Chapter 4
Arthur Hadley had never been so conscious of his daughter's faults as on this particular evening, and he was the more annoyed because secretly he had hoped that Hester would offer one of her moody excuses for not wanting to accompany him to dinner so that he could be alone with the fascinating Eleanor Stanfield. Regrettably for his romantic aspirations, Hester listlessly agreed to go. But so far as cordiality and charm was concerned, all she contributed was her presence.
She was five feet six inches in height, with a rather oval-shaped face, slantingly set cheekbones, large, widely spaced blue eyes, very thick brows, a straight nose, and a small ripe mouth whose upper lip was petulantly curved and full, indicative at once of her egoistic nature. A few tiny red spots of acne decorated her chin and cheeks, as well as the top of her forehead. Her auburn hair was drawn away from the forehead and fixed into a thick rather ungainly bun at the back of her head. Her skin was tawny but rather sallow, for she rarely indulged in outdoor sports and she had thus far during the first week of this vacation been hardly out at all. When she did her studies, she wore harlequin glasses, which gave her a rather piquant air; but without them, she gave the impression of being overbearing and quite unconcerned with what went on around her.
Nonetheless, she had an elegant figure and had she taken more pains with herself, it would have been really stunning. Highset, pear-shaped breasts set rather widely apart, a slim waist which gave way to lithe and supple hips, and a pair of ample oval-shaped buttocks with a broadening crease, long nervously chiseled thighs and calves. Her voice was midway between contralto and soprano, and it too gave the impression to a first-time observer that she was most pretentious. However, if one listened to her speech at any length, it was evident that she was perhaps scholastically intelligent but vastly immature as regards emotions and a knowledge of how to deal with people.
She monopolized the conversation from the start during the dinner, and though Eleanor Stanfield was sweetly polite and even encouraged her with an occasional phrase, Arthur Hadley at once discerned that the voluptuous brown-haired widow found her irritating at times.
After dinner, Hester delighted him by casually remarking, "If that's all, Father, I think I'll go for a walk. Nice to have met you, Mrs. Stanfield."
"And to have met you, Hester," Eleanor Stanfield graciously remarked. "I hope we shall see each other again some time soon."
Hester gave a kind of shrug of her shoulders for which her father could cheerfully have slapped her, and then flounced off as her father and Eleanor Stanfield emerged into the lobby of the hotel. She turned to him with a knowing smile: "Perhaps, Arthur, you'd like to take a walk too... in the other direction?"
"You must have been reading my mind, Eleanor. Let's!" he eagerly rejoined.
They directed their footsteps towards the attractive landscaped little park, where there were tennis courts for the guests, and after a long silence, Eleanor turned to him and commented, "I can see that you do have a problem, Arthur, and that you've been thinking about it recently."
"Yes I have. Let me apologize for Hester. She was really bad-mannered tonight, as I've never seen her before."
"No, my dear man. It's only that you haven't exposed her to very much social life since your wife's death, and it's only because you did tonight that she shows up badly."
"But--" he began.
"Let me finish, Arthur. She's quite intelligent, alert, with a keen mental grasp of her studies and of things that interest her. That's excellent. But that's as far as it goes. She's ill at ease and, I think, a little on the defensive."
"On the defensive, Hester?" he echoed incredulously.
"Believe me, before I got married, I was a teacher for about a year in a junior high school. I was very young then, just about twenty-one, but I had my certificate just the same and I was all set to have a career when I met John. But that's beside the point. What I'm getting at, Arthur, is that I can recognize Hester because I had a girl by the name of Janice in my first class and I'll never forget her. She was a product of a broken home, and she was constantly getting into trouble, picking quarrels, arguing with me before all the other pupils. Then I found out that she was really lonesome and unhappy, and she was just striking out. I think Hester's going a little bit through that process, if you don't mind my saying so. And it's no reflection on you at all."
"You may be right. I do wish I could spend more time with her, but my job keeps me traveling quite a bit throughout the state. But-but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about, Eleanor."
"Oh?"
"I-I was wondering about Betty."
"I see." Eleanor Stanfield looked at him intently for a moment, and then smiled, and linked her arm with his. "And what did you want to know about my daughter, Arthur?"
"Well, she's such a lovely girl, and at dinner tonight I could see the comparison between the two. And yet, I couldn't help thinking that she was the one who was being punished and Hester wasn't. Did you--I mean--that is--did you really punish her?"
"Let's sit down here on this nice bench and look at the moonlight. That's fine. To answer your question, Arthur, yes I did."
"You mean--you--you spanked her?"
"You might call it that, yes."
"And she didn't resist?"
"Good heavens, Arthur, you make it sound so melodramatic!" Eleanor Stanfield uttered a charming little laugh. "Let me tell you what I had started to tell you this afternoon. When John died, I was first crushed by my loss, and then I reflected that financially I didn't have to worry, so my main responsibility and my really only concern was that of bringing up my daughter properly. But Betty had already developed some nasty little habits, though she was only ten. At first I tried reasoning with her. That didn't work at all. And then one day, in exasperation, I decided to spank her. Well, it seemed to work for a little while, and then she reverted back to her bad habits again. I realized also that it would be a great mistake ever to punish her in anger, to inflict more punishment than the offense called for simply because I had lost my own temper."
