3 comments/ 43526 views/ 1 favorites Virtue By: AcaciaBlossom On a muggy morning in September, the first of Virtue Bell's days free from her work in the home of a butcher-shop proprietor that month, she decided to go out walking. As her lodgings (above a chop-house) and employment were both located in Duane Street, between Hudson Street and Broad Way, it seemed like a remarkable opportunity to go abroad. Choosing at random, Virtue decided to walk east before following the general flow of market-goers south, down Broad Way. It had rained the night before, providing many large puddles on the cobblestones for passing carts to splash through; one, over-laden with baskets of apples, caused such a large splash that it left muddy spots on her quilted petticoat. She brushed at them with one hand, but couldn't be annoyed when she felt so fine and free. Though nobody could see them, she had put on the new garters she 'd bought from a peddler, and the knowledge that they were there contributed to her fine feeling. When Broad Way ended, Virtue bore left and continued down Greenwich Street -- she did not often walk this far from her home, but there seemed to be no reason to turn back. A few men passing by did give her disgraceful looks, but she pretended not to notice them and they refrained from harassing her. Still, she took a moment to adjust her muslin kerchief and make sure that it fully covered her chest. Greenwich Street ran all the way to the south end of Manhattan, to the new park of Bowling-Green. Well, it was not quite new, but it was still so well maintained that it appeared to have only been set up a few days before. Unlike the wilderness north of the city, those walking in it were protected from ruffians and highwaymen by the regular appearance of the guards paid by the wealthy men who had created the park. Her shoes had begun to come a little loose, so she sought out a large birch-tree with a thick, low branch to sit upon where she could lean over and tie the ribbons over the arch of her foot. It was unfortunate that her bent form attracted the attention of another shiftless rogue, who watched as she exerted herself in tying both ribbons before appearing at her side as if by magic. "Good morning, sweet lady," he said, his eyes lingering over her bosom. Virtue would have liked to ignore him, but there was no telling what such a man might do if rebuffed too harshly: some men would accept her disinterest with good grace and depart to look for more willing prey, but there was always the chance of offense, anger, and violence. Accordingly, she only said, "Good day." "Would you care to walk with me a while?" he inquired with a gleaming eye. "No thank you, sir, I am content alone." "Nonsense," he said. "A pretty girl like you wants pleasant company! And it would please me -- do you not wish to please a handsome gentleman? If an introduction is wanting, I will give you one: I am Mr. Peter Angier, apprentice to a silversmith. And you are -?" "I do not think your company would be pleasant," Virtue answered, beginning to worry that he might not be easily turned away by any means. "I wish that you would leave me, and if you are a gentleman you will not disoblige me by remaining." "Hoity-toity!" Angier said, but his expression was one of pleasure. "Well, I will go, if you'll only give me a kiss." At this Virtue could not stay in his presence, and tried to stand. "Sir, I am an honest woman, and I will not be treated thus." He, being of superior strength, had little trouble in pinning her to the tree with her hands above her head. "Then I will take my own pleasure, you bitch," he declared, and kissed her roughly before shouting for a guard. Virtue struggled against him, but was utterly unable to free herself before the guard strode to Angier's side. "What is the matter, sir?" he asked, for all the world as though nothing out of the ordinary was occurring. "Sir!" Virtue cried to him. "This man has assaulted my person and offered me gross indecencies! I pray you, seize him!" Angier took hold of her chin between forefinger and thumb and pressed her mouth closed, saying, "Quiet, jade. Guard, this harlot enticed me, and when I was taking the pleasure she so freely offered, she tried to make off with my watch and the coins in my pocket." "This is not so! He is telling vicious lies because I would not accept his advances." A crowd had begun to form about them, attracted by the cries and the prospect of some entertainment at the expense of a prostitute. "She looks like a harlot," said one man, and his neighbor supported him. "I have seen her in a house near the Red Lion Tavern on the East River, I would swear it." "Perhaps we ought to examine her body for signs of the Pox?" suggested a third, with far too eager a look in his eyes. Then yet another man spoke out, more soberly and with less interest. "No," he said, "I recognize her from the notices." "What's that?" asked the guard, frowning. "There is a notice in the Advertiser that has run for three days, which matches this woman exactly. Do you wish to see?" he asked, holding out the newspaper tucked beneath his arm. The guard looked doubtful a moment, then ordered the gentleman to read it aloud, so that all could hear. "Notice," read the gentleman: "Run away, a servant girl nearly through her indentures; had