The Visit – Chapter 3
By
JulieDCole

When Polly arrived with hot tea the next morning Robert was still sound asleep. As Polly opened the heavy drapes the sun shone directly on his face and he stirred turning and rubbing his eyes and saw the smiling face of Polly in front of him. She whispered gently “ Good morning Miss Deane, I am required to let you know that Miss Deane senior is already in the garden room awaiting your arrival so you take breakfast together. I have served her a fresh fusion of tea and she is being amused by the morning chorus and the obituary section of today’s edition of ‘the Times’.
Robert sat up in bed and quickly pulled his nightdress into place because his breasts were clearly protruding and he wasn’t used to such like of privacy when he stirred of a morning. The protrusions were in fact what had confused Polly yet today he didn’t seem to mind because he felt relaxed and he imagined what it must feel like to be a lady of leisure living as house guest of his aunt. He felt she already appeared confused and needed some care that a daughter or niece might provide in whom she might confide and who might offer guidance on delicate matters. He sat up and looked in the glass across the room. He saw a young woman staring back at him. Would she be happier with a niece as a companion in her final years. If only he could change things and if only his aunt could accept a nephew might be better than nothing. If so could this mean he could stay in London close to Adele and even inherit her aunt’s estate? Certainly this was an intriguing prospect and he could resign from the slavery working in his father’s business.

Polly placed extra cushions behind him. He felt different and hadn’t expected that he would feel comfortable sleeping in a nightdress that he put down to the excitement brought on by alcohol rather than any desire on his part. Polly clearly believed him to be masquerading as Robert from her behavior towards him since she treated him in a very friendly way, less respectful but nevertheless courteously, and checked on the chamber pot beneath the bed in case he had filled it. If he hadn’t needed during the night he was ready now so she helped him out of bed and into a silk dressing gown and quaint slippers.

Robert hurried to the toilet that was handily positioned on the first floor landing and closed and locked the door behind him as a precaution in case Polly was on hand to assist that he certainly wished to avoid at all costs.

It seemed only natural to hitch up the gown and nightdress and it was clearly more sensible to be seated through the whole ablution. There was a long glass behind the door so he looked at his reflection. He could only see Roberta with hardly a trace of Robert. But sadly he had no time to dally to carry out a more detailed survey since his aunt was waiting. He tucked his blond locks behind his ears to be sure that Robert was not lost but his expanding bosom also needed tucking out of the way.

There was a sharp knock on the door from Polly for Robert was dallying too long in the closet and needed to hurry to breakfast since he had a busy day ahead and his aunt was not used to waiting. Polly ushered him back to his bedroom where she had filled a wash stand with warm water to enable him to clean the sleepiness from his face and freshen his body. Polly busied herself but kept a watchful eye on her/him since she felt that there was an air about him that was similar to Miss Deane senior. She watched his/her movements and the techniques he/she used to clean him/herself. But for the age difference they could have been twins. They were so alike in many ways.

Polly helped Robert dress that was quite a challenge for him as she fussed to tidy his frontage admiring whatever Robert was using to display manhood. Her touch brought some sort of response that he joked was a trick.

The freshly laundered breeches clung to him and displayed a tight pair of buttocks that were then discreetly covered by a smock coat. Polly selected a fresh bow to tie his hair back that he slicked with water to rid of the soft locks from the night before. He was a man again and Polly was quite impressed even if he was more delicate than her husband and brothers. Robert, the man, was a shade too pretty she felt to carry the masquerade for too long. No sign of roughness and quite delicate with the movements of a well-educated young lady she’d had a gentle upbringing she concluded and quite what possessed her to travel in male garb was beyond her comprehension.

As Robert finally entered the garden room his aunt displayed her impatience and a small bout of her bad temper. Robert felt he needed to take care to avoid any repetition for the rest of the visit and tried to comment on the sunshine and the wonderful walled garden and the array of plants and flowers. Miss Deane would have none of it and, in any case, what a terrible lack of manners to keep a lady waiting. She reminded him several times not to dally again and be sure to arrive early to the meeting place so Adele wasn’t in danger. Of course Robert knew full well that Adele was quite capable of looking after herself and moeso than him from his observations the first time they met.

Once he had seen Miss Deane again all thoughts of Adele and indeed his experience of being treated as a young woman by Polly disappeared from his mind. Robert’s mind went back to his first sight of his aunt the evening before. Every gesture she made served to remind him of that repulsive image of raddled, deluded age she’d displayed.. It might well be that, in time, he would face this same problem and he was certainly much more fearful of accelerated aging as his aunt seemed to have experienced now that he had met with her at long last. He wished he had resisted the temptation to visit London to meet Adele that would have avoided the direct contact. Better if Adele had come to Bristol instead.

