The correspondence began here.

Dear Amelia,

I am so glad you benefited from our little talk on Saturday and the quite through and necessary operation that followed. I do hope you remember that the very exacting lesson I wanted you to learn was that if you are set a sanction or a restriction when in disgrace then it must be adhered to precisely and without either rancour nor rebellious prevarication.

It has troubled me that I compromised over going to church, but I felt and still feel that your innocent distress was unsuitable to be inflicted upon others, especially at their devotions and that our disciplinary endeavours would only have been a distraction.

I have pondered on the matter and I have a solution for next time.

How are you sitting today by the way? Not well I hope. I pride myself that when I promise that a girl won’t sit for a week then it will come to pass. Although I did not quite say that as I recall. Be wary when I do.

Years ago when I was training for my chosen profession there was a giddy girl in our little group who met every Wednesday afternoon to take tea and compare notes. She was so proud of the tender little slaps she applied to hr charges bottoms and much given to the threat that they would not sit down for a week if they did such and such a thing. This was clearly such a ridiculous posture to take that it irked many of us. So one day arming getting our group together and arming ourselves with a stout hairbrush we too the silly girl to one side and turning up her skirts we bared her pretty little bottom for a very sound spanking until she was not only red a sorry, but she admitted her folly.

I was of course the leader in this operation and went as far to promise her a good sound birching if she ever again uttered the empty threat in our presence. She did of course but that is another story.

By the way, Miss Dandridge was quite clearly amused at our meeting and I am quite sure she knew what we were about. You were so humble of demeanour and unable to meet her eyes that I cannot doubt that she could not but know.

As for Mary, do you not consider that she is well used to matters of the rod given her age and occupation. Why do great ladies think so little of the sense of those they employ? Who do you think cleared up the scatterings of the rod or fetched up the buckets to steep them in?

As for tea on Thursday, I would love to come, perhaps then I will be ready to tell you more of the progress with Ruth.

Yours truly,

Jane Carlisle

To be continued…