Chapter 26: Punishment

The outcome of the enormous lecture with Mum and Dad ultimately ended up in a very big load of punishment for both Roland and me. Mum and Dad's point was clearly stated and before dinner, all four of us were called down to witness our sentences. Of course, Alexandra and Adam would not be given any punishment, for they were not of this household, but they were called down anyway to add to our humiliation. "Astrid," said Mum strictly. I was waiting patiently for my sentence, lips together, face expressionless, and knees quaking from fear. "Is it true that you had gone out into town with no escort the day you went out to the harbor with Adam?"

"Yes," was my meager reply.

"Is it true that you were speaking with a low-class sailor who could have easily harmed you and Adam?"

"Yes."

"Is it true that you allowed him to hold your hand?" I looked directly at her at that and clenched my fists.

"No. He grabbed my arm and I tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go. Adam feared for me and tried to order the sailor to let go, but he wouldn't. The sailor threatened to beat up Adam and would have done so if Roland had not happily come along."

"Happily?" asked Mum, quirking an eyebrow and sending a look at her son. "What did Roland exactly do?"

"He jumped on the sailor's back, laughing and playfully punching the man. He even said, and I quote it, 'Tom! Ya little bastard! Are ya teasin' my mates?'" Mum's eyes flamed and she sent a very cold look in Alexandra's and Roland's direction.

"Adam, do you agree? May I remind you that what you say can be used against you if I ever speak with your parents?" said Mum, hoping that Adam would not lie to her. I knew he wouldn't. He was too well-raised a boy. He nodded and agreed with my statement. She now turned to Roland whose ears were already a bright crimson. "And you, my son, did you say those words?" He didn't reply. "Did you?" she said, her voice shaking with fury.

"Yes, Mum," he mumbled. There came a very loud 'snap' and it came from Mum whacking her fan angrily into her hands. I was positive that she was thinking about whipping the both of us in front of our friends.

"Well, Roland, Astrid," she sighed heatedly. Mum had never been so angry with us. We knew we had done the ultimate evil for her to be so steamed. "I have already thought up your punishment based on your stories, but it seems that the harbor incident has played a very large role in everything." She paused and turned to Alexandra and Adam. "Both of you leave, now," she ordered. The two immediately scurried out of the room, leaving Roland and me to burn in our own wrongdoing.

"Astrid," said Mum. I looked up and she had a very taut finger pointed at me. "Over here." Full of shame, I walked to the designated spot she pointed at which was beside a table. I knew what was coming. I was going to be whipped… badly. "Do you realize the wrong you have done in nosing about Roland's private life just for your own pleasure?" she said.

"Yes," I whimpered.

"And are you sorry for drawing Adam into the scheme?"

"Yes," I sniveled again.

"Are you aware of the trouble you could have been in when you snuck out of the house without an escort!" she screeched. I nodded. "Very well, Will," she said. Daddy handed her a long, thin wooden rod. I had seen it before, and it was used on me only once, and that was when I had run into Missus Whitman and broken her hip. "Lift your skirts, Astrid," she ordered. I shook with deep regret and disgrace as I turned around and fulfilled the order. With one hand, I gripped the edge of the table I stood beside and with the other, lifted up my skirts to the point where my fluffy drawers were showing but only up to the back of my knee. Mum usually hit my calves, not my actually thigh as was done to other girls. "You shall receive three beatings, Astrid," she said firmly. "And at dinner, you must sit between Alexandra and Roland. Adam will be dismissed before dinner, for I will not have him comfort you." After that came the first hit.

My knees buckled and I gave a weak cry, trying my best to hold onto my diminishing pride, my face scrunched up in inescapable pain. How I wanted to howl out in misery, but I'd surely be given more whippings if I did so. Mum continued on with my sentence. "For one whole month, you may not attend any gatherings or parties and you will not step outside this house unless I permit it. And if ever I am not here and you are required to be somewhere out of the house, Roland will escort you. Not Adam, not the footman, not a servant. No one but Roland until you turn fifteen. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mum," I sniffed. The rod came into contact with my aching legs again, and I gripped the edge of the table harder, my hand sweaty and stiff. My knees were failing me and I dipped down a little, but I refused my knees to touch the ground. I had to endure this punishment.

"You still have not apologized to Alexandra for spilling your wine on her, and you will do that tonight, with everyone listening and bearing witness. Immediately after dinner, you shall help Lisa and the other servants clean up, then you will retire to your grandfather's office and work on your studies, understand?" I nodded, for my tongue ached from biting it when Mum hit me again.

