Mild conversations of a sexual nature (PG)
My Darling Love
Chapter 3 – Lessons of Being a Lady
"Fidelity is a virtue peculiar to those who are about to be betrayed."
-Ambrose Bierce
Mary Elizabeth Baker never thought about the act necessary for creating a baby, nor the happy smile most men carried on their faces when they left their homes, heading to their place of business in the morning. No one ever spoke a word of it, not her parents nor her Aunt Millicent nor any of her proper lady friends, nor her improper friends, for that matter. Therefore, she had no idea there was such a thing as sex, or 'servicing' a man.
But as she retired to her room that night, her mother, the silent accomplice in her plight to find the proper husband, knocked and entered. They sat on her bed for what seemed like forever without speaking, Mrs. Baker gingerly touching Mary's well-defined face while staring adoringly into her daughter's bewildered eyes. As Mary offered her mother a yawn to break the silence and hint of her fatigue and desire for sleep, Mrs. Baker gave voice. "Mary, being a wife will require you to fulfill many different duties. It is more than keeping a house and raising a proper family. You will have a duty to your husband, a very important duty that no one speaks of, at least not young ladies of proper breeding."
Mary was just as baffled as George was, but luckily, Mrs. Baker would use more tact and a loving touch when describing what was to happen on her wedding night.
"The summer will be upon us soon, and, as I will expect a July wedding, the days will pass by quickly. Now I must talk about what your husband will expect from you on your wedding night. Your Aunt Millicent has informed me she would not discuss such things until the night before your wedding, but you are my daughter, not hers, and so I feel once this is behind us, we can plan your blessed event without you having any questions of what will come when you leave this home and go on to your husband's."
She looked at her daughter, her hand on her face, calmly stroking her delicate features. "On your wedding night, when you retire to your honeymoon suite, you will dress in the special night clothes your Aunt Millicent and I will purchase especially for you. It is an exquisite ensemble we've both had our eyes on in the emporium on Fifth for some time. You will be a thing of beauty and splendor for George. I'm sure you will take his breath away, but I drift. You and George, your husband, will retire privately to your bedchamber and consummate your marriage." It sounded simple enough to Mary, the only word she was unfamiliar with was consummate, but thinking it a fancy adult word for sleep and dreaming about her new outfit just for George, she nodded to her mother to continue.
"Mary Elizabeth, a woman holds within her a special lock, as the one on a door leading to a new world of discovery and adventure. But this door cannot be unlocked and revealed until you are married in a church in the eyes of God. Then and only then can you see what lies on the other side hidden away. Your husband has the key to that lock and on your wedding night, he will turn it inside of you for the first time."
'How romantic' Mary thought, she held within her a lock and George was the only man alive that had the key. It must be fate they met that day, for had they not; she would never have found the man with her special key.
"Now, my dearest, I will not lie to you. It may hurt many times when he turns the key, as the door will not open without his efforts. But once it is opened, the pain will pass." Her mother smiled and embraced her quickly to ease in advance the pain she would feel later.
"When will I see what is on the other side, mother?" Mary asked, so ready to be unlocked by George. "Only George will see for now, maybe later you will see, but at first only George. And Mary, you must not allow George to unlock you before you are married. He seems like a respectable gentleman, and I'm sure he knows the proper young lady you are, so there is no worry he will try to enter you before your wedding, but just the same. George must not consummate with you before you are justly wed."
Mary's mind was running faster than she could keep up. George had the key to her lock, and he was to unlock her only on their wedding night. Consummate meant sleeping to her, so George was not allowed to sleep in bed with Mary before they were justly wed. 'How odd,' Mary thought, 'I must never allow George to be overtired before we are married, for is he gets sleepy while visiting my father's home, he may ask to nap with me and that would be inappropriate.' Not that Mary would ever allow George to nap in her parlor let alone in her bed with her before they were husband and wife, therefore her mind eased at her own gross misconceptions.
"Have you ever seen what's on the other side of the door, Mother? Is it wonderful?" Mary was still intrigued by her lock and had many questions, none of which were its whereabouts in her body. "Why was it only George who gets to see it?"
Mrs. Baker watched as her daughter asked questions she was unprepared to answer, remembering her own mother's explanation that was taken as the word of God and left unquestioned. "Mary, the adventure and pleasure are only for your husband not for you. That is why the term 'servicing' is commonly used. For you it is a duty, a job almost. But do not fret; your own adventure will come when you miss your first monthly," her mother responded rising from the bed.
Maybe Mrs. Baker was not that much better at explaining procreation to her only daughter. "Why would I miss my monthly?" Mary asked, bewildered.
Mary's mother told her no more questions, "We will cross those bridges together, dearest, when we reach them," and assured her in time she would see for herself, adding, "Best not to act surprised when you see George unclothed as the day he was born, he may get insulted you think him inadequate in his manhood, men are very sensitive about their...personal measure."
