The abbot of Choisy did not tarry in Chalons, although his new conquest begged him to give her some more lessons in love-making. Before dawn, he was galloping away towards the Dutch frontier.
Abbot of Choisy? He was not really an abbot- he had only inherited this title because he was the beneficiary of an abbey. The countess of Choisy cherished him because he was the youngest of four sons and she winked at his unruly life. A handsome, mischievous and impertinent boy, he had not only succeeded in winning his mother's affection, but was quite a favourite in court, mainly because of the affection and even tenderness which Philip of Orleans, Louis XIV's brother, had for him.
But Francois de Choisy had none of the sexual leanings that his protector had, for, indeed, “Monsieur,” the king's brother, did nothing to conceal his femininity. Choisy on the other hand, often used his disguise to spring it as a surprise and thus win the affection of several beautiful women, who were so taken aback to discover that under his womanly attire there hid an unmistakable virility, that they readily succumbed to him.
Choisy galloped up to Dordrecht, feeling sure he had now nothing more to fear from the men pursuing him.
A little way outside the town he perceived a beautiful garden of tulips, and, tending the flowers, a woman just as beautiful, with her fair hair the colour of ripe corn and her sky-blue eyes, and whose bosom contained, imprisoned in a linen sheath, two half-moons of such an appetising aspect that his mouth watered.
As he complimented her on the flowers, she exclaimed, smiling:
— Well, sir, have you never seen tulips before?
— I can see you are a stranger to these parts, she said.
— Why? Because I admire tulips?
With an attractive laugh that matched her looks, she answered:
— Not only that, but you look foreign. I'd wager you are a subject of the King of France.
— A very faithful subject indeed, Choisy said ironically, but my poor Frisky is spent. Haven't you got a stable or a shed for him?
— Come! she answered, simply, leading the way to a stable which housed a cow, and giving Frisky some fodder and straw.
They talked and he learnt that her name was Julia and that her husband was a sailor, away on a voyage.
Choisy was quick to grasp his opportunity, so, after having spent the night in an inn, he came back to see the girl the following morning under the pretext of inquiring about his horse Frisky.
— He still needs a few days' rest, Julia observed, are you obliged to go away at once?
— No, he replied, I can stay a while in the realm of tulips… I like this country, and its people are so hospitable.
Julia smiled at the compliment as she naturally took it to be a personal one. It even seemed to Choisy that she was not without some emotion, which made the half-moons of her bosom rise animatedly.
They went to the table and talked amicably while patting Frisky.
— Aren't you lonesome all on your own with a husband so often away on the high sea? he asked leadingly.
She sighed a little and said with a forced smile:
— I keep busy with my garden, my hens and the cow.
— That's all right during the day, but at night?
— At night, I sleep, she said, startled.
— Perchance to dream?…
The girl's cheeks passed from pink to bright red.
— No, I rarely dream, she affirmed, adding, but you are so curious!
— I bet that in your dreams you imagine yourself in the arms of a man, your husband, of course.
— Oh! Do please stop your teasing me so! she said, you don't deserve the pancakes I had prepared for you.
She ran away to the kitchen and came back with a dish full of pancakes and a tankard of beer. They sat down to this lovely meal.
— I've never eaten better pancakes, he exclaimed after a while, if I were your husband I would stay here all the time growing flowers and eating pancakes.
At that, Julia laughed gaily, and she was so troubled by the compliment that one could have sworn her breasts would at any moment escape from their linen prison.
— Allow me to kiss you as a reward for having spoilt me with such wonderful pancakes, he said, and he rose and laid his lips on the slightly humid nape of her neck.
It smelt deliciously of woman.
— Sir! she cried out indignantly.
But he did not heed her protests, instead, he encircled her waist with one arm, while with the other hand he stroked the front of her taut blouse, tautening it still more.
— If I give you a kiss, she murmured, will you stop there?
— I give you my word, he answered, kneading her buttocks.
Indeed, after one kiss-oh, so delicious! — he released his hold and sat down to more pancakes. But he went on watching her slyly, reflecting the while that it was often a better tactic to give a woman time to warm up, thus making her more eager for the caresses to come.
When their snack was over they went to the stable.
Julia caressed the horse Frisky with a significant nervousness, as if she were taking her pleasure from the horse instead of with the rider.
— Egad, said Choisy, would you be getting fond of my horse?
— What would I do with it? she replied in a voice trembling with nerves and emotion.
— Which will you mourn when we are gone-him or me? he asked.
— Both, she said, smiling.
Suddenly she found herself a prisoner in the arms of her guest who showed unmistakable signs of amorousness and whose lips were soliciting hers with such insistence that she simply had to surrender them. But when she felt a hand groping under her frock, she had such a brisk reaction that Frisky neighed and became restless.
— See? You are frightening this poor animal, she said.
As she withdrew from his grasp, Choisy took hold of her skirt and tried to pull her back, with the result that her skirt loosened and slid down. Choisy took advantage of her stupor and sprang on her. They both rolled over on the straw.
— Stop! For Heaven's sake, stop! she cried.
But Choisy had aired his means of persuasion and at the sight of it, Julia sucked in her breath and her will- power lost its battle.
Soon, she was moaning and her thighs were joyously beating against her seducer's loins.
She accepted her defeat in good grace.
— Then it is true what I have been told about Frenchmen-that they are real rogues, she said.
— Yes, he answered, and we feel obliged to live up to our reputation. I hope you have no complaints.
— But… my husband?
— He should have stayed near you.
She waved an admonishing finger at him and remonstrated with him, but without any conviction in her tone, which betrayed a total absence of remorse. And, as Choisy was about to resume his amorous feats, she suggested tenderly:
— Not here!
She ran away, and, to catch up with her, Choisy had to trample her tulip beds. He apologized, and she forgave him readily for hadn't he given her the sweet taste of sin? She no longer offered any resistance and eventually lay down in the matrimonial bed, where Choisy joined her.
So far, Julia had been used to an outward expression of love that remained within the bounds of decency, but now she learned what it was like to have an affair with one of those devilish Frenchmen.
