The Loden-Twins 14-16

Chapter fourteen – Preparing for Dinner 

During the walk Mrs. Kelly took Miss Bell aside and asked her about all the details of the girl´s release. By the end of the report it was clear to her that Miss Glass needed a readjustment to understand the required standards. She also planned to dress the girls in their punishment corsets, make them ready for bed and let them stay in the chamber of reflection until bedtime without dinner.

But Mrs. Blackwood upset this plan as she was waiting for the twins at the front door. “You missed teatime but I am sure we can talk during dinner tonight” Mrs. Blackwood said after the girls curtseyed in front of their grandmother. “I am afraid this will not be possible, Madam” Mrs. Kelly said with low voice as she did not want to have any reaction from the girls, even only an eye contact due to the lifted veils. “Both girls have shown incredibly bad behavior during the day and it ended in a refusal to obey an order. Therefore I believe it is absolutely not appropriate to allow them dinner”. Mrs. Kelly paused before adding “with their grandparents. To the contrary it looks as if the girls need strict training and education for the first weeks or even months before they reach a level which makes me confident they could behave during a formal dinner with you. For today they definitely deserve a punishment and not a dinner with you and your husband.” She ended, and hoped she had appeased Mrs. Blackwood with her little speech.

“I am sad to hear that the day did not pass in the expected way, but the girls will show their best behavior IF we give them another chance. And as they need to eat something anyway, it might be more disappointment for me than a punishment for them NOT having dinner together and I believe I have not deserved to be disappointed.” Mrs. Blackwood’s answer was directed to the girls and to Mrs. Kelly as well. Until that point Margret always acted like a lady who follows the guidelines of her husband and the society she lived in, but now she showed another side of her personality. Her answer was more than a hope for the girl’s good behavior or regretting if she would be disappointed by having dinner without them, it was a clear request that the twins SHOULD get another chance, and that she DID NOT WANT TO BE DISAPPOINTED.

Mrs. Kelly was too diplomatic to discuss it further in the hall and although she was not happy with the way it went, she decided to let it go for this evening only of course. Her diagnosis, that the girls needed some weeks or even months of education before they should join a dinner with their grandparents was still valid and she would explain it together with her plan for the next ‘1000 days’ to Mr. Blackwood as soon as possible. “Well, of course, if it is YOUR wish to let the girls join your dinner, I will do my best to prepare them on time, Madam” Mrs. Kelly said and forced her team and the twins to go upstairs.

Mrs. Blackwood was happy and told the good news to her husband. In the meantime Mrs. Kelly asked Mrs. Hunter and Mrs. Kent to undress the girls. “Miss Bell, Miss Glass, one word please” Mrs. Kelly said to her young colleagues. Please, Miss Bell follow me to the study room, and Miss Glass, you wait outside the door. When the door was closed Mrs. Kelly started. “We need to prepare the girls, to prevent any failures during the dinner. I do not expect to be invited for dinner so we will stand by in the hall to step in immediately if required” “But, please forgive me when I am wrong” Miss Bell answered “wouldn’t an elementary mistake prove your expertise? I mean, the girls could try to blame us or complain against anything that has happened so far, but didn´t Mr. Blackwood trust in your way of working. And isn´t anything except the minor topic of the new thermo fleece underwear confirmed by him?”

“Hm, I did not see it from this perspective. But you might be right. To let them fail under the eyes of Mrs. AND Mr. Blackwood could show that I am right and that the girls are not yet ready for joining them for dinner. I will go downstairs and show him my further plan, I call it the ‘1000 day program’ because that’s nearly the number of days until the girls nineteenth birthdays. In the meantime can you please inform Mrs. Kent and Mrs. Hunter that the girls remain in their underwear, the corsets will be laced-in another half an inch and then they receive a punishment dressing for the evening. I have heard from Mr. Blackwood that his daughter had to wear this on several occasions in Australia and it meant at least an additional layer of thick wool and a wool lined loden dress. They will wear a face free balaclava with a little bonnet and a short veil that can be removed during the meal”

“Mrs. Kelly, please do not misunderstand me, I would hope the girls behave well, but IF they change their clothes during the dinner, this would be an obvious sign that are not ready wouldn´t it? So as Mrs. Blackwood asked to give the girls a chance, shouldn’t we dress them just in a loden skirt, wool lined of course and an extra thick woolen cardigan over the turtlenecks? For a dinner at home it would still be appropriate and you could argue that you wanted to make it more comfortable than a dress or a stiff jacked. It would still require the girl’s to be constantly reminded that they are not to open or take of the cardigan. IF we take an ankle length woolen dress and add a second pair of thick wool tights as a punishment layer, it would be fixed by the narrow skirts and its belt. So the cardigan and maybe the bonnet or the balaclava would be all they could remove in case of disobedience. It would not be too much to show more than appropriate, but enough to prove that the girls need a strict regime.” “This is a great idea, please inform your colleagues. Let the girls undress down to the corsets, lace them at the bar and then dress them as agreed. Her Angora underwear, two pair of thick woolen tights, the standard turtleneck, then the balaclava and gloves, the woolen punishment dress, a tight and floor length loden skirt and a woolen knee length cardigan with a matching bonnet and a short veil. Then remove their muzzles and give them hot tea to drink. They will not be thirsty when the go to dinner, it wouldn’t look like we let them starve”. “Yes, Mrs. Kelly” confirmed the young governess and left the study room.

