Synopsis

In an old journal, Edward recalls his early, shameful, sexual life with other boys and men and how he overcame it to become a happily married man.

# Start of the Line

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by obohobo

## Warnings

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Please take note!

The text in this story contains erotic material and is expressly written for adults only.

Mm mm bg NC Spanking

If you are underage or offended by such material, or if viewing this file is illegal in your locality, then leave, close or delete this file-story now.

This is a work of fiction, any resemblance to persons living, dead or otherwise is purely coincidental. The ideas and thoughts that follow are pure fantasies. In real life, at the very least they would be unpleasant and probably illegal. Fantasies are like that; daydreams where we can contemplate and imagine the sensations without suffering or inflicting the pain, despair or humiliation.

© obohobo 2010

The Journal

ÒWell, I now know for certain that I can never trace our forbears further back than 1832. That old book Gran gave me clinched it and may also explain why we have homosexual tendencies,Ó Mark informed Pete, his younger brother on his return from a month long cycling tour. ÒI typed it all out while you were gone so we donÕt have to keep handling the sear pages, and youÕll be able to read it easily. We need to take care of the original journal because it is a valuable document on the life of Edward Filtonwood, our great, great, great grandfather. ItÕs worth a read, not just for the history, but itÕs a novel in itself, and a rude one too. I wanked myself many times whilst reading and typing and IÕm sure you will too.Ó

Initially, Mark, the family genealogist, hoped to trace his ancestry back to Tudor times, but at least the book provided a definite cut-off point and caused him to wonder if homosexuality was a hereditary trait. The pair had sexual relations with each other and with other boys since they were fourteen but Mark, now twenty-two, courted a girl in the hope of breaking the pattern and starting a family. His ancestor had done so, could he?

That night Pete took the typescript to bed and started to read.

In this year of 1882 during the reign of our illustrious Queen Victoria, being now sixty-five years of age and still in possession of my faculties but with my wife, Molly, five years my senior, ill abed with consumption and not expected to last many more weeks, I decided to append my life story for the benefit of any of my children, and their children, who may care to read it after I too have passed on.

My papers state the date of my birth as April 24th 1832 but I am told the date could be at least a difference of a week, for when they found me on the steps of an orphanage on that day, I could have been a week or more old. The nuns who ran the orphanage gave me the Christian name of Edward but I took the family name of Filtonwood from Emily Filtonwood, the woman who nursed me for the first few years of my life.

Eventually Emily conceived another child out of wedlock and I became too much of a burden for her to support and the age of four, the nuns at the orphanage secured me a place with a wealthy family, the Warburtons, living in Berkshire who wanted a companion for their own son. All this they told me much later in life for I remember nothing of Emily or how we lived. Major Henry Warburton and his wife, Judith, treated me in like manner to Ralph, their son, and I wanted for nothing. I had food, servants and the same education with a private tutor. Whilst no knowledge of my parents ever came to my hearing, I feel one or other or both, must have been people in good standing for, while Ralph surpassed me in sport, especially hunting and fishing, I far surpassed him with my schoolwork, particularly in penmanship and figuring, abilities which stood me in good stead later. The tutor, a Mr. Greenford, would oft times nurse and encourage my abilities until Ralph and I had different lessons but he always had his revenge when outside the house for he grew strong and muscular and fleet of foot, whilst I remained small and thin for my age, despite eating the same food as he.

Tragedy struck when at the age of eleven and a half, Ralph and I contracted a serious bronchial infection that took his life but to everyoneÕs amazement, I recovered. My survival caused Judith much anguish and while she continued to allow me to live in the house, she hardly spoke to me and resented my being alive whilst her son lay underground.

