I've been planning to write this one-shot for over a year now and I'm so glad I've finally finished it. I hope you enjoy. Also please heed the warning, and send review when you're done.
WARNING: Contains DISCIPLINARY (non-sexual) SPANKING. If you don't like, take moral issue with this etc etc, don't read further. Flames will be laughed at and ridiculed.
-0-0-0-0- Set: Ep 1.03 -0-0-0-0-
"Leave that now and come away." Her mother whispered as Mary attempted to shut his eyes.
"Her ladyship's right, we must get back to our rooms" Anna agreed, gently but firmly pulling her away from the body.
Mary turned to face her mother, guilt, shame and regret welling within her, fearing what would happen now that the scandal had been avoided.
"I need not explain the scandal this family would face if your disgraceful actions ever became known." Cora scolded harshly.
"You won't tell Papa?"
"Since it would probably kill him and certainly ruin his life I will not. But I keep this secret for his sake, not for yours."
"Yes Mama" Mary replied, unable to hold her mothers gaze.
"I'll have O'Brian send for you in the morning before dressing tomorrow." A slight blush rose to Mary's cheeks at the implication.
"Anna," Cora turned her attention to the maid, handing the sheet to her. "I will not insult you by asking you also conceal Lady Mary's shame. Let us go."
The three women left the room, Cora heading back to her own while Anna followed Mary to hers; pausing to conceal the sheet in the nearby maids corridor where she could collect it on her way downstairs.
Mary had her back to the door when Anna entered, a hand over her mouth in a sure sign that she was stifling tears.
"I've been so stupid." Mary muttered as she sensed the maids approach. Anna laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and felt Mary momentarily lean into the touch.
"Hush my Lady, it's done now." Anna murmured. "Try and get in a couple hours rest before breakfast."
Mary allowed herself to be guided back into bed, tears still falling traitorously as she pulled the blankets tightly around her.
"I'll wake you in a couple of hours." Anna assured her as she gently brushed a few errant strands of hair from Mary's face, giving her shoulder a final sleeve before leaving to take care of the sheet.
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"Are you alright my Lady?:" O'Brien asked as she set the breakfast tray over her mistresses lap. "You look like you didn't get a wink of sleep last night."
"Yes, fine." Cora replied, her mind distracted with the events of last night. "O'Brian can you get my bath brush out for me, and have Anna tell the Lady Mary to come up and see me?"
"Certainly my Lady. Can I ask what Lady Mary did this time?"
"You may not." Cory scolded, though she felt bad about it because she had allowed the question many times before – she also knew that the servants normally knew anyway so there was no point in hiding it, but that would not be the case today.
O'Brian respectfully said no more, though Cora could feel her displeasure as though she had argued aloud. Ignoring the woman, Cora began to page through the paper and wait for her daughters arrival.
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Mary was barely able to doze and Anna came to reawaken her far sooner that she would have liked. She was consumed with guilt and dreaded having to face her mother in the light of day, knowing without illusion what would happen when she did.
Anna calmly combed and redid her hair before heading downstairs to wait for O'Brian to confirm her Ladyship was awake. Upon finding the Lady's maid and confirming that Her Ladyship was indeed ready for Mary she returned to the Lady's room.
"You're mother's ready for you." Anna said gently from the doorway, entering the room when Mary made no reply nor movement from her seat at the dresser. "Come now, once it's over it'll be done with and you can move on." Anna held up a gown, prompting Mary to reluctantly stand up.
"I don't think I can ever move on from this." Mary replied.
"Yes well, best make a move anyway, hey." Mary nodded, accepting Anna's supportive squeeze on her arm before taking the familiar path to her mothers room. She hesitated outside before lightly knocking on the door and going inside.
"Close the door and come in properly." Cora said without looking up from her paper as her eldest hovered by the doorframe.
Sighing, Cora put aside the paper and turned her attention to her errant child who was standing nervously beside her bed. "I'm not going to rehash the reasons that I wanted to see you. You already know the shame you have brought on yourself by your actions and the social and moral implications." Mary nodded, her eyes on the ground " I've had O'Brian take out the Bath Brush."
"Mama please." Mary spoke for the first time.
"No, I don't want to hear it." Cora held up her hand to stop the protests. Mary fell silent and after a moment went to pick up the item from her mothers dresser.
