Mistress Agnes Ch. 13

The next days, they all accompanied her wherever she went, Patrick groomed Dennis to perfection and watched him to see when he needed his rest, while Agnes introduced him to all her readers and acquaintances. No-one seemed to notice he was not really of their own class, he was so elegant, well-spoken and gentle that Agnes caught more than one admiring look, and received countless compliments on her choice.

'We thought you were going to stay alone forever, Mrs Beauchamp,' one lady spoke all their thoughts, 'but now we see you were just waiting for the right man. Your late husband was such a superior man, it must have been difficult comparing every suitor with him.'

'It was, Mrs Lyttelton, you are so right.'

'You never had any children with Mr Beauchamp, did you? Well, you're still young, and Mr Parker as much so, I just hope you will not be distracted from your writing by all the little voices that may sound in your house when you get married, we all love your work so much!'

Well, that was rather nice, though not very likely. With all the men Agnes had had since her husband's decease, it was rather obvious to herself and those close to her that the inability to have children was hers, not Frederick's. It would take a miracle to get her with child, and though Agnes sometimes rued her infertility, after seven years of childlessness in marriage, and three years of fucking five different men and staying barren, she had gotten used to the idea that she would most likely grow old without seeing children and grandchildren grow up.

She cared, of course, but she had her little family and her work, and had rarely felt lonely even before Dennis came into her life.

Dennis was incredibly glad to be out and about. He had his spells of dizziness, but he generally took things easy, establishing a certain character straight away, inadvertently preventing any suspicion of his being a former army man from occurring to anyone except his doctor. He watched Agnes give little lectures about her books, socialized with her readers, discussed those books in decent terms, as if they were not stuffed from cover to cover with explicit sexual acts.

He even went to restaurants and plays with her, enjoying himself hugely, and snuggling against his beloved in the dark if he felt tired or overstimulated.

His past still visited regularly, but being active did help to relegate his memories to where they belonged, forgetfulness, and he found a boundless appetite for all expressions of culture in himself. Entertainment was great, but tragedies and operas were better, concerts, galleries with art, he devoured it as much as his physical strength would allow.

Slowly, he tried to become a bit more active in their love-life as well, the boundaries between the two relationships in their house had faded for a while, with Patrick joining Guy and Agnes in their escapades, and Dennis watching with heat, of course getting his own release from either one of the others.

Agnes learned a lot about men in those sessions, and Dennis learned exactly where his boundaries were when making love to a man, even before he was able to participate.

Bit by bit he managed to fuck Agnes for a few minutes, but only after one of the others had nearly sated her, for he didn't last very long, yet. It was not enough to satisfy his own need for activity, but the dizzy spells he had when he overstrained taught him quickly to restrain himself a little longer.

They spent two more weeks in London, surprisingly enjoyable considering the events, Agnes even managed to convince Dennis to order riding boots and have some really good suits made, though the poor tailor kept trying to sell him garments suitable for a dandy, not his usual style.

Dennis stuck to his own wishes, and got what he wanted, though standing still for measurements was more difficult than he had ever imagined.

'Did you know standing still is such hard work, Agnes?' he asked her when they drove home in a cab, 'I seriously dare state it was the hardest thing I did the last week.'

Agnes of course smiled at him, she always did, and replied sweetly, 'I am not surprised, Dennis. As a little girl I used to sing in a choir, and it was very difficult for me to stand still. And I could smuggle because I was in the second row, you had to stay completely still for the measurements. Which is why I always refused to model for Charles, though I admired his work.'

Against the doctor's advice, they left for London after their planned three weeks.

'It is too much strain for the gentleman after such a blow. I beseech you to think the better of it and stay for two more weeks at least, he should not have been up and about at all, I cannot guarantee his lasting recovery if he doesn't keep from straining himself.'

Though he didn't have the least inclination to actually do what the doctor advised, the man was probably right, and Dennis admitted as much.

'I'm sure you're right, doctor, but I've never been the type to sit still. The journey to come here wasn't particularly tiring, and once we're back in the country there will be much fewer temptations to be active, I'll just laze about in the haystack, enjoying the sunshine.