Mary went not only wide-eyed but also stared with her mouth gaped open at the thought of George without his business suit on, let alone herself insulting his personal measure, whatever that was. "He will not wear pajamas to bed, mother?"
Mrs. Baker quickly took her leave to the door with, "No, Mary, at least for your wedding night he will not, and you will be unclothed, too. Please don't fight your husband when he wishes to visit what is hidden behind that door at any time in your marriage, for as your lock only works with his key, his key unlocks many other doors elsewhere."
More baffling than whatever it was hidden behind the door and the thought that George had the master key for many locks, her mother never told her how to make a baby. She knew she was to consummate with George on her wedding night, she knew George had a personal measure she was in danger of insulting, and she knew both he and she would be unclothed. What came between sleeping and baby was what she wanted desperately to understand. Therefore, with no one else to speak with and wanting not only Mrs. Darling's engagement ring upon her finger but the other that came with a husband, Mary decided to ask her best friend Penny, who was newly married only a week.
And so she did, as they walked in the park, the only place to which Mary could escape and see all the friends her family felt unworthy of her presence. "Mary, you are so naive and innocent. What did you think was going to happen on your wedding night? But more interestingly, where did you think babies came from?" her friend Penny asked as they strolled along.
"I never thought about it. I guess I just thought once you were married, you asked God for one and he would send it, like He sent George."
Her last comment made Penny roll her eyes and giggle. Doing her best Aunt Millicent impression Penny voiced, "I cannot believe of all the eligible bachelors in London, George Darling is to be your husband!" pompous and supercilious as the woman herself would have done it, Aunt Millicent had said the same thing. "Anyway, your mother is half right, you do have a lock within you and George does have the key. But to tell you George is the only one that will see the adventure and pleasure within is incorrect. My mother told me that when a man and woman are together in a private manner everything they do together is just that, private. So what I do with my husband is my business, and what you will do with George will be your business. If you both love each other, it will wonderful. There is nothing like it in the world." Penny made more sense, but still did not explain the basics of how the act was done.
Seeing the mystery and wonder in Mary's eyes, Penny pulled her to a bench and sat down, face to face and whispered, so no other could hear. She answered Mary's dilemma, "its called making love. Have you ever seen a man naked?" Mary shook her head quickly with hers shut tightly as if one would appear before her just by thinking about it. "Well, on your wedding night, you will. They are very different from us, as I'm sure you can assume without explanation. With that being said, knowing what you have and knowing he has something different, that difference is the part of him that he will put inside your womanhood."
Mary stood and gasped never hearing such nonsense before. Penny yanked her back to her seat and continued with a smirk and mild chuckle, "I'm not kidding, and it does hurt the first few times as you are not used to that sort of contact. He will move within you and leave something there that makes a baby. And I should know, I'm having one myself in the winter."
With Penny's news, both good and bad, Mary went home to her parents with thoughts of George naked and being in pain when she should be happy and excited. A few blocks away, George sat at his desk, second row, fifth in, and also was contemplating his required actions on that fateful night, just as nervous and uninformed as she was, he put the thought out of his mind and to his work. With no tasks before her, she was not so lucky. She wrung her hands until they ached, and then sat at her vanity insistently brushing her hair and fixing it back up to keep herself busy.
That evening, with their educations of marriage complete, both families met at the Darling residence for a dinner and formal introduction. Just as they had when they had afternoon tea, everyone sat around the dinner table in silence. Mr. and Mrs. Darling, their four sons, Mr. and Mrs. Baker, Mary and Aunt Millicent sat and ate casting their eyes to their plates. From the outside looking in, it was obvious who was the bride, but without knowledge that George was the only one of his brothers who wore spectacles, one would not be able to distinguish between the lots. They all wore the same suit and ate in rhythm. Mary sat in between her aunt and her father, while George sat on the other end of the table, the last next to his mother. Every once in a long while, Mary would gaze down to where George sat, offering a smile and hoping for one in return, only to have her leg pinched under the table by Aunt Millicent, who told her with her eyes to concentrate of the food before her and not her fiancé.
They were already engaged a week, and had already had "the talk", and were already planning their blessed event, and no one except Mary and George made any notice that they had never spoken a word to one another. After dinner was dessert and after dessert was small talk in the formal parlor. Not much at small talk, George sat next to his mother in silence. "You will sit next to me in the parlor, and be absolutely silent George. With your foolish mouth, Mary will most likely be running for the door." Feeling her fiancé did not care much for small talk, Mary sat next to her mother in silence also. "I'm sure he is just overwhelmed by your beauty, Mary, there will be plenty of talk when you are married." Mr. Darling did most of the talking, "And let me tell you something else about those damn plumbers always upping the costs on their work..." as well as Aunt Millicent, "Sometimes things are worth paying more for than others and have strong pipes to the bath is one of them," and Mr. Baker, "I do most of the handiwork myself in my own home." Soon there were no words were left, the Bakers took their coats and hats and left as well.