"You didn't tell her why, at least?" Mary asked, already even more humiliated that that awful woman would know that she was about to have her bottom smacked like a young child.
"Of course not." Her mother replied, indignant at the suggestion that she would. Moving the breakfast tray off the bed, the elder woman got up and took the brush. Motioning to the bed, she watched as Mary shrugged off her gown and then bent over the side. Placing her hand lightly on her lower back Cora felt her child tense at the touch. She closed her eyes, briefly steeling herself; disgraceful as Mary's behaviour had been, she had never enjoyed punishing any of her daughters even if it was her duty as their mother to correct them. "It's been a long time since you've been in this position." Cora observed softly before forcing herself to bring the smooth ebony back of the brush crashing down on her daughters posterior.
Mary, who had her head buried in the comforter did her best not to react at the sudden smarting pain. She was well aware that this was the least of what she deserved after the previous night. She felt a couple of tears leak out with the second smack; she wasn't one to normally let pain get to her but this was different; combining with the regret she felt over how everything had gone.
Bringing the brush down again Cora saw no reaction from Mary other to the involuntary jump when the wood met skin. Mary had always been still and silent during punishments though, Cora mused to herself, so different to Edith who would whine and Sybil who would bounce about like a jack in the box to try get out of the way. It made things both easier and more difficult on the mother. It was more difficult to judge the severity of the correction now that propriety would no longer allow her to raise Mary's nightgown as she had done when they were little; the few misconducts resulting in correction since then had not been severe enough to warrant more than a few smacks were of little use for reference. Eventually she decided to just go with instinct and after about thirty smacks to each side she stopped. Mary breathed a silent sigh of relief not having known how much longer she would have been able to keep still if it had continued. Crossing the room to her dresser Cora put down the brush.
"Alright my darlin', you can get up."
Rising from her position, Mary hastily wiped away any traces of tears. Slipping on her gown to give her hands something to do so she wouldn't humiliate herself and try to rub away the fire in her backside, Mary waited with her eyes downcast. Her mother came to stand in front of her and gently put a hand under her chin, tilting her head up so she was forced to meet the older woman's gaze. After searching her daughters face for a moment she nodded as stood back.
"Alright, go get yourself tidied up and we'll say no more on this."
Mary nodded and practically fled from the room. Racing back along the corridor, Mary was eternally grateful to bump in to anyone and finally reaching the solitude of her room she flopped, face down on the bed and began to cry. Letting out all the emotions of the last 12 hours she continued to cry until she was left lying spent on the bed.
Anna silently entered the room a short while later to find the Lady dozing peacefully. She went about hanging up her Lady's day clothes on the stand and laying out the accessories and finally putting a jar of cold cream on the night stand before reaching over to lightly shake Lady Mary's shoulder.
"My Lady, you need to wake up now." Mary pushed her off, mumbling incoherently as she tried to wake up. "Would your ladyship like me to put some cream on?"
Slightly more awake, Mary nodded her assent, shifting into a slightly more dignified position and resting her head on her forearms as Anna raised her nightgown. "You're going to be feeling this for a while" Anna tutted as she took some cream from the jar. Mary didn't reply, both embarrassed and comforted by the familiar routine as Anna rubbed in the cream.
"There, all done." Anna announced. "It'll have to do for now and I'll get some actual ointment to put on this evening." Mary nodded as she sat up and went to stand by the dressing station.
As Anna was putting the finishing touches on her hair for the second time that day Mary looked up and caught the other womans eye in the mirror.
"Thank you." Mary said sincerely "I don't know how I could have gotten through last night without you; or this morning for that matter."
Anna smiled and accepted the thanks with a small nod. Blushing lightly she returned her attention to her task.
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Hope you enjoyed. This fic is unbeta'd and is the first fic I've posted in months since going on Hiatus (any regular readers don't get too excited I don't have plans to post anything else any time soon). Please REVIEW and let me know your thoughts.
Also FYI sort of thing, mainly aimed at any of my regulars (assuming that a) they're still around and b) they'll read this fandom), I'm normally more picky about how I write a spanking fic; if it's deserved, the mentality behind it etc etc etc – any of my Glee readers will know – but for this one it didn't bug me so much so I went with it (maybe because it's a different fandom, or it works with my head canon of the characters, or it's not set in present day; idk).