By Amanda
1803 – Paris
I moved from room to room, eventually finding Josephine still in the guest room that I’d prepared for her. I called for Josette and asked her to bring us tea. I sat upon the bed next to my former mistress while we waited for it.
We said nothing as we sat. I think perhaps we both knew what the other was thinking. When at last the tea was served, she and I sat at a small table and sipped from my china cups.
“This is when I should ask you what you want to talk about,” Josephine began.
“But you already know,” I said, smiling.
“Of course.” Josephine sipped her tea. “Is Sandra serving the guests?”
“No, she isn’t. Not at all,” I replied.
“But she has offered, yes?”
I nodded my head.
“And she told you something like ‘I don’t mind, it is what I am for…’?”
“Yes, and, ‘There are far worse things a woman like us could be’,” I finished for her.
“I have taught her that, for as long as she had been in my home,” Josephine explained. “I reminded her of it, with each new girl I trained. Well, you understand, I am sure.”
I nodded my head again.
“So you see, then, that you cannot change her.”
“She has changed,” I insisted stubbornly.
“Has she? Or has she simply repeated to you what you wanted her to?” Josephine retorted.
That struck a chord with me. I had assumed the girl’s sincerity, but after the previous night I had my doubts. I wondered if perhaps Sandra simply did not know what she wanted and did not believe herself able to be any more than she already was.
“You are a wicked devil, Josephine,” I whispered. “And I hope you’re wrong.”
“I’ll tell you the truth, if you want to hear it,” she offered.
After a pause, I nodded, and she went on, “I almost hope I am too. A part of me hopes you have succeeded me. After all, that is what any teacher hopes, is it not? That their student someday will become a better teacher than themselves?” She sighed, “I wonder what I would do without my darling little Sandra about the house. Tell us, Liz, do you think I’m cut out to take a girl, make her my wife, and live quietly now that I have reached old age?”
“Not at all,” I said in earnest. “I think you would go mad with something so ordinary. Besides, you are not so very old. Your hair is not white, and you have few lines on your face…”
“I am older than you may think. I reached fifty only this year,” she explained. “This past year, I have wondered if the time has not come for me to pass the torch to another, or at least, to retire while I’m still respected. What about you? Could you take my place?”
“I have no stomach for what you do,” I said honestly. “I could never submit a girl to what I lived through in your house.”
“Honest to a fault. It’s one of the things I so adore about you,” Josephine said with a smile. “And I think you are right. If you could, then you would not be here trying to get me to give up some secret for keeping Sandra with you.”
“I suppose I am a fool for trying to hide my intentions from you,” I laughed.
“Indeed so. But I’ve surrendered the secret all the same. If you could have become me, even if only for her, then you would not have to fear her leaving you.”
I shook my head, frowning.
“She offered to service your guests. You should have made her do it. You should have ordered her to do that before it ever occurred to her to ask. She asked because she doesn’t know her place here.” Josephine sipped the last of her tea, and poured some more, then said, “She’s afraid, she feels insecure. Sandra very much wants to feel sure of where she fits in your home. While in mine, such questions would never occur to her.”
“I did take control of her, though. I did order her about.”
“But you have said it yourself. You haven’t the stomach for such things, and so you were always Liz. Even as a mistress, you were still the kind and compassionate Liz Jordan. Did you give her the glove even once?”
“I would never!” I shouted.
“Of course you wouldn’t. Sandra knows that too. As I said, girl, if you wanted to be sure of keeping her, you would have had to become me.”
“I hate that you’re right,” I said quietly.
“Take heart, girl, I’ve seen how she looks upon you. Her demeanor has changed quite a bit since last I saw her. You may not have lost her yet. I’m honestly not sure which of us she’ll pick.”
She placed a lump of sugar in her tea and stirred it. “Chinese?” she asked after sipping.
“Perhaps Japanese,” I said.
“Ah. Have you ever met an Oriental?”
“No, I think I have not.”
“You would know if you had. Tiny little people they are, with narrow eyes and hair as black as night. I hear tell the women are exquisite,” she chuckled to herself. “They say that some Chinese are eager to give up their daughters, I wonder if perhaps I shouldn’t send someone to fetch me a girl for my house.”
“That’s awful, mistress.”
“Do you really think so?” Josephine responded. “Perhaps that despicable slave trade has corrupted even the best of us. Still, it isn’t as if I couldn’t acquire a girl from an orphanage with but little difficulty and moderate expense. Tis how I came by Sandra. Would it be so different to take the next from a family who doesn’t even want her?”
“I doubt there are even girls like us among the Orientals,” I laughed. “How could you ever tell?”
