have much to answer for, and if the devil-'
'Hush! Good gracious. Hush, don't mention him, I beg of you. If anything more than another will be likely to- the Lord have mercy upon us, did you hear that?'
I had given utterance to a hideous growl from the wardrobe and so ghostly and horrible had I made the sound that even the lady herself could not help giving a slight start of alarm.
'Mercy?' said the husband. 'I begin to think he is here, I begin to feel sure. Oh, wife-wife, by your conduct you see you have raised the thingummy.'
'I? You mean yourself, by your conduct. Did you not in the garden actually say such things that the enemy of mankind thought proper to make his appearance to us! There it is again!'
I gave another groan more hideous than the first, and the husband was so alarmed that, forgetting all his caution about not mentioning that name which is not usually mentioned to ears polite, he cried, 'The devil! the devil! Oh, the devil is here and we are lost-lost-lost! Help!
Help! Murder! The devil is here. He is here, I know. Speak to him, wife, and ask him what he wants.'
'What do you want?' said the wife in an affected, trembling voice, 'oh, what do you want here?'
'My due,' said I.
'And good Mr. D., what may that be?'
'A groundlessly jealous husband. A man who, because his wife is fair and pleasant, must, forsooth, fancy her criminal. Such is the man I want.'
'Merciful Providence,' said the husband, 'that is me.'
'It is,' said I; 'are you prepared?'
'No, I am not. I am quite the reverse of prepared; I don't want to be jealous any more. I am cured-most effectually cured. Say no more to me, I beg. I am not the man I was. I will no more threaten my wife.'
'But yet, as a token, it is necessary that I should hold your hand in mine for a moment. One moment will suffice. Your hand will turn perfectly black, so that whenever you look at it the memory of my visit should be with you.'
'Oh, no-no-no.'
'It must be. I come-I come-I come.'
As I took good care to make my advance quite manifest as regarded the side of the bed I was upon, the husband, whose fears had almost worked him into madness, sprang out at the other side and with a yell of horror darted from the room.
'A thousand thanks,' said the lady. 'I do think you have made an impression upon him, that he will never in this world forget. I owe you very much.'
'But he will be back again?'
'Certainly not; I make no doubt but that he will lock himself up in his study for the remainder of the night; and the discomfort he will there experience will be a proper punishment for his conduct towards me.'
'I quite agree with you, my dear madam. He will be cold and uncomfortable in the study as a punishment, while I shall be warm and snug in his bed as a reward.'
'Sir!'
It was very dark, but I succeeded in stopping her mouth with a kiss, then I whispered, 'Do you think I could be insensible to your beauty?
Ah, no; what I have done has been done for the love I bear towards you.'
'Help!' said the lady in a whisper. 'Help!'
'Help is near,' I replied, 'so near indeed that you may even put your hand upon it!'
'Where?' she whispered again with a low laugh, reaching forth a white hand from the bed.
'Here,' I answered, as I placed it upon my member.
'Ah, that is help indeed!' said my lady passing her dainty fingers rapidly up and down the length of the column which reared its head in full majesty under her lascivious and evidently practised touch. 'And now, kind and generous stranger,' she went on, 'you shall have your reward for your disinterested conduct, and I-unless this magnificent weapon greatly belies his shape and proportions-my compensation for a night of terror. How nobly erect he stands! How inviting is his coral head! so close to my lips too, that I could almost find it in my heart-but no! that must be for another time-'
I ventured to remind her that there was no time like the present, but she went on as if not hearing me.
'And now, my dear preserver, I will light another candle, lock the door, remove this superfluous garment of mine whilst you also undress yourself, and then you shall lie between my legs and your Satanic Majesty's most royal sceptre shall push its amorous way into my womb.'
Almost before the words were out of her mouth I had stripped myself to the skin, and the lovely girl being by this time in a similar condition, I flung myself upon her naked body and bearing her gently but most firmly down upon the edge of the bed I slid between her widely open thighs, and as she crossed her legs tightly round my buttocks I raked her with long, powerful and deeply penetrating strokes, each one of which was accurately responded to by an answering heave of her charming bottom until the tide of love broke its bounds and I lay glued upon her bosom in a spasm of unutterable rapture.
Did I attempt to recount the number of times our pleasures were renewed that night I should fear to be regarded as a species of erotic Baron Munchausen. I will therefore confine myself to saying that dawn was on the point of breaking as I glided from the mansion and made my way home.
My new mistress was, I had already divined, the wife of a rich and vulgar tradesman whose only merit consisted in his wealth.
Mrs. Finch-that was her name-was admirably formed by nature both for love and intrigue. Long ere we parted we had given each other our confidence and provided a plan for a continuance of our intrigue.
It was settled that I was to visit her during the day and that I was to present myself to the servants as Count Stophet. All this, of course, was to cost money; for to appear like a count one must dress like a count and fee servants like a count-and to do either of these things was somewhat beyond my income. My sweet mistress understood this matter at once and forced upon me a two hundred pound note.
'Take it,' she smilingly persisted, in spite of my remonstrance; 'it is every thing to you at present but a mere nothing to me. My husband has plenty and lavishes it upon me like dirt. One of these days you may yourself be rich, and then, if you insist upon it, you can return it to me.'
I had, then, no other resource than to accept the money as a boon.
Having repaid my charming friend with another warm embrace for her generosity and promised to visit and comfort her as frequently as possible, I tore myself away, as I have already said, as dawn was on the point of breaking and I steered for home. As I threw myself on my bed I could not help thanking my stars for bringing Delia's old protector so unexpectedly home, since his coming, if it had for the time being robbed me of one mistress, had provided me with another.
I slept that day away and forgot (so much was I infatuated with my new mistress) that there was such a creature as either Emma or the lovely, though jealous Bessy, in the world.
In the evening I repaired to a tailor's and provided myself with a suit in every way worthy of a count; and having satisfied myself that my appearance was equal to that of the finest lord in London, I returned to my lodging to impatiently count the hours when I was to present myself to my new mistress.
While ascending to my room I encountered Bessy upon the stairs and made her a gracious bow. She returned it slightly and blushed as I swept past her. There was an air of surprise, too, upon her features, as she furtively regarded the splendour of my appearance.
'Good!' thought I. 'If Bessy is surprised at the elegance of my ensemble, what will be the effect of it upon Mrs. Finch?'
About two on the following day I left my lodgings and taking a carriage proceeded to the Finches. As I announced my name to the porter, the effect was electrical. He bowed himself to the very floor, and a moment later I was ushered with much ceremony into the drawing room. There were two ladies there, in waiting to receive meMrs. Finch, and a widowed friend of hers, the Marchioness of Simplan, to whom my charming mistress introduced me in due form.
An hour passed away very pleasantly when another visitor was announced-Lord Glozy, a young, tolerably handsome and carefully dressed fellow, who eyed me at first with considerable coldness, which however wore away
