this lithe and agile girl of eighteen or nineteen strapped down on all fours astride the bench, was a story in itself. The shock of blond hair and the painted young face made such a self-pitying ensemble. She wore her breast-halter, but from the strap round her waist to the strap which pinioned her bare legs just above the knees, she was quite naked. From the back of her waist to the back of her knees, she was at the disposal of the sadistic vizier. I was not able to witness the sequel, not indeed to hold any conversation of the normal kind with Sarah. The gag was already in place and so there was wildness in her blue eyes with their mascara'd lashes. Yet there lay upon the floor a trailing whip which would have brought the most disobedient filly to correction after half a dozen strokes. And in the glow of the brazier coals two little marking discs were heating, each the size of a small coin. I returned Sarah's frenzy with a smile and advised her to learn obedience and gratitude to her master for the tribute of sperm he paid her, when he might have preferred many another harem-girl. With that I nodded to the vizier and urged him to chastise the little whore soundly. I observe respect for social morality-in whichever society I happen to be. In England we do not permit a man to keep slaves. In Arabia a man may be an outcast who drinks alcohol or eats pork. Ahmed Pasha, as our guest in England, would no more dream of dynamiting a pork butcher's shop or a distillery than I would rob him of a slave-girl in his own land. What would become of the world if each country tried to overthrow the laws of the rest? None would triumph. Chaos and anarchy must overwhelm us all, He did not deal with her as harshly as he might. He might hang Sarah for her crime, if he chose. It is his right. Enough of that. I dream now of autumn in the Villa Lola and our calm Italian lake. I shall rest a few weeks and then return to England. There is a delightful Italian tomboy of eighteen whom I wish to explore, rather short but firm-figured, dark in hair and complexion. You shall hear of her seductions and of every stroke of the cane given across the broad olive-skinned cheeks of Patrizia Luisi's bottom! Until I salute you from la Bella Italia, I am your true friend, M-J- Anonymous Augustus and Lady Maude XXII. Augustus to Lady Maude Wight, 4 September My beloved Cousin, As soon as it was rumoured to me that you had returned to Cairo from your little voyage in Arabia Deserta, I took up my pen to write and tell you of the new event which has quite transformed my life.
You were right about Julie. Of course you were. Even in the case of Maggie, my own reactions to certain spectacles in which she was involved assured me that she could not, at all, be the future partner of my life. And yet, my dear, you are mistaken in the most important truth of all. Though neither Julie nor Maggie was worthy of the honour I proposed, there are girls of their humble origins who are more than equal to it. The story of Cinderella and her prince is no mere fable to me. Could I ever find such a treasure? I have done so at last. Her name is Noreen and she is in our friend Bowler's employ. I daresay you will not at once acquiesce in my choice, dear Maude. Yet only give the matter a little time and I am quite sure that Noreen will find a place in your heart as she has done in my own.
With what expectancy I await your return, my dearest, in a few weeks more. Then you shall see for yourself and congratulate me upon the future bliss which lies within my grasp. Your loving cousin, Augustus Anonymous Augustus and Lady Maude XXIII. Lady Maude to Mr. Bowler Gardone, 11 September My dear Friend, However unethical it may be, I enclose a copy of the last letter which I received in Cairo from Lord Augustus. You will see at once why I have cancelled my plans for a warm Italian autumn by the lakes and am returning to England. I am determined that his moral education should be put in hand at once. He must learn the obligations and pleasures which are proper to a gentleman-and those which are not. I wish it were possible to make him see the truth. In his privileged position he may have whatever fun he likes with such young whores as Julie, Maggie, or his latest inamorata, it is the purpose for which such girls exist in our society. As a member of the governing class, he could have them consigned to reformatory or penitentiary, if their resistance proves obstinate, and there enjoy them under threat of the lash. No man of sense in church or state opposes the whipping of such creatures. Indeed, there is talk of a KGB for Mr. James Miles.