The Bakers took a carriage home, and Joseph and Millicent's further discussion of plumbing and pipes calmed Mary. But that all changed when Aunt Millicent assured her parents "This marriage will never happen," after she believed Mary asleep in her bed. "That family is awful, did you see how they ate. And the tea served after dinner, cheap, not one serves guests of their son's intended, but rather the staff that services them. Do you really want your daughter married to a man that comes from such a family? Our mother always told me, Joseph, if a gentleman is not married by the time he is twenty-two there is something either wrong with him or his family. Well, the Darlings have four unwed sons far beyond that age and that tells me the reason is both. Think of dearest Mary Elizabeth! Do you want her married to a man that treats his wife like a piece of furniture that Mrs. Darling is? You know full well, Joseph, men treat their wives like their own fathers treated their mothers." Mr. And Mrs. Baker's only desire was that their only daughter did not die a spinster, but feeling Aunt Millicent was wise and all knowing they agreed. "What do you suggest, Millicent?" Mrs. Baker asked.
"Mary must break this engagement with George immediately if not sooner. I will have a young gentleman here by Sunday after church. He is a new lawyer at the firm that handles all my accounts, and he saw Mary at the market the other day and has requested to meet her. I did not tell him of her engagement, so it must be annulled by tomorrow at the latest. So tomorrow, you will take her to the Darlings and make up an excuse for a moment alone with Mr. Darling," (here she gave her direction to Mr. Baker), "when he leaves George alone with Mary, she must return the ring and tell him their engagement is over. It is considered proper for a young lady also to slap his face and tell him to never speak with her again."
Mr. Baker nodded his head in agreement, "What should she say? I mean before she strikes him? And is that really necessary? George seems a little weak, she might bruise him."
Aunt Millicent thought about it for a moment before responding with the required cruel remarks to discourage George from following after her once she had rejected him. "Any of those will do, but if you still want the Darlings to patronize your shop, I would just have her say she does not love him, that always works. And as far as the slap goes, Joseph, she absolutely must. She must seem angry that he wasted her time with his silly proposal keeping her from more respectable and worthy gentlemen more fitting to her liking. Not to mention, a slap will make it appear that the engagement was broken because of George being a inadequate fiancé, as opposed to Mary being an improper young lady."
Mary listened through the crack in the door like she always did when her parents and Aunt Millicent spoke of her privately. She would never tell George those horrible reasons to break the engagement and would absolutely not tell him she did not love him, for he was the only man she would ever love. To slap him or strike him would break her heart as well as his, so she would not do that either, even if her father held a knife to her throat and threatened her life.
But alas, later on, just like Aunt Millicent's rules, Mary was forced to obey under the duress that if she did not comply, she would be sent to her third cousin's estate in Scotland. Her father gave her some mercy as he saw her heart was broken as well as her spirit, offering, "You don't have to hit him, Mary Elizabeth, only tell him you do not wish to marry a man who is obviously still tied about his mother's apron strings."
The next morning, her father escorted her to the Darlings, and just like Aunt Millicent commanded, Mr. Baker asked Mr. Darling for a moment aside. Making small talk in the den, George was left alone with Mary. They sat in silence, he on a chair she on the sofa. He raised his hands from his knees several times trying to say something, but could think of nothing but, "Lovely weather for spring."
"Yes, lovely weather for spring," she repeated.
"Sunny morning with warm weather," he stated the obvious, nodding to the floor, terrified to meet her gaze.
"Yes, sunny morning with warm weather," she repeated the obvious; glancing between him and the rug he stared at.
"Not a cloud in the sky, I don't think it will rain until later in the week." He tried as hard as he could and believed he failed when she again repeated word for word what he said in agreement.
She only repeated his words for she, too, was at a loss of how to tell the man she loved more than life itself that this would be the last time they were to speak, wanting to say something he would remember, soothe the ache he would surely feel inside, even if it was to be nothing more than disappointment. She finally blurted, "It would be wonderful to stroll in the park on a day like today."
Like she had done, he repeated her words, changing them slightly to give himself the courage to ask her his first question of many. "I-I-I love to stroll in the park on day like today." He glanced quickly to see her face, and she hearing him say the word "love" already had her eyes on him with an adoring smile.
"Yes, I also love to stroll in the park on days such as these."
"Would you like to go for a stroll in the park with me?" he questioned, tilting his head outward to see her face as she answered.
"Yes, I would," she nodded, holding her smile, as George now wore one himself, only a little less joyful than hers, rather bashful, but a grin of contentment just the same.