“If there is one thing I know with certainty, it is that women like us exist everywhere. Orientals will have them, the Indies have them, Africans have them, the red Indians back home have them. And you can rest assured that even among the women of the Mohammedans, you will find our type.”
“Are you suddenly an optimist?” I laughed. “I doubt that even one in a hundred women are like us. Maybe not even one in a thousand.”
“I think it a great many more than that. If it isn’t that they love only women, it is that so many are at least happy to welcome a woman to their bed. I sometimes wonder if perhaps we are the weaker sex. In my life, I have almost never failed to seduce a woman upon whom I set my sights.”
She finished her second cup of tea and set it down. “I think the hour is late and we should join the other guests for breakfast, don’t you?”
We entered the dining room together. There the women had been gathering, however slowly, and Josette was preparing to serve the morning meal. It had been my plan to have breakfast alone with my former mistress, but that would have been bad form as a hostess.
We ate and set about passing the hours of the day socializing and coming to know one another. While I myself knew each woman there better than most others, many of them hardly knew one another at all.
Lunch came and went, and in the afternoon I enjoyed Alice’s antics while a group of the tom boys talked politics in the library with Madame Le Granade. I decided it was my duty as a hostess to join them even if I had nothing to offer, as I knew little about such things. When I entered the library, the good Madame was explaining that she believed Napoleon would surely undo all that had been done in the Revolution. This surprised me, since it was my understanding that she had remained loyal to the King at that time of the revolt.
“Ah, Elizabeth,” she said warmly upon seeing me. “Tell us, what do you think of this little toad who’s seized power?”
“I think it is as you say. The people managed to wrest some measure of power from the nobles in the Revolution, yet no sooner does this man take command than he begins chipping away at that. I fear for our future. He threatens to carry us into war across all of Europe, and France has neither the surplus of gold nor blood to accomplish his ambitions. I fear given time he will bring us to our knees.”
The women looked to one another silently for a time. Even Catherine seemed quite shocked, and I must say I’d surprised myself by saying so much.
“I think this subject has been closed,” Annabelle said at last. “Doubtless no one could counter such a firm argument.”
I approached her. She had been teasing me by asking such a question, as it was known among all that I knew very little about political workings.
A friend of mine, Paulette, asked, “But don’t you think Napoleon can lead us to greatness?”
“Conquest comes at a price,” I answered. “And I fear it will be too terrible to face.”
“Ah, but just think of it,” Catherine said in jest, ‘a whole city of lonely women, desperate for comfort while their men are out playing soldier.”
I could not help but laugh.
“And that gentlemen, and ladies, would be a little bit of heaven, I think.” Catherine was doing her best to lighten the mood, as it had become quite dark.
Annabelle scolded her. “Catherine Pennington, you should be ashamed of your womanizing ways. When I think of the lovely young girl you were when first we met, my heart breaks to see you now.”
“M’lady, you wound me,” said Catherine, bowing low before the older woman. “However, if my memory can be trusted, it would seem that you were all too happy to take advantage of my precociousness.”
“You little whelp,” Annabelle snapped. “How dare you besmirch my reputation with such an accusation!”
For a moment I thought the Madame was angry in earnest. However, I caught sight of a smile playing at her lips.
“Which reputation have I besmirched?” Catherine teased. “That of the upstanding and shrewd business woman, or the equally honorable one of the expert lover and seductress?”
“I can’t have these people believing I could be swayed by the charms of a fourteen-year-old girl. It was I who seduced you, and took your innocence, and don’t you forget it.”
“True, ’tis as you say, m’lady,” Catherine agreed.
I tried not to show my surprise. I’d never thought to ask how Catherine might have known Annabelle. That they might once have been lovers had never even occurred to me.
The Madame glanced at me and winked, as the other women chuckled to themselves. I wondered if perhaps this had been a secret that only I’d not been in on. Annabelle was at least a dozen years older than Josephine, probably more. To see her now, remote and disciplined, one might easily forget that she was young, like us once. We teased and prodded one another a time longer before I left them to continue their discussions.
On my way to the parlor, Sandra caught me. I took her on my arm and we entered the parlor together.
“Madame Le Granade has generously provided us cigars,” I said as we entered. “You will find them on the dining room table. Please, if you are so inclined, feel free to enjoy one.”
Alice wrinkled her nose. She did not like cigars and complained often of the smell of them.
I turned to Sandra and pulled her close. I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her deeply, eliciting giggles from those around us.
“Miss?” she questioned when I released her.
“Have you had occasion to speak with Josephine yet?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“Go and find her, I think she would like to see you.”
