'Four of you have that measure already,' said I, 'and you know I promised it to all of you. Please let me take some measurements now,' I added, unwinding the garter from the leg of the nearest lady. It was a piece of strong tape and suited my purpose admirably. I measured the size of all their bosoms and the circumference of their thighs, and then, amid laughing protestations, I parted the hair between each pair of thighs and measured the length of their slits. In the last measurement they all seemed to be desirous of being the smallest, as in the other they each wished to be the largest in size. The young Persian who told her story later in the evening bore off the palm in the last contest. Her diminutive slit looked all the more cunning that the hair around it was hardly long enough to curl. Zuleika had the largest bosoms, while the thighs of Laura defied competition.
'Here, Anna, take the scarf,' interrupted the Italian, 'and tell the Captain something about Circassia.'
The lady thus addressed was about nineteen years of age and she was very tall and slender. Her limbs were finely tapered; so was her round waist, which I could have spanned with my two hands. Her nicely cut breasts were as erect as if they had been carved from alabaster, which her skin resembled in whiteness. The hair on her small head was of the palest blonde, but that at her loins was fiery red, which I had read was a sign of uncontrollable wantonness.
If so, this lady's face gave no indication of it. Her large blue eyes looked at you with the innocence of childhood, and the delicate roseate hue of her cheeks varied at every changing emotion. She did not seem sensible, however, of the privilege conferred upon her by the scarf. She stretched herself between my thighs, where she leaned with her elbow on the cushion, supporting her graceful head with her hand. Her bosom rested on my loins and my shaft was imprisoned by her snowy breasts from between which its red crest peeped out while she looked me in the face and told her lascivious story.
CHAPTER SIX
The powerful old chief to whom my mother was married had no children of his own. I was her only child by a former marriage and her fondness was all centred on me. Our religion, which was the Greek, forbade a plurality of wives. The old chief was not likely to have a direct heir, and, as he was now seventy, her great object was to have him confer on me the succession to the principality; this last he consented to do if she would countenance his amours with other women.
She consented to do so and the strange compact was formed — I was present as witness. Unknown to either of them, I had been in the habit, for a long time, of frequenting a little alcove in their bedroom where a few books were kept. It was separated by a curtain from the rest of the room and communicated also with my chamber by a sliding panel. This secret panel, which I had accidentally discovered, was a kind often met with in such old castles as we inhabited. It was known to me alone, or, if the old chief knew it was there, he never thought of it.
I had there witnessed all the secrets of the marriage chamber, and of course my passions were rapidly developed. My mother was still plump and handsome; she enjoyed keenly the marriage embrace, but always had to work very hard in order to finish the tardy rapture of the old chief. On the occasion of the compact I heard her tell him she could give him all he wanted. He could only reply that a man liked a variety.
'Very well,' said she, 'make out the deed for Anna's succession and I will not only countenance but assist in your amours. We can in that way at least secure secrecy and avoid scandal, for no one will suspect a wife of conniving at her husband's amours.'
The old chief then confided to her that the present object of his desire was Leuline, the handsome wife of the steward of the castle.
The next evening I was at my post early. My mother had already managed with Leuline. She was a large and voluptuous-looking woman with dark hair and blue eyes; her bosoms were not much developed, but her thighs were immense. She got into bed with my mother and pretended to be asleep when the old chief came in.
He undressed and got into bed with them and mounted Leuline, who lay with her head on my mother's arm, close to her bosom. An expression of pleasure stole over Leuline's face, which became more ineffable at every thrust. At last their mingled sighs and the stillness that followed gave proof that the embrace had been mutually satisfactory.
['You can imagine,' said Anna, smiling at the other girls, 'how I longed for the embrace of a man.']
Plans for future meetings and jokes at the expense of Leuline's husband filled up the time, together with explorations of Leuline's charms, till the shaft of the old chief grew again stiff. He plunged it into Leuline's great loins, and she enjoyed it so highly that she finished and left him in the lurch.
I could hardly restrain myself, I so longed for the thrusts that were now wasted on Leuline. My mother must have felt the same way, for she asked the old chief to let her finish him. He had more than once sucked her fine bosoms during this onset. He now transferred his crimson crest dripping with Leuline's moisture.
The energy with which my mother received him made me fairly wriggle my loins in sympathy. She wound her arms around him and raised up her loins to meet his descending thrusts, then their frames were convulsed for a few moments with the culminant rapture and they subsided into perfect repose.
I had often before felt wanton emotion at my post of observation; I now left the alcove in a frenzy of lust. I wanted a man, and that immediately: I was about to seek one of the sentinels at his post, to confer my virginity on the first rude soldier I met on the cover of the ramparts, when I remembered Tessidor, a young priest, who was attached to the chapel of the castle. He was a delicate-looking youth of about seventeen, with a countenance which indicated the purity of his character. I went to his room and timidly knocked on the door.
To my timid knock the answer was delayed; when at last he said 'come in', I saw that he had employed the interval by slipping on a nightshirt, for he had been just about to retire. He looked astonished, as well he might, when he saw me.
'I have come to make a confession and ask your counsel,' said I.
'Had we better not go to the chapel?' he asked.
'It is better here,' I said, 'for the subject is a worldly one, though of much importance to me. I love a young man who is indifferent to my preference, nay, he is even insensible to my love. I would have my parents hint to him that his addresses would be accepted; but I am meant to marry a soldier and he is not a soldier. What shall I do?'
'Strive to forget him, my lady,' was the reply.
I stood a moment with my look cast on the ground and my cheeks burning. 'Cruel man,' I said, 'it is you who have my heart.'
My head dropped forward, I seemed about to fall, but I put up my mouth for the kiss which he bent over to impress upon it. Regrets were then mingled with kisses, while I allowed my wrapper to fall open and expose my bosoms. He ventured timidly to kiss them; his kisses became more and more ardent. I had got him at last where a man has no conscience. He stretched himself on the bed beside me, took me in his arms: our lips were glued together.
As much by my contrivance as his own, but he did not know it, my wrapper and dressing gown opened, and a skirt and chemise were all that separated a stiff little object from my thighs. Fired by lust as I was, I had shame enough left to leave the removal of these slight obstructions to him. I could hardly wait upon his timidity. I must have been the first woman he had ever entered, for he was very awkward in guiding his crest to the lips that yearned to close upon it. It was a little thing, but very stiff.
At last it penetrated me a little way and I felt the touch of his crest against my maidenhead like an electric shock; it set all my nerves tingling with pleasure, and expectant of the coming connection, I could no longer even feign modesty. I involuntarily wrapped my arms around him and he gave the fateful thrust.