I've this fear of being left alone, and it will be much reduced at the manor.'

The doctor gave up, of course, he had done his job.

But Dennis was also right, the trip wasn't exciting, their train-carriage was quiet and he slept through most of the journey.

When they arrived, they hired a coach to take them back to the manor, and Dennis slept through most of that journey, too. Arriving late at night, they went to bed immediately, and the next morning dawned bright and sunny.

Lying in their own bed in each other's arms was such a blessing, Dennis couldn't wait for their quiet life to resume its course, it was as if he wasn't rather disabled here.

But his first attempt to make love to Agnes as if nothing had happened didn't work out as he had planned, it started all right, with his urging her to sit on his face to finally let him taste her pussy again, which worked rather well. There was no strain in merely licking her greedily, his head and neck were supported by a thick pillow, and he relished the feel of her intensely soft flesh and her most intimate taste.

One climax was not enough, he wanted more of her, and slowly his ardour rose beyond control. When she came the second time, and wanted to take his dick to give him a return of the bliss, he pushed her back to the bed gently, and spread her legs resolutely, almost overcome with heat. Agnes did not protest, but she was clearly in doubt whether he should do this already, still, he was showing such lust, it couldn't be healthy to keep that pent up either.

As he plunged in happily, all seemed well, Agnes groaned with satisfaction to have him back to himself, but it was too early. For his heat drove him to go too far, he pumped with such fervour after taking things very easy for three weeks, the first few minutes he seemed fine, but then he got nauseous and started seeing spots, and had to give up.

Soon he was lying in Agnes' arms, still dizzy and nauseous, with a blinding headache. He couldn't see her face, everything was spinning, and she asked with concern, 'Oh Dennis, my love, are you all right?'

'No I'm not,' he managed to croak, 'careful, I may be sick, need a painkiller.'

He hoped she'd get the message and keep him a little upright and very still, or he'd vomit all over the bed. The headache left him unable to think or do anything but moan softly.

Strong hands held him even straighter, very slowly, careful not to make him nauseous. Then a hand offered him a spoon to his lips, and Dennis slowly opened his mouth to take the powder. It was horribly sour, and a glass touched his lips to help him swallow it with a sip of water.

Still blinded by the headache, he gave himself up to Agnes' loving arms, and she gently and very unobtrusively stroked him until the headache receded a little and his vision cleared.

'That was a foolish thing to do, my love,' he admitted to his beloved, 'I felt such joy to be back home, as if nothing had ever gone wrong. I know better now. You can tuck me in if you are needed somewhere, just check on me in an hour or so.'

'I'm not going to leave you again, Dennis, you'll feel abandoned again. Nothing matters to me more than you, I'll just pick up a book and read, or have my writing material brought and start to draft my new book, I've some pretty good ideas just waiting to be written down. You take your rest, and hopefully you'll feel better by lunch.'

And she did indeed stay by his side all morning, every time he woke a little to turn around, he felt her against him, and she stroked him until he fell asleep once more.

When he finally woke up altogether, she was merely watching him with a soft expression, and as she noticed his eyes were open, he got a sweet kiss.

'Feel better?'

He nodded carefully, and it didn't hurt.

'I'm hungry, and I want to see Dick. I'm so curious how things are with Maria.'

That got him another kiss, and Agnes said, 'He came by to see you, but you were asleep, which worried him badly, he had heard you got hurt in London and wanted to assure himself you were all right. He'll be very relieved to find you up and hungry.'

'I shouldn't have tried to make love that firmly, it was too much. I've learned my lesson, I'll be more careful for another three weeks, as the doctor said. Too bad Dick's engaged, he'd be pleased to give you some rough loving.'

Agnes smiled and did show some fond remembrance of Dick's energetic loving.

'Guy was very obliging, love, I'll be fine. Though you're the best for me.'

They had lunch in the kitchen with the staff, because Dennis wanted to very much.

'You're awake, Dennis! I've missed you! Are you all right?'

Dick was overjoyed to see his friend again, but he didn't hug him as he clearly wanted to, he knew he was very strong and was afraid to inadvertently hurt him.