Instantly, the rod came down a third and last time and whacked my bruised calves so hard that I thought it would crack. It didn't though, and all I heard was a very painful 'slap' of the wood against my legs. My limbs trembled and my tongue was bleeding and my face was wet with my own tears, but I held my ground and I absorbed the pain with no complaint or useless whining. "You are dismissed," said Mum. Still shaking from the blows, I put my skirts down and leaned away from the table. Limping, I headed over to the couch in the room and collapsed onto it, covering my head with a pillow so that I wouldn't hear the angry words that would be said to Roland.

Dinner was silent and composed as it should have been, but it was an odd thing in my household. Dinner was never a quiet matter for us. As said before, I sat between Roland and Alexandra, but for once, I didn't squirm in my seat or make faces of disgust. I sat there, head bowed, fork in hand, and brainlessly ate my food. Roland sat to my left, and I saw that his right cheek was red and sore. Mum had slapped him. I was sure he was hit with the rod too, but with Dad as the moderator. I was glad I had Mum hit me. Dad was strong and those blows would have certainly broken my bones. I felt for Roland, but I did not poke my nose in what punishment he received. I would have normally done so, but I didn't have the heart to.

Adam was not present. He was dismissed without me ever knowing because my head was still buried under a pillow in the room when Mum had told him that he needed to depart. Stephen was still there though, eating across from his sister because he was her escort. That's what Roland would be to me now. My escort until May. Mum cleared her throat at the table, catching everyone's attention. "I believe Astrid has something to say," she said. I stood up from my chair, and taking in a deep breath, I turned to face Alexandra, and her face was pinched up with a look that said, 'You're up to something and I won't fall for it.'

"Miss Westley," I said, trying my best to make my voice steady and firm. "I realize that the way I treated you both at the first time you joined my family for dinner and also at the recent gathering at this house was extremely rude and uncouth." I paused, feeling the burdening gaze of all eyes at the table set on me. I felt my embarrassment getting a hold of me, but I regained my composure and straightened my back. "What I did was insulting and vulgar towards you, and I hope that you accept my apology. I remain in your debt, Miss." Alexandra looked up at me, the hatred having not lifted from her eyes and swiftly turned her head back to her food.

"Sit," she ordered. I sat. "I will have to think about your apology and decide whether it is at all even sincere." I twitched as I took my seat and ground my teeth in my closed mouth. Everyone's gaze at the table was still on me. I could feel it, and so I casually shrugged her words off, although now I didn't hang my head low anymore. I was back to my old, stubborn self.

When dinner ended, Roland and I got up from our seats first. I knew I had to help the servants, what Roland was doing, I did not know. He looked at me and whispered. "Good luck, sister." I nodded and offered him my hand to shake. I don't know why I did it. I guess I did to show him that we were in this mess together. He took the handshake and squeezed my hand as tight as I squeezed his. Then, in a flash, we marched off to begin to do our new assigned duties.

Lisa and the other servants were a splendid help to me. Helping them was never a mean of punishment for me in the past years, and so the tasks were quite new to me. The ladies I worked with though, were kind and helpful. Lisa though did not let me get off from the work happy. "You see now where your troublemakin' gets ye, Miss?" she said.

"I do, Lisa," I answered dully as I gathered a couple of plates to the kitchen sink. I had received enough scolding from Mum already, but Astrid was and never would be a good girl.

"I'd hate for you to end up working as a maid like me, Miss. And the little pranks and tricks you think are fun now is what's gonna get you there." She paused as she scrubbed a dish and looked at me. "Even as a little girl I had to remind you that the world wasn't at your command. Miss, I don't want ye to work side by side these ladies again."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not yer place. You're Missus' daughter. You're grand and beautiful and are destined to be well-educated and married off to a fine gentleman who'll take care of ya. Ya have to realize, Miss, that yer life ain't always gonna be fun, so don't think of it as a game." She turned back to the dish she was scrubbing and scrubbed ever so harder. I was silent at her words. She didn't even say as much as Mum did, but it was still a very moving lesson for me, that was for sure. "I'm sorry, Miss," she said at last. "Twarn't my place to speak to you like that. Can ya forgive your cook, Miss Turner?" she said with a timid smile.

"Of course I can, Lisa. It's just, you needn't be sorry for anything. I'm glad you said what you did." She looked up at me, eyes amazed and lit up. I returned a smile and took a sponge from the sink and began to wash the dishes beside her.

