The Engagement Party (Lady Jane 8 – the afternoon)

by

Aristocatch

1) The afternoon

After the announcement of her betrothal Lady Jane found herself in great demand and time for alternative activities was non existent. She was therefore very pleased when her future sister-in-law came to pay her respects to the rest of the family. Barely had she arrived than she took Jane aside and told her that she had a surprise for her.

“I've been thinking, and it seemed to me that I would like to mark your engagement to my brother. My initial ideas have developed a bit since, but they still would not seem entirely appropriate as a wedding gift. It therefore seemed more logical to offer them as an engagement present.

“After discussion with my friend, Lady Caroline we have come up with an idea which we think might please you and might give us all a lot of fun. You are therefore invited to spend the weekend of the 22nd at Lady Caroline's house. I shall be there as will a few other friends. You do not need to bring much, Constance should suffice by way of staff. I shan't take no for an answer.”

This was hardly needed, as Jane had no idea of saying no.

During the rest of her brief stay Margaret refused to reveal just what she was planning, so Jane had several days of suspense ahead of her, but eventually the day came and she travelled with Constance to Lady Caroline's vast house.

She had met Lady Caroline before, but could not say that she knew her well. But Caroline welcomed her in a most lavish fashion and could not have been more charming. Other than revealing that other people had been invited she refused to provide any details on what was planned, except to indicate that all was ready for the following afternoon.

Margaret arrived that evening, but other ladies did not arrive until the next morning. In all there were eight ladies present who all sat down to a lavish lunch, which was well washed down with good quality wine. All were thoroughly happy by the middle of the afternoon when Caroline announced that they would shortly be leaving the house to go across the park.

The park was quite enormous and Caroline took them to a large lake, which was completely hidden from the house. To one side of the lake was a hollow which had presumably served as an overflow area for the lake. Lady Caroline had had the area worked, and surrounded by a line of sandbags. The area inside the sandbags had been filled with good quality mud (Caroline had announced that she was getting it ready for planting), which had been copiously but carefully soaked with water. A heavy shower the evening before had made it slightly wetter than had been planned but in the warm afternoon sun, it seemed the perfect setting for say a hippopotamus, or perhaps wallowing ladies.

“Welcome to my mudhole” announced Lady Caroline. “I'm very glad that you could all make it, and I do so hope that everyone will enjoy what we have planned for you. We have been blessed by the weather and will be staying here for some hours to come.

“The afternoon will be used for preliminary events, which will allow us to put each of the eight ladies in order. At the end of the first phase we will use the waters of the lake to restore the colour of our skin. Centre stage will then be taken by those maids who might wish to participate, plus other volunteer members of my staff. Our entertainment depends on the cooperation of the serving staff and it seems only right that they too be fully included, though events will be separated.

“Our evening collation will be served here, after which we will proceed to the finals of the ladies competition where the results of the preliminary round will determine who challenges who. Finally, probably by candlelight, there will be a finale for those serving staff who wish to participate – which should make compelling entertainment for all those present.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than staff appeared from everywhere. A tent was set up by the lake and large amounts of clothing and towels were produced. Further staff arrived bringing food for later which they began to arrange on tables. Not until all the male members of staff had left did Caroline call everyone back together.

“Ladies first,” she announced, “You will find clothing awaiting you in the tent. Please go and prepare yourselves and return here as soon as you are ready.” Once all eight ladies had returned she continued. “Each of you will compete against each other. I feel it only right that our special guest, for whom all these events have been arranged, should be given the honour of starting. Just by chance it turns out that she should start against me! Such a shame she should start by defeat! Round one is very simple, you must make your opponent touch the mud with some part of their body other than their legs. Three goes. The winner gets two points, and if the loser manages one victory she will earn one point.”

It should be pointed out that all of the ladies were dressed in long smock-like tops, over breast cloths, and what looked more like gentlemen's under-shorts. Their feet were bare, as were the exposed parts of their legs.

Jane and Caroline gingerly moved to the centre of the mud-filled hollow. Caroline's sister Amelia took over the command and instructed them to begin.