But Dennis wouldn't have that, he got up slowly and embraced his large friend, 'You can hug me, just take it easy, Dick.'

Dick took the smaller man in his arms as if he was a day-old chick, Dennis could see he was doing really well, Dick's plain face was calm and happy, and he seemed more a man and less a boy. His approaching marriage was good for him, that much was clear.

'You look incredibly well, Dick, how are things with Maria?'

There were hours of talk behind his friend's open smile, Dennis could see he was aching to tell everything that had happened in the last three weeks in detail, and he laughed and offered, 'Let's eat and sit in the haystack afterwards, and you can tell me everything.'

'I'd love that, Dennis, she is so sweet, and so good to me, and she truly loves me. But you're right, let's eat first, and talk about London, and the mistress' book, and how you got hurt. Then later I will tell you all about Maria, outside in the sunshine.'

They ate heartily, and after lunch Agnes went to the stables to see to the hunters and the hounds. John never rode out onto the moors, he merely exercised the horses on the paths and the road a bit further away, they would be pleased to have a good run with the mistress, though one hunter would have to wait until tomorrow since Dennis would not be riding for quite some time, yet.

'We can use some fresh meat, too, mistress,' Cook said, 'I'd like to make something special to celebrate your return, but there is not much left and it's so gamy by now I'd prefer to not serve it to you.'

'I'll see what I can get, I'm not going to shoot any animal with young, maybe Dick can go out this week and get some fish.'

Of course that lighted up Dick's face even more, and the cook obviously approved.

'A superb idea, ma'am, I have some new ideas for fish that I think you'll love.'

'Will you come with me again, Dennis? I'm still a bit afraid on the moors on my own, my mum always told the most horrible stories, with people drowning and being taken by creatures of mud and dripping weeds.

I know people told those to keep their children off the moors and safe, but they caused me nightmares. I thought they were real.

Oh, but you're sick, you can't come. That is such a shame, we always have such a good time!'

'Walking across the moors and lying next to a pond with you is not very demanding, Dick, I'll manage. I'm not actually sick, I was hit over the head and my brain got hurt. The first days, all my memories were mixed up, as if they had been shaken firmly. Fortunately I remember everything in the right order again, but I need to take everything easy or I get dizzy and nauseous.'

That afternoon, they sat in the haystack and talked about everything that had happened.

'We met every day, Dennis, and without someone checking on us. Maria said her mum told her she was nearly thirty and old and wise enough to not get into trouble.

And we didn't.

But we did sin a lot, Maria said it didn't matter much since we were going to get married, and I know you're not married and Guy and Patrick are two guys, and you're all pretty good people, so I didn't mind that much.

We did it everywhere, in the little dell, but also against that tree where we set up the mistress, and in this very haystack, and my little room and the bath. It's so good to be together, Dennis, I didn't know it would be like that. We fucked a lot, but we also talked a lot, Maria is so smart, but she doesn't mind at all that I take a little more time to think.

You know Maria wants to get our little cottage on the other side of the valley? She says no-one there will say I'm slow, they don't know me, so we can make a new start. Isn't that nice of her?

It's just one more week and we'll be married, I'm so excited!'

They talked about everything and anything, and before Dennis knew Agnes came riding by on her own hunter, it needed the exercise most, the hounds greeting Dick and Dennis with enthusiasm. She had two large birds dangling from her saddle, 'Bachelors, both of them. Better be glad you're spoken for, Dick, being a bachelor is dangerous out there on the moors.'

Dick smiled, he suspected she was teasing him from her tone, though it took him a moment to understand everything.

'I'll make sure not to go out there until I'm married, mistress, or does taking another bachelor along make it safer? Dennis is not married either.'

'You see, Dennis, Dick thinks you should marry me!'

That of course was not what he had said at all, but Dick again knew this was said in jest, and he merely smiled and said, 'I'm so excited about the wedding, mistress, and the rooms you gave us, they're so beautiful. Thank you so much.

Maria's mum wants to visit next week, to meet all of you and help with the wedding. Is that all right, mistress?'

'Sure, Dick, just let us know when she wants to come, there will be plenty to do even with the hired help.'

