Astoria Park Resumes

"Or we could both do her separately."

"We shall see."

-o-0-o-

Meanwhile, Isobel, her travelling case at her feet, was in the mail coach heading back over the mountains to home. William had paid a woman to travel with her as far as Goulburn, where someone from Astoria Park would be waiting to escort her the rest of the way. He had given her a note for her mother, explaining that business had compelled him to remain in Sydney until the New Year.

The coach pulled into the main street of Goulburn and stopped outside the Post Office. Isobel looked around for her mother, or maybe Robinson, but saw no-one that she recognised. She stepped down from the coach and pulled her valise out.

"Here, let me take that."

She turned, and her eyes followed the sun-bronzed arm up until it disappeared inside a clean and freshly ironed shirt. They then moved to his face. It couldn't be, but it was. "Jimmy, so mother sent you to fetch me."

"Yes, miss. I'll take your bag, the sulky's just down the road a bit. We be staying at the Grand Central (hotel) for the night, and then we leave for home first thing."

He carried her bag, but instead of following him, she walked beside him, reminded of the friendship they enjoyed as young kids, before she went off to school. She would see little of him during the school holidays, a combination of him working and she studying. Now it would appear, that fate had thrown them together. "Jimmy, there is no need for you to call me 'Miss', we've known each other all our lives, and used to play together until I had to go to school."

"I better not miss, it be not seemly now."

"I care little for what is seemly." She took his hand, "We are still children, and no harm will come of it."

"If you insist miss, I mean Izzy." He smiled at her, his teeth a white contrast to his sun-bronzed face.

"Great." She kissed him lightly on the cheek.

He went with her to the desk of the hotel and saw to it that she was registered and that the bill had been paid, before turning to leave her. "Where are you going, Jimmy?"

"I be staying at the stables, that is what Ben told me to do."

"Ben?"

"Robinson, He be running the place now, sort of like."

"I insist that you stay with me for protection."

"You be safe here."

"Jimmy, I insist. No-one will ever know."

"Very well, if you insist, but we will not be playing any of them games that we played as young'ns."

"Spoilsport. You should have seen the look on your face. Of course, we will not, unless you have a mind to force yourself on me."

"Izzy, I will never do that."

In the morning James left the room before Izzy was awake, and walked to the stables where the horse and sulky were stabled. Taking 'Bowler' from his stall, he backed him between the shafts and hitched him to the sulky. Taking his pack from the sulky, he breakfasted on bread and cheese, washed down with fresh, cool water from the rainwater tank. Filling his water bag from the tank, and strapping it under the sulky, he paid the reckoning and climbed aboard. "Hup Bowler." He flicked the reins and Bowler moved down the road at a steady gait until they reached the hotel.

He found Izzy standing on the veranda waiting for him. "Have you had breakfast?" She asked as she climbed aboard.

"Yes, I had some bread and cheese when I went to fetch Bowler and the sulky."

"Then I stole this for nothing." Izzy took a package from her valise and spread it on her lap. It contained a fried egg and two rashers of bacon. "You had better eat them now that I have become a criminal to get them for you."

James picked up the egg and popped it into his mouth. It was warm and still soft in the centre and had been dusted with salt and pepper, just the way that he liked it. This was followed by the first of the two rashers of bacon. It was crisp and he crunched it before swallowing it, the last of the bacon soon followed, and he wiped his hand on his trouser legs. "Thank you for that."

"It's the least that I could do for my man." She saw the expression on his face and burst out laughing. "You know Jimmy, the one thing that I missed being at school, was being able to tease you. None of the snooty girls at school had any sense of humour." She reached a handout and rested it on his thigh. For her, it was an innocent gesture of friendship, but for Jimmy, it was the answer to his dreams, those moments in his lonely bunk, when he dreamed of what could be with Izzy. These dreams had grown over the years as he heard from others at Astoria Park, who said that the young master gave no indication of wanting to run the property when the current Master could no longer run it. They also said that Elizabeth showed no inclinations along those lines either and that the hopes of the Astor's would now lie with Izzy. In his dreams, Izzy was his, and together they ran the property.