It appeared as if Caroline's boasting had not been in vain as she quickly took hold of Jane bending her over, so that her instinct was to put down a hand to stop herself falling and thus conceding the first win. Determined to do better the second time she succeeded in literally pitching Caroline headlong into the mud. Whereas Jane had a muddy hand, Caroline's smock was well coated down the front, and she added some mud to the dry back, wiping her hands clean for the determining action. This time both were much more careful, and in trying to pitch the other over, their clothes became splashed. It took a couple of minutes, but Caroline prevailed as Jane found herself sitting in the wet mud, looking up at the victor.

Jane's future sister-in-law, Margaret was on next, against the second sister of the Montgomery household who, on arrival, had informed Jane that she did not share her sister's grudges and that she hoped they would both be able to comport themselves as friends, with no ill feelings. She proved thoroughly capable twice dumping Margaret in the mud in only a few seconds, and scoring a third victory in a slightly longer third bout.

Lady Anne had been invited but, finding herself expecting a third child she had declined to come. The third bout found the two Middleton sisters one against the other. These proved the fiercest of the bouts, as they held tight to each others clothing, twisting this way and that, until finally one lost their balance. The elder sister, Elspeth claimed the first victory. Both finished up in the mud next, but the younger sister was adjudged the winner, as the elder landed in the mud first and the younger sister then claimed a 'cleaner' victory (although clean would not have been the most appropriate adjective by the end). Judith, the younger sister was therefore declared the winner.

The last two Ladies came from different households. Mary Steelwrightly was the tallest of the Ladies present, and Alice Dunwoody the most endowed, with a large chest on at most a medium-sized frame. On the face of it this gave her a lower sense of balance, which she put to good use in thrice despatching her taller opponent into the mud, at the end of which dark ooze coated most visible parts of her body.

Round two took matters a little further where the objective was to again pitch your adversary into the mud, but to win you had to follow them down with your body on theirs, and hence hopefully not in the mud. In the event of success the whole event was terminated. If not both would grapple in the mud until one was lying cleanly (wrong adjective again?) on top of the other.

Jane was first on again, but this time against the second sister from the Montgomery household. Jane claimed the points, but not before they had wrestled in the mud for what seemed quite a prolonged period, ensuring that both were well covered in wet mud which, of course, rapidly soaked through their clothing.

Margaret showed how it should be done against Elspeth Middleton, emerging scarcely any muddier than when she had started. The same could not be said for Judith Middleton and Mary Steelwrightly, where only the eyes seemed clear of mud as Judith eventually claimed a victory. Caroline emerged victorious again, this time against Alice, though not without a lengthy struggle on their feet, followed by a short dive over Alice's inert body, Caroline being the first to react after each had fallen into the gunge.

Round three brought the first change. The simple idea was to remove your adversaries breast cloth before they removed yours, but without removing the long smock top. A simple sounding idea, but one which was difficult to put into action. Obviously carefully thought out – no-one succeeded without becoming absolutely covered in mud from head to foot.

The actual combats were difficult to describe. Basically it was a question of managing to get your hands up inside the smock top to pull apart the cloth which was tied around the chest, then to remove it and show it off to the waiting judge.

Jane went first once again, now against Margaret, and triumphed. Grappling with Margaret again brought back happy memories and doing so in wet sticky clinging mud was an added bonus. Margaret was not prepared to give up without a fight and so the two had a grand old tussle which could have gone either way, and which was very satisfying for both. That Jane won was largely immaterial. That both were left with no dry parts of their bodies rather more significant.

Each of the other bouts took some time so that, by the end, no-one was left with the slightest inch not covered in mud (including inside the smock top – even if that could not yet be seen). Caroline claimed the host's privilege with another victory, this time over Elspeth. Mary lost again to the 2nd sister, and Alice waved Judith's breast cloth over her head, just as Judith was in the act of extricating hers from under the smock.

Round four was back to more straightforward wrestling – the requirement being to pin your adversaries shoulders into the mud while the referee counted to three. By now everyone was extremely slippery and managing to keep your foe in place while you held them down the requisite time was no easy feat. Or should not have been. Whatever Jane was planning on failed miserably and Elspeth won her first event of the day – straddling her shoulders in just a few seconds so effectively that she could not move at all.

