The Duke's Dilemma: Regency Romance Menage Short Stories

by Lacoste, G. G.

  "Oh, my wife! I believed you to be in our chamber."

  "I am not confined to just one room, Matthew. I live here too."

  "Indeed you do."

  "What a mess you have created in the time I have been away from you," she said upon laying her eyes on the massive pile of discarded letters that lay on the living room floor.

  "Oh yes, I shall send for the maid and have her dispose of it."

  "I do not believe the maid will be inside for quite some time, she has some business to tend to out in the woods." Just saying those words made the Duchess smile, for it reminded her that she would not have to face her feelings for the maid until she had captured and slaughtered whatever it was which was roaming the manor grounds.

  "I see, and Jeremy?" asked the Duke, "Where is he?"

  "I have tasked him with reorganising the bookshelf in the study."

  "Why have you assigned him such a ridiculous job?"

  "He is our butler, it is his duty to tend to such matters."

  "He is our friend,” replied the Duke. He had never been able to get used to Jeremy being his employee.

  "He is our butler." The Duchess was stern and unmoving in her description of Jeremy as a member of the help. She was fond of the old man just as her husband was, but if he wanted to be treated as a butler she was going to treat him as a butler.

  Frustrated and still not quite over the affects of his drinking, the Duke left the living room. Unbeknownst to his wife, he too had been struggling with his feelings. That is not to say that the man was experiencing feelings of attraction to Margaret the maid as she was not his type, so that had never been an issue. He was, however, beginning to come to terms with the fact that he did not feel the same way about his wife that he had when they had first married. He also suspected that the Duchess was not incredibly fond of him either. In fact, he knew this to be true. One would have to be a total fool to take so much abuse from a woman and not realise that she didn't care for him all that much. She had fallen out of love with him. He could not blame her, of course. He had not made things particularly easy for his wife in the past few years of their marriage; he had allowed his drinking to ruin a number of occasions and had even been so inebriated on her last birthday that he had totally forgotten what day it was. Not to mention his most recent incident. My how he had embarrassed the Duchess in front of the Prince Regent and a number of very influential members of society. The woman would likely never forgive him. Perhaps the situation would even lead to their separation, which in some ways would be the best thing for both of them. The Duchess would be able to go into the world and find a man who would treat her with the respect she deserved while the Duke did whatever it was alcoholics do. He felt a tremendous amount guilt for treating her the way he had and so he would be sure to give her a great portion of his fortune, meaning she would not have to worry about her finances while she searched for the right man.

  Outside, Margaret stood at the very edge of the manor grounds, staring into the woods and attempting to gather the courage necessary to venture into the woods alone. To be clear, it is not the woods that scared her so. She had travelled through woods alone many times in her life, often at night as she journeyed to the homes of her female lovers. The woods were always the best path to take when making such a visit as they were secluded and ensured very few people, if any, would see her coming or going. No, what frightened the young maid was the idea that there was some unknown wild animal moving around amongst the trees and flowers and weeds and twigs. She had a terrible fear of nearly all animals. As a child, she had suffered a dog bite, which tore through the skin on her thigh and left her with a long and unappealing scar that served as a constant reminder of the pain she had felt. She never wanted to experience such an excruciating, intense pain again and so always did what she could to avoid dogs and cats and all other creatures, which were not humans. Even the horses, which the Duke kept in a stable at the back of the manor, frightened her. Today, however, she had no choice but to enter the woods and hunt down whatever it was before it had the chance to enter the manor grounds. The Duchess had demanded it and the young girl was foolish enough to believe that bringing back the carcass of the creature, as she had been asked, would prove to the Duchess just how much she loved her. It was perverse in a way and reminded her of the dung beetle, which brought potential mates large heaps of dung as a gift. But if that was what the Duchess required, that was what she would do. As long as she did not have to actually bring her dung, of course.

  "Hello?" Margaret called into the trees, as if the beast was going to answer her. "Hello?" There was no response, not even the sound of movement. Perhaps whatever it was had already fled the woods and the maid could return to the manor and triumphantly declare that she had banished the monster. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath before raising her foot and bringing herself across the muddy, foliage-covered threshold and into the woods. There was still no sign of whatever it was she was in search of. The maid forced herself to venture deeper into the woods, occasionally looking back in paranoia to make sure the creature was not behind her. When she could no longer see the manor grounds, the young girl came to rest upon a tree stump and gathered herself. The forest was silent. It was peaceful. It calmed the young girl and allowed her to forget, for a moment, the horrible, heart breaking events which had all but driven her to ruin. Unfortunately for the maid, her mind strayed a great deal farther than what was sensible and soon she became totally ignorant as to what was going on around her. She failed to notice the leaves, which fell from the tree just before her. She failed to notice the birds as they flew from their perches and snatched worms from the ground before returning to their homes. She failed to notice the beast as it crept up behind her and readied itself to pounce.