After my chores with Lisa and the other servant girls were at last complete, I did as I was told and retreated to Grandfather's office to focus on my studies. I parted the grand, wooden doors that led into the office and slipped in, closing the heavy doors behind me. To my left and right were bookcases that nearly reached the ceiling, and each was crammed with lines and rows of books. Glorious books. Towards the back center of the room was Grandfather's desk, which was large and varnished so that it shone its pure luxury about the room. Above my head was a chandelier that carried many candles which shed its bright light to every nook and cranny of the space. "Perhaps this won't be so bad at all," I thought.

Behind Grandfather's desk was a large window that looked out into the backyard. Beautiful. Thin, lacy curtains hung by the window's sides, controlled by a soft yellow rope that dangled on the right. I hadn't been in here for a very long time because I was forbidden to. Plus, Grandfather had retired to sleep now and was not in here as he usually would have been after dinner. I sat myself in his large, velvety chair and relaxed a bit before opening up my French book. Missus DeWitt said I was slightly behind in my French, and so reasoned that I'd catch up during my "punishment."

"l'automne," I said. "Autumn, which will be coming soon. Of course, les saisons don't change much here." I was talking to myself, which was usual whenever I was trying to focus. I stared at the foreign words in boredom. Currently, I was on the topic of weather and seasons, but I didn't see the use in learning how to say those words in French. When would I ever need to describe the weather in French? After reading over a couple more words, I shut the book and wandered about the office, looking for any better books to read.

"Law," I said, as I passed by a bookcase. "Law, again. And look, there is another book about… Law." I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. All of Grandfather's books were about law. Nothing about ships, or sailors, or even pirates for that matter. "Wait!" I said aloud. I skimmed the titles of the row of books over again, my finger grazing their spines. Ranks and Positions in the Navy. Perfect.

Pulling out the book, I opened it to the title page and then from then on, was lost in the world of the British Navy. Too lazy to go back to Grandfather's comfortable armchair and seat myself in it, I plopped myself on the floor, and avidly began reading. The one thing I really wanted to find out was about Midshipmen and what they do, for certainly Roland would not be acting so haughty if his title of Midshipman was not as great as one would think. "There! Midshipman!" I yelled aloud, too thrilled to mind that I was still talking to myself.

Midshipman:

One of a class of youths who, in their training for appointment as officers, perform minor duties on board a ship.

"Minor duties…" I echoed with a laugh. Roland wasn't so much of a Naval Officer… yet. There was a sudden, 'crick' and I looked over at the door, and out popped Roland's head as he stepped in, a book also in his arms. At the sight of me sitting on the floor he went, 'Ah!' Nice to see you too, Brother.

"Astrid! What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" I replied.

"Part of—"

"Punishment?" I finished.

"Yes. To focus on my studies is what they said," Roland griped, dropping his book carelessly on Grandfather's desk. "How long have you been in here?"

"Since I finished helping Lisa and the other servants clean up the kitchen and all that other stuff. What did Dad make you do?"

"You had it easy, I guess," he began, admiring the tall bookcases while he spoke. "Dad made me go with the footman to clean the horses." I snickered, stifling my laughter with my hand over my mouth. "What?" he asked, getting annoyed.

"That's easy, Roland. I was thinking that Dad would have you put on an apron and work alongside the servants upstairs who clean the privies." He snorted, turning his gaze away from me and sticking his chin up in the air to make me feel inferior.

"Let's see how you'd do with horses," he snarled back. "They smell awful…"

"And you don't?"

"Shut up, Astrid!"

"All right! Go on."

"Richard, the man who takes care of the horses, told me to clean their hooves and horseshoes. I thought it'd be easy, ya know, 'cause I'm a lad and I can take care of myself." I imitated a gag and he shot a look at me. "Like I said, I thought it would be easy, but those horses have some disgusting things up their hooves."

"They don't wear shoes, Roland. What would you expect?" I said, getting up from the floor and walking towards Grandfather's desk.

"But it's all crammed in there like mush and I had to pry the stinking filth with just a tiny metal rod that hooked slightly at the end. Plus, the horse's arse would be right behind my head when I was doing this and that just made me want to vomit and the damn beast wouldn't cooperate. I had to chase it around to make it stand still!"

"Prolly did it to show you who's boss, little brother," I said, acting as if I was not amused with his story. I sat myself in the luxurious and snug armchair and turned another page in the book I was reading.

"You assume too much, Astrid," said Roland, not as angrily as before. "You think you can handle everything with ease, but you'll see that not everything is so simple. You are very young, sister and very green." I sighed and let the matter go. I was in no mood to argue tonight.

"Lieutenant…" I said to myself, my voice trailing off as I read further on. "… an officer who fills the place of a superior in the latter's absence or acts for him under his direction…"

"What are you reading?" asked Roland, approaching the front of the desk. I looked up from my book and grinned. I had anticipated such a question.