Now he felt that he wanted to leave the house as soon as possible in order to meet Adele and he decided that as soon as he could get the chance he would give his apologies. But his aunt seemed intent of chatting after the breakfast plates were removed and clearly had nothing else to do until lunch and then to meet her friends of The Women’s Institute that he needed to avoid at all costs. So that day Robert decided that he would not be inviting Miss Adele to meet his aunt whatever..

Robert readied himself before his taxi arrived. At least Miss Deane had the kindness to cover this expense and he felt that perhaps she had a soft heart after all. Unless of course, there was another motive for her generosity. Could it be to see Robert safely arrive at his destination or could it be just because she had delayed him. Or could it even be because she wanted him to look eligible and therefore suitable to be married? There didn’t seem to be a logical explanation he could find in his mind.

Looking in the glass again he knew he wanted Adele to see him now whilst he was looking so fine and at his prime. Especially that very day since his look was more of a gentleman with a good finish of prosperity thanks to Polly’s attention, rather than the look whilst enslaved to his father’s business. Thanks to the special treatment from Polly the night before he looked bright of eye, his hair seemed two shades lighter and his clothes were clean and pressed. His boots shone like new but most of all the young man’s odor was gone. Replaced by the sweetest smell of the most delicate of perfume.

Turning to the side to check his profile in the glass, whilst he had been embarrassed until the day before about the expansions in his chest and had hidden it from everyone he met binding it tightly now he had exposed it to Polly and was accepting this was out of his control. After last night’s ablutions Polly certainly would not question his femininity and if not for his need to venture out he might enjoy some private moments of freedom without risk. It seemed his aunt was in a confused state anyway. The main difficulty he perceived was in not causing confusion with Adele and avoiding exposing his chest or relaxing the tapes. At least until he might have the opportunity to explain his dilemma.

Polly had been concerned about Roberts use of binding to hide his breasts and had convinced him to use less restraint so his appearance was somewhat ambiguous especially when he fastened his waistcoat that had the effect of lifting the flesh of his chest. It was a similar effect to a corset so he put on his coat for breakfast that he decided he should avoid removing in front of his aunt and also when he was due to meet Adele.
Polly said that in her experience trying to reduce the size of her large bosom too much heavy binding might lead to breathing problems and fatigue. But also based on her experience, worse than that, it would cause back problems or affect Robert(a)s ability to produce milk when she finally decided to enter wedlock. He almost choked with coughing at such a suggestion. But on the contrary from his own experience whilst heavy bandage was not so comfortable it was certainly not restricting the growth. He needed guidance about this problem if it persisted and felt if he had the funds he might take a visit to Harley street to find an eminent specialist for advice. He didn’t really want to lose these protrusions but needed to understand if the rate of expansion could be controlled. They were also very sensitive now as he found whilst bathing the night before and as Polly soaped him she had to take care and he was sure she witnessed the effect a soft massage was having that he appreciated very much. Would that have been Adele rather than Polly he may well have explored the experience further. But such thoughts were too premature.
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As he returned from his reverie he wondered if perhaps the chest growth was more akin to breast growth and some form of late development of his masculinity or was he a freak. Whatever his thoughts he might have difficulty explaining this to Adele if the chance to remove his shirt arose again so he might need to consider some form of undergarment that he’ seen advertised for mature ladies. Perhaps he was too optimistic about his relationship with Adele since despite his attraction to her and vice versa anything more was yet to be established.

As he travelled in the London taxi he wondered why he and his aunt were so much alike and he seemed to have her mannerisms and quite feminine features with slim waist and across the hips his measure was similar to Adele and his feet and hands were small for a man. Most unlike his father and even his mother who had died several years before.

He recalled that he had read an article in the Times about Mendelism and how besides inheriting key features some mix of gender also could be expected to pass down generations although families would never divulge such information. Maybe he had some genes of Miss Deane through her father’s side of the family. As for the Times article Robert had been intrigued rather than offended and indeed felt it was surprising to see such opinions made public in the Times rather than published in appropriate medical literature.

Whilst in his aunts company earlier she had continued to make disparaging remarks about his ugliness advising him that whilst there was a close family resemblance he should not expect to dream of inheriting a look to match hers. It seemed there was certain tones of envy.It was as if she saw Robert as Roberta and was jealous of her youthfulness. Robert had been almost speechless so had looked across at the glass again to see if the image he saw before him was the same as the one looking back from the glass. Indeed it was so how could she be suffering such illusions? He had had no explanation for his aunt’s behavior and remarks other than onset of insanity.