  Chapter Five

  Neither the Duke nor the Duchess spoke as they ate their evening meal of roast chicken and mashed potatoes, which their cook had spent the day preparing for them. The icy silence was broken only by the sound of their knives and forks scraping against their plates, cutting through the chicken, and the tension.

  "My dear," the Duke finally began after spending the entirety of the meal searching for the right words. "I believe the time has come for us to accept that our relationship is not what it once was." The Duchess raised her head from her plate and looked at her husband. She did not speak a word, but it was clear that she wished for him to continue.

  "We are no longer sharing our lives with one another as much as we are simply co-existing. We rarely speak to each other and when we do it is almost always with anger. It is my fault, I know. I am under no illusions about that. My drinking and my decadence have not been of any benefit to our marriage and I apologise for that. It is time for you to leave my home and find yourself a better man. A man who will spoil you and not your kidneys. I am sorry that things did not turn out the way I promised you and your father, but sometimes that is simply the plan of the heavens." With this, the Duke placed his knife and fork side by side to indicate that he was finished with his meal and left his wife (for the time being) alone in the dining room.

  Unsure of what to do, the Duchess raised her fork to her mouth and forced herself to chew upon another morsel of chicken, despite the fact she no longer had much of an appetite. She was shocked by her husband's admission that he was no longer in love with her. Unlike the Duke, the Duchess had believed that she as the only one unhappy in the marriage and had been taken by surprise by this latest development. She was also a tad disheartened, as she would have liked to be the person to end the marriage, as she would have felt victorious. Sitting at the kitchen table, with both her dinner and her marriage finished, the Duchess finally made the decision that she would return to the arms of her maid. There was no longer any reason for her to deny herself the happiness which being with the young girl would bring her. Of course, she knew resuming her relationship would not be as easy as simply confessing her feelings to the maid. She lived in a time when such a relationship was looked down up
on and considered extremely sinful and unjust. Even if she were separated from her husband, she would not be able to publicly refer to Margaret as her "girlfriend". No, they still would be forced to meet under the cloak of darkness and avoid appearing too friendly in public. But none of that mattered at that moment. The Duchess just wanted her lover to be by her side.

  "Jeremy!" she yelled as she rose from her chair and pushed it into the dining table. "Jeremy!"

  "Yes, madam?" asked the old man, entering the room, having spent that past two hours rearranging the Duchess' books by author. It was a task that should have taken only sixty minutes but was doubled in time due to the butler's poor eyesight.

  "Send for Margaret. Inform her I wish to speak with her."

  "I am afraid Margaret has not returned yet, madam. She is still in the woods in search of the beast."

  "The woods? But the night has fallen. She should have returned quite some time ago. It is dangerous in those woods at night, especially with an unknown wild animal roaming the area."

  "It was you, madam, who insisted she remain in the woods and not return until she had been successful in capturing the creature." The Duchess was now beginning to realise how incredibly foolish and selfish she had been to send the maid into the woods alone. By this hour, she was likely deep into the forest and would surely struggle to find her way back to the manor.

  "What have I done?" the woman whispered to herself, fearful for the wellbeing of her love.

  "Is everything quite alright, madam?"

  "Yes, yes, everything will be perfectly alright. For now, I must go."

  "Where are you going, may I ask? Would you like me to fetch your coat?" The Duchess did not reply to the helpful butler. In fact, she had left the room before he had even finished his sentence. It would have been in her best interest to take her coat as he had suggested, as the winter night was so cold it could bring on blisters. But the woman did not have time to worry about such matters, the love of her life was lost in the woods and quite possibly seriously injured. The Duchess could not afford to wait another second.

  "Margaret! Margaret! Where are you?" The Duchess was calling the maid's name from the very moment she entered the woods but there was no sign of the girl anyway. In a way, the complete lack of trace served to put the Duchess' mind at ease for finding her female lover's shoe or hairband would have thrown her into a state of panic.

  "Margaret!" she continued to yell as she moved deeper and deeper into the woods, "Where are you? Margaret! I love you!" She stopped for a moment. She had surprised herself. Never before had the Duchess told Margaret that she loved her, but saying the words felt right.

  "I love you, Margaret!" she yelled again, this time louder than before. For a moment, the Duchess stood still in the woods and listened to her declaration of love bounce from tree to tree and echo all around her. It brought a smile to her lips and made her heart beat faster. She would have yelled those words a third time but something caught her attention. It was a sound from further on in the woods. "Anne! Anne!" It was Margaret! She was alive! The Duchess followed the sound, running as fast as her legs could carry her. Her long evening gown made it a little difficult for her to sprint over the already tricky terrain, but she would not let anything stop her. Determined, she continued on until finally she came to a tree stump and saw Margaret, lying in the light of the moon with her clothes tattered and torn and blood on her chest.

