mj2001:
Wow, not a boss you want to have mad at you. I think she pulled a fast one on the woman whipping her, although I'm having speaker issues so I can't say for certain. She was supposed to get 5 strokes. She gets 3 and then a boy interrupts by getting caught spying on them. Once he's gone the spanker asks how many strokes she's given and the victim answers "4." So possibly she spared her butt a whack by lying about the count.
However, the 4th stroke might have been given in the background when they're showing the spy and I just can't hear it land. Can someone else confirm one way or the other? If she did lie her way out it was pretty ballsy considering how pissed the lady of the manor was at her (of course she wasn't dirtying her hands by flogging the staff herself).
It seems neither were actually "counting". They were too busy arguing!!
MJ, how did you find this clip? As a period piece, it seemed most realistic to me.
PS: If you register (it's free), you can download this rather short clip?