"Just a book about the British Navy," I replied plainly.

"The British Navy, eh? Shouldn't you be working on your French, sister?" he suggested irritably, leaning forward and about the snatch the book away from me. I pulled it back just in time.

"I already did. Now, frère, please focus on your own studies, would you?" He glared at me and I resumed reading about—"ROLAND!" I screamed. "Give the book back!" He danced around the room, holding the book above his head.

"Make me!" he sang. I jumped to my feet, ready to pounce on him and beat him to the ground. I darted away from the desk so as not to break anything on it and chased him across the perimeter of the room.

"Roland! You live to torture me, don't you?" I shouted, gaining on him.

"No, just to make things harder for you to get, that's all," he chimed back. I will pull your stupid pony tail and cut it off, or rather, tear it off with my bare hands. Let that teach you not to bother me again, I thought.

He swerved left, I followed. He turned, and then spun abruptly around to the other side; I didn't fall for the diversion. He was headed straight for the doors that led into the office, but his feet skidded forward as he tried to stop himself. It was too late for me to stop and I ran into him from behind which pushed him into whatever caused him to stop in the first place. My book dropped on the floor, and a hand picked it up. "Get out," commanded Roland.

"Roland, I just came in to say farewell," was the person's reply. I stepped to the side so that Roland's tall body wasn't blocking my view anymore and got a good look at who the intruder was. Upon seeing me, he put on a smile and straightened himself out, making him appear even more supercilious. "Miss Turner," he said. I made the involuntary movement of walking towards him and he beamed down at me. Of course, he was a little taller than Roland, which made me feel all the more short. Then again, I was just about a head shorter than him. I'd grow again. At least, I hoped I would.

"Mister Westley," I replied. He didn't have to reach for my hand to kiss as usual. I just offered it to him and he was about to do exactly that when he stopped himself, and just stared at me over the back of my hand. I wondered why he wasn't sending that lovely kiss on my hand and then it struck me. Roland looked as if he was about ready to kill Stephen. My brother's eyes were narrow and harsh and his lips were in a hard, thin line on his face. Not to mention that his hands were balled into tight fists.

"I bid you good evening, Miss," he said, just raising my hand up and then letting go. I sighed, mostly out of disappointment. I had grown to love that kiss on the back of my hand.

"I trust that you will have a good evening as well, Mister Westley. Farewell." I curtsied and he bowed and Roland continued to stand as still as a statue, flaming internally with a newfound hatred for the mesmerizing Stephen Westley.

"Why do you hate Stephen?" I asked, looking over the rim of the book to make eye contact with Roland. He sat on the ground, legs straight out, sheer boredom on his face.

"Why do I hate him? I don't hate Stephen, Astrid," he replied. I scoffed in disbelief.

"Yes, you do. Otherwise, you would not send him such threatening glares."

"I don't hate Stephen, personally. What I hate is that he is attracted to you."

"To me?" I stammered. "You hate him just because he shows interest in me?" I was squawking like a parrot in skepticism.

"Yes…" murmured Roland.

"Why do you even care if he fancies me or not? I sure fancy him, not in the suitor way. But he is such a gentleman."

"I knew it!" screamed Roland, leaping to his feet. "You said you didn't like him a week ago! Just wait until Adam finds out!" He jumped in excitement, pointing an accusing finger at me.

"I said I did not find him attractive in the suitor type way. A good friend he'd make, but nothing more!" I shrilled, standing up from the armchair and slamming the book on the desk. "Can't you listen for once? And why would you care?"

"Because Stephen's a cocky bastard who just wants a pretty lass like yourself to philander with!" he said, inching closer to the desk still pointing his finger at me.

"How do you know those are his true intentions?" I challenged. Roland at last drew his reproving finger away and looked down at me.

"Because he is eighteen, unmarried and handsome, that's what! Judging by his age, he's probably courted several young women, and I doubt you are the first he has ever had "true" feelings for. He even courted Adam's sister, and since you don't know the story about Stephen Westley and Natalie Locke, then I shall tell you."

"Stop it!" I yelled, but Roland would not be silenced, the brute.

"She stopped courting him because you know what she found out? She found out that he was having an affair with her most dear and trusted friend!"

"Stop it, Roland! Shut up! Stephen's not like that!" Roland smiled slyly, pleased that he had proven my point wrong.

"You don't realize how much a philandering sod heap he is, Astrid. I'm sorry, but you just do not know." That pushed me over the top and I threw the book at him, missing of course, and while he was distracted with the violent act, I sprinted out of the office and upstairs to my room.