“Miss Glass, come in please.” Mrs. Kelly guided Miss Glass into the study and sat down behind the desk again. “I have observed now on several occasions that you have, let´s say ‘concerns’ at following my orders. Maybe you can explain to me your reasons?” “Mrs. Kelly, I know you have much more experience in teaching and I believe you do your best to . . .” “Oh, how nice of you, maybe you want to write a school certificate for me ‘did your best’” the head governess said in a sarcastic tone. “What I want to say is I am afraid the girls won’t be able to take it if they have to endure such harsh treatment from the very beginning and get punished without any time to accommodate with their rules” Miss Glass tried to explain. “I can assure you, I KNOW what I am doing, something I am not convinced of in your case. But I have an offer for you. Are you are willing to join the girls, let’s say for the next three days or so in their dress code. I am sure the girl’s will be happy to loan you some items which are not available in your wardrobe, not the loden dresses, as you wear velvet ones, but the underwear would be a perfect fit.” Miss Glass turned white. “I do not believe this is necessary, I have enough experiences from my own childhood” she said, in memory of her visits with her Aunt.

“But I believe you have no experience with this remarkable wool quality from ‘Blackwood’. A pair of thick woolen tights and a turtleneck dress worn over your long cotton underwear would fit nicely under your velvet dress” “Thanks, Madam, but I have felt the wool’s quality during the many time I have prepared the outfits for Miss Angelica and I can see without wearing it how warm it is.” Miss Glass replied nervously. “Sorry, it was my fault my dear but you misunderstand my words. It is not an ‘offer’ you can deny. It described your uniform for this evening and the following three days.” “But you cannot order me . . .” Miss Glass interrupted her boss. “I CAN AND I JUST DID. Obviously you have not read your contract carefully. As head governess I HAVE the right to define the uniform of my team. And for interrupting me you just earned the right to wear a pair of your own winter tights and one of your own thick turtlenecks under the woolen dress. And if I hear any protest now or you dare to wear anything else than what I’ve just ordered you will either feel how strict I CAN be, or you can leave the house right now. But do not expect that afterwards any other family in our society will give you a job. Did I make myself clear now, my dear?” Mrs. Kelly said in a soft tone that was more frightening than anything else. “No, Mrs. Kelly, it is clear and I do apologize that I did not meet your expectations. I will of course wear whatever you order” “Good girl, but you will not say a word to anybody. For all in this household it will be your free decision to wear some warmer underwear, or maybe it will be better if you hide the turtlenecks under a big cotton shawl. Together with boots, winter boots of course, nobody must even see your new uniform. Do not even think about any deviance as I will be checking your outfit several times a day and if just one piece is missing or not of the required quality you know the consequences. So you will first go to the room of Miss Angelica and borrow a thick pair of tights and a thick woolen turtleneck dress then go to your room, remove your velvet dress, take one of your winter turtlenecks and tights and the woolen items and dress. When you return you will show me the hem of the three turtlenecks under your dress and I will later check your tights. If I do not find three layers under your boots you are in trouble. And tomorrow I will ask Miss Bell to help you to lace your corset. Now you are dismissed and have ten minutes to reappear” “Thank you, Madam” Miss Glass curtseyed as she had learned in her youth and hurried to pick up the required items. Mrs. Kelly smiled and went to see if ‘tea time’ was over before meeting her boss.

While this conversation had been taking place in another room both girls got undressed and were then bound to the bars in their fitting rooms by their respective governess. Mrs. Kent reduced Miss Angelica´s corset by exactly a half inch. At the same time Mrs. Hunter managed to reduce Miss Katharina´s waist by three quarters of an inch and did not loosen the corset. Both girls got dressed when Mrs. Kelly arrived upstairs and she became witness to a tried denial when Miss Angelica was forced to pull an extremely thick turtleneck dress over the top of the three turtlenecks she was already wearing. She had not seen the cowl-neck of the dress, only its thickness and the length of the dress made her shake her head instead of raising her arms as requested. At the fitting of a second pair of thick woolen tights, the fourth layer on her legs she nearly decided to disobey, but as she expected to get a woolen lined loden dress on top of it again, she could not imagine enduring another thick wool dress with the fourth turtleneck beneath.