“And if she orders me to…”
“The mistress is honorable. She will not order you to do anything in my home,” I assured, “any more than I would order you to do anything in hers.”
“I would like to see the mistress,” she admitted. “But I did not want to insult you.”
“Sandra, dear Sandra.” I pulled her close. “I had so hoped you might come to understand that your happiness is my happiness. Go and talk with her.”
I sent Sandra away to find Josephine. I then set about greeting and speaking with each of my guests.
I came upon Virginia, Annette, and Eliza talking in my dining room and quickly joined them.
“Annette says you want the two of them to put on the show tomorrow night,” Eliza said to me.
“I don’t have any other ideas,” I replied.
“Well, you have Alice and me. I’m sure we could give you a show that these ladies will not soon forget.”
“Virginia and I have decided we want to do this. It seems an honor to be asked, I think,” Annette offered.
“You really are too kind,” I said. “Please, it is I who should be honored.”
“Well, some of us know a bit about Catherine and her sorority,” Annette began, “and there she is the leader, the one all the ladies look up to. But here, that person is you. You built our sorority, you brought us together, you make all this possible. To fulfill a request from you, to even be asked, is certainly an honor. Imagine the girls eating their heart out wondering why you didn’t call on them.”
Eliza began to laugh, though she fought to hold it back. “If you had seen the wide-eyed girl I met for the first time at a party not dissimilar to this one, you’d scarce recognize her.”
She sighed and stepped close to me. “Dear girl, to see you held in such regard warms my heart.” Then she turned to the others. “Did she ever tell you what the show was at her first party?”
“The first she threw? We were here,” replied Virginia.
“No, I mean the first of Catherine’s that she attended.”
“Oh, what was it then?” Annette begged.
“Why, I buggered my darling Alice on a stage in front of everyone,” Eliza laughed. The two women stood in silent shock.
“Using one of those… what did you call it, Liz?” asked Annette.
“A dildo.”
“Yes, yes, one of those things?” Annette continued.
“Indeed,” said Eliza with a smile.
“Annette, darling, we must do that tomorrow,” Virginia said excitedly.
“I would recommend you do not,” said Eliza. “It took a full week to prepare Alice. The first time we tried, it hurt her so bad she burst into tears. ’Tis a delicate act, more even, I think, than when you give up your virginity. After our first attempt, I was almost to afraid to try again. But, well, obviously I did.”
“I agree,” I said to Virginia. “It will be enough to just see you in…” I trailed off, not wanting to spoil the surprise.
“Now, you see, you’ve aroused my curiosity,” said Eliza, more seriously. “What is it about these girls that makes them so entertaining. Is one of them like Sarah? Born a man, but living as a woman?”
“Not at all. I’ve met no such person here,” I told her.
“Then what indeed?” Eliza looked Virginia over carefully. “Whatever it is, it’s you,” she finally said.
Virginia made a poor attempt of trying to hide how keen Eliza’s senses were.
“I knew it,” said Eliza with a smile. “Well, I eagerly await the show then.”
Virginia breathed a sigh of relief.
That Virginia was a nun was not common knowledge. I knew about it, Sandra knew, and Josette knew. But quite plainly this was something she must otherwise keep secret.
“I still haven’t told you the best part,” Eliza said, regaining their attention. “Afterward, I sent little Alice in to seduce her.” She put her arm around me and hugged me close. “My Alice taken a shine to Liz, so I told her to find her and bed her.”
“What if Maddy had refused to allow it?” I asked.
“Be serious, girl. Maddy and I agreed on it even before the show. I’d never dare to break up a happy home. And whatever else one might say, yours was clearly a happy home.”
“She never told me,” I said, as I leaned my head on Eliza’s shoulder. “I haven’t thought of Maddy in some time. That all seems a world away.”
“It very nearly is,” she said quietly. “Feels like another life to me too. Things are good in Philadelphia now, but there is a distinct lack of excitement. I went to the first party Catherine ever threw, you know. There were she and I, and six, perhaps eight other women. None of us had a sweetheart. It was quite a tame affair. I think not so much as a bare breast was seen. She was a mere twenty-two years old then. And I… I was but a babe in the woods at fourteen. A year later, Catherine had met Josephine and was living with her in New York. So there was no party, no tavern. Just a handful of us, drifting between one another for some kind of comfort whenever we could find a way to meet. When Catherine came back, though, she was different. Forceful, driven, ambitious… and perverse.”
We all giggled.
“Telling my life history, Eliza?” Catherine said, stepping into the room.
“Forgive me, Catherine,” said Eliza, seeming a bit embarrassed. “Would you like to tell the rest now? It wouldn’t do to leave off here.”