But to “spoon” with such wenches, as he does-to talk of them as his brides-to-be!-is beyond all endurance. Is he so hardened in vice and republicanism mat he cannot see the consequences of his wickedness? There is but one remedy, my dear friend. We must teach him how to enjoy pleasure as he should. Only let him enjoy the fun that may be had with such creatures when they have no option but to obey him. It will whet his appetite as this feeble cow-eyed adoration never could. From now on, his life of idle pleasure must cease. He shall attend the reformatory and penitentiary as a magistrate and gentleman should. There he shall see these sluts dealt with and enjoyed by the only method which they understand. Did our forefathers struggle to make our country great, merely in order that its fabric should be worm-eaten by the amorous freaks of a neurasthenic boy?
Enough of this neurasthenia into the bargain! A little education in the cruder and coarser attributes of such girls as these will work wonders. Let him see them spurred by the lash to every vulgarity of which their bodies are capable, it will prove a wholesome corrective to this talk of Plato and Petrarch. I must teach him to appreciate girls of his own class and to see these other wenches for what they are. I readily admit that they offer a man strong pleasures of a certain variety. But the thought of my cousin wedded to a strumpet dressed in virgin white quite revolts me. An end, then, to milk-sop romance and neurasthenia. My uncle tells me that Dr.
Raspail's last bill had to be read to be believed. It will not be paid, of course, for many a month and I do not doubt that he had overcharged in expectation of such a delay. Give me the cure of Lord Augustus's nerves, my friend. I will effect it in short order and at very little cost. We shall make a proper gentleman of him these next few months. There, I feel much better for saying my say. I have asked my father to put off my presentation at court until the spring in order to devote myself to my cousin's cure. I look forward with keen anticipation to the next few months, convinced that we shall have some exquisite moments of delight with the troupe of young sluts at our disposal. A bientot, my friend! My thoughts turn towards England and the pleasures of duty! Your true friend, Maude, Lady
III. ENVOI
As soon as all our friends had returned to England, the summer correspondence between them ceased. Yet one who is the friend of them all-the editor of these few chapters-must end the story for them. Lady Maude was as good as her word and came straight home upon hearing that her imprudent cousin Lord Augustus had involved himself in yet another dangerous infatuation. She did not at once take action but hung back a little as if hoping that the crisis might pass of its own accord. Even at that time she was much concerned that those who loved Lord A. should lead him towards a true understanding of the duties which he owed to society-and which were not in the least incompatible with the pleasures he sought. Where pleasure rather than a permanent alliance was intended, her ladyship would never have interfered. Her own brothers had often indulged in such affairs without ever incurring more than her smile. At that moment one of them was riding a pretty blonde of twenty with cropped hair and fringe, a firm suntanned little face and blue eyes. Her lithe and suntanned limbs adorned his couch, the curves of Jane Truman's bottom-cheeks or breasts filled his hands. Lady Maude was no prude and never dreamt of interfering. It was evident at a glance that her brother would never have married a little wriggler of this sort. Lady Maude is among our most respectable and respected younger peeresses. To a lingering affection for her own sex she soon added a fortunate marriage to Lord Rupert N-. He is somewhat her elder and a power in the land. Lady Maude has always had a strong taste for proper morals. No one could be more zealous in advocating the chastisement of young women who stray from the path of decency or propriety. Lord Rupert indulges his beloved in this matter of stripping insolent servant girls and promiscuous young wives who must learn their lesson under the whip.
Every gaoler and beadle in the county takes his commands from her ladyship. Were you to suggest that the twinkle in Lady Maude's eye betokens some lewd or perverse pleasure, you would be regarded with incredulity and contempt. Her respectability is armed cap-a-pie against all such reproaches. Several times her ladyship has been able to save her cousin from the consequences into which his impetuous feelings might have brought him. In this she remembered the example of her friend Mr. Bowler. Alas, even the unmasking of Julie and Maggie had not taught Lord Augustus to behave with more caution.
Scarcely a month after her return from Carda, her ladyship called at a temple of fashion in one of the smartest streets, not a stone's throw from the elegant showroom of her friend the saddler. She observed several gentlemen gazing entranced at the long window where saddles and bridles were set out. With some unease, she observed mat her cousin was one of this group. Lady Maude moved unobtrusively to see what might be the object of such adoration. A well-built girl of nineteen was dusting and polishing the floor where the saddles were arranged. Noreen was the girl, quite tall and strongly made. Her lank dark hair was worn loose, cut short at the level of her