“Ah, Miss Angelica” Mrs. Kelly said, still not convinced that every denial means an additional punishment? “Not now as we have to prepare you for dinner, but I can assure you that not a single point of misbehavior gets missed. If you do not receive a punishment now or today, it will stay open, and as we have no appointments tomorrow there is enough time to balance your account” “I am sure, Miss Angelica was just raising her arms” Miss Glass said, looking into the girls eyes. She had soft brown eyes and did not try to frighten the girl. It was as merciful look as the junior governess could imagine. How hot it would be under all these layers. And her tone was not commanding but warning as she knew that Mrs. Kelly would not forget any misbehavior. Angelica finally obeyed and after she was fitted with the heavy loden skirt, she moaned because Mrs. Kelly closed the belt as tight as possible. The head governess watched the girl as she got the woolen cardigan and Angelica was sure that the slightest resistance would have been noticed and punished at a later stage. So she stood motionless and allowed Mrs. Kelly to close the buttons hard under her chin.

Mrs. Kelly refreshed herself and knocked on the library door to ask Mr. Blackwood if he had time to speak to her for a few minutes before dinner. He said he had and to Mrs. Kelly´s delight they sat down in his library without Mrs. Blackwood at his side. “Sir, may I show you my long term program regarding the education of the twins?” Mr. Blackwood nodded and so the head governess continued. “I checked the calendar and saw it is nearly a thousand days until the twins celebrate their nineteenth birthday. Therefore I have created a ‘thousand day program’. The first four hundred days will accommodate them to the lifestyle of the Reformist society, the next four hundred will focus on education in all a young lady has to know, special good behavior, her knowledge about the bible, and the last two hundred days are reserved to prepare them for becoming a bride, wife and mother. Of course each phase repeats the previous to intensify the knowledge and to deepen it. If you follow my advice and give me the full authority I can guarantee you by the end of my program, their love to God, a humble spirit, perfect behavior and her unquestioning obedience, or with one word, her place as a young lady in the Reformist Society and be all they expect and want from their future lives.”

Mr. Blackwood looked at the phases and some details, Mrs. Kelly had written down and answered “This looks like a well planned program, Mrs. Kelly. And your reputation is the best guarantee that the girls are in good hands. So go ahead with your program” “Thank you, Sir, I feel really honored and I have just one last request. I had advised Mrs. Blackwood that the girls are not yet ready for a dinner with their grandparents and according to my plan it could be quite a while until they are. But Mrs. Blackwood insisted on giving the girls a chance. IF they pass it, nobody could be happier than me, but if not, it might require an immediate action from our side. So if you don’t mind I would like to wait in front of the door. The girls must not know, and if their behavior is good - and nobody expects ‘perfect’ - but if it is good, they will never know that their governesses were watching them, but in case the situation becomes intolerable you just need to ring this little bell and we will appear within a second. I would know that they did not behave as you expected and take them upstairs without any question. Any details could be discussed later. Would you agree with this, Sir?”

“This is more than fair, for all I believe. If the girls show the required respect and good manners, we will all be happy to give them more freedom or allow them to join us at meals on a regular base. If not, my wife will have to wait until YOU tell us the girls are ready for that. We can maybe have tea on Sunday or a little walk in the garden from time to time, but everything else is up to you. By the way, I have a little radio controlled bell in my office. If I press the button and you have the bell in your pocket, nobody in the dining room will hear the signal. Is that agreeable for you?” “A perfect solution, Sir, so I would come by ‘just in time’ in case it is necessary. Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Blackwood, oh, before I forget it, Sir. I just wanted to inform you that Madame Levine recommended special underwear with the corsets. Silk would not be appropriate in our case as it does not transport sweat and wool and would leave inappropriate marks on the skin under a tight laced corset. So she offered seamless body suits with matching tights as the first layer under the corset, and the rest as agreed with you. I have given an order for an appropriate amount of sets for both girls but of course in case you worry about the solution . . .?” “No, if a specialist recommends it and you feel it’s the best, it is fine with me” Mr. Blackwood answered without knowing that they had been talking about thermo fleece. “Very well, now really the last question, I would like to give our junior governesses an idea about the fitting comfort and the Blackwood wool quality so they share experience with the twins. May I borrow some items from your grandchildren for this reason? Not on bare skin of course but just to give them a try?”

“That’s no problem for me but I can make a maybe better offer to you. I have not used my privilege to order items from the Blackwood collection for me and my family for years but it is still valid. So you could take the catalogue and order whatever you need for the twins and add some items for you and your team as a gift. Let´s call it a bonus that I give to you and you share it with your team however you like. Until it arrives you can borrow whatever you need” “Thank you very much, Sir, this is too generous of you. Thank you also in the name of my team. They will hold the items in honor.” Mrs. Kelly answered, during which time she thought about who would get which quality of woolen items as a special ‘bonus’.