The second sister took slightly longer to account for Judith, but only just and Caroline continued Mary's poor record with a minimum of fuss. It was left to Alice and Margaret to demonstrate what an exciting spectacle such a contest could produce in mud. First one squirmed out of a match-winning hold and then the other. Everyone present was soon watching as they continued trying to get the dominant position, being pitched off, or slipped out from under, trying to grab hold of handfuls of clothing to keep their position, even trying to hold each other's heads. Nothing seemed to work better than tiredness, for struggling in sticky mud soon saps the energy. Thus it was that Alice finally blocked Margaret's escape just long enough to hear the referee call three before she landed head first in the mud, and required help to clean her eyes before knowing that her victory was confirmed.

Those maids who wished to take part in their own entertainment (all eight in the end) and other willing members of Caroline's household were called away to complete their preparations and so it was that Constance missed the next round of matches. By the time she came back Jane and Mary were getting ready for the penultimate round.

This was to be a timed round, with two referees. If both agreed on the winner the win was worth two points. If the referees did not agree it was one point each. What did they have to do to win? Easy – put their muddy hands on the other ladies bare bosom for a longer period of time than her hands were on theirs. Of course an amount of squeezing was allowed, but causing pain was not the criteria – merely added incentive. The complication was that the shift tops had to remain in place, the shift tops which had imbibed all the mud possible, which clung to bodies like a second skin and which had to be prised away from flesh inch after inch – only for the process to begin again if the person found themselves face down in the mud!

Jane and Constance shared one of life's pleasures in that both enjoyed grappling with another's breasts. Indeed when Jane was in need of 'action' as she called it, she had more than once called Constance to her for a tête à tête (or perhaps more breast to breast) fight. Usually of short duration, but often quite painful for both. Probably not a particularly healthy pastime for such delicate and attractive parts of the body, but one that gave a certain thrill to both without any negative affect on the rest of their activities.

Sadly of all the opponents Mary had probably the smallest chest – how Jane would have preferred to pulverise Alice's much larger, fuller, rounder and more succulent attributes. But that was not to be. Thus far Mary's physique had not proved beneficial and she was trailing in last place (even if, as she said, it was taking part that counted, not the result). Her longer legs did not seem to give her better balance in the mud, merely extra length for her opponents to pull on. Jane who had watched on and off the others during each round had not failed to notice this and so she wasted no time ditching Mary into the mud, seizing a leg and pulling. Her idea had been that this would pull her shift up towards her head, reducing the distance needed to access her chest. The mud had other ideas, and the stuck shift moved but an inch or two. Jane was therefore forced to take the fight to Mary.

Not only did Mary have longer legs, but also longer arms, which now became an advantage. Each pulled at the bottom of the others shift, trying to prise it away from the skin and upwards until the breasts could be reached. It seemed probable that Mary was acquainted with Jane's favourite activities as she wasted no time in squeezing Jane's assets as soon as she reached them. Once she was thus occupied Jane had a virtually clear route to reciprocate and the two might well have spent some time trying to squeeze mud-coated and slippery orbs. Jane found that small as Mary's breasts might be, they fitted nicely into her hand. As hers were larger they slipped out of the hand more easily. To compensate Mary felt obliged to squeeze it that much harder, a short distance back from the nipple.

How the referees would have counted the net time spent, hand in contact with breast, might have been highly debatable, especially as such contact was hidden from their eyes by the smock tops. How could they know that Jane was in permanent contact, while Mary's grasp was frequently broken? Fortunately for Jane she decided that, as Mary had made first contact, it was Mary who was probably ahead so far as the referees were concerned. She therefore took advantage of Mary being occupied trying to renew her hold (and squeezing even harder to compensate), to release her hold and roll over onto her back, breaking Mary's hold, and leaving Mary on top of her, face up.

The back of Jane's head was in the mud, but she ignored this and succeeded in getting both hands under Mary's smock and around both of her breasts, while her legs entwined Mary's midriff, keeping her in place. She ceased trying to squeeze and merely concentrated in keeping Mary from turning, thus securing a convincing advantage in breast-contact time and the judges unanimous decision in her favour.

