The Strict Governess

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Edward reached for the brass knob, then stopped. Though the door muffled the sound, the voice still did not seem that of the affable old Mrs. Jeffers. He would have done almost anything to avoid having to confess to her what had happened—yet what if there was another lady in there with her as well? How mortifying! His shame scarcely could be uttered. His face burned as he stood there hesitating. She felt weak and could barely breathe. "I don't understand," she said. But perhaps she did understand. He stared so. Almost avid. Miss Violetta resumed her seat slowly, her jaw firm. Her nostrils flared, but her voice was deliberate. “Lower your trousers, Master Edward.”

Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret were taught at home by a governess but their children and grandchildren attended school. It would seem that the governess has mostly died out as a profession, yet the image she leaves behind continues to spark interest. Surely, he reflected with a twinge of shame, his notice of such features was only the result of his own peculiarly sensual predilections. This lovely young lady was no “actress” posing dishabille on one of those French postcards one sometimes saw passed around at school—she was a proper Englishwoman, one whose moral standing was by definition beyond reproach. The desired effect of her costume, he was sure, was to inspire respect and obedience, and despite the stray thoughts which he tried to banish from his mind, he indeed did feel an almost frightening reverence for this stern young new governess. Elizabeth Markham's philosophy was to show that women were not frail creatures and that spanking, caning, birching and other "robust forms of punishment" were essential for discipline and the well-being of "females of all social conditions wishing to better themselves." I've never felt inclined to write a governess story myself, perhaps because I'm quite ignorant of the institution, but this may encourage me.In my serial The Governess, teenagers Jacob and Amelia meet their match in the guise of the steely Miss Eversham, who very soon takes control. I said not to deny it!” she snapped, suddenly springing to her feet so that her heavy skirts now swayed and rustled from the elegant swell below the delicate hand span of her waist. There was a spot of color now in the pale cream of each cheek. She was very fair in complexion but not thin-skinned, he saw, and the realization that he had made the color come into that previously self-possessed face terrified him.

Much of the pornography of the period is marked by an obsession with flagellation or the English Vice. The circulation of pornographic material concerned with spanking, flogging and whipping reached epidemic proportions during the Victorian era - and many were the tales of schoolroom spankings. In this case the setting was either a girls' boarding school or a private classroom and the plot typically involved a governess whipping her pupil, who might be an adolescent girl or boy, for some petty misdemeanour such as sullenness. The first strike stung like fire and sounded like a canon. Even Sir Richard jumped a little. Caroline jumped a lot and jerked on the desktop. In my own story A Cane For A governess a voyeur observes the governess receiving discipline from the master of the house. The role and position of Governess, affords our imaginations and that of authors, a broad blank canvas upon which to build our 'fantasy' Governess, be she youthful or mature, strict and cruel or firm but fair, is she a Governess by choice or by need?Among my books, I have a copy of Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. Agnes became a governess. It was not a very attractive life. She had no authority and at least once wished she could use a birch rod on her pupils. Why, yes Miss," replied cook. "But the master had a proper bathroom put in upstairs. The range provides all our hot water."