One evening about six weeks after the funeral, Major Henry came to my room and said quietly, ÒPack as many of your belongings as you can into this bag for tomorrow we travel to Scotland. I have business there and my associate has arranged for you to stay with a family until you are fourteen and old enough to earn your own living. Until then I will pay the family a small allowance for your board and schooling. I am sorry about this Edward but I know you realise the agony and stress my wife is under after the death of our son.Ó

From my geography lessons I knew Scotland abutted the north of England but I had no perception of its great distance from London and I had only been to our capital city on one occasion. Before we left, the Major gave me a slim leather case containing my birth papers and a note from Mr. Greenford on my schooling. Many hours later our steam train arrived in Edinburgh and I spent the night in a hotel with my mentor and the following morning they placed me on a small train and gave the guard instructions to see I alighted at Southernton, a small mining village nearly two hours journey.

Gladys McCloud, the wife of my new guardian, met me at the station and I walked nearly a mile, mainly up hill, half carrying, half dragging my bag, to their house. After living in a spacious detached residence in the country, it came as a complete shock to find my new home one of a terrace of twenty-four joined together in a long row with a narrow, arched passageway between each pair. Upstairs were only two bedrooms and downstairs, a living room, a kitchen and a scullery. Worse, I not only had to share the bedroom with their son, Ian, a big, brawny lad a few months older than me, but we had to share a bed too. I cried when I saw the dilapidated state of the room and the bedclothes but my new ÔmotherÕ scolded me for being a baby.

Walter McCloud, my new ÔfatherÕ worked at the mine but now had a surface job which meant he didnÕt come home with a coal dust blackened face but his work involved muscular effort and I soon felt the strength of his hand when I didnÕt do the work they expected. It also disgusted them that I yelled and screamed at every hit and didnÕt stop crying until a long while after.

Ian tormented me too but didnÕt hit me. It started at bedtime. Not only did we have to share the bed, but also the chamber pot. IÕd discretely put on a nightgown and turned my back to him to use the pot but he removed all his attire and walked around and stood before me holding his larger pego. ÒCan you milk it?Ó he asked in his peculiar accent. I knew what he meant and nodded that I could, for I had done so in the privacy of my room. ÒLet me see,Ó he ordered and pulled my nightgown up and off. When I refused he grabbed my pego and pulled me to my feet. ÒDo it,Ó he snarled and I started to rub it gently. I looked fearfully at the door which stood wide open but Ian made no attempt to shut it and I later learned that neither of the bedroom doors were ever shut, a legacy from his childhood when his mother needed to hear if he cried.

He rubbed his much more vigorously and soon had it standing firm and hard and before long spurted his seed on to my body where it proceeded to rub it in. Some he massaged into my pego until I sent forth my milk, most of which he captured in his hand and then rubbed on my face. Apart from the embarrassment of having him handle me, and the fear that I would get into trouble if his father or mother caught us, much to my consternation, I rather enjoyed the sensation of having another boy play with my private parts. His playing continued in bed and he asked me if IÕd ever been used as a maid. Not knowing what he meant I said, ÒNo,Ó but he crudely said he would fuck my mouth and arse before long.

Neither of us slept well that night and sometime in the early hours of the morning, IanÕs hand felt around my groin until he found my manhood and started to rub it until it became hard. His, already stiff, prodded at my thigh and when he found I responded, pushed me down in the bed until I found my mouth close to the end of it. ÒSuck it,Ó he hissed under the blanket. It smelt of stale sperm but I didnÕt find it too objectionable and knew heÕd force me anyway, so I took it in my mouth and when he bobbed it in and out, I tried to work with his movements. Some time later I tasted his milk but he held my held so I couldnÕt spit it out. This set the pattern for most nights. I frequently sucked him to completion and he occasionally sucked me. My fears that we would be punished for what we did proved groundless, for his mother or father often paused at the doorway and watched for a short while, and I found out they believed it a natural thing for young boys to do and part of their learning to be men.

School was both pleasurable and a terror. The schoolmistress, a Miss Farquart, took an interest in my work and knowing my ability to be far ahead of all the others, brought in books sheÕd used for her college work. This, together with my southern cultured accent, didnÕt endear me to the others and they made fun of me at every opportunity but I persisted in learning all I could.