Bowler loped along at a good clip, and they were making good time. James would stop every couple of hours or so, when they were crossing a creek, and let him drink of the cool water. He would get the nose bag from the back of the sulky and give him a quick feed of oats. They rested for several minutes in the shade. James unstrapped the water bag and they drank thirstily before he topped it up in the stream and strapped it back under the sulky.

At noon he stopped and took Bowler out of the sulky and allowed him to graze while he and Izzy had a luncheon of cold meat, cheese, pickles and bread, which they washed down with water.

"Don't you have any ale in that sack?" Izzy asked.

"No, I don't. Ben would not have allowed it even if I be wanting to."

"You really take notice of him, don't you?"

"Yes, he be like a father to me. He has taken me in hand and is teaching me all sorts of stuff about running the property. He says that one day I will take over from him as Overseer."

"If he is running the place, what is Mother doing?"

"That's the thing of it. She and Ben have really taken charge now that your father has decided to stay in town like. And the place is the better for it, believe me."

"My mother is taking an interest in the running of the place? I cannot believe that she has never shown any interest in it before."

"It happened all of a sudden like, Your father had left on one of his trips to Sydney Town, and she calls Ben in to see her, and the next we knows of it, was they were thick as thieves and things was happening when they was s'posed to, not like before."

James put Bowler back in the sulky and they set off. They were hoping to reach Junee before nightfall. They would spend the night in the hotel that he had stayed at on his way to Goulburn, and a room was being held for Izzy, while he would stay in the stables.

Izzy had other ideas. As with the hotel in Goulburn, she insisted that he stayed in her room with her, 'for protection from bushrangers' she said. Jimmy was not reluctant to accede to her demands. They talked for hours before going to sleep, she in the bed and he on the floor, he refused to give in to her on this.

They left as soon after breakfast as possible. Jimmy's thinking was that by keeping Bowler at a steady pace they should arrive home at lunchtime.

"Tell me Jimmy, are Ben and Mother close? You must hear things, gossip, from other staff, are they close?"

"What do you mean by close?"

"Does he sleep in his quarters, or has he moved into the big house? I want to know, because, because from what I have heard, she and Father have not been as husband and wife for some time. You do know that my father has a mistress in Sydney, don't you?"

"I don't pay no heed to idle gossip if you must know."

"Then you must be the only person in this country that doesn't. Now tell me, are they together in that way?"

"If you must know, yes, he sleeps in the big house."

"And does he sleep with my mother?"

"So I been told, yes."

"That is so good."

"Why do you say this?"

"It matters not to you." She was thinking now that the news she brought with her will not cause the dramas that she at first thought, at least some of the news.

Jimmy turned off the main road onto the track that leads between fields of golden grain to the farmhouse.

They were seen arriving. As Jimmy halted at the front of the house, Priscilla came out to greet them. This was a much different Priscilla to the one that had farewelled Isobel at the beginning of the year. Gone was the floral dress, gone was the parasol, and in their place was moleskin trousers, a man's shirt, both cut down from William's that he had shown no interest in wearing, and riding boots. Ben came around from the back of the house with Peter. "Take Bowler to the stables, hose him down and run the comb over him before you set him loose."

"Yes sir." The horse and sulky were led away.

"You had a good trip then?" Ben asked Jimmy. "There were no problems?"

"There were none." Isobel told them, "Jimmy, James, was the perfect gentleman, and Bowler is a fine horse."

"Good. James, would you come with me, we have things to discuss about the harvest, and I think that it would be best for Isobel and Mrs Astor are left alone to catch up on all of the gossip." Jimmy followed him towards the implement shed.

"You're in love with him." It wasn't that Isobel was asking a question, she was making a statement to let her mother know that she was aware of the situation between her Mother and Ben.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Robinson, or should I call him Ben, everyone else seems to?"

Priscilla looked at her young daughter for some time, her mind wondering if she should deny this, or if she didn't, how much she should tell Isobel. "If you really must know, and it is best that you hear it from me and not one of the gossiping servants, yes, I am in love with Ben, he's a wonderful man, twice the man that your father is, and between us, we have taken over the running of this farm, and we are doing a much better job than your father ever could, or would. Does this shock you, or did James tell all."