“May I give you some last advice for the dinner tonight, Sir? The girls need to drink as often as possible for their health and so they had a large mug of tea when they arrived at home this afternoon as it is important to prevent them dehydrating. It might be wise to stay on tea, maybe a ‘good night’s sleep’ blend instead of a change to lemonade or water during dinner. Due to the fact the girls are not used to their standard outfit they might get a little overheated. With any cold liquid we would force their body to react on it and produce sweat to cool the skin down. You will know that people in hot countries often drink hot tea or coffee to prevent that reaction. As coffee and any alcohol is of course inappropriate, I believe tea would be the best solution and I could ask for a thermos bottle I could take with me when I bring the girls in. “If you believe it´s the best for the girls then it is settled.” Mr. Blackwood agreed without knowing that Mrs. Kelly did not plan a blend of ‘good night tea’. The opposite was her intention, to keep the girls stay awake in their nightgowns and sleeping bags for as long as possible to give them time to ‘enjoy’ it for some hours. So she would use a ‘Good morning’ blend and add some drops of a homeopathic cardiovascular agent to keep them fit during bedtime.

Miss Katharina had been dressed in the same style as her sister and although she had not resisted against it, she was desperate as she could not imagine going to dinner in this outfit. The girl’s muzzles were removed, not without the order that they were under the rule of silence until they met their grandparents. They were given some tea to drink and without their gloves they would not have been able to hold the hot mugs in their hands. Miss Glass, similarly dressed to the girls but the collar hidden under a light grey cotton shawl, came in and saw that the tea obviously was too hot to drink so she quickly offered to decant it to another mug to cool it down. Miss Bell however thought the tea to be the perfect temperature and ordered the girls to drink it without any delay. “You can’t ask them to drink if they burn their tongues if they obey” Miss Glass said, as SHE could now clearly imagine how difficult it would be to have a hot tea in such an outfit. “I have checked the tea. It is okay, and Mrs. Kelly told me to serve them HOT tea” “But it is too . . .” Miss Glass replied. “Miss Glass, YOU will have a cup of tea as well so you can find out that it is NOT too hot!” Mrs. Kelly appeared just as the junior governesses started to argue and interrupted them. “And you take care that the tea gets drunk ‘as hot as possible’, not more but also not less” she said to Miss Bell while focusing on Miss Glass with a meaningful look. “Yes, Mrs. Kelly” Miss Glass said quietly and went for her own mug and Miss Bell nodded with a smile on her face.

Some minutes later the girls had managed to drink their tea but not without the threat that unless they did so they would get another fresh and even hotter cup of tea tea or could have their next drink standing in the sauna that was installed in the basement. It was lime blossom tea that not only tasted awfully bad but also made them sweat a great deal and the sweat did not run in streams over their faces only because of their balaclavas that became sweat soaked. Miss Glass had to drink a big mug of the same tea and as she was not wearing a balaclava but only a small white cotton bonnet her face was soon covered in beads of sweat and her hair darkened as it became wet. Mrs. Kelly ordered another thermos of tea before she spoke to the girls.

“Ladies, before we need to go downstairs you have five minutes to spare. Ample time to repeat your rules. Before you go for dinner I want to warn you that when you are guided downstairs you will show your best, no better said, perfect behavior. You will neither be disobedient nor impolite. You will not complain against anything nor question your treatment. You will behave like polite young ladies who are thankful and happy to have such caring grandparents. Is that clear?” “Yes Mrs. Kelly” both girls said in unison and it was Katharina who made an almost perfect curtsey. The head governess was quite sure that the girls would fail and from this point she hoped to have full control over the twins. 

Chapter fifteen – Dinner with the grandparents

Mrs. Kelly guided the twins to the dining room and when Mrs. Blackwood saw them she wondered why the girls were wearing bonnets and veils indoors. “Please, the veils will not be necessary and why do they wear those thick balaclavas for dinner, please take them off too” she demanded. “Madam, Sir, this might be not such a good idea, we had no time to shower and their hair is sweaty from the walk outside as you can imagine. So I found that these nice open face balaclavas would fit with the girl´s outfit. Don´t you agree, Sir” “Well, in this case, Margret, I believe they should just remove the bonnet to take the veils off while indoors” Mr. Blackwood agreed, and his wife had to revise her last order.

“Sir, the girls have promised to show their best behavior, and I honestly hope they will” then she placed the thermos on the table between the twins and asked for permission to leave the dining room while the girls curtseyed and the family sat down. The girls were not happy about the tea and first course, as a hot soup was the last they needed in addition of another cup of hot tea. But they waited until the soup was served and the maid had left the room. Mrs. Blackwood asked if one of the girls wanted to do the prayer and Katharina volunteered for it.

