Of the house itself I will say only that I was a perfect Alhambra of Moorish courtyards and colonnades, with dazzling sun on the marble and water, restful darkness in the tapestried rooms.
The tyrant Ibrahim, as I had imagined him, was a jovial gentleman with a twinkle in his eye. When the formal courtesies were over, he escorted us to a grassy knoll overlooking his splendid grounds. Here an excellent lunch was served: the most succulent fruits, the crispest roast, and the most savoury dishes were moistened by fine vintages and champagne. Ibrahim's religion forbid him the use of wine, yet he is too generous a man ever to stint his guests.
It was here that I again saw Connie, the young woman of some twenty-five years, with her Asian or Chinese appearance. The black, silken sweep of her hair was once again held in place by a pair of silver slides so that it did not fall too far over her face. She was not entirely naked, though very nearly so: a pair of tiny cones, made of tight, black silk, covered her nipples, and were held in place by black silk cord over her two shoulders and 'round her back. Her other garment was a black silk cache-sex, a tiny triangle at her loins, held by black cord 'round her waist, its supports running down her belly to the silk adornment, and at the rear running back up to her waist between the cheeks of her bottom.
Several different girls acted as waitresses, Connie being given orders to minister to half a dozen of us. The rather snub features, slanted eyes, and pretty heart-shaped face she has are so very appealing! And what of her figure? No part of the world, I vow, can rival the Far East in that neat feminine charm; the slim, nimble forms, the tight rounds of buttocks, which never grow too fat even in a girl whose hips are broadened by her posture.
As she walked to and fro, the eyes of the men followed the light, graceful movements of her body. They contemplated her pale-yellow satiny skin, her tight little breasts, narrow thighs, and saffron bottom-cheeks. Even when she was on full view as a shop girl, I cannot believe she received as much admiration in six months as she now got in half an hour.
The meal ended. Now the men lit their cheroots and began to chaff one another. There was much daring of each fellow in turn to grasp a nettle from the hedgerow and find for himself if it had a sting. Wagers were laid and decided by the victim's silence or his sudden sharp intake of breath and muffled curse.
The English Milord was present, with a certain unsmiling coldness and he offered to prove the wagers another way. He beckoned Connie. The young Asian woman approached. I heard later that he had once encountered her before her life as a concubine began and that she had spurned his admiration. Perhaps that explained his conduct now.
"Put yourself over my knee, face down, Connie," he said quietly.
There was a look of apprehension in Connie's almond eyes as she obeyed him, the black silken hair hanging downward, her trim saffron-satin seat-cheeks facing upward. Now it was Connie who must make the wager, guessing the effect of each plucked nettle in turn. If she won, her reward was to be fed from the whisky flask. If she lost, she must endure the return of the last nettle to cause a gasp.
First she guessed it would not sting. The young man held the frond to her buttocks with no effect. One of his companions told the girl to turn her pretty face upwards, whereupon he held the whisky flask to her mouth. We saw her swallow once or twice, then make as if to turn her head away. He restrained this.
"A little more yet, Connie. We must fortify you for your ordeal!"
The man across whose knees she lay circled her waist with his left arm to hold her firmly. In his right hand he took another nettle, which Connie also pronounced harmless. This time she was wrong. As son as he touched the spiked leaf to the demure saffron cheek of her bottom, the Asian girl cried out her mistake, her trim legs twisting to no avail. The young man continued to hold the leaf to the same place until the allotted time was up. A deep pinkness the size of a large coin appeared on Connie's left buttock, with two or three white sting points in it.
Then came the forfeit. Was it pure malice which made the young man touch the virulent sharpness to that same tender place, holding it there with lips so tight that the veins on his forehead stood out? That done, he looked down at the appealing innocence of Connie's charming Chinese bottom. With no hint of amusement, he chose another frond, identical to that just discarded. Connie made a submissive, imploring sound, for rebellion is not in her nature.
Just then we were invited to witness Ibrahim's garden outing. The young man who was engaged with Connie remained deaf to this invitation. We left him still holding the Asian girl over his knee, not guess-big what his eventual purpose might be. Looking back, I caught a glimpse of her face turning upward to him, its demure Oriental charm contorted into a devil mask of tears.
You will believe, Charlie, that all this was done merely to avenge himself in one way upon Connie. I assure you that you are wrong. The cunning secret, they tell me, is that such applications of nettles add much to one's enthusiasm for love. Connie well knew that by enduring such a preliminary she might hope for a rich harvest!
We came down to the lakeside pathway where there stood the strangest little equipage. It was a light garden carriage with shafts. Across these shafts were two securely fastened crossbars, one at the very front and another mid-way. From the direction of the house, two of Ibrahim's valets were escorting a loud-mouthed, strident youngster whom I believe you may well recognise.
She walked with a contemptuous toss of the long, fair hair, which framed the broad oval of her face, combed from a central parting to lie loose on her shoulders. Certainly the narrow eyes and thin mouth completed a picture of snub-nosed insolence.
Can this be the young hoyden you once spoke of? While not particularly tall or plump, Elaine appeared a sturdy enough adolescent in her white blouse and tie, the pleated grey skirt worn scandalously short in a brazen display of robust young thighs.
There was no doubt of her rebellious nature, which was visible in her strident manner and the toss of her fan- hair, as well as audible in her vulgar speech. When she was given her orders at the carriage, she looked with contempt at the guests, undid her skirt and stepped out of it.
Because Ibrahim prefers such pupils to show their bare legs in brief dancing skirts, Elaine's schoolgirl knickers were no more than a pair of briefs in white stretched cotton. Her strong young hips and bottom-cheeks were thus admirably shaped for our observation.
She stood between the shafts, her back to the driver's seat of the little carriage. The harnessing began. Elaine had to bend forward over the first bar, which supported her young belly. A broad, stout strap was riveted to the bar and the valets now drew this tightly 'round Elaine's waist. Not only did it hold her down. By pressing her belly even more firmly on the bar, it caused her waist to arch downward and so increased the swell of Elaine's bottom in her tight knickers.
Her arms were at full stretch in front of her, each wrist securely held in a leather cuff to the front of the shaft. For the first time the impudence in the broad oval of her face and features seemed to falter. She saw one of the valets take a slim cane with a spring like a rapier. He laid it conveniently by the driver's seat, adding a birch and one or two other means of discipline.
Elaine tossed her fair hair clear, and craned 'round with desperate anxiety to watch these preparations. She was gnawing compulsively at her lower lip in apprehension. Her hands were clenched into tight fists and her bare legs shifted and tensed as the men kept her waiting.
A still heat pervaded the afternoon. In the deep shade where we stood only the drone of insects disturbed the silence. The velvet petals of the red flowers seemed to wilt and the lake lay bright as a burning mirror. With loving slowness, one of the valets took the waistband of Elaine's knickers and pulled the little pants down her legs until she could step free of them. There was another stir of interest at this. While the youngster still watched us over her shoulder, we moved a little closer to take advantage of this bare rear view. Though I can only speak from a feminine point of view, Charlie, even I could see what it was that attracted the gentlemen of the party. Firmly broadened and rounded by her posture, the pale, sturdy cheeks of Elaine Cox's tomboy bottom had that robust, vulgar appeal which is perhaps at perfection in a girl of fifteen. The light-haired love-pouch peeped backward between her thighs; like her well-parted buttocks, it was within fondling distance of the driver.