recesses.
Choisy was now creeping along Charlotte's body, and she remained passive, with a shudder of pleasure now and then. His expert hands were making again the inventory of this woman's body, offered to him. His fingers had now reached the grotto of love and with a touch of exquisite precision he gradually gave it back all its effervescence. Charlotte gingerly began the same work and suddenly her hand came into contact with a prick in repose, to which a few caresses gave back its full rigidity, a prelude to new assaults.
Then Choisy's mouth fixed itself on Charlotte's while the hands of both were continuing their caresses. Their tongues were working overtime and their bodies were one. The silence was broken only by a few sighs of bliss.
Then Charlotte unexpectedly went down between Choisy's legs and, with both hands, grasped the warm penis which she gratified with kisses and caresses. Choisy shuddered with immense pleasure. He had been hoping rather than expecting caresses, but he would never have expected such a sexual frenzy.
Charlotte now seemed to “drink” her lover, who was moaning with voluptuousness and begging her to stop. But she ignored him and continued her sucking. He contrived to master his impulses and put his hands round Charlotte's loins.
— Take me! Charlotte begged.
Choisy did not wait for her repeating it and it was his turn to give her the same kind of caresses which he had just received. With his head nestling in the compass of his mistress, Choisy gave her the deepest caresses, and inebriated himself with the sweetest of nectars.
Charlotte gave a passionate leap of her body and dislodged herself, then, seizing with vigour Choisy's iron- hard prick she prayed:
— Take me!. And, so saying, she guided the hot virility of Choisy into her grotto of love.
And now both their bodies were moving in unison and gradually increasing the speed of their thrusts. He had passed an arm underneath her and was kneading her palpitating buttocks. Then, his finger groped and finally found the other hole of her body and penetrated it slowly.
Charlotte gave a little scream which slowly became a moan and then silence punctuated with a few sighs.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Choisy was obligated to take precautions, with the three mistresses he now had. But he composed to himself a menu like a gourmet, which he was. Now the blonde, now the brunette and now Mrs. de Ransac, his new conquest. Sometimes, waking up, he said to himself: “today, I shall be frugal.”
And that usually meant that he would go to Mrs. de Ransac. She was still fond of him but they did not often have intercourse together for she was careful not to be caught in the act or even to arouse suspicion. Indeed, her friends would never have suspected such a sensual frenzy in her. If Choisy chose to be frugal it was because of a judicious estimation of Charlotte's charms, which were less abundant than those of Francesca or Flavia, who were plumper. Charlotte's body had less pronounced curves but she had proved that she was quite as voluptuous, to the point of perversion even.
Choisy enjoyed loving thus secretly on three fronts. He had long ago passed the age when he used to boast about his conquests. He now preferred enjoying them secretly, savouring them to himself while all his friends and acquaintances had no inkling of suspicion.
Venice had by now judged him to be either a woman or an effeminate boy, but in any case without temperament-a spirit, a pure spirit, with his real sex a puzzle.
One evening, as a man in a salon asked the marchioness on the object, she answered huffily:
— Let's say he is a hermaphrodite and leave it at that!
That put paid to further inquiries. The marchioness had an authority which no one disputed. And everybody went on judging Choisy as incapable of sexual relationship and nobody ever had the suspicion that the marchioness should express such an opinion in order to throw a red herring across the track and prevent people from suspecting that she had an affair with Choisy.
At that time there was a Polish girl named Hilda as a guest at the marchioness's. She had just arrived in Venice and was interested by the gossip about Choisy. Her hair was the colour of ripe corn and her manners were unaffected and slightly tomboyish. She did not mince her words but managed not to shock her listeners, perhaps because her foreign accent distracted from the meaning of her words.
Choisy came into the salon and bowed to the marchioness, who introduced him to the Polish girl. As he saw her sparkling eyes in her sun-tanned complexion he experienced a sensual shock not unlike an electric one. But he had enough self-control not to show his impressions and exchanged a few amiable commonplaces with her.
A few minutes later he found himself beside a certain Mr. Molieri, an aged Venetian, a much-traveled fellow, and asked him discreetly about Hilda.
— Do you know this person?
— Don't you know her? You should do, having travelled as much as you have, Molieri answered, and went on in a whisper: she has already been exiled from Moscow, London, Vienna and Berlin.
— Why on earth? Is she a spy for the Pope?
— She has no business with the Pope or with politics, but she works havoc in good society.
— Come to think of it, she does have a diabolic look.
— You have nothing to be afraid of, anyway- she only goes for pretty women.
— Is she a Lesbian? exclaimed Choisy, amused.
— That's right-she's seduced virtuous wives and even virgins-hence the scandals that have brought about her many evictions.
— This kind of perversion is hardly known in Venice, Choisy pointed out.
— And very much frowned upon. Molieri added.
— Perhaps she's come here for a sexual fast, suggested Choisy.
— We sincerely hope so.
— What are you two plotting? asked the smiling marchioness who had come upon them.
— Our dear count was a little puzzled by Miss Hilda, Molieri explained.
Flavia laughed.
— Oh, her? she said, you should explain to the count what she really is.
— He's done that, said Choisy, she wouldn't have any luck with the Venetian women, would she?
— Those who would succumb would not boast about it, said the marchioness.
— That would be better for all concerned, Molieri said.
The marchioness winked furtively at Choisy and went on her way to entertain other guests.
Some time later, Choisy went on a gondola to visit Francesca, who had told him he could come without a disguise for her rich protector was away on a trip.
Rocked by the gentle lapping of the water, Choisy mused.
— This Polish girl, she is a Lesbian probably because she has not known a real lover he thought.
He talked it over with Francesca.
— Have you made up your mind to convert her? she asked ironically.
— I have better things to do, Choisy answered, caressing her breasts and cunt.
— Those kind of women, she said, only give us a hors-d'oeuvre, they whet our appetite, but for the main dish we need this.
And, with her tapering fingers, she took hold of Choisy's warm penis which was as stiff as a rod.
— Without this, she went on, it's just monkeying about.
— But, Choisy remarked, with that special kind of intercourse, the victimized party is the passive woman. The active girl must feel a voluptuousness unknown to us normal individuals.
— And I don't particularly want to, said Francesca, for you, that kind of thing is a prelude-what if you had to be content with it?
Choisy did not answer that question-he had reached the point where a man cannot restrain himself any