God, bless this food we are about to receive.
Give bread to those who hunger,
and hunger for charity and JUSTICE to us who have bread.
Amen.

It was a short but nevertheless impressing prayer and the young girl hoped that she could use it for her further discussion. Mr. Blackwood raised his head and with the words “Enjoy your dinner” opened the meal. “Grandmother, may I ask a question?” Katharina asked as submissively as possible. “Of course my dear, as we are alone now and just family, you can speak freely” Mrs. Blackwood said although she knew that this was not the exact intention of her husband. “Thank you Grandmother. First of all I would like to let the soup cool down as we just had very hot tea and I cannot have more hot liquid right now, sorry. And then I would like to ask you some questions about how we are being treated here. The lawyer in Zurich had told us it is for our best to come to you. We would later get the opportunity to go to one of the best colleges in Europe and later to Universities like Cambridge or Oxford. But instead of this we are permanently bound or restricted, are held like prisoners and get overheated permanently, either because of any ‘standard’ or a punishment we do not even deserve!” Katharina had prepared this speech for the whole night although she had not acknowledged about the restrictions that the past day had added. Therefore she had not even mentioned the muzzle or the tight lacing of a corset. “AND in ADDITION we are forced to wear custom made muzzles and corsets that are tightly laced!” Angelica added to show she fully agreed with her sister’s speech.

Mr. Blackwood looked at his wife to show her it was HIS job to answer. “My dear grandchildren” he started “First of all I want to assure you, that ALL that happens here IS for the best. There is no doubt about that . . .” “BUT HOW CAN IT BE FOR OUR BEST TO BE BOILED UNDER LAYERS OF THICK WOOLEN OR LODEN CLOTHES, MUZZLED AND LOCKED IN A HEATED CABINET FOR HOURS?” Angelica lost her temper as sitting in front of a hot soup was more than she could endure in this moment. “Angelica, please lower your voice and do not interrupt me” Mr. Blackwood said, “This is a basic behavior. I allowed Katharina to end her speech although I did not find it appropriate. But if you both want an answer you may not interrupt me anymore, is this clear?” “Okay, Grandfather, sorry for that, but can´t you see how we are dressed? Can I please have a glass of water? This should not be a too inappropriate request, or is it?” Angelica was still on her limit of her endurance.

Katharina was not happy about the way her sister acted as it prevented a focus on the main questions. But she could not do anything against it. “Indeed, in the current situation a glass of water IS an inappropriate request my dear, as I agreed with your head governess that you both remain on tea as the best for you in the moment.” To confirm this Mr. Blackwood stood up and opened the thermos. He filled two cups with the hot tea and offered the girls “please, help yourselves if you need more, there is no limitation” Angelica smelt the lime blossom blend and that was more she could handle in this moment. She stood up quickly, nearly upsetting her chair and started to unbutton her cardigan. “Angie” her sister warned her, but the girl was always of fuller spirit. She pulled off the cardigan and threw it on the table. Then, with some effort, she removed the balaclava and showed it to her grandfather. “I HATE to be soaked with sweat and I HATE to be overheated and I HATE MOST to wear FOUR TURTLENECKS and a thick balaclava on top as I feel it chokes my neck and together with the corset I feel like . . . like I will suffocate any minute.” She pulled desperately on her turtlenecks and tried to get the turtleneck dress out of her skirt. But as the belt of the skirt was closed in the back with a hidden lock and tightened as much as possible by Mrs. Kelly she could not loosen the dress more than a few inches. Due to the narrow cut of the ankle-length skirt and its thick wool lining under the heavy loden fabric she also was unable to lift her skirt to untie her boots and remove the woolen tights. So, as expected by Miss Bell her ‘success in misbehaving’ was limited to the cardigan and the balaclava.

“I’m going crazy in this outfit and YOU offer ME lime blossom tea that I HATE since I had to drink it during a bad cold to let me SWEAT in bed to lower my fever.” She blamed her grandfather running around like a tiger in his cage. “Angie the tea is not the important point” Katharina stood up too and tried to stop her sister as she, as usual, lost her temper and the plan how to argue. “So it is NOT important that I burned my tongue because they FORCED me to drink the still boiling tea? And you stand here, obedient as usual and endure all these layers of wool?” “No, of course I am suffering in these layers wool of as well, but we talk about our future life here in England, about what is best for us and what NOT.” With these words she pulled off her balaclava which disturbed her more that the cardigan, not because her sister had convinced her about the priority but to show her loyalty and demonstrate how sweaty they both were. “Grandmother, WHY are we treated like that, it CAN´T be in ‘our best interest’ and it has nothing to do with the future that was described by the lawyer in Switzerland.” Katharina wanted to mention the lawyer as often as possible as she saw a chance in it to legitimate her point of view. “It’s in our ‘BEST INTEREST?’ I CAN´T listen to this anymore” Angelica screamed. “Not if I live for a thousand years I will ever believe that treating me like our sooo nice governesses do is even ‘GOOD’ for me, don’t even think about ‘the BEST interest”. They hide it behind GOD’s name but I feel like a prisoner, no, even WORSE, because a prisoner is NOT bound and gagged almost permanently or has to wear all this loden stuff, the veiling and all the woolen BULLSHIT?”