“No, I prefer the way you tell it. You make me seem as a hero, or some kind of goddess. When I tell it, I sound like a scared and insecure girl who got lucky more times than not,” she laughed.
“All right,” said Eliza. “Well, a few months after she returned from New York, Catherine threw another party. But this time, when the guests arrived they found her stark naked, striding about her house. She got everyone drunk almost right away and somehow managed to coax all but myself out of their dresses. She served us dinner, naked, of course. And that night she read us our first erotic tale. When she had finished, she practically pounced on me. I was in complete shock. I hardly knew what to think, and before I could gather my wits she had buried her face between my legs. I was in the throes of passion when I found myself being kissed by another woman. The entire affair degraded into an orgy soon after. I don’t think our hostess failed to please even one of the ladies there that night.”
“Some of them twice,” said Catherine, with a wicked smile.
“We made love long into the evening. So long that some of the girls had begun to sober up. In fact, I think we all had. Some sobbed, while others struggled to find something to cover themselves with. But somehow Catherine soothed them.”
Eliza looked at her. “You said something, just a few words, really, but somehow it chased away our doubts and shame. What was it?” she asked, evidently trying to remember. “It was brilliant, made us all feel so strong.”
“I don’t recall. Some prattle Josephine had put in my head no doubt.” Catherine sipped from a glass of wine she’d been holding. “Something I’m sure about how we should have no shame in feeling what might be the first and only passion we would ever feel. The same type of nonsense I said to every new girl.”
“What you call nonsense, many of us have taken to heart and tried to live by,” I said to her. “Your nonsense and Josephine’s prattle are why I am where I am.”
I was slightly put off by Catherine’s dismissal of what Eliza considered to be words of wisdom, and this showed in my tone.
“Forgive me, Liz,” she said. “I have never taken compliments well. The truth is, whatever I told them I believed at the time and I’m sure I still believe to some degree. This is why I like hearing Eliza’s version better.” She emptied her wine glass. “Please, forgive my interruption.”
Eliza smiled at her. They were close enough for her not to take offense at Catherine’s characterization of herself.
Soon she went on, “Well, the wisdom of what you said that night reached us, anyway. But our indulgences were also catching up with us. So, we all slept in the parlor. She’d not had the idea for a show or anything else yet,” Eliza chuckled. “It was just a party that she had managed to turn into an orgy. Anyway, with the sunrise our humiliation returned and was redoubled when the servants arrived carrying trays with breakfast for us. Catherine had taken our clothing, and she was not giving it back. We spent the day cowering in the house. Well, some of us did — others found dark corners to make love in. By the second evening, we had all come around. Then Catherine decided to read us another story. When it was done the room was filled with girls pleasuring one another. I waited for her, though. When it was all over and we had gone home, most of us thought that was the end of it all. But within the year Catherine had bought her public house and was bringing more and more of us together. She seemed to become wiser, stronger, and more driven every day. I truly looked up to her as a hero. And now, she is the womanizing tavern owner, plantation owner, and adulteress you see before you.”
“Please, you’ll make me blush,” Catherine laughed. “But have any of you seen Charity? I’ve not seen her since breakfast, and I’m a bit worried.”
I excused myself and Catherine and I made our way out of the room. “Check the second floor,” I suggested to her.
I moved on to more guests, and nearly a half hour later happened upon Catherine again. “Did you find Charity?” I asked.
“Indeed I did, my girl, indeed I did.”
“Where?”
“Why, tucked neatly between Jezebel’s thighs. I imagine she’s still there if you’d like to see her.”
“What of Angelique?” I asked absently.
“The blonde frog Jezebel came with?”
“You’re terrible, Catherine,” I scolded and she laughed.
“I believe I saw her with them, but they all seemed to want a bit of privacy and I did not want to intrude,” she chuckled.
Some time later I would see all three coming down the main stair looking a bit guilty and very satisfied.
When dusk fell, dinner was served. This night I had Madame Le Granade at my right and Josephine at my left. We ate and laughed and regaled one another with stories of our loves and exploits. Madame Le Granade was begged for details of her life but she would not give them up. It was a disappointment, but it added to her mystique. To be so open would not have been in character for her anyway.
We soon retired to the parlor. Josette set about serving absinthe. That particular liquor had a tendency to encourage the ladies to shed their shame. But more than that, it was an enjoyable drink, and because it was hard to come by it was something that some of my guests may never have a chance to taste again.
When I saw that the drink was beginning to take effect, I crossed the room to a single bookshelf stocked with but a few books.
“My honored guests,” I said, raising my voice. The chatter of the women quieted. “Tonight you’ll be treated to a truly awful story.”