  Chapter Six

  "Margaret, oh Margaret. It's going to be alright." The Duchess got to her knees and took her young lover in her arms. Her ghostly white skin was as cold as ice and she shook as she attempted to wrap her arms around the shoulders of the Duchess.

  "Everything is going to be alright, my love. I promise you." Though whatever animal had attacked her had left her in a terrible condition, it seemed that her cuts were neither deep nor life threatening. She had lost some blood, but the bleeding had long since stopped. The blood, which stained her face and chest, had dried and cracked like day old makeup as she moved.

  "Margaret" the Duchess said as she locked eyes with the maid, "I love you." Margaret immediately began to warm upon hearing these words.

  "I love you too." The couple kissed, it was their first kiss since the Duchess had brought their relationship to an end in her chamber. The contact of their lips was titillating and exciting for both women and reminded them of the first kiss they had shared. The Duchess pushed her tongue past the lips of the maid and into her mouth, which made the young girl moan with pleasure. It had been so long since she had felt another woman's tongue brushing against her own that it gave her the same delight as feeling a tongue on her clitoris.

  Margaret fell back onto the woodland floor as if she were fallen onto a perfect straw mattress. With a smile on her face, she pulled the Duchess to her and kissed her again. Now the older woman was lying on top of the maid, their lips pressed tightly together and their bodies grinding against each other. The Duchess placed her dainty hand between the maid's legs and caused Margaret to shake with delight for she could feel her lover's fingers stroking her even through the black cloth of her uniform slacks. For the past number of weeks, all hands that touched the maid had belonged to the maid herself. Of course, every time she had touched herself, she had been thinking of Anne.

  The Duchess removed her hand from the spot between Margaret's legs and began to tug the white blouse which manor rules dictated she wear. Whatever had attacked the maid had left the blouse torn and tattered but had failed to tear it from her body, something which the Duchess was about to right. Now using both hands and employing all the strength she had, the Duchess grabbed the garment and tore it apart at the seams, revealing the maid's perfect, naked torso. Her breasts seemed to glow under the light of the moon, they were large and inviting and irresistible and the Duchess could not help but lower her head and take one of her lover's perfect nipples between her teeth.

  The maid gasped as the Duchess sucked and pulled and licked her nipple for she had forgotten just how incredibly pleasurable it felt. Anne was also filling the air with sounds of joy as she delighted in the feeling of Margaret's hardening nipple between her teeth. Once again, she brought her hands to the maid's midsection, this time beginning to unfasten the buttons that forced her skirts together and hid her modesty from the rest of the world. She tore these skirts from the maid's body with the same eagerness with which she had ripped apart her blouse. Now, Margaret lay nude on the forest floor, giggling as the wind blew through the trees and tickled her skin. She was content and warm despite the blistering cold which engulfed the woods. She pushed herself into a seated position and began to unbutton the Duchess' gown before pulling it over her head and tossing it to the ground. It was not fair to think that she was the only naked person in that forest.

  The women embraced and kissed before falling once again onto the leaves and twigs that covered the ground, both nude, both aroused. This time, the Duchess did not simply tease the maid by stroking her between her legs. Rather, she placed two of her slender fingers inside the young girls body and moved them in and out with incredible ferocity. The maid shook and moaned and clawed at the ground as the Duchess brought her to the very edge of delight with her skilled digits. Finally, the Duchess removed her fingers from the maid's body and turned herself around so as she was lying head-to-toe with her lover. They had both derived a great deal of pleasure from this position in the past and they were about to do so again. The Duchess sat on the maid's face, her vagina right against the mouth of the young girl as she leaned forward and ran her tongue over the spot where her fingers had been just moments before. The two women remained in this position for quite some time, spitting and licking and sucking the clitoris of their respective partner until finally the moment of orgasm came and both the maid and the Duchess were able to experience what they had been longing for since the moment of their separation.

  For several minutes after climaxing, Margaret and the Duchess lay together side on the forest floor, naked and holdi
ng each other for warmth.

  "I love you,” the Duchess whispered yet again, unable to resist repeating those words.

  "Is this confirmation that our love affair has resumed? Should you return to the manor post-haste to avoid incurring the wrath of the Duke?"

  "I believe the Duke and I shall soon be separating. There is no love left in our marriage." The maid was unsure what the appropriate response was to this news and had to wait for the Duchess to inform her that it was a good move before she could express her delight.

  "Oh my goodness, Anne! I am so incredibly happy! Finally, we can be together!"

  "Indeed" the Duchess agreed, "I shall move you into my home under the guise as an old friend fallen on hard times and nobody will believe our relationship to be the least bit suspicious." With this, the two lovers climbed to their feet and rid their bodies of the dirt and mud that clung to them. Finally, they aided one another in gathering their clothes and fastening their buttons before beginning the short journey out of the woods and back to the manor, where the Duke and Jeremy were rushing to dress themselves following a steamy encounter of their own.

  THE END