'Thank you, Andrew,' she said. 'You are most sympathetic.' She turned to Holmes. 'The sum demanded,' she said, 'will come close to beggaring me.'
She stood up suddenly and began to pace the room, unconscious that her splendid bosom was spilling out of her dress. So abrupt had been her movement that I fell forward on my knees, Mr. Pego flopping on to the carpet as a milky bead of cum hung suspended from his tip. Holmes noticed.
'The rug is Turkish,' he said. 'From a village close to the Persian border. The same area from which I obtain my smoking mixture. I would be grateful if you can avoid staining it. It is very precious. The only other is in the Victoria and Albert Museum.'
I scooped my member up and wiped it with Lady M-'s discarded glove. 'My apologies,' I said, but Holmes' attention was once more directed to the matter of the blackmailing letter.
'But the money can be raised?' he went on.
'Just,' she said.
'Which suggests either that this is an improbable coincidence or that the demand comes from someone with an intimate knowledge of your financial affairs. We are dealing with a well-informed scoundrel. I notice however that there is no mention of the means by which these funds are to be transferred.'
'If you read on,' said Lady M — , 'you will see that he promises a further communication. All I am asked to do at this juncture is to assent in principle to his demands. A messenger is to call for my reply at some time in the next week.'
'Then we must be present also,' said Holmes.
'But he enjoins the strictest confidence,' she said.
'Never fear,' said Holmes, 'we shall be nearby but unnoticed when the agent of this diabolical plot arrives.'
'How will you ensure that?' she asked. 'The time is not stated. You might, I suppose, be lodged in my household.'
'That, alas, would be most unwise,' said Holmes. 'The arrival of two male guests while your husband is absent abroad would certainly be noticed in the neighbourhood. All my experience confirms that servants are inveterate gossips. Very little escapes their eyes and everything that is noticed becomes the subject of tittle-tattle amongst all their fellows in the vicinity. That is why I make the point of keeping the smallest establishment possible. Mrs. Sayers is the soul of discretion while Mr. Scott here will already have noticed that the boy and the maids speak only Portuguese: a language not generally understood in this country. I interviewed them all personally whilst in Oporto two years ago, where I was solving the Case of the Adulterated Wine.'
As with Colonel Moore, I realised that I was in the habit of falling in with men prone to digression.
'So what will we do?' I asked, dragging him back from triumphs past to problems present.
'That we will discuss later,' he said. 'But a scheme is forming in my mind. Rest assured, Lady M-that when the messenger returns, we will be present and observing all that transpires, although I suspect that you will not be aware of us.'
'So you are convinced that this vile plot is definitely all the work of my husband?' said Lady M-.
'In all probability,' said Holmes, 'although we must not discount the possibility that two separate attempts are being made to divest you of your fortune.'
'How horrible,' she said, 'I am ever too trusting of human nature.'
'And also somewhat careless with your affairs, Ma'am,' said Holmes, 'I would in future counsel some care in the bestowal of your favours.'
'I will try,' said our visitor, 'but you must understand that I am not one of your blue-stockinged, intellectual modern women. To put it bluntly, I have needs that have to be satisfied.'
'You like fucking,' said Holmes, bluntly.
'It is I suppose my chief enjoyment in life,' she said, drawing herself up to her full height and looking him straight in the eye.
'But until this frightful business is cleared up, I do most strongly suggest that you are, if not wholly continent, at least careful. Take for instance the gentleman who is waiting for you outside in your carriage.'
'An old friend,' she said. 'One who I can trust.'
'Will he not be becoming bored with the wait?' I asked.
'I suspect not,' Lady M-said with a roguish grin. 'He was well drained from his exertions when I left him. He deserves some rest. But how did you know of his presence?'
'You were observed,' said Holmes. 'Or rather the vigorous motion of your carriage was observed.'
Lady M-blushed, 'I was so nervous concerning my visit to you that Matthew decided that I needed to have my mind taken off my plight for a few minutes.'
'Three quarters of an hour,' said Holmes.
'Good Gracious! Was it that long? How time does fly when one is fucking. Anyway, I did feel much better afterwards. But now I am beginning to feel rather tense.' Again she involuntarily reached out and clutched my member. I winced.
'Oh, sorry!' she said. 'I've squeezed you too hard.'
'Not at all,' I said, blinking a little as tears sprang to my eyes. She relaxed her grip and began to caress my prick with regular but gentle strokes. All the pain was quickly soothed away and it thrust boldly out once more.
'If you feel the need of some further relaxing exercise,' said Holmes, 'pray do not hesitate. I am certain that Scott will help you and I need to ponder some more on what is to be done.'
'That is very understanding of you,' she said, if Andrew is prepared to help a lady in distress-'
'By all means,' I answered, delighted at the realisation that I could actually help Holmes in his professional endeavours while at the same time assisting this poor suffering creature to gain some semblance of relief. 'Anything I can do to ease your anguish,' I said.
'I suggest that you ease your prick into my pussey,' she said with that commendable directness of expression that so often marks the upper echelons of our society. 'Now, off with your trousers!'
I did as I was told. She fairly threw herself backward upon the cushions, pulled up her dress and raised her knees. Without more ado, I lowered myself on to her.
Lady M- was clearly thoroughly experienced in such matters. There was none of that clumsy bumping and boring that so often attends the fumbling embraces of the novice. Mr. Pego immediately slipped through the already damp thickets of her pussey hair and found the moist entrance to her cave of delights. At his touch, she wriggled her bum into a more comfortable position and opened up before me. Almost without effort, the entire length of my prick sank into her up to the hilt. I paused as she tightened her grip on me and a smile of pure pleasure lit up her face.
'That is just what I need,' she said, holding me for a moment or two.
Slowly I began to slide easily up and down her warmly clinging cunney. She in turn began to rise to meet my thrusting. Like any gentleman, I endeavoured to keep my weight on my elbows and, intent though I was on my delightful task, I could not help but notice that Holmes, not one whit put out by the scene that was being enacted in front of him, was scrutinising the photographic prints he held out before him. At one point he peered intently at some detail on a print using a magnifying glass. Then he screwed a monocle into place, raised his head and stared at Lady M-'s private parts now fully revealed as her dress rode up over her stomach with its deep-set navel.
'A memorable bush,' he murmured to himself. 'And a certain identification.'
Meanwhile the pace of our efforts had been increasing. It was as though we had fucked many times before. Our breathing was in unison, deeper now as a slight sheen of sweat oiled our bodies. My prick tingled with the firm pressure of her inner walls. We fitted together as though a benign Providence had designed each for the other.
Now she lifted up her legs still further and crossed them behind my waist, pressing me down into her, yet she did not grasp me so tightly as to inhibit my rhythm. We speeded up and then with a natural control, relaxed our efforts a little. Again our efforts increased and again slowed down. She had a wonderful sense of timing, understanding as though by instinct when to lower the tension so that our pleasure might be prolonged.
Holmes meanwhile had taken a pair of callipers from a desk drawer and was taking careful measurements from the photographs, noting down the results in a small book. His brow was a little furrowed as he concentrated on his task but there was a slight smile of satisfaction on his lips. Then he looked around him.
'Scott, could you-' he began and then pulled himself together, realising that I was far too buried in my own work to assist him. 'I am sorry,' he said, 'Do carry on.'