on a blue check linen gown, blue petticoat, brown shoes, and silk stockings and new red garters that she took from her mistress." "We can't see her garters," someone called out from the crowd, which was ever-growing as the entertainment became more enjoyable. "Her stockings ain't silk," complained another, as the first demanded again to be shown Virtue's garters. "She might have sold the silk ones for ready money," a woman suggested. "We may see her garters later," decided the guard, "providing she does match the rest of the description." "This is all madness!" Virtue declared. "I am no harlot and no runaway. I work for a butcher in Duane Street, fetch me there and they will know me." "Be quiet, woman," ordered the guard. "We will hear all the notice before you go anywhere. Man, hold her." Angier tightened his hold on her wrists and pulled them up an inch or two higher, so that her feet were not firmly placed on the ground. "Read on." "She is below the middle height, clear complexion'd and fresh color'd, with brown hair, green eyes, and a buxom figure," read the gentleman. "That's her, sure as anything!" shouted a woman in the crowd. "Very buxom, indeed," agreed a man. "We must take off her tucker to be certain of it," said Angier, smiling. "Do not dare to touch my clothing!" Virtue shouted, and the guard frowned. "Take her kerchief off her and stop her mouth with it," he said, and Angier happily complied. "What does the rest of the notice say?" "Has a pretty way of walking and carrying herself, and tells falsehoods with a sincere air of innocence. Upon return to Hainsley Farm above Harlem, the bearer may expect a very handsome reward," read the gentleman, folding the newspaper up again once he had finished. Once again, the crowd reacted with eagerness. "It is her!" they called. "Send the bitch up north, back to her master." "We must see her garters now, I think," said the guard. "It might be coincidence." If Virtue could have spoken, she would have protested that garters might be coincidental as well, but she could not. Angier groped among her petticoats, lifting them up very high, so that almost all of her legs were exposed to the view of the crowd, who roared in approval. "They are indeed the garters!" Angier exclaimed. "As the one who apprehended her, I will take her to her master." "You would not have known if not for me," put in the reading gentleman, his brow furrowed. "You will both go together," said the guard. "A handsome reward split in half is still a pretty coin. Use your neck-clothes to bind her wrists, and to keep that gag in her mouth, gentlemen, and I'll escort you to the public coach to Harlem." Virtue Ch. 02 Note: At least one more chapter coming! Thank you so much for reading. --- The crowd waiting for the coach at the Fiddle and Crown Inn displayed much interest in the pretty young woman held between two men. It was not very often that they saw young women whose wrists were tied behind their backs with a neck-cloth, or whose kerchiefs had been pushed into their mouths and tied there with another neck-cloth. Angier and the other gentleman, whose name was Fish, were asked to explain their story over and over again, and each time the crowd became more and more enflamed with righteous fury at the gall of a strumpet who would run away from her master and then take up whoredom. Upon the coach's arrival, Angier and Fish took up seats on the back and pulled Virtue up after them, to sit between them so they could keep watch over her. Virtue feared that she would tumble off the coach when it began to move, but Angier and Fish held onto her arms tightly and saved her from that peril. At first she believed that she must only endure the uncomfortable jouncing of the road, but after a very short period of time once they were out of the city Angier began to be restless and look to her for amusement. Virtue harbored no hopes that Fish would come to her aid; he read his newspaper and ignored everything that went on beside him on the bench. Angier began his depredations by pulling her breasts out of the top of her stays. Struggling produced no effect except causing them to wobble in a way that Angier clearly found enticing, as his attentions became more pronounced. He spent some time toying with them silently, squeezing them and pinching them, occasionally leaning over to plant a kiss or two on them, but eventually he began to speak to her, and the more he spoke the rougher he became. "You are a pretty little minx, I own, and thought you were better than me, though you're naught but a servant – and an indentured one at that. I'd lay ready money that you're wishing you'd fucked me when you had the chance to keep me sweet, but you've missed it, haven't you? Now you're on your way back to your master – your owner – and he's going to beat you to within an inch of your life. I expect he'll fuck you then, and rough, too, because you're a likely, juicy wench, and that's what I'd do if I owned you. Does he give you to his manservants and footmen? I asked you a question," he said sharply, and pinched her nipples until she moaned through the kerchief in her mouth. His malice sated, he returned to his sly remarks and touches for a time, until he tired of them, and required something more to entertain himself. "What shall we do next?" he asked out