IÕd been with the McCloudÕs for a week when Ian and a friend took me to an older boyÕs house after school to start my ÔmaidÕs trainingÕ. ÒYouÕre getting used to having your mouth fucked, Ed, now we going to train your arse,Ó Ian said. HeÕd probed my bottom hole with his finger several times in the night but I knew that a pego his size would not go in without causing a lot of pain. The other boys had similar size ones and I tried to escape but they soon had me helpless and bent over the arm of a settee. One produced some dripping and coated my hole, which may have helped, but even so it hurt badly and I cried. ÒHe cries like a woman so weÕd better treat him like one,Ó the oldest lad laughed. Ian demanded first try and with the two holding me and pulling my cheeks apart, he forced his spear in and then, encouraged by the others, ravished my hole until he sent his milk into my bowels. Worse, he forced it into my mouth afterwards and kept it there while another fucked my poor bottom. Only after all three used me twice, did they allow me to dress and go home. ÒI shall have you that way in bed at night,Ó Ian told me as we went to our room and he did it in my bottom or my mouth almost every night of my stay.

Friday night is bath night in many mining households, ours included. They lit a fire under copper in the scullery to heat the water and transferred it in bucketfuls to a tin bath in front of the kitchen fire. Walter used the bath water first and his wife unashamedly washed him in front of us. Unsurprisingly he had an erection when he stood up, the biggest IÕd seen at that time. More surprises for me on that first Friday, Gladys undressed in front of us and for the first time I saw a womanÕs cunnie and her breasts. A buxom woman, her breasts were large and sagged somewhat and when her husband washed them, her nipples became hard. My pego hardened too and I hoped it would go down before my turn came.

Ian didnÕt worry about his erection and added a little more hot water before he sat in the tub and waited for his father to finish drying his wife. It amazed me they allowed their son and me to witness him rubbing the towel over her most intimate places. She replaced her skirt and began washing Ian and made doubly sure his pego and marbles were clean.

My turn came and I know they all stared at my small man but didnÕt comment on its hardness. Like she had with Ian, Gladys put plenty of soap on the flannel and rubbed my privates until she ascertained they were absolutely clean, a ritual repeated every Friday.

IÕd only been there two weeks when I had my first spanking. The coalman delivered a ton of coal to each house in the terrace. He emptied the sacks through a trapdoor in the pavement and the coal went down a chute to the floor of the cellar. Gladys gave me he job of shovelling it from the floor into the brick bin. I could hardly lift the large shovel when full of coal and quickly became exhausted and when she came down to check on me, I only lifted a few lumps each time and at least half the heap remained on the floor. She roundly castigated me for my laziness and ordered me to work harder. I couldnÕt and after supper reported it to Walter who took my shorts off and thrashed my bottom. I screamed and yelled despite being warned not to make so much noise and when released and told to go and finish the job I collapsed on the floor and didnÕt move. They must have realised that I couldnÕt do any more because they ordered Ian to finish the job.

He tried to take his revenge on my bottom later but I couldnÕt stand him touching it and screamed when he did until Gladys told him to leave me alone.

The weeks went by and I made friends with Will Cruishank, the son of a market gardener who sold his fatherÕs produce at a market on Saturday. I went along with him and quickly learned that, while he had a good spiel to entice the customers, he couldnÕt add the sales monies correctly and most often undercharged the customers. When they took advantage of this and tried to confuse him and say a lower price was correct, I stepped in and pointed out the error. Mostly I did the figuring in my head but twice I had to go through it on paper to satisfy the customer. His father caught me doing the additions for Will, and noting how much I saved him, offered me a shilling a week to work as WillÕs assistant. Gladys took ten pence of that towards my keep, although the Major continued to send an allowance, but I had two pence of my own and having a job for Saturday, meant not having to do chores that morning.

Having Will as a friend, saved me from much bullying I would otherwise have endured. His strong body and the fury of his fists, kept the other lads from harming or making fun of me, at least while in his company.

