"A legally binding contract that makes me your papa and you my little. Until I deem you ready, you are under my jurisdiction. I have full say over everything that happens to you. You will be punished if you disobey me and your father has agreed to my terms in full."
"He wouldn't … "
"He would and he did. Now get dressed for the day draws on and we have wasted enough time as it is."
"Get dressed? With you standing there watching me?"
"You will get used to far more. Modesty is for adults. You have proved yourself a selfish brat, not an adult. As such you are not to be trusted on your own."
"I will not change with you in the room."
"Very well." He grabbed her wrist in an insanely firm grip and dragged her over to the wardrobe, ignoring her protests. Reaching inside he pulled out the first dress he found, a light summer frock that she had not worn in years. "Let go of me," she snapped, attempting to pull away from him.
He turned towards her, leaning closely towards her face. "You will stand perfectly still there and not make a sound."
She felt utterly terrified by the sound of his voice. It was cold and yet full of anger, rage that seemed to tremble just below the surface, and heaven help anyone who was around when it erupted. Her heart pounded as he stared unblinking at her, his teeth bared just enough to make her wonder if he might bit her like a wild animal if she chose to disobey him.
She did as he asked, standing perfectly still even after he had let go of her wrist. He pulled her nightdress up her body and off her shoulders, watching her closely as he did so.
Fighting to keep her emotions in check, she did her best to avoid thinking about the fact she was naked in front of a virtual stranger. He did not seem to care for the sight of her though, pushing her head through the frock and sliding it down her body a moment later as if he were dressing a mannequin, not a human being.
"We are leaving," he said, grabbing a pair of stockings from the bottom of the wardrobe and turning for the door.
"You might be," she managed to say, terrified by how he might respond. "I am going nowhere. Father!"
"So be it," he replied, grabbing her wrist once more and dragging her from the room. She screamed for help but none came and soon she was being shoved out of the front door, wincing as her bare feet hit the gravel lining the drive. "Get in," Edward snapped, shoving her towards the carriage.
"I will not go with you. Father!"
"It is too late to call for father. You should have thought of him all the times you whined and stamped your feet, all those demands and never once thinking of him. You are a brat and you are going to learn your lesson."
He grabbed her round the waist and shoved her into the open door of the carriage, making her wince as her arm banged into the wood. As she called for her father again, Edward climbed into the carriage after her and called out, "Drive on."
The wheels began to turn as Laura screamed. "You are kidnapping me. I shall see you hang at the next Assizes for this."
"I have the consent of your father. I have a legally binding document confirming you are my little until I say otherwise. This is not a kidnapping. This is the beginning of your treatment. You shall return here quite different, I promise you that."
"I demand you stop the carriage this instant."
"You are a whining snivelling brat who will soon learn the dangers of speaking out of turn. You will sit there in silence whilst I read and if there is so much of a peep out of you, another smacked bottom will be the result. Do it twice and you will spend the rest of the journey with no dress at all. Am I understood?"
She scowled at him but did not reply.
He leaned close to her face, saying each word slowly. "When I ask a question, you reply with ‘yes sir. Am I understood?"
"You are insane sir."
"By God you will pay for that disobedience." He grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap, lifting her dress as she shrieked for help. Ignoring her cries, he pulled her nappy down far enough to expose her bottom. She squirmed to get away but was unable to escape his grip as he rained blows down on her buttocks. "Please," she begged. "Please stop. I beg you."
"Will you answer me? Am I understood?"
She glared up at him as he raised his hand once more. "Yes, sir," she screamed. "Yes, sir. Now please let me go."
He finally loosened his grip, and she had to fight to avoid crying as she sat back on her seat, her bottom as sore as she ever thought it could be.
"That's better," he said. "Now I am going to read. You are to be silent."
She watched him pull out a book and begin to read. His face was as stern and cold as a statue. As time passed, she became increasingly restless but whenever she shifted in her seat, his eyes flashed a silent warning towards her.
The only way she had to keep track of the hours passing was by the light changing outside the carriage. By the time the sun began to set she found herself desperate for the toilet, the sensation of need growing over the preceding hours. She shuffled in her seat, sitting on her hands and squeezing her bare toes into fists.
"Sit still," he growled without looking up.
"I need to stop for a moment."
"Whatever for?"
"I need the toilet."
"There is no toilet out here."
"But I need to go."
"That is what the nappy is for. Let it serve its purpose until you can learn to control your bladder better. Your skills in such matters match those of your temperament."
"I must protest."
"You can protest all you like. It will make no difference to what happens next. Now, silence."
He returned to his book as the sun dipped below the horizon. Her desire to urinate grew ever stronger over the next hour and she winced every time they bounced through a pothole.
Moving her thighs together, she squeeze the muscles in her legs, her desperation becoming overpowering. As they jolted over yet another rut in the road, she let out a gasp, a few drops of urine leaking out of her and soaking into the nappy. She fought with herself to prevent any more from escaping and managed a few more minutes by biting her lip so hard blood trickled onto her tongue.
Another jolt and another leak, this one more worrying as she was barely able to make it stop. She could feel the wet warmth in the towelling cloth, the nerve endings in the skin around her core seemed more sensitive to the change than she expected was possible. She shuffled her legs ever faster until Edward finally set down his book.
"You are moving again," he said.
"I must get to a toilet."
"Have you not gone yet? Get it over with and then stop that incessant wriggling around. It is most distracting."
"I cannot go in public like this."
"Then it shall be an interesting night's journey for you."
He turned away from her and lit a candle inside the lantern that swung from the ceiling. The light it cast moved with the motion of the carriage, alternating plunging Laura into darkness and then light. As she looked across at Edward his eyes closed and by the time the light was on him again he was asleep.
She was relieved to find him asleep as it meant she could wriggle on her seat as much as she desired. She gave a moment's thought to slipping out of the carriage but in the darkness she knew she would soon be lost. Better to wait until morning and hopefully if he was still asleep, she could slip out and find her way home.
Cramming her hands between her legs gave her some sense of relief. The nappy felt so bulky compared to her usual underwear, it was hard to feel herself through it and she had to continually grind her hand in place to gain the relief she needed.
The coach rolled ever onwards and she plumbed new depths of agony of need. "I cannot last," she said out loud but he did not stir.
Perhaps if I sleep, she thought, it may help. She twisted her head until she could lean on the wall of the carriage. Closing her eyes, she did her best to distract herself from the pain in her bladder, thinking of home and the things she would demand from her father to make up for the treatment he had signed her up for.
With a jolt she sat upright, confused by the sight of morning light streaming through the window. Had she slept? Sitting up, her bladder screamed for release. Opposite her the man was still asleep. Any thoughts of running were gone until she gained some form of relief from the agony passing through her body.
The carriage bumped over rougher ground and with each jolt, another drop of urine leaked from her, soaking into the cloth until she could hold it in no longer. Even with her hand clamped between her legs, she could not stop the dripping becoming a trickle which then became a flood.
It gushed out of her, soaking into the cloth as she let out an uncontrollable sigh of pure relief. Shame filled her mind even as the pain in her body began to ease and by the time she had finished urinating, her mind was overwhelmed by the thought of what she had just done, wetting herself in public for the first time since she was an infant.