Chapter 2 - The Arrival

Just beyond High Wycombe on the main road from London to Oxford, Nicholas Smith, the driver of the carriage, steered the 2 coach horses right towards some woods.

“Did you have a good journey out here, sir?” Nicholas enquired by way of making conversation.
“Perfectly fine” William Wood replied “but I was not expecting such a luxurious finish.”
“Ah well, James, the chauffer, is waiting on a call from Mr Percival in case he needs picking up from Oxford. Just around the corner now … there you go, Cocksworth Hall.” It was still a few hundred yards away but Bill was a little disappointed that instead of being some baroque monstrosity it looked just like an ordinary mundane everyday palace, except for a shining central dome.

At the ostentatious gates, the coachman stopped the horses, stepped down and spoke into some device. An equally smartly dressed man appeared from the gatehouse and let the vehicle into the grounds. Nicholas acknowledged him and proceeded towards the house. The Earl’s seat, which was most of the width of the garden, had 2 wings extending forwards.

Bill’s eyes were drawn to the scrubland forming the only gap in the trees, from which a horse was galloping towards them. As it and its rider passed close, his jaw dropped. “Wha … wha … wha …” was all he could manage.
“Oh that’s Lady Angelica, sir” as the view of bouncing breasts was replaced by bouncing buttocks, “Somewhat of a free spirit.”
“And that’s normal, Nicholas?” Bill inadvertently stressed the last syllable “I mean I barely noticed.”
“Good one, sir. The Countess said you had a way with words.” as they pulled up to the house.

A footman approached them and informed Bill that the family had just retired to change for dinner so he would escort him to his room. “I suppose you were thinking all us servants would be there to greet you, but we only do that for the knobs.” the footman said as he led Bill up the highly decorated staircase. “Not sure why you’ve got this room.” Bill was sure staff were not supposed to be this impertinent but he let it lie. “I’m John by the way, the more productive part of Dick and Balls.” While the confused journalist tried to figure out what that meant, the footman opened the door to what appeared to be a cupboard and then a second door to a magnificent bedroom. “I’ll be back with your bags momentarily … sir.”

The new house guest made his way past the immaculately turned out double bed to a window, out of which could be viewed a very large pond the entire width of the house in front of yet more trees. John returned and Bill decided to tip him. The footman seemed temporarily confused, but took the money anyway. “Thank you, sir. Someone will come and collect you for dinner. I shall inform the Earl of your arrival. And that door is to your bathroom.”
“Thank you, John. You may go.”
“I was going already, sir.” and he shut the doors behind him.

After the journey, Bill felt he really needed a bath so he undressed quickly. An image of Lady Angelica Godiva flashed through his head and he could not help but rise. He opened the door and very quickly closed it. There had been a woman, naked, bending over the taps. He had no idea who. He thought about the layout of the room and decided it must be a shared bathroom, but why had they put him next to a woman? Is this what the footman meant about the suitability of the room? Had she seen him? In a mirror, perhaps? Had she noticed his erection? He sat down on the chair, visibly shaking. Is this what he had to handle?

The image of the bather’s behind was imprinted on Bill’s mind. Long dark hair seemed to point at her the arse crack and the thing below. Being a doctor’s son he grew up knowing about anatomy, but the truth was the only times he had seen ones in the flesh were on autopsy benches, which he would rather forget about, and on an assignment investigating a high class brothel, when he had asked the girl to cover up. Nice girls tended not to show him theirs when he courted. He was 26, and he liked women a lot, but he was still a virgin.

While he was still reflecting, there was a knock at the bathroom door and a woman yelled from the other side “Please accept my apology for earlier. I am so used to having no neighbour. I’m all clean now so, if you want to take care of yourself, be my guest. By the way, I’m Ada.”
“Bill.” he shouted back.
“See you at supper.”

Taking care of himself did seem like a good idea until he remembered the owner of that beautiful arse could walk in at any time, so he simply bathed. There was a shower, but he had no idea how to operate it. It was something to look forward to tonight.