loud, though he could not have expected an answer. "Perhaps we should see your pretty garters again. I seem to have forgot what they look like, and I may be called on to describe them." With one hand, Angier pushed up her petticoats – despite her struggles – and bared her to the waist. Virtue made every attempt to keep her legs close together, but she was overpowered; Angier, handling her most roughly, pulled her right leg onto his lap and held it there. Shout as she might, the sound scarce penetrated the thick wadding in her mouth, and struggling against her bonds was to no purpose. Angier ran his hand over the pale skin of her thigh above her stockings, moving it higher and higher until it brushed against her cleft. After a pause, he pressed the side of his hand into her opening, grinding it about until Virtue shut her eyes and turned her face away in utter shame. "Hey-dey!" he called out, so loud that the passengers in the coach must have heard. "You are a willing slut, are you not? Juicy and wet at the merest touch of a man. Had I not started on my way to return you to your owner, I would have been well-off to keep you myself and rent you out on the streets. I might have made my own fortune. Well, I know a pleasant enough way to pass the time." He roughly set about pushing his fingers into her wetness, mauling her about for his own enjoyment – but Virtue soon realized that despite her embarrassment, he was causing a strange sort of pleasure within her that forced her struggles to become more languorous and rhythmical. She could see nothing that would be giving Angier physical pleasure from his actions, but he seemed to derive a great deal of satisfaction from her humiliation, and the way that she writhed in fruitless attempts to conceal her quim from the open air, where anyone who was walking on the road might look on her most private parts. Fish's complete lack of attention ought to have made her grateful, but in some way it made her feel more degraded, that he did not even find her exploitation worthy of the slightest interest. As Angier roughly sawed his fingers in and out of her folds, Virtue became aware of a building pressure rising in that area, which increased and increased in intensity to such an extent that she felt tears start in her eyes and gasped past the kerchief in her mouth. At last it exploded into such a crescendo that she could only throw her head back and stare at the skies in amazement. The spell was broken when Angier began to speak mockingly to her once more. "I can feel your cunt making spasms, little bitch," he said. "You know that it would not happen if you did not truly enjoy this – you have proved all of my theories about your being a weak slattern. It is almost disgusting, the delight you take, and I can only imagine what pleasure your master must have with you." He left her a very few moments to recover from the great shock before returning to his malicious depredations in arousing her, but before he was able to bring Virtue to a second climax, the buildings of Harlem came into view. Angier pushed her leg off of his lap, though not as quickly as Virtue would have preferred, despite the strange desire she felt to remain splayed open in front of anyone who cared to look, and allowed her petticoats to fall again. There was a great deal of sticky wetness on his fingers, and before he pushed her breasts back into her stays – with a murmur of, "I will miss these pretty tits; still, at least they are mostly exposed without your fine tucker" – he wiped the hand on the front of her quilted top petticoat, where anyone might see it and know what they had been about. Until the coach passengers began to disembark, Angier pulled her close with one arm about her waist and continued to deliver his disgusting remarks in her ear, reminding her of how much she had liked his attentions, and telling her that her libidinous nature would appreciate the indignities that her master would no doubt visit on her: stripping her naked and impaling her on a slim pole standing in the farmyard, giving her body as a reward to all of his laborers at Christmas in lieu of a box, forcing her to live in a small cage at the foot of his bed where she would be handy for his every whim at night. "How might we get to Hainsley Farm?" Fish asked of a passing carter. "We have found the gentleman's missing servant." According to the man, the way was a short one, less than a mile, and the farm was well-marked, so that they would come upon it simply by walking north. Angier was not eager to walk for any distance, but as he was now out of funds, and Fish declined to pay for him to ride in the carter's conveyance, all three were forced to take the road together. Seeing that there were no people about, Angier pulled her breasts out once more despite the shortness of the journey, though he looked at them only a little more often than Fish – it seemed to make him happy simply to know that she was discomforted in her exhibition. Once we come to Hainsley Farm, Virtue promised to herself, the gentleman there will realize that I am not his servant, and he will prosecute these men on my behalf, if he is a true gentleman. No-one need know exactly how I have been dishonored, and in true, I have not been dishonored fully. I may still call myself an honest woman. Virtue