Katharina had observed the reaction of her grandfather during the speech of her sister. Not that she disagreed with its content but she saw that the way it was presented and the wording made him angry and she saw him wince when her sister swore about the wool and she was afraid everything would become worse if she could not stop her sister.

“Angie, please. We need to present our arguments and not . . .” “AND not ruin the dinner with absolute impossible behavior” said a cold and strong voice coming from behind the girls which ended Katharina´s speech quicker than she had wanted.

Mr. Blackwood had decided not to stop his granddaughters and start to argue with the twins, as not all of the complaints were wrong. The lawyer in Zurich had spoken about the advantages for the twins if they finished their education in England. They spoke about their future and the possibility to go maybe even to Cambridge or Oxford if their grades are as good as in the Swiss international school they both attended. Mr. Blackwood also knew that it was the greatest wish of Maria for the girls to be taught at the best possible college. Therefore they saved all their money to afford the high charge every semester at an international school instead of having a house or a bigger and maybe safer car. But he did not lie, as he just confirmed the girl’s education would be finished in their new home. He never confirmed anything about Cambridge and he had just decided to tell them back in England that their education would take place at home and they should learn more important things than ‘integral calculus’ or ‘international relationship’.

So instead of stopping the loud conversation between the twins and their questions and complaints he waited and just listened until it reached a level he was not willing to accept. He had never accepted abusive expressions from his daughter in his presence and it always ended with a massive punishment for her. And Angelica had passed this red line together with an absolute inappropriate behavior of both by undressing during dinner. So he had pressed the hidden radio bell in his jacked and a few seconds later Mrs. Kelly opened the door. The twins had been facing their grandparents and so they did not know that the head governess had entered the room until she finished Katharina´s sentence with her well known cold voice.

“Mrs. Kelly, it´s good to have you here.” Mr. Blackwood used the sudden silence caused by the surprise effect as he had expected and seen the governess entering the room. “It looks like, and I am sorry to say that, but it looks like your analyses of the girls and their current stage of behavior was correct. We” and he turned to his wife looking in her eyes “should have trusted your experience instead of letting scenes like THIS happen at dinner. I agree with you that the girl´s behavior is MORE THAN OBVIOUSLY NOT good enough to have an appropriate dinner conversation. They need your training and education before we will repeat this. For now dinner is over for you girls. You will follow your governess and I believe she will have the right punishment for both of you to pay for this outburst. I’ve one last comment before you are dismissed for the day. Whatever the lawyer might have said to you WE are your legal guardians and WE decide what’s the BEST education for you. I have made my decision and it is up to YOU to OBEY. Goodnight Katharina, goodnight Angelica. Mrs. Kelly please take them upstairs”

The girls were shocked. Not only by the sudden presence of their hated governess but by the harsh tone and the last words of their grandfather. He had ignored all their arguments or cries for help, and even worse, it confirmed that ‘their best’ was nothing they could influence with their ideas or feelings. Like puppets they followed the whispered order from Mrs. Kelly to curtsey and wish goodnight to their grandparents. The girls took their cast off clothing before they were guided out of the dining room. Mrs. Blackwood felt very sorry about how this evening had ended as she had hoped to sort something out in a calm conversation. She had wanted to explain some reasons to the girls to make things easier for them or, if possible, react on their feedback if their treatment was too strict. But the way the ‘conversation’ had ended made such support from her side nearly impossible for the moment. So all she could hope was that her grandchildren would not have to suffer too much and that things would turn better with the passage of time. In the hall the girls had to dress properly including their balaclavas and the cardigan Angelica had removed and then they were guided by their senior governesses to the second floor. Both girls held their heads bowed, not because of submission or obedience but because of disappointment. They had realized without any doubt that the way they were dressed was exactly what their grandfather had in mind. How strict or even, at least from the girl’s point of view, cruel their treatment might be, the head governess had the full support from their grandfather, their legal guardian. Now, during the quiet walk upstairs Angelica was aware about the fact that her temper had ruined the chance to explain everything to their grandparents. The small chance to convince at least her grandmother, who seemed not as strict as all the others, had been destroyed by the girl, who lost her countenance. Her grandma, who had given them the chance to have dinner together, had not been given any chance to show her sympathy by Angelica who had started to undress and disobey instead of explaining how they had to suffer and beg for comprehension and help.