George was up in a moment with her coat and offered her his arm, which she accepted like a lady. "Should we tell them where we are going? I don't want you to be in trouble for leaving with a man unescorted by your chaperone," George pondered while opening the front door to his parents' house. Mary looked to where her father was deep in a heated conversation with Mr. Darling and replied, "No, you are my fiancé who will become my husband in a few weeks, and it is only the park."
They were out the door and down the sidewalk heading to the park still arm and arm as Mr. Darling screamed "WHAT!"
A livid Frederick Darling stalked into the parlor where George and Mary had just sat. Mr. Baker followed behind shocked to find them missing. They looked to one another and then to the coat rack where their coats also went missing. "I believe they went for a stroll in the park together," Mrs. Darling said, as her husband demanded their location. An hour and a half later when they returned, both Mr. and Mrs. Darling, along with Mr. and Mrs. Baker with Aunt Millicent, sat waiting for them. But instead of seeing a distraught face on George and an equally somber face on Mary, they entered giggling and smiling cuddling close together like two young lovers madly in love.
Once away from the house, and alone together they found the perfect match in each other. Even though they had little in common, they had the same likes where it mattered. They both liked broccoli and hated peas. They both enjoyed classical music as opposed to opera. They both played the piano, they both enjoyed reading, they both wanted three children, one girl and two boys, and they both wanted more than anything in the world to spend the rest of their lives together. They strolled in harmony down the cobblestone path arm and arm. Where there once was silence, there now was chitter chatter and laughter. "My brothers are so envious that a young lady so attractive as yourself would want to spend time with me."
Mary was puzzled by his comment and returned his compliment, "Why would I not want to spend time with a man so handsome as yourself, your strong arm alone warrants my attention," she almost sang as she leaned her head into his shoulder, giving her best flirtation that made George blush and nervously fix his spectacle up on his nose.
And there in the park, under an oak tree, George and Mary kissed for the first time. They sat on a bench to rest, and smiled lovingly to one another. Then he pecked her lips without asking. With no warning, he just leaned in and stole a very quick kiss, so quick that she was unsure it had really happened. As she thought about asking if, in fact, he had just kissed her, he kissed her again. Mary had no time to close her eyes, so she looked at him with her pink lips full and wanting.
George was so nervous, never having kissed anyone before and was not sure if he had performed well enough under pressure to impress her. She, just as unkissed and clueless, waited. He dipped his head in once more, hoping beyond hope, that she would want more from him, and she did. She tilted her head to his with her lips slightly parted to encourage a deeper kiss than the pecks he had stolen. "Close your eyes," she directed as then their lips slowly, pressed gently together and remained locked in place for what seemed like forever. It was the most wonderful kiss, and would be that kiss in particular that would be hidden in the right hand corner of her mocking mouth for the rest of her life as George put it there on that sunny morning.
They returned to his home with all the anticipation of a young couple in love and headed to the altar. But what they found inside his home was utter despair and heartache. The moment they entered, Mary's parents and Aunt Millicent rose. "Give George the ring off your finger this very moment, Mary Elizabeth!" her father commanded her in a hostile tone.
She looked to her mother with loss in her eyes as tears filled them, pleading silently for protection and aid in her plight. She had forgotten the day's intention on their stroll and in their kiss. "No, I will not."
Mary stood firm and would not comply, so her aunt Millicent did the only thing she could to save her niece from a life of love and happiness with Mary's darling love. Millicent yanked the ring from Mary's finger and thrust it forth to George. "The engagement has been canceled. You are a weak and a simple minded fool, George Darling, and you'd be better off marrying the grocer's daughter then the daughter of a well respected and highly patronized baker," whatever that meant. She slapped George in the face, as polite society called for, and then grabbed Mary by the arm, who was now hysterically crying begging George's forgiveness, and lead her out of the house and away.
George was a man, but not himself without tears, and he shed them that day in his room away from his parents, who called Mary shameful names for her actions against him. "Ha! My son, marry the daughter of the grocer? At least she would not allow a man who is not her husband to take her for long walks alone in the park. She's a whore, George. At least she let you into her undergarments, I'm sure, now you are no longer a virgin at the very least!"
They told him she wanted to break the engagement, and her promise, but he did not believe it. If she had, why would she have been so lovely and kissed him. "I told you George, the daughter of Joseph Baker is just a filthy little whore who will let any man who compliments her pretty face take her to bed. Only a kiss, you are a fool, if you were faster with your hands you might have seen heaven on that park bench. You were just practice for the bigger fish she is to fry tomorrow." His father yelled to George as he refused to come down to supper.
"You'll see, George, you are better off without that rotten girl the Baker's and that hideously old washer woman in her fancy dress calls a young lady of good breeding!"