Ch. 03 The farm was a sizeable one, and looked to be very prosperous, with a grand white house and many acres of fields. As the trio approached up the long drive, an overseer on a horse rode up to them to inquire after their intentions, but upon taking in the sight of Virtue, he appeared to understand that they were delivering the servant who had run from her indentures, and told them to continue on to the house. Once there, Fish told the footman at the door in his grand manner that they were there to speak with Mr. Hainsley, and the footman hastened to bring the gentleman for an interview. He returned with the butler, however, who informed them in crisp tones that he would bring the woman to Mr. Hainsley, and the reward would be brought to them if Mr. Hainsley was satisfied that she was the servant who had run away. Angier was inclined to argue with him, but Fish prevented him with several quieting looks. The butler did not bother to untie Virtue's hands, but simply walked up the stairs in the front hall, clearly expecting her to follow him; he took her to a door near the head of the stairs, which, upon his opening it, proved to lead into a study. Virtue entered gladly, certain that it would lead to her freedom, and indeed, Mr. Hainsley, a tall and well-made gentleman who was sitting in an armchair near a window, beckoned for the butler to untie the neck-cloth around her head and remove the gag. "Oh, thank you, a thousand thanks, sir!" she cried as soon as her voice would work again. "Please, you must help me." He did not direct the butler to untie her hands, but she could invent a hundred benign reasons why this might be so, and strove to ignore it. "You do share her sweetness of countenance, clothing, and ample figure," he said, "but it is evident that you are not Isabella. How do you come to stand before me?" "Oh, sir, it is all a misunderstanding. I was only out for a walk when one of the rogues who brought me here accosted me, seeking to entice me into an indiscretion. I rebuffed him, of course, as I am a good, honest woman, and he sought to revenge himself upon me by slandering me as a whore, and trying to have me taken up for thieving from him. It was then that the other, a Mr. Fish, came upon us with a newspaper, and, remembering the description from the notice you placed, informed the guardsman that I was a runaway. It was then that I was bound as you just saw me, and taken on the coach from the city. And, oh, sir, it was then that the first unprincipled man took very great liberties with me." Mr. Hainsley looked very grave, and walked over to stand in front of Virtue. "How so?" "Sir, I cannot speak the words. They would shame me, even closeted in private as we are." "I am afraid that I cannot take any action unless I know what has transpired. I do have great influence in Harlem, so it would be all to the good to explain the events fully." Virtue's cheeks were stained red in her embarrassment. "Your blushes do you credit, my dear, and enhance your beauty even further." Virtue attempted to collect herself, and explain what had happened. "First, he -- I do not know how to put it -- he placed his hands inside my stays -- and he fondled me there." "Where?" "I -- inside my stays!" "If you are unable to explain, shall I ask your captor? I expect that he will be forthcoming if I threaten him with legal action." "My bosom, sir," she said in a whisper. "Your voice is too soft, dear lady." "He toyed with my bosom." She flushed even more red at being forced to say such a thing in front of a gentleman. "And was that all that he did?" "No; then he wanted to see my garters, because they matched the ones you described in the advertisement. So he pulled up my petticoats and took hold of my leg, to put it over his lap -- which put me in a most indelicate position!" "I can see. And did he content himself with this?" "No, sir, he used his hand on me while I was held so -- so open." "How did he use his hand? Do you mean that he beat you?" "Oh, sir, please do not make me -- I do not know what to say!" "But you must. In court, you know, they would make you say the same, but in front of a jury of gentlemen, and newspaper-men, and anyone who had come into the gallery to watch. You would not like that, I think." "No, sir!" "If you tell all to me, I believe that I can keep that from being necessary. How did he use his hand? Was it his hand, or his fingers?" "His fingers. He put them inside of me, sir." "And held them there?" Doubt was beginning to creep over Virtue, as Mr. Hainsley seemed just a little too eager to know the exact details of her abuse, and her hands were still bound behind her, though he well knew she was not his servant, but she forced herself to continue with the tale. "No, sir: he moved them back and forth." "I suppose it did not provoke any reaction in such a fine, upstanding woman as you are." Perhaps it was true, as Angier had said and Virtue had feared, and she was indeed a lewd slut, but now she would make a liar of herself as well. "You are correct; I could not react to it. But it was a gross indecency for him." "Yes, I see. And is there anything else? Did he take his degradation further? Have you been -- violated?" "Sir, no. He contented himself with whispering more indecencies in my ear, but he did not cause me more physical