I cannot say I enjoyed my life with the McCloudÕs but gradually accepted it and after a few weeks began to enjoy IanÕs attention of my bottom hole. His friends mostly left me alone and Will wasnÕt that way inclined.

One night when my fourteenth birthday was but a month away, having seen me hand my shilling over to his mother and receive two pence back, in bed that night he confided, ÒD July7//10 ad, talked with the mine foreman today and itÕs likely youÕll get a job there and have to really earn your money.Ó I knew he resented my earning more than he for little effort on my part. I tried not to cry at the news but couldnÕt help myself and I couldnÕt face the thought of going down into the depths of the earth and working long hours in near darkness and coming home filthy.

I spoke of it to Will. ÒDad wonÕt take you on full time Õcause we only do the market on Saturdays, youÕd be best going to Westonport and finding work there. And youÕd better not take the main road either, as for sure one of the carters will recognise you and bring you back. Take the track through the hills. ItÕs further and may take a couple of days walking but no one much uses that way any more so you wonÕt be seen.Ó

On a Saturday when I should have been at the market, I managed to fill my bag with clothes and a few books and my papers and started along the track that Will told me of. I now think I took the wrong path right from the start for after a few miles it petered out and I had to follow animal tracks. I didnÕt dare turn back because I knew IÕd be in for a severe thrashing if I ended up with the McCloudÕs again.

As the day progressed my bag became heavier and I rested more and more frequently. IÕd already found a stick that I threaded through the handles so I could carry it on my shoulders and alternated one shoulder to the other until both were sore. When darkness fell, I knew I was lost but found a little shelter beside a large rock with a small overhang. IÕd not seen a soul since I left the village. Fortunately it didnÕt rain but having already eaten the little food I taken from the kitchen before leaving, by dawn, I felt very hungry.

Knowing Westonport lay in a south-easterly direction, I tried to head that way but the Gods put obstacles that baulked my way at every turn. By noon I came to a river far to wide to cross without swimming, something I couldnÕt do, and I had to follow it even though it went in almost the opposite direction to my wanted way. Starving, foot sore and shoulder sore, IÕd almost given up hope of getting anywhere alive, when in the distance I spied a figure and by his actions, I knew him to be a fisherman.

ÒRob Caroon,Ó a kindly man in his forties, introduced himself when IÕd made myself known and the reason for being in that remote part of the land, ÒIÕm gamekeeper for Lord McGivern and keep my eye on the river and try to ward off the crows when the grouse chicks are hatched, and watch out for poachers. I can see youÕre not one of them.Ó

When four splendid trout lay on the grass he packed his rods and led me to his cottage, a low, white painted, stone building with a thatched roof and small windows. Inside, the single room served as kitchen, bedroom and living space, outside around the back of the building, stood a small outhouse where he stored wood and peat, with one end as a simple earth closet. Hungry as I was, I could hardly wait for the fish and potatoes to cook but he sent me to the little burn with a bucket to fetch water for washing.

IÕd deemed things at the McClouds primitive but at CaroonÕs place they were far more so. We stood in a large bowl of cold water to wash and I noticed his manhood hardened when I stood naked in the bowl. Yes, I do believe the Gods led me to another man who had a liking for men, or boys. His pego was man size too, a little bigger than IanÕs but not as large as his fatherÕs and I wondered if heÕd use it in my bottom that night. He didnÕt because tiredness and exhaustion overcame me and, after IÕd Ôwatered the grassÕ, I lay down on top of the bed and fell asleep. Next morning when I woke, blankets covered me and I felt his naked body against mine, his hard pego resting in the crack of my buttocks. Knowing heÕd in all probability saved my life and I would need his help to further my journey, I moved slightly to give him access to my hole. Being well used to having a pego in there, and he being careful to insert it slowly and carefully, I took it without any problem and enjoyed his ravishment and cleaned him afterwards. Without waiting for my request, he turned his back to me and opened his hole for my pleasure and later he informed me that heÕd been a seaman for a while and been well used as a cabin boy but had not had a man for a year or two until I came along. ÒIÕve had to make do with my hand these many months,Ó he told me and surely made up for it during my stay with him. Three or four times a day I bared my bottom, even while out in the countryside, and he sent his milk into my bowels or into my mouth. Usually too, he allowed me to have my satisfaction with him afterwards.