One image was enough after digesting a large breakfast that he was not accustomed to eating so he had turned away from the glass to avoid making comparison. He still he could hardly look her in the face let alone match her stare in fear of speaking out something that would cause grave offence. He couldn’t surely look like his aunt now looked as years pass by. There must be something a specialist might offer as a solution.
He had tried to be as polite as possible nodding and smiling at the appropriate times and hardly managing to utter a word, until he was finally ushered upstairs to ready himself for the journey across town to Marble Arch. He’d seen many impressions and paintings of the monument and was looking forward to witnessing the architecture first hand if time permitted.

He arrived there 15 minutes ahead of schedule as he had planned and of course there was no sign of Adele who deliberately planned to arrive a few minutes late. But there was a shock in store for Robert because Adele too was of a mind to take care and since she would be traveling alone she decided to take on the garb of a young man dressing in breeches and shirt with a heavy cape and with the use of tape she was able to flatten her ample bosom that was of course truly feminine and rounded compared to Roberts perky mounds. Her hair color was deep brown with a hint of red and she tied it back and secured it with a slim black bow. She looked the part as she strode across the square at Marble Arch with masterful use of the cane and whilst she immediately spotted Robert he never recognized her at all.

Adele had decided to play a joke and had another reason for the masculine apparel. She laughed at the look on his face when he finally recognized her. She expected that he would see straight through her disguise but he had stepped back and turned away to look down Oxford Street ignoring her and so she had to speak out his name.

His jaw had dropped because he had clearly heard her voice yet this was a man much the same frame as himself standing feet apart with a silver handled cane in a fitted long coat and booted. This man was clearly a gentleman who bowed and bid him good day and welcome to London. The voice was slightly deeper than his own but not heavy and then the smile that broke brought him to his senses since it was Adele herself before his very eyes.

Adele laughed out loud and spoke in her natural voice and then the deeper voice that had fooled him. He wondered what had been her purpose to wear such garb that looked not out of place on her and in the square where several men mingled and so few ladies who avoided this area of London preferring the safety of the street.

Adele put her arms around him as a long lost brother might do and Robert accepted and then returned the favor shaking his head. The explanation was the same as had used with Polly the day before that the streets were safer for a man to grace alone than for a lady without escort but she played the part so well and admitted this was not the first time nor would it be the last until the streets were safe from beggars, shady characters and the like. This was an area of London where many felons were offered one last drink on their way to the rope that she explained pointing to drinking house where the wagon would stop. Some stayed ‘on the wagon’ and abstained.

Adele had a plan that she laid out to Robert and she wanted his advice and assistance with a problem. She had planned for them to take a drink together and perhaps a small cigar followed by lunch at a club close by where membership was reserved only for men of all ages. It appealed to her humor to be a member and she had inherited the membership from her deceased father Judge Edward Flemming who had sent many a man to the rope and was feared before it was reported that fate took a hand and he died suddenly and reportedly of an incurable disease. The club had been formed by Adele’s grandfather with the assistance of a select few business associates.

Once inside the inn that was busy and lively they enjoyed a schooner of ale apiece with Robert admiring Adele’s disguise and mannerisms and asking for confirmation that this was just a casual hobby and not something she played with frequently. He saw the twinkle in her eyes that had first snared him and the sweet smile so he had his answer. The sight of Adele smoking a small cigar added to the disguise but Robert declined when offered the same since he found the habit distasteful. Adele said she wished to show Robert the club that she now partly owned but shareholding was not disclosed anywhere and so she had no special privileges. Indeed she could not be a member in her own name so her father had introduced her and nominated her for membership as his nephew Arthur D Fleming.

A short walk then to ‘his’ club where, as Arthur, she was made most welcome as Mr. Flemming junior whilst signing the visitors book to welcome Mr. Robert Deane who signed his name alongside. As he looked at his own signature his mind went immediately back to his aunt and her signature and a shiver went down his back all the way to his toes. She was having a most strange effect on him. He looked at the glass on the wall and was sure he saw her face staring back. A shake of his head and she was gone and he saw Mr. Arthur D Flemming grinning from ear to ear. She was proud of her disguise and that she could fool these men and was known to most they saw during their luncheon that followed.

There was something magical about Adele that drew him more even dressed and behaving in this way. She had some tales to tell of her father and grandfather and pointed out an oil painting of her grandfather, hanging by the fireplace, in honor of his generous donations to the club during its foundation. She made Robert laugh as she pulled faces at some of the members who bid ‘him’ good day. He was taken with her humor and her handsome appearance and wished they had met before since he may well have then ventured to London without having to find an excuse.