harm." "Very good. You know that I trust you, Miss ..." "My name is Virtue Bell, sir." "What a fitting name. You know that I trust you, but I must still question these men -- here, I shall make it easier for you to bear, and 'twill keep you silent as well, which will make it all go faster," he said, which puzzled Virtue greatly, until he quickly took hold of the discarded kerchief and pressed it even further into her mouth than before. She stared at him in amazement as he instructed the butler to bring Angier and Fish up to the study with haste, and then began to adjust her clothing as though she were only a doll. When they entered, the two men appeared slightly nervous and concerned that they might be in some sort of trouble, as the butler had previously told them that the reward would be brought to them, but their expressions cleared when they saw that Virtue was still as they had left her, unable to protect herself or speak. "Gentlemen," said Mr. Hainsley, "I thank you for returning my servant to me." Virtue attempted to cry out in surprise, as he had already confessed to her that she was not the servant that had run from him, but the gag stopped her from making anything more than a slight moan, and none of the men looked round to her. "Would you please to relate to me the events of your finding her and bringing her back?" "Oh, of course, sir," said Angier, before Fish could respond (though Fish looked uninterested in speaking, at any rate). "It began when I decided to go out for a walk on Bowling-Green, in the city. This remarkably pretty -- more for her figure than her face, I think, but her face does have an allure -- young woman approached me as I was lounging against a tree, and began to engage in some sweet conversation, where she made herself pleasant to me and insinuated that she would make herself even more so for the exchange of a few coins. I had just decided to take her up on the offer when I noticed that she had placed her hand in my pocket and attempted to procure those coins on her own. So, I held her fast and called for a guard, and it was at that point that Mr. Fish arrived and identified the strumpet as a runaway. We bound her hands and placed her on the back of the coach to Harlem, and as we were riding she made it clear that her body was at our disposal, most likely, I suspected, to gain our sympathy and let her go. Mr. Fish did not choose to partake, and read his newspaper rather than paying attention to her, but I was happy to follow her instructions, and to play with her wet cunt until she came, with many exclamations and protestations that she had never come as hard as she did on the back of the coach. She promised that she would see me spurt ten times, each the same intensity as her own coming, if I would only take her back to the city, but I declined, as it would not be right. She continued to plead with such foul, bawdy language that I felt it was only right to stop her mouth with her tucker, skimpy though it was." "Now, here we have a quandary," said Mr. Hainsley. "Mr. Angier, your tale has ascribed a great deal of agency to this woman, which she has denied in her own retelling." "She is a liar and a strumpet," said Angier hotly. "It may be so, but there is no proof, and Mr. Fish was inattentive in both of your tales, so there is no evidence either way. However, there is one factual difference. You have claimed that she became wet, and reached orgasm." "I don't know what that word means, sir, but as I said -- she came, all over my hand." "That is the meaning. But my woman claims that she was no aroused by your ministrations. It seems quite clear to me that the truth-teller may be determined by an examination of the physical evidence." "Ah!" exclaimed Angier at the same time that Virtue squealed behind her gag, finally realizing how truly terrible her situation was. Without saying anything else, Mr. Hainsley had rushed Virtue over to his desk, and pushed her down on it. Keeping one hand on the small of her back to hold her body down, he used the other to pull her petticoats up and onto her back, revealing her almost as fully as she had been on the coach. "Legs apart," he ordered, and when she did not respond, he pushed them into the desired position with one booted foot. Now, she knew, all in the room had an unobstructed view of her slick folds, which had somehow become even more wet as she told her story and listened to Angier. "Mr. Fish, if you would make the inspection?" Fish stepped forward smartly, and plunged three fingers directly into her depths. "Her cunny is as wet as my namesake," he said. "She seems to have enjoyed herself very much." "So she is proven a liar," said Mr. Hainsley. "Gentlemen, I would you stayed to see her punishment for that." They consented, and made themselves comfortable. Virtue did not know what was happening until Mr. Hainsley began to rain blows upon her unprotected backside, occasionally punctuated with Angier's excited remarks about "the wanton trollop receiving her due." "This will teach you, slut," he said, "to try to take advantage of honest men, an d to run from the man who holds your indentures. The court will have them lengthened, you know, and I do not doubt he will own you for many years." "I shall certainly make every attempt to see that it is so," confirmed Mr. Hainsley, who