Part One: Major Taylor's Dinner Party

Glancing around the table, Peter Taylor was pleased to see his guests enjoying the meal his wife, Abigail, had spent all day preparing. Cooking had never been in her repertoire of skills, but she had come a long way in the past two years.

"Have you heard that Parliament passed the Matrimonial Causes bill, Major?" the tall lanky man sitting beside a gorgeous brunette asked.

"Yes, and I heard it was by passed an overwhelming majority." Peter took a sip of his water and looked down the antique cherry-wood table at his wife. She hated talk such as this, and he could see the color blushing her cheeks. His comment had been a back-handed joke, as all of the MP's were men, and they all knew which way the political winds in Parliament were blowing. It would be political suicide these days to vote against a bill submitted by "the regime."

"I've already taken preemptive action, haven't I, Laura?" The man turned to his wife, who blushed a deep red.

The men at the table: Peter, Gregory, and the speaker, Frank, all turned to look at the woman. The other wives at the table sat quietly, not wishing to share in the poor woman's humiliation, whatever it was. Neither of the other two women had heard of this new law yet, but they knew already it would mean something bad for them.

"Speak up, dear. I asked you a question."

Laura's eyes squinted slightly like she was going to lash out at him, but then she seemed to gain control of herself and said, "Yes, my love."

Major Taylor saw the smug look of satisfaction on his friend's face. He seemed to have his wife firmly in her place. He was sure she was intelligent enough to not act up with a member of the Moral Regeneration Unit sitting right across the table from her. Peter looked at Harold Parker, sitting to his right, and saw him studying Laura's face. Had he seen that slight look of outrage before she had managed to suppress it?

"I'm usually up on these things, sometimes even before the general population has heard of them, but I must admit I haven't heard of this bill. It's the matrimony what...?" Harold asked, breaking his concentration from Laura to look over at her husband.

"The Matrimonial Clause simply states that a woman no longer has the right to divorce her husband because of his infidelity."

"Quite right!" Peter chimed in. "If a man must seek the solace of a woman outside of his marriage, his wife has failed to please him in the first place. Why should she have the right to petition for divorce, when she should be doing her best to correct her behaviour and perform her duties as expected?"

"Here, here!" Harold agreed.

"Also," Gregory went on, "the bill allows for a man to ensure his wife's fidelity by any means he chooses. Knowing the bill was about to be passed, I went out and obtained a device for my dear sweet wife, you know, to protect her from any unsolicited advances by someone other than me. Tell our host what my present to you was, Laura dear."

The pretty brunette looked up at Major Taylor and said, "It was a," she paused to swallow, and to gather what courage she could, "a chastity belt, sir."

"Isn't that delightful?" Harold gushed. "And she's wearing it right now, aren't you dear?"

"Yes, my love."

Peter could see the tears welling up in the woman's eyes. She must be terribly embarrassed, sitting there now with everyone at the table knowing such an intimate detail about what she wore beneath her lovely dress. He looked at the other two women at the table; his Abby, and Harold's wife, Julia. They continued to eat, but the blankness of their eyes told him they were each thinking about how this revelation might affect them.

"Oh, and it gets better." Gregory leaned forward to say in a rather conspiratorial manner, "The Magistrate who passed this information along to me also said the law is very broad. You know, a woman who is straying from what is right might use her mouth to be unfaithful to her husband. We will have to think about getting a gag, won't we Laura?"

"If that's what you decide is necessary, my love," the humiliated woman replied, while pushing her food around on her plate with her fork.

"Come on, cheer up!" Gregory said. "These laws are for your own good! You wouldn't want the MRU picking you up because you've fallen back on your wonton whorish ways, would you?"

Laura looked up at Harold, and then quickly looked away. "No! Of course not, my love. Please help me to be the woman I should be."

Major Taylor looked down the table at his wife. He wasn't worried about Abigail straying on him, but the thought of forcing her to wear a chastity belt did seem like an arousing idea. The gag might be a nice touch, too. She wouldn't think so, of course, but he had to keep up with the Jones', or...the Parkers, as it were. Besides, he wouldn't want it to be known that he wasn't taking his wife's fidelity seriously. For an officer in the Royal Corps of Signals, he had a certain standard of leadership he had to display.

"Well, let's allow the ladies to clean up while we retire to my study for cigars and cocktails," Peter said as he pushed away from the table.

The men stood and chatted as they walked out of the room, leaving the cleanup to their wives.