Will the Footman’s Unfortunate Interception – A Taste of the Cane
Invitations
Caroline and Amelia enlist Will the footman to deliver some counterfeit invitations to a forthcoming dinner party. Governess Miss Blake finds out the plot, and disciplines all three conspirators with the cane.Amelia’s father is hosting a dinner party, and she and Caroline have hatched a plan to swap the invited guests from boring bachelors to interesting young men. They enlist Will, one of the footmen, to deliver the new counterfeit invitations. Unfortunately Will is intercepted by governess Miss Blake before he can complete his errand, and all three are in big trouble. Disappointed that the discipline she has administered before has clearly had no good effect, Miss Blake threatens to tell Amelia’s father about the prank and send Caroline away. The girls beg her not to tell him, but Miss Blake is adamant that such outright rebellion deserves severe punishment. She shocks the girls by telling them that instead, they will each receive twelve hard strokes of the cane from her. Amelia’s governess Miss Blake is not much older than the two young ladies and they are used to thinking of her as a friend, but now they see another side of her. She is responsible for them and after such disgraceful disobedience she is determined to correct them, whatever it may take. Once the girls have been disciplined, Miss Blake turns her attentions to her young cousin, Will. She was glad to be able to find him a place in the household and knows that her aunt and uncle cannot afford for him to lose his position, which is what would happen if she were to report his behaviour. She also knows that if she were discovered to be covering for him, they would both be at risk. She is therefore obliged to punish him as well, if he will accept it from his own cousin; after all, she is his elder and senior to him in position. Will knows he has erred in letting the charming young ladies draw him into their conspiracy, and submits to correction from Miss Blake in the form of six strokes of the cane. This is the sequel to The Edwardian Governess.
