TOTS

A missing scene

My Friends Numbatstuff and EHfan thought that there were times in EH when there were missing scenes and they wrote what they thought had happened.

In TOTS, I often wondered what happened after Kate made her dramatic speech about her Lord and Master.

Assuming everyone knows the scene, I have set a much abbreviated run up to it and carried on with a tiny scene showing the reaction of Kate's family after Piers and she left.

My gratitude as ever to Will Shakespeare for his wonderful creation. Petrucchio and Kate belong to him. I continue to borrow them.

My thanks too, to Rufus Sewell, Shirley Henderson, Stephen Tompkinson Twiggy Lawson and Jaime Murray for picking up the ball and running with it. My salutations to them.

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They could hear Bianca screaming upstairs. With Harry sitting beside her, Mrs Minola explained the situation to Katherine and Piers. Piers sat down on the couch whistling soundlessly between his teeth and picked up a conversation stopped as Bianca stormed down followed slowly by Lucentio.

"What's going on?" she snapped.

"We were talking about pre-nups and how women have to protect themselves." Her mother replied. "Men have prenups, it is right that women should have pre-nups too.

"Of Course, we should!" she snarled "we work for it. Why shouldn't we? What do you think?" This was directed at Piers.

"I think you should keep it simple." he said. "Either get married or don't get married. Keep it simple."

He moved to the big orange armchair and picked up another magazine.

"And did you ask him to sign one, Katherine?" Mockingly, Bianca turned to her sister. Piers snorted derisively.

"No. I didn't." she said very quietly."I never even thought of it."

She went and stood behind Piers' chair.

"Your husband is your lord and master."

"What do you mean?" Bianca asked incredulously.

"I mean, he is the boss! At least that is how it is in our house. What he says goes. "

She leaned over his shoulder; she was touching his hair and then stroked his ear, letting her fingers drift around his jaw, down his neck. Touching him all the time.

"He makes the decisions and I do what he says."

Bianca let out an explosive sound of disbelief.

"That's rich coming from you"

"I do! I do what he tells me. If he told me to put my hand beneath his foot, I would.

"Go on then, do it." Bianca was mocking her now. "Put your hand beneath his foot. Let's see you."

"I would if he asked me. But he won't. He won't ask me to do anything he wouldn't do himself, would you? "

She turned her head to look at Piers.

He smiled at her.

"Yes ...no... Whichever."

"So that's how it is. If you want to get married, get married, but don't go on about bloody silly bits of paper."

She came around the chair and squashed herself in it beside him, then swung her feet around onto his lap and pulled his arm around her. She kissed him and he kissed her back.

"Look," Katherine went on. "Why don't you two go into the study and talk quietly together and make up your minds what you are going to do."

Bianca stared at her, bemused.

"And is there anything to eat here? I'm starving."

"No. there isn't anything." Bianca said petulantly. "We were going to the reception and then we were off on our honeymoon."

Katherine heaved a sigh, stood up and taking Pier's hand, pulled him up.

"Come on." she said. "Let's go where we can get some food."

Mrs Minola and Bianca were astonished .

"But we have to discuss..."

"There's nothing for us to discuss." Katherine said, picking up her bag and gloves. "It's nothing to do with us. It's up to them. Bye Mummy, Bianca." She kissed hem both. "Bye Harry, Lucentio." and they left.

"Well!" Bianca said as the door shut behind them. "Well! What the hell do you make of that?"

"What?" her mother said.

"All that rubbish about him being Lord and Master. I mean Katherine! She practically invented Women's Lib on her own."

"Mmm. She didn't ask him to sign a prenup." Mrs Minola said thoughtfully."You said he said he was going to tame her, didn't you, darling?"

Harry did not want to get involved in this.

"Mmm"

Bianca was not going to let it go.

"I can't see any situation where Katherine would play a subservient role .What do you think, Harry?"

"Hmmm"

"Harry?" his fiancée asked. "Do you think she meant it?"

"Well" he said picking his words carefully." I think... she thinks... she means it.

"You think that Katherine thinks that that lout is her ...Hah! I do not think so!"Bianca snapped back.

"Really Harry. I must say i don't thinks so either!"

"I think that she thinks that. And I think that he thinks he is master in his own house too. "

He hesitated again.

"What the hell do you mean?" Bianca was very irritated.

"Whether he knows it ...whether she knows it or not, she's got him by the short and curlies."

"Money?"

"No-oo."

There was silence and they stared at him perplexed.

"God! You were both here. Didn't you see? She said he's the boss and she leans on him. Her ...her bosom resting against him, she strokes his hair, runs her finger around his ear and down his jaw. Then she sits on his lap and wriggles up against him. Kisses him.

You're the boss, Piers. Will you do this? Yes of course, I will. Will you jump through hoops for me? Of course I will darling; how high do you want me to jump? Anything you want Kate! Just keep touching me up.

I bet he went out of here with a hard on like a vaulting pole. Bet they are doing it in the lift right now."

"Oh! Don't be so ridiculous, Harry. Katherine wouldn't do that." her mother said.

"She wouldn't know how." his ex said caustically.

He raised his eyebrows and hands in resigned defeat and bowed to their superior knowledge.