had ceased his beating but did not allow Virtue to stand or cover herself in any way. "I am indebted to you, gentlemen. My butler will dispense the reward to you (and I believe you will be most satisfied with it) and I request that you give him your full names and directions so that I may invite you back at some future point." "Well!" exclaimed Angier. "That is what I call a very fair treatment. Toasts will be drunk to your generosity, sir, in every tavern in New York City." He and Fish shook Mr. Hainsley's hand. "Again, I must thank you for returning my property," Mr. Hainsley said, and the two men left in high spirits, even taciturn Mr. Fish, in anticipation of gaining their just reward. Once the door had closed behind them, Mr. Hainsley allowed Virtue to stand, and pulled the gag out of her mouth once more as she stared at him in terror. "What deceit is this?" she demanded when her voice returned to her. "You assured me that you would protect me, that you would save my honor! You know that I am not your servant, and have never signed any indentures with you." "But I have lost the woman who did -- a lady of much better breeding than you, I might add. She took advantage of my low opinion of her intelligence and found an opportunity to escape; she stole a maidservant's clothing to wear as a disguise. I do not expect that I will see her again -- she has probably found a protector by now. It is your misfortune that you happen to be dressed much the same as her, but it is certainly my good fortune, for now I have a replacement for poor Isabella. My servants will swear that you are her out of loyalty to me, and your resemblance is so strong that those few who met her outside my estate will agree." "I have friends!" Virtue cried. "My family, my employer will look for me, and when they hear of this, they will bring an action against you in the court. This is monstrous of you -- you are indeed a monster!" "They will not look for you in Harlem," he said calmly, "and I doubt they could afford to make a case against me. You may as well give in, sweet one; though not too much, as I think you will struggle in a delicious manner. Now, let us be rid of some of this bulk." Without further conversation, he reached under the skirts of her gown and untied her heavy quilted petticoat and the two linen ones beneath it, allowing them to fall to the floor around her feet. "Sir, I will serve out Isabella's indentures working night and day for you," she pleaded as he pulled her forward with one finger, which he hooked over the top of her stomacher and stays. "I will scrub your floors, cook your meals, and work in your fields if you ask it." "You will serve out her indentures and more," he corrected, as he sat in his armchair and positioned her in front of him, "once I report your return to the local magistrate, and he increases your contracted time in punishment for your actions. I have other servants for menial tasks; your purpose is to serve my pleasure." Taking her gown in one fist to keep her in place, he used the other to unbutton his breeches and release his cock, which became hard with the application of a few gentle strokes of his hand. "Since you are virgin, and you have done nothing to displease me, I will allow you to break your hymen in a more private setting -- in future, you will be expected to perform before and with other people, both gentlemen and ladies, so you should know that this is indeed a kindness." Virtue attempted to back away, but he used both hands to pull her forward and force her to straddle his knees; he then pulled first her right leg and then her left over the arms of the chair, so that she was sitting on his lap in front of his member, splayed open and unprotected. Whimpering, she attempted to plead again, but he ignored her promises and tears. "How fortunate that you are still wet from your little adventure on the coach," Mr. Hainsley said, and, with little more preparation than to spread her lips with his thumbs for a moment, picked her up and thrust her quickly down onto his cock. Virtue began to plead through tears for him to stop, but he ignored her and continued seeking his own pleasure, which he found with merciful alacrity. After he had come to completion, he held her in place on his lap. "Please, sir," begged Virtue, without the energy to struggle any more, "you have ruined me in the eyes of polite society. Will you not let me go and live in obscurity, now that you have had your way with me? I will even pledge to pray for your soul at every church that I come across in my travels." "Do not be stupid," said Mr. Hainsley, as he pushed her off of his lap, to let her fall into a heap on the floor. "I have already told you that you will continue here and fulfill Isabella's indentures. Now, come, let us hear no more of this or you will be beaten." As he arranged his clothing and left the room, a footman entered, and, taking Virtue by the arm, pulled her to her feet and out the door. He towed her mechanically across the hall and into a small closet adjoining Mr. Hainsley's room, which, Virtue was given to understand, was to be her home for the future. As the footman shut the door and locked her in, all that she could do to console herself was to give way to tears and to pray that she might one day find freedom and justice.