Much recovered, at the end of a week I enquired of a way to Westonport only to discover this now lay at least several days walk away. ÒWhy not come with me to the Ôbig houseÕ and see if Lord McGivern will take you on? I need to get more supplies from them and I hear that his Lordship has a penchant for boys too.Ó

So it was that I became a boot boy at McGivern Hall but my first experiences there were anything but pleasant. Rob spoke truly when he said his Lordship had a liking for boys but he didnÕt mention the enormous size of his manhood or that he liked to use the boys in other rather disgusting ways, and didnÕt care if he hurt them. After Rob had relayed my request for work, Carstairs, the butler, took me to his master, who sat smoking a clay pipe in front of a fire. ÒYouÕre very small, are you certain that you are fourteen?Ó his Lordship asked. I confirmed this. ÒDid Caroon intimate the services I require from a boy in my employ?Ó

ÒHe said I would be used as a maid, Sir, but IÕm quite used to that.Ó

ÒUndress then boy, and let me see what you have to offer.Ó Naked, I bent over and he probed his fingers at my hole and commented, ÒItÕs rather small and youÕll squeal when I roger you, but youÕll have to put up with it. Kneel in front of me and open my breeches and service me with your mouth. I presume youÕve done that.Ó I nodded. ÒYou swallow it all, milk and piss?Ó

ÒOnly milk, Sir.Ó

ÒFrom now on youÕll drink everything that comes out of my pego, unless, that is, you wish to feel CarstairsÕ strap or the birch rods he keeps soaking in brine, ready for use.Ó

The size of his pego gave me another shock. Even Walter McCloudÕs paled into insignificance against it and with the head much larger than the shank, I knew heÕd cause me much pain when he rogered me but I couldnÕt see a way out of my situation. IÕd no money and, being a long way from anywhere, I couldnÕt earn any except in his employ. Opening my mouth, I started sucking but his Lordship forced it further and further in my mouth. I must have done something right for he came quickly and I dutifully swallowed his seed. He didnÕt remove his pego, even when it started to soften. ÒIÕm going to wash it down now, boy, make sure you donÕt spill any on the floor or your bottom will get flayed.Ó

Although I did the best I could a little of the foul tasting liquid spilled from my mouth but it only ran over my shoulders and chest and fortunately didnÕt reach the floor. I hoped this spared me the strap and it did. His Lordship rang a bell and a maid came in whilst I still knelt unclothed between his LordshipÕs thighs and his pego still on full display. ÒMolly, take the boy to Carstairs and set him to work. Have him brought to my bedroom at nine this evening.Ó

I blushed at having her see me naked although Gladys McCloud had seen me often enough, it seemed very different for a girl only a little older than myself to see me thus. It didnÕt bother Molly though, she bobbed a curtsey to the master, answered, ÒYes, Sir,Ó picked up my clothes and turned to leave. Still naked and trying to hide my erection, I followed. ÒClose the door quietly,Ó she whispered and stood looking at my pego and smiling when I had to use my hands to latch the door.

ÒHe smells of piss, Mrs. Pemberton,Ó she informed the housekeeper when we arrived at the kitchen and I had to endure the stares of the other servants. Molly held tightly to my clothes and I wondered at her reason for keeping me naked.

ÒTake him to the washroom and give him a quick wash before you take him to the butlerÕs room,Ó she told her, ÒAnd donÕt spend time playing with him,Ó she added.

Two women stood at a large tub, scrubbing clothes and laughed and teased Molly about having caught a young boy, indeed in stature I stood six inches lower than her. ÒSmells like heÕs been with the Master, so youÕll be wanting to clean him up. DidnÕt he get the strap too for spilling so much? The water in the tub is pretty hot still so be careful not to burn his tender bits,Ó Meg, the older of the two women laughed and joked at my predicament.