"That's a most interesting theory."
"It's more than a theory, Arthur, it's an axiom with me. And you see, by explaining to Betty very calmly and very logically why she was being punished and then proceeding to inflict just that punishment on her, she began to understand the law of cause and effect which I've already mentioned. Oh, I don't mind telling you it took some time. And gradually I got her to the point, when she was about thirteen, I'd say, that she accepted and understood her own responsibility in this relationship of ours. She knows also that once a punishment is over, it's forgotten--unless of course she makes the mistake of repeating the offense. She tries very hard, she's a good-natured and cheerful girl at heart, so you mustn't think that I'm an ogress. In fact, she has learned that when I tell her to go to her room, she's to prepare herself until I come to her. That too, I may tell you, took many lessons and occasionally repeated punishments until I achieved the degree of understanding submission which a girl her age has to have."
"Then how--"
"I'll tell you exactly what happened. When I went up to my room this afternoon, Betty had already taken her shower, put on her bra and probably her panties too while she prepared herself. By that I mean, Arthur, she took a buckling strap from the drawer which I use to put around her wrists so that she won't try to cover up when I'm spanking her, and then she took out the strap I use to spank her when she's done a very wrong thing, such as playing rough-house with those boys."
"You mean, she did all that without your telling her?"
"Exactly. It was all done by the time I entered her room. Oh, I came in a little bit after her, and I purposely waited. First of all, when a punishment is announced, the suspense that is created by having to wait for it lets the girl know exactly how serious her offense has been and makes her reflect considerably upon her wrongdoing. Hence when its time for the actual chastisement, Arthur, she's in a quite impressed mood, I assure you. Well now, to continue. When I entered the room, Betty was lying on her stomach over a pillow which she had taken from the top of the bed and placed in the middle. The buckling strap and the spanking strap were beside her and ready. I told her briefly why I was going to punish her and I asked her if she agreed with me. She said she did and that she was sorry. I then strapped her wrists in front of her, I told her to get ready, and then I used the spanking strap on her bare bottom. She's quite brave and her endurance is quite good. However, I strapped her thoroughly, and she was crying quite satisfactorily by the time I stopped. Then I went back to my room for a few minutes while I let her lie there and think things over. That's the hardest part for Betty, in many ways, Arthur."
"And why is that?'
"Well, because her first instinct is to rub her burning bottom, and she can't. She must stay in position until I am ready to release her. And when I've done this, then we talk things over. Then she's my little girl again, and she comes to sit in my lap and to give me a kiss to show me that she bears me no ill will."
"It's simply amazing!" he shook his head and uttered a sigh. "I can just see myself doing something like that to Hester. She'd throw a book at me."
"No, you can't take her by surprise after all this time, Arthur. It's going to be a more difficult process to discipline Hester because you've let her go so long. And yet she's still not too old for it, you can see that yourself."
"I agree with you. But then," he sighed again, "there is the problem of moving about on my job and not being home all the time. I've got an elderly housekeeper back in Pomona, but then after all I assume that at eighteen Hester is old enough to take care of herself."
"In everything except the secret of learning how to get along with people. And that's the most important of all."
"And Betty--is everything all right?"
"Her bottom is quite red, if that's what you mean," Eleanor Stanfield laughed gaily as again she linked her arm with his. "I imagine that she's had a very good dinner which I sent up on a tray, taken a cold shower this time, no doubt, got into her pajamas and is busy reading. Or perhaps not, since it's just about her bedtime now. Which reminds me that I'd best go back and give her a good night kiss. And I can assure you that we get along beautifully together. There are rewards as well as punishments. I often do unexpected little things for Betty when I'm very pleased with her. As I say, by and large, she's a very good girl. And now I really had better go. Thank you for a lovely evening, Arthur."
As they rose together, he faced her, and in the moonlight she looked infinitely more desirable than ever. He felt himself trembling. "Eleanor-- I-I know it's awfully soon--I mean, we've only just met--but--well, darn it all, I just have to say this--I-I like you alot."
"Thank you, Arthur. I like you too, very much."
He uttered a gasp of joy, and put his arms around her, and before he knew it was kissing her on the mouth. The feel of her full breasts against his chest, and the exquisite sensation of having her arms circle him, made him feel reborn. They stood there for a long and magical moment, until he felt his cock aching violently. And then he blushed at the thought that perhaps she would be aware of his erotic arousal. But it was Eleanor Stanfield who first broke off the embrace by giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and then whispering, "Now definitely I've got to go back, darling. I'll see you tomorrow on the beach, shall I?"
"Please do. And bring Betty. I'll try to get Hester."
"Fine. Till tomorrow, then." She held out her hand to him, he squeezed it, and then impulsively swept her into his arms again and kissed her on the mouth. God, how warm and moist and quiveringly exquisite her mouth was!
"Whew! You're a very impetuous fellow, Arthur. I really had better get back now before I get into trouble. And you know something?"
"What, you beautiful, fascinating, adorable woman?" he breathed.
Eleanor Stanfield gave him a sly little wink. "You know, I'm rather glad myself that Betty's aim of that beachball was so inaccurate. Good night, Arthur dear."