructive behaviour. A failure to check a small leak
through the dyke and before long you are faced with a raging torrent.
“Your mother tells me that you were both birched at school
this week.”
I looked at Miles,
“And what was the birching for?”
“Fighting in the corridors.”
“Boys, when you address me, it is only polite to add my name.
Please do that from now on.. So Miles, once again, why were you
birched?”
“For . . . fighting in the corridors . . . , Miss
Strang”
“And is there a rule that boys are not to fight in the
corridors?”
“Yes.”
“Yes what, Miles?”
“Yes, Miss Strang.”
“And how many strokes did you get for ‘ighting in
the corridors’which is ‘strictly
forbidden’?”
He flushed.
“A dozen, Miss Strang.”
“And were they painful enough to persuade you not to repeat
such behaviour?”
I looked at him questioningly.
“Ye . . . yes, Miss Strang.”
“So, let me see.”
He looked at me blankly.
I said, let me see. Show me. Drop your trousers and pull down your
underpants. Show me see how severely you’ve been
punished.”
He looked at his mother.
“Do as you’re told, Miles.”
Red to the tips of his ears, he slowly slipped off his braces and
lowered his trousers and pants. It was evident that the birch had been
laid on with plenty of vigour for his buttocks were as red as his ears
and covered with those smarting rashes of burning agony that are the
hallmarks of a sound birching. I nodded.
“Pull them up, Miles. And be warned that if I have cause to
birch you myself, the flogging will be no less severe.”
There was an upright chair against the wall, which I pulled out and sat
on, beckoning Howard to me. He looked as though he expected to be
spanked and stiffened as I removed his jacket, and handed it to his
mother before pulling down his trousers and pants. I pulled him over my
lap and saw clear evidence of a recent birching.
“And why were you birched?”
“F . . . for talking in class, please, Miss Strang.”
“For talking in class! You were birched for talking in
class?”
“Yes, Miss Strang.”
“But, surely, that would be dealt with by your form master or
housemaster. And they’d give you a detention or a few strokes
of the cane.”
I frowned.
“Unless those had been tried, and you had failed to learn
from them, and were still chattering when forbidden. Is that the
reason?”
He looked down.
“Yes, Miss Strang.”
“So, for repeated disobedience you were sent for a birching.
A dozen strokes?”
“Yes . . . Miss Strang.”
I frowned.
“But I can also see the faint oval imprints of what might
have been a hairbrush Where did those come from?”
“Miss Grahame.”
I looked at Mrs Castlemain.
“Miss Grahame is the assistant in charge of his dormitory.
The assistants are all able to respond to naughtiness with a spanking.
I don’t know what Howard did, but I am sure the slippering
was deserved.”
“So, what did you do Howard that Miss Grahame needed to
slipper you?”
“I was having a pillow fight with Fraser”
“And the pair of you were spanked?”
Y . . . yes, Miss Strang.”
“And what sort of slipper does Miss Grahame use?”
“A . . . a gym shoe.”
Ý
“You mean a plimsoll, with a rubber sole?”
“Yes, Miss Strang”
I turned to Mrs Castlemain
“So how are the dormitories organised, Mrs Castlemain? I
thought you said it was the matron who maintained discipline in the
dormitories with the back of a hairbrush.”
“Yes, she does. Mrs Harris is the ultimate authority over the
dormitories, and the five dormitory assistants have a delegated
authority from her. They may spank boys in their dormitories, but this
is restricted to six strokes of the slipper irrespective of the boy's
age.”
I frowned.
“I find it strange that a dormitory assistant with older boys
in her charge is limited to the same six strokes of the slipper as for
the younger ones.”
“I don’t think there is anything strange about it,
Miss Strang. The older boys invariably indulge in more serious
wrongdoing, and that is something that Mrs Harris wishes to address
herself. That means that all the assistants have to punish are minor
peccadilloes, and for those six whacks with the slipper are adequate.
Any boy sent to Mrs Harris for the hairbrush will certainly be getting
more than six strokes!”
“And are there occasions when Mrs Harris refers a boy to the
Headmaster for a birching.”
“Yes. But they are few and far between. Mrs Harris is a widow
who has raised five children. She knows how to strip a boy of both his
clothes and his self-respect, like peeling the shell of a shrimp, and
exposing the soft pink flesh beneath. Any boy referred to her is
breathless and quivering with dread before he steps through her door.
She spanks a boy in rounds of ten. An eight-year-old caught talking
after lights out will be getting at least two rounds of the brush;
while an older boy found in bed with another boy will have a good six
or more rounds awaiting him, as would his companion. Slow hard strokes
spread across buttocks and thighs, and calves, too. So, Mrs Harris is
confident that she can deal with most issues that arise without seeking
the intervention of the Headmaster.”