ÒI know it tastes foul, but you must try and take it all down otherwise your bum could be sore for days,Ó Molly whispered, ÒAlmost everyone here has tasted it but he seems to prefer boys to us women.Ó

At nine oÕclock that evening, Sam, a boot boy whoÕd worked for his Lordship for two years and regularly visited his LordshipÕs bed, took me to the masterÕs bedroom. ÒBe brave, it hurts for the first few times,Ó he confided. IÕm anything but brave and I certainly wasnÕt as a young lad of fourteen and I shook when I entered the bedroom. The Master did nothing to put me at my ease, instead he roughly ordered me to undress and removed his dressing gown and rubbed his manhood a few times. I feared the pain of the entry of his huge pego with its swollen head, and a few tears fell down my cheeks.

ÒWhat a pitiful specimen you are boy, perhaps I should get Carstairs to warm your buttocks first and give you something to cry about. I did cry, yell and scream when he brutally forced his way into my hole without any grease and he had difficulty in holding me but eventually he opened me sufficiently to get most of its length within my bowels. He sort to quell my noise by spanking the exposed parts of my buttocks and threatening further punishment, but that had the reverse effect and he concentrated on rogering me until he sent his milk into my rectum. Disgustedly he withdrew, and when I fell sobbing on the floor, he kicked my backside and told me to get out and be more receptive when he needed me again.

Bleeding from my torn anus, I grabbed my clothes and sobbing, fled to the kitchen. ÒMOLLY!Ó Mrs. Pemberton yelled, ÒGet yourself in here and treat your new boyfriend.Ó I caught the word boyfriend but its significance didnÕt register at the time. Several other servants watched as she bathed me and gently used her finger to insert an ointment deeply into my bottom. Her actions inevitably gave me an erection and Molly managed to touch and hold it a few times, causing a few comments from the bystanders. ÒIf you know before time, like you did today, come to me before you see the Master and IÕll work some goose fat inside you first. That should help a little,Ó she suggested but the others laughed and said she just wanted to play with me.

I didnÕt get any warning. Three days later, Carstairs told me to visit the Master in his study. I managed not to cry this time but couldnÕt control my shaking and I prayed when he ordered me to undress it would only be a mouth suck like the first time in his study. It wasnÕt to be. For the second time he forced his pego painfully into my still raw bottom hole and my screams must have sounded through the house, but he didnÕt stop until heÕd spent his seed. He cursed me for being a useless tyke and ordered me to suck his messy prick. From the traces of blood, I knew heÕd torn my passage and IÕd again have difficulty in passing my stool for several days, but I knew the repercussion from refusing to suck his dirty manhood, would only result in more pain. It made little difference. He pissed in my mouth and this time I hardly swallowed any. Angrily he ordered Carstairs to give me a couple of dozen with the birch rods.

I pleaded and begged but to no avail and shortly found myself strapped to a bench. Molly stood nearby crying and asked Carstairs to be gentle but he ignored her. My voice gave out before IÕd had a dozen and I passed out soon after and remember little of what followed except for being laid on a bed and Molly bathing my torn flesh. Later she slipped into bed with me and held me close, which I found comforting especially when she pressed her breasts against my chest, but we didnÕt have intercourse.

By an agreement, I became one on Mrs. PembertonÕs staff and worked under her instead of Carstairs. ÒHe cries like a girl so he can do girls work,Ó Carstairs said. And for a week I did that without too many problems. Molly kept an eye on me but didnÕt visit me in bed again.

Late one evening, the dreaded call to attend the MasterÕs bedroom came. With my bottom still very sore from the birching and his previous attentions, I wept as I entered the room and when he ordered me to bend over the bed I fell to the floor and pleaded for him not to roger me. Grabbing my shoulders he tossed me over the bed, slapped my buttocks, and then started to enter his manhood. My screams resounded loudly throughout the house and brought her ladyship into the room, but he roughly told her to retire.