I ran my fingers along the spines of the books, pausing at one and pulling it from the shelf. This I opened with the bookmark, and then withdrew a second book bound in paper. I replaced the first book on the shelf and turned to face my guests.
“Some years ago, a naive young girl arrived in Philadelphia. She soon took up with a rather well to do farrier. In time the farrier introduced her to a woman you all know. And soon the girl found herself in that woman’s home at a party not unlike this one. That woman was none other than Catherine Pennington, and the girl I speak of, of course, was me. At that party our hostess read us a story about a pair of most lecherous sisters. And tonight, I would like for the lovely Catherine to read that story to you.”
Catherine immediately declined, but the women and I insisted. Reluctantly she approached me and took the booklet from my hands. “Wherever did you find this?” she asked.
“It was no small feat I assure you. But, please, I so look forward to being held in your thrall.”
I left her, sitting next to my Sandra on the floor. As Catherine read the story, very nearly exactly as I remembered it, I wrapped my arms around my love. But for a moment, I even felt as if Maddy’s ghost had somehow found me there and sat just behind me, holding me. A tear, be it sadness or joy, I don’t know, slipped from my eye and I lay my head against Sandra.
When the story was finished, Catherine knelt before Sandra and me. Around us women were slowly moving toward making love, whether simply flirting or passionately kissing.
“Did I do as well as you remember?” Catherine asked.
“Better, I think. Maddy would have been proud.”
“I hope so.” She patted my head like a child. “Charity sits alone behind you. I think I should join her before someone else snatches her away from me.”
With that, Catherine joined her lover and they showed no hesitation in undressing one another and making love.
“Does incest excite you, miss?” Sandra asked.
She slid around in front of me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I pulled her into my lap and kissed her deeply. “Shall I pretend to be your sister?” she teased. I shook my head, and she said, “Would you like me to tell you a true tale of sisters that I witnessed with my own eyes?”
“No, love,” I said as I kissed her. “I only want you.”
I began undressing her, and then myself. Soon we were bare. Sandra raised up and I pressed my lips to her bosom. Her nipples were erect as I nibbled and kissed them. The perfumes from our baths still clung to the skin. I lay her back in a pile of pillows as I lavished kisses upon her. She moaned softly, her eyes half closed, as she watched me work my way down her body.
“I’m yours, mistress,” she whispered absently. “Use me for your pleasure.”
I had become accustomed to her whispering such things when we made love, but I would never come to like it. I drove my tongue deep into her folds and drew it up, eliciting shudders from her. I knew how to keep her mostly quiet after all.
I lapped at her sex, reaching my fingers deep with in her. She bucked her hips and rocked in time with me. I suckled her most sensitive spot, drawing her slowly but steadily closer to her climax, until at last she drew a sharp deep breath and dug her fingers into my back.
When it subsided, I crawled back up along her body, kissing her all the way. I hovered over her, looking down to find a smile playing at her lips while she coquettishly nibbled the tip of her finger. Her eyes were closed, but I knew she did this for my benefit.
“Kiss me,” I said.
She turned to me and raised up to press her lips against mine. I lay beside her and she bent down to suckle my nipples, whispering as she did. She often whispered incoherently when we made love. What she was saying, she said it too fast to easily understand. It had taken months for me to work out all of it. It seemed little more than mantras Josephine had most certainly taught her.
This is some of what I heard: Her pleasure is mine, it’s what I’m for… It’s my joy to serve her, to be used by her… Her ecstasy is my ecstasy… I have no will that is not hers… I will serve her from the bottom of my heart…
And on and on like that. I hated that she did it, but it seemed something she could not do without, so I left it alone.
Sandra was working her way down to my nethers, but I stopped her. “I’ll have your lips,” I whispered. She pulled herself up and began kissing me. I guided her hand along my body and finally between my legs. “Like this.”
“As you please, my mistress.”
We kissed deeply and passionately as she rubbed her fingers in circles around my clitoris. From time to time she would dip her fingers deep inside me and then back out again. She made ever faster circles until at last I buried my head against her breast and cried out. She had left me gasping for breath, and unaware that we’d drawn a small audience. When I recovered to find myself being clapped for, it reminded me of the first party I’d ever attended. I began laughing and sat up.
“Go ahead then, don’t be shy. I’m sure you all know how to do it,” I encouraged.
We made love late into the night. As the candles burned low and the other women lay sleeping or whispering quietly to one another, I took Sandra’s hand and we retired to our room. There we only just had strength to change into our night dresses before lying down and wrapping our arms around one another.
Continue on to Chapter 18