“Thank you, Mrs Castlemain. But something puzzles me. You
mentioned that Mrs Harris would spank boys who had been caught in bed
in mutual masturbation. But isn’t that something that ought
to be referred to the Headmaster? It is one thing to spank a boy who
has been abusing himself, between the sheets but two boys doing it
together is altogether more serious.”
“Oh, two boys engaging in that sort of immorality would be
spanked by Mrs Harris and then taken to the Headmaster and birched on
their still hot little bottoms.”
“And that would be the case for all serious
offences?”
“Certainly, in most cases. A month ago Matron caught a boy
pilfering from another boy. After a severe reprimand, she stripped him
bare and spanked the little thief until he was red and raw. Then, he
was marched to the Headmaster and birched.”
“Has the school had a long commitment to the birch, Mrs
Castlemain?”
“Oh, yes. When interviewed from the position of Head, it was
clear that continuing with that was a condition of the
appointment.”
“And I am sure that was no discouragement to your
application!”
She smiled.
“At our previous school, the traditional implement of
correction was the rattan cane, and that was supported by the governors
and widely within the school. But in our own family the children were
corrected with the birch from an early age. So, the use of the birch
was something we welcomed and were very comfortable with. The only
change was to extend its use to the younger boys. When we arrived, only
the top two years were subject to birching. Surprisingly, boys in the
four lower years were just sent to Matron to be spanked. As you can
imagine, she was quite resistant to losing that privilege. In the end,
we compromised by excluding the first years from the reform who were
still sent to her for punishment rather than to the Headmaster. And of
course she still remained responsible for dormitory discipline across
all ages..”
Howard was still stretched over my lap, and while talking, my hand had
been resting on his bottom, enjoying the contours of his full soft
flesh.
“Off my lap, Howard. And pullup your clothes. As your
governess, I will be responsible for your tuition and discipline when
you are out of school. A close record will be kept of your behaviour
over the exeat, and if you fall short of my expectations you will be
returning to school with a well birched bottom, as will your
brother.”
I paused.
“Is that understood? “
“Yes, Miss Strang.”
“Good. I hope it is. You will now both go to your bedrooms
and continue your reading there.”
I turned to Mrs Castlemain.
“Were I to need someone to assist with a flogging, either to
hold the child in place over an armchair or even to horse them, whom
would you recommend? Not everyone would be comfortable doing
that.”
She gave a little smile.
“Well, I know for a start that our housekeeper, Mrs
Donaldson, would be more than happy to help.. As a girl in Scotland,
her mother worked aa a clerk at the local police station, and in the
school holidays she would often help her with the filing and other
simple office jobs. The station was next door to the police court and
boys sentenced to the birch or tawse were taken there for the sentence
to be carried out. Probably believing that the presence of a young girl
would add to the boys’ humiliation, she was allowed to watch.
The smaller boys would never receive more than twelve stokes, but those
of fourteen and older might be sentenced to as many as thirty-six.
“Although she enjoyed seeing the younger boys flogged, what
really exited her was to see boys of fourteen or older receiving the
maximum number of strokes, preferably with a heavy weight tawse. After
each dozen strokes there would be a pause during which the boy would
writhe in agony. She confided in me that her knickers would be sopping
wet. well before the end. And frequently she would experience a
shuddering orgasm which she did her best to conceal, but which was
almost certainly obvious to those administering the flogging.”
She smiled.
“And which, no doubt, added to their enjoyment.”
I was surprised at her frankness and at the apparent closeness of her
relationship with her housekeeper.
“Thank you, Mrs Castlemain. So, I take it that you have no
objection if I call on her services.”
“None at all, Miss Strang.”
That evening after an early supper, I decided that we should assemble
in the library for an hour’s tuition. I knew this would not
be popular but making children knuckle down to work uncomplainingly has
always been at the heart of my governance. And I expect cheerful
acceptance with no hint of dissent. Unfortunately, Miles made it clear
that he was displeased at the prospect of an hour’s
unexpected schoolwork and complained that he had been wanting to play
with his soldiers.
“Well, Miles, I am afraid that will not be
possible.”
I had noticed on entering the schoolroom that, in the corner, Bridges
had already placed a pail in which several birch rods were steeping.
However, I made no reference to that, and we continued with our
lessons: simultaneous equations for the older children and testing of
tables for the younger. Dorothy practised forming letters in her
exercise book. At the end of the session, I think Miles believed that
his dissent and rudeness had been overlooked and that he had escaped
punishment. But in that he was mistaken.
“I am pleased with the way you have all worked. You will now
go upstairs and prepare for bed. No bath this evening but a good wash.
Go to the lavatory and then change into your nightwear. You may read
for ten minutes, and then straight between the sheets.
I paused.
“Except for you, Miles.”