His pego had hardly entered my hole when fear overcame my senses and everything went black and I knew nothing more until one of the footmen laid me on my bed and Molly tended me and for the second time spent the night chastely alongside me. Well perhaps not so chastely for her hand roamed over my body and pego and she allowed me to play freely with her breasts and mound.

Next morning Carstairs informed me that his Lordship would give me one more chance and if I didnÕt perform well enough, he would send me on my way without references. Molly said that it would be for the best but she didnÕt want to lose me. I didnÕt want to leave Molly either but the torment of being the MasterÕs maid, didnÕt leave me any choice although I knew that finding work would be difficult even in the town.

For once luck was with me. ÒI canÕt understand why these bills are so high, Cook. Each week we order much the same things and the bills get more and more. Trouble is I canÕt figure out how heÕs worked out the cost,Ó Mrs. Pemberton spoke with the cook within my hearing.

ÒIÕm good at figuring, MaÕam, would you like me to take a look?Ó She looked sceptically at me and shrugged. ÒItÕs something I can do, MaÕam. I had a private tutor when I lived with Major Warburton.Ó It didnÕt take me long to see mistakes in almost every line and always the amount charged was higher than the true price.

ÒYouÕre sure this is right? William Burroughs overcharged us by nearly eight pounds on this bill?Ó Mrs. Pemberton questioned.

After IÕd assured her as to the correctness of my figures, she took me to Lady McGivernÕs anteroom. She too questioned me at some length and in doing so, I realised she couldnÕt do the figuring either, but she did the actual paying of the money. ÒWould you mind checking the earlier bills, Edward? I canÕt think all these mistakes would only be on one weekÕs order,Ó she asked kindly and addressed me by my first name.

Of course, I agreed and sat with a huge pile of the bills before me when his Lordship entered the room. ÒWhatÕs that little mammy-boy doing in here?Ó he demanded.

ÒHeÕs checking the food and coal bills Burroughs have sent and so far in three weeks, we seem to have been overcharged by a goodly amount.Ó Lady McGivern looked at me.

Somewhat fearfully in her husbandÕs presence I said, Ò£19 8s 10d.Ó He looked at me with a puzzled expression. ÒItÕs when the order is for multiple items Sir. They use awkward amounts that most people cannot work out in their heads, like nineteen items at eighteen shillings, seven pence and three farthings. The total they get is always in excess of the real amount, Sir.Ó

ÒLeave us for a while, Boy. Wait outside the door and say nothing about this to anyone.Ó I heard them talking and sometimes the voices were raised and I could pick out words... ÒHe could save us a lot of money even if he isnÕt of any other use to you...Ó I caught her ladyshipÕs voice.

Eventually they allowed me back in the room. ÒYou will clear the small room at the end of the corridor and have a lamp, paper and ink brought in and go through all these bills and make a ledger of the errors, not just the Burroughs ones but the others too. You will work behind a locked door and keep what you are doing a well-guarded secret. Others are to believe that you are now our clerk. My wife also insists that because you could save us a lot of money, you should be paid a clerks salary and IÕve agreed that you will no longer be required to attend to my needs, Lord knows you were useless for that purpose.Ó

From the first of the year, Burroughs had overcharged us by over £70, a considerable sum in those days, as it is even now. Other bills had errors but these were minor and we considered them genuine mistakes especially when not all the mistakes were overcharging.

MollyÕs interest in me increased when I became a clerk and through her ladyship, was able to get a room, albeit a very small one, of my own to sleep in, ÒSo you wonÕt be tempted to divulge our secrets,Ó she said but it added to my status with the other servants. It had a single bed, a dresser and a washstand but for the first time since leaving the Warburtons, I had a room of my own and privacy. At least I should have had, but Molly decided I needed her company and visited me on my second night and we spent the night together and for the first time in my life, I rogered a woman. I found it a very different experience to being a maid to boys and with MollyÕs experience, came to enjoy it especially when I learned of the different ways to perform. There were nights when we didnÕt do it because of the risk of her becoming pregnant even with a sponge inserted inside her but we slept together most nights and nobody seemed worried or cared that we werenÕt married.