"James did tell me, but only after I had dragged it out of him. I needed to know, because I have some news for you, and this makes it easier for me to tell you."

"If you are going to tell me about your father's whore in Sydney Town, I already know of that."

"That is only a part of it. Did you know that his mistress has opened an exclusive Men's Club, one that has gambling and other forms of entertainment?"

"No, I was unaware of that. Tell me all that you know."

"This next piece of news is not going to please you, nor will it please Father when he finds out. Did you also know that Elizabeth and her friend Bella are both employed there as hostesses, to look after the clients and make sure that they drink and gamble, and to provide them with additional services, if they so desire? From what I hear, every one of Elizabeth's clients will ask for the additional service."

"Do you mean that your sister is a whore?"

"Yes."

"And your father doesn't know of this?"

"From what I have heard, no. But there is something else that I find interesting, and that is that he is living with his Juliana on the top floor of the building, while Elizabeth is living and entertaining on the floor immediately beneath him. He does use the back entrance, so it is possible that he has never seen her, and he does not enter the club at all."

"How do you know this?"

"My best friend Millie Beaumont told me. It was the talk of her family, how her grandfather Sir Nigel Beaumont had been making a fool of himself over some young tart at the club. Millie's father went to the club to see what was happening and recognised her from a party he had attended at the Hamilton's. It was Elizabeth, and she had been 'entertaining' Sir Nigel in her apartment upstairs, he as much admitted it, boasted of it in fact, when Millie's father confronted him. He said that he planned to marry her."

"Can it get any worse than this?"

"Then there's Wills. The only reason that he has decided to stay at his friend Thomson's family's beach house is for the sole purpose of getting some sexual experience before they head to England and University."

"How do you know this?"

"Because he told me so." Isobel said.

Chapter 5

Mr and Mrs Thompson, and the two boys were seated at the dinner table. It was the last evening meal before the two adults left to take the carriage into Sydney Town the following morning. It was a long journey, the road having to divert around Middle Harbour and westward until they could cross the Parramatta River. There had yet to be built a harbour crossing for vehicular traffic. "Now you boys are to stay here while we are gone. You can walk along the beach, but nowhere else. Breen (the Housekeeper) will be keeping a watch over you." Mrs Thompson told them.

Mary had leaned over the table to retrieve the plate that Thommo had pushed into the centre, rather than leaving it in front of him. As she did so, his hand, hidden by her skirts, slid up the inside of her leg. As it moved up, she moved her feet apart a little to allow him access to her private parts. His hand lingered there for a second or two, his fingers feeling her heat. He smiled at Wills, to let him know that she was willing. All that they needed was to find a time and place.

Wills and Thommo had a late breakfast. The parents had already left before they woke. That had plotted into the night and had come up with a plan. As Mary was clearing the table Thommo reached out and touched her hand. When she looked at him, he slipped a note into it. She slipped it under some plates and went off to the kitchen. It was obvious that she had read the note because she slipped her note under his teacup. He lifted the note, it read '10:00'. He nodded, first to her and then to Wills.

Under the house is a wine cellar. This was reached via a staircase from the Dining Room. At 10:00 Wills was worried. "What if she doesn't come?" He asked.

As it turned out, this was a superfluous question. The door opened and Mary slipped in. "Breen has gone to buy fresh produce, she'll be gone an hour at least. Now I reckons as you be wanting to take your pleasure of me, would this be true?"

"Yes." They both stammered.

"And this be your first time, then?"

"Yes." They stammered again.

"And you be wantin' me to show you what's what?"

"Yes."

"Well let's not keep time a'wastin', take off your clothes."

They clumsily began to remove their attire, Mary had only to loosen her skirt and allow it to drop to the floor and remove her camisole to stand before them, gloriously naked. She was a handsome young woman, of medium height, her breasts full and firm, her waist slender and her hips full. As the farmhands on the manor where she was born would have said; "they be good child-bearin' hips on that there lassie, they be."

She had arrived in New South Wales as a young girl, yet to reach puberty, her parents were a part of the Bounty Immigrant scheme designed to provide farm labourers for the expanding rural industry. As soon as she was old enough, she was sent to Sydney Town as a Housemaid in the city home of the owner of the property where her parents worked.