Chapter sixteen – Punishment as deserved

“Girls, I am more than disappointed” Mrs. Kelly started after the twins had been escorted to their chamber of reflection. “I did not expect perfect behavior from you, some minor failures would have been although not tolerable but at least understandable but undressing, running around in the dining room and blaming your grandparents that they would NOT want your BEST, that was definitely more than anyone would have expected. But it was your free decision, against your statement that you are forced to do everything since you arrived here it was your OWN and free will to act in the way you did. On the contrary, you got more freedom than deserved as you already should be punished because of your behavior at the dentist and Madame Levine’s, but no, you got a reward and were invited to have dinner with your grandparents. And how did you pay back this reward? You paid it back by blaming me and your governesses in an inappropriate tone, unacceptable language and general misbehavior. But as your Grandfather said, I know how you will have to pay for this outburst. And you can believe me, it will be a ‘long term payment’ and nothing you can come through in one night. Now open your mouths, it is time to reinstall your muzzles” Mrs. Kelly ordered and as both girls were frightened by her harsh tone they obeyed without resistance.

The twins had noticed the enormous heat in the chamber of reflection and both wondered about the heaters that had obviously been turned long before they got dismissed by their grandfather. “Now you will have time to do your evening prayers, in silence and kneeling side by side as yesterday.” As soon as the girls faced their heaters the ankles got locked to prevent any change of position. “Now Miss Glass, Miss Bell, please attach the bottles with the girl’s tea on each side, connect the tube to the muzzle and place the bottles beside the girls” Mrs. Kelly ordered after the tea from the thermos had been poured into two plastic bottles. “Now their blankets please. They will share two as usual and make sure the tube is on top before closing the sides of the blankets with the clothespins again. The junior governesses did as ordered and it became dark and sticky for the girls under the thick blankets. “Now, Miss Glass, lift the two bottles up over the heads of the girls to feed them. You will hold it there until the bottles are empty then put them on the floor and stay beside the girls to watch them. You will report any sound or any unauthorized movement. Do I make myself clear?” “Yes Mrs. Kelly”, answered the young governess, fully aware of the fact that the bottles could be hung on a hook on each side of the wall, and monitoring was not required from inside of the chamber. But she knew that this was part of her own punishment and she had to endure it if she wanted to keep her job.

Mrs. Kelly left the overheated room together with Miss Bell and went downstairs where the two other governesses waited in the common room. “Mrs. Hunter, did you get the ordered devices for the girl’s audio program?” Mrs. Kelly asked as she had asked Mrs. Hunter to take care of it. “Yes, Mrs. Kelly, the equipment arrived and I have already put in the batteries so we can test it whenever you want.” “Very good, and the recording of our rules and the sermons from our pastor and all the bible verses, are they ready for use?” “Not all, as it is a lot, but the girl’s rules are ready for replay even in an endless loop if you want.” “That will do it for this evening. Are both types of headphones ready” “Yes, and both do a very good job blocking off any other sound. Mrs. Kelly had ordered the best available equipment all with radio transmission instead of cables that could be used in a spy movie. Each girl had a separate transmission frequency so she could send them the same or a different recording or just white noise to block out any other sound. There was also a microphone included that allowed the controller to talk to both or just one of the girls. The headsets had small microphones too, so in case a girl was not muzzled the governess could hear or even record everything. For the first night in a corset she wanted to use the in-ear phones and send them their rules for at least two hours to burn them in the girl´s brains.

“Ladies, we need to fix the nightgowns for tonight. But before that let me show you something I brought from my last employment. I thought of it as a souvenir but now it will render a good service. Basically it’s a normal medical diagnostic set used to check the fitness during any kind of sport activities. It delivers pulse rate, blood pressure and the body temperature plus the temperature around the wearer by them wearing it tight on one wrist. The data is sent to a small receiver with a display that beeps in case of going over a predetermined mark. This can be adjusted individually by connecting the receiver to a PC. You can read the last data, any peeks or the average values. It is very flat and sewn in this elastic tape so you only need to turn it on and pull it over the wrist. It must have skin contact so there are enough spare parts to remove the elastic tape every day. The tape has two layers to isolate the two temperature values. The girls must not even know the reason for this tape. I have made the setup and will keep the receivers, marked with ‘A’ and ‘K’ for the moment”.