I learned a little of MollyÕs early life during this time. Like me, most of her childhood was spent in an orphanage and with a number of foster parents. Her mother, Rachael Cooms, an unmarried woman, couldnÕt cope with a child and committed suicide by leaping into a river. All her foster parents treated her as a servant rather than a daughter and when she became old enough, she obtained a servants position with Lord McGivern.

I suspected his LordshipÕs involvement in a scheme, when he ordered his wife to pay the following weekÕs bill in full, even though I pointed out a £6 3s 4d error and found out later heÕd been to see the sheriff. Two days later I too went to Stanton in the trap to see the sheriff and to go though his accounts. And found that he had been overcharged as well but not ordering as much as his Lordship, the total amount wasnÕt as great. I could sense his wrath at being cheated but for several days he did nothing to reveal it to others.

Whilst staying within the sheriffÕs household, he brought me the bills from two other William Burroughs customers and while I only had time to go through a few of them, they too were overcharged. This proved the final straw. At dawn one day, they arrested William Burroughs and charged him with defrauding his clients and the total amount came to over £2,000. Although the court brought in other accountants, their figures corresponded with mine and my evidence, given over several days, clinched his guilt. They hanged him several weeks later.

The publication of the trial in national broadsheet newspapers in successive issues while the proceedings lasted, stressed my part in bringing William Burroughs to justice and a firm of accountants in Stanton offered me a position with them and, not really needing my services any longer and resentful at my not being a maid to him, Lord McGivern allowed me to leave. Molly insisted on coming with me and we set up home together. Although too young to marry, neither of us had parents that would object. At the time I could only afford two rooms above a shop but with Molly getting a few housework jobs, we tried to save for something better. At this time, although not legally married, Molly took the name, Mrs. Filtonwood and legally became my wife when we married in 1849.

Some months went by and inevitably Molly became pregnant with our first child, a girl who we named Margaret. TÕwas then luck struck again. My erstwhile mentor, Major Warburton, having read the accounts of the trial in various newspapers and noting my part in it, when he had occasion to travel to Edinburgh enquired as to my whereabouts. He visited me at my workplace and hearing good reports of my work, offered me a place on his estate to assist the aged accountant keep the books in order. ÒHeÕs not in good health at the moment so you will be in charge, except in name,Ó Major Warburton informed me, ÒI expect heÕll wish to retire when youÕve become familiar with the routine and then you will take over his position and receive his salary.Ó Molly, never having been far from her birthplace, was less sure of moving from Scotland but learning we would have a cottage of our own, she agreed and a little before Christmas we made the long train journey to London and into Berkshire. WeÕve lived in the same cottage ever since.

Judith greeted me civilly although I must have brought back memories of Ralph and the terrible events of the previous winter. MollyÕs odd Scottish accent amused her and they gradually became friends especially when in February, Margaret was born. In later years we had two more boys, David and John and eight grandchildren.

My work prospered and I took on additional private work for which I charged a higher rate and became reasonably well off and saw to it that our children had a good education and I could now retire if I so wished but I enjoy the work and will continue for as long as I am able. I know though, the loss of Molly will be a great blow and although I try to mentally prepare for it, the shock of being without her, will cause me much grief and anguish. Margaret, married and living close by, visits often and sometimes her children, now grown up, visit too. They will comfort me in my loss. David and John now live abroad, David in the United States and John in India so we havenÕt seen them for many years or seen our grandchildren by them, but we get an occasional letter and it appears they are doing well and their families are growing up too.

To any who read this journal, please forgive and understand my earlier indiscretions into the world of man-to-man liaisons but, even though I enjoyed some of them, they were largely forced upon me and once IÕd sampled the delights of female companionship, I never wished to return to men.

Yours faithfully,

Edward Filtonwood.

Finis