She looked at the two of them standing in front of her, with their hands clasped in front of them. "Come on then, let's be seein' what I have to work with." She reached out and took their hands away from their genitals. "They be good enough I reckons." She took Thommo's penis in her hand and began to stroke it, while with her other hand she was preparing herself for the inevitable. When she supposed him to be ready, she lowered herself onto the bedspread that they had thoughtfully provided, pulled him down and guided him into her body. "Now don't be a'rushin' at this, takes your time." This instruction fell on deaf ears, with a grunt he emptied himself into her and collapsed on top of her.

Mary rolled him off her and stood in front of Wills, "Let's be hopin' that you last a little longer." She stroked his penis until he was ready, and lowering herself, she pulled him to her.

Wills had watched his friend rush into this like a bull at a gate and decided that he would not do likewise. When he first entered her body he could not believe how strong the sensation was to be, it was all that he could do to control his urges and to take his time. He lasted much longer than Thommo. "Hey Wills, don't be a hog, I want another turn." Wills continued for a further five minutes before he lunged into Mary and emptied himself. She did not immediately push him from her body. Thommo had been stroking himself in readiness for his next attempt.

"If you want me again, I be ready for you." Mary whispered to Wills as she reached between them and removed his penis from her vagina. He stood up with a smile on his face, pleased with his efforts and wanting more.

Thommo dropped to the floor and pushed his penis into her sopping vagina, "Slow down." Mary instructed. He did last longer than the first time, not by much, before he grunted and emptied himself into her a second time. Thommo stood with a look of self-satisfaction on his face.

This changed when Mary took Wills' hand and placed it between her legs, and pushed two of his fingers inside her vagina. "Push your fingers in and out." Wills did as he was told, slowly at first, then at her urging, faster and faster. "Harder, harder, yes, yes, oh yes." She had a fierce orgasm over his hand, the combined mess falling to the bedspread. When she had calmed down, she became efficient once again. "Be off with the pair of you. I'll launder this for you. If Breen asks any of us what happened to this bedspread, we'll tell her that you were walking on the beach and must have trod in some dog shit, and without knowing it lay on your bed and soiled it. Next time we do this I will bring a towel, and then we can tell her that you were swimming in the sea and used it to dry yourself."

As they filed from the cellar, Mary whispered into Wills' ear, "There will be a next time for us my lad."

The next time was not long coming for Wills. He was standing on the balcony, and looking down at the people on the beach, when he noticed Mary, in a bathing dress, walking along the sand towards that rocks at the end of the beach. "I say, Thommo, do you fancy a stroll along the beach?"

"No, I will stay here to be ready to take the opportunity to have Mary again. It was much better than I dreamed it would be, I think that I am in love with her."

"Very well, I will see you later. I might meet a young lady on the beach that takes my fancy." He got dressed in his bathing costume and headed off up the beach after Mary.

When he reached the rocky headland he at first did not see her until she stepped out and beckoned him into the small sandy alcove between the rocks. She took the towel from him and spread it on the ground before undoing the buttons on her bathing dress and allowing it to fall to the ground. Wills stood admiring her beauty, his mouth agape. In the sunlight, her body shone something that was hidden in the gloom of the cellar. "You are the most beautiful girl that I have ever seen."

"Go on with you young sir, I bet you say that to all the girls." She deliberately put on a course accent to emphasise their class differences.

"Do not mock me, I mean it." He shed his bathing suit and dropped to his knees in front of her. He could smell her sex, and he moaned as his face buried itself between her legs.

At first, Mary thought that he knew what he was doing, and sought to give her pleasure, but after a time with his face resting against her body, she was forced to take control. "Lick me there." Wills looked up at her. Did she mean for him to lick her between the legs? Mary pointed to her vagina. "There, lick me there." He licked her, and as soon as his tongue touched her clitoris, her hips began to shiver. After several minutes of this, Mary took his head in her hands. "I am ready for you." Dropping to the ground, she laid back with her legs apart, her wetness glistening in the sunlight. Wills needed no further invitation, he lay between her legs and entered her.