“So, and now let´s come to the ‘fashion’ part. I believe they will keep their new underwear under a corset from now on, the question is, under which corset? The night version or the punishment version?” Mrs. Kent started the brainstorming. Neither of the senior governesses answered so it was again Miss Bell who replied. “Well, for me it was clear that a corset beginner will find it hard enough to cope with the night corset but as the girls failed so extremely during the dinner I am not sure if this will give them enough . . . ‘help’?” “That’s exactly my opinion. I am afraid we have to show them the punishment version first as they do not follow any advice we have given them so far. All right, next I assume the Shetland wool will not make sense so they can use their Angora set on top of the corset.” She continued “So far so good. I would say the rest can remain the same as yesterday. This means two pair of thick woolen tights, a thick turtleneck and the woolen turtleneck dress. Maybe we will add two balaclavas this time, the first with an eye slit only and the second one completely closed together, with two pairs of woolen gloves and mittens to remind them that removing a balaclava was, and is, strictly forbidden. Then the polar fleece dress as yesterday and maybe an additional pair of thick over the knee socks as warm feet are important. The only difference I would suggest is that they get wrapped in the heating blanket first and then wrapped in the woolen blanket as tight as possible to let them feel better the benefit of the heating blanked. At the end the mummy sleeping bag, top down as yesterday. Any questions or suggestions?” “Just one, Mrs. Kelly” Miss Bell asked. “I wonder if the girls could move on their bed sheet because of the slippery outer fabric of the sleeping bag. I thought about using some straps to fix the bag at the empty hood and use the D-ring on the foot end to fix the girls head. But this would not look very elegant I am afraid.” “You are right, it would be good for the girls to be fixed but it would look like bondage” Mrs. Kelly reconsidered. “There would be a solution, but I do not know if it is appropriate” Miss Bell said more to herself. “What solution? You can speak freely. If it is inappropriate I will not blame you as it is just a suggestion or brainstorming, and I am glad to hear any ideas.” The head governess encouraged her young colleague. “I thought about the nice bed covers we put away for the night. They are black and fluffy pure sheep wool. As we cannot see the girl’s faces anyway I wondered if we could cover the sleeping bag and its fixation under the bed covers even when the girls are inside.” The senior governesses did not say a word as they were sure the girls would suffer enough under all the committed layers and would gasp for fresh air the whole night. Pleased Mrs. Kelly smiled and replied “This is a lovely idea, my dear. I believe covering the girls in such elegant blankets of such high quality will hide any necessary fixtures perfectly and give them the final finish. So if we have no further questions or ideas you know what to do. Miss Bell, may I ask you to prepare both sleeping bags in the agreed way as your colleague is busy.” “Of course, Mrs. Kelly” Miss Bell replied with a smile as she knew what Miss Glass had to endure. She was not sure about her outfit but she had recognized the hems of at least two layers at Miss Glass’s wrists and could imagine that in this case her legs would be covered by the same. And the cotton shawl was too obviously hiding a turtleneck and maybe even more layers. The red face of her colleague before she was ordered to have some lime blossom tea was a clear sign that she was dressed much warmer than necessary or preferred by the young woman.

At about eight-thirty the girls and those guarding them were released from the reflection chamber and the twins had to undress and go to the bathroom. Some minutes later the girls hung facing each other from their lacing bar and her day corset was replaced by the punishment version that was much longer and had attached shoulder straps. After the girls had been laced they could hardly breathe and with each balaclava and layer of wool they felt more miserable. They got the ear phones plugged in and the elastic tapes pulled over a wrist before Miss Kelly added a neck corset to each girl on top of the balaclavas to show them how an unauthorized removal would be prevented in the future. Miss Katharina moaned slightly after the neck corset was laced and, as a ‘reward’, earned a woolen scarf to hide it. Finally they were guided to the bedroom and Angelica got a scarf too, just as a question of synchronization. They had to lie on the electric blankets that had already been turned on. After they had been wrapped in theses blankets they got wrapped as tight as possible in thick wool blankets and then the wool lined sleeping bag was closed over the top.

The girls did not realize about the way they had been fixed as they did not dare to move before the governesses had left the room, but they felt that something new and heavy was on top of the sleeping bag. Both girls heard the recording of their rules and could not do anything else than listen and feel the increasing heat. Later they found out that any kind of movement was made impossible without knowing about the straps at both ends of the sleeping bag. So they had no choice than lying straight and motionless for the whole night. Miss Bell was very satisfied with the arrangement although Miss Glass had been warned she worried too much about the health of the girls. As she did not know about the medical control sets she wondered if she should tell Mrs. Kelly about her worries, but as all other governesses found the treatment obviously acceptable she did not dare to say a word.

Margaret Blackwood dared to do so, and it was one of the most intensive discussions she had undertaken since they moved to England. She wanted to protect the girls and found that it obviously was so important for the girls to tell them about the cruel treatment that they ignored the simplest rules of good behavior. Her husband had a different opinion, as to him, the behavior of the girls just showed that they are not ready for that type of social contact. Neither of the Blackwood’s could convince the other so their meal ended in discontent.