(story continues from Tightly Bound Bride)
Chapter Thirteen
Mary could tell by the position of the sun that is was almost 6:00 in the evening. “Good,” she thought to herself, shrugging the ache from her neck and shoulders. Today had been “silver day”, one of her less favorite chores. The household had hundreds of pounds of sterling silver–tableware, tea services, platters and candlesticks–and once a month it was her task to clean them. She would be dressed in a tight corset and her gray, functional maid’s outfit. An immense harness ballgag would be wedged between her teeth, and her lacy maid’s hat would be placed upon her blond head. She would be collared, and lead down to the pantry, where she would be perched on a hard, uncomfortable stool. Her ankles would be cuffed together, with a short chain threaded through the rungs of the stool. So as not to scratch the silver, her wrists could not be cuffed. Instead a leather belt was locked around her corseted waist. There were rings on either side of the belt. Leather cuffs were locked around each upper arm just above the elbows, and these cuffs were locked to the ring on the belt, keeping her elbows tightly against her sides. There was enough room to reach the silver piled in front of her on the table, but not enough to reach the lock on her gag, or ankles. Mary sighed when she saw the huge pile of silver that she was expected to polish to a brilliant shine before the end of the day. Next to the silver was a giant economy sizes bottle of silver polish, and a pile of clean, soft rags. Reaching for the first piece, she began her task at a brisk pace. She was allowed a short break mid-morning and afternoon, and was un-gagged for ten minutes to drink a bowl of thin, tasteless soup for lunch. With the constriction of the corset, she couldn’t eat much anyway!
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