Whether all the Ladies had been desirous of squeezing breast, or whether this example spurred them on, but all six remaining contestants indulged their fantasies to the full – often visibly as the tops were pulled up enough to expose grasped torsos. In terms of spectacle this round was clearly the most entertaining, whether from the amount of action, or the amount of flesh exposed, and that being flesh which was not normally visible to all and sundry. Alice's bosom was gleefully manhandled by Elspeth, even if what she did to Elspeth looked considerable more painful. But quantity was the criteria and the referees seemed swayed by the quantity on show rather (in Alice's opinion) than the hand/breast contact time. She was declared the loser, and showed a slight discontent. No, let us be honest, considerable discontent. But the referees would not change their minds.

Margaret latched onto Judith's left teat with a hold that would not be relinquished, and used her other hand most successfully to defend herself. Not that Judith did not have the satisfaction of feeling Margaret's perky mounds within her grasp. It was just that it was for considerably less time.

Caroline and the second sister fought for much of the time with their faces covered by their pulled up shifts. Everyone was treated to the site of four attractively sized breasts being subjected to the kind of treatment that was not usually reserved for aristocratic bosoms. Each gave as good as she got and, as it became clear to both that time would perhaps not be a defining matter, they increased the amount of squeezing going on.

Who could determine the winner if suffering, or pleasure were the deciding factors? At any rate the referees could not decide on time. Neither was sure who had won, which avoided any difference of opinions and provided both ladies with manhandled breasts and one point each.

And so to the last of the preliminary rounds. One which had been intended as a slightly scandalous round but which, as several of the Ladies had already had their breasts exposed to all those watching, lost most of its surprise. The simple objective was to remove your opponent's shift, leaving their bosom bared.

Jane at last came up against Alice, but not in circumstances where her bosom could be targeted. She did not exactly let Alice win, but she certainly did not get very far in exposing the largest breasts present. Caroline took a while to strip Judith. Mary continued her losing streak and the second sister bested Elspeth.

The eight Ladies retired to the side of the lake there to wash the mud off and to change into more usual clothes, for now it was the turn of the maids. To the eight who accompanied their mistresses, were added seven members of Lady Caroline's household. All were dressed in much the same way as the Ladies had been.

Constance found herself clambering into the mud circle along with Kelly and thirteen others women, all of whom seemed to be under thirty years of age. One was a very small and slim young thing, and one rather heavier than the others, but generally all were roughly similar in size.

Fifteen women in one ring might seem a lot, but it should perhaps be said that the prepared hollow was actually quite significant in size and could have accommodated more. Their rules were simple in the extreme. To win you had to be the last left in the ring, all the others having being ejected over the sandbanks onto the grassy sides. Before being able to eject someone however that person had to be stripped of all apparel. And just to add a little spice no-one could begin stripping until the referee decided that each was sufficiently covered in mud.

The competition started therefore with a free for all which was decidedly rough. With so many people in the ring there was no room for such a thing as tactics, and you could not adequately guard against attack, coming as it could from any side. Clearly some of the maids and household staff had decided that this preparatory period was designed to soften up the opposition. Constance quickly understood that no-one was interested in one-on-one competition and that generally the aim was to sling someone into the mud before they slung you. As fast as someone landed in the mud they leapt up and tried to pull, push, throw, twist, trip or otherwise deposit someone else in their place.

After the initial surprise Constance adapted the general behaviour and flung or was flung hither and thither. The only time she found herself actually grappling with another woman in the mud was when both landed on each other. Then one usually tried to prevent the other from rising, and the other usually resisted, roughly. A good few punches to the stomach were exchanged, contrary to the general spirit of the event, and usually when not particularly visible to those watching.

This phase actually lasted quite a while – whether planned that way, or because it made for good watching entertainment for those not involved. At any rate much excessive energy was used up before the second phase began. One member of Lady Caroline's household had to withdraw with suspected dislocated fingers after a heavy fall, and those remaining would undoubtedly be counting their bruises the next day.

All good things have to come to an end and Constance was not unhappy to hear the signal for part two to begin, even if she was immediately set upon by others trying to rip the clothes from her body. She fought back with much enthusiasm and some competence. The roughness continued, with many a competitor falling into the mud recoiling from the force of the clothes being ripped off them.