During the rest of that week, Dennis mended fast. Apparently, the constant engagements had taken their toll on him, for in the peace and quiet of the sunny late spring in the country, his dizziness and faint spells left, and he could even read a little again. So far, the letters had all been wriggling and dancing on the page in front of him, whenever he tried to read.

But now Agnes seemed to be feeling less than perfect, she wrote and rode, but she ate very little and even then she sometimes ran off suddenly and came back looking grey and unwell.

'Something is wrong with you, my love,' Dennis said, worried out of his mind, 'you hardly eat and keep little down. It's not good, you're already slight, there will be nothing left of you.'

But Agnes made little of it.

'I don't feel bad, beloved, let's have Dick's wedding over with first, and if this hasn't passed by then, we'll send for a doctor. You know those doctors are no good anyway, they'll just kill me with their medicine.'

And she tried to be as lively as ever, working tirelessly on her book, hunting, but Dennis knew something was really wrong for she didn't want to make love at all. She touched him eagerly, and laid in his arms with obvious relish, but she did not take his dick to please him, nor did she rub against him as she usually did when he stroked her.

But maybe she visited Guy and Patrick a lot, since they had given up their resistance against fucking her, they satisfied her need for rough loving quite adequately, maybe they had sated her. He decided to ask Guy, who really loved having sex with the mistress.

'No, we have seen her just once since we moved back from town. I thought you...

And she has eaten very little, even the fish Cook had prepared in such a special way, I noticed her plate coming back virtually untouched. Even Cook wasn't insulted so much as worried.

Dennis, I'm afraid the mistress is very sick, she needs a doctor, and not a local quack, but Mrs Gilbert's cousin, a really good doctor from town. Will you beg her to let me send an express?'

Agnes wouldn't even hear Dennis out.

'I'm fine, there is nothing wrong with me, I'm just not that hungry but it has been rather hot for the time of the year. Let it go, Dennis, trust me when I tell you I'm all right.'

What could he do? He went back to Guy.

'She's not fine, Dennis, she's losing weight, I can see it even with her dresses on, and you say she doesn't want to make love, just cuddle a lot. That is not like her at all!'

By now, the wedding was approaching fast, and Agnes seemed to brighten up a little with all the liveliness going on around her.

Hired staff were preparing a feast and decorations, the larder was filled with the best food, Cook was exerting himself in the kitchen.

Dick did his work but in a kind of haze of excitement, not noticing Dennis' worry at all.

Charles and John did, and on separate occasions warned Dennis in private that the mistress was ill and hiding it. They had seen her throw up several times, clearly trying to escape notice from the people in the house.

Dennis could do nothing but thank them for their kind concern, and explain the mistress didn't want a doctor to be sent for. His worry and fear were obvious, and from that moment on he couldn't hide them anymore, he wore them on his face openly, afraid to spoil the wedding but unable to control his fear that Agnes was desperately ill and dying on him.

When he expressed his fear to Guy, the harshness of his words caused the poor man to start to cry, and when he had calmed down, he blurted out, 'Then we'll all be destitute as well as bereaved, Dennis. Her cousin from Mr Beauchamp's side will claim the property and we will all be out on our ears.

You have to consent to marry her, she wants you to, and you'll get the house and we can all stay together.'

Dennis was almost angry, though Guy's obvious distress kept him from shouting at him.

'Guy, listen to yourself! I'm not a mercenary, if I don't want to marry the mistress because she's too far above me, I can't marry her to inherit her property! I love Agnes, if something happens to her I don't care what happens to me after that. I'll just follow her, I have nothing to live for without her.'

'I'm sorry, Dennis, I don't know what came over me, I was just suddenly so afraid to see you back in the streets, bereaved and penniless. Patrick and I can take care of ourselves, we'd have to hide our involvement, but we've done so before. And we''ll take care of you, Dennis.

But maybe it isn't all that bad, do you want me to send an express to the doctor in London in secret? You said you'd fight with the mistress if she was wrong, and she is wrong, Dennis, she needs a doctor!'

'Yes, Guy, please send the express. I don't care if she gets angry, the thought of losing her makes me ill, we can all see something's wrong, and this time, we're right.'