Anyone standing was an open invitation to those intent on pulling and tearing at the clothes, who in turn left themselves exposed to similar treatment. Constance quickly realised this and tackled the nearest woman into the mud, where they continued trying to wrest clothes off each other, away from the general mayhem. Although they succeeded to some degree it was considerably slower than those on their feet who not only ignored those lying in the mud, but also were forced to shed their coverings far more rapidly than they would have chosen.

Constance and her opponent were left to their own devices for some time before they found themselves joined by Kelly and another one of the visiting Ladies' maids. Kelly's hands were all over Constance's breasts as she made heavy weather of Constance's breast cloth. This was clearly partially planned as it gave her the chance to draw Constance's attention to the fact that three semi-naked woman were already heaving the largest of the competitors over the sandbags and out of the event.

The four who had been struggling together in the mud joined forces to strip what few clothes were on the largest woman's vanquishers and try to eliminate them. Two were quickly got rid of, but the fourth, despite her nudity, fought back tackling Kelly into the mud and seeking to give herself some protection.

Trying to prize her away from Kelly was a mistake as the three others found themselves set upon by a group from Lady Caroline's household, who quickly seemed to have joined forces. A pitched battle ensued with no interference from elsewhere, leaving all eight naked and battling to stay in the ring. They were quickly joined by the survivor from the other three competitors who had been left. Nine naked woman trying to force each other towards the edge of the ring seemed to bring an end to alliances. Two of Lady Caroline's maids fought each other quite forcefully until one was deemed out of the ring. As the victor turned back into the ring, thoroughly exhausted from the force of her short but violent contest, she was met by Kelly who projected her backwards over the sandbags, only to find herself being forced to follow the same route. Her attacker had the advantage that no other combatants were that close and she was able to move away from the edge to join the remaining strugglers who were more or less in the centre of the muddied arena.

Six naked mud-covered women, including surprisingly the smallest one were scrapping in the centre of the ring, some distance from the sandbags and elimination. It was not clear to the onlookers quite what aim each had, as the group remained more or less routed in place, although there was a great deal of movement within the group. Constance could also have added that there was a good deal of energy being expended trying to soften up the adversaries to make them more manoeuvrable.

It was difficult to judge just how long this apparent stalemate persisted. Certainly it was tough work for those involved. Constance received countless blows to all parts of her anatomy, some intentional, some not. It seemed as if each was determined to win and being nice to the others was not seen as the route to victory. To be fair Constance gave back as good as she got, if not more. In falling onto someone's body she had 'allowed' her arm to land forcefully be it on stomach, breast, or between the legs. Her breasts had been subject to treatment from those on top of her, or those apparently trying to lever themselves out of the mud. The area between her legs had also suffered in similar fashion. Only the excitement of the action, and perhaps ironically the soothing action of the mud, meant that she was yet to really feel any pain.

Three pairs formed and slowly extricated themselves from the group, each heading towards different sides of the hollow. Constance was with a slightly heavier girl who was both strong and rough. They violently hauled each other to close by the edge and then had a brief but violent (and exhilarating) struggle, each trying to dominate the other. That Constance failed was probably more due to the greater strength of the other who, having finally ended Constance's resistance, sat back on her haunches breathing heavily.

It was as well for her that the other pairings were still battling, as she was not set upon while she got her breath back. Then there were but three, virtually on opposite sides of the ring, and these did not include the smallest competitor who, in a one to one show of strength, did not have the body weight to back up her obvious skills.

The three realised that safety was in the middle of the ring and they all rushed there. In the end the slowest returning one was met by the other two, who had no compunctions combing forces to ditch her onto the banking. That left them alone and close to the edge. Another brief and violent struggle saw the girl who had best Constance emerge triumphant. At least Constance had lost to the winner.

That brought an end to the first half of the events planned by Lady Caroline and Margaret. The muddied maids in their turn used the clean waters of the lake to remove much of the evidence of their activities, even if the bruises would take some what longer to cleanse. Now was the time to celebrate whether you be Lady or maid. Alcohol was in generous supply, supplemented by a real cold feast. By the time dusk was approaching few of those present were entirely sober. Giant candles were lit, together with many lamps, and placed around the hollow ready to allow at least a partial view of the remaining festivities.

To be continued ...